The Standard - 2015 December 20 - Sunday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 311  3 Sections 24 Pages P18  SUNDAY : DECEMBER 20, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

EX-POLL EXEC: TIME RUNNING OUT ON COMELEC

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FLOODS, OUTAGES REMAIN A THREAT

By Froilan Gallardo and Francisco Tuyay

CAGAYAN DE ORO— Tropical Depression “Onyok” dissipated into a low-pressure area Saturday morning, but tropical rainstorms continued to threaten low-lying areas across the country which have already sustained rainfall reaching almost 36 inches due to Typhoon “Nona.”

STILL BEAUTIFUL. Despite the threat of climate change, the Earth rising from the moon’s horizon is such a beauty to behold as shown by the US

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s high-definition photo but a man from Pampanga has to deal with a different reality as he wades through flooded Candaba town on Saturday. NASA/AFP

US JETS FLY CLOSE TO CHINA’S NANSHA AFTER an Australian military surveillance plane flew near disputed areas in the South China Sea Nov. 25, two United States B-52 bombers again flew close to artificial islands created by China in the South China Sea, US officials said Saturday.

A Pentagon official said one of the two bombers “unintentionally” flew over an artificial island on Cuarteron Reef and China complained the airplane came within two nautical miles from the reef, one of the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Next page

According to the latest situation report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, 117 areas were still flooded due to Nona while electricity in eight cities and 45 towns still had not normalized three days after Nona dissipated over the West Philippine Sea. According to multi-satellite data from the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nona dumped over 7.9 inches of rain over much of Luzon with parts of northeastern Luzon gettring over 30.4 inches.

The highest rainfall totals during the time Nona was in the country was found in the typhoon’s path in the central Philippines where rainfall totals were measured at over 35.4 inches, according to Nasa’s Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM. Next page

A CANADIAN’S VIEW OF THE PHILIPPINES

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news

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FLOODS...

From A1

NAY-SAYERS. Members of the Philippine Movement for Climate Change thumb down the climate change agreement that was recently forged at an international conference in Paris, France last week. ANDREW RABULAN

EX-COMELEC EXEC: TIME RUNNING OUT

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE Commission on Elections may run out of time to print ballots for next year’s election if they will wait until after they resolve the disqualification cases against presidential aspirants Senator Grace Poe and Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a former official said Saturday.

“They are running out of time...

There’s only a little time left to resolve it,” former Comelec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said after the Comelec gave Poe and Duterte until Dec. 28 to comment on the disqualification cases filed against them.

“The chairman [Andres Bautista] said the final list of candidate will be on Dec. 23, but [Poe and Duterte] were given 10

US JETS...

From A1

“There was no intention of flying within 12 nautical miles of any feature,” said Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban.

It was the second time US B-52 bombers flew near the heavily disputed islands in an exercise the US described as a freedom of navigation operations and came two weeks after the Royal Australian Air Force carried out the surveillance flight on Nov. 25.

Australia was the second country after the United States to challenge China’s claim to almost all of the South China Sea which is roiled in tension after China transformed reefs into artificial islands capable of supporting military facilities.

On Oct. 27, Washington in-

days, or until Dec. 28, to submit their memorandums,” Larrazabal said.

“It’s going to be tight, unless they have a decision within the week after [Dec. 28].

It can still be done, but it’s gonna be very tight,” Larrazabal said in an interview.

Larrazabal assessed the poll body’s schedule after Bautista said they will postpone the official list of candidates from Dec. 15 to Dec. 23 due to the pending decision of the commission en banc on the two motion of reconsiderations of Poe and Duterte.

But Larrazabal said the Comelec needs enough time to configure the ballot and present it to the public before they print the official ballot.

“You have to configure the ballot faces.

When you configure the ballot faces, you have to submit it to the public for them to check if it is correct. So you give them a week, then it goes back to you then you get it, so from Jan. 8 to Jan. 26. It’s about 18 days, that’s really tight,” he said.

The former poll commissioner advised the Comelec to start sacrificing their weekends and holidays to prepare for the

furiated Beijing when the US Navy’s guided missile destroyer USS Lassen sailed within 21 kilometers of at least one artificial island built by China.

China insists it has sovereignty over virtually all of the resource-rich sea, conflicting with the various claims of several neighboring nations, and US activity in the area has provoked Beijing’s ire several times in recent months.

“In the morning of 10 December, two US B-52 bombers entered air space over the Chinese Nansha islands and nearby areas without authorization,” Beijing’s defense ministry said, using the Chinese name for the Spratly Islands.

“This behavior is a serious military provocation which complicates the general situation in the South China Sea, [contributing] to the militari-

elections on May 9, 2016.

Larrazabal recalled that when the Comelec held the first automated elections in 2010, all Comelec officials and employees worked every day until the election day itself.

“Well, what is important is they can make adjustments if they cannot meet the timeline. You just have to adjust and compensate because we are running out of time,” Larrazabal said.

He also challenged Bautista to drop the idea of not automating the 2016 elections because the two Comelec chairmen before Bautista were able to implement what the election law requires despite the difficulties they encountered.

“I think he (Bautista) needs to focus.

May 9 is the date set for the elections. You can’t move that because people will not allow that to be moved,” he said.

“This is the third automated election in the Philippines. We did it in 2010. That was the presidential elections. In 2013 it was also done, there is now no reason for it not to be done again in 2016,” Larrazabal said.

zation of the region,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.

During a mission by the two B-52 bombers last week, one of the aircraft unintentionally flew within two nautical miles of an artificially constructed island.

This may have been because of bad weather conditions, according to officials quoted in the newspaper.

Beijing’s defense ministry added: “The United States has continuously sent military ships and planes to make a show of force and create tensions in the waters and airspace” of the South China Sea. “The Chinese army will take all necessary measures to defend the sovereignty and the security of the country.”

The United States is critical of China building artifi-

cial islands in the disputed sea, and has flown other B-52 bombers and sailed a guidedmissile destroyer near some of the constructions in recent months.

Washington has said China’s transformation of the geographical features in the Spratly Islands poses a threat to freedom of navigation in the critical body of water.

China’s military conducted war games in the area this week, with warships, submarines and fighter jets deployed over a “range of several thousand kilometers,” the People’s Liberation Army Daily said.

Beijing insists it has sovereignty over virtually all of the resource-rich South China Sea, conflicting with the various claims of Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Brunei.

Meanwhile, the LPA that used to be Onyok was in the vicinity of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato on Saturday morning but the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said there will be more rain in much of the country.

Pagasa said this was due to the northeast monsoon, locally called amihan, which continues to affect Northern and Central Luzon and the tail-end of a cold front that is hovering over Southern Luzon.

Weather should gradually improve, Pagasa said, but cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rains and thunderstorms will be experienced over Mindanao, Bicol region, Western Visayas and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains will prevail over Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon.

Cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and isolated thunderstorms will prevail over Central and Eastern Visayas.

The northeast monsoon was the main cause of rains in Luzon where large farming communities have been submerged in mostly waist-deep floods from Typhoon “Nona” which hit Northern Samar Dec. 14 before making landfall in four other areas.

Nona isolated many areas of the country, preventing the NDRRMC from getting accurate data on the typhoon’s damage or even the number of fatalities and injuries.

According to the agency’s Situation Report No. 13 issued Saturday, the death toll remained at 34, but Agence France Presse cited reports from national and local disaster monitoring agencies placing the death toll at 41. The Standard’s independent sources placed fatalities at 56.

Poor farming communities in the main southern island of Mindanao were flooded Saturday after at least two rivers burst their banks, local disaster officials said.

“Almost the entire Philippines is experiencing rains. More floods are possible,” state weather forecaster Robert Badrina told AFP. “We expect the rains to peak today. The weather will start to improve tomorrow,” he said.

Close to 10,000 people were evacuated from the poor farming region of Caraga in Mindanao before the latest storm.

In Agusan del Sur province, large portions of the national highway were inundated after a nearby river burst its banks, regional civil defense officer Manuel Ochotorena told AFP. Another river in Davao del Norte province, roughly 100 kilometers away, also burst its banks, forcing residents out of their homes, provincial disaster officer Romulo Tagalo said.

In Luzon, 140,000 people displaced by floods and landslides triggered by Nona remained in evacuation centers and those living in low-lying areas are expected to stay there for a few more days, until after surface runoff from highlands have reached the lowlands.

As of 6 a.m. Saturday, the water elevation at Angat Dam was 213.29 meters (spilling level 212 meters); Ipo Dam 100.53 (spilling level 101 meters) and 17.42 meters in Bustos dam (spilling level 17.70 meters).

In Bulacan, one of the Central Luzon provinces prone to runoff flooding, the towns of Calumpit, Hagonoy, Pulilan and San Miguel continue to be submerged in water from Nona, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported on Saturday.

PDRRM officer Liz Mungcal, said that big volume of surface runoff, locally called “backflood,” cascaded in the low-lying villages of Bulusan (4 ft), Calizon (4 ft), Caniogan (1 to 2 ft), Frances (1 to 3 ft), Gatbuca (1to 3 ft), Gugo (1 ft), Meysulao (6 ft), San Jose (1 ft), San Miguel (1 to 3 ft), Sapang Bayan (5 ft) and Sta. Lucia (1 to 2 ft), all in Calumpit.

The village of Mandale in San Miguel town is under 2 to 3 feet; Barangay San Juan in Hagonoy is under 2 feet and Barangay Dulong Malabon in Pulilan under 2 feet.

Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado has requested additional trucks from the Philippine Army to ferry stranded people, relief goods, bottled water and medicines to the affected areas.

At least 13,791 families were affected by the surface runoff, Mungcal said, adding that damage to crops and infrastructure is still being determined.

Alvarado also told local newsmen that relief and rescue teams have also been deployed in Hagonoy in anticipation of the surface runoff that will cascade there either Saturday or Sunday.

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NEWS

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AFP CLARIFIES CHRISTMAS TRUCE

By Francisco Tuyay

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines clarified on Saturday that the suspension of military operation President Benigno Aquino III approved on Friday does not include law enforcement operations of the Philippine National Police.

FEELING THE PAIN. Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (left) is assisted by Ako Bicol Rep. Christopher Co in distributing relief to more than 3,000 families who were affected by Typhoon ‘Nona’ in an evacuation center in Legaspi City.

DOH GOES ‘CODE WHITE’ FROM DEC. 21 THE Department of Health advised the public on Saturday to be cautious in catching common illnesses at this time of the year even as it placed government hospitals, regional offices and facilities on “Code White” alert starting Dec. 21.

The “Code White” alert puts all hospital personnel on standby for deployment and augmentation as needs arise, to render additional medical and other services.

“The cold weather usually triggers respiratory problems unless appropriate preventive measures are taken, especially in areas affected recently by Typhoon Nona,”

Health Secretary Janette Garin said in a statement.

“Protect yourself and your family against sudden or extreme changes in temperature. Children and adults may become vulnerable to cough, colds, and fever,” she said.

The DoH has noted that one million children under five years old die each year in less developed countries and pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, measles and dengue hemorrhagic fever account for nearly half of those deaths and malnutrition is often the underlying condition.

Garin explained that personal hygiene and hand washing is the key to pre-

venting many illnesses.

Also, as much as possible, one must not wade in floods as these waters are likely contaminated and people may catch leptospirosis.

If that can’t be avoided, the public is advised to wear boots, and to immediately wash body parts exposed to flood water and flush with clean water and soap.

“People who are staying in evacuation centers are encouraged to wash their hands with clean soap and water before preparing food and before and after eating.

Also, wash your hands after using the comfort room. It is also best that water is boiled for at least two minutes be-

fore drinking. Breastfeeding should be continued. Breast milk is the best and safest food for babies,” Garin added.

For those who usually go out of their homes at early hours of the morning to attend the ‘Simbang Gabi’ or stay late at night for parties, the DoH advice is to wear appropriate clothing as protection against the cold weather, especially for children and the elderly.

However, people who are already sick with fever, colds, or cough are advised to immediately seek medical attention and avoid crowded places in order to avoid complications, she added.

The SOMO coincides with the truce the Communist Party of the Philippines announced beginning 12:01 a.m. of Dec. 23 until 11:59 p.m. of Jan. 3, 2016. “[The SOMO] does not cover law enforcement operations conducted by the Philippine National Police that the AFP supports against other threat groups and wanted personalities,” the military added.

“The AFP hopes that NPA members would use this time of peace to reflect. We call on them to surrender, abandon the armed struggle and ultimately return to the fold of law,” it said.

On Friday, Malacañang announced that Aquino approved the recommendation of the Department of National Defense for the unilateral SOMO against the New People’s Army for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

But some NPA units were ordered to step up operations before the start of the truce.

NPA rebels in Samar ambushed government troops providing assistance to victims of Typhoon “Nona” in Pinabacdao town on Friday morning, wounding two soldiers.

The soldiers from the 546th Engineering Battalion and 81st Division Reconnaissance Company were aboard two trucks when they were waylaid around 7:30 a.m. at the boundary of barangays Madalunot and Pahug. ‘‘This clearly shows the NPA’s disregard to the plight of our brothers and sisters in Samar who were devastated by the onslaught of storm Nona,” the military said.

“This is also a clear indication that the NPAs continuously and deliberately conduct atrocities against our troops and public servants who are only doing their job to alleviate the suffering experienced by storm victims in Visayas,” it added.

The military said the attack will not hamper government troops from pursuing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations for the victims of Nona “who are in need of our help.”

“We will continue with our relief and assistance operations for the victims of the typhoon,” it said.

In Negros, the NPA’s Leonardo Panaligan Command in central Negros also ordered its units to launch widespread tactical offensives against military units, a week before the start of the truce on Dec. 23.

But days before the truce, the NPA abducted a member of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade, raided a cock farm in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, and detonated an improvised explosive device, injuring six Army soldiers and a civilian in Iloilo.

PH READY FOR CHURCH CONGRESS

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Catholic Church in the Philippines is totally ready for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu that is set to gather thousands from all over the world to celebrate the beauty and meaning of the Eucharist.

“With the help of the national committee, the [Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines], the local committee and the guidance of the international committee and the pontifical committee, I can say at this time, 41 days before the International Eucharistic Congress, we are prepared,” said Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma.

Palma thanked “the many people who certainly because of their prayers, because of their involvement, because

of their generosity, because of their volunteerism, the preparation is practically done.”

Because of the IEC, Palma said he witnessed “a lot of volunteerism and support in the private sector” for this event.

As what had been done during the Papal Visit of Pope Francis in January 2015, Radio TV Malacañang will provide the live TV feed to other media outlets covering the event.

Apart from the spiritual talks and pious devotions, cultural shows have been prepared and hosted by various church and civil organizations for the delegates, according to Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Dennis Villarojo.

He said five parish churches of the Archdiocese of Cebu will be welcoming delegates as part of the IEC’s Parish Encounter program on the

fourth day of the Congress.

Each parish church will host a Mass, welcome dinners and cultural shows.

“The Congress is a spiritual event but there will be a lot of celebrations, cultural shows, food and shopping as the malls have pledged to give discounts during that week,” Palma said.

A choral festival featuring the Ateneo Chamber Singers and the Loboc Children’s Choir and other local choirs will also entertain delegates.

An exhibit called “Fabric of Faith” in a local mall will feature a showcase of different religious habits of religious orders and congregations.

He encouraged the public who would like to join the Congress on their own to register online as soon as possible and avoid registering at the last minute.

NATIONAL COLORS. Unmindful of the missed photo opportunity, a man holds up the

Philippine flag as Quezon City Hall employees sang the national anthem. JANSEN ROMERO

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

US QUIETLY NEGOTIATING TO FREE AMERICANS IN SYRIA

[ EDI TORI A L ]

RUN OVER

By Josh Rogin THE US government believes that the Assad regime is holding four or five American citizens and the State Department has been secretly negotiating with the Syrian government for their release, according to two administration officials.

Discussions between the US government and the Syrian regime over the prisoners are said to have been going on for several weeks. They mostly involve direct contacts between Anne Patterson, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and a former ambassador to Egypt and Pakistan, and Faisal Mekdad, Syria’s deputy foreign minister and former permanent envoy to the United Nations.

The high-level talks between the US State Department and the Syrian Foreign Ministry represent some of the most significant direct interactions between the two governments since the civil war began five years ago.

During the first years of the Obama administration, the State Department maintained an open channel to the Syrian regime and sometimes communicated through the Syrian representative office at the United Nations.

But officials said the current discussions about the prisoners are not connected to the overall diplomatic push to find a solution to the crisis.

The Syrian government has acknowledged in private discussions with the US State Department that it is holding one of the Americans, the officials said. That American citizen has received some consular assistance including a visit from officials at the Czech Embassy in Damascus, which serves as the protecting power for US interests in Syria because the US closed its embassy in 2012.

Details about the other prisoners are unknown. Officials said one or more may hold dual US and Syrian

THE remark was made in jest, the Palace is likely to say, now that the date is fast approaching.

We refer to the statement of President Benigno Aquino III from April 2013, while he was campaigning for the Liberal Party’s senatorial bets in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

On that day, in front of a large audience at Dasmariñas National High School, Mr. Aquino promised that the Light Rail Transit (Line 1) extension from Baclaran to Bacoor will be completed by the end of 2015.

The project was envisioned to serve 250,000 train passengers.

“If this does not happen, and there is Secretary Abaya who is in charge of this project, perhaps the two of us will allow ourselves to be run over by a train,” Mr. Aquino said, a bit too confident.

At that time, Aquino was desperate to court the votes of the electorate so that the candidates from his party could continue to occupy Senate seats and influence the legislative—sometimes political—agenda that he was pushing.

It’s December 20, with a mere 11 days to go before the end of the year.

There is no train extension.

In fact, since then, the public rail system has deteriorated to a point that using it has become part of the daily ordeal of the ordinary student or worker.

It is not only the LRT. A bigger problem is the Metro Rail Transit 3, which runs along Edsa, the premier highway in the capital. The MRT-3 has encountered all sorts of problems in recent months—broken rails, old coaches, delays and frequent breakdowns. During a typhoon just this past week, one of the stations became submerged in water, eliminating the MRT as an option among exhausted, famished, and exasperated commuters.

In all these, the Aquino administration has managed to blame every mishap on the previous administration, denying the fact that five years has passed—plenty of time for it to correct whatever mistakes and excesses that may have been committed.

And so we are back to a hollow challenge, as hollow as the promises habitually made by a President we cannot take seriously anymore.

Funny how Mr. Aquino invoked the words of his late parents as they advised him to stay true to his word all the time. Then again, perhaps he was joking that time, too. What a pity that this country has been run over by a joker.

Turn to A6

A GROWN-UP’S CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS is supposed to occasion warm, fuzzy feelings.

It is that time of the year we look forward to the most. It is when we get to have reunions with friends and family members we have not seen in a while. It gives us a legitimate excuse to shop for clothes, shoes and presents, and yes, indulge in some good food. Or a lot.

After all, for Christians, this is the time when the savior is born —and that calls for some big celebration.

But in these days leading to December 25, there has been no glimpse of heaven, indeed only a peek into the murky side of human nature. Jeers, instead of Christmas cheer.

For those of us living in the metro and who still have to earn a living no matter what day in December it is, the past few days have been a test of patience. It is the traffic and the sorry state of public transportation, but it’s many other

But in these days leading to December 25, there has been no glimpse of heaven, indeed only a peek into the murky side of human nature. things aside from these, too.

Case in point: On Tuesday night, Typhoon “Nona” brought

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rains to the metro for hours on end. The result was almost textbook. There was flooding, there was mayhem on the street, and some of the orange plastic barriers brought in for the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit last month were seen floating on the floodwater. People were soaked and stranded, cursing their lot and thinking about how they had to get up in the morning to do the same thing all over again.

On Waze, major highways were tinged in deep, angry red even until after midnight. Then again, even if

there were no Nona, there would have been the holiday rush, anyway. And even if there were no holiday rush, there would have been the high volume of vehicles plying the same roads. One can never run out of excuses.

Taxi drivers were in their element, very much aware of how high the demand for them was.

I am sure there are many honorable drivers out there, but why do only the arrogant and the choosy cross our paths during this season?

Forget, too, our usual recourse when these cabbies fail

us: Grab and Uber rates were several times over what they would normally charge. Imagine, on Tuesday night, a GrabCar (sedan) ride from Makati to Quezon City was priced at more than P1,000. Only an opportunist would take advantage of the situation. Only the desperate would pay that insane amount.

But many were desperate.

The list of expenses is also

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mind-boggling and stress-inducing. One has to spend on so many things, but are these merely wants masquerading as needs? *** These events, among others, threaten to take away the so-called Christmas spirit.

We are supposed to feel like a bundle of happiness, willing to share whatever we have. Instead, we keep thinking about

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what we are not getting, who failed us, where we are supposed to go but can’t. We resent those who we think should be doing their jobs but aren’t.

How can we bring back that magical Christmas feeling we used to have as children? How come we are now saying we can’t wait for December to be over so we can get back on to our regular lives?

The answer would vary with

each person. For some, Christmas evokes wonderful memories of one’s childhood such that they do everything to recreate it with the families they are now building. Some may have felt deprived so that they now want to give a better version of the holidays to themselves and to their families.

Some who could not understand the frivolity sit back and watch all others go crazy with

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merriment. They judge them and brand them shallow.

And then there are some, like perhaps you and me, who keep trying to find joy and meaning in the littlest—and unlikeliest—of things. Sometimes we succeed; sometimes we tell ourselves to try even harder.

Merry Christmas, dear readers! adellechua@gmail.com

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Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

US QUIETLY NEGOTIATING TO FREE AMERICANS IN SYRIA

[ EDI TORI A L ]

RUN OVER

By Josh Rogin THE US government believes that the Assad regime is holding four or five American citizens and the State Department has been secretly negotiating with the Syrian government for their release, according to two administration officials.

Discussions between the US government and the Syrian regime over the prisoners are said to have been going on for several weeks. They mostly involve direct contacts between Anne Patterson, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and a former ambassador to Egypt and Pakistan, and Faisal Mekdad, Syria’s deputy foreign minister and former permanent envoy to the United Nations.

The high-level talks between the US State Department and the Syrian Foreign Ministry represent some of the most significant direct interactions between the two governments since the civil war began five years ago.

During the first years of the Obama administration, the State Department maintained an open channel to the Syrian regime and sometimes communicated through the Syrian representative office at the United Nations.

But officials said the current discussions about the prisoners are not connected to the overall diplomatic push to find a solution to the crisis.

The Syrian government has acknowledged in private discussions with the US State Department that it is holding one of the Americans, the officials said. That American citizen has received some consular assistance including a visit from officials at the Czech Embassy in Damascus, which serves as the protecting power for US interests in Syria because the US closed its embassy in 2012.

Details about the other prisoners are unknown. Officials said one or more may hold dual US and Syrian

THE remark was made in jest, the Palace is likely to say, now that the date is fast approaching.

We refer to the statement of President Benigno Aquino III from April 2013, while he was campaigning for the Liberal Party’s senatorial bets in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

On that day, in front of a large audience at Dasmariñas National High School, Mr. Aquino promised that the Light Rail Transit (Line 1) extension from Baclaran to Bacoor will be completed by the end of 2015.

The project was envisioned to serve 250,000 train passengers.

“If this does not happen, and there is Secretary Abaya who is in charge of this project, perhaps the two of us will allow ourselves to be run over by a train,” Mr. Aquino said, a bit too confident.

At that time, Aquino was desperate to court the votes of the electorate so that the candidates from his party could continue to occupy Senate seats and influence the legislative—sometimes political—agenda that he was pushing.

It’s December 20, with a mere 11 days to go before the end of the year.

There is no train extension.

In fact, since then, the public rail system has deteriorated to a point that using it has become part of the daily ordeal of the ordinary student or worker.

It is not only the LRT. A bigger problem is the Metro Rail Transit 3, which runs along Edsa, the premier highway in the capital. The MRT-3 has encountered all sorts of problems in recent months—broken rails, old coaches, delays and frequent breakdowns. During a typhoon just this past week, one of the stations became submerged in water, eliminating the MRT as an option among exhausted, famished, and exasperated commuters.

In all these, the Aquino administration has managed to blame every mishap on the previous administration, denying the fact that five years has passed—plenty of time for it to correct whatever mistakes and excesses that may have been committed.

And so we are back to a hollow challenge, as hollow as the promises habitually made by a President we cannot take seriously anymore.

Funny how Mr. Aquino invoked the words of his late parents as they advised him to stay true to his word all the time. Then again, perhaps he was joking that time, too. What a pity that this country has been run over by a joker.

Turn to A6

A GROWN-UP’S CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS is supposed to occasion warm, fuzzy feelings.

It is that time of the year we look forward to the most. It is when we get to have reunions with friends and family members we have not seen in a while. It gives us a legitimate excuse to shop for clothes, shoes and presents, and yes, indulge in some good food. Or a lot.

After all, for Christians, this is the time when the savior is born —and that calls for some big celebration.

But in these days leading to December 25, there has been no glimpse of heaven, indeed only a peek into the murky side of human nature. Jeers, instead of Christmas cheer.

For those of us living in the metro and who still have to earn a living no matter what day in December it is, the past few days have been a test of patience. It is the traffic and the sorry state of public transportation, but it’s many other

But in these days leading to December 25, there has been no glimpse of heaven, indeed only a peek into the murky side of human nature. things aside from these, too.

Case in point: On Tuesday night, Typhoon “Nona” brought

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rains to the metro for hours on end. The result was almost textbook. There was flooding, there was mayhem on the street, and some of the orange plastic barriers brought in for the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit last month were seen floating on the floodwater. People were soaked and stranded, cursing their lot and thinking about how they had to get up in the morning to do the same thing all over again.

On Waze, major highways were tinged in deep, angry red even until after midnight. Then again, even if

there were no Nona, there would have been the holiday rush, anyway. And even if there were no holiday rush, there would have been the high volume of vehicles plying the same roads. One can never run out of excuses.

Taxi drivers were in their element, very much aware of how high the demand for them was.

I am sure there are many honorable drivers out there, but why do only the arrogant and the choosy cross our paths during this season?

Forget, too, our usual recourse when these cabbies fail

us: Grab and Uber rates were several times over what they would normally charge. Imagine, on Tuesday night, a GrabCar (sedan) ride from Makati to Quezon City was priced at more than P1,000. Only an opportunist would take advantage of the situation. Only the desperate would pay that insane amount.

But many were desperate.

The list of expenses is also

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mind-boggling and stress-inducing. One has to spend on so many things, but are these merely wants masquerading as needs? *** These events, among others, threaten to take away the so-called Christmas spirit.

We are supposed to feel like a bundle of happiness, willing to share whatever we have. Instead, we keep thinking about

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what we are not getting, who failed us, where we are supposed to go but can’t. We resent those who we think should be doing their jobs but aren’t.

How can we bring back that magical Christmas feeling we used to have as children? How come we are now saying we can’t wait for December to be over so we can get back on to our regular lives?

The answer would vary with

each person. For some, Christmas evokes wonderful memories of one’s childhood such that they do everything to recreate it with the families they are now building. Some may have felt deprived so that they now want to give a better version of the holidays to themselves and to their families.

Some who could not understand the frivolity sit back and watch all others go crazy with

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merriment. They judge them and brand them shallow.

And then there are some, like perhaps you and me, who keep trying to find joy and meaning in the littlest—and unlikeliest—of things. Sometimes we succeed; sometimes we tell ourselves to try even harder.

Merry Christmas, dear readers! adellechua@gmail.com

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

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OPINION

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LIVING ON BORROWED TIME

By Chris Otton KUTUBDIA, Bangladesh—If you’re based in South Asia and want to do a piece about islands being swallowed up by rising sea levels, then surely you pack your swimming trunks and head to the Maldives, ready to dust down the old cliches about trouble in paradise as you admire the turquoise seas and pristine white sands.

Ah, but that would be too obvious, and so we instead decided to go to Bangladesh where global warming is but the latest challenge to face the country.

Bangladesh is one of the most satisfying places to work as a journalist, full of great stories while the people are unfailingly polite and hospitable. It’s also massively under-reported, with only a handful of foreign correspondents based there.

My previous visits had been limited to the teeming capital Dhaka, one of South Asia’s less attractive cities whose population has grown from a little over three million in 1980 to around 18 million nowadays.

Fishing above old homes But Kutubdia island, the destination this time, has the opposite problem, with an estimated 40,000 people leaving in the last three decades, as the sea waters first began washing away entire villages.

The remaining 100,000 know that they are living on borrowed time—with some experts saying the whole island could be submerged in as little as 50 years. The accord reached at the Paris talks is unlikely to change much.

‘They want to drive us away’ Before heading to the island, we met some of those who have decamped to a slum area of Cox’s Bazaar, a nearby resort town. Some still fish around the island, casting their lines in the waters above what were once their homes and villages. A café owner, Nur Hussain, spoke of his pain when thinking about the mosques, schools, madrassas and markets of his old villages that now lie at the bottom of the sea.

We then chatted to 90-year-old Mukhtar Ahmad, who was one of the first batch of evacuees to move to Cox’s Bazaar in 1987.

As he doesn’t own his land, he now fears he may be on the move once more as developers look to transform a town that boasts the world’s longest uninterrupted stretch of beach.

“They want to drive us away,” Ahmad told us.

Situated next to a massive dry fish processing site, Ahmad’s current home is not exactly glamorous. But a drive around town, where giant tourist hotels from chains such as the Marriott and Great Western are nearing completion, soon makes you realize why he feels vulnerable to the tide of development.

the independence war, when Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan.

Although the shutdowns are only half-heartedly enforced in Dhaka, it’s a different matter in other parts of the country and there have been a number of firebombings of vehicles that dared to defy the strike. The area around

Fishermen carry their nets on Kutubdia in November. AFP

With views that give the Maldives a run for its money, you might think at first glance that Kutubdia would also be home to deluxe hotels.

We were there on a gorgeous autumnal day, barely a cloud in the sky while the sea was placid and inviting. But the cyclone shelters which are dotted across the island are a reminder of the dangers that the islanders face during the monsoon season, as was the network of flood defenses that pockmark the beaches.

We were hoping to shoot images of roof-tops poking out of the water, possibly the odd lonely minaret way out at sea. But of course all the buildings are made out of mud and once engulfed by the rising tides or else torn down by cyclones, they are gone without a trace.

The island’s police chief was typically welcoming while we were on Kutubdia but was also visibly relieved when we headed back to the mainland on a rickety motorboat.

Our visit to Kutubdia came the day after a general strike called by the opposition to protest the death sentences that had been handed down the day before to two of their leaders for their role in

Cox’s Bazaar is a traditional stronghold of the country’s largest Islamist party.

Alternative tourist destination It’s often tricky for journalists get visas, and the authorities have been particularly nervous of late after the recent murders of an Italian and Japanese nationals.

My colleague Agnes Bun (who is AFP’s South Asia video coordinator) and I managed to get our visas before the killings but we spent much of our week in Bangladesh being tailed none too subtly by special branch agents. They were annoying but thankfully made no attempt to interfere in our reporting.

Although it’s long been associated with disaster, Bangladesh is now touting itself as a new alternative tourism destination. At Dhaka airport, posters for the ‘Visit Bangladesh 2016’ campaign are plastered everywhere.

But you can’t help wondering how the security services are going to deal with an influx of tourists as well as worrying about the impact for a group of islanders who are already struggling to absorb the pain of losing their homes. AFP

US... From A5 nationality. It is unclear whether Syria follows the approach of Iran, which has denied consular access to American prisoners who have dual nationality.

Edgar Vasquez, a State Department spokesman, declined to confirm the number of American citizens believed to be in the custody of the Assad regime and said details about those prisoners could not be shared because of privacy and security concerns.

“We are deeply concerned about the well-being of US persons reported missing or taken hostage in Syria,” he said. “We continue to work through our Czech protecting power in Syria to get information on their welfare and whereabouts.”

Vasquez acknowledged that the State Department has been in “periodic, direct contact” with Syrian government officials on consular issues, including the case of Austin Tice, the freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012. Vasquez also said the administration is in regular contact with the prisoners’ families.

Secretary of State John Kerry is set to hold another round of talks with Russian officials in New York aimed at starting a peace process between the Syrian regime and the opposition. He said while in Moscow this week the US is not seeking “regime change” in Syria.

Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Studies, said that secret negotiations over the prisoners shows the administration being practical.

“Nobody likes the Assad regime, but it’s not going away easily, so you have to deal the interim issues,” he said. “This underlines how problematic the Assad regime really is. This idea that the enemy of my enemy is my friend—in the case of the Assad regime, it’s just not true.”

When negotiating a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, some in the Obama administration did not want to use that process to free American prisoners, because it would complicate the delicate diplomatic process. The White House has made a similar choice now, pursuing prisoners’ release outside the peace talks. Bloomberg

TO FIX CHINA, LOOK TO KOREA

By Michael Schuman EARLIER this week, markets made clear how little they think of China’s attempts to revamp the giant, state-owned companies that dominate its economy. After the government approved the merger of two massive shipping groups, two of their listed subsidiaries swiftly shed more than $850 million in value. Investors appear to appreciate something the regime doesn’t: Simply tweaking the structure of stateowned enterprises—professionalizing their management, inviting in private investors and merging lossmaking companies—isn’t going to transform them into world-beaters.

If Chinese leaders want proof, they need look no further than neighboring South Korea. Twenty years ago, Korea had similar problems with its biggest companies as China does today. While the family-managed conglomerates known as chaebols weren’t owned by the state, the financial community in Seoul widely believed they were “too big to fail” and would always be supported by the government. As a result, a few large companies were able to suck up

the economy’s financial resources no matter how poor their performance, how high their debt or how silly their business plans.

Though conglomerates such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG dreamed of becoming innovative enough to compete head-tohead with rivals from the US and Japan, their products were considered secondrate—and earned the low prices to match that reputation.

Today, the chaebols have grown into the national champions China wants its state-owned enterprises to become. Samsung is the largest smartphone brand in the world. Hyundai cars are known for quality. LG has a buffed image in appliances and electronics.

The key was breaking the triangle between government, banking and corporations. During the high-growth period in Korea, the close networks among the nation’s top policymakers, chaebol chiefs and major bankers propelled stellar growth rates by funneling credit to favored industries, thus creating the conditions for high investment. But by the 1990s, that system had begun to work against the economy.

Gorged with easy money, chaebols never had to become truly competitive. Managers, free from oversight by bankers or the demands of profitability, wasted funds on uneconomic projects while starving potentially more productive and innovative parts of the economy of resources.

The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis undid those cozy networks. At the time, Koreans saw the experience as a national humiliation, which forced them into a painful International Monetary Fund bailout. But today, it’s considered a necessary evil, which set the stage for Korea’s leap into the ranks of truly advanced economies.

Banks were freed from state influence and held to more stringent accounting standards; that encouraged them to make smarter loans and to allocate capital more rationally. The government prevented chaebol affiliates from guaranteeing each other’s loans, making it harder for weaker businesses to survive.

Nevertheless, Beijing’s plans don’t even come close to what Korea has already achieved. China’s growth model,

too, has depended crucially on coordination between government, finance and companies. Its SOEs, like the chaebols of yesteryear, vacuum up resources while generating meager returns: According to a November report by bank BBVA, stateowned companies absorb 80 percent of all loans but their return on assets is only a third that of private firms and half the level at foreign-invested companies.

Yet instead of dismantling those clubby government-business ties and trusting the market to make companies more efficient, Beijing’s policymakers want to maintain their control of the commanding heights of the economy, not least to prevent mass layoffs. The Communist Party’s “leadership can only be strengthened rather than undermined as SOE reforms have entered the deep-water zone,” a party document declared in September.

South Korea would never have become the competitive economy it is today without eliminating the old bonds between the state and business. China will never match Korea’s success until it does the same. Bloomberg

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

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

MMDA SET TO OPEN 2 MORE FERRY TERMINALS

EXTRA HANDS SOUGHT TO DECONGEST AIRPORTS

By Joel E. Zurbano

By Vito Barcelo

TWO new Pasig River Ferry terminals will open soon to cater to passengers in Manila and Marikina City.

Lawyer Emerson Carlos, chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, said his agency is set to inaugurate next month a new terminal situated in Marikina City River Bank.

“This will boost the ridership of our ferry system. Our main purpose is to help our people to have alternative mode of transportation and to ease traffic in Metro Manila,” Carlos told The Standard.

The other ferry terminal, which will be built and finance by the city government of Manila, is situated right beside the new Quinta Market in Quiapo where a fishport is also located.

“We are supporting this move of Mayor Erap [Joseph Estrada] because the ferry patronage will increase. Pabor na pabor ito kasi malapit ang lugar na yan sa ilog, and also the good thing is they will be the one to finance this project, not us,” said Carlos.

The new Quinta Maket with a fishport connected to the ferry terminal is envisioned by Estrada in line with the city government’s urban renewal program to generate more jobs and help poor residents of Manila.

“This is a good project, and I think Manileños would love it to have their own fishport because there is no need for them to go somewhere else,” said Carlos.

Manila City engineer Roberto Bernardo said the new Quinta Market is envisioned to spark the development of a new commercial hub in the capital city as the new market expands trading opportunities via the Pasig River.

“These planned Quinta fishport and ferry station will be complemented by a planned project of the government to improve and rehabilitate this river. It is a big advantage to our project because Pasig River is just near this market,” he said.

Benardo said the three-story establishment will be making full use of the Pasig River Ferry route to attract traders and consumers from Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

He added Mayor Estrada also wants the fishport near the market to service barges coming from various locations especially Navotas.

SENATOR Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has urged the transport department to hire additional personnel to assist thousands of passengers going in and out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The Manila International Airport Authority said it was expecting passenger volume to go up by 10 percent this Christmas week from the 1.6 million arrivals and 1.4 million departures last year.

This translates to at least 300,000 additional passengers.

Marcos said that with the expected influx of passengers due to the Christmas holidays, airport personnel should be beefed

up to avoid inconvenience to passengers.

“Passengers have to contend with the monstrous traffic going in and out of our airports in the Naia and they certainly don’t deserve this. That is why our airport officials need to make sure they don’t suffer more inconvenience anymore when they step into the airport. More personnel should be manning our airports especially

the Naia,” Marcos said.

Marcos stressed that while he knows that airport police and personnel are on maximum deployment from Dec. 15 to Jan. 5, they will not be enough to assist all passengers.

He pointed out that he has been receiving numerous complaints that not all gates in the airport terminals are open during peak hours and that only one baggage scanner is working to service those taking midnight flights. This has resulted to more delays because of the long lines created.

“I receive numerous complaints from passengers. I myself have experienced it. And it will only get worse if our airport officials continue to ignore the desperate pleas of our passengers.

The way to solve this for now is for them to hire more personnel to man the gates so that more gates will be opened and more baggage scanners may be operated to service them,” Marcos said.

He further noted that if only airport officials did their job, they need not be reminded of their duties to ensure passenger safety and convenience at the airports.

“This should be very basic for them because this is their job. They need not be reminded but with the many complaints we have been hearing and receiving, I think a small reminder should work so they could at least perform the duties they have sworn to perform,” Marcos added.

FOUNDATION COMPLETES REHAB OF FORT DEL PILAR

THE rehabilitation of the Fort del Pilar Station Hospital in Baguio City is now complete as SM Foundation finished the renovation of the hospital’s second floor. The entire floor which was converted into a Felicidad T. Sy Ward is located at the second floor.

Renovated were the Cadets Wards 1, 2 & 3, Pediatric Ward, Female Surgical Ward, Surgical Ward, OB and Gyne Ward, Pathological Ward, Chief nurse room &Nurses station, Isolation room,

Storage room, and Recovery room. It also has a Prayer room and a Reception/waiting area.

SMFI’s Executive Director of its Medical & Health Programs & Trustee, Connie Angeles drove to Baguio to effect the official turn-over of the finished FelicidadSy Ward to PMA officials.

Two months earlier, SM Foundation turned over to the Philippine Military Academy the Phase 1 reha-

bilitation of the Operating and Delivery Room (OR/DR) complex and the officers and cadets’ ward.The rehabilitation of the Station Hospital comes with brand new medical equipment donated by SMFI among theseare :an anesthesia machine, OR LED lights, multi parameters monitors, ECG units, portable ultrasound machine, infusion pumps, heavy duty suction machine as well as other furnishings for the officers

and cadets’ wards.

Fort del Pilar Station Hospital now joins the roster of military facilities that have benefited from SM Foundation’s support of communities comprising of Filipino enlisted personnel & their dependents in an effort to uplift their lives. Other SM Foundation renovated facilities include: Air Force General Hospital in Pasay City; NAVSOG Sick Bay in Sangley Cavite; Air Force City Hospital in Clark,.

CUSTOMS HIKES IMPORT CARGO FEE

By Vito Barcelo THE Bureau of Customs has issued a revised and uniform rate system that container freights station (OCC) operators charge for consolidated import cargo.

“All OCC rates shall automatically be adjusted proportionately by using as basis the rate of increase of the arrastre and wharfage promulgated by the Philippine Ports Authority,” Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said.

Under the amended CMO 24-2001 and effective by Jan. 1 2016, OCC operators shall collect P1,000 as documentation fee per bill of lading. This revises the old rate of P500 per bill of lading in the old CMO. Lina said the fee for Online Release System is still at P100 per bill of lading.

From date of stripping and storage in the warehouse, rates of ship-

ping are also revised as follows: P60 for one revenue ton or less; P50 for 5 RT or less; P50 for 15 RT or less; and P40 per RT for more than 15 RT. Arrastre and wharfage shall be charged at P375 per revenue ton.

CMO 41 further elucidates that rates based on revenue ton shall be based on measurements/weights declared in the manifest/bill of lading unless a discrepancy in weight or measurement of more than 12 percent is officially reported to the Bureau of Customs by the OCC operator and wharfinger, in which case the actual measurement or weight shall be the basis for applying the approved rates.

Special rates on a case-to-case basis concerning insurance charge, heavy lift and dangerous cargo may apply.

The BOC move was in response to the numerous complaints of al-

leged overcharging by Off-Dock Container Yards/Container Freight Stations operators.

Complaints on overcharging beyond what is provided in this order may be filed with the Deputy Collector for Operation of the concerned Collection District, pursuant to the procedures provided in CMO 32-2015, as applicable.

According to the bureau, the Association of Off-Dock CFS `Operators of the Philippines (ACOP), any OCC operator, or any importer or its authorized customs representative or broker may file such complaint supported by official receipt indicating overcharging.

Customs Commissioner Bert Lina, in the promulgation of these amendments, said “This will help level the playing field among the operators and contribute to improving the business environment of our stakeholders.”

MUSHROOMING. With the support of its membership and under the

leadership of Executive Minister Ka Eduardo Manalo, the Iglesia ni Cristo has dedicated 1,091 chapels in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the past five years. Among the provinces with new and renovated chapels are Bataan, Benguet, Bulacan, Cavite, Camarines Sur, Cebu, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Iloilo, Laguna, La Union, Leyte, Nueva Ecija, Negros Occidental, Palawan, Pangasinan, Rizal, Tarlac and Zambales. In Metro Manila, on the other hand, chapels have also been dedicated in several cities, including Caloocan, Malabon, Manila, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Pasig, Taguig and Quezon City.

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SUNDAY: DECEMBER 20, 2015

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

POLICE COMMISH GRANTS LGU EXECS EXTRA POWERS

By Joel E. Zurbano

THE National Police Commission has empowered governors and mayors to formulate their own policy and strategy to fight criminality in their jurisdiction.

The additional power given to local executives, according to Napolcom vice chairman Eduardo Escueta, is part of the Community and Service-Oriented Policing system to improve the state’s anti-crime prevention campaign.

Escueta said the commission en banc chaired by Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento approved last month Memorandum Circular 2015-003 which prescribed the additional functions and duties of local chief executives as Napolcom deputies.

He added that local chief executives are now authorized to formu-

late and adopt effective mechanisms for the coordination, cooperation and consultation involving the local executives, citizenry and law enforcement agencies.

Governors and mayors are also mandated to formulate and pursue a three-year, term-based Peace and Order and Public Safety Plan, following the guidelines and policies of the DILG, which shall be incorporated in the Comprehensive Development Plan of local government units.

They are likewise authorized to convene the Peace and Order Council quarterly, or as often as the

need arises, and submit semestral accomplishment report.

“The grant of additional authority to the LCEs on top of their mandated powers and functions is intended to boost local development through a more strengthened tripartite collaboration between the local executives, the police and the community,” Escueta said.

Failure to perform the additional functions and duties shall be deemed engaging in acts which negate the effectiveness of the peace and order campaign of the country and which, once validated or established, shall be a ground for the suspension or withdrawal of his/her deputation by the commission.

Escueta said that local executives are automatically deputized as representatives of the commission in their respective jurisdiction pursuant to Section 64 of Republic Act No. 8551 (PNP Reform and Reor-

ganization Act of 1998).

Under Section 51 of R.A. 6975, governors have the power to choose the PNP provincial director from a list of three eligibles recommended by the PNP regional director. They are also authorized to oversee the implementation of the Provincial Public Safety Plan in their capacity as chairman of the Provincial POC. City and Municipal Mayors are empowered to exercise operational supervision and control over the PNP units in their respective jurisdiction; develop and establish, in coordination with the local peace and order council of which they serve as chairman, an Integrated Area/Community Public Safety Plan for implementation by the local police stations; and impose disciplinary penalties for minor offenses committed by PNP members assigned in their jurisdiction.

FIRE(WORKS) AND RAIN. Students of the University of Sto. Tomas brave the rain induced by ‘Onyok’ to watch fireworks during the university’s annual Christmas tradition ‘Paskuhan.’ DANNY PATA

‘YOLANDA’ SURVIVORS RUSH TO AID ‘NONA’ VICTIMS

By Mel Caspe DONATIONS are now pouring in for victims of Typhoon “Nona” in northern Samar as different organizations, government agencies and private groups are stepping up efforts to extend a helping hand.

Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes spearheaded a call for “bayanihan” on friends, colleagues and industry partners to donate Christmas packs.

The activity will be done while DOT will conduct a post-disaster assessment.

The Christmas packs, according to Tiopes, will include gift for kids with school bags, learning supplies and goodies. Family packs with basic home items, which are not usually given during relief operations will be given to victims as well.

With the successful drive, Tiopes thanked donors for the “care and concern” given to the people in typhoon-ravaged province.

The group behind The Tacloban for Northern Samar Relief Operations also made the Rotary Club office as their drop-off points for medicines, food, water and clothing.

Transport of relief goods is being coordinated by Tzu Chi Foundation and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Members of Tingog Sinirangan headed by Jude Acidre and the district office staff of Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez also started packing relief goods to be distributed to the victims of Typhoon “Nona” in the northern part of the region.

Acidre said that on Dec. 15, two-first responder teams were quickly dispatched to distribute food items and conduct a rapid ground assessment in Northern Samar.

4 GUNRUNNERS FALL IN QC

By Florante S. Solmerin

FOUR members of a big-time gunrunners’ group were arrested Friday night but their leader escaped during a buybust operation that also led to the confiscation of highpowered firearms and ammunitions in Barangay Bagong Lipunan, Quezon City, according to Chief Inspector Jeffrey Bilaro, public information chief of the Quezon City Police District.

Bilaro said the gang has been “active for the past 10 years, operating under the cover of “Tin Wo Rock Entreprise”

registered under the name of Ryan Christopher Obra, the principal target of the operation who escaped.

He said the company was registered as a wholesaler of packaging materials and office supplies with the corresponding business permits.

Police said Obra’s group was supplying crime groups with weapons.

In his report, QCPD’s Special Operations Unit commander Superintendent Jay Agcaoili said the gangmen’s arrest was the result of about a month of surveillance arising from a tip from a concerned citizen.

He identified the arrested suspects as Carlo Estoya y Santillan, 41, private security officer and resident of Kampo 2, Talipapa, QC; Eduardo Obra y Rebancos, 57, assistant manager of the company and father of the escaped leader with address at 16-A Santolan Road, Bagong Lipunan, QC; Ryan Quimahan y Payla, 19, houseboy of Obra; and Benky Paya y Blanco, 20, housemaid of Obra.

Agcaoili said the raided apartment was being leased by the group where payments and other transactions with clients were being done.

REHAB. As communities in northern and central Luzon struggle to get back on their feet more than a month after being ravaged by Typhoon ‘Lando,’ Chevron companies in the Philippines recently donated a total of P1 million to the Philippine Red Cross to help in the rehabilitation efforts. PRC Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang (second from left) receives the cheques from CPI general manager for Philippine Products Peter Morris (right), CHPI General Manager Kee Teek Hong (third from left), and CMLLC asset manager Sabino Santos.

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SUNDAY: DECEMBER 20, 2015

Roderick T. dela Cruz EDITOR business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESS A CANADIAN’S VIEW OF THE PHILIPPINES

JULIAN Payne, a Canadian expatriate who has been living in the Philippines for the past two decades, believes that the country’s greatest asset is its over 100 million people, many of whom are service-oriented and highly skilled.

“They are very good for a number of reasons. Obviously, you have a relatively well educated work force. You have the capacity to speak English. That is very important. The Filipino accent is a very neutral one, and therefore very acceptable internationally. That is a big plus,” Payne, a septuagenarian, says in an interview at his office in Makati City.

Payne knows the topic very well. He is an international business advisor who has a wide range of experience in diplomacy, economics, foreign aid and business advisory. He is also the long-time president of the Makati-based Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc. and heads Searep Limited, a consulting firm focusing on Southeast Asia.

He studied economics and politics at Royal Military College of Canada and earned a Master’s in Economics from London School of Economics. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy for three years in the 1960s, became a diplomat in Guyana and Suriname and worked for the Canadian International Development Agency and the Asian Development Bank.

Payne, now semi-retired, lives in Ortigas. “I have been involved with the Canadian Chamber for 21 years, but I have been president only for the past six years,” he says.

As the head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Payne is excited about the growth of the information technology and business process management and global in-house center industry in the Philippines, which has grown tremendously over the past decade because of the country’s highly-skilled, English-proficient labor force.

“We saw this as a potential major area for economic growth in the Philippines,” Payne says, in explaining why the Canadian Chamber chose as its flagship event the annual International

Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines president Julian Payne ICT Awards Philippines.

“This was launched 10 years ago, which was an initiative of one of our then vice presidents.

We thought it would be a useful contribution to the ICT to have an awards program to recognize the very best. We support the economic growth of the Philippines,” says Payne.

The Canadian Chamber teamed up with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines to hold the 10th International ICT Awards Philippines on March 22, 2016 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City. Nominations for 14 awards and two special categories are open to eligible companies and

individuals in the Philippines.

Nominations can be submitted online until Jan. 31, 2016.

Payne says more than 100 nominations are expected to be submitted for the awards. He says come the awards night, more than 500 individuals are expected to attend the event.

Among the sponsors are Globe Business and PLDT Alpha Enterprise.

The awards include best company of the year, best employer, best Filipino-owned company, best company outside the National Capital Region, best global in-house center, most innovative company, best voice excellence company, best emerging IT-BPM company,

best emerging IT-BPM company for healthcare, best emerging IT-BPM company for finance and accounting, best software company, best Philippine mobile app, best BPO team leader (by on-line voting) and best ICT CEO. Special categories are individual contributor of the year and hall of fame awards.

Payne says the awards now focus on recognizing Filipinoowned companies as well as companies with headquarters outside Metro Manila. “We thought that it is in the interest of the industry to recognize those companies that are outside the National Capital Region,” he says. “We also try to

recognize Filipino-owned companies. A lot of BPO companies are basically foreign-owned. In this case, we put a category and the eligibility is limited to those with 60-percent ownership by Filipino. These were designed to broaden the coverage of the industry, far wider than the traditional ones.”

Payne says to choose the deserving companies, CanCham has made the judging procedures more transparent and the criteria for judging more objective. “And we publish it all.

For example, how do we choose the judges? With the advice of IBPAP, CanCham chooses the judges each year. There is gonna be seven judges, four from the industry and three from outside the industry.”

“The selection of judges is very, very objective. They cannot be nominees, they cannot be sponsors. We manage to do that,” he says. “The judges have to make a decision by super majority. It is not unanimous. So five of the seven judges have to agree.”

Payne says the IT-BPM sector has become a huge industry in the Philippines, with more than a million employees. “It is a huge and important industry and one of the purposes of this award program is to really recognize the best in the industry, therefore ensuring excellence, because we need to compete,” he says.

Payne says to stay ahead of the game, the Philippines needs to maintain its advantage. “Obviously, English is becoming more of a standard language, not only in the Philippines, but you are seeing younger generation in Cambodia and Vietnam learning English. The second thing is that the industry is not just voice, it is also technical service. In India, you have very skilled technical people. You are getting competition in the non-voice side. Basically, in my view, as long as the Philippines maintains a very high English standard capacity, and as long as it increases its technical expertise for the non-voice side, and as long as the basic cost remains competitive, then the industry should be able to continue,” he says.

Payne says Canadian companies are also present in the Philippine BPO sector, including Telus, which is one of the largest players. Canadian companies are also major investors in other sectors, particularly the insurCONTINUED ON B3

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HOW A SHOPLESS COMPANY SELLS A LOT OF SMARTPHONES ONE of the best-selling smartphones in the Philippines is not even available at brick-and-mortar stores, but the marketing guys at Alcatel Flash make sure that these mobile devices reach the consumers just the same.

“Sales have been extraordinary for Flash 2. We have met every sales target,” says Albert Wong, general manager for mobile Internet group of TCL Communications, the Chinese company that acquired Alcatel Mobile Phones from Alcatel-Lucent of France in 2005.

Alcatel Flash is a unit of TCL that manufacturers the Flash model of camera smartphones for the Southeast Asian market, including the Philippines. Its latest product is Flash 2, known for its 5.5-inch screen, volcanic ash color and Android Octa-core 1.4 GHz processor.

Wong says sales of Flash 2, which is perfect for mobile photography, have exceeded expectations in the Philippines, even without making them available at traditional shops.

The marketing strategy, he says, is that Alcatel teamed up with e-commerce website Lazada to bring the product to the Filipino consumers.

“With these products, we can sell thousands of units in an hour online,” says Wong, who focuses on promoting Flash 2 across Southeast Asia.

On how this became possible, he says the whole thing is about e-commerce marketing.

“I am based in Hong Kong but I travel around Southeast Asia,” Wong says in an interview. “We are doing a decent job in a couple of countries. Flash 2 is selling

great in the Philippines and Indonesia.”

Aside from the regional headquarters in Hong Kong, Alcatel Flash has an office in Makati City, where it employs 10 people, mostly in marketing. Wong acknowledges the Philippine team for surpassing the sales target. “Offline, we are still planning what our sales target is gonna be,” he says.

With the initial success of its products, Alcatel Flash held a fans day at the Ayala Triangle Garden in Makati City. Alcatel Flash Philippines is one of the best performing countries in Asia Pacific both in sales and social media engagement, says Sheree Gayas, country marketing manager of Alcatel Flash.

“For online, our exclusive partner is Lazada. We are good partners and we will continue to partner with them to see how we could increase sales and have an even bigger market share,”says Wong.

Wong says Flash 2 is the top selling smartphone at Lazada. “Lazada is the biggest online store. It covers 90 percent of the online business. In the smartphone alone, we are the biggest selling.

So I think, if you have such a scale in ecommerce and we are the biggest, I think Flash 2 is the bestselling smartphone online,” he says.

The new Flash 2 phone has a 147-gram weight and designed to be sturdy, with an arc on the phone’s back, giving a comfortable sense to the fingers, according to an Alcatel Flash press statement.

The phone is manufactured in China where Alcatel Flash has a large manufacturing facility. Wong says the company will continue to address the preference of the young generation for smartphones, with higher specs, improved software and enhanced mobile camera experience.

“We have not even gone offline yet.

By mid-January, we will go offline,” says Wong. Roderick T. dela Cruz

TCL Communications general manager for mobile Internet group Albert Wong (left) and Alcatel Flash country manager for the Philippines Lei Zhang

FRANCHISEE OF THE YEAR SHARES VALUABLE TIPS STEERING a franchise business to sustainable growth and profitability is an arduous process as there is no guaranteed formula to success. Which is why reaping the fruits of success is indeed sweet— a much-deserved culmination of all the hard work, dedication and aspirations by those who strived hard to achieve it.

This is what 7-Eleven franchisee Froilan Manotok prides himself on after he was named 2015 Franchisee of the Year in the recent Franchise Excellence Awards by the Philippine Franchise Association.

Dubbed the country’s first and only industry award for the franchising sector, the Franchise Excellence Awards is a prestigious recognition given to the homegrown and foreign franchisors and franchisees who showed excellence and meritorious leadership in business growth and franchise operations.

To be nominated for the award, honorees must exhibit exceptional performance in all aspects of their business throughout the year. As per stores, these must demonstrate excellence in operations, marketing, product and service offerings, sales and customer satisfaction, among others.

In the first years since he started running his own 7-Eleven franchise store in Taguig in 2012, Manotok saw and felt the thrill of personally providing patrons in the community— mainly residents, students, BPO employees and office workers in nearby business vicinities—with highest levels of quality products, convenience and customer service.

“It’s a great challenge and privilege to go above and beyond customers’ expectations while maintaining the global standards and systems set by the 7-Eleven franchise in everyday store operations. I’m so honored to be chosen as Franchisee of the Year,” Manotok said.

The 46 year-old Manotok is a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Administration graduate from the University of the Philippines. He is also the third Filipino to earn the Certified Franchise Executive certification from the International Franchise Association University (Institute of Certified Franchise Executives) in Washington, D.C. Apart from being an awardwinning franchisee, Manotok is also currently the assistant vice president for Foodcourt Opera-

7-Eleven franchisee Froilan Manotok receives the Franchisee of the Year award, a prestigious merit given for excellent and meritorious business leadership. tions of SM Malls. Together with his wife and sister, Manotok manages three C-stores.

Manotok shares what he has learned about thriving as a franchisee. “I believe that what sets great businesses apart from others lies from the very choice of franchise opportunity, followed by the franchisee’s solid commitment, how he or she should

add a personal touch in helping grow the business through strategic management direction,” he said.

For individuals looking to make that career transition by investing in a franchising opportunity, Manotok shared the following pieces of advice: “First, research carefully about what the franchise has to offer and research more if it indeed delivers on its promise, like how it has expanded through the years.”

Having previous background as a franchise business development head for two top local fast food chains, Manotok said it highly important for aspiring franchisees to evaluate their “readiness”.

“It’s very important that you invest on a business that you are naturally passionate about and have basic knowledge about. Be hands-on. Of course, well-placed support and mentoring systems are vital in the success of the franchise,” he said.

“Investment-wise, 7-Eleven is a strong brand and definitely a more ideal business option. In terms of potential, the C-store business is booming and it continues to stay relevant among Filipino consumers. With my recent award, I hope

to inspire fellow franchisees to make their stores also successful,” Manotok said.

Francis Medina, business development division manager of Philippine Seven Corp., the exclusive licensor of 7-Eleven in the country, said the group is tremendously honored to have Manotok as a solid partner in growing the business organization and the brand.

“We are so proud of Mr. Manotok for earning this award.

It is really an incredible honor that one of our true and dedicated assets was recognized by the PFA as one of the country’s best and brightest franchisees,” Medina said.

Apart from the prestige, Medina said Manotok’s award also highlights the kind of entrepreneurial drive of every Filipino 7-Eleven franchisee. It also reaffirmed the brand’s industry leadership and PSC’s mission to attract franchisees who are truly dedicated in growing the business.

“His accomplishment also gives tribute to the strength of our brand. This is what inspires PSC further in providing aspiring franchise partners with the essential support and assistance they need to achieve and exceed their goals,” said Medina.

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A CANADIAN’S...

FROM B1

ance industry.

“Sunlife and Manulife are the biggest and they have been here for 100 years. They are very well known across the country,” he says. Canadian companies also have investments in mining, ICT and electronics sectors.

An area of opportunity, he says, is medical tourism, because of the excellent healthcare provided by top hospitals in Metro Manila. “Another area in tourism relates to Filipinos in Canada. There is a lot of family travel.

There are 800,000 Filipinos in Canada now and a lot of them have extended families here. So you are seeing an increasing flow of travel between the two countries related to families,” he says.

Meanwhile, about 25,000 to 50,000 Canadians live in the Philippines, but the number could change, if the Canadians of Filipino descent would be included in the count, he says.

Payne says he has been living in the Philippines on retirement visa. He says while the retirement sector is also another area of opportunity, there are several issues that affect the sector such as the long distance between the two countries. “As air travel becomes less expensive, like if a budget airline establishes service between the Philippines and Canada, you might see that grow more,” he says.

“The second problem is when you retire, you want to own a home. Under Philippine laws and regulations, I can only own a condo. I cannot own land and a house.

Some of us, me included, would much prefer to have a land and a house with a garden than a condo,” he says.

“That becomes a disincentive. In the US, you can buy land. You can buy land even in Vietnam now.”

Among the advantages of the Philippines is the quality of services here, he says. “When you get older and medical services become important, medical services here are excellent. As you get older, you become more dependent on household care. This is cost effective in the Philippines. The third thing, when you are old, you don’t want to shovel snow,” he says, referring to the cold climate of Canada. Payne is from Toronto.

He says in terms of investments, the Philippines is becoming more attractive as a market. “Obviously, if a country has more than 100 million people, that is a big market. It is a market that is basically reaching middleincome levels. Therefore, it has disposable income. Obviously it is a huge market,” he says.

“So you are seeing great interest in international trade and international investment. The problem with foreign investment is the foreign investment restriction which is fairly restricted compared with other countries.

Secondly, the ease of doing business, which has much improved in recent years, but still it is more difficult to invest here compared to like Vietnam. Bottomline, there is not much investment yet, but interest is increasing. We think that if the government will ease on restrictions, foreign investment will increase,” he says.

Payne says there are four areas that require improvement. “First of all, you need less protectionism in trade and foreign investment. You need more open markets.

Second thing is the ease of doing business. It is how many permits you have to get. How many forms you have to fill up. How long it will take. In some countries, you can form a corporation in one day and two steps. The third area is corruption. Again, this exists in many countries. Obviously, you need to improve that situation. The fourth is the judiciary. It is absolutely essential in business to have a judicial system that you can depend on and understand,” he says.

Payne says the Philippines should also prepare for economic integration. “We are going through some momentous changes there. There is the Asean integration.

Second, there is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Canada has signed on, but the Philippines has not yet.

If you want to take advantage of this huge thing, people may have to adjust,” says Payne.

Payne says the Canadian Chamber on its own started discussions on the Philippines-Canada free trade agreement. “This is very interesting. Canada has no FTA with any Asean country. It has no window into Asean.

So a free trade agreement between the Philippines and Canada can actually give Canada a window into Asean. Similarly, it will give the Philippines a window into North American Free Trade Area,” he says.

CanCham had 318 members as of November 2015, with half of them Canadian and international companies and the rest Philippine members with Canadian interest. The chamber has a full-time staff of eight, with six in Manila, one in Cebu and one in Davao.

“We have started consulting our members about what they think about a free trade agreement. We will continue doing that into New Year. Eventually, we will come up with a position on the scope of the free trade agreement,” says Payne. Roderick T. dela Cruz

F5 Networks Philippines senior system engineer Jobert David and F5 Networks Philippines country manager Oscar Visaya (right) announce the findings of the State of Application Delivery 2015 survey during a news briefing in Makati City.

COMPANY THRIVES AMID THE RISE OF MOBILE APPS OSCAR Visaya, an electronics engineer, is hiring more people next year to expand the Philippine team of F5 Networks, a US technology company named after the highest intensity level of tornadoes.

“In 2016, we are very bullish. That’s why I asked my corporation to invest in adding five more people.

Three of them were already hired and two more, I will be hiring in three to six months, which shows we are bullish not only in 2016, but also for the next three years,” Visaya, the country manager of F5 Networks Philippines, says in an interview in Makati City.

Visaya helped establish the operations of F5 in the Philippines in 2011 and is now responsible for the overall Philippines market growth. Prior to F5 Networks, Visaya, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Saint Louis University, served for 14 years at Cisco. He was one of Cisco’s most awarded systems engineers in AsiaPacific.

F5 was founded on Feb. 5, 1996, hence also the name. “We are gonna be 20 years old on Feb. 5. That’s why the name F5. But the 5 there is really the intensity level of tornado. The founders went to watch the movie ‘Twister,’ where it was mentioned. That’s how they got the name,” says Vi-

saya.

Visaya says like a tornado, F5 also rocked the IT scene when it was formed two decades ago. “During that time, it was a solution that brought tornado in the marketplace when Internet was still booming,” he says.

“There was a problem of scaling the Internet server and we initially provided load balancing. We addressed requirements from different industries. We focused on financial industries, telco and government but a lot of enterprise customers including manufacturing, retail and education are also part of the customer base,” says Visaya.

“Our story is around the three key features we are delivering for our customers.

Applications are very vital to the survival of a business.

What we do for these applications is we provide the highest security, the highest availability and the fastest performance,” he says, in explaining what F5 does.

F5, the leader in application delivery networking, provides hardware and software solutions to deliver fast, secure and reliable applications on any device, he says.

“Some of our competitors would just provide security, but even if it is secure and it is not fast, then you will not use it. On the other hand, if a company would come in and provide acceleration for the apps, and it doesn’t provide security, then it is fast but not secure.

We completed the story by creating the solutions that provide three of them,” says Visaya.

“In the Philippines, we are playing in the highgrowth areas of telco and financial services. We have a team of nine people, and

I will be adding two more,” he says.

“When we started the business [in 2011], there were only 15 or 20 customers.

Now, we have 100 plus customers. Over the past four years, we added more than 100 customers,” says Visaya.

Visaya says F5 is a player in layers 4 to 7 of the network switch market, with layers 1 to 3 being served by other companies such as Cisco.

“Technically, we play in the layers 4 to 7 space,” he says.

“We have two other serious players in the space, but we are the market leader. Globally, our market share ranges between 49 percent and 52 percent. But in the Philippines, what I have seen is that it ranges between 70 and 92 percent,” he says.

Visaya says companies have discovered the value of F5 services. “We have experience to show that even if you buy expensive networking hardware, but if the applications do not run, then that ROI [return on investment] is zero.

It has grown and a lot of people are now recognizing the value of what we offer. That is the reason why over the past four years, we have grown.

For our customers who deployed four years ago, they are still buying. Some of the bigger ones, they are buying every year. They are expanding our customer base,” says Visaya.

Visaya says the services provided by F5 are becoming even more relevant with the rise of applications.

“We are living in applications world. We need to provide solutions to the applications world. It is really happening. Mobile apps are there. There are actually businesses that run on

apps. Think about Uber.

Without their app, they are nothing,” says Visaya.

F5 Networks has recently introduced expansions in its security and cloud services to extend application delivery in the face of the rising use of applications across organizations.

Visaya, citing the key findings of ‘The State of Application Delivery in APAC 2015’ survey, says the use of applications by Asia Pacific companies is growing and shows no signs of abating.

He says enterprise applications are increasingly being moved into the cloud as organizations embrace the ‘cloud-first’ philosophy.

Among those surveyed, almost half (45 percent) currently deploy 1 to 200 applications, while almost 10 percent of organizations currently deploy more than 3,000 applications.

The study also shows that at least 41 percent of IT decision makers are open to moving up to a quarter (24 percent) of their applications to the cloud by 2016.

Visaya says F5 solutions broaden the reach of IT through an open, extensible framework and a rich partner ecosystem of leading technology and orchestration vendors.

“Anything about e-commerce, there is opportunity. I was telling the team and our partners, as long as there is commerce site, it is a potential customer. Right now in the Philippines, they are sprouting like mushrooms,” he says.

“If they move to become an e-commerce company, their website is their business. We will make that secure and we will make that fast,” says Visaya.

Roderick T. dela Cruz

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Photo shows (from left) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margall, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Philip Hammond, and US Secretary of State John Kerry vote during a UN Security Council meeting on Syria at the United Nations in New York on December 18, 2015. The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing a peace process to end the nearly five-year war in Syria. AFP

UN COUNCIL BACKS SYRIA PEACE PLAN

THE UN Security Council threw its unanimous support Friday behind a plan to end Syria’s brutal civil war by summoning rebels and the regime to the negotiating table.

The US and Russian initiative, which emerged from talks with a 17-nation group, foresees a rapid ceasefire in the almost five-year conflict, perhaps as early as next month.

If the plan brings Bashar alAssad’s regime to the table with the armed opposition, it will allow Russian and US-led forces to focus their firepower on the Islamic State group.

“In January we hope and expect to be at the table and to be able to implement a full ceasefire,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters.

“And that means all the barrel bombs will stop, all the bombing, all the shooting, all the attacks on either side.”

The Security Council met Friday after the latest round of talks by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), which had gathered in New York to renew its push for peace.

Attention now turns to Moscow and Riyadh, as Russia pressures Assad’s regime to agree to a ceasefire and Saudi Arabia wrangles the opposition to form a negotiating team.

The UN special envoy on the

conflict, Staffan de Mistura, said he would send out invitations to talks in January.

“Let’s be realistic,” he said, explaining a decision to push back the planned date of talks from January 1 to later in the same month.

“We intend and hope... that we will be able to do it in January. We will be aiming at that.”

The United States and Arab allies remain convinced Assad must leave office as part of the process, but his ally Moscow insists this is a decision for the Syrian people.

The resolution does not touch on this vital issue.

‘Massacred so many’ “Only a Syrian-led, inclusive dialogue can put an end to the untold suffering of the Syrian people,” Russian Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov warned the Security council.

Nevertheless, Kerry—who has “agreed to disagree” with Moscow on Assad’s fate—said the vote would act as a springboard for forging ahead with peace talks.

He emphasized that victory over the Islamic State group, also known by the Arabic acronym Daesh, hinges on a peaceful settlement in the broader Syrian civil war.

“We know that Daesh can never be allowed to gain control in Syria so we have a global imperative here to deal with a terrorist entity but also to end the civil war,” he said.

“President Assad in our judgment... has lost the ability, the credibility to be able to unite the country and to provide the moral credibility to be able to govern it.” AFP

CUBAN MIGRANTS IN LIMBO AS SUMMIT ENDS A SUMMIT of Central American leaders in El Salvador on Friday failed to break a regional impasse over the fate of 5,000 US-bound Cuban migrants blocked in Costa Rica for weeks.

“There was no solution at this summit to the problem with the Cuban migrants. There was no consensus over what should be done —each country has its own point of view on the matter,” Nicaragua’s deputy foreign minister, Denis Moncada, told AFP. He added that his country’s view was that the United States should step in to offer a solution.

The Cubans—another 1,200 of whom are also stranded in Panama—have been left in limbo for a month, since Nicaragua closed its border to them on Nov. 15 and posted soldiers and police to ensure

none slipped in.

The migrants are the tail end of a stream of Cubans leaving their island in a bid to reach America, driven by a fear that thawing Washington-Havana ties might put an end to a Cold War-era US policy of accepting Cubans who step foot on US soil.

That stream spiked higher this year, before Ecuador ended its visafree entry for Cubans this month.

That shut the door on their principal entry point to mainland Latin America before an overland slog through Central America and Mexico to the US border.

Costa Rica, which in November dismantled a people-smuggling ring the Cubans had been relying on, has been trying in vain to get other Central American states to take in the migrants and let them continue their journey. AFP

Tourists visit the Old Havana, on Dec. 16, 2015. Crowds of foreign tourists walk at the historical center of Havana while Cuban migrants mass at refuges in Costa Rica on their way to the US. When Cuba and the US announced a year ago that they would end five decades of enmity, few imagined the double effect this would produce. AFP

OVERDOSE DEATHS IN US HIT RECORD HIGH MORE people died of drug overdoses last year in the United States than ever before, largely due to disturbing increases in prescription painkillers and heroin use, health authorities said Friday.

Health chiefs warned of a surging opioid “epidemic” that is ripping families and communities apart.

More than 47,000 people died last year from drugs, higher than during any previous year on record, said the report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Deaths due to opioid overdoses jumped 14 percent in just one year, said the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Six in 10 of all drug overdose deaths were due to opioids, which may include either pill-based medications to dull pain or the street drug heroin.

Drug overdose deaths were about 1.5 times more common than car crash fatalities last year, said the report.

“The increasing number of deaths from opioid overdose is alarming,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden.

“The opioid epidemic is devastating American families and communities. To curb these trends and save lives, we must help prevent addiction and provide support and treatment to those who suffer from opioid use disorders.”

Drug overdoses have killed almost half a million people in the United States from 2000 to 2014, and the rate of opioid overdoses has tripled since 2000.

The CDC said “two distinct but interrelated trends” are visible in the data: a 15-year rise in prescription painkiller deaths and a more recent surge in heroin use and overdose deaths. AFP

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WORLD editorial@thestandard.com.ph

NEW ISIS THREAT EMERGE IN NIGERIA NIGERIA, which is still battling Boko Haram militants, now risks unleashing a new Islamist threat after violent clashes between the army and a radical Shiite group, experts say.

Though no official death toll was released, at least a dozen members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed in confrontations with the army during a religious procession last week in the northern city of Zaria.

IMN leader Ibrahim Zakzaky was seriously wounded and arrested by the army while his number two was killed during the clashes.

The military was forced to put out a denial after rumours spread that Zakzaky’s wife died in custody.

The violence mirrors the bloody beginning of the Boko Haram

insurrection in 2009, when the former leader of the Sunni militant group was executed in police custody and the sect took up arms against the Nigerian government.

Nigeria’s highest Muslim authority, the Sultan of Sokoto, on Monday urged the authorities to show “restraint”.

“Don’t create a new Boko Haram,” warned Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakarr in a statement.

“The past, with cataclysmic consequences that Nigeria is yet to recover from, should not be allowed to repeat itself,” he added.

Battling Boko Haram is a priority for Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who has vowed to end the insurgency that has claimed 17,000 lives.

Boko Haram has shifted its strategy from raiding villages to relying on deadly bomb attacks in its quest to overthrow the government and create a hardline Islamist state in the northeast of the west African nation of some 170 million people.

‘Risk of escalation’ Zakzaky, who founded IMN in the 1980s, has been monitored by Nigerian security forces for years on suspicion that he is trying to create an independent Shiite state.

As a defiant preacher in the late 1970s, he described the country as being run by thieves.

“The IMN attracts impoverished Muslim youths by preaching defiance of Nigeria’s secular authorities and offering a social infrastructure that is not provided by the state,” said Malte Liewerscheidt, Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a research and investment firm.

“Like other Shiite movements around the world, the IMN enjoys political and financial support from the Shia regime in Iran,” Liewerscheidt said.

The army says the hardline rhetoric boiled over into violence in Zaria, with the Shiite worshippers allegedly attacking the convoy of army chief Yusuf Buratai —a claim denied by IMN. Soldiers attacked and destroyed a mosque, while Zakzaky was severely injured and his

house was destroyed.

The total toll of the clashes, which continued between soldiers and hundreds of Shiite faithful for two days, is unknown, but it is likely to amount to dozens of deaths, according to testimony gathered by AFP. “Whilst the final death toll is unclear, there is no doubt there has been a substantial loss of life at the hands of the military,” said M.K. Ibrahim, director of Amnesty International in Nigeria, who called for a “impartial investigation” into the Zaria events.

“Since Nigeria’s security forces are ill-equipped and trained to deal with riot control, the escalation of a local confrontation with the IMN was just a matter of time,” said Liewescheidt. AFP

EMERGING POWERS RISE IN IMF

Pakistani Shiite Muslims carry placards depicting Ibrahim Zakzaky, a Nigerian Shiite radical who wants to set up an Islamic Republic, at a protest against the killing of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and Nigeria, in Lahore. Hundreds of supporters of the pro-Iranian Islamic Movement of Nigeria marched through the streets of Kaduna’s Unguwar Nupawa area, calling for the release of Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, who has been detained by the military since Dec. 13. AFP

CARTER IN AFGHANISTAN AS VIOLENCE ESCALATES US DEFENSE Secretary Ashton Carter arrived in Afghanistan Friday for meetings with military commanders, as the security situation deteriorates with a surge in Taliban attacks and the creeping emergence of the Islamic State group.

The unannounced visit comes just days after a Pentagon report presented a grim portrait of the war which has inflicted a growing number of casualties on hardpressed Afghan forces.

During an event with soldiers at a US base near Jalalabad city in the eastern province of Nangarhar, Secretary Carter warned of the Taliban’s continued threat to security in the country, while lauding the troops for training Afghan forces to battle the insurgents.

“The Afghan security forces are getting there,” said Carter, according to a statement released by the

Department of Defense.

“They’re fighting, number one, and number two, they’re fighting more and more effectively as they operate more and more on their own.”

The volatile province of Nangarhar also faces an emerging threat from loyalists of the Islamic State group (IS), which is making gradual inroads in Afghanistan, challenging the Taliban on their own turf.

During his speech, Carter vowed to root out IS in both the Middle East and elsewhere.

“We’re going to kill it in its home tumour of Iraq and Syria,” said Carter. “But then we have to recognise that there are little nests of it spring up all over—all over the world.”

This month marks a year since the US- and NATO-led mission in Afghanistan transitioned into an Afghan-led operation, with allied nations assisting in training local

This file photo shows US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter as he testifies during a Senate Armed Services Commitee hearing on Islamic State and US policy in Iraq and Syria in Washington, DC. AFP

forces.

President Barack Obama in October announced that thousands of US troops will remain in Afghanistan past 2016, backpedalling on previous plans to shrink the force and acknowledging that Afghan forces are not ready to

stand alone.

The Taliban briefly captured the strategic northern city of Kunduz in September in their most spectacular victory in 14 years, dealing a stinging blow to Afghan forces as they battle the insurgents on multiple fronts. AFP

CHINA, India and Russia will soon speak with a louder voice at the International Monetary Fund.

After years of opposition, the US Congress has dismantled the final barrier to reforms that will give the emerging-market powers more say in the affairs of the 188-nation global crisis lender.

The IMF reforms are part of a $1.1 trillion spending package approved by Congress on Friday, and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Adopted in 2010 by the international community, the reforms were expected to take effect in 2012.

But with the United States holding by far the largest share of voting rights at the IMF, Congress’s refusal to approve the reforms had held up their implementation, to the consternation of IMF management and members.

The blockage has been a sore point between President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration and the opposition Republicans who control Congress.

Republicans had rejected the slightest favorable gesture toward the multinational organization, the object of some criticism in Washington for its largesse toward Greece.

In recent years, international summits have unfailingly included a pointed reminder about the stalled reform process—seen as all the more frustrating since the United States was among the first countries to call for an IMF overhaul in 2010 amid the global financial crisis.

At the end of their last summit in mid-November in Turkey, the Group of 20 economic powers said in a statement that they “remain deeply disappointed” with the delay in reforms and “we urge the United States to ratify these reforms as soon as possible.”

The long stall also led the socalled BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—to set up an economic alternative, launching in July 2014 their own monetary fund and development bank. AFP

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SPORTS

REUEL VIDAL EDITOR

sports@thestandard.com.ph

GLOBALPORT LOOMS AS TITLE CONTENDER Coach Pido Jarencio

GlobalPort Batang Pier point guard Stanley Pringle (center) penetrates into the paint against a phalanx of defenders. Pringle not only scores he sets the offense and helps his teammates score.

By Reuel Vidal

GLOBALPORT Batang Pier is poised to chase league-leaders San Miguel Beermen, Alaska Aces and Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters into the semifinals of the 2015-2016 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup. Basketball experts uniformly picked San Miguel Beer and the other San Miguel Corporation teams Barangay Ginebra and Star

Hotshots as well as MVP group of companies flagship team Talk N Text Tropang texters to be title contenders this conference.

San Miguel Beer has won two of three PBA titles up for

GlobalPort Batang Pier big men Billy Mamaril (2) and Jay Washington (23) double team to foil the layup attempt of Alaska Aces guard RJ Jazul (31).

grabs last season, so it’s really not surprising to see them at the top of the standings now.

Somehow Alaska and Rain Or Shine have barged into title contention again bucking the odds and experts’ predictions which is what they’ve been regularly doing these past years.

The fourth team likely to contend for the Philippine Cup title by advancing to the semifinals is GlobalPort.

Star player Terrence Romeo, who gives the PBA the closest approximation of a Steph Curry level player right down to the pre-game routine of dribbling two basketballs at once, is at forefront of GlobalPort’s high octane offense.

Romeo can shoot the lights out from anywhere on the playing court.

But more than just his uncanny shooting ability Romeo relies on quickness and creativity to create for himself or for his teammates.

Romeo doesn’t rely on just blazing speed and athleticism. He is more dangerous because of his unpredictability, whether it’s driving to the hole off the dribble, drilling the open outside shot or converting a contested mid-range jumper.

While Romeo is a point-making machine Stanley Pringle’s steady all around playmaking is just as important to GlobalPort’s offense.

Pringle not only scores he sets the

satile scoring forward who can put the ball on the floor to drive, post up and overwhelm defenders with his size or even hit from the outside with his accurate outside shooting.

Mamaril is probably the most underrated player in the PBA right now. He is strong, athletic and talented. He doesn’t like to score much but instead focuses on collecting rebounds and shutting down or at least limiting the production of his counterpart, whoever he may be, on the floor. He can also score by hitting open jumpers.

Oh, and he likes to hit people on the sly often for no reason at all.

Then there are the big bruisers off the bench like Dorian Pena, Doug Kramer and Mark Isip who provide the muscle and the bonejarring fouls when needed.

Finally, there is the blood-andguts coach Pido Jarencio who is not only bald like Yeng Guiao but who is also as much a throwback coach as the Elasto Painters’ mentor.

Like Guiao, Jarencio is not much of an Xs and Os type coach. He has assistants to do that. Like Guiao, Jarencio focuses on motivating his players whether it’s by cajoling them to give their best or berating them for making mistakes.

Yes, GlobalPort may have lost to

GlobalPort Batang Pier guard Terrence Romeo (7) starts another offensive sequence for his team.

offense and helps his teammates score.

He is also a stalwart defender who is strong, athletic and tenacious at the defensive end.

Then there’s Joseph Yeo who provides a steady option off the bench at either guard position. Yeo can orchestrate the offense when needed and is as versatile a scorer as Romeo.

Two talented big men in Jay Washington and Billy Mamaril give GlobalPort size, heft and skill upfront. Washington is ver-

a short-handed Tropang Texters squad recently. But that was a nobearing game because, win or lose, GlobalPort had already made it to the quarterfinals with a twice-tobeat advantage to boot.

The Batang Pier may not have the deepest bench. They may not be the best PBA team in either defense or offense but GlobalPort has some of the most hard-working and motivated players out there on the hardcourt.

They are legitimate title contenders.

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SPORTS

ARMAN ARMERO EDITOR

sports@thestandard.com.ph

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KOBE BRYANT, FATHER TIME AND THE END OF AN ERA

Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs

Kobe Bryabt of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves hugs each other before their game kast Decenber 9 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. AFP

By Jeric Lopez

THE end of an era is certainly at hand.

Most basketball fanatics in their mid-20s and early 30s grew up idolizing superstars Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter.

Those superstars became the faces of the National Basketball Association starting the late 90s after Michael Jordan retired and passed the torch to them.

But one by one, superstars who began their careers in the 90s are retiring and hanging up their boots as father time inevitably caught up with them.

After Bryant, arguably the greatest player in last decade’s era as well as arguably the best Los Angeles Laker of all-time, recently announced his plan of retiring at the end of this 201516 season, many are slowly accepting the fact that a significant era in basketball is slowly ending.

The others are also on borrowed time now as they are also already up there in age just like Bryant, who is now 37 years old.

Except for Bryant, those above-

mentioned superstars are the ones left from the draft classes in the 90’s.

Garnett, now in his 21st season is the league’s longest tenured player who was drafted in the 1995 class.

Bryant and the semi-retired Ray Allen are the only two cagers left from the very talented 1996 batch.

Even if the time is limited for this set of superstars who carried the NBA for the last two decades, the impact that they made in the world of basketball is still being

Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks.

felt, even among the rising stars, such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.

And like the sentimental farewell treatment that Bryant is getting now in his final NBA games this season, expect the same thing for his fellow superstars from the 90s as well when they decide to hang up their gloves for good.

The respect and admiration for the superstars that kept the NBA going in its transition period will always be there.

WARRIORS TAKE REVENGE, EDGE BUCKS THE Golden State Warriors avenged their only defeat of the NBA season on Friday, rallying for a 121-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Six nights after the Bucks ended the Warriors’ seasonopening winning streak at 24 games, Milwaukee threatened to hand Golden State a first defeat on their home floor in Oakland, California, since last January.

But shooting guard Klay Thompson had a game-high 27 points and Stephen Curry added 26 along with 10 rebounds and nine assists as the Warriors notched their 30th straight regular-season home win and their 12th this season.

The score was knotted at 108-108 when Curry drove for a basket with 2:16 to play and then added two free throws.

Andre Iguodala drained a three-pointer to give Golden State their biggest lead of the game at 115-108 with 1:21 remaining.

Point guard Michael Carter-Williams had 24 points for the Bucks, who led by as many as 15 in the third quarter but endured their fifth defeat in their last six starts.

Milwaukee led 100-89 five minutes into the final period.

But Warriors forward Draymond Green scored eight consecutive points to ignite a surge that saw Golden State pull level at 100-100 with 6:08 to play.

The hosts seized the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Festus Ezeli’s dunk with 5:11 to go made it 103-102.

Bucks tied it three times after that, but never led again.

The San Antonio Spurs,

who have labored quietly in the shadow of the Warriors building the second-best record in the league, improved to 15-0 at home this season with a 115-107 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

In their first meeting since the Clippers eliminated the Spurs in a sensational first-round playoff duel last season, San Antonio produced an 11-0 scoring run to open the fourth quarter and held on for the victory.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead San Antonio, who improved to 23-5.

Veteran French point guard Tony Parker scored 21 points for the Spurs. Ten of those came in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer that closed the 11-point run and gave San Antonio a 96-88 lead

with 9:17 to play.

Forward Kawhi Leonard added 19 points, center Tim Duncan 14 and forward Danny Green 10.

In Chicago, the Detroit Pistons outlasted the Bulls 147-144 in a rare quadruple overtime marathon.

It was just the eighth quadruple overtime contest since the NBA-ABA merger in the 1970s, and Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy called the experience “excruciating.”

“It was an epic game,” Van Gundy said. “You don’t play too many four-overtime ones. I’ve never been in one.

It was incredible, but it’s only fun if you’re on our end of it at the end. It’s excruciating if you’re on their end of it, and it’s excruciating while you’re going through it.”

OAKLAND -- Stephen Curry (#30) and teammate Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors run the breaks during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 18, 2015 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. AFP

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ReUel viDAl EDITOR sports@thestandard.com.ph

sports In search of MMa’s PacquIao

Referee Monith Pabroa takes charge of the MMA action at the cage

By Randy Caluag

CHO Kwang Rae, a successful Korean businessman, who has made Angeles City his second home, is one of the few who believe that Mixed Martial Arts is the future of professional combat sports.

Cho has committed to support the Southeast Asian Fighting Championship in its first year in the hopes of discovering promising MMA talents from the amateurs, as well as provide fighters a means of livelihood as they go after their dreams.

“Madami naghihirap, gusto ko tulong. Ang mga fighters, aking pamilya. Ka pamilya ko na,” he said.

“Sa boxing, meron na Manny Pacquiao, sa MMA wala pa. I will help find him (Pacquiao of MMA),” added Cho, who is now the acknowledged Godfather of SAFC. Cho came from humble beginnings back in Korea. He said, as a child, he wanted to be an athlete, but they were so poor his parents could hardly provide food on the table.

He used his life’s struggles as motivation to succeed. Later, he would become a professional golfer and a successful businessman in Korea.

Ten years ago, he visited the Philippines and was captivated by the hospitality of the Filipinos, especially the Kapampangans, and decided he would make this country his second home.

“Korea is my country, Angeles (Pampanga) is my province.

Mababait Filipino,” Cho said.

Cho intends to stay longer and affirmed his commitment by investing in Clark and putting up

the sprawling Fontana and Apollon Korea Country Club, as well as the Venus Hotel and Sports Bar in Balibago, Angeles City, where an Octagon cage is set up.

His Venus Hotel will be home to hundreds of Filipino amateur fighters, who will see action every weekend for the next few months in an MMA tournament that caters to the top clubs in the country.

“I notice that Filipinos are warriors. They love to fight and just like Manny Pacquiao, they would like to escape poverty through boxing.

I would like to help them (fighters), I treat them as family,” added Cho. The League At the forefront of the SAFC is the president of the National Muay Thai and Kickboxing Council of the Philippines, Emmanuel Sabrine, more popularly known in the martial arts community as Master Sabrine.

Sabrine is putting together all the major MMA gyms in Luzon and Metro Manila and have their students compete in a ladder-type competition to unearth the best fighters, who will soon see action in top-level organizations like the ONE Championship, or even the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

“I have been wanting to put up a more organized, long-term league like this one. We are very fortunate to have found a very understand-

ing patron like Chairman Cho. He is a very big help to the fighters and has committed his support even without an immediate return of his investment,” said Sabrine.

“Together with my fellow coaches and Chairman (Cho), we will make this work. We will make Pampanga the home of the future champion fighters.”

The Manila-based Sabrine, in his serious commitment to the project, has decided to stay for good in Angeles, too, and will soon put up his own gym.

“Hindi naman puwede trial and error lang, otherwise mahina ang foundation. Dapat buhos ang focus and efforts. That’s my principle sa lahat ng ginagawa ko, especially in martial arts na siyang buhay at kabuhayan na ng marami sa amin,” Sabrine said.

Ladder-type competition

For the first week of the SAFC, 12 elimination fights took place at the classy Venus Hotel and Sports Bar. Upcoming fighters from various MMA clubs entered the cage and displayed their fighting skills for four straight nights to the delight of the hotel patrons.

Among the best performers were Jerwheel Baylon of Hybrid Yaw-Yan, who submitted Arben Escayo of Ream Men Fighters via armbar, and Solomon Dutra of Tough Guys International, who pulled off a similar victory over Johnn Merto (JMC MMA) in their superbantamweight bout.

At 5’7”, Baylon has the right height for a superlightweight and just needs to beef himself up to stand up against elite fighters in top-level competitions. He improved his amateur MMA record to 7 wins against a singles loss.

Cho Kwang Rae with his “family of fighters”

Dutra, who is now 4-1, also keeps improving his skills and stands 5’6”, which is very competitive in the superbantamweight division.

Another top prospect, Nilo Vidal of Fist Gym Fabricio, essayed a beautiful armbar submission win over Ardy Sta. Ana of D Elements MMA. Vidal, who has been making waves in the amateur circuit, improved his MMA record to 17 wins and 3 losses.

Supporting the SAFC are some of the best MMA clubs in the country, such as Hybrid YawYan, YawYan Kampilan, Baguio-based Kafagway MMA, Tough Guys International, D Elements MMA, De Tomas Fabricio MMA, Fist Gym, New Blood, Lucero Fight Gym, USA Sikaran, JMC MMA, Hyper MMA, New Blood MMA, Team Spar and Ramos Fighting System.

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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

@LIFEatStandard

S U NDAY L IF E

LIFE

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WHAT DOES CHRISTMAS MEAN TO YOU? CAROTID ARTERY

BY TATUM ANCHETA

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hristmas – the mere mention of the word makes one of my friends cringe like the Grinch. He hates Christmas decors, carols and anything that has to do with the holiday season. He said, “It’s just too excessive!” with conviction and much disgust. I smiled at his statement; that is his take on Christmas and he still comes to our Christmas party anyway, so I don’t understand his sentiments – but I respect it.

What does Christmas really mean?

Why do we celebrate it? There are so many meanings and it depends on the people how they really see the holidays. For Christians, the real meaning of Christmas is the time to celebrate the birth of the Christ child; it is the time to remember that God sent His Son Jesus to bring great joy to the world. For many of us, that great joy and celebration extends to our loved ones and families, in turn making Christmas more meaningful.

For me, I love Christmas, the festivities create memories and it’s usually the only time people gather together amid their busy schedules the whole year. It can also be the time when people gather strength for forgiveness and healing, hence they come home to their families after being away for a long time. My friend said jokingly, “If you will break up, make sure it’s after Christmas or even after the New Year! Because it’s just sad to spend it crying and alone while everyone else is enjoying the merriment!” Oh well, yeah, tell me about it. But I guess even for the lonely hearts this Christmas, there is still great joy to be found.

More than receiving gifts, I love the idea of “giving” during Christmas.

Every year, I go home to the province to spend Christmas with my family, because for me Christmas is spending time with the people you love in your life and the people who choose to be in it. They call me Santa Claus as every year I bring home a huge bag filled with gifts for all my inaanaks, my Titos and Titas, lolos and lolas, my nieces and nephews, and of course my brothers, my mom and dad. It feels good to see their faces light up when they open their wrapped gifts; even my dog enjoys opening his carefully wrapped treat during Christmas morning.

Have you asked yourself recently what Christmas means to you? I asked a few from the editorial team and some say it’s such a hard question to answer. Here are some of them who obliged:

family and friends and give gifts. If anything, the holidays are about our humanity and what makes us human: love, compassion and relationships.”

Icy Mariñas, columnist, Tipple Tales “Christmas is a powerful magical time when most are a little nicer, a little more forgiving and more generous. It is when you pass on family traditions to your kids, remembering your childhood as well. A quote of Charles Dickens: ‘I will honor Christmas in my heart and keep it all the year’.”

Bob Zozobrado, columnist, Mercury Rising “Christmas has always been a time for Thanksgiving... grateful to Somebody Up There for having given me all the blessings I received during the year. It is also a time for reflection, taking a closer look at things I should have done better and strategizing on things I may have to do in the future. All said, I am glad there is CHRIST in Christmas!”

Ed Biado, columnist, The Gist “The unmistakable festiveness during the holidays gets people in the mood to be kinder and be thankful for what they have. It’s the time that we feel the desire to spend time with

Karima Palafox, columnist, Urban Matters “To me, Christmas is a time to spend with people who matter the most – family and friends. It is also the time to appreciate the year that was, both the successes to be thankful for and the disappointments that make me stronger.”

Bubbles Paraiso, columnist, Fine Fettle “For me, Christmas, aside from it being a celebration of the birth of Jesus, is about being with family. It’s

the time of year wherein I finally get to see all my cousins, nieces and nephews and get to catch up with them especially those who live abroad. It also means being with my other families, which are my friends.”

Kai Magsanoc, columnist, Coffee with Kai “Christmas for me means the chance to pay the blessings of the year forward to others, especially people who do not know us and who cannot repay us. Nothing is more fulfilling than being able to help those who do not know you.

Merry Christmas, everyone!”

Cal Tavera, columnist, Caleidoscope World “It is a time to be thankful for all the blessings no matter how small they are. I’m thankful that I get to be with my family and loved ones this holiday.”

Francis de Leon, columnist, #InTheMoment “The month of December is by far the busiest time of the season for many. For me in particular, it’s the craziest time of the year trying to

juggle work with the many parties and get-togethers. It’s the time of the year where everyone gets pretty occupied with all the festivities of the season. However, amidst all the chaos, I will never forget that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior – Jesus Christ.

He is the reason for the joy that the season brings. He gives hope and meaning. Christ is the light that shines in our hearts.”

Liv Esteban, columnist, Liv.e Simply “On the surface, it’s easy to think of Christmas in purely human terms: shopping lists, Christmas carols, cooler winds, crowded malls, a million social obligations, and dreadful traffic to top it all. But for me, the meaning of Christmas is found when we strip all of that away, like the wrappers we tear off presents, to discover the real gift within: the perfect love of the Christ Child, which made each one of us part of His Family and made His Mother ours, too. And so Christmas is rightly about love and family and peace and joy – none of which can be placed under any Christmas tree, because they’re meant to be carried in our hearts forever.”

In five days, it will be Christmas!

Whatever it may mean to any of us, when someone gives you cheer or happiness during that day, make sure to welcome it and also share your joy. Advance Merry Christmas to everyone!

Drop me a line at tatum@thestandard.com.ph. For my crazy life’s adventures, follow me at @tatumancheta on Instagram and Twitter.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

E-TRIKE MAKER EMOTORS, INC. HONORED AS ASIA CEO’S GREEN COMPANY OF THE YEAR

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EMotors’ CEO Elizabeth H. Lee receives the Green Company of the Year award at the recently held Asia CEO Awards

as emissions from transportation play a huge part in the proportion of total global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The transportation sector primarily involves burning fossil fuels like petroleum-based fuels, largely gasoline and diesel. With the current problems of global warming, government and consumers call for a cleaner technology, more ecological products with smaller carbon footprint, and environmentally sustainable practices and processes. With the growing demand, we may see more and more green electric-fed transportation proliferate in our cities.

In the Philippines, EMotors, Inc. (EMI) was named the Green Company of the Year at the recently held Asia CEO Awards ceremony. The company is the country’s first and only 100 percent Filipino-owned assembler/manufacturer of zero-emission, electric 3-wheeled vehicles. The company comes in with a clean and green alternative mode of transportation that can be used by a wide range of clients across industries.

The Asia CEO Award recognizes the importance of environmental protection and sustainability initiatives that will create a long lasting impact on the issue of Climate Change Mitigation by lowering carbon emissions.

Judging for the category included leadership commitment, stakeholder collaboration, relevance, and social impact. “The award reflects the hard work and dedication of the whole EMotors’ team, and the support of our partners and clients who have committed to act on environmental protection,” says EMotors CEO Elizabeth Lee. “We are honored and blessed to receive this prestigious award. We are likewise encouraged to continue to do our best to create the change we want to see, by helping companies lower their carbon footprint while reaping the benefits of using efficient, clean, green, electric vehicles,” she adds.

During the COP21 Climate Change Summit, there were close to 200 countries that participated in the commitment to limit carbon emissions globally. “More than

ever, the problem of carbon emissions and pollution is front and center in the agenda of political leaders. The key now is in the implementation. The question is no longer ‘if ’ but ‘when,’ and will you do something about it?” says Lee. As we face more challenges in scaling down CO2 emissions, we can only clamor and hope for companies like EMotors to continue the fight against global warming.

The Asia CEO Award is an addition to the awards and recognition that EMotors received this year, including the BizNewsAsia’s BREW Award, and as the Green, Electric Mobility Partner of APEC 2015. This year the EMotors joined the roster of top-rank finalists for the Asia CEO Award that include companies like Meralco’s Miescor, El Nido Resorts, Tuks + Oil Technology, Accenture, and Aboitiz Power’s Hedcor, Inc. For more information and other inquiries, EMotors can be contacted via 551-3100 or email at ehl@emotors-asia.com.

The entire BGC evokes a festive atmosphere with everything all lit up for the holiday season

Enjoyable family activities at BGC this holiday season

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he festive red and white gift bows in Bonifacio Global City literally wrap up the area in holiday cheer, transforming several buildings and lampposts into eye-catching attractions especially at Bonifacio High Street that makes a perfect backdrop for shoppers who want to take selfies and holiday photos.

The festive mood has been heightened all the more with a series of activities and events that kicked into full swing earlier, among them classic BGC programs and activities such as BGC Impromptu, BGC Art Mart and Chalk the Walk that take on a jollier approach – balancing the development’s distinct personality and the feel of a traditional Christmas.

Grab a bucket of popcorn while you and your friends enjoy the outdoor screening of holiday episodes of popular TV shows with Small Screen Goes Big, or immerse yourself in a sea of lights and music from the Christmas Box Spectacular radiating from the main stage every night. Let the Wandering Minstrels jingle all the way as they sing familiar holiday tunes. Earlier performances by the Metro Manila Orchestra plus A Christmas Symphony at Bonifacio High Street also filled the air with wonderful Christmas music. Not to be outdone, the BGCitizens took on the stage, with Globe,

Eye-catching decors are perfect backdrops for selfies and photos

The red and white gift bows liven up the lampposts

Deutsche Bank, St. Luke’s Medical Center, the NET Group and The Mind Museum sending their employees to share their talents with the community.

Put on the holiday cheer with a Santa hat that can be had if you present receipts worth P2,500 from Bonifacio High Street establishments. Each hat will allow the wearer access to selected holiday activities such as Meet and Greet Santa, Santa’s Mail

this activity as well as deliver these presents to the children from the different barangays.

So what are you waiting for? Head to BGC where Christmas celebrations are fully immersive, interactive and well rounded for a truly unique experience.

For more information on BGC’s full holiday schedule of activities, email info@bgc.com.ph or visit www.bgc.com.ph and www.facebook. com/bonifacioglobalcityph.

Station and Christmas Carriage Rides. A donation of P500 can get visitors a Santa hat as well, while BGCitizens need only present any proof of residence or employment to get one free Santa hat.

BGC also takes this time to give back to the less fortunate communities of Taguig City. Everyone is invited to donate gifts and wrap boxes on the Saturdays of December. Fort Bonifacio Development Foundation, Inc. will facilitate

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

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PORTRAIT

LIFE LESSONS FROM A YOUNG MAN WHO BOUNCED BACK FROM FAILURE

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f you’re reading this today, you probably know by this time that life is not all peaches and cream, but rather, a bumpy ride full of obstacles and detours.

And while we cannot control the challenges that will come the next day, it is how we respond to them that makes a difference.

When a problem gets you down, you can either get up or remain on the ground.

When Far Eastern University student Bryan Quiazon slipped up, he did not waste time sulking in a corner. With resolve and dedication, he was able to rise from the challenges and bounce back from his mistakes.

Who would have imagined that a student who once lost his opportunity to go to school due to neglect would be FEU’s top academic scholar? But he did. And during the awarding ceremonies of the FEU Top Achievers of 2015, Bryan shared his story and five lessons he learned in retrospect.

1. Beware of distractions that offer only temporary joy and eventually cause you to lose sight of the things that matter.

When Bryan graduated from high school, he was lucky to

receive a scholarship in a good university. However, he got sidetracked by various distractions such as computer games, barkada, and other vices, which eventually caused him to lose his scholarship. His family could not afford to pay for his tuition so at the age of 17, Bryan found himself out of school.

“I lost confidence in myself and had a lot of regrets. It was the darkest moment in my young life.

I do not want to be in that place again,” he recalled.

2. Turn slip-ups into opportunities.

Needless to say, Bryan was dejected. He thought he had lost his only chance at a good education. But after spending a year recovering, he realized he needed to pick himself up and make himself useful. So, out of school and fighting depression, Bryan weighed his options to start anew and eventually found a job in a BPO company.

“I found happiness again.

I found something I could potentially excel in,” he said.

He committed his life to his job, studied the art of customer service, and set out to be the best in his field. With renewed vigor, passion and commitment, Bryan

got promoted within his first year of employment.

3. Never underestimate the value of education.

A lot of students, especially those who are fortunate to be in a family that can support their needs, take education for granted.

These students tend to waste their parents’ money while others can only hope to finish their studies.

It took losing an education for Bryan to realize how important it was. “I knew deep inside that even after earning paychecks that can support an entire family, I still had a dream unfulfilled. Given the opportunity to study again, I would have to go all-out. I would have to study hard and be the best in every class,” he shared.

4. When that opportunity comes, never, ever let it out of your sight.

When his second chance came in the form of being accepted as a student in FEU Diliman, he pursued the dream he had left hanging without hesitation. He enrolled in a degree program with a major in Information Technology, and became a student by day and a full time worker by night.

“For me, time is not just gold, it is a precious diamond. As a working

Bryan Quiazon

student, I value every second because I want to fulfill my dream.”

With patience, dedication and that determination borne out of failure and the strength to rise back up, Bryan topped all of his classes.

He became FEU’s number one academic scholar for the school year 2014-2015 with a 4.00 GPA.

5. Find your source of motivation.

Working and studying at the same time was definitely a challenge.

To stay motivated during those

days when he just wanted to stay in bed from sheer exhaustion, Bryan turned to his mother for inspiration. Bryan’s mother became his coach, relentlessly pushing and encouraging him to stay focused on his goals. “With hard work, focus, and a good support system, anyone can spring back from adversity and return to the path of success,” he said.

“Remember, just because you’re down, doesn’t mean you’re out. Find your truest reason for motivation, keep it and move forward.”

SM, AFPMBAI SIGN AGREEMENT FOR PAYMENT SERVICES

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AFPMBAI president and CEO Edgardo Rene Samonte and SM Mart, Inc. SAVP for Business Center Operations Dennis Yaw during the MOA signing which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the insurance arm of the country’s uniformed services

embers of the Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. (AFPMBAI) can now pay loans and insurance premiums at any SM Bills Payment counters following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between SM Mart, Inc. and AFPMBAI. The Armed Forces and Police Mutual Benefit Association, Inc. is the life insurance arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Philippine Coast Guard. It is a non-stock, non-profit corporation licensed by the Insurance Commission as a mutual benefit association that extends benefits and services such as life insurance, housing, educational, salary and calamity financial products for the welfare and financial security of its members that has broadened to include the dependents of regular members, the civilian or nonuniformed personnel of the different branches of service, and other persons performing activities related to

national security and preservation of peace and order.

AFPMBAI members can now make payment transactions seven days a week at over 200 branches of SM Bills Payment counters located in SM malls, the SM Store, SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket and Savemore nationwide. This will make transactions more convenient for members, saving them time from having to visit the AFPMBAI regional offices.

Present at the MOA signing which coincided with AFPMBAI’s 50th anniversary were AFPMBAI president and CEO MGEN Edgardo Rene Samonte (ret.) and SM Mart, Inc. senior assistant vice president for Business Center Operations Dennis Yaw. “This collaboration with SM will support our mission and vision to continuously provide a customercentered organization operating in accordance with global standards preferred and trusted by its members in providing full financial security and protection,” said Samonte.

Over the years, the SM Business Center and SM Bills Payment counters have become a one-stop

shop for government services, enabling customers to transact requirements while shopping in the malls. SM Business Centers offer NSO applications for birth, marriage, and death certificates; PRC renewals of professional licenses; DTI consumer welfare services and renewal of business name; and Ombudsman Clearance applications. It also accepts payments for loans and contributions for the following: SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation.

SM Bills Payment counters also accept payments for electric and water utilities, credit cards, telecoms, cable and internet, insurance and pre-need and real estate companies; the reloading of Easytrip, e-Pass and RFID; and payments for ticket purchases with Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Cathay Pacific and AirAsia. It also offers money changing services, remittance, and other products such as call cards and electronic load, SM Gift Pass and SMAC Express Kit, game cards, sim packs, broadband kits and broadband load cards.

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

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Czarina Syquia as Virgin of the Miraculous Medal

@LIFEatStandard

The Ablaza family offering their beloved matriarch Mellie her birthday wish

A one-of-a-kind bespoke invitation for a diamond lady

BRILLIANT AS A WELL-CUT DIAMOND PHOTOS BY LORNA LLANES

Fashion designer Steve de Leon presented an avant-garde Filipiniana collection

Ben Liboro, Doy Quizon, JunJun Ablaza, Lyn Liboro, Glecy Mojares and Patty Jalbuena

Tina Jacinto, Louie Ablaza, Ana Sobrepena and Rupert Jacinto

Dr. Jofe and Czarina Syquia

Nene Pe Lim, Lulu Castaneda, Lolet Carillo, Annabelle Adriano and Benny Lim

Louie Ablaza flanked by Austrian Ambassador Josef Mullner and wife Stephanie

Czarina Syquia with the models

Boysie Villavicencio, Lagmin Ang, Cris and Lambert Ablaza

Abe and Nini Licaros with Rosita Lesaca and Karen Macasaet

The Syquia boys (Consul Mellie’s grandchildren) serenaded the guests during the luncheon (from left) Agu, Amanu, Azi and Alfonso

Mari Lacson, Sandie Poblador, Mabel and Joey Abano

Lolet Carillo, Gov. Baby Ortiz, Tess Castro and Letty Calma

JunJun Ablaza, Steve de Leon, Mellie and Louie Ablaza

Standing: Helen Ong and Sheree Chua. Seated: Marian Ong-Nuguid with Czarina and Boy Ong

D

id the headline with Jun Jun who make you verify is also known as the contents as a high fashion seen in the beautiful accessories designer. images of this Sunday’s Around 30 (or more) column? To clarify, I models donning was simply giving a richly tailored and testimonial to the #INTHEMOMENT accessorized clothes real subject matter of

BY FRANCIS DE LEON paraded over the the story – the 75th runway especially birthday celebration of high society’s built around the venue to give all grand dame, Consul Mellie Ablaza. guests a great view from any angle.

To those who have the privilege The finale of the fashion show of knowing her personally, this was a poetic tribute to the family’s Sunday’s column is a fitting tribute beloved mother. Czarina Ablazato a well-loved lady on the occasion Syquia, accompanied by all her celebrating her diamond year! children, was wearing a beautiful When I personally received creation in homage to the Medal of the custom-made invitation from the Immaculate Conception.

Consul Louie Ablaza requesting the After the show, guests were ushered pleasure of my company for his wife’s to the main house for a beautifully birthday, I knew that I would be in for curated exhibit entitled “A Tribute a special experience. After all, it’s the to Ben Farrales” which showcased a birthday of the family matriarch who collection of Mellie Ablaza’s couture is renowned for her exquisite taste and gowns throughout the years created panache. It was truly an honor to be by the “Dean of Philippine Fashion” amongst her invited guests. for his favorite muse.

Her milestone celebration was Indeed, Mellie’s 75th birthday held at the sprawling La Hacienda celebration was a grand gesture Amelia of the Ablaza family which reflective of her heartwarming began with a thanksgiving mass in hospitality and generosity. the chapel, followed by a sumptuous In her speech, when asked about six-course luncheon hosted by her her age, Consul Mellie’s sheer wit was better half, Consul Louie Ablaza, in evident when she expressed, “Mind the family’s expansive dining hall. over matter, If you don’t mind, it The wine and refreshments were doesn’t matter.” overflowing and the Moët et Chandon She added, “At my age, I would kept the guests luxuriously hydrated. rather not celebrate my birthday And true to the Ablazas’ legendary anymore…” much to the crowd’s flair in hosting lavish affairs, this dejected response. But she quickly celebration in particular was resurrected the jovial mood with her something that even the world leaders proclamation: “…I would celebrate of APEC would have appreciated. life, rather.”

The exquisite dining hall was She further continued, “What transformed into a unique milieu comes after today is a bonus. I reminiscent of a town fiesta. Jun Jun continue to thank the Lord for my Ablaza put his touch of magic into continued health and blessings.” creating a Filipino-inspired setting It’s the light that shines from (with an edge) through his thematic within that makes a lady such as aesthetics and a keen eye for detail. Mellie Ablaza a cut above the rest.

“Design is not a thing you do. It’s Truly, she embodies the internal a way of life,” expressed Jun Jun. brilliance of a fine cut diamond.

True enough, I was witness to his To Consul Mellie Ablaza, may sheer creativity. your light ever shine brighter from The guests were entertained by a now until forever! lavish fashion show of avant-garde Filipiniana costumes designed Follow me on Twitter or Instagram

by Steve de Leon in collaboration @francis_deleon8.

S UNDAY : DECEMBER 20, 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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Star-Studded lineup FOr Kapamilya ChriStmaS

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he brightest Kapamilya stars and executives came full-force in saying ‘thank you for the love’ and showcasing quality entertainment to its millions of loyal supporters at the Kapamilya, Thank You For The Love: The ABS-CBN Christmas Special, the first part aired last night, and the second part tonight.

Led by the reigning top love teams of Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo, Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, and James Reid and Nadine Lustre, the ABS-CBN Christmas Special was all about giving thanks and spreading love as reflected in the network’s Christmas station ID theme.

“Celebrating Christmas and New Year is more valuable when we say thank you. Because of God’s love for us, we have love for one another and and that’s why we feel the true meaning of Christmas,” ABS-CBN Chairman Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III said at the Christmas special.

ABS-CBN President and CEO Charo SantosConcio also elaborated why love is the essence of Christmas. She remarked, “Christ’s birth is God’s way of showing that He loves us forever.

There is forever in God’s unconditional love for us, that’s why just like Him, we should always give love and give thanks to one another.”

The Christmas spirit of love, hope, and joy were truly felt all around as the best Kapamilya stars showcased a variety of entertaining and thrilling numbers.

Among the most memorable performances at the Christmas special were the ‘kilig’ song number of the most sought after Kapamilya leading men led by Piolo Pascual and John Lloyd Cruz; the rocking duet of Ang Probinsyano stars Coco Martin and Simon Pineda; the grand and jaw dropping Your Face Sounds Familiar production number; the mind blowing circus-inspired performance of the It’s Showtime family; the global Pinoy pride tribute of Gary V. and Bamboo to Filipinos who created a mark worldwide; the special back-toback performances of the cast of All You Need Is Pag-Ibig and Beauty and the Bestie, and the heart melting tribute of Vice Ganda to his mother.

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A classy McJim bag will surely complement the business look of your man.

Christmas is just a couple of days away yet, if you’re like most folks, you’re probably only halfway done with your holiday shopping. Yes, it takes clever planning—figuring out the best gifts for people you love at prices that won’t put you in hock.

This is especially true when shopping for the men in your life, be they your husband, fa-

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1 The most sought after Kapamilya leading men serenaded the crowd 2 ABS-CBN president and CEO Charo Santos-Concio and ABS-CBN COO Carlo Katigbak join the fun at the Christmas special 3 Kapamilya star Bea Alonzo 4 Kim Chiu and Xian Lim 5 Kathniel, Lizquen, and Jadine 6 You’re My Home co-stars Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta 7 Ang Probinsyano stars Coco Martin and Simon Pineda 8 Reigning teen superstars Kathryn, Liza, and Nadine 9 Be My Lady real-life couple Daniel Matsunaga and Erich Gonzalez 10 Gary Valenciano and Bamboo 11 Toni Gonzaga 12 Elmo Magalona and Janella Salvador 13 Julia Montes and Sam Milby 14 Vice Ganda

A stylish McJim belt that’s made from real leather will wrap up every man’s OOTD.

StyliSh ChriStmaS giftS

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McJim bags are timeless and versatile, which make them perfect for your different appointments in a day.

Make your man more stylish this season with McJim’s high quality leather products.

Every guy needs a good bag for stashing his mobile phones and other gadgets, his work stuff, and his grooming kit, making it a great gift this Christmas.

ther, brother, male buddy or your current squeeze. Putting a lot of thought in your choices can be a tad challenging, more so when you need to watch your budget.

Well, has it occurred to you that going back to the basics takes the stress out of picking the perfect gift for them? Think classic, enduring, and timeless such as well-crafted men’s accessories by long-established gentlemen’s label, McJim Classic Leather.

Here, McJim shares handy and affordable gift ideas for men to save you the trouble of wracking your brain for these: • Wallets. You know that most

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men tend to hang on to their old, tattered wallets for years, right? After all, it is a personal product for them.

Persuade him to let go of his worn-out billfold by gifting him with a McJim wallet made from high-quality leather. He can use it for years and years—plus he’ll remember you each time he fishes it out of his pocket.

Belts. Just like wallets, belts are staple accessories for men every single day. Whether paired with his corporate attire or with his Friday Casual wear, a stylish McJim belt

that’s made from real leather wraps up his look for the day.

• Bags. Every guy needs a good bag for stashing his mobile phones and other gadgets, his work stuff, and his grooming kit. Thus, a McJim leather bag will always be a welcome gift for a guy who lives life on the fast lane. Check out McJim’s range of sturdy leather bags that come in different styles and sizes—and you will surely find one that suits his taste and needs.

There you go! These are just some of gift ideas that are not over the top, but are classy and

elegant. Going back to the basics is the best idea this season and they will love you for it because most men don’t know how to shop. With a trusted brand like McJim, you can never go wrong.

Make it even more intimate and personal by putting a personal note in the bag or an old picture of you two in the wallet.

Whatever gift you end up buying for the men in your life, always keep in mind that it is always the thought that counts. After all, Christmas is all about celebrating the true spirit of the season by spreading holiday cheer among the people you love.

S UNDAY : DECEMBER 20, 2015

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Halili-Cruz SCHool of Ballet’S 30tH anniverSary ConCert The Halili Cruz School of Ballet celebrates this joyful season of Christmas with a dance concert entitled HCSB 30th Anniversary: Isang Pasasalamat in thanksgiving for the abundant blessings received throughout the year. This will be held at the Meralco Theatre 6 p.m. tonight.

This year-end concert brings together dancers from the different Halili-Cruz branches (Main Studio in Quezon Avenue, Poveda College, Miriam College, St. Mary’s College, and Alabang Country Club) to offer to families, friends and the wider audience an enjoyable night of beautifully choreographed and excellently performed dances. This is our way of expressing our gratitude for the support and blessings the school has been showered with this year.

This year, HCSB celebrated its 30th Foundation Anniversary with seven major concerts with exhibits mounted, onMarch 24 and 25; May 22 and 23 (3 concerts), and Nov. 28 at the Newport Performing Arts Theatre, Resorts World Manila and this finale concert on at Meralco Theatre. Thirty years is such an important milestone, as it also signifies new beginnings for the school.

Within the Anniversary year, HCSB has performed in more than a hundred shows and events. Through the years, the HCSB has successfully represented the Philippines in various international competitions and festivals (Russia, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Hongkong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, England, Los Angeles and New York, in USA) and consistently came home with top awards and more than 300 international recognitions.

The school was awarded “Excellence in Global Dance” in the Dance Excel-

The Kilyawan Boys Choir brings their sought-after live performance to the Shang on Dec. 27, 5 p.m. at the Main Wing

Shang’S StRing Of tOPnOtCh PERfORmanCES The holiday season at Shangri-La Plaza sets a wonderful stage for some of the country’s best musical acts. Prepare to get more than an earful as the leading lifestyle destination presents an exciting roster of first-rate performances that bring out the spirit of the season.

All-male choral ensemble Koro Ilustrado takes over the East Wing’s East Atrium at 7:30 p.m.tomorrow. Led by choirmasters Edmund Alan “Jong” Piquero and Anna Tabita Abeleda-Piquero, the premier group will serenade mall visitors with their own renditions of classic and contemporary tunes.

Be enchanted with the angelic voices of world-class concert chorale, the Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir. Perhaps best known for singing “We are All God’s Children” with Jamie Rivera, the official theme song for the Papal Visit of Pope Francis, these incredibly talented youngsters will awe audiences with their repertoire of joyful and poignant hits on Dec. 22, 5 p.m. at the Main Wing Grand Atrium.

Soloists Arthur Manuntag and Shiela Valderrama-Martinez follow at 6:30 p.m. also on Dec. 22. Catch Arthur’s soulful interpretations of good ol’ standards and theater-trained Shiela’s powerful vocals as these musical stalwarts take the spotlight at the East Atrium.

The Kilyawan Boys Choir brings their sought-after live performance to the Shang on Dec. 27, 5 p.m, at the Main Wing. Named

Hail Mary the Queen Children’s Choir performs on Dec. 22, 5 p.m. at the Main Wing Grand Atrium.

Soloists Arthur Manuntag and Shiela Valderrama-Martinez follow at 6:30 p.m. also on Dec. 22

after the kilyawan (golden oriole), known for its warbling prowess, the boys will be living up to their namesake as they present an extensive playlist of acclaimed melodies.

The rest of December is just as packed with exciting performances from Voces Manila on Dec. 21, 5 p.m. at the Grand Atrium, and the UE Chorale on Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m. at the East Atrium. Finally, The Executives Band will rock the East Atrium stage on Dec. 27 at 7:30 p.m. with their always entertaining line-up of hits.

For inquiries, call 370-2500 loc. 593 or visit www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficialfanpage. Follow the Shang on Instagram: @shangrilaplazaofficial.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 80 84 85

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Gaiters 6 Ready to swing (2 wds.)

11 A bad thing to jump 15 10 to 1, e.g.

20 Oil or vinegar holder 21 Steal or fix eggs 22 Bit of holly 24 Horse — 25 Bill tack-on 26 Davis of “Evening Shade” 27 Comic-strip queen 28 Office furnishings 29 “The Real Slim Shady” rapper 31 “Fatha” of jazz 33 Singles 34 Ms. Lauder 35 “... we come a- — ...”

37 Crowning point 39 Endorser’s need 41 Fabric meas.

42 Rounded handles

43 44 46 50 51 52 53 57 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 72 73 74 75 76 79

Q-tip Zest Get word of Mama bear, in Baja Polite cough Free ticket Lose brightness Weighs anchor Race by, as clouds Popeye’s pal Use a spatula UCLA athletes Tubular pasta Candy-stripers Retainer — lily Playing-card spots Jennifer of “Selena” Rococo Sharpen a cheddar Pleads humbly Less polluted Zinfandel or merlot Reddish-purple plants Bagpipers’ garb

86 87 88 91 92 93 95 96 97 98 99 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108

109 111 112 114 117 118 119 124 126 128 130 131 132 134 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143

Gave comfort Roll tightly Imposing residence Fringe benefit SFO posting Extra helping Regions Fabricated Deflect a blow MD employer Swindles Peril at sea Jamaican music Fifi’s friend Nut holders Travel choice Perfumed pouches Cartoonist — Kelly Night flyers Dandelion, to many Tilly or Ryan What the suspicious smell (2 wds.)

Barbecue pit need Mr. Lugosi Addresses the moon California fort AOL note Mongolian desert Yule trees (2 wds.)

Thin material Shepard or Ladd Darling, in Dijon Kind of skiing In-box filler Hawaii’s — Loa Enoch or Eve Eucalyptus muncher Ms. Zellweger Crept Nerve, in combos Bygone anesthetic Clink glasses Movie-lot locales Stood wide open

Paquita Grand Pas

Shirley Halili Cruz

Artistic Team, Shirley Halili-Cruz, Artistic Director with Ballet Teachers Grace Perez, Anna Kathrina Cruz and Anna Balmadrid

lence 2015 held in Los Angeles, California, USA. The school also garnered the Second Prize in the Andong Dance Competition in South Korea.

The driving force behind the successes of the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet is its founder and artistic director Shirley Halili-Cruz, one of prime movers of dance in the country with able support of her ballet protégées, outstanding teachers and choreographers Grace Garalde-Perez, Anna Kathrina Halili Cruz-Bueno and Anna Lissa Tuazon-Balmadrid Indeed, life in the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet is a continued excitement as activity never stopped.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2015

144 — Island Red DOWN 1 Metal fastener 2 — donna 3 German imports 4 High-school kids 5 Lightning flash 6 GI mail drop 7 Electronics giant 8 Sinks 9 Breezing through 10 You, formerly 11 Cubs org.

12 Poise 13 Ms. Cara of “Fame”” 14 Lo-cal 15 Gerbil or chipmunk 16 Chest-beaters 17 Crotchety 18 Peeved 19 Dromedary pit stops 23 Service station fixtures (2 wds.)

30 Nonadults 32 Was a lumberjack 36 Deficit 38 Engine part 40 Catch sight of 43 Feng — 44 Morticia’s mate 45 — the wall 46 Wheel cover 47 Cause to steam?

48 Talisman 49 Muddy the waters 51 Doesn’t hesitate 52 Halloween quaff 54 A, in code 55 Cut calories 56 Touche provoker 58 — — shoestring 59 Dainty swallows 60 Wetnaps, e.g.

63 Changes direction 64 Major artery 67 Ring out

68 69 70 71 73 74 75 77 78 79 80 81 82

Slow times Sound piggish TLC providers Opposite of “paleo” Ptarmigan Heaps Got threadbare Pilot’s sighting Wimple sporter “Lola” band Grant, as land — -than-life Misprints

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Least humid Battery units Grow tiresome Bernard — of CNN Avenging Mrs. Peel Spring Belly dance clackers Motel staffer Delt neighbor — Khan It may be Orange or Rose (2 wds.)

Earth, poetically

98 100 101 102 103 106 107 110 111 112 113

Roomy sleeve And so forth Glamorous wraps Curio Works as a tailor Dew glistener “Tartuffe” author Diner fare Baby’s headgear Flat broke (2 wds.)

Passenger train car 114 In plain view 115 Star-crossed lover

116 Goddess of the hunt 118 Dial 119 Cleveland exurb 120 Bubbles 121 Oregon neighbor 122 Miffed 123 Narrow squeak 125 Rumors, perhaps 127 Aberdeen kids 129 Install a door 133 Come-ons 135 Nonverbal OK

S UNDAY : DECEMBER 20, 2015

C7

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

‘HolidAy esCApe’ witH yeng ConstAntino, up dHArmA down

Yeng Constantino

From C8

Christmas is about bringing people together to savor the festive vibe and heartwarming glow of this season of giving. Vermosa, Ayala Land Inc.’s sprawling modern suburban community in Cavite that integrates healthy living with everyday life, held Vermosa Holiday Escape, a fun-filled holiday bazaar that offerred a much needed escape from the stressful shopping experience in the metro.

On Dec. 12 and 13, holiday cheer with musical treats from some of the country’s most talented musical artists was in the atmosphere at Vermosa. Live entertainment on Dec. 12 were from pop-rock bestselling artist Yeng Constantino and acoustic favorite Noel Cabangon while the indie-rock band Up Dharma Down brought the house down on Dec.13.

Adding more star power to Vermosa Holiday Escape wee celebrity merchants led by Christine ‘Tintin’ Bersola-Babao.

Shoppers rummaged through wide range of products such as delectable and healthy Spanish-style bangus from Pinoy Big Brother winner

Indie rock band Up Dharma Down

Nene Tamayo, sandwiches and deli products from Donita Rose, skincare products from TV host and actress Gladys Reyes, curtains, bed sheets, linens and adobo from singer-comedienne Marissa Sanchez, and children’s clothes and shoes from award-winning singeractress Vina Morales.

At its core, holiday bazaars bring families and friends together to bond. Vermosa Holiday Escape went a step further by incorporating the importance of maintaining a balanced and active lifestyle into the whole gift scouting and giving exercise. At Vermosa Holiday Escape, shoppers had a wide range of health and wellness items and services to choose from, including

organic products, relaxing massage services, active lifestyle apparel and sporting goods.

Online entrepreneurs also sold their wares, offering a new platform to the holiday shopping menu.

Vermosa Holiday Escape also prepared many family-centered activities to enjoy such as yoga classes, succulent dish workshop, food trucks by Mercato, kite flying workshops and competition from the Kite Flying Association of the Philippines, and remote control crawler and copter races.

Adding excitement to the twoday event were various biking activities, such as mountain bike skills clinic for adults and kids and a thrilling Pump Track Challenge on Dec. 12 held at the recently launched Vermosa Mountain Bike Skills Trail (MTB).

Located in Daang Hari, Cavite, Vermosa is 30 minutes away from Makati via the Muntinlupa Cavite Expressway (MCX).

Be updated on the latest news on Vermosa and its upcoming events.

Visit www.vermosa.ph and facebook.com/VermosaPH

Christmas ConneCtions heat up with the #hotspothotties

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former Azkals member, a TV personality, and several hunk print and commercial models created quite a commotion at the Mall of Asia Cyberzone Sunday afternoon as, instead of taking photos of Santa, shoppers began following these hotties in red and white.

Later revealed as the #HuaweiHotspotHotties, they were composed of Juan Direction member Charlie Sutcliffe, former Azkals footballer Graham Caygill, and sought-after model Sam Turner. The other HotspotHotties included foreign runway models Dominic Samoisette, Hans Weiser, Kane Sareen, Nathan Biggs, Alexey Kuznetsov, Ander De La Guerra, and Antoine Guyon.

The hotties were part of the launch of Huawei’s latest line of mobile WiFi devices, the Huawei Spark, Huawei Flash, and Huawei Lighting Router.

“The #HuaweiHotspotHotties characterize the sleek and elegant look of our new WiFi devices that are guaranteed to make heads turn for a second look,” says Charles Wu country manager of Huawei’s consumer business group. “But more than its refined and stunning appearance, Huawei’s new connectivity devices also delivers fast uninterrupted 3G and LTE connectivity

wherever you go.”

“Everybody wants a reliable internet connection, as the leading global ICT solutions provider, Huawei is known for building telecommunication networks around the world, as such, our strength lies in designing products that would work best with the current infrastructure of these mobile broadband networks,” adds Wu. The Philippines is now the social media capital of the world, with most Filipinos using social media platforms 53 hours a week—11 hours more than the total global usage.

“Whether it’s to keep in touch with friends and family, share new experiences or meet new people, we are always looking for the best way to connect to the internet, and Huawei’s expertise in building mobile network infrastructure assures that when you choose Huawei Pocket WiFi, you get the best connection” notes Jose Vega, Sales and Marketing director, Huawei Device Philippines.

HuAwei FlAsH (e5573) The Huawei Flash is an LTE enabled mobile WiFi hotspot highlighted by an exquisite metallic halo button at the center, and one touch play for easy operation. On the front of the device, there are two single LED indicators for battery and signal strength. The

Alexey Kuznetsov

Flash can provide internet connection to 10 Wi-Fi enabled devices with download speeds of up to 150Mbps and upload speed of 50Mbps.

The Flash is powered by a 1500mAH battery, which can last to up to 5 hours of WiFi usage and up to 300 hours in standby mode. Install the Huawei Mobile WiFi App 3.0, the Flash lets you quickly and easily “share” photos, apps between mobile phones accessed to the same Mobile WiFi. HuAwei spArk (e5330) The Huawei Spark refines both style and size and is world’s most compact 21 Mbps 3G router. The one key design blends elegance and practicality to deliver portable network in style.

The Huawei Spark can support up to 10 WiFi devices to access internet with download speeds of up to 21.6Mbps and upload speed up to 5.76Mbps.

It likewise boasts of a startup time of just 5 seconds With its 1500mAh, bat-

Ander de la Guerra

Antoine Guyon

Charlie Sutcliffe

Hans Weiser

Kane Sareen

Dominic Samoisette

Nathan Biggs

Sam Turner

ports peak download speeds of up to 150mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps.

On UMTS network with DC-HSPA+ technology, B315 could achieve downlink speed to 42.2Mbps and uplink to 5.76mbps. The Huawei Lightning is also backward compatible with GSM and EDGE.

Graham Caygill

tery the Spark can last up to 6 hours of continuous usage and a standby time of up to 300 hours.

HuAwei ligHtning (B315) lte Cpe router True to its name, the Lightning supports fast LTE CAT4 connections of up to 150Mbps. This WiFi router is best for SME requirements as it can deliver maximum speeds of LTE CAT4 150Mbps through its Gigabit Ethernet port.

The Lightning’s enhanced Wi-Fi extends wireless coverage and eliminates dead corners and offers wireless access for up to 32 devices.

The Huawei Lightning sup-

S UNDAY : DECEMBER 20, 2015

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

Riding the bus with the Stormtroopers of the 501st Legion on their way to the Star Wars Park are Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu, Senior Advisor for Consumer Business Dan Horan and The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia’s General Manager for Studio Entertainment and International Distribution, Amit Maholtra

Country’s biggest star Wars play hub at bgC ISAH V. RED Globe Telecom is bringing surprises in galactic proportions as it sets up the country’s biggest Star Wars play hub at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, taking the Star Wars experience beyond the cinema as Filipinos gear up for the much-awaited international release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The film opened in theaters across the nation on Dec.17 With its comprehensive and multiyear collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia whose brands include Star Wars, the leader in digital services and the purveyor of the Filipino digital lifestyle launched the Globe-Star Wars Galactic Celebration, which transformed the Bonifacio High Street Central amphitheater into a big Star Wars playground on Dec 12 and 13.

Opened to the public for free, the Globe-Star Wars Galactic Celebration allowed Star Wars fans and onlookers alike to spend the weekend playing at the game booths, taking photos of famous Star Wars icons and characters, purchasing retail collectibles from participating fashion brands, and enjoying the different treats and offers of Globe brands.

“The Globe-Star Wars Galactic Celebration will be one of the biggest weekends for all Star Wars fanatics in the Philippines. This is our way of bringing the Star Wars experience outside the cinema to get all fans of the movie franchise

excited about the release of the latest Star Wars movie. The Galactic Celebration will be a wonderful bonding activity not only for fans, but for the entire family as well with all the games, interactive activities and booths, photo-worthy installations, exciting prizes and treats, and retail collectibles. We would like to invite everyone to spend their weekend with us as we experience a wonderful galactic celebration only from Globe,” shared Globe Senior Advisor for Consumer Business Dan Horan.

The two-day galactic fair highlighted one of its major activities, the Galactic Challenge, a specially designed obstacle course where one’s skill, insight and courage were tested through a series of challenges. Participants had two categories to choose from – Light Side or Dark Side. Every hour, Globe awarded those with the best finish time. The participant with the fastest time after the two-day event would win the coveted Sphero BB8 droid offered by Globe in its GEN3 Stores. Sphero is exclusive Globe telco partner.

The Star Wars Game Hub also kept everyone on their toes as they enjoyed various video games together with the exclusive Star Wars Battlepod arcade game. Kids surely enjoyed the Sphero Challenge where they navigated the BB8 Droid through a maze for a chance to win prizes. Exclusive Star Wars merchandise was also on display from participating merchants and retail brands such as Havaianas, Folded & Hung, HP, FilBars, Toys ‘R Us and Hobbes and Landes.

In keeping with its commitment

to providing learning opportunities for the youth in the public school sector, Globe, in partnership with The Mind Museum and Teach for the Philippines, is implemented its corporate social responsibility efforts during the Galactic Celebration weekend that let more people enjoy the Star Wars activities while making a change in the lives of others.

Alongside Teach for The Philippines, volunteers were selected to be big brothers and sisters to 100 public school kids as they toured the museum and joined the ReadAlong activities.

Horan added, “Through these efforts, Globe is able to engage student beneficiaries and enable them to have an unforgettable Star Wars experience, while increasing their appreciation and understanding of science and technology, ensuring that the entire Star Wars experience is enjoyed by the greater majority.”

Special screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in different cities across the country will also give more underprivileged kids the chance to watch the movie.

Special giveaways are also up for grabs with a just a few taps with the Star Wars Everyday Promo.

Customers get a chance to win major prizes including a Star Wars adventure in the U.S.A., exclusive movie invites, Star Wars items, and a whole lot more. All they have to do to subscribe is text FORCE <name/address> and send to 2363 for free. Customers can earn raffle entries by availing of any Globe or Tattoo promo or plan. Every P5 is equal to a raffle entry. ➜ Continued on C7

Star Wars projection mapping at The Globe Tower

Officially opening the Globe and Star Wars Galactic Weekend at the Wonderful World with Globe event were The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia’s General Manager for Studio Entertainment and International Distribution, Amit Maholtra, Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu, and Senior Advisor for Consumer Business Dan Horan

Stormtroopers from 501st Legion join Globe guests in anticipation of the projection mapping on The Globe Tower façade

Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu shares a record-breaking numbers for 2015

Globe Senior Advisor for Consumer Business Dan Horan invites everyone to bring their families over for the weekend to experience the Star Wars park as part of Globe Telecom’s Galactic Celebration