The Standard - 2015 December 22 - Tuesday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 313  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  TUESDAY : DECEMBER 22, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Poe: Voters ignoring black ops

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CHIZ KEEPS BIG LEAD But rivals Marcos, Cayetano, Robredo, Honasan moving up Real winner. Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach reacts to the announcement of her winning the title of Miss Universe at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wurtzbach was named Miss Universe in a drama-filled turn worthy of a telenovela after the pageant’s host, comedian Steve Harvey, misread the card which he said had Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner. AFP

POLL

By Joyce Pangco Pañares

SENATOR Francis Escudero retained a wide lead over other vice presidential candidates for the 2016 polls even as other contenders, except for Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, saw their ratings go up in the latest The Standard Poll.

At least 33 percent of the respondents—all of whom are registered voters with biometrics and who said they are sure to vote in next year’s elections—said they will vote for Escudero if the polls were held today.

The figure was seven points lower than Escudero’s 40 percent rating in The Standard Poll released in October, which still included Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and former Senator Panfilo Lacson—who decided to run for president and senator, respectively, but did not yet include Senator Gregorio Honasan.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. placed second at 19 percent, up from 15 percent in October, followed by Senator Alan Cayetano (18 percent, up from 11 percent), Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo (11 percent, up from 7 percent), Honasan (7 percent), and Trillanes (6 percent, down from 7 percent).

Across geographic areas, Escudero was the frontrunner in the National Capital Region (42 percent), South Luzon/Bicol (41 percent), Visayas (32 percent), and Mindanao (29 percent). It was only in North/Central Luzon that Escudero placed second at 29 percent with Marcos leading at 35 percent.

Escudero also led in both urban and rural areas at 36 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

Escudero was the top choice of respondents across all economic classes and genders, getting more than a third of the vote.

Voters aged 18-34 and 35-55 also said they will vote for Escudero at 40 percent and 33 percent, respectively, while a plurality of respondents aged 56 and above said they will Next page

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‘Let kids Mix-up ends with Pia as Miss Universe of lumad attend school’

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MISS Colombia was wrongly named Miss Universe in a dramatic mix-up in front of a global television audience of millions on Sunday, before the rightful winner Miss Philippines, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, was finally handed the glittering crown.

The pageant’s host, US comedian Steve Harvey, misread his cue card and initially announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, had triumphed.

She was fleetingly crowned and congratulated at the ceremony in Las Vegas and started waving to fans.

But as she blew kisses to an adoring crowd, Harvey was forced to come clean and announce the real winner.

“Okay folks, I have to apologize.

The first runner-up is Colombia.”

“Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines,” he added as the music began anew, with the actual winner, Wurtzbach—

a high-profile actress and television host—looking stunned and mouthing “what?”

Harvey attempted to explain the error to a perplexed audience, who greeted the news with both cheers and boos.

“This is exactly what’s on the card.

I will take responsibility for this. It was my mistake, it was on the card,” he said.

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Grace: Standard poll proves wide support

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

INDEPENDENT presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe said the recent survey commissioned by The Standard showing her as the voters’ top choice for 2016 proved that Filipinos continue to support her and are not swayed by the legal and political maneuverings of her opponents.

“It gives me strength to know that our countrymen continue to stand with me in our pursuit of a better, livable and equitable society that benefits all Filipinos and not just a favored few,” Poe said.

“It humbles and inspires me to see that despite the difficulties, people still have faith that we will achieve our shared vision for this country,” she added.

Poe assured her supporters that she remains committed to serving them, and that here name would remain on the list of presidential candidates while she challenges two disqualification decisions against her.

The frontrunner in next year’s presidential race said she is still a presidential candidate until the Supreme Court resolves with finality all her disqualification cases involving questions about her citizenship and residency.

The latest nationwide survey commissioned by The Standard showed Poe as the top choice for president, with 28 percent of respondents saying they would vote for her.

In her usual strongholds—Metro Manila, Bicol and the rest of Luzon—Poe won an even

bigger chunk of the voting population, with 35 percent.

The survey, conducted from Dec. 4 to 12, had 1,500 respondents made up of registered voters from Metro Manila, Northern and Central Luzon, Bicol and Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It had a margin of error of 2.6 percent.

Respondents belonging to the lowest economic classes also favored Poe, with 28 percent of those in class D and 31 percent of those in class E saying they would vote for her.

Poe was also the top choice of Muslim voters, with 33 percent opting for her from the list of six candidates presented to them.

Duterte, who hails from Mindanao, followed with 30 percent.

“These are the people who have been left behind for so long, and who wish to benefit from the economic growth being touted by our government. They are the reason I am committed to fight for my right—and the right of all foundlings—to serve,” Poe said.

The survey also confirmed Poe’s popularity among the youth, with 36 percent of voters

Chiz...

percent) and Muslims (21 percent).

By ethnicity, Marcos was the top choice of Ilocanos with a majority of 52 percent and Warays at 36 percent while Tagalogs (44 percent), Cebuanos (30 percent), Ilonggos (29 percent) and Muslim groups (38 percent) said they will vote for Escudero.

The Bicol vote was statistically split between Escudero (37 percent) and Robredo (34 percent).

Across the country, 41 percent of the respondents said they may still change their choice of vice presidential candidate from today until the May 9, 2016 polls, which

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vote for Marcos at 27 percent.

Across religious affiliation, a plurality of Catholics (33 percent), Iglesia Ni Cristo (36 percent), Born Again (46 percent), and Muslims (35 percent) said they will vote for Escudero.

Marcos came in second among Catholics (19 percent) and INC members (21 percent) while Cayetano trailed behind Escudero among Born Again members (19

aged 18 to 34 choosing her as president.

Poe, who is pushing for the expansion of economic opportunities outside mega-cities, received the same strong support from voters in urban and rural areas across the country, with 29 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Nationwide, Poe was followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay (23 percent) and Manuel Roxas II (22 percent) who were statistically tied. Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ranked fourth with 19 percent, while Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago trailed everyone with 3 percent.

Poe’s spokesperson Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian said Poe is thankful to the Filipino electorate who continue to support her advocacies.

He said the results of this survey will continue to serve as a guide and inspiration for Senator Poe. “She will continue to amplify her message of good governance, inclusive growth and improving competitiveness of our country. Certainly, these platforms of governance resonate with the Filipino people,” he added.

Poe has been a consistent frontrunner in most voter preference surveys even before she declared her presidential bid in September. Following her proclamation, however, Poe began to face a string of cases seeking to cancel her Certificate of Candidacy for president by questioning her citizenship and residency. With Sandy Araneta

translates to a core base of 20.13 percent for Escudero, 12.54 percent for Marcos, 9.9 percent for Cayetano, 6.6 percent for Robredo, 3.08 percent for Honasan, and 3.24 percent for Trillanes.

The survey was conducted by resident pollster Junie Laylo from Dec. 4 to 12, with 1,500 respondents from 76 provinces across the country and the 17 cities in the National Capital Region.

It has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 percent nationwide and +/-6 percent each for Metro Manila, North/Central Luzon, South Luzon/Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao.

Mix-up...

From A1 “It was my mistake, still a great night,” added the talk show host, saying the audience should not “hold it against the ladies.”

The glittering crown was then promptly placed on Wurtzbach’s head.

She later told reporters she wished Miss Colombia the best.

“I’m very sorry, I did not take the crown from her and I wish her well in whatever she wants to pursue after this pageant,” she said.

In the Philippines, celebrations broke out despite the gaffe.

The presidential palace led the nation in hailing the victory of the German-Filipino model, who this year fueled gossip of a relationship with 55-year-old President Benigno Aquino III by saying they were friends and that “he’s very fun to talk to.”

“We congratulate her for this success as the third Miss Universe of the Philippines, following in the footsteps of Ms. Gloria Diaz and Ms. Margie Moran-Floirendo,” Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement.

“In bagging this victory, Ms. Wurtzbach not only serves as a tremendous source of pride for our people, but also holds up the banner of our women and of our country, as a true representative of what the Filipina can achieve,” he added.

Lacierda also praised Wurtzbach’s “tremendous poise and control” after the pageant host’s mistake.

ABS-CBN, where Wurtzbach works as an actress and host, cut off a live broadcast of Aquino addressing the military to air Harvey’s apology.

“I felt sorry for both candidates... and for all the Filipinos... who were watching live. It took away from the experience,” said Moran, who was Miss Universe in 1973.

News of the error spread rapidly on social media, with the #MissUniverse2015 hashtag trending.

“People are human, mistakes can happen. Luckily some have the bravery to own it and take a step to correct it. Hugs to #MissUniverse2015 wow,” tweeted Audrey Bolte, who described herself as Miss Ohio USA 2012.

The contest is wildly popular in Latin America and much of Asia.

Senator Grace Poe congratulated Wurtzbach, noting that her story of resilience and determination was the story of all Filipinos.

“The Filipino heart indeed shone through! What a wonderful Christmas gift to us. It wi ll bring many of us some much-needed Christmas cheer. “ Senator Juan Edgardo Angara thanked Wurtzbach for giving honor and joy to the whole nation. “Kudos to Pia for not surrendering her dream despite some failures. She struggled to achieve the crown,” he said.

He added that Wurtzbach was a good example of grace under pressure.

Presidential candidate Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago also congratulated Wurtzback on her Twitter account and described her as “regal.”

“But from what I’ve heard, we need to talk. See you! #Miss Universe2015,” Santiago said, referring to Wurtzbach’s response during the pageant when asked her view on the re-establishment of US military bases in the Philippines, a prospect that Santiago opposes.

Wurtzbach said she saw no problem with the return of US bases because of the strong relationship between the United States and the Philippines. AFP, Macon Ramos-Araneta, Sandy Araneta

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Poe tormentor goes after Rody AFTER failing to prevent Senator Grace Poe from running for president, a person declared as a nuisance presidential candidate next filed a petition against presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao City.

80 and counting. President Benigno Aquino III graces the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 80th anniversary celebration at the Haribon Hangar of the Air Force City in Clark Air Base, Pampanga, on Monday. This year’s theme was “At 80: Advancing, Transforming to Protect the People and Secure the State”. After the ceremony, the President inspected the newly-acquired Armoured Personnel Carrier displayed at the base. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

Roxas vows year-round gains in grassroots A ROXAS presidency will bring improvement even to the grassroots all year round, administration bet Manuel Roxas II promised Monday.

In his visit to the residents of Baybay City in Leyte, Roxas promised the local government officials there an allotment of P1,000 worth of development credits per person each year.

He said the residents and their local government units would be in charge of determining the needs of the area and where the funds should be used

He called his development credit program the “Walang Iwanan Fund,” a modified form of BottomsUp-Budgeting for LGUs. “The fund will come here every year so that progress will be felt and progress will come,” Roxas said.

“There is betterment that can be experienced by every barangay, every family here in Baybay and in the whole country.”

The introduction of the P100-billion Walang Iwanan Fund will be calibrated to provide the needs of local government units according

to their population. The higher the population of an area, the higher the fund provided for it to match the needs of the locals.

Roxas said the program aims to make the nation’s progress felt in the grassroots.

He highlighted the village officials’ role in the local government and commended them for their dedication to their duties.

“I thank you for being always at the frontline. You are the ones who first respond to our countrymen,” Roxas said.” John Paolo Bencito

Rizalito David said he decided to file a petition against Duterte and PDPLaban standard bearer Martin Diño because the first petitioner against Duterte, broadcaster Ruben Castor, had not been serious about his case against the mayor.

“I did this because the other guy who filed a disqualification case [against Duterte was like] playing around,” David said.

He said Castor had not been serious because he had been after Diño and not after Duterte.

He claimed that Duterte and Poe had made the election process a mockery.

He said Duterte, aside from violating the election procedures, also mocked his supporters when he said he would run for president but decided to file his Certificate of Candidacy at the last minute.

“He knows that these things are a mockery, a mockery of the rule of law, a mockery of all the processes,” David said.

He said the Comelec showed its bias when it allowed Duterte and Poe to run for president even if both had violated the law, while serious aspirants like him was not allowed to run because they did not have enough funds to campaign.

“Kami naman maliliit na tao, maliliit na kandidato, hindi binigyan ng karapa-

tang pagkakataon,” David said.

“Bakit ang mga katulad ni Duterte binigyan ng Comelec ng prioriy? Dahil ba Duterte ang kanyang pangalan at kami ay maliliit lang na kandidato?

Base on a nine-page petition he filed Monday before the Comelec, David asked the agency to declare Duterte’s substitution for Diño as void and to cancel the mayor’s Certificate of Candidacy.

“It is crystal clear that Duterte’s CoC for president was filed beyond the deadline, which was October 16, 2015.

Hence, it is not a valid CoC seasonably filed,” David said.

“It is respectfully prayed that the Honorable Commission grant due course to this petition and to declare the substitution of Martin Diño by Rodrigo Duterte for president as null and void, as well as order the cancellation of Duterte’s CoC for not having been validly filed.”

David claimed that Duterte failed to file his CoC on time.

“Duterte did not file his CoC for president on the dates set. What he filed was a CoC for city mayor of Davao,” David said.

On Nov. 27, Duterte withdrew his CoC for mayor on the same day that he filed his CoC for president as a substitute for Diño. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

VP blames storm damage on climate change CLIMATE change is a reality that must be addressed and the government must help the communities hit hard by Typhoon “Nona,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said Monday.

He was the first national government official to visit Northern Samar after the typhoon caused P974 million damage in infrastructure and the farm sector in the area.

“The report we received from our briefing with [Northern Samar] Governor [Jose] Ong is that 90 percent of the province was devastated by the typhoon,” Binay said.

“We were also informed 24 towns were affected and that only 5 per-

cent of the electricity in the province has been restored.”

Binay also visited Catarman and the towns of Bobon, San Jose, Rosario, Lavezares and Allen.

He urged the local government units there to support the national government’s efforts to ease the impact of climate change.

He also called on the national government to help the LGUs. “If we look at the past three or four years, the strongest typhoons that hit our country arrived in November and December,” Binay said.

“This is becoming the new normal and so we should always re-

main vigilant even during the holiday season. We should shore up the programs on disaster resiliency.”

Disaster officials in Eastern Visayas said Nona destroyed nearly 65,000 houses in Northern Samar during its onslaught last week.

They pegged the damage to public infrastructure at P743.43 million and to agriculture P230.587 million.

Before his visit to Northern Samar, Binay also visited areas in Central Luzon that were devastated

by Nona, including Gapan and Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija and San Miguel in Bulacan. Vito Barcelo

At work. The cooperatives try to restore the power lines felled by Typhoon ‘Nona’ in Northern Samar. MEL CASPE

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Fil-Am becomes Visitor No. 5m A FILIPINO-American woman from New York was welcomed by tourism officials at dawn on Monday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 for being the fivemillionth person to visit the Philippines this year.

“I thought I was in trouble,” 23-year-old Gabby Grantham said after she was taken aside by Department of Tourism Asst. Secretary Alan Canizal and Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. shortly after she arrived at 3:48 a.m. via Philippine Airlines flight PR103.

Grantham, the daughter of a Filipino mother and American father, has been to the Philippines only once before and that was when she was a seven-year-old in 2000.

Grantham, who will arrive tour package with hotel accommodation as her prize, said that she plans to stay in the Philippines for around two weeks to explore Palawan, after visiting her maternal grandparents in Cebu.

Canizal said the DOT also plans to surprise the sixth- or seventh-million foreign tourist to arrive in the country.

Bengzon, for his part described the welcoming of the fifth-million visitor as an event that is very “significant” owing to the amount of hard work put into achieving it.

“This milestone is a result of the collaborative and sustained efforts of all partners in tourism industry,” Bengzon pointed out.

However, Bengzon added that more important than the headcount is the motivation to push even harder.

“The fact that we have crossed the five-million mark is that we are already in the big league,” the DOT official said. PNA

Piching in. A resident of Barangay Central in Quezon City tries to help firemen put out a fifth-alarm fire that broke out Monday afternoon. JANSEN ROMERO

Marcos hits lumad kids’ poor access to education

By Macon Ramos-Araneta IN addItIoN to being caught between clashing forces in remote areas, nine out of 10 indigenous children have no access to education and such inadequacy should immediately be addressed by the next administration, said vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “Our indigenous peoples are living in the hinterlands where there are no elementary or secondary schools. Their children find it very difficult to go to the schools as they have to walk hours every day just to get to the nearest school,” he said, citing a study conducted by the Save Our Schools Network.

“In addition to distance, some schools located in remote areas are

prone to attacks and fighting between and among government forces, rebel groups and lawless elements. These attacks undermine the basic right of our children to education,” said Marcos.

Marcos has always been passionate about youth empowerment. The first law that he enacted when he was neophyte Congressman in 1992 was the Act that established the Philippine Youth Commission. He

also filed several bills in the Senate to strengthen the educational system and the teaching profession.

“To address such demographical and geographical concerns, alternative ways should be pursued and strengthened in order to help these children to the education that they deserve,” Marcos stated.

Marcos recommended that the Alternative Learning System is a viable option.

“I understand that the Department of Education has been implementing this for several years and I think that it should be strengthened so that it would cover more communities, including those located remotely far from town centers,” Marcos stressed.

He cited the Instructional Management by Parents, Communities and Teachers as a sound alternative

to traditional education for children in remote areas because it involves the whole community in the education of the young children.

“Under Impact, learning materials provided by the DepEd are given to children under the guidance of their parents and community leaders. Older school children such as those in grade six are also encouraged to teach their younger peers lessons based on the learning materials,” Marcos explained.

“We need to think out of the box in addressing the various obstacles were are facing when it comes to providing education to our children, especially those belonging to the indigenous communities and remote areas. We need the involvement of

everyone in the community to ensure that they don’t get left out.”

QC court denies Ampatuan plea Crackdown.

Firearms and Explosive Office of the Philippine National Police along with Manila Police District Command inspect the goods offered by firecracker vendors in Manila’s Divisoria shopping district.

DANNY PATA

By Rio N. Araja THE Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Monday denied the appeal of Andal Ampatuan Jr., one of the principal suspects in the Maguindanao massacre case, to subpoena former Press Secretary Jesus Dureza to prove a purported irregularity in his arrest.

Branch 221 Assisting Judge Genie Gapas Agbada said Ampatuan failed to raise substantial or new matters that could contravene the court’s earlier order to disallow the presentation of Dureza as a rebuttal witness of the defense.

Earlier, Agbada blocked Dureza from taking the witness stand in support of the bail petition of Ampatuan.

“Suffice it to say that what

needs to be rebutted are those presented by the prosecution that supports the latter’s claim that the evidence of guilt of the accused is strong,” the order read.

“This is not attendant in the judicial affidavit of Atty. Jesus Dureza, a copy of which was submitted to court on Sept. 9, 2015.”

Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process in Mindanao at the time of the massacre on Nov. 23, 2009, was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the crisis manager after the incident.

“Atty. Dureza was, at the onset, a public officer holding a very sensitive and highly confidential position at the time of the massacre incident subject of his testimony,” the prosecution panel said.

Any communication or information that he has acquired through his official function are considered privileged communication and would disqualify Dureza from testifying, it added.

“Clearly, what accused would want to establish in securing the testimony of Atty. Dureza are information on matters that relate to the latter’s official actions at the time,” Ampatuan’s motion read. “That, he cannot do without running afoul on the prescriptions of privileged information.”

The prosecution panel said the current proceeding was only on the bail petition, and that matters pertaining to the legality of Ampatuan’s arrest and the inquest proceedings were already a nonmaterial.

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Peace panel’s car rentals ‘excessive’

By Rio N. Araja THE Commission on Audit on Monday said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process committed multiple irregularities in its vehicle rentals in 2014 amounting to P45,327,718.

Auditors said OPAPP rented 294 vehicles last year, 89 units on a monthly basis and 205 on “per activity” arrangement.

“These were in addition to 56 vehicles owned by the agency,” it said.

According to CoA, the OPAPP’s financial plan and schedule of expenses under its own 2014 budget showed only P7.97 million appropriated for rent of motor vehicles, but such limitation was not observed as actual spending on car rentals showed an excess of 469 percent or P37.36 million.

To cover the shortfall, OPAPP channeled funds from other programs without the prior approval of the Department of Budget and Management as mandated under paragraphs 3.3 and 12 of the National Budget Circular No. 446 of 1995, state auditors said.

“We verified compliance of OPAPP to the above requirements and found that 89 motor vehicles rented on a monthly basis for calendar year 2014 were not covered by an authority from the DBM. The necessity of renting 294 motor vehicles cannot be adequately established since the purposes or activities were not always indicated in the supporting documents,” CoA said.

It required the OPAPP to submit the records of all vehicle rentals transacted by the agency in 2014 in two letters dated Jan. 16 and Feb. 23.

Nevertheless, the OPAPP was able to present documents only for 37 hired vehicles—20 in Mindanao and 17 in Metro Manila.

Auditors noted OPAPP had 46 available parking slots for its personnel with 17 located in the basement of its office building and 29 others located on Malayan Plaza on ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

With 29 agency-owned vehicles being used by the OPAPP-central office and the additional 17 rentals assigned in the National Capital Region, it said 46 parking slots were already fully occupied.

AFP@80. the Armed Forces of the Philippines celebrated its 80th anniversary at the Air Force City in Clark Air Base, Pampanga on Monday

(Dec. 21, 2015) with the theme ‘Advancing, transforming to Protect the People and Secure the State.’ MAlAcAñANG Photo BuReAu

Aquino Cabinet’s satisfaction rating down

By Sandy Araneta The net public satisfaction rating of the Cabinet of President Benigno Aquino III plunged in the fourth quarter of the year from +16 in September to +11, the Social Weather Stations said in its latest survey.

Malacañang downplayed the SWS survey results. “We note the latest Social Weather Station survey on Public Satisfaction with top government officials and top government institutions which show that the satisfaction rating for the Cabinet as a whole remained “moderate” with 38 percent of respondents satisfied, 32 percent undecided and 27 dissatisfied for a net satisfaction rating of +11,” said Communications Secretary herminio Coloma Jr.

The SWS also said public satisfaction of several top officials in the country also plunged, with some hitting their personal record lows.

Among those whose public satisfaction ratings dropped were Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Franklin Drilon, house Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes P. A. Sereno, the SWS said.

Results of a December 5 to 8, 2015 survey of the SWS, among 1,200 adults nationwide—with sampling error margins of ±3 points for national percentages and ±6 points each for Metro Manila, “Balance of Luzon,” the Visayas and Mindanao— showed that Drilon suffered the biggest drop in his net satisfaction rating, falling two grades

and 35 points to a personal record-low “neutral” +7 from “good” +42 in September.

Some 38 percent of those surveyed said they were satisfied with Drilon, as opposed to the 31 percent who were dissatisfied.

According to the SWS, Binay’s net satisfaction rating dropped 9 points to a personal record-low of “moderate” +24 (with 52 percent satisfied against 28 percent dissatisfied) from +33 (with 58 percent satisfied and 25 percent dissatisfied) in September.

“It used to be very good to excellent from March 2011 to September 2014, and good from December 2014 to September 2015,” the SWS said.

The SWS said Sereno’s ratings decreased 5 points to a personal record-low of “neutral” -1 (with 29

percent satisfied and 31 percent dissatisfied) from September’s +4.

“Out of 13 surveys since December 2012, it was moderate in 8 and neutral in 5,” the SWS report said.

Belmonte decreased six points to a “neutral” -1 (31 percent satisfied, 32 percent dissatisfied) from +5.

The SWS also said that public satisfaction with the key institutions went down, with the Senate suffering the biggest drop.

The report also said that the Senate’s satisfaction rating slid 14 points to “good” +30 from +44.

In the house of Representatives, ratings dropped 10 points to “moderate” +16 from +26 in September.

The Supreme Court dropped by 5 points to “moderate” +22 from +27 in September.

Clean air warriors’ group launched Nine traders rapped

By Macon Araneta The Coalition of Clean Air Advocates of the Philippines, a multi sectoral umbrella of organizations coming from the healthcare, interfaith, business, indigenous people, transport sectors and the civil society, together with the Private hospital Association of the Philippines, has launched in Manila a project to create a million clean air warriors to volunteer and fight air pollution in the country.

CCAAP chairman and former Philippine Medical Association president Leo Olarte OlArte explains that “the clean air warrior project is a volunteer program for nationalistic and patriotic Filipinos who want to stand up for their right to breathe clean air.

Olarte aid a clean warrior pledges to champion the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 also known as Republic Act 8749.

“A clean warrior volunteers to work for cleanliness and righteousness in our nation towards the final attainment of a better and Clean Philippines for our people. Our core strategy in gathering a million volunteers nationwide, to battle air pollution and push for righteousness, is based on the power of new technologies and the social media,” said Olarte.

According to the National Statistics Office, there are more than 100 million Filipinos today in the country. Telecommunication companies are claiming that 80 million of the more than 100 million Filipinos possess and use cellular phones.

“Some even say that the texting capital of the world is the Philippines. We intend to take advantage of all these realities to organize, communicate and mobilize our clean warriors into sustainable actions in order to attain our goals for a Clean Philippines,” he said.

“The pollutants they emit cause respiratory and cardiovascular [heart attack, stroke, sudden death] diseases in man. It also contributes to global warming that leads to climate change. The Philippines is among the most vulnerable country on earth to the devastating effects of climate change.” Olarte added.

In the same event, CCAAP Trustee and Climate Change Commissioner heherson Alvarez lauded both CCAAP and PhAPI for launching the million volunteer clean warriors project against air pollution.

PhAPI president Dr. Rustico Jimenez thanked CCAAP and appealed to the entire nation to join and support the Clean Air Warrior Project.

for P14-m smuggling

The Customs bureau on Monday charged nine traders with smuggling of P14 million worth of pyrotechnics, phones, rice, and tablets at the Manila International Container Port and foiled another attempt to squirrel P12 million worth of branded cigarettes from a warehouse in Davao City.

Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said the filing of criminal charges targeted eunkyoung Son, president and chief executive officer of Rainbow holdings Inc.; Soon Seong Jeong, Diosdado Serbio Jr., Rolando Ambrosio and Kathleeb Uy. The traders’ shipment, contained in five container vans arrived in Manila last July 20, 2015 and declared as bitumen but was found to contain rice.

RhI was charged with violation of Section 3601 or illegal importation of rice, Lina said.

Also charged were Charmayne Angeles, president of Stellenet Corp., Asuncion Angeles, Ma. Rhezy Ilada and Ruge Robert Ilada, all of Stellent Corp.

Stellent shipped thousands of cartons of tissue but was found to contain undetermined quantity of pyrotechnics.

The shipment worth more than P4.5 million came from hongkong and arrived in Manila last month.

Vito Barcelo, Gabrielle Binaday

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Probe of ‘bala’ suspects begins

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Department of Justice has started the preliminary investigation on the criminal charges against six airport personnel implicated in the tanim-bala or bullet-planting scheme at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Two of the respondents Marvin Garcia and Ma. Elma Cegna from the Office for Transportation Security showed up during the hearing at 2 p.m. on Monday before Assistant Prosecution Attorney Honey Rose Delgado.

The other respondents, Philippine National Police–Aviation Security Group operatives Police Inspector Adriano Junio, SPO4 Ramon Bernardo and SPO2 Romy Navarro and Rolan-

do Clarin, failed to attend the PI, but sent their lawyers.

All respondents asked for more time to refute the complaint filed against them by Lane White, the American missionary reportedly victimized by the scheme last September, and his stepmother Eloisa Zoleta.

They sought copies first of the evidence gathered by the National Bureau of Investigation,

including CCTV footage, before they would submit their respective counter-affidavits.

The prosecutor granted the plea and gave them until Jan. 8 next year to answer the charges.

Garcia and Cegna were charged with violation of Article 5, Section 3 (B) (Liability for Planting Evidence) under Republic Act 10591 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunitions Regulation Act).

On the other hand, the police officers were charged with violation of Article 293 (robbery and extortion) of the Revised Penal Code, violation of Republic Act 7438, or An Act Defining Certain Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation and Duties of the Arresting, Detaining or Inves-

tigating Officers, and Republic Act 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The 20-year-old White was arrested last Sept. 17 and charged with possession of a 22-caliber bullet, which was supposedly detected when his baggage went through the x-ray scanner at the Naia. The court already dismissed the case against him and he already left the country last week.

White said his refusal to cough up P30,000 allegedly demanded

by OTS personnel in exchange for his release led to his detention for six days at the ASG detention cell and the filing of charges against him for violation of RA 10591 before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court.

Vehicles make way for ‘stars’ on Roxas Blvd

THE Metro Manila Development Authority will close to vehicular traffic on Wednesday the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard to give way for the parade of stars participating in the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival.

MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos, who also heads the MMFF Committee, said the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard from Epifanio de los Santos Avenue extension to South Drive will be closed to all types of vehicles beginning at 3 p.m.

Roads to be affected by the parade, which will start 1 p.m. from Coral Way near SM Mall of Asia Arena, are JW Diokno, Edsa Extension, South Road, and Independence Road to Quirino Grandstand.

The MMDA advised motorists to take Burgos and T.M. Kalaw as alternative roads.

MMDA Traffic Discipline Office chief Cris Saruca said the agency made the decision to close the southbound lane as many fans and movie-goers are expected to watch the Parade of Stars along Roxas Boulevard.

“This is the biggest film fest kasi sikat yung mga artistang kasama. Albdub itself pa lang eh,” said Saruca, referring to Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza of popular noontime show Eat Bulaga, who will join the parade for the first time with their movie entry.

Saruca said the MMDA will also deploy 1,000 traffic constables to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

“We will also be assisted by the local government units from Metro Manila during the event,” he added, noting that there will also be emergency and medical teams in the area.

Eight movies entered this year’s MMFF—My Bebe Love which stars Vic Sotto, Ai-Ai delas Alas; Buy Now, Die Later starring Jayson Gainza, John Lapus and Ian Veneracion; Haunted Mansion starring Joem Basco, Alan Paule and Janelle Salvador; Hermano Pule starring Aljur Abrenica and Alessandra de Rossi; All You Need Is Pag-ibig starring Kris Aquino, Derek Ramsay; Nilalang starring Cesar Montano and Maria Ozawa; Walang Forever starring JM de Guzman, Jennilyn Mercado and Derek Ramsay, and Beauty and The Bestie starring Vice Ganda, Coco Martin and Karla Estrada. Joel Zurbano

INC hits critics: All talk, no sense

Terminal traffic. Passengers bound for the provinces jampack a bus terminal in Cubao, Quezon City trying to avoid the Christmas rush while arriving and departing travelers can expect improved traffic flow along roads to and from the Naia terminals with the implementation of a new vehicle scheme around the Circulo del Mondo. LINO SANTOS AND ERIC APOLONIO

“WE ARE no longer surprised at the lengths our detractors will go to attack the reputation of the Church; our accusers will say anything to get the attention of the media, including coming up with stories that make so little sense it’s amazing they see print.”

This, according to Iglesia ni Cristo spokesperson Edwil Zabala, who on Sunday responded to statements by US ex-minister Vincent Florida, who said that he had meant to protect the Church by filing a tax case with the US Internal Revenue Service that involved longer processes and would allow the INC to address financial irregularities.

Florida said he used IRS Form 3949A when reporting the INC, which is used for reporting suspected tax fraud, including false exemptions or deductions, kickbacks, false or altered document, failure to pay tax, unreported income and organized

crime. Florida could have used IRS Form 211, which is used as part of the tax collection agency’s whistle-blower program that awards informants 15 to 30 percent of the tax collected.

Florida claimed he deliberately chose Form 3949A because it would require “a longer investigation lead time” to give the INC leadership and “anyone else who received income from the US congregations” time to cooperate with the US government and make the appropriate tax declarations.

Zabala said that Florida’s statements “reveal the credibility of the accuser and the evidence behind the allegations: none.”

“Ultimately, Mr. Florida presents no evidence to back up any of his claims, all of which are based on gossip,” explained Zabala.

“We challenge him to use whatever IRS form he wants, but the result will be the same because we have done nothing wrong.”

Zabala also said that if what the ex-minister said was true, then he should be held accountable “for wasting the time of the IRS and making a mockery of US tax laws.”

The INC minister provided an analogy of Florida’s statement, saying “it’s like he reported a robbery to the police, only to tell the robbers to return the money so they would not be caught—while at the same time holding a press conference accusing the robbers of committing a crime. Di ba hindi naman kapani-paniwala ‘yan?

[Isn’t that unbelievable?]”

Zabala again repeated calls for the public to be circumspect in the face of repeated attempts to destroy the credibility of the INC and its leaders.

“We continue to pray for an end to these attacks so that we can quietly and peacefully focus on the expansion programs of the church and its numerous socio-civic activities.”

t u e s d ay : d e C e m b e r 2 2 , 2 0 1 5

A7

news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Grid agency re-energizes transmission lines in Samar

By Mel Caspe THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines re-energized on Saturday some transmission line sections in northern Samar after the damage wrought by Typhoon “Nona” last week.

The NGCP intends to fully restore its transmission services to the typhoon-ravaged province before the year ends.

The grid agency said it was able to re-energize the 69 kiloVolts Palanas-Cara-Catarman and BobonCatarman sections.

“The line will transmit power to the Northern Samar Electric Cooperative’s [Norsamelco] Bobon station once this facility is ready,” the NGCP said.

NGCP Communication Officer for Visayas, Betty Rosette Martinez, said that at least the typhoon left 109 poles toppled and 111 leaning.

The Catarman–Bobolosan line section sustained was heavily affected with 74 poles left toppled and 78 poles leaning.

Martinez said that NGCP is doing all means to ready the power highway before Norsamelco finishes the rehabilitation activities of their distribution lines.

According to the latest report from NDRRMC, power has been restored in the province except in the municipalities of Catubig, Gamay, Lao-ang, Pambujan, Palapag, Las Navas, Biri, Capul, San Antonio, San Vicente, Lapinig and Silvino Lobos.

In the meantime, NGCP asked the support and cooperation of the public, particularly private landowners in their restoration and rehabilitation activities. Martinez said that during such activities NGCP linemen need to enter or pass private properties.

“We would like to seek support and cooperation of private lot owners to allow our linemen to enter or pass privately owned lots and do their work,” Martinez said.

“NGCP’s main objective is to restore our lines as early as possible, we just hope that there will be no strong resistance from land owners like what we experienced on our restoration activities during the past typhoons. What our linemen are doing is for them,” she explained.

Police kill two suspected robbers in Bulacan town

By Florante S. Solmerin

Two suspected robbers were killed and another one escaped in an alleged shootout between them and policemen in a dragnet operation early Monday morning in Barangay Lias in Marilao town, Senior Inspector Lynelle Solomon, public information officer of the Bulacan Provincial Police office, said.

Hard at work. Electric cooperatives in Northern Samar and nearby towns try their best to restore electricity. MEL CASPE

She said the shootout occurred inside Meralco Village at around 2:15 a.m. after they were cornered during a brief chase on Lamp Street where a dragnet team was in position.

“Based on the report from the Marilao Municipal Police Station, a resident of Quarts Street Meralco Village sought assistance from barangay officials about three unidentified men who tried to enter their premises.

The report reached the patrolling personnel of Sector 4 of the Marilao police who immediately called for back-up and to set up dragnet operation.

“The three suspects were later sighted while walking along Quarts Street inside Meralco Village and upon sensing presence of policemen who were approaching to check on them, they immediately scampered towards Lamp Street where they were cornered. The suspects opted to fire towards the policemen that resulted in an armed encounter. Two of the suspects were killed while the other managed to escape by running towards the other streets and climbing over the fence,” Solomon said.

According to her, no casualty on the side of the policemen but their patrol car was hit by a bullet during the encounter.

Recovered from the dead suspects was a caliber .38 revolver without serial number and loaded with 3 live ammunition and 1 spent shell; 3 small heat sealed transparent plastic sachet with white crystalline substance of suspected “shabu”; 3 spent shells for cal. 5.56; 2 cartridge cases for caliber .40; a cutter knife; lighter; and a deformed slug.

Solomon said one of the dead suspects had a tattoo mark “Sputnik” on his right leg.

The two fatalities were brought to Flavel Funeral Parlor in Barangay Lolomboy in Bocaue town.

Albay dispatches response team to help towns damaged by ‘Nona’

Safe water. A member of emergency response group Team Albay manages the distri-

bution of potable drinking water from the team’s filtration machine to villagers in Irosin town, hard hit by Typhoon ‘Nona’ last week.

LEGAZPI CITY—The governor of Albay province has dispatched multi-awarded disaster response group Team Albay to Bulusan and Irosin in neighboring Sorsogon, to “assist the relief and early recovery of households” in those areas, battered by Typhoon “Nona” recently.

Gov. Joey Salceda at the same time called on his constituents to “exercise modesty” in celebrating Christmas, “to set aside, if not to radically cancel them and transform them into assistance” to those affected by the latest calamity.

The Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in a full council meeting late last week approved Team Albay’s 10-day deployment to Bulu-

san and Irosin, its 15th mercy mission so far. Its last engagement was only last October in Typhoon Lando-devastated towns of Quezon and Central Luzon provinces.

Team Albay moved out last Friday night with its Water and Sanitation unit and its lorry mounted water filtration machines, and its Medical Support Group. Once passable, the team will shift resources to the isolated, nearby town of Magallanes.

“In this respect, we encourage our people—our institutions, civic groups, schools, barangays, even families— to exercise modesty in our Christmas celebrations, to set aside, if not to radically cancel them and transform them into assistance to those affected

by Typhoon “Nona” in our midst,” he said.

The governor also encouraged his constituents and other concerned groups “to undertake charity missions in our neighboring province of Sorsogon, particularly in the towns of Bulusan, Irosin, Magallanes, Bulan, Barcelona and Matnog… and to the bolder souls, to Burias, Claveria and San Pascual in Masbate.”

The mercy mission is headed by Dr. Nats Rempillo, himself a veteran of the team’s earlier mercy engagements. Team Albay’s WatSan unit was deployed as of early Saturday in Irosin and Bulusan, while the medical team concentrated its attention in Bulusan to do Post Disaster Health Interventions.

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

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA

LOOKING FOR PEOPLE OF GOODWILL

[ EDI TORI A L ]

BOSS FOR A DAY POOR Miss Colombia.

For a brief, shining moment, she was crowned Miss Universe 2015— only to be told right afterward by the pageant’s host that he had got it wrong. The country cheered when he declared that the real winner was Miss Philippines, but our hearts went out to the Latin American contestant, who was made to believe that she had won, only to have her crown and bouquet of flowers taken from her.

If her predicament strikes a chord among us, perhaps it is because that we, too, have been sold a bill of goods only to be told later that it was all a mistake.

At the start of his term, President Benigno Aquino III told us in no uncertain terms that we, the people, were his boss, and that he would listen to what we had to say. Time and again, however, he proved that this was mere rhetoric, and that he would do as he pleased, regardless of what we had to say. When Filipino workers, the most heavily taxed in Southeast Asia, told him that they needed some relief, Mr. Aquino superciliously waved them away, and said lowering taxes would be unpopular among the international agencies that determine the country’s credit rating.

When long-suffering commuters demanded that the President fire those responsible for the deterioration of Metro Manila’s city train system, he ignored them and kept his corrupt and incompetent cronies in position.

When overseas workers asked him to take action against an extortion racket that planted bullets in the luggage of travelers passing through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the President dismissed the problem as a product of media hype. The number of incidents, he added, was insignificant in relation to the millions of people who pass through the airport.

When we, as a people, were outraged by the massacre of 44 police commandos by Muslim insurgents belonging to the same group with which the government was engaged in peace talks, and demanded that he take action against them, the President instead defended the same rebel group and urged lawmakers to pass a law that would make them even more powerful.

Finally, Filipinos were told that Mr. Aquino would end corruption through his “straight path” policy, and that this would go a long way toward alleviating poverty.

Nobody told us at the time, however, that justice would be applied selectively under this policy, and that Mr. Aquino’s corrupt friends and allies would be spared the harsh treatment reserved for his political enemies.

Like Miss Colombia, we saw a bright future ahead of us, only to be let down rather quickly by an incompetent—and that really hurts.

CREDIBLE POLLING LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES IF A pollster does his job well, he presents a true and accurate picture of the public sentiment at the time a poll was taken. No more, no less.

My favorite pollster, Junie Laylo, has been getting grief from the people who don’t know the first thing about polling— or about Laylo himself. But because Laylo is the consummate professional, he doesn’t let

the partisan brickbats bother him; he understands that pollsters have a job to do and that his data should always be selfexplanatory, needing no further analysis from him.

That is the job of pundits and political analysts, who pore over survey data after being assured that it was gathered properly and without the spin that sometimes makes even the most casual observer shake his head and say: This can’t be real.

Of course, Laylo’s survey requires some background and context. For example, it must be noted that the period when

the last survey was taken covered several events that had a direct impact on the presidential contest. During the week of Dec. 4-12, the Commission on Elections issued not one but two decisions, emanating from both of its two divisions, disqualifying Senator Grace Poe on grounds of citizenship and residency. During that same eventful week, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte cursed at Pope Francis for causing traffic in Metro Manila during his visit last January.

So the tightening of the contest for the highest post in the

A9

As the sports writers say, it’s still very much anybody’s ball game right now.

land next May that this newspaper reported has most likely been caused by these incidents involving two of the top candidates. Both Poe and Duterte could have suffered fall-offs in popular support because they were perceived to be near disqualification (in the case of Poe) or to have alienated the Catholic majority (in the case of Duterte).

This leads to another important finding of the latest LayloThe Standard survey, which found that a large percentage of self-admitted voters of all the major presidential candidates have not really decided to vote on Election Day for the person they have chosen at the time the poll was taken. On average,

the poll found that 40 percent of voters are unsure that they will still, on May 9, choose the person whose name they gave to the poll takers when they were asked early this month.

This means that there’s still a lot of fluidity in the presidential contest and that events like the Comelec disqualification of Poe and the choice remarks made by Duterte against the Pope could cause serious changes in the equation.

In other words, as the sports writers say, it’s still very much anybody’s ball

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

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

game right now. And the candidate who can best sway the voting population one way or the other in the coming months will have the best chance of making it all the way to the finish line, hopefully ahead of the rest of the field. *** As for Laylo himself, I guess I should go even back further to explain why he is, to me, the most credible pollster working in this country right now. Unlike most other survey outfits, Laylo goes to great lengths to get results that are often more accurate

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

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

than those of more well-known survey firms and that reflect the real pulse of the people and the true social weather situation.

Laylo got his master’s in public opinion polling and survey research from the University of Connecticut, which hosted Elmo Roper and George Gallup’s widely respected Roper Center and which established the Uconn/ Hartford Courant poll. He was a research fellow of Social Weather Stations, where he cut his pollster’s teeth.

Continued on A11

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

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

LAST December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis signaled the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. On this occasion, the Church will reflect on the mystery of God, rich in mercy and compassion, manifested and brought about in Christ, the Father’s face of mercy, continually at work through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The occasion kicked off with the opening of the Holy Door in the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican. Moreover, the Holy Father decreed that “in every local church, at the chosen cathedral a Door of Mercy will be opened for the duration of the Holy Year.” This gesture signifies the recognition of Christ as the sole door through which we enter salvation and the one way that leads to the Father.

It is fitting that the Jubilee of Mercy starts on the advent season. This season is the time to ponder the depth of God’s love and mercy unworthy that we are. As the psalm goes: “What are humans that you are mindful of them, that you care for them? Yet You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”

But do we deserve this honor?

All around the world, there is war, terrorism, hatred, intolerance, discord, hunger and all other forms of human misery. But we need not go far to see how this culture of lack of charity and hatred is playing out in our midst.

With the elections just around the corner, candidates begin to preoccupy themselves not on how to improve the lot of the people, especially the poor, but on how to destroy their rivals. This is the dirtiest election I have ever seen, the ugliness amplified by social media where everyone has a megaphone.

Mudslinging, threats of violence and calumny are the preferred ways to achieve victory. Only a couple of candidates have discussed platforms of government; we would rather focus on the “dirt” of the candidates and complain about our decaying society. There has even challenges to slapping contests, fistfights, and gun duels. The Comelec, as I have written elsewhere, has committed serious injustice not just to Senator Grace Poe but millions of foundlings, adopted parents and children, OFWs, migrants and global Filipinos.

Sadly, government offices have also not been spared the politics. As a columnist in another newspaper wrote, something illegal is happening at the Bureau Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA

LOOKING FOR PEOPLE OF GOODWILL

[ EDI TORI A L ]

BOSS FOR A DAY POOR Miss Colombia.

For a brief, shining moment, she was crowned Miss Universe 2015— only to be told right afterward by the pageant’s host that he had got it wrong. The country cheered when he declared that the real winner was Miss Philippines, but our hearts went out to the Latin American contestant, who was made to believe that she had won, only to have her crown and bouquet of flowers taken from her.

If her predicament strikes a chord among us, perhaps it is because that we, too, have been sold a bill of goods only to be told later that it was all a mistake.

At the start of his term, President Benigno Aquino III told us in no uncertain terms that we, the people, were his boss, and that he would listen to what we had to say. Time and again, however, he proved that this was mere rhetoric, and that he would do as he pleased, regardless of what we had to say. When Filipino workers, the most heavily taxed in Southeast Asia, told him that they needed some relief, Mr. Aquino superciliously waved them away, and said lowering taxes would be unpopular among the international agencies that determine the country’s credit rating.

When long-suffering commuters demanded that the President fire those responsible for the deterioration of Metro Manila’s city train system, he ignored them and kept his corrupt and incompetent cronies in position.

When overseas workers asked him to take action against an extortion racket that planted bullets in the luggage of travelers passing through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the President dismissed the problem as a product of media hype. The number of incidents, he added, was insignificant in relation to the millions of people who pass through the airport.

When we, as a people, were outraged by the massacre of 44 police commandos by Muslim insurgents belonging to the same group with which the government was engaged in peace talks, and demanded that he take action against them, the President instead defended the same rebel group and urged lawmakers to pass a law that would make them even more powerful.

Finally, Filipinos were told that Mr. Aquino would end corruption through his “straight path” policy, and that this would go a long way toward alleviating poverty.

Nobody told us at the time, however, that justice would be applied selectively under this policy, and that Mr. Aquino’s corrupt friends and allies would be spared the harsh treatment reserved for his political enemies.

Like Miss Colombia, we saw a bright future ahead of us, only to be let down rather quickly by an incompetent—and that really hurts.

CREDIBLE POLLING LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES IF A pollster does his job well, he presents a true and accurate picture of the public sentiment at the time a poll was taken. No more, no less.

My favorite pollster, Junie Laylo, has been getting grief from the people who don’t know the first thing about polling— or about Laylo himself. But because Laylo is the consummate professional, he doesn’t let

the partisan brickbats bother him; he understands that pollsters have a job to do and that his data should always be selfexplanatory, needing no further analysis from him.

That is the job of pundits and political analysts, who pore over survey data after being assured that it was gathered properly and without the spin that sometimes makes even the most casual observer shake his head and say: This can’t be real.

Of course, Laylo’s survey requires some background and context. For example, it must be noted that the period when

the last survey was taken covered several events that had a direct impact on the presidential contest. During the week of Dec. 4-12, the Commission on Elections issued not one but two decisions, emanating from both of its two divisions, disqualifying Senator Grace Poe on grounds of citizenship and residency. During that same eventful week, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte cursed at Pope Francis for causing traffic in Metro Manila during his visit last January.

So the tightening of the contest for the highest post in the

A9

As the sports writers say, it’s still very much anybody’s ball game right now.

land next May that this newspaper reported has most likely been caused by these incidents involving two of the top candidates. Both Poe and Duterte could have suffered fall-offs in popular support because they were perceived to be near disqualification (in the case of Poe) or to have alienated the Catholic majority (in the case of Duterte).

This leads to another important finding of the latest LayloThe Standard survey, which found that a large percentage of self-admitted voters of all the major presidential candidates have not really decided to vote on Election Day for the person they have chosen at the time the poll was taken. On average,

the poll found that 40 percent of voters are unsure that they will still, on May 9, choose the person whose name they gave to the poll takers when they were asked early this month.

This means that there’s still a lot of fluidity in the presidential contest and that events like the Comelec disqualification of Poe and the choice remarks made by Duterte against the Pope could cause serious changes in the equation.

In other words, as the sports writers say, it’s still very much anybody’s ball

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

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

game right now. And the candidate who can best sway the voting population one way or the other in the coming months will have the best chance of making it all the way to the finish line, hopefully ahead of the rest of the field. *** As for Laylo himself, I guess I should go even back further to explain why he is, to me, the most credible pollster working in this country right now. Unlike most other survey outfits, Laylo goes to great lengths to get results that are often more accurate

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

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

than those of more well-known survey firms and that reflect the real pulse of the people and the true social weather situation.

Laylo got his master’s in public opinion polling and survey research from the University of Connecticut, which hosted Elmo Roper and George Gallup’s widely respected Roper Center and which established the Uconn/ Hartford Courant poll. He was a research fellow of Social Weather Stations, where he cut his pollster’s teeth.

Continued on A11

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

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

LAST December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis signaled the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. On this occasion, the Church will reflect on the mystery of God, rich in mercy and compassion, manifested and brought about in Christ, the Father’s face of mercy, continually at work through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The occasion kicked off with the opening of the Holy Door in the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican. Moreover, the Holy Father decreed that “in every local church, at the chosen cathedral a Door of Mercy will be opened for the duration of the Holy Year.” This gesture signifies the recognition of Christ as the sole door through which we enter salvation and the one way that leads to the Father.

It is fitting that the Jubilee of Mercy starts on the advent season. This season is the time to ponder the depth of God’s love and mercy unworthy that we are. As the psalm goes: “What are humans that you are mindful of them, that you care for them? Yet You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.”

But do we deserve this honor?

All around the world, there is war, terrorism, hatred, intolerance, discord, hunger and all other forms of human misery. But we need not go far to see how this culture of lack of charity and hatred is playing out in our midst.

With the elections just around the corner, candidates begin to preoccupy themselves not on how to improve the lot of the people, especially the poor, but on how to destroy their rivals. This is the dirtiest election I have ever seen, the ugliness amplified by social media where everyone has a megaphone.

Mudslinging, threats of violence and calumny are the preferred ways to achieve victory. Only a couple of candidates have discussed platforms of government; we would rather focus on the “dirt” of the candidates and complain about our decaying society. There has even challenges to slapping contests, fistfights, and gun duels. The Comelec, as I have written elsewhere, has committed serious injustice not just to Senator Grace Poe but millions of foundlings, adopted parents and children, OFWs, migrants and global Filipinos.

Sadly, government offices have also not been spared the politics. As a columnist in another newspaper wrote, something illegal is happening at the Bureau Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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

A10

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

365 CLUB NOW THE CONTINUING INCOMPETENCE IN THE MMDA (PART I) AT HOLIDAY INN TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

THE 365 Club at Hotel Intercontinental Makati held its traditional Christmas Party last week for the last time in its 43 years in existence since it was founded on Sept. 22, 1972 —the day when Martial Law was proclaimed.

The reason for this is that the Ayalas have plans to demolish the entire block where the “Grand Dame” of hotels in Makati and the parking lots in front of SM Makati are located starting Jan. 1, 2016.

There was holiday cheer for everybody who has been a member of the 365 Club for decades.

Vice President Jojo Binay

We’ll have a new venue on Jan. 9 and I hope to see familiar faces.

was our special guest. Every mayor of Makati City is an honorary member of the Club as the late Mayor Mesio Yabut was, the Vice President and Jun-Jun Binay are. The Vice President had been supportive of the Club for years, like all members of his family.

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile was even there, although he was late since he was stuck in Metro Manila’s horrendous traffic for three hours.

Still, the event was sad since Hotel Intercon has been the home of the 365 Club since it began.

But while Hotel Intercon will be demolished to give way to a new Ayala terminal hub cum mixed residences and commercial establishments, it’s not really the end of the 365 Club. The hotel management led by its manager Christian Peridon has invited us to have our usual Saturday gathering at Holiday Inn Suites Coffeeshop with our own special place as we had at Hotel Intercon. Holiday Inn is an affiliate of Hotel Intercon.

We will have our first gathering on Jan. 9. I hope to see the usual faces on that day.

The 365 Club is a

unique gathering of friends from all facets of society, journalists in particular, professionals, businessmen or just plain kibitzers, who have something to say about politics and business. There are also those still in government and those who are out. In fact, the club is a micro-representation of the nation’s society.

It is also unique in many ways because the Club has no charter, no by-laws and no membership laws. There is only a list of regulars who go there for coffee and snacks from eight in the morning until 12 noon. And it’s all KKB—kanya kanyang bayad—or Dutch treat unless some generous soul offers to pay for somebody or everybody else. We have always had a special place close to the restroom since most of us are senior citizens.

Enrile is our oldest regular at 92 years, Totoy Tinzon second at 89, myself following at 88 years, and former Marinduque Gov. Aris Liceros at 87.

It all began after midnight of Sept. 21, 1972. I was already asleep at my Philamlife Homes residence in Quezon City when the telephone rang.

When I asked who was calling, he identified himself as chief of security of RPN-Channel 9 along Roxas Boulevard. I was then manager of Public Affairs of the Bobby Benedicto-owned RPNChannel 9.

“Sir, you better come here because the station has been padlocked by the military because of Presidential Proclamation 1081—the Martial Law Proclamation,” the voice on the other line said.

I dressed up and hurriedly told my wife I had to go to the TV station because Martial Law had been proclaimed. On my way to the station I had to stop at four crossroads along Edsa because the military had already put up checkpoints. Luckily, I had my RPN-9 card with me, which I presented to every checkpoint I passed.

There were already long lines of cars and everybody else stopped at checkpoints. When I reached the Roxas Boulevard station, I saw staff members and executives in front. When I ask why, they told me that the station had been padlocked and that Bobby Benedicto and the network manager were locked in a meeting.

I stayed a while, talking to other managers until five o’clock in the morning when I felt hungry be-

WHEN Francis Tolentino was the chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, he subjected almost everybody in the metropolis to the consequences of his administrative incompetence.

Under Tolentino’s watch, traffic jams in the metropolis were everywhere, even outside the rush hours.

The reasons for the mess include his refusal to designate specific, separate lanes along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue for fast-moving vehicles and for the slower ones.

Earlier this year, Tolentino created motorcyle lanes along Edsa and Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City and enforced the regulation when it was still new. As a result, motorcycles kept to their lane, and traffic became less cumbersome, albeit temporarily. After a few months, particularly when no more publicity for him was forthcoming, Tolentino gave up on the motorcycle lanes.

Soon, the motorcycles were back weaving recklessly through traffic and making hazards of themselves.

Another reason for the traffic mess was Tolentino’s refusal to dismantle the useless U-turn slots along major roadways created by his predecessor, Bayani Fernando. Since these U-turn slots create bottlenecks near important intersections, they end up delaying the flow of vehicles. For instance, traffic along C-5 near Libis and along Quezon Avenue, both in Quezon City, used to flow smoothly—until those U-turn slots were created.

Almost all MMDA traffic enforcers vanish after dusk, or during a heavy downpour. Their collective disappearance on such occasions inevitably creates a vehicular freefor-all on the roads. Quite a number of them are often either corrupt or abusive. Some traffic enforcers have been reported to reprimand drivers who unfasten their seatbelts cause of anxiety I decided to go home. But when I was close to Hotel Intercon, I decided to have breakfast there because I knew that my wife was still fast asleep.

When I entered the Hotel Intercon coffeeshop at about seven in the morning, I was surprised to see huddled around a round table, Makati Mayor Yabut, columnist Ka Doroy Valencia, BIR official Jose Viterbo, businessman Pat Dayrit of the Dayrit clan, and Yabut-assistant Biding Sibug. At another table beside them were Yabut’s bodyguards and other assistants.

On the table where Yabut was seated was a duffle bag. When I asked what the bag was for, Yabut told me that he expected to be picked up by the military.

Ka Doroy told me that Yabut was involved in a shootout at the Hotel Intercon with the bodyguards of Delfin Cueto, who was rumored to be a relative of the strongman President Ferdinand Marcos. Some Yabut and Cueto bodyguards and military agents were killed. There was also a rumor that Yabut had killed Cueto.

After talking about what

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA even while their vehicles are stuck in a traffic jam.

Many MMDA traffic enforcers tolerate pedicabs on major roads even if MMDA regulations prohibit pedicabs on those roads in the first place. They also allow taxicabs to use key intersections as waiting stations. In the EdsaQuezon Avenue intersection alone, pedicabs and taxicabs have taken over the corners because MMDA traffic enforcers are nowhere to be found.

The number-coding regulation, which keeps specific vehicles off the roads of Metropolitan Manila at certain hours of the morning and the afternoon, depending on the last digit of a vehicle’s license plates, is supposed to be strictly implemented by the MMDA. During Tolentino’s watch, MMDA traffic enforcers did not apply the regulation against vehicles with license plates bearing the digits 6 or 8 —numbers which indicate that the vehicle belongs to a trial court judge, or to a congressman, respectively.

MMDA traffic enforcers during Tolentino’s tenure gave preferential treatment to vehicles with stickers or similar labels identifying their owners with the Philippine National Police, the Philippine National Police Academy, the Philippine Military Academy, and even the National Bureau of Investigation. Unlike the vehicles used by ordinary citizens (who are, ironically, required to pay the road users tax), these favored vehicles are free to use the roadways any day of the week, and even enter one-way streets the wrong way.

Instead of subjecting his erring

“will be,” and “what could happened next,” Ka Doroy told me that from then on, every member of media who had been displaced

by Martial Law was welcomed to Hotel Intercon to have breakfast. Yabut just smiled because he knew he would be footing the bill.

Fortunately for Yabut, he was never arrested by the military. And soon after, I started calling my friends in media per invitation of Ka Doroy.

At around noon of Sept.

22, 1972, I got another call for me to report because President Marcos would deliver his message to the nation on why Proclamation 1081 had to be done nationwide. I rushed to the station and with the television staff and with Babe Romualdez as the anchorman, we rushed to Malacañang where then Press Secretary Kit Tatad and the President were waiting. I recall that it was Romualdez who introduced Tatad, and in turn, Tatad apparently nervous, scratched his leg, introduced the President, who justified Martial Law to end a possible communist insurgency movement to take over the country. Santa Banana,

personnel to disciplinary action, Tolentino protected them, even when all indications suggest otherwise. As a consequence, corrupt and abusive MMDA enforcers are emboldened to continue with their wicked ways, much to the prejudice of the public.

Still under Tolentino’s watch, many official vehicles of the MMDA, and numerous tow-trucks accredited by it, were not even properly registered with the Land Transportation Office, as seen in their license plates.

In some instances, the vehicles do not even have license plates. Maybe Tolentino believes that law enforcement agencies, the MMDA included, are beyond the law.

Tolentino craves publicity, and this became obvious as early as 2014, particularly during that year’s Metro Manila Film Festival. At that time, all cinema houses in the metropolis were required to exhibit an MMDA feature film about Tolentino before each screening. The film lasted for several minutes, which is quite long by any standard for a cinemahouse trailer.

Alas, it turned out that Tolentino was already considering a run for the Senate that early.

It will be recalled that on one occasion, a member of the clergy who was so exasperated with the traffic mess in the metropolis got off his vehicle and directed traffic. That unusual incident was covered by the print, broadcast, and on-line news media, and it generated extensive public attention and approval on the social media. Seeing how the public reacted, Tolentino quickly staged his own version of the event and arranged for the news media to cover him directing traffic in a busy intersection. His plan backfired— the people saw through his gimmick and denounced him as a publicitystarved political opportunist.

Continued on A11

it was a very tense moment since I was directing everything.

In a few days’ time, RPN-Channel 9 was reopened, but other stations like Channels 2, 5 and 11 another Benedicto-owned network were not.

As for journalists and media having breakfast for free upon the invitation of Ka Doroy Valencia, after some months, during our breakfast gatherings, I heard Yabut complaining to Valencia that his financial officer wanted the freebies to be stopped.

It was already draining Makati—some journalists did not only take their breakfast, but also lunch and dinner together with their families.

It was at this instance that Ka Doroy who proclaimed himself as chairman decided that we would be called the 365 Club. He issues what he called Proclamation 1082 whereby people who would take coffee and breakfast at 365 Club would pay for their own meals.

That’s how it all began with our first regulars coming from the loyalist group of Yabut, Valencia, Viterbo, Dayrit, Louie Tabuena,

Munding Reyes, Gilbert Teodoro and many others joining the group. My gulay, believe it or not, even those who were arrested and detained at Camp Crame Hilton and amnestied later started joining us, like Max Soliven, Louie Beltran, Blas Ople, Adrian Cristobal and Art Borjal were there, and so was Marcos press secretary and press icon Jose Aspiras, and so was Marcos Deputy Prime Minister Peping Rono, nationalist Renato Constantino, Quirino Press Secretary and later PLDT PR Toto Olivares joined us.

You won’t believe it, even the late Kokoy Romualdez, brother of Imelda who was former Leyte governor and ambassador to Washington was a regular. Some foreign ambassadors even joined us to get a feel of the public pulse. Foreign correspondents were agog about the Club that the Wall Street Journal had a feature front page article about the 365 Club as a unique gathering of people representing the sentiments of the nation. Supreme Court justices also Continued on A11

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

MAN GOES HOMELESS CARING FOR ELDERLY FATHER

By Isabel Reynolds and Yuki Hagiwara WHEN Akihiro Takano resigned, at age 45, from his well-paid job as an events manager at a Tokyo department store to take care of his ailing father, he had no idea he was about to slip down the ranks of society until he was penniless and living in a park.

After his father’s death, Takano struggled to make ends meet with a series of insecure jobs while keeping an eye on his frail mother. Nine years later, in 2009, he spent the last of his savings on her funeral, fell behind on rent and was evicted from the apartment that had been the family home for 30 years.

He left with his mother’s ashes in an urn and her pet cat in a cage.

Now, back on his feet thanks to a chance encounter with a group of volunteers, Takano has paid work as a counselor for people on low incomes and has become a public face for what the Japanese refer to as “kaigo rishoku,” or the growing phenomenon of job loss due to caring for elderly family members.

“My boss told me that once you take off your necktie, it’s not easy to put it back on,” Takano said in an interview as trains clattered by outside the office of a charity in Saitama, north of Tokyo, where he works sometimes.

“I had stepped on a slide with no means of stopping. But I didn’t realize it myself—I thought I would

manage somehow.”

More than 100,000 people a year in Japan leave their jobs to care for sick relatives, according to the government, and most of them remain unemployed.

Baby boomers The tally is set to balloon as the nearly 7-million strong babyboomer generation reaches the age of 75 in the coming decade, potentially dragging their children from the workforce in their prime earning years. That’s something Japan can ill afford, as the working-age population shrinks due to the low birthrate and the government’s rejection of immigration.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September vowed to stem the flow, which he referred to as an “imminent crisis.” In a speech, he set out targets for growing the economy to 600 trillion yen ($4.9 trillion) from the current 500 trillion yen, preventing the population from falling below 100 million from the current 127 million, and enabling as many people as possible to work, whatever their family responsibilities.

More beds As a first step, the government last month announced plans to provide an extra 120,000 people with beds in homes for the elderly or other forms of support by the early 2020s, on top of a previously planned increase of 380,000 beds over that period. Regulations will be eased to make it easier to open nursing homes in major cities

Looking... From A9 of Immigration. As an administrative law professor myself, I can say that the Department of Justice order bypassing the head of the bureau and delegating appointment powers to an associate commissioner is patently unconstitutional and ultra vires. It is also bad governance.

Why would the administration do such a thing to one of their best officials Commissioner Fred Mison? Are they forcing him to resign so that an associate commissioner identified with the Liberal Party will be appointed? Will the Bureau be used for fundraising for the 2016 elections? How sad that they would implicate another good man, Justice Secretary Ben Caguioa, in such an ugly scheme. I support Secretary Caguioa for the Supreme Court seat that will soon be vacated

by Justice Martin Villarama. I hope he revokes this illegal order before it taints him.

Even then, Pope Francis’ exhortation to Christians is very telling. He urges Christians to get involved in politics no matter how dirty and frustrating it might be, saying: “None of us can say, ‘I have nothing to do with this, they govern. . . .’ No, no, I am responsible for their governance, and I have to do the best so that they govern well, and I have to do my best by participating in politics according to my ability. Politics, according to the Social Doctrine of the

The continuing... From A10 This year alone, Tolentino was seen in numerous different sorties in the provinces. He was also present at the controversial gathering organized by the Liberal Party in a province south of Manila. The news media revealed that several scantily dressed girls were hired to provide the entertainment in that gathering. That embarrassing incident led to Tolentino’s ouster from the LP senato-

365... From A10 joined us, President Fidel Ramos invited the Club on many occasions, and we had President Erap Estrada as special guest.

The Club had its home for most of the time in 43 years except for a few months when Mesio Yabut invited us to Atrium Building, which he owned and when the Intercon Jeepney Coffeeshop was remodeled we had

and entitlements to leave and allowances will be revised The measures may boost Japan’s workforce by a modest 0.2 percent a year, Mark Williams and Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a report this month. Still, some researchers say the government’s proposals don’t address the complexity of the issue.

“It’s not something that can be resolved by just building more nursing homes,” said Takanori Fujita, author of Elderly Underclass, a book about the risk of poverty in old age that threatens even those with comfortable incomes.

“What’s needed are more stable jobs with benefits, less overtime work, more childcare places and more support for women in the workplace. Society needs a complete rethink.”

Japan has 16.4 million people who are 75 or older, the age-group among which the need for medical and nursing care expands rapidly. By 2025, the number is projected to swell to 21.8 million.

The country is already saddled with waiting lists for government-subsidized nursing homes —about 260,000 people were being cared for at home while awaiting a bed in a publicly subsidized facility as of March last year. There is also a shortage of people to look after them, partly because Japan has admitted few care workers from overseas, and the barriers to employing more remain high.

Better pay Noriaki Tsushima heads a group operating facilities for the elderly on the northern island of Hokkaido and serves on a panel advising Abe on ways to maintain Japan’s population and keep people in work. Tsushima proposes opening more nursing homes in urban areas that can act as hubs for the care of elderly people living in surrounding communities.

Resolving staff shortages is simple, he said: “We need to raise salaries,” Tsushima said in an interview. “If you build the facilities, but you don’t have any care workers, you won’t get anywhere.”

Nursing home workers earn an average 220,000 yen a month, compared with about 330,000 yen on average across all industries, according to the Health Ministry.

Insurance premiums The funds to make up the difference could be found by collecting insurance premiumsthat help cover the cost of nursing care from younger people, Tsushima said.

The long-term care insurance system, introduced in 2000, currently requires Japanese residents to pay premiums from age 40.

Mie Waki, 44, combined her property development job with caring for her severely depressed mother for years before starting Work and Care Balance Laboratory, a business offering seminars for other carers.

The central government alone can’t solve the problem of carers

leaving the labor force, she said, which is why she encourages individuals to tell their employers about their needs and to take advantage of the services offered by local municipalities. Waki not only urges carers to avoid giving up work, but tells them not to take long-term leave for fear of losing motivation.

Silent supporters “The central government needs to work on this, but also corporations, professional care workers and we ourselves need to make an effort,” Waki said. “There are tools, and you have to learn to use them.”

The key is to spread the knowhow gained by those who are already successfully combining work and caring, she said, rather than focus only on studying those forced out of their jobs.

Takano, now 60, unmarried and estranged from his only brother, said he thought about suicide during his months living rough. While he’s back in an apartment, he dismissed the government’s chances of eliminating the “kaigo rishoku” problem.

He cited a barrage of obstacles, from the difficulty of combining long hours at work with nursing care to a lack of information about state support systems and the barriers to finding a new job in middle age, particularly for those like him who bear the stigma of a period living on welfare.

Bloomberg

Church, is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good. I cannot wash my hands, eh? We all have to give something! [...] A good Catholic meddles in politics, offering the best of himself, so that those who govern can govern.”

How do we do this—be non-judgmental, charitable and forgiving? The answer is Jesus Christ, the reason for the season of Christmas. His short three-year stay on earth gives us plenty of lessons to think about. He came into this world in the humblest of circumstances. He had nowhere to lay his head on despite the fact that he created the heavens and the earth. He did not summon his angels to attend to his needs although he is the king of kings. He chose to be born on a manger in the company of animals and a group of poor shepherds in attendance. Through Christ we learn humility even when one occupies an exalted position; even when one has all the power and wealth. In his three years of public ministry, he has also richly demonstrated to us mercy be it a repentant tax collector or prostitute. He has shown charity towards the poor, orphans, children and the weak. And finally, on the cross He taught us to forgive even those who wronged us.

The point is: there can be no mercy without humility; that is, one will fail to recognize the suffering of others if he or she is puffed up with pride and self-impor-

tance. There can also be no mercy without charity. There can be no mercy without love, and vice versa. For love without mercy is hypocrisy.

Another, a better, world is possible. The Paris Agreement on climate change has shown us that people of good will can come and work together to overcome our world’s biggest challenge. The life of Justice Florentino Feliciano, who died last week, testified that you can be excellent in everything you do, demand a lot of yourself and others, serve the world and this country while mentoring dozens and even hundreds of others, and be a good husband and father.

Justice Feliciano was an exacting man but he cared about this country and the people he worked with like a father to this children. It has been said that when a giant leaves us, the heavens weep. That must be the reason why it rained hard in our islands the week of the good Justice’s leaving.

As we celebrate Christmas in this Jubilee of Mercy, maybe we can remind ourselves that this season is not all about gifts and feasting. Rather, it is all about Christ and on how we live up to his teachings and examples. And that yes, people of good will abound in this country and world.

rial line-up. It also revealed that Tolentino, who should be in Metropolitan Manila, is often elsewhere using government resources meant for the national capital region.

The fact that jurisdiction over the regulation of traffic along Edsa was taken away from the MMDA and given to the Highway Patrol Group confirms that the MMDA is managed incompetently.

Although Tolentino is no longer with the MMDA, he has not yet satisfactorily explained

why some traffic lights, which were purchased by the MMDA for use in Metropolitan Manila, ended up in Bicol. Several weeks ago, the Commission on Audit revealed that the MMDA under Tolentino wasted almost a million pesos to decorate an insignificant rotunda near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, well aware that the rotunda was due for demolition soon thereafter. So far, Tolentino has not offered any plausible excuse for that, too.

(To be continued)

But the most significant achievement of Laylo, for me, was his engagement as the personal pollster of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was obsessed with public opinion polling and who used various Laylo surveys many times to determine the sentiments of the people. I’d like to think that Laylo provided Arroyo with accurate views of what the people felt about many issues, providing her with important feedback that helped her last all of her nine years in Malacañang.

Arroyo’s legendary staying power has been credited variously to her iron will and the alliances she forged with important political players and the military. But I think, in a small way, Gloria’s longevity must also be due to the premium she placed on accurate polling, mostly by Laylo.

In the years that I’ve known Laylo and analyzed his surveys, I can attest to the reliability of his methodology and his dedication to getting the facts straight. Laylo’s group, unlike some other survey outfits I know, will not fudge data or twist questions to suit those who pay for his services, and I think Arroyo appreciated that Laylo is a professional who didn’t need to suck up to her to make a living.

The publicity-shy Laylo, of course, will not say any of this himself. What he’s most likely to say, in his earnest, self-effacing manner, is something about the proof of the pudding being in the eating.

This newspaper will be running monthly, exclusive surveys on the coming elections by Laylo from hereon—including an exit poll on Election Day itself. My advice is for you, dear readers, to stay tuned.

our gathering at Hotel Dusit Thani for a time.

But, we are very thankful to the Hotel Intercon for years of maximum tolerance for our noises which must have bothered hotel guests at breakfast at Jeepney Coffeeshop. We had our 40th anniversary three years ago where we gave plaques to Hotel Intercon management and our favorite waiter, “George,” who knew all our quirks and idiosyncrasies, and anticipated what we liked.

When Ka Doroy Valencia died, I, too, proclaimed myself chairman since I was the only one of the founders who was still around.

But, some years ago, I chose to be only the chairman emeritus, and chose businessmansportsman “Boy” Reyno, who is a regular, to be chairman. We also chose Senator Enrile as honorary chairman, with Maloli Espinosa Supnet as permanent treasurer and secretary.

While we at 365 Club are grateful that we

have stayed long enough—some 43 years— we also miss some members who have gone ahead of us, like lawyer Leonardo Siguion Reyna, the historian of the club, his lovely wife Armida, who use to be a regular, and Ka Imon Cuevas. On this occasion, I wish to thank Dante Arevalo Ang, chairman emeritus of The Manila Times, Jake Macasaet, publisher of Malaya, and Jun Icban, Bulletin editor-in-chief who are still with us at the Club.

Facebook: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylavs

Credible...From A9

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Cavs welcome Irving with a win LOS ANGELES—Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving quickly shook off the rust from his long injury layoff on Sunday, scoring 12 points in a 108-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in his NBA season debut.

Irving hadn’t played since breaking his left kneecap in the opening game of last season’s NBA Finals, an injury quickly followed by surgery in June.

Irving missed his first five shots, but made four of five in one stretch and finished with an even dozen in 17 minutes on the floor.

“Kind of been a long, long road, but finally getting out there with my teammates was a pleasure,” said Irving, who acknowledged a pre-game ovation from fans with a wave.

“It feels good, just getting this one out of the way,” admitted Irving, who will now face the Golden State Warriors in a Christmas Day Finals re-match on Friday.

“Honestly, for me it was just about getting back when I got the clearance from my doctors, so, whether that be at Christmas or before Christmas, I was going to take their word and trust them.”

Cavs superstar LeBron James scored 23 points and played a season-low 26 minutes against league doormats Philadelphia. Aussie guard Matthew Dellavedova contributed 20 points off the bench, including four three-pointers -- missing career highs on each by one.

The Sixers, meanwhile, dropped their 10th straight game since posting their lone win of the season.

- Happy homecoming Number one draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns ended up putting on quite a show for his friends and family, scoring 24 points to lead his Minnesota Timberwolves to a 100-85 victory over the Nets in Brooklyn.

A native of nearby New Jersey, Towns said it was “awesome” to play in front familiar faces, and in the building where he was drafted in June. AFP

Kyrie Irving (left) of the Cleveland Cavaliers drives past Tony Wroten of the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half of their teams’ NBA game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. AFP

Police probe $750k jewelry theft from NY star NEW YORK—Jewelry worth $750,000 was stolen from New York Knicks star Derrick Williams after a night of partying at the player’s luxury apartment, US media reports said Sunday citing law enforcement sources.

The New York Post reported that the theft occurred after Williams invited a group of revelers including two women he had just met back to his Manhattan apartment on Friday after an evening at a local nightclub.

According to law enforcement sources,

the two women plundered jewelry worth $750,000 from a suitcase in a closet before leaving the apartment.

Williams discovered the theft later Saturday and alerted police. The Post report said police are studying the incident to see if it is linked to a series of similar cases in New York involving women preying on wealthy men with a taste for expensive jewelry.

The report said earlier this month a watch dealer had a $590,000 timepiece swiped from him by two women he met

at a New York strip club.

Williams, 24, declined to comment on the theft after Saturday’s defeat of the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Williams was quoted as saying. “It’s still up in the air.”

Williams often posts pictures of expensive watches he has acquired on his social media accounts.

“I love watches man,” he wrote in one post. “Invest and watch it multiply.” AFP

Arcilla sweeps Cebu tennis titles

Johnny Arcilla (center) holds his trophy as he display the replica of his check worth P40,000 from Mayor Valdermar Chiong (left) and Palawan Pawnshop Area manager Almee Joie Salvador after ruling the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Open at the Naga City Tennis Club in Cebu Monday.

JOHNNY Arcilla fended off Vicente Anasta’s spirited challenge and hacked out a tough 6-4, 7-5 victory to capture the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Dagitab Festival Open tennis crown and complete his sweep of the three PPS-PEPP Open titles at the Naga City Tennis Club in Cebu yesterday.

Arcilla, who also survived a fierce-fighting doubles partner Ronard Joven, 6-4, 6-3, in the semis, used a variety of shots to defuse Anasta, breaking him once in the opening frame then pulling through in a thrilling second set duel to clinch the victory that capped his domination of the circuit’s three Open tournaments this year.

“I thank PPS-PEPP for putting up this circuit through the years, not only for us, but also for the youth, especially from the countryside, who could be our next members of the national pool and team,” said Arcilla, who pocketed another P40,000 for his week-long feat. “This win also makes my Christmas doubly memorable as I was able to win all three Open titles this year.”

Arcilla, the many-time PCA Open champion, has earlier won the Tuna Festival Open and the Pintaflores Open Cham-

pionship in Gen. Santos City and San Carlos, respectively.

He actually scored a double as he teamed up with Joven to defeat Anasta and PJ Tierro, 7-6(1), 6-1, for the men’s doubles plum of the tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and hosted

by Mayor Valdemar Chiong as part of the city’s Dagitab Festival celebrations. They won P20,000.

“Arcilla has time and again proved that through hard work, discipline and determination, he can still dominate and his string of victories should inspire our young players,” said Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Inspired by the resounding success of the year-long circuit, Castro said that a 45-leg, nationwide tour is being lined up next season with the Open tournaments expanded to eight events.

Anasta earlier scored a 0-6, 5-2 (ret.) win over the top-seeded Tierro to arrange a title clash with Arcilla. Anasta settled for P20,000 while Tierro and Joven received P10,000 each, according to Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP organizer and sports program development director.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Safarova skips Hopman Cup PRAGUE—World number nine Lucie Safarova said on Sunday she would skip the Hopman Cup in Perth in January to recover from a bacterial infection that saw her hospitalised for a week in September.

“Due to complications linked to the bacterial infection, I’m not fully fit yet and so I have decided to pull out of the Hopman Cup,” Safarova said on Facebook.

She added that 11th-ranked Karolina Pliskova would replace her to team up with world number 41 Jiri Vesely for the January 3-9 mixed team event.

Safarova, who played the French Open finals last year before catching the infection, said she wanted to get ready to “start next season at the Australian Open” later next month.

After the infection, Safarova returned to tennis in time to play at the WTA Finals in Singapore in October, where she failed to make it past the group stage.

She was also on the Czech team that won the Fed Cup in mid-November but did not play because of an inflamed tendon in her left wrist. AFP

FC Barcelona players celebrate their victory of the FIFA Club World Cup at the FIFA Club World Cup final in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo. FC Barcelona defeated River Plate 3-0. AFP

Barcelona grabs 3 world crown rd

YOKOHAMA—Lionel Messi marked his return from illness with a brilliant goal as Barcelona beat Argentina’s River Plate 3-0 to capture a record third Club World Cup on Sunday.

The Spanish giants welcomed back Messi after a bout of kidney stones and the mercurial Argentine scored with a clinical finish on 36 minutes, before a lethal Luis Suarez double destroyed River’s hopes in a spiky Yokohama final.

“We came here to win the title and it was important to get the job done,” said the prolific Suarez, who picked up the player of the tournament and golden boot awards after finishing with five goals.

“Leo’s goal opened up the game and in the second half we controlled things and had more chances,” added the Uruguayan, who has struck 24 goals in 24 games this season, including 17 in his last 11.

Neymar, himself returning to the side after a groin strain, was instrumental in Barcelona’s opener, climbing to knock down a Dani Alves cross for Messi to steer past River goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero with a deft flick of his left boot.

Suarez, who scored a hat-trick in Barca’s 3-0 semi-final win over Guangzhou Evergrande, scored a second with a fierce low drive four minutes into the second half.

The former Liverpool striker grabbed his second of the night when he dispatched a thumping header past Barovero after a pinpoint cross from Neymar.

“Our aim is to win titles but what is also important is the style

we do it in,” said Barca coach Luis Enrique. “The process behind it is important to me.

“We try to keep improving, not just on the pitch but as human beings,” he added. “That is also something that’s expected of players at Barcelona.”

- Gulf in class River Plate’s starting eleven cost a total of some six million dollars while Barcelona paid $85 million for Suarez alone, and the gulf in class showed.

The Catalans, who had already bagged the European Champions League, La Liga, the Copa del Rey and European Super Cup this year, tore River to shreds in the second half. Neymar also came close to scoring with a curling effort that shaved the bar.

Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was a spectator for much of the game on a cold night but made an acrobatic save from River substitute Gonzalo Martinez seven minutes from time

to deny the South Americans a consolation goal.

Messi, who could himself have finished with a hat-trick, became the first player to score in three finals after leading Barca to victory in 2009 and 2011.

Along with captain Andres Iniesta, Messi also celebrated his 26th title with Barcelona as both players surpassed the 25 won by Xavi Hernandez.

“I’m delighted to make a little more history for this club,” he said. “It’s a difficult title to win but a massive one for Barcelona so we will celebrate this one.”

River manager Marcelo Gallardo apologised to the estimated 15,000 fans who made the long journey from Buenos Aires to Japan.

“We had a plan but when Messi scored, it went out of the window,” he said. “We let the fans down but we can be proud that we did our best. Barcelona were simply too good.” AFP

Jumbo Plastic is cage king

PCBL chairman Buddy Encarnado (second from right) and commissioner Ato Badolato (extreme right) present the trophy to Jumbo Plastic, which won the Founders Cup championship with a two-game sweep of Caida Tiles on Sunday at the Malolos City Sports and Convention Center.

JUMBO Plastic Linoleum made history on Sunday as it pulled off a come from behind 78-73 win over Caida Tiles to claim the PCBL Founders Cup trophy at the Malolos City Sports and Convention Center.

The Linoleum Giants overcame a 17-point deficit and needed the late-game heroics of eventual Finals Most Valuable Player Jeff Viernes to seal the win in this event supported by the Accel, Ambucore, Spalding and Aquabest.

A PBA free agent, Viernes finished the game with 20 points as he scattered seven of his team’s last 10 points, including a long triple that kicked off the Linoleum Giants’ big end-

game flurry.

His triple from 25 feet out put Linoleum Giants back on the driver’s seat, 71-69, entering the final two minutes of the game.

He added four more charities down the stretch.

Caida Tiles, the top-seeded team in the tournament, had a chance to knot the count with still 38 seconds left, but Joseph Terso lost the ball and was forced to give up a foul on Jaymo Eguilos.

The Jumbo Plastic center made his first shot from the line and missed the second, but on the loose ball play, he dove for the leather and was fouled before getting injured in the play.

Barca eyes further football glory YOKOHAMA—Barcelona striker Luis Suarez warned that the Spanish giants will be hungry for even more silverware after capturing a record third Club World Cup. The Uruguayan fired a secondhalf double as European champions brushed aside Argentina’s River Plate 3-0 in Sunday’s final in Yokohama before insisting Barca’s appetite for success would not be dimmed after lifting a fifth trophy of 2015.

“After a competition like this the majority of teams suffer a dip,” said Suarez. “We have to avoid that and we have that desire to keep on winning titles and show that we’re the best team in the world.”

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu described Lionel Messi as the greatest ever after the Argentine wizard returned from a bout of kidney stones to score Barca’s opener.

“Leo Messi is the best player in the history of football,” he said.

“It’s spectacular what we have achieved.”

Messi became the first player to score in three Club World Cup finals, after leading Barca to victory in 2009 and 2011, when he netted with a deft flick of his left boot nine minutes before half-time.

However, it was the prolific Suarez who stole the show with a second-half double, collecting the player of the tournament and golden boot awards after scoring five goals in two games in Japan. AFP

Republic of the Philippines ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR AUTHORITY TO DEVELOP, OWN, AND OPERATE DEDICATED POINT-TOPOINT LIMITED FACILITIES TO CONNECT TO THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM OF NATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES (NGCP), WITH PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY ERC CASE NO. 2015-053 MC HELlOS SOLAR ENERGY CORPORATION (HSEC) (Formerly known as Phil-Power Solar Energy Corporation [PPSEC]), Applicant. x---------------------------------------------------------x NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Notice is hereby given that on August 25, 2015, the Phil-Power Solar Energy Corporation (PPSEC) (now Helios Solar Energy Corporation [HSEC]) filed with the Commission an application for authority to develop, own and operate dedicated point-to-point limited facilities to connect to the transmission system of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), with prayer for provisional authority.

10. The construction of the Transmission Line will take approximately six (6) months from initial pre-construction works. Consistent with the projected date of energization of the Project, the Transmission Line is targeted to be completed and commissioned by December 201518. The estimated cost for the Transmission Line is Fifty-Six Million Two Hundred TwentyFour Thousand Nine Hundred Eight Pesos and Sixty-Eight Centavos (PhP56,224,908.68),19 based on the Bill of Quantities and Estimated Costs;20

2.

3.

4.

PPSEC is a power generation company duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal office address at 93 B3 Bagsakan Road, FTI Complex, Taguig City and business office address at Floor 3B 111 Paseo de Roxas Bldg., Paseo de Roxas cor. Legaspi Streets, Legaspi Village, Makati City; PPSEC’s primary purpose is to engage in conduct and carry on the business of exploration, development, utilization and commercialization of solar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy resources that are indigenous, renewable, environment-friendly and to enter into all kinds of contracts for the exploration, development, utilization, commercialization of and other energy resources; 1 In its 2013 Supply-Demand Outlook, the Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the growing demand for power in the Philippines. For the Visayas Grid, the DOE projects the energy demand to increase by 4.45 percent average annual growth rate (AAGR), from 1,831 MW in 2012 to 2,526 MW in 2020 and 3,769 MW in 2030. Thus, with “the current dependable capacity of 2,037 MW, the system will still need an additional of around 1,700 MW which is composed of 1,300 MW base-load and 400 MW peaking power plants to meet the future electricity demand”;2 To help address the need for additional capacity in the Visayas Grid, PPSEC will design, engineer, procure, construct, supply, start-up, test, commission, own, operate, and maintain a Solar Plant with a capacity of approximately 132.5 MWp or 108 MWac (the Project), as increased from the primarily intended capacity of 100 MWac, to be located in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, and which project is intended to be completed and energized by January 2016;

5.

On June 11, 2015, PPSEC was issued an Amended Confirmation of Commerciality No. SCC-2014-12-011-A3 (Amended COC) by the DOE, confirming the commercial viability of the Project, in accordance with relevant regulations;

6.

To test, commission and dispatch its generating facility, soon after completion, PPSEC proposes to connect the Project to the transmission system of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) through a dedicated point-to-point limited interconnection facility (the Transmission Line) to be constructed by VSL Philippines Inc. through BUSSBARR Corporation, an electrical engineering firm specializing in industrial facility design;4

7.

PPSEC has secured the relevant permits for the Project and/or the Transmission Line, as follows: Resolution No. 0466 Series of 2015 dated 15 July, 2015 of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Province of Negros Occidental Amending SP Resolution No. 0411 Series of 2015 to read as a resolution Interposing No Objection to the Proposed Construction/ installation, Operation and Maintenance of the 132.5 MW Cadiz Solar Power Plant and its Associated Transmission Lines In Baranggay Tinampa-an, Cadiz City by PPSEC;5 7.2 Resolution No. 2015-260 dated 7 July 2015 of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cadiz Amending Resolution 2015-159 dated 24 March 2015 to read as a resolution Interposing no Objection to the Construction/Installation, Operation, and Maintenance of the PhilPower Solar Energy Corporation (PPSEC) 132.5MW Solar Power Plant over the Finalized Project Site of 150 Hectares, Including its Associated Transmission Lines’ in barangay Tinampa-an, Cadiz City;6 7.3 Resolution No. 2015-261 dated 7 July 2015 of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cadiz Endorsing to the Department of Energy, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and Other Various Agencies for (sic) the Construction, Installation, Operation, and Maintenances of the 132.5 MW Solar Power Plant of Phil-Power Solar Energy Corporation and its Transmission Line in Hacienda Paz, Barangay Tinampa-An Cadiz City, Negros Occidental;7 7.4 Resolution No. 2014-326 dated 12 August 2014 of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cadiz City Approving the Issuance of Certificate of Social Acceptability in Accordance to (sic) Ordinance No. 06-2013 to the 100MW Solar Power Plant Project of the PPSEC and First Soleq Holdings Philippines, Inc., located at Baranggay Tinampaan, Cadiz City;8 7.5 Certificate of Social Acceptability SA2014062 dated 23 October 2014 of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Cadiz City, with validity until 31 July 2024;9 7.6 Resolution No. 15-082 dated 16 February 2015 of the Sangguniang Barangay of Barangay Tinampa-an, Cadiz City Approving and Allowing PPSEC to Construct and Operate, Maintain along the Existing Barangay Road Railway for the Construction of Transmission Line from Had. Paz going to NGCT, located at Barangay Daga, Cadiz City;10 7.7 Resolution No. 15-115 dated 20 July 2015 Amending Resolution 14-040 dated 9 October 2014 of the Sangguniang Baranggay of Barangay Tinampaan, Cadiz City to read as a Resolution Endorsing and Approving the request for One Hundred Seventy Five Hectares (175) Solar Power Plant (sic) and 132.5 MW Situated at Had. Paz, Barangay Tinampa-an, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental;11 7.8 Resolution No. 03-013 dated 4 March 2015 of the Sangguniang Barangay of Barangay Mabini, Cadiz City Interposing No Objection to the Proposed Construction of Transmission Line for (the) 100 MW Solar Power Plant located in Had. Cana-an, Barangay Mabini, Cadiz City by Helios Solar Energy Holdings Inc., passing through Barangay Roads, Municipal Roads, and National Roads from the Project Site to the NGCP Cadiz Substation at a Distance of 2 kilometers;12 7.9 Resolution No. 15-028 dated 9 July 2015 of the Sangguniang Baranggay of Baranggay Daga Authorizing the Punong Baranggay to Issue Permit/Right of Way to PPSEC from Solar Power Plant Vicinity to the NGCP for Transmission Line and accompanying Certification by the Punong Baranggay dated 13 March 2015; 13 7.10 Locational Clearance issued by the Office of the Local Zoning Officer of the City of Cadiz, under Decision No. R6-2K15-706 dated 14 May 2015;14 7.11 Environmental Clearance Certificate No. ECC-R6-1410-0371-4220 (Amended) dated 4 June 2015 issued by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (“EMB-DENR”) for the 132.5 MW Solar Power Plant;15 and 7.12 Certificate of Non-Coverage No. CNC-OL-R06-2015- 02-00027 dated 26 February 2015 issued by the EMB-DENR for the Construction of (the) 3.5 Kilometer Steel Pole 138 KV Transmission Line;16

24. PPSEC has the technical capability to develop the Transmission Line.

24.1 The Transmission Line will be constructed by VSL Philippines Inc., through BussBarr Corporation, an ISO certified EPC company recognized by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) that caters primarily to the power generation industry and electric distribution utilities;36 and 24.2 PPSEC likewise has the financial capability to undertake the development and construction of the Transmission Line.

The development and construction of the Project and the Transmission Line will be funded by PPSEC through equity from shareholders and debt financing;”37

11. The connection of the Project through the Transmission Line to the Cadiz Substation is the most viable option among all the interconnection schemes considered, recommended, and evaluated by PPSEC that will enable PPSEC to dispatch the Project’s capacity when the need arises.21 A System Impact Study Review Report (SIS Review Report) on the proposed Transmission Line has been conducted and based on the results thereof, the said interconnection is technically feasible.22 NGCP has reviewed the SIS, and confirmed that the proposed connection is technically feasible and may be fully dispatched without constraints;23

25. Since the development and construction of the Transmission Line will be solely funded by PPSEC and its shareholders and the Transmission Line will be exclusively used by PPSEC for the operations of the Project and will not serve any end-user, the Transmission Line will not have an impact on the transmission rates currently being charged by the NGCP;

12. PPSEC and NGCP have agreed on the general terms and conditions and are now finalizing the Connection Agreement, Transmission Service Agreement, and Metering Service Agreement;24 13. Section 9(f) of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) provides:

26. Once completed, PPSEC will undertake the operations and maintenance of the Transmission Line through the NGCP and HSEC will subsequently fund the operations of the Transmission Line from its generation sales;38

“Xxx A generation company may develop and own or operate dedicated point-to-point limited transmission facilities that are consistent with the TDP: Provided, that such facilities are required only for the purpose of connecting to the transmission system, and are used solely by the generating facility, subject to prior authorization by the ERG. Xxx”

In the said application, PPSEC alleged, among others, the following: 1.

to develop, construct, operate, and maintain the transmission line

27. PPSEC also undertakes to file an application for a Certificate of Compliance with the Honorable Commission; 28. The foregoing clearly shows that the proposed Transmission Line complies with Section 9 of the EPIRA and the relevant regulations of this Commission;

14. In accordance with the requirement of Section 9(f) of the EPIRA, PPSEC hereby seeks the Commission’s authorization to develop, own, and operate the Transmission Line, a dedicated point-to-point limited interconnection facility, to connect the Project to the NGCP Cadiz Substation;

Motion for Provisional Authority and Allegations in Support of Prayer for Provisional Authority

15. The proposed Transmission Line meets the requirements provided in Section 9 of the EPIRA and the relevant regulations issued by the Commission as follows: ,

29. Rule 14 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure authorizes the issuance of a provisional authority or an interim relief prior to a final decision, provided that the facts and circumstances warrant the issuance of the same;

15.1 The Transmission Line is a dedicated point-to-point limited interconnection facility whose sole purpose is to connect the Project to the Grid through the NGCP Cadiz Substation and is considered a “Connection Asset” under ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2011 (ERC Resolution); 15.2 The Transmission Line will be exclusively used by the HSEC for the operations of the Project and will not serve any end-user; 15.3 The Transmission Line is technically feasible;25 and 15.4 PPSEC has the technical and financial ability to develop, construct, operate, and maintain the Transmission Line;

30. PPSEC prays that the Commission provisionally authorize the development, ownership, and operation of the Transmission Line considering that the facts, circumstances and the magnitude of the opportunity costs entailed by any further delay in the interconnection of the Project warrants the issuance of a Provisional Authority.

30.1 PPSEC hopes to be able to complete development and construction of the facilities at the soonest possible time in order to be able to dispatch electric power supply to the transmission system of NGCP; 30.2 The Project is one of the energy projects under Republic Act No. 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, which aims to accelerate the development and utilization of the country’s renewable energy sources. Thus, it is in the interest of the government to help RE developers such as PPSEC to achieve commerciality and commence operations at the soonest practicable time; 30.3 The construction of the Transmission Line is a prerequisite for the testing and commissioning, and ultimately, the commercial operations of PPSEC. The Project is projected to be completed and energized on January 2016. Consistent with this timeline, PPSEC intends to complete the development and construction of the Transmission Line by December 2015; 30.4 Moreover, the use of solar energy reduces the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, which not only minimizes harmful carbon green house emissions in the environment but also reduces the country’s exposure to price fluctuations in the international markets; 30.5 Further, given the immediate need for additional capacity by 2015, the completion of the Project and the Timeline within the timeframe is critical to ensure that additional capacity will be available to the Visayas Grid in a timely manner; and 30.6 The issuance of a provisional authority is also critical in light of the DOE’s first-come, first-served policy on the Feed-in Tariff (“FIT”) allocation. It is thus necessary for PPSEC to secure a provisional authority to immediately commence with the construction of the Transmission Line in order to avail of the initial FIT, which is essential to the economic viability of PPSEC;

The Transmission Line is a dedicated pointto-point transmission facility and will be used exclusively by PPSEC 16. To reiterate, the Transmission Line is designed for the sole purpose of connecting the Project to the Grid through the Cadiz Substation.

The single-line diagram of the proposed interconnection shows that the Transmission Line will be exclusively used by PPSEC and is not designed and configured to serve end-users.

16.1 The single-line diagram of the Transmission Line is illustrated in Figure 2 below:

7.1

8.

9.

PPSEC intends to connect the Transmission Line to NGCP’s 138 kV Cadiz Substation. The Transmission Line will be a 138 kV, Double Circuit transmission line consisting of 795 mm2 ACSR conductors equipped with Optical Fiber Ground Wire (OFGW)17 The Transmission Line will consist of approximately 1.7 kilometers; The proposed connection for the project and transmission line route shall be as follows:

Figure 2. Single Line Diagram of the Interconnection

31. It is in such context that PPSEC prays that provisional authority be immediately issued for the development and construction of the proposed Transmission Line; and

17. The Transmission Line is also classified as a “Connection Asset” under the ERC Resolution since it is primarily designed to connect the Project to the Grid and will be used for the conveyance of electricity from the Project to the Grid.26 If the Transmission Line is taken out of the transmission system of NGCP, such disconnection will only affect PPSEC and will have no effect on the Grid, or other connected customers; The Transmission Line has been approved by NGCP and is included in the DOE List of Private Sector-Initiated Power Projects for Visayas

32. PPSEC prays that the Commission: a. ISSUE an order provisionally authorizing PPSEC to implement the development, ownership and operation of the Transmission Line; and b. APPROVE the application for authority to develop, own and operate the Transmission Line.

The Commission has set the application for initial hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference and evidentiary hearing on January 5, 2016 (Tuesday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at the ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City.

18. On February 24, 2015, NGCP approved the SIS submitted by PPSEC for the Project. NGCP has further opined that the increase in capacity of the Project will not have any Significant impact on the Grid and declared that the SIS Review Report is applicable and will not require a re-run. This approval serves as NGCP’s approval of the project and determination that that the Project is in line with the Transmission Development Plan, specifically for the Visayas grid; 19. The Project is included as one of the indicative projects in the DOE List of Private Sector-Initiated Power Projects for Visayas as of 15 July 201527 The said DOE list reads in part: Committed/ Indicative

Name of the Project

Project Proponent

Location

Rated Capacity (MW)

Project Status

Target Testing and Commissioning

Target Commercial Operation

SOLAR Committed

Cadiz Solar Power Project

Phil. Power Exploration & Development Corporation

Brgy.

Tinampaan, Cadiz City, Negros Occidental

132.5

Acquired DOE Certificate of Confirmation of Commerciality on 11 December 2014. See FIT Monitoring BoardAwarded with Solar Energy Services (SESC No. 2013-06-035) on 3 July 2013; -Filed declaration of Commerciality on 2 September 2014 (under evaluation

March 2016

March 2016 (Target Testing and Commissioning)

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the ERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before the applicant concludes the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the application may request from the applicant that they be furnished with the same, prior to the date of the initial hearing. The applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the application and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the standard office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairman, JOSE VICENTE B. SALAZAR, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA, Energy Regulatory Commission,, this 9th day of December, 2015 at Pasig City.

ATTY. NATHAN J. MARASIGAN Chief of Staff Office of the Chairman and CEO

_____________________________________________ 1

The Transmission Line is technically feasible 20. The SIS review conducted by Power System Research and Consultancy Group (PSRCG)28 shows that the connection of the Project through the Transmission Line to be developed, owned, and operated by PPSEC, to Cadiz Substation is technically feasible.29

2

3

4 5 6 7 8 9

20.1 The SIS Review Report concluded that connection of the Project to the Visayas grid is technically acceptable and that no new grid reinforcement is required that can be attributed to the connection of the power plant;30 and 20.2 On 24 February 2015, NGCP approved the SIS submitted by PPSEC for the Project.31 NGCP has further opined that the increase in capacity of the Project will not have any significant impact on the Grid and declared that the SIS Review Report is applicable and will not require a re-run;32

10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

21. PPSEC proposed the Transmission Line connection to the Cadiz Substation because of its proximity for the connection of the Project;

23

24 25

22. PPSEC has secured a Facilities Study for the Project33 and is in the final stages of negotiation with the NGCP for its Connection Agreement, Transmission Service Agreement, and Metering Service Agreement;34 23. PPSEC has likewise ensured that the design and technical specifications for the Transmission Line are consistent with the standards of the Philippine Grid Code;35

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

PPSEC has the technical and financial capability

37 38

Copies of PPSEC’s Certificate of Incorporation, Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws are attached hereto as Annexes “A” “A-1” and “A-2” A copy of the Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) 2013 Supply-Demand Outlook (please see Figure: Visayas Grid SupplyDemand Outlook, 2012-2030, p. 24) is attached hereto as Annex “B” A copy of the Amended COC is attached hereto as Annex “C”, and was issued in replacement of the Confirmation of Commerciality (“COC”) No. 2014-12-011 dated 29 December 2014 issued for the same project, but with a lower rate of 100 MW which COC is attached hereto as Annex “C1” A copy of the description and scope of the project denominated as Project Description is attached as Annex “D” A copy of Resolution No. 0466 Series of 2015 is attached hereto as Annex “E” A copy of Resolution No. 2015-260 is attached hereto as Annex “F” A copy of Resolution No. 2015-261 is attached hereto as Annex “G” A copy of Resolution No. 2014-326 is attached hereto as Annex “H”. PPSEC is in the process of securing an amendment/ new resolution to reflect the increased capacity of 132.5 MW. A copy of the Certificate of Social acceptability is attached hereto as Annex “I” A copy of Resolution No. 15-082 is attached hereto as Annex “J” A copy of Resolution No. 15-115 Is attached hereto as Annex “K” A copy of Resolution No. 03-013 Series of 2015 is attached hereto as Annex “L”. PPSEC is in the process of securing an amendment/new resolution to reflect the increase capacity of 132.5 MW A copy of Resolution No. 15-028 and the accompanying Certification by the Punong Barangay are attached hereto as Annex “M” and “M-1” A copy of the Locational Clearance is attached hereto as Annex “N” A copy of the Environmental Clearance Certificate is attached hereto as Annex “0” A copy of the Certificate of Non-coverage is attached hereto as Annex “P” A copy of the conceptual engineering design denominated as Conceptual Design for the 138 kV Transmission Line Cadiz SS - Polio SS (“T-Line Conceptual Design~) is attached as Annex “Q” A copy of the Project Schedule Gantt chart is attached as Annex “Q-1” An amount converted to Philippine Pesos (PhP) representing the sum of the estimated cost of the supply of materials (in US Dollars; USD) and installation (in PhP). The rate used for conversion is PhP45.00=USD1.00.

Labelled as Annex “Q-2” and forming part of the T-Line Conceptual Design.

A Facilities Study Report is attached hereto as Annex “R” A copy of the System Impact Study is attached as Annex “S” Attached as Annex “T” is the Letter dated 24 February 2015 of NGCP confirming the SIS Review Report. Attached as Annex “T-1” is the Letter dated 29 June 2015 confirming that the BMW increase in capacity of the PPSEC will not have any significant impact on the Grid and declaring that the SIS Review Report is applicable and will not require are-run.

Attached as Annex “U” is a Certification dated 23 June 2015 issued by the NGCP in this regard.

Based on the SIS Review Report.

Resolution Adopting the Amended Rules on the Definition and Boundaries of Connection Assets for Customers of Transmission Provides, ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2011, Annex A, § 2, p.1.

A copy of the DOE List of Private Sector-Initiated Power Projects (Visayas), as of 15 July 2015 is attached as Annex “V” and made an integral part hereof; please see p. 2 thereof.

Conducted for the originally intended 100 MW capacity, but declared by NGCP to be valid for the 132 MWp (or 108 MWac).

Please see Annex “S”, Id. Please see Annex “T”.

Please see Annex “T -1”.

Please see Annex “R”.

Please see Annex “U”.

Please see Annex “S”.

A copy of the Company Profile of BussBarr Corporation with a list of projects undertaken is attached as Annex “W” A copy of PPSEC’s 2014 Audited Financial Statements are attached as Annex “X”. A copy of the Confirmation of Financial Support is attached as Annex “X-1” A copy of PPSEC’s Projected Financial and Economic Cost Analysis is attached as Annex “Y” (TS-DEC. 22, 2015)

T UE S DAY : DE C E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 5

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

PH sports associations told: Set realistic goals SENATOR Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero yesterday dared national sports association leaders to walk the talk when they place themselves for evaluation when they seek government financial support.

Escudero, an independent vice-presidential candidate, said NSA leaders tend to “overpromise” in assessing their performance as each of the 42 regular members of the Philippine Olympic Committee compete for chunks in the very limited budget available from the Philippine Sports Commission, the government’s financial arm in charge of national sports development.

The POC also has five associate member organizations and has given special recognition to five more sports groups.

The PSC is in charge of the country’s participation in the various international competitions like the Southeast Asian Games, the Asian Games and

the various Asian and World Championships being held for each sport.

The POC, an independent body and a non-government organization directly under the International Olympic Committee, takes care of the Filipino athletes’ participation in the quadrennial Olympics, although it is still the PSC which shoulders most expenses in the athletes’ participation in the various Olympic qualifying meets.

Majority of the NSAs, however, have not been performing well in the past years, resulting in the Philippines’ dipping performance in the SEA Games, considered as the lowest in the totem pole of international events the country takes part in.

After the Philippines won the SEA Games overall championship in 2005, less than a year since presidential uncle Jose ‘Peping’ Cojuangco took over as POC president from Celso Dayrit, Filipino athletes have been downhill since then.

And in next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics, yet another Filipino-American Eric Shaun Cray has so far qualified for a slot. He will compete in the Men’s 400-meter hurdles in track and field.

“This goes to show how far we have moved in terms of developing our athletes to equal or near world-class standards,” Escudero said. “NSA leaders should be truthful with their assessment of their chances when they present their programs to the PSC. Only a few NSAs have delivered, if we are to gauge their performance in the past years, most especially in the SEA Games.”

Still seeking their tickets to the Rio Games are boxers Clark Bautista, Felix Eumir Marcial and

Roger Ladon. Also competing in various Olympic qualifying meets are weightlifters Hidilyn Diaz and Nestor Colonia, pole-vaulter EJ Obiena and Caluag.

“Other than them, mukhang wala na tayong chance. We should rally behind these athletes,” Escudero said.

Escudero also said the country should place its hopes on the boxers as they are always the Philippines’ source of pride and joy in the Olympics.

“Marami nga lang nakakapansin ngayon na dati, hirap lang tayong manalo ng gold medal. Pero ngayon, nahihirapan na din tayong mag-qualify.

But still, we can bank on these young athletes and hope they satiate our thirst for an Olympic gold,” Escudero said.

Only boxers Mansueto Velasco and the late Anthony Villenueva have so far won silver medals in the Olympics. Boxers Jose Villanueva, Roel Velasco and Leopoldo Serrantes have won Olympic bonze medals.

Karate workshop. Proponents of the Karate Coaching Accreditation Workshop are shown here after the event. They are Kyoshi David Lay, Sensei Ali Parvinfar, Renshi Raymund Lee Reyes, Kyoshi Eman Velez, Joey Romasanta, Kaicho Alejandro VaHesquez, Renshi Rommel Raymundo, Kyoshi Ramon Franco, Renshi Emerson, Kyoshi Dacanay and karate blackbelters from all over the country.

MANNY Pacquiao has a latest addiction that’s keeping him awake late—make that VERY late—at night.

And it’s not even reading the Bible, although he does that regularly since he became a born-again Christian, but it’s about the 64-square, royal game of chess, or “ahedres,” as old Pinoy maestros loved to say.

Those who know him intimately say that the Pacman plays chess every night against Pinoy national masters, whether he’s in General Santos or in Sta. Rosa City in Laguna, where he also has a home.

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0 M+ P0 M

NLEX forward Anthony is week’s best FORWARD Sean Anthony bagged his second Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week award this season after coming out with a career performance against powerhouse Rain or Shine on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The undersized NLEX “four-man” tallied a new PBA career-high 37 points, on top of six rebounds, five assists and a steal to deny Rain or Shine a top two spot and outright semifinal passage via its 111-106 win.

The former McGill standout was at his best in the final frame after knocking down 13 points, including the team’s last eight to complete the Road Warriors’ comeback effort from a 13-point deficit.

“Sean is a valuable piece in our system because he can play multiple positions, plus ‘yung binibigay niya is intensity inside the court na nadadala niya sa teammates niya,” said a beaming NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.

Anthony, who averages career-best stats’ line of 20.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.5 minutes, bested Barangay Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter and Blackwater’s veteran playmaker Mike Cortez for the weekly citation.

NLEX will enter the quarterfinals as the seventh seed, where it will earn the right to face sister team Talk ‘N Text (sixth seed) on Dec. 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

On the other hand, Rain or Shine dropped to third seed but still enjoys a twice-to-beat edge entering the playoffs where it will square off with Blackwater on Christmas Day.

Pacman the chess player

ARMAN D. ARMERO

STEP BACK

LOTTO RESULTS

The Pacman has a very good chess maestro in National Master Rodolfo “Jun” Panopio, although his friendship with Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre may have sparked his deep interest in the game.

Panopio, or “Panops” to the chess community, said that Pacquiao used to play chess as a hobby, but since his association with the game’s masters, has fallen in love with the game’s intricate beauty and now plays the game with a passion.

A sportswriter-friend, Roy Luarca of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said he and the Pacman played chess in Las Vegas a few

days before the Filipino boxing icon’s fight against Mayweather, but I suspect that he doesn’t want to put in print who won in their series of matches.

Pacquiao is now so enamored with the game that he even put up a tournament recently—which was dubbed the 2nd Manny Pacquiao Random Chess Championship at the SM Mall in General Santos City, and offered a total of P1.5 million cash prize.

(For those who are not familiar with random chess, it’s actually chess with a twist, where players, following the roll of a dice, jumbles the position of the major

pieces (king, queen, bishop, knight and rook) while retaining the position of the pawns. One general rule is that the king should always be positioned between the two rooks, whether the rook, or rooks are situated beside, near or several squares across it).

Random chess was invented by American GM Bobby Fischer, and Torre, a close friend of Fischer, said the American genius developed the new system while they were traveling across Hungary.

Torre added that Fischer developed random chess because the American wanted a chess game that

encourages creativity and not merely memorizing the known chess openings. After Torre propagated random chess, Filipino players have taken into it, like the proverbial duck to water.

But back to the Pacman.

The boxer’s addiction to chess adds a new dimension to the man. We all know that boxing is a violent sport, but Pacquiao’s love for the sport of chess reveal a gentler, deeper side of his personality. While it is arguable that chess players are more “intellectual” than those who do not play the game, Pacquiao’s interest in the sport, at best, illustrates his passion to improve his

mental skills and make decisions only after much deliberation, which is a good foundation if you want to be a good politician.

That, of course, is a subject of another column. *** I’d like to greet my only brother, Nicolas and our “bunso” Wena and her husband Bobby, who are all working in Saudi Arabia a merry and meaningful Christmas. To my other sisters Ada and Emily and of course to my Nanay Nena, God bless you always.

Thank you for the love and prayers. To my son. Aaron, you know that I deeply love you. Merry Christmas!

A16

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

RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Long jumpers Marestella Torres, shown here making her leap in the 2015 Philippine Open in Laguna early this year, and Katherine Kay Santos, will be given a chance to vie for the lone slot to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in the coming national athletics championship this April.

Long jumpers get Olympic boost

By Peter Atencio

LONG jumpers Marestella Torres and Katherine Kay Santos will be given a chance to vie for the lone slot to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

This was announced by Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary general Nonoy Unso after he was informed by the Philippine Olympic Committee that the association is entitled to an additional entry in the coming Olympiad.

“There is a new policy now. If you have a male entry, you can also send a female entry,” said Unso following a meeting with POC vice president Joey Romasanta, who in-

formed the PATAFA official of the new development after he attended an Olympic Solidarity meeting in Jakarta last month.

But Torres and Santos will still have to compete for the chance to join sprinter Eric Cray in the Olympics when they see action in the Philippine Open this April.

Unso said that to make it to the Rio Olympiad under the regular qualification process, a female long jumper must meet the

standard of 6.7 meters.

So far, Torres’ best showing this year was 6.53 meter, which she submitted in the Taipei Open last May. Santos, on the other hand, had a 6.4-meter performance when she saw action in the Singapore Open last April.

PATAFA president Philip Ella Juico said they will also look at the possibility of qualifying more athletes next month.

“Maybe we can have more qualifiers. We can have more if the other athletes we have can make the cut,” said Juico.

The PATAFA plans to enter pole vaulter EJ Obiena, who is now in Italy, in qualifying events in Europe.

Cavaliers welcome Irving with a win

Barcelona captures its 3rd world title

TURN TO A12

TURN TO A13

Juico said that Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Christopher Ulboc, Mervin Guarte and Edgardo Alejan are set to undergo a three-month training sponsored by the Western Australian Athletics Commission in Perth, Australia by January.

From there, they can join Olympic qualifiers and seek berths to Rio. Ulboc is into steeplechase, while Guarte and Alejan compete in middle distance running and the 400-meter run.

The training will not only for their quest to see action in the 2016 Rio Games, but also in their upcoming stints in 2017 Southeast Asian Games and the 2018 Asian Games.

Tabuena, CKSC cagers to grace PSA Forum TWO champions in their own right will serve as special guests in the final Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum for the year 2015.

Rising golf star Miguel Tabuena appears in the 10:30 a.m. session at Shakey’s Malate two days after winning his first Asian Tour title by ruling the 98th edition of the Philippine Open.

He will be joined in the public sports program presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. by another winner in Chiang Kai Shek, which copped the Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championships on Sunday by beating De La Salle-Zobel.

Completing the guests’ list in the weekly session is boxing promoter Ryan Gabriel as he talks about the sad experience by Filipino boxers in a South African International Boxing Organization promotion.

PSA president Riera Mallari of the Manila Standard enjoins members to attend the last forum for this year.

TUESDAY: DECEMBER 22, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

B1

GMO ban to hike food prices

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

THE Supreme Court’s ruling banning field trials and importation of genetically modified crops will affect the livestock, poultry and aquaculture industries and increase food prices next year, a group of corn farmers said Friday.

“The reality is a lot of people will be affected by that decision.

Aside from Bt eggplant, they also banned the importation of genetically modified corn and

importation of raw materials like soybean,” Philippine Maize Federation Inc. president Roger Navarro said in an interview.

The Supreme Court earlier or-

dered a ban on the field trials of genetically modified organisms, including Bt eggplant, and imposed a temporary ban on approving applications for the contained use, import, commercialization and propagation of GM crops.

Navarro said GM crops such as corn and soybean were now being used as main raw materials for animal feeds in the Philippines.

“We are importing as much as 3 million metric tons of soybean which will be used in making animal feeds. What will we use as an alternative?” Navarro asked.

Navarro said as a result, food prices

“will definitely go up and that will be felt starting next year because there would be no supply for animal feeds.”

“If there is no supply, naturally prices will go up. The SC decision will not only affect those in the livestock, poultry and fisheries sectors, but the consuming public as well,” he said.

“They are saying that the decision gives people freedom what to eat and freedom of what agriculture to practice but where is the freedom in that? People should have a choice because this is technology,” Navarro said.

The Supreme Court nullified

Administrative Order No. 8 issued by the Agriculture Department in 2002, because it lacked minimum safety requirements under Executive Order 514, which established the National Biosafety Framework.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said the government formed a technical working group, consisting of four departments, to review the GMO policy before the end of the year.

AO No. 8 set the rules and regulations for the importation and release into the environment of plants and plant products derived from the use of modern biotechnology.

PSe comPoSite index Closing December 21, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

6,910.34 43.27

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing DECEMBER 21, 2015 43.50 44.60 45.40

P47.300

46.20

CLOSE

47.00

HIGH P47.280 LOW P47.340 AVERAGE P47.302 VOLUME 288.200M

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

oPriceS il P today

Best managed company. Ayala Land Inc. president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy (center) and chief finance officer Jaime Ysmael (right) welcome to its headquarters in Makati City Euromoney’s regional head for Asia Marcus Langston (left), who presented the company with multiple recognition in line with the magazine’s Best Managed Companies in Asia Survey and Real Estate Survey 2015. ALI is awarded Overall Best Managed Company in the Philippines and retains its title as Best Overall Developer in the Philippines.

P25.03-P28.48 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene

Govt opens bidding on P69-b LRT Line 6 project

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, December 21, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.4350

Japan

Yen

0.008249

0.3913

UK

Pound

1.492200

70.7825

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129001

6.1192

Switzerland

Franc

1.007760

47.8031

Canada

Dollar

0.717360

34.0280

Singapore

Dollar

0.707814

33.5752

Australia

Dollar

0.718391

34.0769

Bahrain

Dinar

2.656395

126.0061

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266695

12.6507

Brunei

Dollar

0.705318

33.4568

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000072

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.027632

1.3107

UAE

Dirham

0.272279

12.9156

Euro

Euro

1.086900

51.5571

Korea

Won

0.000849

0.0403

China

Yuan

0.154285

7.3185

India

Rupee

0.015099

0.7162

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.233263

11.0648

New Zealand

Dollar

0.673809

31.9621

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030441

1.4440 Source: PDS Bridge

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE government said Monday it is bidding out a P69-billion contract to build the LRT Line 1 extension to Dasmariñas from Bacoor, Cavite.

The Transportation Department said the proposed 19-kilometer rail extension project called LRT Line 6 would connect Bacoor City and Dasmarinas. The new line is projected to serve 200,000 commuters in Cavite.

The proposed LRT Line 6 would have seven stations, including those in Niyog, Tirona, Imus, Daang Hari, Salitran, Congressional Avenue and Governor’s Drive.

The bid documents for the project, which cost P1 million, will be available on Dec. 28 to March 4.

The opening of pre-qualification documents is set on March 4.

The government said there would be two stages or two envelopes for soliciting bids under the Build, Operate and Transfer Law. Bidders are first pre-qualified based on the minimum legal, technical and financial requirements and only bidders that have been pre-qualified or are deemed eligible shall be invited to prepare and submit their technical and financial proposals.

Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which ear-

lier won the contract to build the LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project, had also expressed interest to join the bidding for LRT Line 6.

LRMC assumed the operations and maintenance of the existing 20-kilometer LRT 1 and will construct the 11.7-kilometer extension of the rail line southward from the Baclaran station to Bacoor, Cavite.

The consortium will build eight new stations after Baclaran. These include Aseana, MIA, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Las Piñas, Zapote and Niyog.

The project will increase the span of LRT 1 from 20.7 kilometers to 32.4 kms, and provide commuters from Cavite and other

parts of Parañaque and Las Piñas access to central Manila.

The project is expected to be operational within 54 months, or

by May 2019.

MPIC, through Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., owns 55 percent of LRMC, while AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp. of Ayala Corp. holds a 35-percent stake.

Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Inc. owns the remaining 10 percent.

The government will acquire the right-of-way for the project, the satellite depot, and procure 120 light rail vehicles that will be financed through a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

TUESDAY: DECEMBER 22, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Monday, deceMber 21, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 2.6 1.01 100 1.46 30.5 91.5 80 361.2 57 180 124 3.26 47 5 2.36 15.3 20.6 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 79 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 5 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 238 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 1.3 0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 1455 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 974 1.66 156 0.710 0.435 10.5 26.95 1.99 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.32 2.96 45.95 45.6 104.20 102.70 84.15 82.80 38 37.75 2.51 2.45 1.25 1.25 15 14.7 18.4 18.1 1.79 1.79 0.530 0.465 80.45 80 0.94 0.93 16.80 16.38 51.40 49.60 122 122 287 282 32.85 31.6 138.6 137 56.95 56.80 3.1 3.09 INDUSTRIAL 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp.

40.5 40.5 39.65 1.11 Agrinurture Inc. 4.7 4.69 4.61 1.86 Alsons Cons.

1.4 1.39 1.33 7.92 Asiabest Group 10.3 10.36 10.2 15.32 Century Food 16.62 16.7 16.4 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 20.3 20.5 20.3 29.15 Concepcion 43 42.9 41.15 1.5 Crown Asia 2.28 2.33 2.26 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 1.61 1.65 1.55 10.72 Del Monte 12.84 13.1 12.84 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 9.150 9.410 9.050 9.04 Emperador 8.81 9.00 8.80 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 6.20 6.30 6.06 8.86 EEI 5.23 5.23 5.21 20.2 First Gen Corp.

22.2 22.95 22.25 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 66.25 67 65.8 13.86 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.30 12.28 12.28 13.24 Holcim Philippines Inc. 14.20 14.28 14.26 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.8 5.8 5.7 0.395 Ionics Inc 2.740 3.050 2.750 173 Jollibee Foods Corp.

210.60 220.00 210.60 LBC Express 12.1 12.1 12.06 34.1 Liberty Flour 26.35 27.00 26.35 1.63 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.19 3.17 3.17 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 23.95 24.45 23.95 17.3 Maxs Group 19.8 20.75 19.88 5.88 Megawide 5.99 5.99 5.91 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 317.00 320.00 315.00 3.37 Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp. 3.91 4.01 4.00 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.92 4 3.94 8.45 Petron Corporation 7.00 7.15 6.97 10.04 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.70 11.50 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.80 3.85 3.80 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.56 1.55 1.50 1 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.29 2.28 2.22 4.02 RFM Corporation 3.96 4.00 3.96 5.9 Roxas Holdings 4.55 4.55 4.55 161 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 122 122 122 1.55 Splash Corporation 2.47 2.52 2.45 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.144 0.144 0.142 1.02 TKC Steel Corp.

1.07 1.02 1.01 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 2.15 2.19 2.15 152 Universal Robina 183.9 185.6 181.5 0.640 Vitarich Corp.

0.6 0.65 0.63 HOLDING FIRMS 0.44 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.380 0.390 0.365 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 56.8500 57.2500 56.5000 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 16.26 16.34 13.00 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.17 1.17 1.17 6.62 Anscor `A’ 6.40 6.30 6.30 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.220 0.220 0.211 0.23 ATN Holdings B 0.219 0.216 0.215 634.5 Ayala Corp `A’ 747.5 749 740 7.390 Cosco Capital 7.85 8.1 7.76 12.8 DMCI Holdings 13.80 13.80 13.60 2.6 F&J Prince ‘A’ 5.75 5.88 5.5 1.15 F&J Prince ‘B’ 5.53 5.53 5.53 2.26 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

4.15 4.39 4.14 837 GT Capital 1262 1303 1260 IPM Holdings 9.91 9.91 9.65 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 72.00 73.20 70.95 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp.

6.61 6.8 6.61 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.71 0.7 0.68 12 LT Group 14.4 14.5 14.28 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.33 5.33 5.23 0.030 Pacifica `A’ 0.0310 0.0310 0.0300 1.23 Prime Media Hldg 1.290 1.290 1.220 0.550 Prime Orion 1.880 1.840 1.820 59.3 San Miguel Corp `A’ 47.10 47.00 45.60 751 SM Investments Inc. 845.00 855.00 816.00 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 1.14 1.14 1.14 80 Top Frontier 69.900 69.850 69.800 0.211 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2800 0.2850 0.2800 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.1950 0.2000 0.1950 PROPERTY 6.74 8990 HLDG 7.000 7.060 6.900 12 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 6.01 7.78 6.12 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.83 0.85 0.81 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 34.550 35.600 34.100 3.36 Belle Corp. `A’ 2.94 2.99 2.82 4.96 Cebu Holdings 5.15 5.11 5.11 0.79 Century Property 0.56 0.57 0.54 2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 1.02 0.225 78 0.9 17.8 62 52 276 41 118.2 59 2.65

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

PB Bank Phil. National Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Union Bank Vantage Equities

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

SHARES 10,894,284 63,738,633 47,067,848 54,656,173 92,641,338 474,466,764 744,781,341

2.95 45.6 103.00 82.95 37.1 2.45 1.32 14.98 18.3 1.7 0.540 79.5 0.94 16.70 49.90 122 284 32.85 137 56.95 3

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.05 45.9 103.50 83.50 37.75 2.45 1.25 15 18.16 1.79 0.500 80.25 0.94 16.70 49.60 122 285 31.6 137.5 56.95 3.1

3.39 0.66 0.49 0.66 1.75 0.00 -5.30 0.13 -0.77 5.29 -7.41 0.94 0.00 0.00 -0.60 0.00 0.35 -3.81 0.36 0.00 3.33

1,686,000 31,200 892,510 1,655,750 11,400 31,000 3,000 82,800 49,700 3,000 136,000 611,450 102,000 148,100 11,500 2,000 2,450 22,200 443,630 156,690 11,000

39.75 4.63 1.37 10.28 16.5 20.35 41.55 2.29 1.6 12.84 9.270 9.00 6.12 5.23 22.8 65.9 12.28 14.26 5.8 3.050 220.00 12.1 27.00 3.17 24.05 19.94 5.98 317.00 4.00 3.95 6.98 11.70 3.82 1.52 2.26 3.96 4.55 122 2.45 0.142 1.02 2.16 185.2 0.64

-1.85 -1.49 -2.14 -0.19 -0.72 0.25 -3.37 0.44 -0.62 0.00 1.31 2.16 -1.29 0.00 2.70 -0.53 -0.16 0.42 0.00 11.31 4.46 0.00 2.47 -0.63 0.42 0.71 -0.17 0.00 2.30 0.77 -0.29 1.74 0.53 -2.56 -1.31 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.81 -1.39 -4.67 0.47 0.71 6.67

7,315,600 119,000 1,118,000 300 182,000 68,200 94,800 200,000 1,163,000 247,400 7,097,200 272,100 5,728,300 35,433,115 535,600 167,700 300 38,900 221,700 31,502,000 946,870 31,000 4,800 4,000 474,300 94,900 4,300 84,930 7,000 108,000 686,800 10,300 64,000 616,000 79,000 26,000 2,000 440 375,000 1,500,000 67,000 724,000 1,031,630 495,000

0.365 56.5000 16.26 1.17 6.30 0.211 0.215 741.5 7.9 13.80 5.87 5.53 4.16 1285 9.65 72.50 6.61 0.7 14.4 5.25 0.0300 1.290 1.840 46.70 855.00 1.14 69.800 0.2800 0.1950

-3.95 -0.62 0.00 0.00 -1.56 -4.09 -1.83 -0.80 0.64 0.00 2.09 0.00 0.24 1.82 -2.62 0.69 0.00 -1.41 0.00 -1.50 -3.23 0.00 -2.13 -0.85 1.18 0.00 -0.14 0.00 0.00

260,000 1,308,360 1,862,800 45,000 20,100 410,000 590,000 103,890 458,500 2,760,900 26,500 800 5,000 131,060 87,500 1,254,220 788,100 3,000 1,004,700 15,904,600 13,900,000 13,000 266,000 174,300 99,510 32,000 3,005,400 350,000 40,000

7.050 7.78 0.84 35.600 2.82 5.11 0.55

0.71 29.45 1.20 3.04 -4.08 -0.78 -1.79

32,900 1,500 362,000 5,132,800 2,582,000 300 651,000

-21,400.00 379,790.00 48,144,310 29,986,379.00 -3,780.00 -300,000.00 -223,966.00 6,240.00 8,975,014.00 -239,340.00 -348,530 18,175,584.00 -3,040,470.50 -264,234,595.00 4,640.00 855,238.00 0 4,540.00 788,600.00 -383,188.00 14,162,099.00 -2,003,833.00 437,421.00 2,007,965.00 -5,635,086.50 420,670.00 1,094,360.00 -1,167,000.00 122,871,180.00 -42,160.00 -1,169,970.00 -4,275,216.00 272,910.00 33,834.00 138,000.00 11,220.00 -3,960.00 -9,100.00 -53,680.00 24,550.00 100,820.00 715,950.00 30,745,155.00

-13,831,778.50 14,240,344.00

12,700,110.00 456,276.00 12,039,776.00

82,671,435.00 -850,225.00 50,358,602.00 -1,836,804.00 12,200,772.00 8,224,760.00

-4,409,655.00 -5,688,440.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

1.97 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 0.305 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

1.1 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 0.188 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

City & Land Dev. Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

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

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

10.5 66 1.44 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 7.67 2720 8.41 119.5 12.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 2.53 3.2 95.5 1 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 4.8 1600 5.95 102.6 8.72 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 1.01 1.95 3.1 0.650 6

0.62 1.040 6.41 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 3 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

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

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

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.0098 17.24 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 0.020 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 6.47 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.012 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

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

TA Petroleum

70 120 515 8.21 12.28 111

33 101.5 480 5.88 6.5 101

1047

1011

84.8

75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

-359,675.50

65,309.00 6,997.00 67,869,300.00 -1,739,410.00 27,500.00

Close

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

High

VALUE 467,321,573.10 985,029,502.67 1,080,712,839.364 648,867,472.08 722,505,389.466 79,254,799.90 3,998,548,824.37

FINANCIAL 1,535.22 (UP) 8.58 INDUSTRIAL 10,951.43 (UP) 85.94 HOLDING FIRMS 6,511.10 (UP) 17.28 PROPERTY 2,963.08 (UP) 37.98 SERVICES 1,505.45 (DOWN) 4.94 MINING & OIL 10,234.07 (DOWN) 6.84 PSEI 6,910.34 (UP) 43.27 All Shares Index 3,952.32 (UP) 11.44 Gainers: 69; Losers: 84; Unchanged: 47; Total: 200

Close

0.98 0.122 0.445 24.25 0.820 0.157 1.05 1.84 1.18 4.29 0.077 8.55 27.50 1.4 3.21 21.80 0.74 0.900 5.090

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

0.97 0.97 0.97 0.122 0.121 0.122 0.450 0.440 0.440 24.45 23.6 23.95 0.820 0.820 0.820 0.160 0.160 0.160 1.05 1.00 1.02 1.86 1.82 1.82 1.17 1.12 1.17 4.38 4.23 4.35 0.077 0.076 0.077 8.64 8.55 8.6 27.50 27.00 27.50 1.4 1.38 1.38 3.21 3.11 3.21 22.40 21.85 21.85 0.74 0.74 0.74 0.880 0.840 0.860 5.040 4.950 5.030 SERVICES 7.1 7.1 7 7 63.5 63.9 62.7 63.9 1.14 1.15 1.13 1.13 4.44 4.44 4.33 4.35 0.0410 0.0410 0.0400 0.0410 3.21 3.4 3.26 3.26 80 80.95 79.35 80 5.05 5.05 5.05 5.05 1890 1890 1870 1880 6.84 6.84 6.71 6.80 68.95 69.3 68 69 11.2 11.24 11.22 11.24 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.154 0.156 0.148 0.156 1.3800 1.4100 1.3700 1.4100 2.37 2.4 2.13 2.13 7.95 7.93 7.83 7.83 4.35 4.45 4.21 4.39 1.11 1.11 1.11 1.11 2.30 2.35 2.20 2.35 28.90 28.00 28.00 28.00 0.510 0.510 0.510 0.510 2.32 2.25 2.14 2.14 3.73 3.75 3.63 3.70 0.265 0.260 0.260 0.260 0.840 0.860 0.830 0.840 4.60 4.50 4.50 4.50 21.15 21.15 21.05 21.15 2024.00 2044.00 2010.00 2022.00 0.475 0.475 0.470 0.475 0.680 0.670 0.640 0.640 34.20 34.45 34.20 34.30 62.00 62.15 61.70 61.80 5.92 6.08 5.80 5.99 3.52 3.56 3.37 3.37 0.440 0.440 0.435 0.435 3.59 3.58 3.49 3.49 0.310 0.340 0.320 0.335 4.110 4.290 4.040 4.290 MINING & OIL 0.0048 0.0049 0.0048 0.0049 4.08 4.08 4.02 4.02 5.5000 5.5 5.5000 5.5000 0.61 0.6 0.59 0.6 0.58 0.59 0.54 0.57 7.18 7.56 7.12 7.16 0.69 0.7 0.67 0.67 0.280 0.280 0.275 0.275 0.168 0.174 0.169 0.171 0.187 0.186 0.186 0.186 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.011 0.011 0.010 0.010 2.1 2.04 2.03 2.03 6.24 6.36 6.22 6.22 2.8 2.82 2.7 2.8 0.0099 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 4.44 4.52 4.44 4.48 1.29 1.30 1.29 1.29 0.0110 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 133.40 134.40 133.00 133.60 2.09 2.13 2.09 2.13 PREFERRED 65.05 66 64.5 64.5 118 119.5 118 118 519 519 519 519 6.46 6.5 6.5 6.5 1.13 1.14 1.13 1.13 107.5 107.5 107.5 107.5 1065 1065 1065 1065 1028 1020 1016 1016 103.9 104.3 104 104 105.7 106.9 106.8 106.8 81.65 83 81 81 78.4 78.3 78.25 78.3 78.55 78.5 78.5 78.5 78.6 79.9 78.7 78.8 WARRANTS & BONDS 2.530 2.610 2.380 2.500 SME 3.16 3.17 3.17 3.17 2.57 2.78 2.7 2.78 3.1 3.11 2.9 2.97 15.48 15.84 15.04 15.48 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 112.3 112.7 112.1 112.7

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

-1.02 0.00 -1.12 -1.24 0.00 1.91 -2.86 -1.09 -0.85 1.40 0.00 0.58 0.00 -1.43 0.00 0.23 0.00 -4.44 -1.18

57,000 280,000 3,120,000 1,450,200 100,000 40,000 572,000 7,688,000 81,000 10,937,000 3,780,000 37,800 1,177,500 185,000 2,000 14,634,800 107,000 753,000 884,500

-1.41 0.63 -0.88 -2.03 0.00 1.56 0.00 0.00 -0.53 -0.58 0.07 0.36 -1.00 1.30 2.17 -10.13 -1.51 0.92 0.00 2.17 -3.11 0.00 -7.76 -0.80 -1.89 0.00 -2.17 0.00 -0.10 0.00 -5.88 0.29 -0.32 1.18 -4.26 -1.14 -2.79 8.06 4.38

18,200 4,740 11,000 2,466,000 13,400,000 1,547,000 305,030 5,000 19,705 24,400 558,450 8,911,000 2,000,000 940,000 19,000 53,000 291,300 279,000 47,000 25,000 100 16,000 10,668,000 3,813,000 250,000 4,445,000 12,000 70,400 111,125 220,000 25,192,000 765,100 1,061,050 637,900 9,879,000 2,630,000 275,000 80,000 92,000

2.08 -1.47 0.00 -1.64 -1.72 -0.28 -2.90 -1.79 1.79 -0.53 0.00 -9.09 -3.33 -0.32 0.00 1.01 0.90 0.00 9.09 0.15 1.91

92,000,000 239,000 -764,130.00 10,000 -55,000.00 264,000 112,000 1,300 2,713,000 45,000.00 700,000 600,000 350,000 274,200,000 69,000,000 24,000 2,874,200 -1,917,431.00 9,000 12,000,000 121,000 -44,870.00 95,000 3,870.00 18,700,000 394,300 8,359,815.00 38,000

-0.85 0.00 0.00 0.62 0.00 0.00 0.00 -1.17 0.10 1.04 -0.80 -0.13 -0.06 0.25

44,540 3,020 5,000 9,000 40,000 40 420 5,000 18,430 4,420 44,650 8,310 50 2,080,610

-1.19

122,000

0.32 8.17 -4.19 0.00

6,000 10,000 1,009,000 215,600

325,100.00

0.36

75,550

112,576.00

-89,000.00 -553,115.00

379,470.00 -3,990,680.00 211,330.00 -14,041,015.00 -17,606,615.00 8,600.00 -943,011.00

3,352,460.00 20,500.00 850,767.00 -6,888,210.00 -9,317,017.00 -5,620.00 -19,800.00 1,410.00 7,870.00 51,980.00

-2,321,140.00 212,670.00 213,880.00 29,605.00 -42,000,370.00 -1,175,140.00 23,497,935.00 3,560,694.50 -8,796,790.00 62,910.00

1,270,886.50 -57,200.00 42,020.00

-304,720.00 -1,173,830.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Anchor Land Holdings Inc.

7.78

29.45

Jackstones

2.13

-10.13

Ionics Inc

3.050

11.31

Manila Mining `B'

0.010

-9.09

Philodrill Corp. `A'

0.0120

9.09

Melco Crown

2.14

-7.76

Makati Fin. Corp.

2.78

8.17

MEDCO Holdings

0.500

-7.41

Waterfront Phils.

0.335

8.06

Premium Leisure

0.640

-5.88

Vitarich Corp.

0.64

6.67

Bright Kindle Resources

1.25

-5.30

I-Remit Inc.

1.79

5.29

TKC Steel Corp.

1.02

-4.67

Jollibee Foods Corp.

220.00

4.46

Suntrust Home Dev. Inc.

0.860

-4.44

Yehey

4.290

4.38

SSI Group

3.37

-4.26

AG Finance

3.05

3.39

Italpinas

2.97

-4.19

TUESDAY: DECEMBER 22, 2015

B3

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

Ramos’ unit buys property company

P&A Grant Thornton briefing. P&A

Grant Thornton, one of the country’s leading professional services firms, hosts the Asia Pacific Tax Conference client event at the New World Makati Hotel.

The event, with over 150 guests in attendance, discussed the implications of investing in the Asia-Pacific for Filipino companies.

Leading the discussions are (from left) P&A Grant Thornton division head for tax services Lea Roque and panelists Peter Godber from Grant Thornton Singapore, Wilfred Chiu from Grant Thornton China and Khoi Hoang from Grant Thornton Vietnam.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

Villar Group prepares Starmalls’ tender offer

By Jenniffer B. Austria

VISTA Land & Lifescapes Inc. said it will launch in January a tender offer on the remaining shares it does not own in Starmalls Inc. to consolidate the Villar Group’s residential and shopping mall businesses.

The tender offer period on the remaining 11.75 percent, representing 743.29 million Starmall shares held by minority investors, will start on January 4, 2016 and end on February 15, 2016.

The tendered shares are to be crossed through a block sale on February 25, 2016.

Vista Land’s tender offer is in compliance with provisions of the Securities Regulation

Code, after signing on November 10 an agreement with Starmalls’ major shareholder, Fine properties Inc., to acquire an 88.25-percent stake in the company worth P33.5 billion.

Vista Land and Starmalls are both principally owned by the Villar group.

Fine Properties, meanwhile, committed to invest 97.5 percent of the P33.5-billion purchase cost into Vista Land by subscribing to approximately 4.6 billion new Vista Land shares.

As a result of the transaction, the Villar Group will increase its stake in Vista Land to 67.45 percent from 54 percent.

The acquisition will make the company the fourth leading integrated property developer in the country aftrer SM Prime Holdings Inc., Ayala Land Inc. and Megaworld Corp.

The purchase will also hasten the rollout of the Villar Group’s projects and and enable it to form joint venture partnerships with other real estate developers.

Vista Land president Paolo Manuel Villar earlier said he expected the company’s rental income to be a significant contributor to the group’s total sales following the transaction.

Starmalls owns two BPO commercial centers and 12 shopping malls with a total gross floor area of 509,000 square meters. Five malls are currently under construction and are slated to open in 2016.

Villar said the company identified 100 hectares out of 600 hectares of land under its existing land bank for potential Starmalls projects.

Vista Land said it had no plans to delist Starmalls after conducting a tender offer.

Depending on the result of the tender offer, the public ownership of Starmalls may fall below the minimum requirement of 10 percent.

If the company fails to comply with the 10 percent minimum public ownership requirement of the PSE, an involuntary delisting procedure may be initiated against the company.

LISTED holding company Anglo Philippines Holdings Corp. of businessman Alfredo Ramos is venturing into real estate development with the acquisition of a 97.59-percent interest in Tipo Valley Realty Inc. for P300 million.

Anglo Philippines said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its board approved the acquisition of a 97.59-percent interest in the real estate company that owns 201 hectares, or 240 parcels of land, in the brangays of Mabiga and Sacrifice Valley in Hermosa, Bataan.

Because the property is adjacent to the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, the company intends to develop the TVRI properties as a special economic zone as part of its property development initiatives.

The acquisition is still subject to the finalization of due diligence and appraisal reports and other factors, including market demand for special economic zones and complementary governance and incentives guarantees, as well as favorable actions by local and national government regulatory agencies on the applications to be filed by the company.

“Assuming all of the above conditions remain or turn out to be favorable to the project, the revenues to be possibly generated from the general operation, lease and use of the special economic zone will have a significant positive impact on the future prospects of the company,” Anglo Philippines said.

“Moreover, the acquisition will establish the presence of the company in the property development sector and create a more balanced and diversified investment portfolio,” it added.

Anglo Philippine was originally incorporated in 1958 as an oil and mineral exploration company.

The company in 1996 amended its primary purpose to that of an investment holding firm.

The company has investments in United Paragon Mining Corp., Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp. and The Philodrill Corp.

BDO fund manager sees stock market falling again next year THE Philippines’ largest money manager expects the nation’s equities to decline in the first half of 2016 as higher US borrowing costs fuel outflows and uncertainty builds before the country holds presidential elections.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index is heading for its first annual loss since 2008 as overseas funds pulled a record $1.2 billion from equities that are among the priciest in Asia, while the peso has fallen to a six-year low against the US dollar.

“We have bought on dips, but we’re cognizant of the fact that we aren’t out of the woods yet, so we are still holding cash,” said Frederico Ocampo, who helps manage about $18 billion in assets as chief investment officer at BDO Unibank Inc. The stock market “is one of the most expensive in Asia Pacific and we haven’t delivered on the expected growth this year.”

The nation’s economy expanded at a slower pace than expected in the third quarter, un-

derscoring external risks even as spending by households and the government climb. The central bank left its key interest rate unchanged while boosting inflation forecasts for the next two years, as Asian central banks brace for more outflows after the Fed’s tightening. The Philippines will hold elections in May to find a successor to incumbent Benigno Aquino.

The nation’s stock index has dropped 5 percent this year and trades at 16.8 times projected 12-month earnings.

While down from 20.8 at its peak in May 2013, that’s still 30-percent higher than the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 43.27 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,910.34. Losers, however, beat gainers, 84 to 69, with 47 issues unchanged.

Foreign investors, who are on course to be net sellers of local stocks this year for the first time since 2008, are likely to withdraw more funds in the first half, Oc-

ampo said. While stocks could rise in the short-term after the Fed’s interest- rate increase last week, more outflows would help stocks reverse gains, said Ocampo, who favors stocks with high dividend yields.

Uncertainty over the pace of future tightening and the elections “could dampen buying even for local investors,” said Ocampo, who said in June he raised cash holdings on concern global equities would drop in the run up to the Fed’s decision.

Bloomberg

B4

Meralco plans solar rooftops

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MERALCO Power Corp., the generation unit of Manila Electric Co., plans to put up 100 megawatts of rooftop solar power capacity in the next three years, a top executive said.

Meralco president Oscar Reyes told reporters its subsidiary would focus on the solar rooftop projects, which were now in the development stage.

“It will be focused on solar and wind but focus will be initially on solar within our franchise area without prejudice to going

to other areas,” he said.

Reyes said that going full blast on renewable energy would “make economic sense” for the company.

Meralco earlier said it was open to partnering with local and international players for renewable energy projects.

“Given the global developments on RE and especially solar, Meralco is itself interested in exploring partnerships with local and global players. We think that the RE space will grow, and we want to be part of that growth,” Meralco senior vice president for customer retail services and corporate communications Al Panlilio said earlier.

Panlilio said Meralco wanted to go into solar but the company was focused on ensuring safe and reliable operation of the distribution grid.

“We need to understand that the solar installation in a house or business can affect the stability and safety of the distribution grid and may place other nearby customers at risk. We also recognize that solar photovoltaic installations that are synchronized with the grid are dependent upon the quality of power delivered by the distribution utility,” he said.

Panlilio said the company’s efforts to support solar energy was driven by Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan’s vision to embrace change and innovation.

“He believes that Meralco should stay ahead of the curve on solar and renewable energy and on point with customers abreast with technology,” he said.

Pangilinan earlier announced the company’s plans to venture into renewable energy, noting that “the infrastructure cost

of renewables, particularly solar and wind, have been decreasing.”

“We are mindful of technological developments capable of disrupting Meralco’s business model. In that light we are looking to participate in the renewable energy space, particularly solar and wind,” Pangilinan said.

“We are looking at solar. Particularly, not just utility grade solar but we will start probably with rooftops so for that business, we need to have a separate subsidiary and separate management,” he said.

Meralco PowerGen is presently developing three coal-fired power plants, including the 1,200- megawatt Atimonan coal plant in Quezon, 455-MW Mauban coal project also in Quezon and RP Energy’s 300-MW to 600-MW coal plant in Subic.

Debt papers rise to P3.89t

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

Bond market book. First Metro Investment Corp. president Roberto Juanchito Dispo (seated, right) and University of Asia & the Pacific

professor Victor Abola (seated, left) launch their book titled ‘The Emerging Bond Market in the Philippines’ that comprehensively tackles the key issues that deter the growth and competitiveness of the Philippine bond market and provides different stakeholders with concrete and measurable solutions. With the authors are (standing, from right) National Treasurer Roberto Tan, Manila Electric Co. senior vice president and chief finance officer Betty Siy-Yap and First Metro first vice president Stella Maria Piedad Torres.

AES starts construction of 10-MW energy storage

By Alena Mae S. Flores AES Philippines said it began constructing a 10-megawatt batterybased energy storage array in Masinloc, Zambales to enhance the reliability of the Luzon grid.

AES Philippines said in a statement the Masinloc Array would use the Advancion energy storage solution and would be completed by mid-2016.

The facility, once completed, will be one of the first advanced energy storage installations in Southeast Asia and among the largest in Asia.

AES Asia strategic business unit president Marty Crotty and AES Philippines managing director Neeraj Bhat led the

groundbreaking ceremony on Dec. 15.

“AES is pleased to bring this pioneering technology and application to the Philippines. Battery-based energy storage will play a critical role in tomorrow’s grid, helping to improve stability, lower total system costs, and incorporate higher volumes of renewable energy projects. We look forward to working with key stakeholders to demonstrate the value and capabilities of this technology,” Bhat said.

The advanced energy storage project in Masinloc will strengthen the Luzon grid by providing fast response ancillary services like frequency regulation.

AES Philippines said the proj-

ect was especially valuable to island grids facing challenges in instantaneously matching supply and demand across a smaller pool of resources.

The company said energy storage could perform this function more effectively than traditional grid resources, resulting in cost savings and lower system-wide emissions.

AES Philippines is actively developing other energy storage facilities in the Philippines, including one in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental.

Bhat said the Kabankalan project would improve the Visayas grid’s ability to incorporate the significant volume of solar power coming online by early 2016.

AES is a leader in commercial energy storage solutions, which improve flexibility and reliability of the power system and provide customers with a complete alternative to traditional peaking power plants.

AES fourth-generation Advancion solution is among the most proven energy storage platforms available, resulting from the company’s more than eight years of commercial experience operating grid-connected energy storage.

AES has 384 MW of interconnected energy storage, equivalent to 768 MW of flexible resource, in operation, construction or late stage development in six countries.

OUTSTANDING government debt papers increased 2.8 percent to P3.895 trillion as of endNovember from P3.788 trillion a year ago, data from the Bureau of Treasury show.

The domestic debt papers, normally bought by banks at fixed-interest rates, were used to finance the budget deficit and provide investment instruments in the financial system.

Data showed the bulk of debt issuances were treasury bonds amounting to P3.621 trillion, while treasury bills amounted to P273.97 billion as of endNovember.

Benchmark bonds amounted to P1.031 trillion while retail treasury bonds reached P753.195 billion. Most bonds had tenors of more than 10 years.

Bonds maturing in the next three and five years amounted to P145.548 billion and P226.398 billion, respectively.

Longer tenor papers such as the seven and 10-year debt facilities amounted to P469.127 billion and P380.831 billion, respectively.

Twenty-year bonds reached P298.324 billion while 25year debt papers amounted to P235.982 billion.

Among the treasury bills, the 182-day or three-month debt papers had the biggest share with P94.949 billion, followed by the 364-day or one-year papers with P94.738 billion and 91-day debt papers with P84.283 billion.

Yield in treasury bills ranged from 1.49 percent to 2.55 percent amid anticipation of the US Fed rate hike.

The national government reduced its borrowing requirement from the original target after it posted a fiscal surplus in the first half of 2015, as opposed to the programmed deficit for the six-month period.

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

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

A pedicab on the digital highway THERE’S been a flurry of government activity focused on the Internet, but sadly, none of this will improve our online experiences any time soon.

The latest development was President Aquino’s signing this month of the Connectivity Declaration, a pledge in support of universal Internet access globally.

“Studies show that Internet access can help lift people out of poverty through access to critical health, economic and education services,” Aquino said on his official Facebook page.

Any rejoicing would be premature, however, since it quickly became clear that it wasn’t the Internet that the President was talking about after all, but only a tiny subset of it provided through Facebook’s “Free Basics” program.

In Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shell game, Free Basics is a rebranding of the company’s controversial Internet.org, which drew flak for luring people in developing countries with the promise of free Internet access— only to offer a limited number of websites approved by Facebook. This, critics said, gives poor users who avail of the free services a walled garden controlled by Facebook, depriving them of the choices they would have in the real Internet.

The program drew strong criticism from online activists in India that turned into a global backlash against Internet.org. With Free Basics, the Times of India noted, Facebook was selling old wine in a new bottle.

That our government would pin its hopes of universal access on Free Basics speaks volumes of the sad state of the Internet in the Philippines.

But wait, there’s more.

In September, the Information and Communications Technology Office announced that the government would provide free Wi-Fi services in public places in all towns and cities by the end of 2016.

With a budget of P3 billion a year, the project is designed to provide free Wi-Fi in town plazas in municipalities as well as transport terminals, school yards, hospital lobbies, national government agencies, public parks and the offices of local government units.

In an interview with Bloomberg, the deputy executive director of ICTO, Monchito Ibrahim, said with the free Wi-Fi service, telecommunications companies would need to move to lure customers with higher-end services.

Undersecretary Louis Casambre of ICTO added in a press release that “any increase in Internet connectivity through free Wi-Fi Internet access in public places will jump start economic development by giving [more people] access to e-commerce, e-learning, and e-government tools.”

Again, these predictions seems overly optimistic, since the free Wi-Fi service being contemplated will be an unspeakably slow 256 kilobits per second.

In contrast, Bloomberg noted, Singapore started a free wireless service in 2006 that now offers speeds of as much as 2 megabits per second—or eight times faster than the one the ICTO has planned.

But this should come as no surprise to Internet users here, who have long had to pay too much for slow connection speeds and poor service—the products of weak regulation and an effective duopoly.

Just this month, the network services company Akmai released its State of the Internet report for the third quarter of 2015, which showed the Philippines in the bottom five countries that had the slowest connection speeds.

With an average connection speed of only 2.8 Mbps, the Philippines ranked 51st among 55 countries worldwide.

Among Asia-Pacific countries, we were the second slowest, losing out to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Indonesia, and besting only India.

Among Internet users here, only 10 percent have connections that are above 4 Mbps. Less than 1 percent have connections above 10 Mbps.

To put those numbers in perspective, world-leading South Korea has an average connection speed of 20.5 Mbps, with 68 percent of users having connections faster than 10 Mbps. Almost everyone (96 percent) in South Korea has a connection faster than 4 Mbps.

In Singapore, the average connection speed is 12.5 Mbps, with 87 percent of users enjoying speeds higher than 4 Mbps.

How competitive can we be in a digital economy if it takes us four times longer than our counterparts in Singapore to accomplish something on the Internet? On the information highway, our neighbors are driving race cars while we breathe in their exhaust in our pedicabs.

Andrew Penn, the CEO of Australia’s Telstra, which has been in talks with San Miguel Corp. for a possible wireless joint venture, summed it up succinctly when he talked about the opportunities for a new service provider here.

“Go to the Philippines, experience for yourself the sort of lousy service you get from the incumbent operators, and you will see that the opportunity there for a new operator to provide a much better quality service over an LTE network, over a better spectrum,” Penn said.

The Telstra joint venture is by no means a done deal, but strong competition to the duopoly that exists today might do more to improve service to local Internet users than all the hot air and hare-brained schemes coming out of the government.

••• Speaking of lousy service, can PLDT explain to us why they routinely cut off Internet service without warning if you’ve missed a payment? They remind you when payment is overdue on your landline, so why not show their customers the same courtesy when it comes to their broadband connections? Cutting Internet access without notice is just another example of how cavalierly the telcos treat their customers.

Column archives and blog at: http://www.chinwong.com

B5

BSP reduces target on foreign reserves

By Julito G. Rada

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reduced the gross international reserves target this year to $80.7 billion from the earlier estimate of $81.6 billion on lower current account surplus.

“The current account balance is projected to remain in surplus [at $8.9 billion], albeit at lower levels. At the same time, the outflow in the financial account is seen to be lower,” Bangko Sentral said in a statement, announcing the revision of the target for 2015.

Bangko Sentral said despite the target reduction, the 2015 reserves would still be higher than $79.5 billion posted in 2014. At this level, the reserves remained sufficient, covering nearly 10 months worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income.

“The downward revision [in current account surplus] is due to the expected widening of trade deficit as exports growth is seen

to be slower than previously projected,” Bangko Sentral said.

Data showed that as of endNovember, gross international reserves declined to $80.572 billion from $81.097 billion in October.

The value of Bangko Sentral’s gold holdings in November declined to $6.7 billion from $7.178 billion a month ago. Foreign investments also declined to $71.081 billion from $71.362 billion a month ago.

Reserves were projected to increase to $82.7 billion in 2016, or equivalent to nine months of import cover, from $80.7 billion (nearly 10 months import cover) in 2015.

The increase would be triggered

by the expected improvement in the overall balance of payments position next year to $2.2 billion from $2 billion in 2015.

The current account in 2016 is expected to remain in surplus at $5.7 billion but lower compared to $8.9 billion in 2015 due mainly to the expected large increase in the imports of goods.

“Overall, the BSP forecasts the external position of the Philippines improving in 2015 and 2016 from a deficit in 2014. The BoP outlook for 2015 is supported by a resilient current account surplus backed by robust receipts from overseas Filipinos remittances, tourism earnings and business process outsourcing revenues,” Bangko Sentral said.

“While the global economic outlook in 2016 is expected to improve slightly, uncertainty and caution still remain. Nevertheless, the Philippine economy is expected to exhibit continued resilience on the back of strong domestic economic activities,” it said.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas releases the new limited-edition P10 commemorative coins in celebration of the 150th birth of Filipino hero Miguel Malvar. The coin shows the portrait of Malvar and the marking of ‘10-Piso,’ ‘Republika ng Pilpinas’ and ‘Heneral Miguel Malvar.’ The reverse side has the new seal of the BSP and the marking ‘150 taon,’ ‘1865-2015’ and the ‘Monument of Malvar.’ DANNY PATA

BSP issues P10 commemorative coins

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas on Monday launched P10 commemorative coins featuring Miguel Malvar, the last Filipino general who surrendered to the Americans during the FilipinoAmerican war.

“The BSP will issue 10 million pieces of this commemorative coin,” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a news briefing.

Guinigundo said the production cost for the Malvar coins was P4.23 apiece, almost similar to the existing P10 coins. “The cost is much less than the face value,” he said.

President Benigno Aquino III approved the production of the Malvar coins on Oct. 1, 2015. Guinigundo said the coins would be available starting Dec.

22 at Bangko Sentral offices and branches.

The obverse side of the coin shows the portrait of Malvar and the markings “10-Piso,” “Republika ng Pilipinas” and “Heneral Miguel Malvar.” The reverse side has the new seal of the Bangko Sentral and the markings “150 taon,” “1865-2015,” and the “Monument of Malvar.”

The coin is made up of 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel and weighs 8.7 grams with a diameter of 26.5 millimeters.

Malvar was the last Filipino general to surrender to the Americans during the revolution. After the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo and the surrender of other Filipino generals, Malvar assumed full command of the revolutionary forces. Guinigundo said Malvar’s valor, resilience and patriotism served as inspira-

tion to his fellow Filipinos.

Bangko Sentral commemorates significant events and heroic Filipinos in the country’s history through the minting of coins, medals or overprints on banknotes.

The most recent commemorative coins issued by Bangko Sentral were for the 150th year of national hero Jose Rizal in 2011, the 150th year of Andres Bonifacio in 2013, 150th year of Apolinario Mabini, 70th year of the Leyte Gulf landing and Bagong Bayani commemorative coins in honor of overseas Filipinos in 2014, and the pastoral/state visit of Pope Francis in 2015.

Guinigundo also said that Bangko Sentral was currently finalizing the specifications of the New Generation coins to be issued three years from now, wherein the old coins would be phased out.

TUESDAY: DECEMBER 22, 2015

B6

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

BCDA sees revenues of P7b

By Othel V. Campos

GMA’s online sales up by 65%

THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority expects to end the year with almost P7 billion in revenues from lease operations and assets disposition in 2015.

By Darwin G. Amojelar GMA New Media Inc., a whollyowned unit of GMA Network Inc., said Monday online sales grew 56 percent to P71.5 million in the first eleven months of 2015.

“Besides the steady growth in online traffic, advertising inventory has likewise expanded due to continuous back-end improvements that create more opportunities for monetization. We remain focused on strengthening our efforts to further increase our potential for added revenues,” GMA New Media senior vice president and general manager Dingdong Caharian said.

GMA News Online and GMA’s official entertainment Web site consistently increased their page views during the 11-month period, with their year-onyear growth reaching 115 percent to 1 billion page views and a 537 percent to 643 million page views, respectively.

The GMA Entertainment portal claimed it had outdone ABS-CBN. com in terms of total year-to-date page views, with the latter generating 561 million, or 82 million less than the GMA Web site.

Effective Measure data also showed unique browsers for GMA News Online and the Entertainment Web site increasing 60 percent to 13 million, and 265 percent to 4.9 million, respectively.

Highest corporate award. SM Investments Corp. senior vide president for finance Franklin

Gomez receives The Platinum Award for excellence in corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and investor relations on behalf of the company. SM Investments is cited anew by Hong Kong-based magazine The Asset as a winner of the Platinum Award, the highest award for excellence in corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and investor relations for seven years running. SM also received the Best Investor Relations Team, a new category this year.

Seven for the Senate

BY THE end of the period for filing of certificates of candidacy, close to 50 men and women had officially indicated their desire to be voted upon in the 2016 election for the position of Senator. On the basis of what the Filipino people already know about them and of what they stated in their COCs, it is clear that many of the aspirants don’t have the K—the first letter of the Filipino word for ‘right’ —to aspire for membership in the upper chamber of Congress. But many deserve to be elected, or re-elected, to the Senate.

The following is a selection of the men and women who, in my view, deserve to have Senate seats in the 17th Congress.

Heading my selection is re-electionist Serge Osmena III. A third-generation senator – the original Sergio was, of course, Senate President in the Commonwealth era and Sergio Jr. was one of the incumbent senators when Congress was padlocked on Sept. 21, 1972 – Serge Osmena has been one of the most industrious and astute senators in the Congresses in which he has served. Pragmatic and sensible, Serge Osmena has been saying and doing the right things where the Philippine economy has been concerned. And his record as a legislator has been touched by not even a whiff of a scandal. Like grandfather, like grandson. Serge O. deserves a fresh term in the Senate.

On the distaff side, Rissa HontiverosBaraquel ought to win a Senate seat on her second try. A former broadcaster, party-list Representative and, more recently, a member of the Philhealth board of directors, Rissa Hontiveros (for ease of name recall se has temporarily dropped her late PMAer husband’s surname) is very intelligent, very industrious and very passionate about the causes she chooses to take up.

By virtue of her many years as a TV newscaster, she became well-acquainted with the way the Philippine economy works and with the people and institutions responsible for its growth and development. With Rissa Hontiveros in the Senate, the government’s health care system

will have an additional champion in that august body.

Martin Romualdez is also in my selection of aspirants who deserve to be voted into the Senate on May 10, 2016. A lawyer by training, Martin Romualdez’s greatest achievement to date is his recent presidency of Philconsa (Philippine Constitution Association). If elected, he will be the first member of the influential Romualdez family to be a member of the Senate. His other forebears have served the nation in other high capacities, including the judiciary, but Martin Romualdez would be the first senator. (Delicadeza demands that I declare that he is also the owner of this newspaper).

My selection of individuals who merit being elected senator in next year’s election also includes Rafael Alunan III. A grandson of the first Rafael Alunan, who was one of President Manuel Quezon’s most trusted political allies, Raffy Alunan served as President Fidel Ramos’ Secretary of the Interior and Local Government at a time when the LGUs (local government units) and the Philippine National Police were transitioning from the Malacanang-centered structures of the martial-law era.

Raffy Alunan has the mindset of a professional, and when he chooses a cause to support, he gives it all that he’s got. Currently his principal cause is the protection of this country’s West Philippine Sea interests against China’s encroachment. Like his grandfather, Raffy Alunan richly deserves to be in the halls of the national legislature.

I would like to see Richard Gordon return to the Senate next year. Truth to tell, some people find him talkative, but Dick Gordon is very bright, highly articulate and totally dedicated to whatever goal he chooses to pursue. He put all his creative juices to work when he was appointed Secretary of Tourism by President Gloria Arroyo. The Philippine Red Cross has long been one of Dick Gordon’s principal preoccupations; at present he is PRC’s chairman. The electorate should place Dick Gordon in the Senate Magic 12 in the coming election.

During his or her tenure of office a Secretary of Justice steps on many powerful toes, and Leila de Lima is no exception. A former legal practitioner with a practice focused on election law, Leila de Lima recommended for prosecution, cases involving powerful business figures and companies owned by them. That obviously did not sit well with the erring individuals, and they doubtless are thinking that Leila de Lima’s candidacy is payback time. It would be a great pity if they were allowed to have their way.

Both as chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and as Secretary of Justice, Leila de Lima has been straight-shooting and courageous—remember her determined stand against President Arroyo’s flying out of this country? – and she deserves to be rewarded by the Filipino people. Election to the Senate would be a just reward.

Closing out this selection of aspirants that I consider excellent Senate material is one of the leading female legal practitioners in this country.

A law partner of the late Senator Raul Roco, Lorna Patajo-Kapunan is highly conversant with business law and is comfortable in a business environment. Because of Lorna Kapunan’s reputation as a formidable trial lawyer, it is said that opposing counsel prepare twice as thoroughly before facing her in a courtroom. The electorate should send Lorna Kapunan, together with her companera Leila de Lima, to the Senate.

When he reads out the names of the chamber’s members when the Senate first convenes after the incoming President’s State of the Nation Address, the Senate sergeant-at-arms hopefully will state the names of Serge Osmena III, Rissa HontiverosBaraquel, Rafael Alunan III, Martin Romualdez, Richard Gordon, Lorna Kapunan and Leila de Lima.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Paciano Casanova cited 2015 as a “banner year” for the agency.

“Immediately we received P3.5 billion from SCTEx [SubicClark-Tarlac Expressway], cash up front. We hope to generate another P3 billion from the usual businesses we have. This is a banner year,” he said at the sidelines of a forum in Quezon City.

The agency expects to receive additional revenues from a joint venture with Megaworld Corp., leases and dividends from businesses like the Bonifacio Global City, Market Market, McKinley West, McKinley Hills, Newport and other property dispositions.

Bonifacio Global recently remitted P1.5 billion while McKinley West paid at least P875 million.

The BCDA also expects another P160 million in revenue once it signs a joint venture agreement with Filinvest Development Corp. before yearend. The two initially agreed to co-develop the 9,450-hectare Clark Green City within the Clark Special Economic Zone.

BCDA as of end-November generated P69.7 billion from its asset disposition program in the last 22 years. It generated as much as P4 billion in revenues in 2014.

Casanova said the agency expects to revenues to grow in 2016 if economic conditions remained good as in 2015 and 2014.

The agency plans to bid out on lease arrangements Navy Officers Village Association Inc. after getting the nod of the Supreme Court to return the ownership of land occupied by retired Philippine Navy officers and their families inside the former Fort Andres Bonifacio Military Reservation to the BCDA. “We are planning to bid out the lease of land in smaller parcels since this will generate bigger revenues for the government in the long run. You don’t lose ownership of the property, at the same time you generate revenues,” Cassanova said.

He said the master plan for NOVAI was generally similar to the overall plan for BGC, in which the development was mixed-use, high-end residential with commercial and institutional components.

The agency is initially looking at bidding out spaces from the NOVAI land at P80,000 per square meter with reference of a recent conservative land appraisal of P78,000/sqm.

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

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Cabbies unite against Uber NEW DELHI—From London and Paris to New Delhi and Sao Paulo, traditional taxi drivers united worldwide against Uber in 2015, a year that saw riots, legal battles and even a kidnapping in protest against the startup.

Since first winning customers in San Francisco five years ago, Uber has enjoyed spectacular global growth by allowing customers to hail drivers using a smartphone app and bypass traditional taxi services.

But the company, now operating in 58 countries and valued at more than $50 billion, has suffered a bumpy ride on the road to success, infuriating conventional cab firms and battling regulators across many nations.

The firm’s safety standards have also been called into question after Uber drivers were accused of abduction and sexual attacks of female passengers in India and the United States.

In New Delhi authorities attempted to ban the firm, after it was accused of failing to conduct adequate background checks on a driver who last month was jailed for life for the rape of female passenger in his car. But Uber has flouted the ban much to the outrage of traditional car services.

In many countries, cabbies say Uber represents unfair competition because its drivers are not subject to the often-strict rules and restrictions that govern conventional firms.

Their anger boiled over in 2015, notably in Paris where rioting by heavily unionized taxi drivers and the arrest of Uber executives in June led the startup to suspend its lowcost UberPOP service six months after it was banned.

Licensed cabbies, who in some countries must undergo hundreds of hours of training, accuse Uber of endangering their jobs by flooding the market with cheaper drivers who only need a GPS to get around.

“Taxi drivers, alright they’ve got big mouths but normally they’re not aggressive,” Malia, who has driven a taxi in Paris for three years, said of the riots in the city that included the torching of cars.

“But these guys have families to feed, debts.

They’ve been pushed to the brink.”

Uber does not em-

ploy drivers or own vehicles, but instead uses non-professionally licensed contractors with their own cars, allowing them to run their own businesses.

In London, 1,500 of the city’s iconic black cabs blocked streets in September, while Mayor Boris Johnson raised drivers’ ire after calling

those opposed to new technology “Luddites”.

Black cabbies spend three years studying for “The Knowledge”, a grueling test that requires them to memorize every street in London before gaining a license, a tradition dating back to the 1800s.

They say they are being squeezed by the popular,

cheaper Uber.

In New Delhi, the ban authorities set out in the aftermath of the rape case has not been strictly enforced and Uber has continued to operate in the city.

Traditional taxi drivers lounge on their black and yellow Ambassador taxis, a familiar sight in the Indian capital for generations, waiting for fares. AFP

ERRORS & OMISSIONS

Following Paniqui Water District’s receipt of an unsolicited proposal from the Original Proponent and the conduct of detailed negotiations between Paniqui Water District and the Original Proponent, Paniqui Water District and the Original Proponent reached an agreement to form an unincorporated joint venture to undertake the FINANCING, REHABILITATION, DEVELOPMENT, IMPROVEMENT, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM AND CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT OF SEPTAGE FACILITIES FORPANIQUI WATER DISTRICT. Pursuant to the 2013 Revised JV Guidelines issued by the National Economic Development Authority under Section 8 of Executive Order No. 423 dated 30 April 2005, and in compliance with the Paniqui Water DistrictBoard Resolution No. 257, Series of 2015, thePaniqui Water District, through its Joint Venture Selection Committee (JVSC), invites Interested Private Proponent/s (IPPs) to challenge the JV Proposal by submitting comparative proposals to undertake the JV Project on the terms and conditions set out in the Terms of Reference.

An IPP shall be considered eligible upon compliance with the following minimum qualification requirements: 1.1

The IPP must be either of the following: a. A duly licensed sole proprietorship owned by a Filipino citizen; b. A partnership or corporation created pursuant to the Corporation Code of the Philippines and registered with the SEC. c.

Scout Reyes Street, corner Panay Avenue, Quezon City Tel No. (02) 374-3987 Fax. No. (02) 374-2505

Invitation to Bid CONSTRUCTION OF KATANGRARAN SMALL WATER IMPOUNDING PROJECT AT BRGY. KATANGRARAN, SOLSONA, ILOCOS NORTE

3.

The NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION (NTA), through the Corporate Operating Budget for CY 2015, intends to apply the sum ofPhP15,625,271.95, being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC), to payments under the contract for CONSTRUCTION OF KATANGRARAN SMALL WATER IMPOUNDING PROJECT, AT BRGY. KATANGRARAN, SOLSONA, ILOCOS NORTE, (PB 2015-07).Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The NTA now invites bids for the supply of labor and materials for the construction of Small Water Impounding, at Brgy. Katangraran, Solsona, Ilocos Norte. Delivery of Works is required for a period of 150 calendar days. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. (i) Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy-five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country, the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138. (ii) Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the IRR of RA 9184.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the NTA and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during working days from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

(TS-DEC. 15,22 & 29, 2015)

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO SUBMIT COMPARATIVE PROPOSALS

NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION

2.

The public is hereby notified that BAYANIHAN ADVISORY, INC., a corporation organized and existing under Philippine laws, with registered address at 38th Floor, The Discovery Centre, 25 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Centre, Pasig City, Philippines, will be DISSOLVED through shortening of corporate term in accordance with Section 120 of the Corporation Code. The corporation’s dissolution will take effect upon approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the amendment made on the corporation’s Articles of Incorporation to shorten its corporate term.

In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published. We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

1.

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION

A Consortium of two or more entities with at least sixty percent (60%) of both voting and non-voting interest in the said Consortium being owned and held, by citizens of the Philippines and/or by Philippine registered corporations at least sixty percent (60%) of both the total number of outstanding shares of stock, whether or not entitled to vote in the election of directors are owned by Philippine nationals.

1.2.

The nationality of the IPP shall be determined via the Grandfather Rule.

1.3.

If the IPP is a Consortium, each member of the Consortium must be disclosed during the pre-qualification stage and the Lead Member there of must be specifically identified. For this purpose, the Lead member must have at least fifty percent (51%) equity interest in the Consortium, andthe totalpercentage interestof all Consortium Members must be one hundredpercent(100%).

1.4.

The IPP or each Consortium member must also certify that it has no Unsatisfactory Performance Record.

2.

Technical Eligibility

2.1.

The IPP must have completed a similar or related project costing at least 50% of the cost of the JV Activity/ Project. For the avoidance of doubt, cost of the JV Activity/Project pertains to the amount of contribution of the IPP representing the present value of capital expenditures using a discount factor. For this project, this is equal to One Billion One Hundred Fifty One Million Pesos (PhP 1,151,000,000.00).

3.

Financial Eligibility 3.1. The IPP should have the capability to finance the completion of the entire project evidenced by financial documents to be submitted and will form as an integral part of the Financial Proposal.

3.2

4.

A letter from a domestic universal/commercial bank, or an international bank with a subsidiary/branch in the Philippines, or any international bank recognized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), attesting that the prospective JV Partner is one of its current clients, and is in good financial standing.

Additional eligibility criteria are specified in the instructions to IPPs.

Applications for eligibility shall be evaluated based on a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion.Only those lPPs that are deemed eligible shall be entitled to submit Comparative Proposals, which must be in accordance with instructions contained in the Request for Proposal Documents (RFP Documents).

The JVSC shall evaluate the proposals using the Quality Based Evaluation/Selection (QBE/QBS) procedure. The criteria and rating system for the evaluation of the proposals shall be provided in the Instructions to Interested Private Proponent/s (IIIPs).

The following procedures, schedules and instructions shall be strictly observed: ACTIVITY

SCHEDULE (using Philippine Standard Time)

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Purchase of Eligibility Documents for a non-refundable fee of Five HundredThousandPesos (PhP500,000.00).

December 22 to 29, 2015 from 8:00am to 3:00pm only

Non-refundable fee of PhP500,000.00 shall be in the form of cash or manager’s check.

2. Submission of Eligibility Documents

On or before January 29, 2016 from 8:00am to 12:00noon only

Eligibility Documents shall be submitted to and received by the Paniqui Water District -JVSC

3. Opening of Eligibility Documents

January 29, 2016 2:00pm onwards

at

JVSC will determine the completeness of the eligibility documents based on a pass or fail criteria. For those IPPs with incomplete, irregular or patently insufficient submission shall be considered failed. For those IPPs whose eligibility documents appear to be complete shall be further evaluated to determine its eligibility.

4. Determination of Eligibility

On or before February 15, 2016

JVSC will evaluate the eligibility documents of the IPPs to determine if they are eligible or ineligible, and the IPPs will be notified of the result of the evaluation.

5.

February 22 to 24,2016 (Within seven (7) days, upon receipt of the Notice of Eligibility)

Tender Documents may be purchased ONLY fromPaniqui Water District -JVSC Secretariat at the Paniqui Water District Office, Burgos St., PoblacionNorte, Paniqui, Tarlac

May 16, 2016 at 1:00pm

All Eligible IPPs are encouraged to attend the conference to be held atPaniqui Water District Office,Burgos St., PoblacionNorte, Paniqui, Tarlac

Submission is on June 24,2016up to 12:00 noonand the Opening is on June 27, 2016 at 1:01pm

Comparative Proposals shall be addressed to: Erlinda D. Villanueva Chairperson - JVSC PANIQUI WATER DISTRICT Burgos St., PoblacionNorte, Paniqui, Tarlac

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders from December 22, 2015 to January 15, 2016, from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of PhP25,000.00.

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

5.

The NTA will hold a Pre-Bid Conference onJanuary 04, 2016, 10:00 a.m., at the 3rd Floor NTA Building, Cors. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before January 18, 2016.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the Bidding Documents.

Bid opening shall be on January 18, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., at the 3rd Floor NTA Building, Cors. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

7.

8.

The NTA reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to:

5. Pre-selection conference

6. Submission and Comparative Proposal

Opening

of

All proposals must be accompanied by a Proposal Security in the form of cash, Manager’s Check (MC) or Surety Bond callable on demand amounting to 2% of the estimated participation of the Original Proponent for the entire cooperation period.

Paniqui Water District reserves the right to reject any or all submissions, waive any minor deviations, and award the contract for the JV Project to the IPP whose financial proposal is the best among the qualified interested private proponent/s whose technical proposals are complying.

CRISTINA C. LOPEZ, DBA National Tobacco Administration Cors. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City Tel No. 372 3188; cclnta@yahoo.com Fax No. 373 2095 Website Address:nta.da.gov.ph (SGD) CRISTINA C. LOPEZ, DBA Chairman, NTA-BAC

Purchase of Tender Documents by IPPs declared “eligible” for nonrefundable fee of Eight Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP 800,000.00), payable either in cash or manager’s check.

The Eligibility Documents may be purchased ONLY from the Paniqui Water District -JVSC at the Paniqui Water District Office.

For any queries and/or clarifications, please address your communication in writing to the Chairperson of the Paniqui Water District -JVSC at the address indicated above or fax the same at (045) 9310889 or email the same to pnqwater. dist@gmail.com.

(TS-DEC. 22, 2015)

Paniqui Water District assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify any IPP for expenses incurred in the preparation of the comparative proposals.

(SGD) ERLINDA D. VILLANUEVA Chairperson Paniqui Water District JVSC

(TS DEC. 22, 2015)

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

B8

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD

Landslide. Rescue workers look for survivors after a landslide hit an industrial park in Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong province, on December 21, 2015. The landslide buried more than 30 buildings in a sea of mud, leaving 91 people missing and triggering a gas explosion, Chinese media said. AFP

Christians dwindling in Libya Families await news after ferry disaster in Indonesia

TRIPOLI—In the capital of war-torn Libya, a dwindling Christian community of foreign workers leave their fears and anxieties at the church door as they gather for Christmas carols and laughter.

SIWA, Indonesia—Rescuers scoured a remote gulf Monday for survivors of a weekend ferry disaster in central Indonesia, as anguished relatives gathered desperate for news from a boat that still has not been found.

Nearly 80 people remain missing after a vessel carrying 118 passengers ran into trouble in rough seas Saturday as it crossed the southern gulf of Sulawesi island.

Three people have been confirmed dead and 39 rescued, but search teams have so far been unable to locate the stricken ferry, more than two days after it sent out a distress signal.

Six boats including two fishing vessels and one helicopter have been deployed to comb the gulf where the ferry vanished.

Distressed relatives have gathered in Siwa, the small port town to which the ferry was traveling,

Lisa, a 47-year-old Filipino nurse, said she had just celebrated the festival of lights “for the tenth consecutive year” at Saint Francis Church, referring to the start of advent and the Christmas season.

Lisa, who has worked at a private clinic in Tripoli for 15 years, held a candle in one hand and adjusted her Santa Claus hat with the other.

Around her, excited children ran around before being directed to Bible class, as rooms in the church filled with the sounds of hymns and laughter.

Since the 2011 fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the small community’s fears for its safety have increased, especially after jihadists claimed to have killed dozens of Christians in the country this year.

But every Friday a day off in Libya they still flock to Saint Francis,

many clutching photos of the missing as they wait nervously for information.

50-year-old Sia said her niece telephoned Saturday afternoon from the ferry, saying the boat was having engine trouble and was taking on water.

“My niece and her husband have not been found,” said Sia, who, like many Indonesians, goes by just one name.

“I hope they will be found alive immediately.”

Hasan, 67, said his nephew Wiwin, a technician on the boat, called him as the ferry struggled in a violent storm.

“He asked me to pray for him because the waves and currents were strong,” Hasan said.

“After that he said he had to go downstairs to check on the engine.” AFP

one of the capital’s only churches still open, to pray and support each other.

In a central courtyard, men and women from the Philippines, India and several African nations exchange news as they sell products from their home countries.

Rice and peanut soup are on offer beside colorful textiles, home remedies and specialized hair products.

Most Westerners fled Libya after August 2014, when an Islamistbacked militia alliance overran Tripoli, prompting the internationally recognized government to flee to the country’s far east.

But with little hope of finding work back home, workers from Asia, Africa and other parts of the Arab world opted to stay put.

More than 100,000 Christians

Plants close as smog persists in Beijing BEIJING—Beijing has ordered 2,100 factories to suspend or reduce production as part of its “red alert” measures to deal with smog, the government said Monday, as the city remained shrouded under toxic haze for the third consecutive day.

The Chinese capital imposed the highest tier of a four-color smog warning system for four days starting Saturday, the second time the red alert was applied since Beijing established the pollution precaution scheme in 2013.

As part of the “emergency re-

sponse plan”, 2,100 factories in the city and on its outskirts have been ordered to either stop or scale back production in an effort to cut emissions, an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, who declined to be named, told AFP. The government was sending inspectors to the plants on a daily basis, she said. “[The factories] all strictly carried out the measures” as required, she added.

Counts of PM2.5 harmful mi-

croscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs were 172 micrograms per cubic meter earlier Monday, according to the US embassy, which issues independent readings.

The reading is nearly seven times the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum exposure of 25 over a 24hour period.

PM2.5 is expected to peak at above 300 micrograms per cubic meter on Tuesday, the state-run Beijing Daily reported, citing environment authorities. AFP

Red alert. A woman wears a

mask as she crosses a street near Tiananmen Square on the third day of a “red alert” for pollution in Beijing on December 21, 2015.

Beijing has ordered 2,100 factories to suspend or reduce production as part of its “red alert” measures to deal with smog, the government said. AFP

lived in Libya before the 2011 revolution that toppled Kadhafi, said Father Magdi, an Egyptian priest who arrived in Libya before the uprising.

“Today, we’re only about 5,000 and less than 1,000 in Tripoli,” he said.

The Islamic State jihadist group has exploited the chaos in Libya since the uprising to expand its influence in the country.

Earlier this year, it claimed to have executed 21 Coptic Christians all but one of them from Egypt and 28 Christians originally from Ethiopia.

The international community is pressing Libya’s two rival administrations to form a unity government and combine their forces against Islamic State jihadists.

As rival politicians edge closer to a deal, Christian expats view church as a source of relief from wider political tensions.

“It’s important for me to go to church each Friday,” said Benjamin, a Ghanian security guard who stayed in Libya after the 2011 uprising. AFP

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNAS WRITER

life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

A RTS, CU LT U RE & T ECH

LIFE

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The Spiral redefines the festive season with culinary masterpieces made more enchanting with contemporary musical renditions of the Manila String Machine

Sofitel pays homage to French elegance through Art de Noël that celebrates tradition, design and innovation

Le Bar transports guests to a picturesque Christmas village of endless treats such as marchands de bonbons

Celebrate Art de Noël at Sofitel Philippine Plaza

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mong the distinct qualities that make Sofitel Hotel stand out from the rest is its special attention to design and innovation, a constant celebration of gastronomy and wine, and its support and passion for culture and events, drawing inspiration from the French art de vivre.

This Christmas, Sofitel takes celebrations a notch higher as it pays homage to the pillars of French elegance, seen in a yuletide series aptly dubbed as “Art de Noël” that celebrates tradition as well as design and innovation that allows guests to experience a transformation of artistic interpretations of art de vivre with epicurean delights, pocket activities and a calendar of pop-up artistic and musical showcases.

Embark in a relaxing sojourn to an urban paradise through a wondrous selection of featured animations during your holiday staycation as Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila is transformed into a rich canvas with magnifique artistic installations and featured musical entertainment.

Culinary masterpieces at Spiral – the multi awarded and most interactive dining destination – redefine the festive season

with culinary masterpieces for gatherings with family and loved ones. As guests wind down from a feast fit for royalty, they can indulge in Spiral’s decadent selection of desserts and the featured Buche de Noël.

Enhancing the experience are classic and contemporary musical renditions of the Manila String Machine, with ornate festive decors from the iconic Spiral staircase and its soaring 21-foot sculpture transformed into a Christmas masterpiece.

Families are also in for a treat when Santa stops over on the 24th of December at 7:00 p.m. and on Christmas Day brunch. Adding color are holiday inspired animations of a balloon-twisting showcase and a Rudolph face-painting corner that is sure to delight the kiddies.

Le Bar, on the other hand, is transformed into a picturesque Christmas village of endless seasonal treats with Le Marche de Noel with special offerings such as marchand de bonbons, cotton candy crepes, local pastries. The young ones can wait for Santa to stop by while doing his festive rounds. And in keeping with the spirit of art de vivre, a special shop on art installations will be displaying festive adornments made of

And in an enthralling celebration to gastronomic elements that enhance the Christmas village. Pop-up showcases on usher in the New Year, Sofitel takes guests musical entertainment and the arts will to stunning Venice as it transforms the also be featured until the 23rd. A live Harbor Garden Tent into an animated cultural show featuring Philippine folk setting for the Carnival de Venezia – a New dances such as tinikling, pandanggo sa Year extravaganza that approximates the ilaw, cariñosa, maglalatik on Christmas annual festival held in Italy with elaborate masks and costumes Eve and Christmas – setting the stage dinner also provide for the celebration of that welcome local culture and dance. touch to the festivities.

In its fine tradition Guests will also be of joie de vivre, serenaded by the Sofitel welcomes the string duo of Tracey New Year with lively and RJ in a violin and entertainment with guitar showcase. featured musical acts And as the year such as Manila String draws to a close, Machine and the Brass Sofitel welcomes 2016 Pas Pas Pas Pas band. in a blend of timeless A special prize awaits elegance and artistic The Harbor Garden Tent is transformed into an animated setting for the Carnival de Venezia fashion punctuated by that showcases elaborate masks and costumes guests dressed in their elegant and festive a feast of international cuisine, themed entertainment and a ensembles as they join the celebration colorful fireworks display. The little ones showcasing the artistic resonance of the can put on their artist’s hat and whip out Carnival de Venezia.

For more information and inquiries and their paintbrushes to share special farewell messages to 2015 and welcome notes to reservations, call +63 2 551.5555 or +632 832.6988. Discover Sofitel on www.sofitel.com.

2016 at Spiral’s New Year Canvas.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

T EC H TA L K

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On a perfect day of Christmas, give a valuable and portable gift: SanDisk Extreme® 500 Portable SSD This Christmas, SanDisk has given users a reason to grin from ear to ear on those days when they are in dire need of storage space.

With SanDisk Extreme 500 portable SSD, users can transfer big files such as videos and high res photos at up to 415MB/s (for 120GB and 240GB) and up to 430MB/s (for 480GB). And it can easily fit into one’s handbag, too; it is smaller than half the size of a smartphone, but delivers up to 4x the speed of an external hard drive.

Memorable Days of Christmas

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hether you’re feeling like a nostalgic, generous or practical gift-giver this Christmas, flash storage solutions pioneer SanDisk has you covered all the days of this season with its new mobile memory solutions lineup.

With SanDisk’s Mobile Memory Solutions, you and your loved ones can now discover a safe, easy and delightful way to seamlessly transfer, manage and store multimedia content on days when you feel like sharing priceless moments with loved ones, or even when you’re working over the Christmas break.

Here are "something memorable," "something portable" and "something functional" gift ideas and stocking stuffers that will make the holidays hard to forget.

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On exciting days of Christmas, give something durable: SanDisk200GB Ultra microSDXC card Here’s something to jumpstart the merriment this holiday. With the 200GB Ultra microSDXC card, users won’t have to stop shooting, saving and sharing priceless moments this Yuletide season. The microSDXC UHS-I card can hold up to 20 hours of Full HD video. And with premium card-to-PC transfer speed of up to 90MB/s, users can transfer up to 1200 photos in a minute. SanDisk Ultra microSDXC cards are also waterproof, temperature proof, shockproof, X-ray proof and magnet proof, offering a whole new level of durability.

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On a playful day of Christmas, give a functional gift: SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive There is actually a seamless and foolproof way to move photos, videos and files between phones, tablets and computers at a speed faster than Scrooge can say “Bah humbug!” iXpand offers high-speed transfer from tablets and smartphones to the Flash Drive, and can instantly expand by up to 128GB. With the iXpand app, users can automatically offload new photos and videos from the smartphone or tablet to the drive whenever they’re connected without having to rely on the Internet or cables. iXpand Flash Drive also allows users to play movies and listen to music directly from the drive.

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On a busy day of Christmas, give a multi-tasking gift: SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD Handle Christmas stress like a pro with Extreme PRO SSD. Engineered for efficient multi-tasking and workload management, Extreme PRO SSD runs on SanDisk’s innovative nCache Pro Technology and packs in an optimal read and write speed, high endurance, and data safety features. With its huge storage capacities, energy efficiency, easy installation and consistent 24/7 performance, users will find more reasons to smile under pressure this holiday season.

On a smart day of Christmas, give something that keeps things tidy: SanDisk Dual USB Drive Managing photos and videos taken during Christmas reunions with family and friends won’t have to be irksome, thanks to SanDisk’s Ultra Dual USB Drive 3.0. It allows users to easily transfer files between On-the-go (OTG)-enabled Android, smartphones, tablets, PC and Mac computers. By simply connecting the SanDisk Ultra Dual USB Drive 3.0 to the dual micro-USB port of an Android smartphone or tablet, one can immediately move up to 130 MB/s of content to the drive. One can also use the USB 3.0 connectors to transfer the content to a PC or Mac computer.

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On a sentimental day of Christmas, give a memorable gift: Upgraded SanDisk SD cards Capture and store the Yuletide season’s photo and video memories with SanDisk SDHC/SDXC, which offers reliability, performance, and up to 64GB of storage capacity in SD cards. SanDisk SDXC cards are waterproof, temperature proof, shockproof and X-ray proof, providing reliability in capturing and storing images wherever you are. Truly a delightful way to crystallize fond Christmas moments, which one can cherish for years to come.

Gadgets for hardworking Filipinos

The Acer Team showing off the new models of smartphones and tablets from the Acer Professional Series.

From left: Acer Commercial sales manager Sue Ong-Lim, Acer Philippines general manager Manuel Wong, Acer Smartphones and Tablets Ambassador Toni Gonzaga, Acer Smartphone Business Group president S.T. Liew and Acer Mobility product manager Jeffrey Mariano

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cer Philippines dedicates, in a way, its Professional Series line of smartphones and tablets to the hardworking and talented Filipinos. Each of the seven new gadgets unveiled suits different working Pinoy personalities.

The powerful, stylish and affordable smartphones and tablets from the Acer Professional

Series are also designed to simplify the everyday tasks of young urban professionals.

For the traffic warrior or the worker who's always spending a chunk of his working day on the road, there's Acer Liquid Z630 whose 4000mAh battery (up to 10 hours of talk time) makes it perfect for long bus rides.

For the restless who always wants to capture important information in every meeting, Acer Liquid Z530 is capable of being his personal assistant as it supports shortcuts to easily access the wide-angle 8MP rear camera (to take a snapshot of Powerpoint presentations), voice call and music playback. There's no need to worry about storage capacity as it also comes with a 16GB memory.

Acer Liquid Z330 is suitable for those who are always checking on something about work or spending a couple of boring hours on the road. The new smartphone comes with Acer BluelightShield technology that reduces eye-strain from prolonged viewing. Listening to music while commuting to work becomes more pleasurable with its DTS Studio Sound technology.

Go-getters who need a reliable gizmo would benefit well from Acer Liquid X2. The follow-up to Liquid X1, X2 comes with a massive 4000mAh battery, triple SIM card slots, octa core 64-bit processor and 13MP rear and front cameras.

“I was really blown away by the Acer Liquid X2. I always like to keep up to date with what’s happening and Liquid X2 makes

it easy for me with its massive battery life,” says Toni Gonzaga, Acer Smartphones and Tablets Ambassador, when asked what her favorite was from the Acer Professional Series.

Rounding up the Professional Series are three Acer tablets that match different working needs: Acer Iconia Talk 7 (quad core processor and 16GB storage), Acer Iconia One 8 (octa core processor and 16GB storage) and Acer Iconia One 10 (quad core processor and 6000mAh battery).

“It has been Acer’s mission to provide customers with reliable and easy-to-use devices that give them the best value for their money,” shares Acer Philippines general manager Manuel Wong.

“Acer Professional Series is in a way, a celebration of the hardworking and talented Filipinos, here and abroad,” he ends.

Visit www.acer.com for more information.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

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Find the perfect gift with Citi Credit Cards’ GCRegalo.com offering

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iti Credit Cards makes shopping for the holiday season more enjoyable by offering P200 off on gift certificate purchases through www.GCregalo.com. Aside from avoiding the frenetic rush, this special offer will allow you to give the perfect gift for your friends and loved ones.

All it takes is a visit to www.GCregalo. com, register as a user and select your preferred GC Regalo gift certificates that range from the SM Gift Pass to the Sodexo Premium Pass that can be used in all SM-affiliated establishments plus 8,000 more merchants nationwide or the Rustan’s Supermarket Gift Certificate for premium shopping experience in all Rustan’s Supermarket and Marketplace by Rustan’s. Or you may opt to get the Walter Mart Gift Pass valid in all Walter Mart Supermarkets and Department Stores, Abenson, Electroworld, and Homeplus.

If you want to give someone a delightful feast this Christmas, go for the Noche Buena Voucher, which is accepted at major supermarkets nationwide.

And when you’re done choosing, simply enter the Citibank promotion code CITI in the summary of your cart, click “Submit, then click “Proceed to checkout.”

From there, enter the recipient’s name and address, plus make an optional purchase of an envelope with your personalized message for him or her before paying with your Citi card! Be sure to purchase at least P4,000 worth of GCs to avail of the P200 discount. With GCRegalo.com’s gift certificates, you can treat your loved ones with the gifts of their choice.

Promotion runs until February 15, 2016, so go online now and give the gift of joy!

Log on to www.citibank.com.ph or call the 24-hour Citi Phone Hotline at 995 9999 for more information.

PNB launches enhanced credit card designs and features

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hilippine National Bank recently launched its new and improved credit card designs and features that will allow cardholders to go “miles and miles ahead” in terms of perks, benefits, and improved security. Gearing up for better service this 2016, PNB strengthened its partnership with Philippine Airlines and Mastercard in the wake of the bank’s upcoming centennial.

“In support of PNB’s centennial celebration, we have been coming up with ways to express our gratitude to our valued customers,” says PNB senior vice president and Credit Card Business head Annie Umali. “Giving our cards a fresh look and enhanced features is part of that drive and show our commitment to continuously provide the best customer experience to generations of Filipinos.“ The new credit cards now come with Contactless technology that allows consumers easier shopping by just tapping on a Contactless terminal when they purchase – no more swiping and waiting for the terminal to push through. The enhanced features of the PNB MasterCard

credit cards provide increased security and protection against credit card fraud through its superior EMV/Chip technology. Significantly, PNB credit cards are the only credit cards to offer PNB MasterCard In Control, an innovative technology for increased security and budgeting. PNB allows cardholders to set controls on the use of their MasterCard credit cards, and even block unwanted transactions. Users are able to receive real-time alerts via email or text on any transactions to manage their spending.

For frequent flyers, it’s the best time to acquire the PNB’s flagship credit card, the PNB-PAL Mabuhay Miles, as it welcomes the cardholders with a gift of 2,000 PAL Mabuhay Miles upon card activation, and an additional 10,000 PAL Mabuhay Miles upon spending a minimum of P100,000 at Philippine Airlines within the first year.

Sounds like an exciting deal to use up for your next vacation. Another added perk when you hold a PNB-PAL Mabuhay Miles World MasterCard is you get past the lines and enjoy a VIP treatment with Priority Check-In at PAL check-in counters.

The PNB MasterCard also provides Free Travel Insurance with travel inconvenience benefits, so consumers can be worry free when they travel abroad. Other benefits for cardholders also include free purchase protection insurance, free lifetime annual fee for supplementary cards, low interest rate Installment programs such as Balance Transfer, Convert-to-Cash, Transaction Conversion and many more.

“We salute and support PNB Credit Cards’ constant efforts in enhancing their credit cards and elevating the level of service they provide cardholders,” says MasterCard country manager Poch Villa-Real. With the PNB MasterCard cards, cardholders can enjoy unsurpassed acceptance across the globe, and use their credit card in over 40 million merchant locations, ATMs and online in more than 210 countries and territories.

As the year closes, PNB Credit Cards welcomes the holiday with so much to offer for their cardholders and promises of miles and miles of rewards towards the coming year.

To know more about PNB MasterCard credit cards, log on to pnbcards.com.ph.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

It’s a Magical and Musical Christmas at Filinvest City

Light 'em up Filinvest City pays homage to the origin of Christmas

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hristmas means different things to different people. It is celebrated on different days (January 7 in some Eastern churches, for instance) and called different names (Nöel, Nativity, Yule).

But the origin, as believed by today's Christians is the same – Christmas is the time when the ultimate light shined forth to herald the birth of Jesus Christ.

Filinvest City in Alabang incorporates this age-old tale into its holiday theme "Light of Christmas," which puts the spotlight on the basic meaning of the season.

In this digital age when people center their attention on splurging, the southern community thought it was very apt to pay homage to good old holiday traditions, all the while lighting up the holidays even more. And since Christmas is for the kids, this is a perfect way to familiarize the young ones with the true meaning of the season.

For three consecutive years, Filinvest City has been solid in its commitment to reinvent the Yuletide celebrations and traditions with a plethora of sights and sounds that the community has grown to love.

Be captivated with sights and sounds through the annual musical lights showcase at the River Park of Festival Supermall. Delight your eyes with the display of 350,000 marvelous lights at the River Park accompanied by the rhythmic and upbeat sounds of

familiar Christmas carols that everyone can hum to.

“We offer this Christmas musical lights show to give everyone a glimpse of the kind of color, thrill and fun that they can expect here at Filinvest City, not just for the whole of December, but for all the days and months of the year,” says Filinvest Alabang Inc. executive vice president Catherine Ilagan.

The annual Christmas Lights show plays every 30 minutes from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. while the spectacular fireworks showcase happens every weekends starting at 8:30 p.m.

The celebration won’t be complete without exciting holiday spectacles. Filinvest City has prepared a fun-filled line up of Christmas activities for the whole month of December.

Catch performances by Nyoy Volante at 7:00 p.m. on the 26th and other surprise celebrities on the 27th and 28th, and revel in entertainment while you wine, dine and bask in the Christmas air at the al fresco area of River Park.

Cozy up at Santa’s Corner happening every weekend of this month at the Carousel Court Area of Festival Supermall. Don’t forget to take your selfie snaps with Santa and upload them online.

See and experience a different kind of holiday celebrations in the heart of the south through “The Lights of Christmas at Filinvest City, Alabang” ongoing until December 30.

Christmas light show

From left: Catherine Ilagan, Filinvest Alabang executive vice president; Michael Edward Gotianun, Filinvest Land vice president for Supply Chain Management; Gary Llamas, Muntinlupa City Business Permits and Licenses Office head; Joy Polloso, Festival Supermall senior vice president for Retail Operations

From left: Capt. Manny Ilagan; Catherine Ilagan; Bernadette Ramos, Filinvest Land VP for Real Estate Marketing; Michael Edward Gotianun; Joy Polloso; Gary Llamas; and Arch. Luis Lava, VP for Filinvest City Estate Management

Issa Litton with Santa

Santa’s Corner at Festival Supermall

Jed Madela with AMP Big Band

Jed Madela

T UES DAY : DECEMBER 2 2, 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

‘Independence day: ResuRgence’ tRaIleR launcHed

Hard roCk Café Celebrates 20

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he first trailer of Independence Day: Resurgence, Roland Emmerich’s highly anticipated sequel to Independence Day had just been launched.

After Independence Day redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter Independence Day: Resurgence delivers global catastrophe on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth, anticipating the invaders’ return, have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.

The film stars Liam Hemsworth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Jessie Usher, Joey King, Brent Spiner, and Travis Tope and Sela Ward.

Dean Devlin, who produced the original film, produces with Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser. Larry Franco and Carsten Lorenz are the line producers.

Ute Emmerich is the executive producer.

The fight for mankind continues when Independence Day: Resurgence opens nationwide on June 22, 2016 from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Check out the movie’s first trailer launch here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Qg0-8BczZHU

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1 Jeff Godlblum plays a pivotal role in Independence Day Resurgence 2 The Moon Tug on the set of Roland Emmerich film 3 Jeff Goldblum and Sela Ward 4 Liam Hemswroth has once again found himself a new leading role in the Independence Day sequel 5 Director Roland Emmerich on the set of Independence Day Resurgence

H

ard Rock Café (HRC) is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary with a series of month-long special shows this December.

HRC opened its doors in Manila in 1995, providing the metro with an alternative entertainment venue and a consistent sampling of the best American and continental food in the world.

For its grand anniversary celebration, HRC assembled a talented line-up of artists performing at the venue weekly, headed

by Main Cast (Mondays), Inner Voices (Tuesdays), Arpie & The Multivitamins (Wednesdays), Red Picasso (Thursdays), Part 3 (Fridays and Sundays), and Streetbeat (Saturdays).

Hard rockers can also come and see the special shows on Christmas Eve and Christmas day with a powerful and energy-packed performance by Part 3, Red Picasso on Dec. 30, and K.O. Jones on New Year’s Eve. Music lovers and fans can look forward and enjoy some of the hottest chart-toppers, homegrown favorites, and party anthems from HRC’s featured bands in an unforgettable evening of great music.

Arpie & Multivitamins

Red Picasso

“We are so grateful for the continuous patronage of our loyal hard rockers,” says HRC Entertainment Manager Mean Marcial. “It has been a fabulous 20-year ride and we are looking forward to the next 20 years.

We are gearing up with more exciting shows in 2016 featuring the country’s best and most talented artists.”

All shows start at 9:00 p.m.

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ThE FORCE aWakEnS aT GaTEWay DOLby aTMOS CInEMa

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t was the perfect movie to mark the grand launch of the biggest Dolby Atmos Cinema in the country at Gateway Mall, Araneta Center.

Featuring a revolutionary audio platform that creates powerful, moving audio using audio objects and overhead speakers, Gateway Mall’s Dolby Atmos Cinema boasts sounds that come from all directions, the dialogue and music of the onscreen story move all around the audience in threedimensional space, transporting them into the scenes and putting them in the middle of the action.

Definitely it is the most suitable venue for the much-awaited movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“We are very excited to screen Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Gateway Dolby Atmos Cinema 5. With its revolutionary sound technology, the theatre will be filled with breathtaking audio and the audience will feel like they are inside the Star Wars universe. This will definitely be a fantastic and world-class movie experience not just for Star Wars fans but for the whole family,” says Araneta Group CEO Jorge Araneta.

Compared to regular theatres, Dolby Atmos Cinema has the most number of speakers with a 53.5 sound system (53 individual surround channels and 5 subwoofers). Each speaker is powered independently and gets its own separate audio feed. In effect, the movement

of every sound in the scene is reproduced in all three dimensions.

The Dolby Atmos technology gives content creators unprecedented control of the placement and movement of sound within the movie theatre. Sounds can be placed and moved anywhere in the cinema’s three-dimensional space.

The Dolby Atmos Cinema processor then determines which of a cinema’s huge array of front, back, side, and overhead speakers it will use to recreate this lifelike movement.

With sounds coming from all directions, the cinema is filled with astonishing clarity, richness, detail, and depth. This creates a multidimensional sound system that makes audiences feel as if they are inside the

film and not just watching it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the seventh installment in the Star Wars film series and the first to be directed by J.J. Abrams. Set around 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the sequel follows the adventures of new lead characters Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) as they join forces with original characters Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to fight Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his broadsword lightsaber. The film also features Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Domhnall Gleeson

Poster for Gateway's Dolby Atmos-equipped cinema

as General Hux, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, and Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata.

Don’t miss the chance to have a 360-degree experience of the glorious Star Wars saga. Catch Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Gateway Mall’s Dolby Atmos Cinema.

For more details and the latest updates from Araneta Center, visit their official website at www. aranetacenter.net and Facebook page at https://www.facebook. com/AranetaCenter.

PaCquiao, Pizza Hut and taCo Bell figHt Hunger in sCHools

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anny “Pacman” Pacquiao has joined forces with Pizza Hut and Taco Bell to raise funds for the United Nations World Food Programme’s (WFP) fight against hunger in the Philippines.

The face of Pacquiao, the Philippines’ first and only eight-time multi-division world professional boxing champion, is now featured in postcards in addition to the Deliver Hope cups that have gone on sale in 174 Pizza Hut and Taco Bell branches across the country. As part of the Deliver Hope campaign, now on its eighth year, funds raised by the sales of these items, along with donations made in-store, will go to WFP’s school feeding programme in conflict-affected areas of Central Mindanao.

“I chose to join Deliver Hope 2015 because I would like to help our countrymen in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao who have little to eat,” said Pacquiao. “I am both a Mindanaoan and a father, and I

find it sad that children there go to school every day with almost nothing in their stomachs. With the help of the World Food Programme, they become excited to go to school, because they have more energy to take part in class when their stomachs are full,” he added.

The postcard featuring Pacquiao costs P40.00, while the limitededition Deliver Hope cup costs P50.00. Customers can also donate to the campaign in-store until Jan. 15, 2016.

Through the school feeding program, WFP targets 65,000 school children from conflict-affected communities in Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao every school year. WFP provides the children with hot and nutritious meals, which consist of rice, mung beans and vegetable oil during regular school days on-site. A meal for one child costs only P10.00.

“We at Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are very pleased to work with the World Food Programme through

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 44 46 48 49 50 52 55 56 57 59 60 61 62 63 64

High-fliers (2 wds.)

Pizzerias’ needs Inca’s — Picchu Fully conscious Oater action — -Magnon man Treasure-hunt aid Marble streak Set a price Blanc and Gibson Smokehouse hangers Castle that danced Grammy winner — James Do some welding More unusual

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Media star 6 Peteman 10 Customs request 14 Related to Mom 15 007’s alma mater 16 Wayfarer’s refuges 17 Raised, as a question 18 Kauai feast 19 Peal of thunder 20 Clairvoyance 21 Fat, to a chemist

23 24 26 27 29 31 32 33 36 40 41 42 43

Dance moves First veep Origins Mini-vise (hyph.)

— -de-lis Sketch Ram, in astrology Tackle a slope Sporatic (hyph.)

Toady’s answer Find quarters Makes a choice Blair and Danza

DOWN 1 Mushroom 2 “Dukes of Hazzard” deputy 3 Canary Islands port (2 wds.)

4 Yves’ summer 5 Chaos 6 Barks excitedly 7 Sewing kit 8 Egg on 9 Veld grazer 10 Pianist — Borge 11 Cove

the Deliver Hope campaign, by raising awareness about food and nutrition security among our customers and employees,” said TH Lim, chief operating officer for Pizza Hut and Taco Bell Philippines.

Lim added, “The participation of Manny Pacquiao as campaign ambassador adds a special dimension to our Deliver Hope initiative this time around, because we have a true athlete and statesman coming from Mindanao to help us reach our goal of removing hunger in the Philippines. We hope that the more people are getting involved in this project, the more we can inspire other Filipinos to become responsible in our community.”

“With eight years of strong and strategic partnership with Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, we have ensured that nutritious meals are provided to undernourished children in Central Mindanao, particularly in areas disrupted by conflict,” said WFP Philippines Representative and Country Director Praveen Agrawal.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2015

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Purse closers Deadly snakes Baby sitter’s bane Marching band composer Consarn it!

Lagoon protector Jade Film Swamp chorus Carbon-based forms Gibb or Rooney Kind of woodpecker Wind catcher Part of MIT Solo Charged particles Roman invader Nobelist nun Chat Cream-filled pastry Young screecher Bank feature Pastor’s abode Summit Admirer Tire supports Descartes’ name Baltic tributary Channels 2-13 Madrid Mme.

Poster for Give Hope project featuring Manny Pacquiao

“School meals are essential in reaching the Sustainable Development (SD) Goal of zero hunger, and at the same time it also addresses the SD Goal of quality education,” added Agrawal. “We would like to commend and thank Pizza Hut and Taco Bell for their generosity and look forward to our continued partnership.”

Since 2008, Pizza Hut and Taco

Bell, as part of the global Yum! Brands, have helped raise Php26.9 million for WFP’s school feeding programme in the Philippines. Deliver Hope is part of the 2015 World Hunger Relief Programme, the world’s largest private-sector hunger relief initiative spanning more than 125 countries and territories, with over 41,000 Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants and 1.5 million employees.

T UES DAY : DECEMBER 2 2, 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

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‘Joy’ nominaTed in Golden Globes

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cademy Award® winner Jennifer Lawrence stars in this year’s highly-anticipated movie.

Directed by of David O. Russell, it probes four decades in the upward-moving life of a single-mom-turned-business-magnate to explore how daring, resilience and the persistence of vision carry people from the ordinary into extraordinary moments of creation, striving and love..

Joy has recently been nominated for two major awards in the upcoming (2016) Golden Globes – Best Motion Picture, Comedy and Best Actress In a Motion Picture, Comedy (Jennifer Lawrence).

“I am incredibly grateful to be recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press for my role in Joy. It was an enormous privilege to play such an amazing woman. And it is an honor to be among the other extraordinarily talented women in this category. I share this with David O. Russell and the incredible cast and crew,” says Lawrence on her nomination.

The movie is based loosely on the life and rise of inventor and home shopping star Joy Mangano, the genre-blurring story of Joy follows the wild path of a hard-working but half-broken family and the young girl who ultimately becomes its shining matriarch and leader in her own right. The result is an emotional and human comedy about a woman’s rise – navigating the unforgiving world of commerce, the chaos of family and the mysteries of inspiration while finding an unyielding source of happiness.

Joy follows on the heels of Russell’s The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle, which between them garnered 25 Oscar® nominations. Each unleashed an unforgettable array of cinematic characters yet also honed in on a singularly compelling idea: the allure and trials of re-inventing oneself. Joy takes that same idea somewhere new – as Russell takes on the question of how one person, confronted with madcap circumstances, endless obstacles and a long road of self-searching, forges a meaningful, joyful life.

While Joy’s life moves forward, the film’s style hearkens back in time, revisiting and redesigning the craftsmanship and melodrama of classical Hollywood cinema for our image-laden times.

Joining Lawrence is a typically wide-ranging Russell ensemble including Robert De Niro as Joy’s hot-tempered yet hopelessly romantic father; Edgar Ramirez as Joy’s ex-husband, a struggling musician living in the basement … with her father; Diane Ladd as Joy’s insightful and influential grandmother; Virginia Madsen as Joy’s soap-opera addicted mother; Isabella Rossellini as her father’s well-off Italian lover; Dascha Polanco as Joy’s life-long friend and confidante; Elisabeth Rohm as Joy’s rivalrous sister and Bradley Cooper as the mogul-style home shopping executive who becomes both Joy’s ally and adversary.

Says Lawrence: “This is a story about so many things. It’s not just the story of Joy. It’s about family, imagination, faith in yourself, about the ruthlessness of success and what it means when you find it. I love most of all how much Joy changes. I loved taking her from vulnerable and self-deprecating to cold and strong, and I loved that she turns into a real matriarch of her family.”

Joy opens in Philippine cinemas in February from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert de Niro in JOY

DLS-CSB winS at animation feStivaL

T 3 Aeta by Dennis Sebastian

People by Vaughnbryner Tan

he De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSCSB) won awards at the recently concluded Animahenasyon, the annual animation festival showcasing original Filipino works.

Faculty member Dennis E. Sebastian won Best Animation Category F (Animated TVCs, OBBs, Infomercials, Teasers and Demo Reels) (professional

division) for his 3 Aeta Trailer as well as Best in Design.

Alumnus Matt Barreto picked up Best Animation Category G (Animated TV/Web Series) (professional division) for his entry Next Quest.

Other entries from DLS-CSB garnered special prizes: faculty member Tito Romero, Best Animation for Children, The Little One; and AB Animation student

Vaughnbryner G. Tan, citation for Animation Skill, People.

Organized by the Animation Council of the Philippines, the event features outstanding works of students, enthusiasts and professionals. Since 2007, it has played host to free screenings, workshops and opportunities for industry professionals and students to network and improve their craft.

T UES DAY : DECEMBER 2 2, 2015

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

Blanco is a dutiful husband to Tanya PrecyCreighton and father to Joseph Iñigo and James Sebastian

JAMeS blAnco’S renAiSSAnce on tv ISAH V. RED If you follow Marimar on the Kapuso network, most likely you are familiar with James Blanco.

And if you’re a little older than this gadget-crazed generation, you’ll remember him as the guy taking a shower in the Lifebouy commercial a little over a decade ago.

For quite some time, Blanco has become obscure, and then reemerged and starred in some shows on GMA Network and ABS-CBN. Now, he seems to have found his niche as an actor, playing roles in a couple of Kapuso shows including Yagit, the afternoon drama, and now as a guy obsessed with Bela/ After a self-imposed hiatus, James Blanco is back on television

Marimar in the current local reboot of the Mexican telenovela that catapulted Thalia to international stardom and Marian Rivera to a major GMA Network star when the network did a re-imagining of Marimar in 2007. The new remake stars former Miss World Megan Young and Tom Rodriguez.

Blanco’s role is significant as he is the man in between Bela/Marimar and Sergio.

Blanco says, “I don’t mind not playing the lead role, after all, I’m no longer the matinee idol that the sensational Lifebouy commercial made me into.” But still, he insists, he doesn’t let his age catch up on his look. Admitting keeping in shape is a difficult especially if you’re married with kids, he says, “It wasn’t easy because I love to eat. But with a lot of core and circuit training, a balanced diet of fish, chicken and vegetables… and less alcohol… I was able to lose the last few pounds I had to get rid of and tone up.”

Blanco is married to Tanya Precy Creighton from New Zealand whose mother is a Filipino. They have two kids –Joseph Iñigo and James Sebastian – teenagers now.

His wife works with Joseph, a luxe ready-to-wear brand with a stand-alone shop at SM Aura and also with Calvin Klein Elite, the luxe brand of the Calvin Klein Group, also at SM Aura.

The couple is unfazed by intrigues prevalent in show business. “She

knows the business, as she used to be a runway and print model. She’s aware of the gossips and intrigues she would only laugh at them when she heard something concerning me. She trusts me very well that’s why she allows me to be back in something I have loved since that commercial,” Blanco says.

While no longer hopeful his return to television and hopefully the movies, Blanco can only wish he would have assignments that could earn him decent money to support his family. Well, he actually doesn’t bank on that too much because he has other concerns that allow him and his family to live a comfortable life.

But, while he is in it, he hopes for the best that it could give him and his family. That’s how he sees his renaissance on TV. And it seems everything is working just how he imagined it.

HHHHH AlDub interview in KMJS DoMinAteS twitter, nAtionwiDe rAtingS The phenomenal love team AlDub once again dominated Twitter and the nationwide ratings after the interview of Alden Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza for the first time with Philippines’ most awarded broadcast journalist Jessica Soho.

Household data gathered by the industry’s most-trusted ratings service provider Nielsen TV Au-

dience Measurement showed that Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’s episode on Dec.13 registered an overnight household rating of 28.6 percent in NUTAM (National Urban Television Audience Measurement); winning over Rated K and Your Face Sounds Familiar Grand Showdown, which posted 19.4 percent and 18.4 percent, respectively.

In the said episode, Soho featured the phenomenal Kalyeserye pair and their take on why AlDub became a huge hit among Filipinos here and abroad.

Mendoza a shared more about herself, revealing even her insecurities and her decision to get out of her comfort zone when she joined the showbiz industry.

Richards, on the other hand, talked about the on-screen chemistry between him and Mendoza and how the “spontaneity” of their banter in the Kalyeserye has made their love team successful.

KMJS interviewed Mendoza in July after the Dubsmash Queen joined Eat Bulaga as Yaya Dub. A few days after the interview, the AlDub tandem came about.

Using the hashtag #KMJSALDubYou, the Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho episode featured Ms. Soho asking the kalyeserye pair about their take on why AlDub became a huge hit among Filipinos here and abroad. The said hashtag became a top trending topic that night in Twitter world-

Blanco stars currently in Marimar as a guy obsesses with Bela (Megan Young)

wide and in the Philippines.

Four other AlDub-related hashtags also became trending topics on Twitter that Sunday. #SPSFUNtasticBaby and #AlDubonSPS trended in the Philippines and worldwide after Mendoza appeared for the first time in Sunday Pinasaya in which Richards is one of the hosts. She even joined one of the show’s regular segments where the other Sunday Pinasaya hosts were carried away by the sweetness between the Kalyeserye pair.

The hashtag #AlDubonVDK, on the other hand, trended after the AlDub pair was the guests in Vampire ang Daddy Ko with Vic “Bossing” Sotto. The tandem is also with Sotto in My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore along with Ai Ai delas Alas.

It was an Aldub-filled Sunday as AlDub was also featured in GMA TV’s Reel Time, making the hashtag #ALDUBonReelTime one of the trending topics on Twitter, as well.

In October, the hashtag #AlDubEBTamangPanahon broke Twitter record with 41 million tweets posted from Oct. 23 to 25.

It broke AlDub’s previous record of 26 million tweets on Sep. 26 with the hashtag #ALDubEBforLOVE and crashed the 35.6 million tweets recorded by World Cup semi-finals match between Brazil and Germany in July last year. ➜ continued on c7