The Standard - 2015 December 26 - Saturday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 317  3 Sections 24 Pages P18  SATURDAY : DECEMBER 26, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Aquino no help to Roxas

A3

CORRUPTION BIGGEST PROBLEM, PINOYS SAY

By Francis Lagniton

DESPITE almost six years of the Aquino administration’s “Straight Path,” Filipinos consider corruption as the most important problem of the country, the latest The Standard Poll shows.

Resident Junie Laylo said 31 percent of the surveyed 1,500 registered voters who said they are likely to vote in next year’s elections, named corruption as the most important problem.

Among the five areas where the survey was conducted from Dec. 4 to 12, those from Metro Manila were most concerned with corruption (38 percent), followed by South Luzon/Bicol (33 percent) and North/Central Luzon (30 percent). Those less concerned were from the Visayas (29 percent) and Mindanao (28 percent).

Although corruption has always been a top concern since May, this was the first time it was viewed as more important than unemployment, which dropped from 29 percent to only 10 percent in December, Laylo said.

Other important problems identified by respondents were poverty (15 percent) and illegal drugs (14 percent).

Poverty, now seen as the second most important problem, did not even figure in the top five problems in the May and September polls, where it registered a low 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Metro Manila residents were least concerned with poverty (9 percent) while those from North/Central Luzon and South Luzon/Bicol (both 19 percent) thought it is the second most important problem of the country.

The prices of goods and services also dropped from its third-place ranking in May (17 percent) and September (16 percent) with only 9 percent saying it is one of the most important problems of the country.

Despite the problems they identified, 64 percent said they believed the country is heading in the right direction, compared to 36 percent who said it was Next page on the wrong track.

Marking Jesus’ birthday. Pope Francis kisses a figurine of the infant Jesus on Christmas Eve to mark his birthday in the Vatican. AFP

Militia chief threatens to kill journalists Zambo

By John Paolo Bencito mayor calls for vigilance

A7

A LEADER of the military-backed Magahat Baghani militia forces warned Mindanao-based journalists Thursday they could be ambushed on their way to cover the 47th anniversary celebrations of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26.

In a text message sent to Mindanaobased journalists, a man claiming to be

Bobby Tejero of the Magahat militia said covering the CCP anniversary was an admission that they supported the communists and were thus the enemies of the Magahat Bagani.

“Good day to all media in Mindanao, we would like to inform you that we will target for ambush whoever in media will attend the anniversary of the CPP/NPA/ NDF. Because anyone attending the anniversary is a sympathizer of the NPA,

which is why media should not attend to avoid being involved in the war. The war between the NPA and the armed lumad Magahat. The military and police have nothing to do with this because this is a fight between the tribe and the NPA. Thank you very much. For your information Bobby Tejero commander of the Magahat… please spread to the whole of Mindanao,” the message, quoted by the online Davao Breaking News, said.

Next page

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S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Typhoon survivors get bleak Christmas

By Cecil Morella

Under sunny skies, their mother sweeps mud from the floor of her grocery shop in San Jose, one of scores of villages and towns still submerged and struggling to recover after being battered this month by Typhoon “Nona.”

The storm killed 45 people and left thousands without food, water or urgent medical care.

“We’re just taking in the sights. I doubt Santa Claus will come tonight. The water’s too high,” Yambao said.

Instead of gathering by the Christmas tree to open gifts and eat a traditional meal of meat, cheese and sweets, hundreds of people in San Jose stood in flood waters with their own wash basins to wait for food aid at the Catholic church.

Residents of the village, home to about 5,000 people, have seen seasonal flooding before, but elderly villagers said it was the first time they had seen it during Christmas.

Other towns in the vast, rice-growing central Luzon plains near Manila also remain submerged and the government says 206,000 people are still either stuck in floods or dependent on government food rations, or both.

There were few signs of Christmas cheer in San Jose.

At Amelia Samblijay’s house, six plastic Santa statues hung from the rafters, suspended above murky brown flood waters littered by old shoes, plastic bottles and a dead rat.

But the white-bearded, red-robed figures brought little charm to the dark, tin-roofed house with bare walls, which has been without power for 10 days after authorities cut electricity to avoid electrocution accidents.

Samblijay, a 63-year-old mother of three grown children who was born in San Jose, said her family would not visit her for what would have been a traditional holiday re-

union. They could have travelled the 42 kilometers from Manila by boat, but it was deemed unsafe for her young grandchildren.

“It will be a sad Christmas without my seven grandchildren,” said Samblijay, who has had to cook on the rooftop to feed her bedridden husband, a former carpenter who recently suffered a stroke.

“They would not like it here anyway without electricity,” she added, speaking near her husband, whose oxygen tank sat submerged in water in the flooded basement.

Nearby, two dogs stood on the roof of a neighbor’s house to escape the water, as small wooden and fiberglass boats—now the main mode of transport in San Jose —floated along, chauffeured by fishermen who now charge a fee to ferry people around.

On the swollen Pampanga river near the town, Allan Gonzales escorted a boat with a white coffin bearing the remains of his 99-year-old grandfather who died in hospital days earlier.

“It’s difficult. It was night time when he had a heart attack and we also had to use a boat to take him to hospital,” the 34-year-old fisherman said from his own fiberglass boat. AFP

Militia...

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines slammed the Magahat Bagani forces on Friday for issuing direct threats against journalists.

“The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemns in the strongest terms the brazen death threat issued by the Magahat militia against journalists intending to cover the 47th anniversary celebrations of the Communist Party of the Philippines in Mindanao.”

The group expressed concern over the growing confidence of the militiamen that they would get away with threatening media men.

“Any threat from Bobby Tejero and the Magahat against not only the media but anyone else should be treated seriously. That he can actually feel confident enough to threaten

the media so brazenly can only mean one thing—that Bobby Tejero and the Magahat either believe they can do so and get away with it, or they have been assured that they can do so and get away with it.”

“Going by the record, it appears clear where the assurance comes from. For this is the only explanation for how the Magahat can continue to openly operate despite the serious criminal charges its leaders and members face.”

The press group also warned the Aquino administration that they would be made accountable for any harm arising from Tejero’s threat that may befall journalists who cover the communist anniversary.

In a statement, the leftist Bayan Muna condemned the Magahat Bagani for issuing direct

CALUMPIT, BULACAN—Wading through knee-deep floods, 12-year-old Joana Yambao pushes her infant sister in a black wash basin along the surface of the filthy water in a typhoon-hit village where residents have little to celebrate this Christmas.

From A1

Tejero and his brother Loloy and Garilo Laylo—members of the Magahat forces formed by the military to fight the communist insurgency—have been charged with murder in relation to the deaths of lumad school executive director Emerito Samarca and two other tribal leaders, Dionel Campos and Datu Bello Sinzo in Lianga, Surigao del Sur on Sept. 1.

Although warrants have been issued against the Tejero brothers and Laylo, no one has yet been arrested.

The killings drove thousands of lumad from their homes to seek refuge in the provincial gym in Tandag City.

Corruption...

From A1

This was an improvement from September, when 53 percent believed the country was going in the right direction and 47 said it was on the wrong track. In May, 51 percent said it was going in the right direction and 49 disagreed.

Most who thought the country was heading in the right direction came from the Visayas (53 percent) and Mindanao (52 percent), who were affected by the cash dole they were receiving under the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

The response from the Visayas and Mindanao was even better than the national response rate of 46 percent, compared to Metro Manila where 45 percent cited the 4Ps as a reason and 40 percent in North/Central Luzon. Only 36 percent cited the 4Ps as a reason in South Luzon/Bicol.

Other reasons given accounted for a far lower percentage: absence of war or disorder, 3 percent; government aid during calamities, employment opportunities and educational benefits, all 5 percent.

Only 8 percent said they based their view on economic progress or on improvement in the fight against corruption while 10 percent said it was on the right track because of improvements in infrastructure or the detention of highranking government officials.

On the other hand, most of those who said the government was going in the wrong direction based their decision on their wages (40 percent), followed by the rising cost of living (15 percent) and the lack of government assistance to disaster victims (15 percent).

Of those concerned with wages, 51 percent were in Metro Manila and 48 percent in the Visayas. Forty-five percent from North Central/Luzon and 32 percent from South Luzon/ Bicol shared the view while only 25 percent were from Mindanao.

The survey, conducted between Dec. 4 and 12, involved face-to-face interviews with 1,500 registered voters who said they would certainly vote in 2016, and who came from 76 provinces and 38 cities.

The national figures have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percent, with a confidence rate of 97.4 percent because the sample size was equally distributed geographically and differentiated between provinces and their component cities. threats against journalists.

“That these barefaced threats are issued while a mutual ceasefire and suspension of military operations were declared by the government and the rebels, smack of brazen impunity and disrespect of civilian authorities,” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said.

Zarate also scored the government’s slow response to arrest the killers of the Lianga massacre.

“While a local court has already issued warrants of arrests against Tejero, who issued the threat, and his cohorts, they continue to sow terror in the hinterland villages of Surigao del Sur without the police and the military doing decisively to stop and neutralize them,” the group said.

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A3

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘Even Aquino can’t help Roxas’ PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III will not improve the chances of Manuel Roxas II winning the presidency even if he joins his anointed one’s political sorties because of the tight presidential race, an analyst said Friday.

“If the presidential endorsement power is already negative, there is not much that he can do,” Ramon Casiple of the Institute for Political and Economic Reform told The Standard in a text interview.

The ruling Liberal Party on Friday expressed confidence that the numbers of Roxas and his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, would soon surge as Aquino will be joining them in the campaign trail.

“The support of the President becomes the most crucial in a tight race like this,” Roxas’ spokesman Romero Quimbo said.

“It becomes even more significant when the outgoing president is a popular one, not a lame duck. P-Noy has the highest performance rating for an outgoing President in our history.”

Quimbo said Roxas’ numbers remained firm unlike his rivals for the presidency.

But Roxas is still trailing front runner Senator Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay in the surveys.

And Casiple said Aquino’s own numbers were hurting Roxas’ chances for the presidency.

In the latest survey of the opinion polling firm Social Weather Stations this month, SWS said Aquino’s endorsement was proving to be a handicap to Roxas, his preferred successor.

In that survey, Aquino received a net figure of -6 percent nationwide when the respondents were asked how they would react to his endorsement. He scored -26 percent in Metro Manila and -10 percent in Luzon, but got a positive net effect of 4 percent in the Visayas and 3 percent in Mindanao.

The trust in Aquino also continued to fall as the Filipinos distrusted him than they did in May and September.

Across the country, the President’s trust rating was at a net 25 percent in December, down from 36 percent in May and 43 percent in September. Even the Mindanao figure was lower at net 45 percent, down from 53 percent in May and 61 percent in September.

In Metro Manila, the President eked out a trust rating of only 1 percent, a precipitous drop from 31 percent in May and 16 percent in September.

But the ruling Liberal Party said its machinery would make its candidates win.

“Millions of the Filipino families who benefited from the pro-poor programs of the Aquino administration” would ensure an “easy win” for Roxas and Robredo,” said LP spokesman Edgar Erice. John Paolo Bencito

Inquirer’s top editor Magsanoc passes on

Reenactment. Nada Tarhim and John Philip Panganiban portray Adam and Eve in the annual Maytinis Festival in Kawit, Cavite, in a retelling of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to deliver Jesus. Ey aCasio

LETTY Jimenez-Magsanoc, editor in chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, died on Christmas Eve, the newspaper reported on Friday.

“It is with deep sorrow that the Philippine Daily Inquirer reports the death of its esteemed editor in chief,” the paper said.

“The Inquirer condoles with the Jimenez and Magsanoc families.”

President Benigno Aquino III and Davao City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte also condoled with Magsanoc’s family.

“I am shocked by the sudden passing of Letty Jimenez Magsanoc. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and all her colleagues in the Philippine Daily Inquirer at this time of profound sadness and loss,” Aquino said in a message to the Malacañang Press Corps on Dec. 25.

“She was, to me, and all Filipinos of goodwill who love freedom, democracy and good governance, a source of strength.”

Duterte promised to pass the Freedom of Information Bill in case he won the presidency in next year’s elections.

“I was not surprised when she asked me what is my position on the Freedom of Information Bill considering her unyielding position on public accountability and transparency,” Duterte said.

“Without batting an eyelash, I told her I am all for it.”

The Inquirer said the wake will be held at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taquig starting Sunday. sandy ara-

neta and John Paolo Bencito

Decent housing for the poor

Christmas in the park. Father and child play with their dog and cat at the Rizal Park in Manila, traditional place for holding family reunions, on Christmas Day. Danny Pata

LEYTE Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Friday pushed for decent but affordable housing for calamity victims, especially the survivors of killer Typhoon “Yolanda,” to show compassion to them.

Romualdez, president of the Philippine Constitution Association and a senatorial aspirant, made the statement as he backed the proposal of Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, head of the House committee on housing and urban development, for “reasonably priced” housing projects for the squatters

in Metro Manila.

“I hope there will be immediate dignified shelters available for calamity victims especially the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda,” Romualdez said.

“I appeal to the government to speed up its provision of decent housing for Yolanda’s survivors. Let us work together to achieve this goal.”

Romualdez urged the government and the private sector to join hands in pushing for Benitez’s recommendation.

He said a recent summit in the House had recommended tapping the pri-

vate sector to finance the construction of four- to six-story housing buildings to help reduce the housing backlog in Metro Manila Romualdez said the proposal was praiseworthy as the squatters would be housed in buildings to be built by private groups in idle government lots in Metro Manila under a 50year lease agreement.

“This socialized housing program of Congressman Benitez is a very laudable one because this will show malasakit [compassion] to our informal settlers,” Romualdez said. Maricel V. Cruz

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

THE CONTINUING INCOMPETENCE IN THE MMDA

[ EDI TORI A L ]

STRAIGHT, NOT MOVING

(Part II)

CHRISTMAS and the frenzy that accompanies the days before it may be gone, but not the terrible traffic that has been the bane of late of Metro Manila residents.

A survey conducted early this month by this newspaper’s resident pollster, Junie Laylo, revealed that 89 percent of Metro Manilans were either somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the traffic situation.

While the sentiment does not hold for the rest of the country, those living in the capital demand solutions to their daily ordeal.

Being held up in traffic—plus other transport woes—affects a person’s performance, productivity, disposition, and eats up into his relationship with family.

These are the same persons who are taxed extraordinarily highly even as they have been conditioned to expect so little from the government that is supposed to serve them.

Worse, a majority—54 percent—of the respondents said they do not anticipate the situation improving soon.

This last figure reflects how disillusioned the people have become with the Aquino administration. After all, didn’t the President himself say not to worry since traffic is a sign of progress? Didn’t the Transportation secretary dismiss the problem as not fatal, anyway?

Yes we’re still alive, and that is a good thing. Because we are alive, we can observe the government’s actions during the last few months of the Aquino administration. We can hold its self-righteous officials accountable for their inability to own up to their mistakes and inadequacies. We can make our sentiments felt come elections in May. Christmas is over, but there are still the New Year holidays, and the week after that, and the next—the debilitating traffic will be here for a while, until real solutions are put in place and until the government starts to actually care.

THE GIFT OF BEING PERSONAL POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO I WRITE this on Christmas day as I sit on my bed while surfing through social media and text messages responding to the holiday greetings that come in from friends and acquaintances. Then it dawned on me how the Christmases of today are very different from those of my younger years.

I appreciate the fact that people remember to greet each other on special occasions. In fact, it is almost a crime to not greet a friend on her/his birthday because

Facebook reminds us which of our acquaintances are celebrating their special day days before the actual date. All we need is to do a few clicks and voila! We have greeted everyone we need to greet, whether they are near or in faraway lands. We are not allowed to forget and this is good.

Being present in the lives of those we care about takes the least effort these days. Connecting and reconnecting with people have never been this easy.

The capacity to easily connect is of particular importance to those with family and friends outside the country. Gone are the long months, even years of not being able to converse with our loved ones. Now, not only are

we able to instantaneously send messages, we can even hear their voice, or best, see them through video calls without spending a fortune. This was unimaginable a few years back.

Truly, the Internet is the most wonderful invention of all time.

However, the onset of the worldwide net, including social media has also made us do things in very different ways. Come to think of it, I miss those times when we did things in more personal ways. One of the ironies of the internet is, as we try to connect and be personal in our relationship with loved ones, we often do this in less personal, even impersonal ways.

I like receiving letters—the old

A5

Letter-writing is an art and we are fast losing it.

fashioned kind. Perhaps outside of directly telling people things in person, it is the most personal way of connecting with those important to us.

I remember the care that people put in writing letters before.

We chose appropriate words because we did not like to be thought of as impolite. Letterwriting is very personal because we used to write missives in long hand choosing every word we say, taking pains that we do not commit mistakes in spelling and grammar. Correct noun-verb agreement was a must. Nobody wanted to send letters with erasures. It did not reflect well on the sender. We would rather do it all over again.

We took pride in our penmanship. We practiced writing.

Nothing can be more personal

than this because no matter the similarities with other people’s handwriting, one’s penmanship is distinctly his or her own. We never used “text or jejemon language.” It would have put us to shame.

When we could afford, we used nice stationery. Even folding the letter had meaning and we took care that this was done neatly and properly. We would not want to attach our signature to a sloppily written or shabbily folded letter.

Letters were kept. These were tangible remembrances of friendships and relationships. Remember those love letters neatly tied with ribbons kept by our par-

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-

ents? These carried memorable stories of people’s lives and loves.

Letter-writing is an art and we are fast losing it.

Now we just send a line or two of text messages, tweets and FaceBook posts.

And our posts are mostly generic messages. We hardly compose our messages and when we see some that are obviously well-thought, we remark, “pinag-isipan talaga”—something very rarely done these days in the age of instant everything.

I also like greeting cards and I used to collect those that I received. Getting

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

cards for important occasions made me feel special. There was one particular Christmas card given to me in grade six which I liked very much. It was the nativity scene and it was three dimensional!

In 1970, this was extra-special. I kept the card for as long as I could but it eventually got lost when I was already in the university.

We used to go to bookstores to choose the cards that were most appropriate for our intended recipients. We took a lot of care that the message in the card truly reflects our feelings and what we wanted to Continued on A6

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

SOME public interest advocates are considering filing anti-graft raps against Francis Tolentino and his ex-underlings in the Office of the Ombudsman to make them account for those anomalies.

Although Tolentino currently comports himself as an independent candidate for the Senate, he courts the endorsement of partisan candidates for president. That’s political opportunism plain and simple because while Tolentino hopes to be endorsed by more than one presidential candidate, he can endorse only one of them.

Considering the mess in which he left the MMDA, Tolentino is bound to make a mess, too, in the Senate, if he gets himself elected. Candidates like Tolentino seem to justify why many voters end up electing movie actors, comedians, and professional boxers to public office.

With Tolentino on the campaign trail, Emerson Carlos is now the head of the MMDA. Tolentino himself recruited Carlos to the MMDA. Instead of correcting the mistakes of his predecessor, Carlos is continuing Tolentino’s mess.

Slow-moving vehicles and reckless motorcycle drivers still traverse the avenues wherever and however they please; the U-turn slots are still there; MMDA traffic enforcers are still invisible after dark, or during rainy hours; most MMDA vehicles are not registered with the LTO; pedicabs still roam main roads in violation of regulations; taxicabs still use major intersections as waiting stations; low-numbered license plates are still exempted from the number-coding regulation; and many traffic enforcers are still corrupt or abusive. It’s almost as if Tolentino were still running the MMDA. During the recent Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit held in Pasay City, traffic along Edsa and other major streets was rerouted. Heavy, orange plastic barriers were installed on these roadways for the purpose of creating special lanes for the exclusive use of Apec officials. These barriers created inconvenience, but motorists were assured by the MMDA that they will be removed after the four-day Apec event.

To everybody’s horror, Carlos let the barriers remain along Edsa, and used those barriers to separate the bus lanes from the lanes used by private vehicles. The result—vehicles which need to enter Edsa from a sideroad are forced to travel on the bus lanes until such time they are able to chance upon a rare break in the long line of barriers. Consequently, the vehicle is needlessly diverted from its actual destination, and traffic accumulates in the bus lanes. One example can be seen at the segment of the northbound lane of Edsa between Buendia Avenue and the overpass leading to the Rockwell area behind Bel-Air Village. Motorists coming from the Bonifacio Global City area who need to go to Rockwell can no longer use the overpass. They will now have to drive all the way to the Guadalupe underpass some two kilometers away, and travel another two kilometers in the opposite direction, just to go to their destination.

The converse is also true. Vehicles which need to leave Edsa are compelled to exit only on those occasional breaks in the long line of barriers. Because these vehicles are now unable to exit at the precise part of Edsa where they need to, they are forced to take longer routes. That means keeping more vehicles on Edsa unnecessarily, and more vehicles along Edsa means more traffic along that avenue. It also means wastage of precious, expensive fuel.

The problem gets worse. Because these barriers are not reflectorized, they are almost impossible to see at night and during heavy rainfall. As such, they are road hazards that

Continued on A6 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

A4

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

THE CONTINUING INCOMPETENCE IN THE MMDA

[ EDI TORI A L ]

STRAIGHT, NOT MOVING

(Part II)

CHRISTMAS and the frenzy that accompanies the days before it may be gone, but not the terrible traffic that has been the bane of late of Metro Manila residents.

A survey conducted early this month by this newspaper’s resident pollster, Junie Laylo, revealed that 89 percent of Metro Manilans were either somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the traffic situation.

While the sentiment does not hold for the rest of the country, those living in the capital demand solutions to their daily ordeal.

Being held up in traffic—plus other transport woes—affects a person’s performance, productivity, disposition, and eats up into his relationship with family.

These are the same persons who are taxed extraordinarily highly even as they have been conditioned to expect so little from the government that is supposed to serve them.

Worse, a majority—54 percent—of the respondents said they do not anticipate the situation improving soon.

This last figure reflects how disillusioned the people have become with the Aquino administration. After all, didn’t the President himself say not to worry since traffic is a sign of progress? Didn’t the Transportation secretary dismiss the problem as not fatal, anyway?

Yes we’re still alive, and that is a good thing. Because we are alive, we can observe the government’s actions during the last few months of the Aquino administration. We can hold its self-righteous officials accountable for their inability to own up to their mistakes and inadequacies. We can make our sentiments felt come elections in May. Christmas is over, but there are still the New Year holidays, and the week after that, and the next—the debilitating traffic will be here for a while, until real solutions are put in place and until the government starts to actually care.

THE GIFT OF BEING PERSONAL POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO I WRITE this on Christmas day as I sit on my bed while surfing through social media and text messages responding to the holiday greetings that come in from friends and acquaintances. Then it dawned on me how the Christmases of today are very different from those of my younger years.

I appreciate the fact that people remember to greet each other on special occasions. In fact, it is almost a crime to not greet a friend on her/his birthday because

Facebook reminds us which of our acquaintances are celebrating their special day days before the actual date. All we need is to do a few clicks and voila! We have greeted everyone we need to greet, whether they are near or in faraway lands. We are not allowed to forget and this is good.

Being present in the lives of those we care about takes the least effort these days. Connecting and reconnecting with people have never been this easy.

The capacity to easily connect is of particular importance to those with family and friends outside the country. Gone are the long months, even years of not being able to converse with our loved ones. Now, not only are

we able to instantaneously send messages, we can even hear their voice, or best, see them through video calls without spending a fortune. This was unimaginable a few years back.

Truly, the Internet is the most wonderful invention of all time.

However, the onset of the worldwide net, including social media has also made us do things in very different ways. Come to think of it, I miss those times when we did things in more personal ways. One of the ironies of the internet is, as we try to connect and be personal in our relationship with loved ones, we often do this in less personal, even impersonal ways.

I like receiving letters—the old

A5

Letter-writing is an art and we are fast losing it.

fashioned kind. Perhaps outside of directly telling people things in person, it is the most personal way of connecting with those important to us.

I remember the care that people put in writing letters before.

We chose appropriate words because we did not like to be thought of as impolite. Letterwriting is very personal because we used to write missives in long hand choosing every word we say, taking pains that we do not commit mistakes in spelling and grammar. Correct noun-verb agreement was a must. Nobody wanted to send letters with erasures. It did not reflect well on the sender. We would rather do it all over again.

We took pride in our penmanship. We practiced writing.

Nothing can be more personal

than this because no matter the similarities with other people’s handwriting, one’s penmanship is distinctly his or her own. We never used “text or jejemon language.” It would have put us to shame.

When we could afford, we used nice stationery. Even folding the letter had meaning and we took care that this was done neatly and properly. We would not want to attach our signature to a sloppily written or shabbily folded letter.

Letters were kept. These were tangible remembrances of friendships and relationships. Remember those love letters neatly tied with ribbons kept by our par-

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-

ents? These carried memorable stories of people’s lives and loves.

Letter-writing is an art and we are fast losing it.

Now we just send a line or two of text messages, tweets and FaceBook posts.

And our posts are mostly generic messages. We hardly compose our messages and when we see some that are obviously well-thought, we remark, “pinag-isipan talaga”—something very rarely done these days in the age of instant everything.

I also like greeting cards and I used to collect those that I received. Getting

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

cards for important occasions made me feel special. There was one particular Christmas card given to me in grade six which I liked very much. It was the nativity scene and it was three dimensional!

In 1970, this was extra-special. I kept the card for as long as I could but it eventually got lost when I was already in the university.

We used to go to bookstores to choose the cards that were most appropriate for our intended recipients. We took a lot of care that the message in the card truly reflects our feelings and what we wanted to Continued on A6

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

SOME public interest advocates are considering filing anti-graft raps against Francis Tolentino and his ex-underlings in the Office of the Ombudsman to make them account for those anomalies.

Although Tolentino currently comports himself as an independent candidate for the Senate, he courts the endorsement of partisan candidates for president. That’s political opportunism plain and simple because while Tolentino hopes to be endorsed by more than one presidential candidate, he can endorse only one of them.

Considering the mess in which he left the MMDA, Tolentino is bound to make a mess, too, in the Senate, if he gets himself elected. Candidates like Tolentino seem to justify why many voters end up electing movie actors, comedians, and professional boxers to public office.

With Tolentino on the campaign trail, Emerson Carlos is now the head of the MMDA. Tolentino himself recruited Carlos to the MMDA. Instead of correcting the mistakes of his predecessor, Carlos is continuing Tolentino’s mess.

Slow-moving vehicles and reckless motorcycle drivers still traverse the avenues wherever and however they please; the U-turn slots are still there; MMDA traffic enforcers are still invisible after dark, or during rainy hours; most MMDA vehicles are not registered with the LTO; pedicabs still roam main roads in violation of regulations; taxicabs still use major intersections as waiting stations; low-numbered license plates are still exempted from the number-coding regulation; and many traffic enforcers are still corrupt or abusive. It’s almost as if Tolentino were still running the MMDA. During the recent Asia Pacific Economic Conference summit held in Pasay City, traffic along Edsa and other major streets was rerouted. Heavy, orange plastic barriers were installed on these roadways for the purpose of creating special lanes for the exclusive use of Apec officials. These barriers created inconvenience, but motorists were assured by the MMDA that they will be removed after the four-day Apec event.

To everybody’s horror, Carlos let the barriers remain along Edsa, and used those barriers to separate the bus lanes from the lanes used by private vehicles. The result—vehicles which need to enter Edsa from a sideroad are forced to travel on the bus lanes until such time they are able to chance upon a rare break in the long line of barriers. Consequently, the vehicle is needlessly diverted from its actual destination, and traffic accumulates in the bus lanes. One example can be seen at the segment of the northbound lane of Edsa between Buendia Avenue and the overpass leading to the Rockwell area behind Bel-Air Village. Motorists coming from the Bonifacio Global City area who need to go to Rockwell can no longer use the overpass. They will now have to drive all the way to the Guadalupe underpass some two kilometers away, and travel another two kilometers in the opposite direction, just to go to their destination.

The converse is also true. Vehicles which need to leave Edsa are compelled to exit only on those occasional breaks in the long line of barriers. Because these vehicles are now unable to exit at the precise part of Edsa where they need to, they are forced to take longer routes. That means keeping more vehicles on Edsa unnecessarily, and more vehicles along Edsa means more traffic along that avenue. It also means wastage of precious, expensive fuel.

The problem gets worse. Because these barriers are not reflectorized, they are almost impossible to see at night and during heavy rainfall. As such, they are road hazards that

Continued on A6 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

A6

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

ALL LANDS SHOULD BE OWNED

BY THE STATE BACK­ BENCHER ROD P. KAPUNAN (Part I) MAYBE we can re-examine the economic doctrine which states that all lands belong to the state. After all, we have been partially adopting the Regalian Doctrine, and they are provided in Section 1, Article XIII of the 1935 Constitution, in Section 8, Article XIV of the 1973 Constitution and Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution. Our adherence to that Doctrine means that all lands shall from thereon belong to the state, except those lands that have been classified as disposable lands of the public domain. By that, lands of the public domain are owned by the state and are considered

Many of our lands remain idle despite our low agricultural output and lack of factories where workers could be employed.

inalienable or cannot be disposed by sale or exchange.

Our suggestion for the full implementation of the Regalian Doctrine is not motivated to advance the socialist or communist ideology, but a suggestion having in mind to help develop our vast lands that lie idle either because they are purposely left unattended for speculative purposes or that people interested in developing them could not afford the rent set by the property owners. It is only by having highly developed agricultural, industrial and commercial lands could we generate sufficient capital to transform this country to full industrialization, and thereby promote employment which is the bedrock of the nation’s

prosperity.

Unlike the classic socialist formula of nationalizing the lands, with the state taking the initiative of capitalizing, developing and cultivating to make them productive, the new formula allows the state to retain ownership of all lands, but could lease them to any person or corporation interested in making them productive. This approach has been proven to be successful in countries that once observed the regimented system of socialism. The old socialist models of collective and state farms in the former Soviet Union and the communal farming system under Mao’s China resulted in dismal crop failure and even caused widespread famine.

The new approach is a total departure from the orthodox dogma because the leasing of lands to private individuals or corporations has nothing to do with the basic tenet of communism —that all the means of production should be owned by the state. Reform-minded socialists no longer treat the lands as a means of production. Machines in factories are the means of production to mass produce goods up to five or more times the value of what the workers can produce to earn their day’s worth. The excess retained by the capitalists called “surplus value” is legalized and justified by their ownership of the means of production.

With respect to land, it merely became a means of production when the landlords appropriated them as their private property. This is after they saw the value of cultivation to produce food in vast quantities to earn profit. The serfs were treated as property upon which the landlords could impose their will to work as slaves. The means of production was amplified by the building of factories with machines, and the conversion of the farmers to urban workers to accumulate capital, while agricultural lands, on the other hand, antedated capitalism. It was the appropriation by the landlords that converted those lands as means of production to mass produce food, not to feed people but to make profit.

Land is a God-given gift means of production upon which no man could appropriate to himself. The landlords made money on what God intended

The Gift... From A5 say. I remember spending hours reading cards and deciding which would be liked most by my loved ones.

Besides the messages that came with the cards, it was not unusual for senders to still write their own messages, again, in longhand mak-

The continuing...From A5 threaten the safety of motorists. There very existence is a violation of the Vienna Convention on road safety. The barriers at the southbound lane of Edsa near the overpass leading to Ortigas Avenue and Rosario, and those along the southbound lane of Edsa across NepaQ-Mart in Cubao, are accidents waiting to happen.

When those accidents finally happen, anti-graft raps should be filed also against Carlos, for causing undue injury

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA THE scripture reads: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.” By this, God chose to cross the Great Divide separating the divine from the human. As prophesied by the prophets of old, He revealed himself to man, entering the human condition to convey His message of hope and love. It is said that the cross is not the greatest humiliation that Christ went through but in assuming the form of a human being, with all man’s frailties and weaknesses except sin is the worst kind of humiliation.

One homilist illustrated Christ’s incarnation and death as similar to a man who assumes the image of a dog then allowing himself to be killed by a pack of ravenous dogs.

But His supreme sacrifice showed us how loving God is.

His death and rising from the death gave us hope and the promise of real happiness. This is what separates Christians from atheists, agnostics and secularists. The hedonists believe that the supreme goal of life is “contentment” or “cheerfulness.” This false philosophy was adhered to by the ancient Romans who were guided by the principle: “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul pointed out the importance of Christ’s resurrection, saying, “What value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection.” For believers, Christ’s birth, death and resurrection are essentially a promise of eternal life. to be shared and enjoyed by mankind.

Since capital was used by the capitalists to mass produce goods, the concept of private property ownership was reinforced and soon spread to land ownership. However, the new concept of “State Capitalism” as practiced in China, Russia and in many of the former socialist states, including Cuba, have opted to lease most of the lands, keeping only those portions considered as strategic and vital to their national interest. Since it is the state that leases the land, technically, it retains control and ownership of the land, and that includes the right to fix the cost of rent that would be beneficial to both the state and to the people.

The decision to have the lands rented relieved the state of the most difficulty tasks of capitalizing for the cultivation

LIFETIME FEAST WITH JESUS AND OTHERS It does not require erudition and great intelligence to understand how futile human existence would be if there is nothing beyond earthly life.

Man then would be no different from plants and animals which cease to nothingness in death. Without eternal life, good behavior would be meaningless; after all there is nothing to look forward to beyond this life.

In a general audience during his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI (now Pope Emeritus) puts it most succinctly: “Christmas is a privileged opportunity to meditate on the meaning and value of our existence. The approach of this Solemnity helps us on the one hand to reflect on the drama of history in which people, injured by sin, are perennially in search of happiness and of a fulfilling sense of life and death; and on the other, it urges us to meditate on the merciful kindness of God who came to man to communicate to him directly the Truth that saves, and to enable him to partake in his friendship and his life.”

Much like the little child on the manger, Christmas is a feast for the simple, the humble and the meek. It cannot be for the violent and proud who, full of himself, has no room for Christ in his heart. It was for the poor and simple shepherds and the three wise men from the East rather than for King Herod, the Pharisees and the Romans.

As a people, we Filipinos have gone through a lot of adversities: devastating typhoons, armed conflicts, persistent corruption, scandal-

ous poverty, persistent social inequity and injustice, state sanctioned killing of lumads, slow Internet, and unsolvable immobility in Metro Manila.

Most frustrating of all, the 2016 elections is so far not looking good, with unjust decisions by the Comelec and a campaign that is not enlightening. We are being diminished, instead of being uplifted by this process. There is of course time to recover and this is one of my wishes this Christmas.

My friend Howie Severino summarizes the year for us very well when he posted in Facebook: “It wasn’t such a great year for the Philippines, but it began with an envoy of heaven and ended with a beauty of the universe.” Two days ago, Pope Francis, that envoy from heaven, explaining the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, said: “The Nativity also tells us that the Lord never imposes upon us with force. To save us, He did not change history by performing a grand miracle.

Instead, He lived with simplicity, humility and meekness.

God does not like the dramatic revolutions of the powerful of history, and does not use a magic wand to change situations. Instead, He makes Himself small, He becomes a child, to attract us with love, to touch our hearts with His humble goodness, to draw attention through His poverty to those who worry about accumulating the false treasures of this world.”

It is our deep faith in the message of Christmas that gives us the strength to keep

on rising up again and again; hope in Christ that makes us resilient to meet these adversities; and the confidence to face the future. This coming year the whole country will go to the polls to elect the next set of leaders. Surely, natural disasters will cause death and destruction again in many of our islands. The future might be full of uncertainty and foreboding. But if we take to heart the message of Christmas beyond this season and make it the guiding principle of our lives, no amount of tribulation and uncertainty will be great enough to destroy us.

Christmas is a lifetime feast guaranteed to bring peace and joy to all who partake of it. To my readers, I hope you always say yes to this invitation to wine and dine with the Lord and each other. This is my prayer (borrowed from the Jesuits of the Northeast Province, USA), for all of us: “Healing God, remove the hopelessness that blinds us; cleanse us of the hurts that divide us from others; restore us to hope, that we may work for the gifts we wish for those we love. May the grace of your Christ who comes to shepherd us help us to care for one another; may the good news we hear in our struggles bring joy and hope to all our mornings; may your coming to us as one of us inspire us to lift up one another to the dignity of being your daughters and sons.”

To everyone, have a lovely Christmas!

and in making them productive. The rent which the state is able to collect is in turn reverted to providing more benefits and welfare to the people. It was most economical and advantageous because the state is able to earn rent from those leased lands while relieving it of the tedious task of paying the workers more than the amount they produce. The socialistic assurance that guaranteed employment resulted in costly subsidy caused by declining productivity that in the end bankrupted socialist states until it finally caused the system to collapse.

Since the state only collects the minimum amount of rent, investors find no difficulty in setting up factories, commercial and business establishments. Such arrangement is mutually advantageous. Investors could continue in accumulating capital which they could

use to create new industries and invariably provide more employment. In other words, the low cost of land rent gave the entrepreneurs the crucial competitive advantage to sell their products. Here, it is not only their profit that is being eroded by the cost of rent, but capital itself is being depleted, which reason why many of our products remain uncompetitive to foreign imports even in our own turf. As industrialization progresses, the low rent that is being collected is compensated even more by an increased number of taxpayers due to the proliferation of businesses and from the high employment generated as a result.

Taxes collected from business are far greater than the amount of rent collected from land.

Here, many of our lands remain idle despite our low agricultural output and lack of fac-

tories where workers could be employed.

Most landowners are able to own vast tracts of land mostly through land grabbing and influence peddling to secure titles to public lands decreed to be disposable, and at times displacing the original settlers. The high cost of rent has often been pointed as the cause of the economic sclerosis that is preventing capitalists from investing. There is no assurance of getting back the amount they invested to corollarily allow them to reinvest their income in developing further idle lands to become productive. The high cost of rent renders investment prohibitive. Rent is already competing with their income such that it is the landlord that is making the killing and businessmen pushing their workers to work even harder to just obtain their marginal profit.

Facebook Page: Dean Tony La Viña Twitter: tonylavs

rpkapunan@gmail.com

ing the cards even more personal.

Because they were kind of costly, cards were reserved only for the really important people in my life.

Cards carried important memories. We kept them because of the meaning we attach to them or because of the person/s who gave them.

Now, we send e-cards. There are

thousands out there that we can choose from from the comfort of our homes or offices. We need not leave our place to send cards. But because it is so easy, the novelty has diminished.

Also, because it is online, we cannot hold and feel them as we did traditional cards. E-cards may also

be easily forgotten as our inboxes, FB walls, and twitter feeds get more posts and messages. For me, while I appreciate receiving them, nothing can match receiving actual cards.

Yes, in this age and time, it is quite easy to connect and reconnect with people. Yet, I somehow feel that things are getting impersonal too

fast.

I wish for the gift of being PERSONAL. Have a meaningful holiday season, friends!

to any party by reason of gross inexcusable negligence.

Another traffic mess Carlos has allowed to worsen is the daily gridlock along Shaw Boulevard in Pasig City, particularly that segment infront of the Capital Commons commercial arcade which used to be a rotunda. Since the 1960s, that rotunda somehow eased traffic in the area because vehicles were allowed to go around it without need for traffic lights. Last November, the rotunda was demolished. This widened the boulevard and traffic there became

less congested. Two weeks ago, however, the MMDA installed a fence right where the rotunda used to be. Now, vehicles on the west-bound lane of Shaw Boulevard, which used to be able to go around the old rotunda, are required to go to the newly built intersection along Shaw Boulevard and Meralco Avenue, and make a u-turn there. Thanks to this scheme, the traffic problem there is horrid even outside rush hours.

Pasig residents were better off when the rotunda was still there. It was removed at public expense, and its re-

moval made the traffic problem worse.

Since the demolition has proved to be unnecessary, some government officials must have made a fortune in infrastructure demolition kickbacks.

Carlos is unable to attend to the current traffic mess because his mind is on the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival—that annual event where money is made by the MMDA from the compulsory exhibition of local films.

Why a traffic management agency like the MMDA manages a film festival is a mystery. There is nothing in the

charter of the MMDA which authorizes it to manage a film festival. Since government agencies may only act pursuant to a law, the absence of any legislation authorizing the MMDA to manage a film festival makes its stewardship of the ongoing film festival illegal.

In all likelihood, 2015 will mark the last time the MMDA will manage a film festival because some public interest advocates are contemplating on taking Carlos and his MMDA to court for dealing with public money without legal authority

bethangsioco@gmail.com @bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook

s at u r d aY : d e c e m b e r 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

College girl raped, killed in Pagadian

By A. Perez Rimando

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—A 16-yearold freshman at Saint Columban College here was raped and then choked to death late Tuesday afternoon while she was alone in their home at Barangay Banale this city, police said.

City Police Chief Sr. Supt. Michael P. Palermo identified the victim as Rechilyn P. Mallo.

Mallo’s body was found by her neighbor’s older brother at 7 a.m. the following day inside her room. Her parents had reportedly gone to attend a party in an adjacent village.

Police investigators later arrested the suspect, Olecher N. Gamal, 20, a criminology student of Yllana Bay View College and reportedly a relative of the victim.

Probers later noticed Gamal with several scratch marks on his neck and arms.

Medical examination showed Mallo had been sexually abused. She also had injuries in different parts of her body.

During his interview by intelligence personnel at the city police office, Gamal, a native of Tigbao town, confessed that he had entered the room of Mallo when he was drunk then raped her, after which he choked her to death. He then escaped.

Police detained the suspect and prepared charges of rape and homicide against him.

Not spared. Residents transport a coffin along a flooded river in Calumpit, Bulacan. AFP

Let’s not let our guard down—Zambo mayor Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has exhorted the public to always remain vigilant in the light of continuing threats from lawless elements.

Salazar urged the police and military authorities to never let their guard down to ensure protection of this city.

Salazar’s call came after Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, local police director, publicly presented earlier the report of the National Intelligence Board

– Special Monitoring Committee placing this city along with other cities under threat level III. Casimiro said threat level III is classified as high terrorism threat level due to persistent reports suggesting presence of the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fight-

ers to launch bombing attacks and engage in kidnap-for-ransom activities.

Salazar has maintained her support for tighter and heightened security in this city to prevent any eventualities especially during the Yuletide season.

“It is best for us to be always safe than sorry, and to be always on the alert,” she said.

Salazar emphasized that civilians have to continue to support and cooperate with the authorities by providing timely security-

related information.

She said the public can be of big help to the authorities by providing information related to suspicious activities or persons roaming in their vicinities or even the presence of suspicious baggage or items or abandoned vehicles.

However, the mayor said the public should not panic whenever there are reports related to security.

“Verify and relay the information to concerned authorities,” she added. PNA

feature

Research aims to fight cutworms

By Dexter A. See LA TRININDAD, Benguet—In Benguet and some adjacent municipalities of Mountain Province, agriculture has and always been the number one means of living for its inhabitants.

These inhabitants mostly farmers produce and supply most of our nation’s demand for highland vegetables. Due to this demand, farmers resort to conventional farming for faster crop production just to cope up with mandate of its consumers nationwide.

However, these conventional farming practices often times, if not, most likely do more harm than good. Relentless use of chemical pesticides can drastically change soil quality from fertile to acidic. Hence, farm lands become less feasible for crop production. What’s more, to our farmers, the use of these expensive chemical pesticides burn holes through their pockets leaving them to breakeven if not bankrupt during harvest seasons. Dangerously enough, misuse and mishandling of pesticides can also

be risky not only for the farm laborers, but also for vegetable consumers.

To combat these problems, Benguet State University through its extension programs is encouraging farmers to shift from conventional to use of good agricultural practices and organic farming for a more sustainable and environment-friendly type of agriculture.

Organic farming requires less chemical pesticides, if not none at all.

But even organic crops are not spared from destruction brought about by pests like cutworms, a major pest of highland vegetables organic or not. This makes it difficult for our farmers to change their routine drill of using chemical pesticides in solving pest problems.

With aims to solve the cutworm problem, a BSU research was conducted by Ms. Felicitas Guerrero and Dr. Eulogio V. Cardona Jr. Their efforts led to the discovery of a biological enemy against cutworm: a virusscientifically termed as Spodoptera litura, commonly known as Nucleopolyhedro virus or locally known as NPV.

The brightest shines. An entry to the Parada ng mga Parol is hung for judging in Bauang, La Union. CHRISTINE JUNIO

A8

saturDaY: DECEMBEr 26, 2015

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Japanese convicted for nude Filipina pics TOkyO, Japan—A former school headteacher, who reportedly paid for sex with 12,000 women in the Philippines, has been convicted in Japan for taking photos of naked Filipino girls.

The yokohama District Court sentenced yuhei Takashima, 65, to two years in prison with the term suspended for four years, a spokesman told AFP. Takashima, who reportedly had sex with girls as young as 14, escaped prison with a promise not to offend again.

Quoting the verdict, Japan’s Jiji Press said the girls pictured were “aged between 12 and 14” and were photographed at a hotel in the Philippines about two years ago.

According to local media, Takashima had meticulously catalogued nearly 150,000 photographs of his sexual encounters over a 27-year period in around 400 separate albums.

Takashima was quoted as having said in court that he “has a habit of collecting things” and wanted “to keep the memories.”

The former middle-school principal started paying for sex when he was dispatched to a Japanese school in Manila in 1988.

He later went on three sex tours a year to the country, making a total of 65 visits.

During that time, he had sex with more than 12,000 women, with Nippon TV saying they were aged between 14 and 70.

Presiding judge Naoko Omori called Takashima’s action “despicable and vicious,” saying he “took advantage of the economic plight of young girls” in the Philippines, according to Jiji.

“Either in Japan or in the Philippines, children should be protected. He should have known that as a teacher,” she said.

Takashima should be condemned for “repeating indecent acts habitually to fulfill his sexual desire” but he “pledged he will never do it again,” according to public broadcaster NHk. Prosecutors had reportedly sought a two-year prison term. AFP

Colorful slides.

Children spend Christmas Day playing in Luneta.

MANNY PALMERO

Pope Francis slams culture of indifference, materialism VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis ushered in Christmas by urging the faithful to reject the materialism that pervades the gift-giving season, and to embrace “simple, balanced” values, as violence subdued festivities in the Holy Land.

The pontiff, at his annual Christmas Eve Mass at Saint Peter’s Basilica, called on Christians everywhere to push back against the excesses of modern society, which he said was “so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and extravagance, appearances and narcissism.”

Christianity calls on believers “to act soberly—in other words, in a way that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing and doing what is essential,” said the 79-year-old pope, leader of the world’s 1.2-billion Catholics.

In many countries across the world, Christians were fearful for their future, and some were even prohibited from celebrating the holy day, a state of affairs that did not go ignored by Francis.

“In a world which all too often is merciless to the sinner and lenient to the sin, we need to cultivate a strong sense of justice, to discern and to do God’s will,” the Argentine pontiff said.

Condemning a “culture of indifference which not infrequently turns ruthless,” the pope asked Catholics to combine prayer with

an attitude of “empathy, compassion and mercy” after a year of global unrest that saw one million migrants and refugees, mostly from Syria, reach Europe in search of a better life.

Amid an unusually heavy security presence in Saint Peter’s Square, the visibly pale pontiff, who is reportedly suffering from the flu, in a hoarse voice called on believers at risk of persecution to resist fear.

Half a world away in Bethlehem, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land arrived for the traditional midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity—built over the site where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Travelling from Jerusalem nearby, the Jordanian Latin patriarch Fouad Twal would have had to pass through the Israeli wall

that separates the two cities, with Bethlehem located in the occupied West Bank.

A wave of violence has led to a sharp decline in pilgrims visiting Bethlehem and the rest of the Holy Land this year, and only a sparse crowd was on hand to welcome Twal’s procession.

Violent protests and a series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis since October have killed 129 Palestinians, 19 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

Many of the Palestinians were attackers, while others were killed in clashes.

The Bethlehem mass commemorating the birth of Jesus will be dedicated to victims of violence and their families, Twal said, with celebrations “moderate” due to violence in the Palestinian territories, Israel and the world.

AFP

Pension of veterans in SSL pushed

By Maricel V. Cruz

Let it snow. Visitors at an amusement center in Pasay City on Friday marvel at ice sculptures inside ‘Snow World.’ DANNY PATA

MILITARy and police officers-turned-lawmakers have urged Congress to include the pension of veterans and retired military and uniformed personnel in the coverage of the proposed Salary Standardization Law of 2015 as a sign of appreciation and respect to them for risking their lives to protect the country.

In House Resolution No. 2547, Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, along with fellow Magdalo lawmaker Francisco Ashley Acedillo, Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil, ACT-CIS

party-list Rep. Samuel Pagdilao and Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop as co-authors.

While House Bill 6268, or the proposed SSL 2015 will benefit 1.53-million civilian, military and uniformed personnel of the national government, the measure does not cover the pension of military and uniformed personnel.

Section 11 of HB 6268 even provided for the suspension of the indexation of pension benefits of retired military and uniformed personnel with the base pay of those in the active service pending the passage of a pension reform law.

“It is unfair that the sus-

pension of the indexation of pension benefits for retired military and uniformed personnel be based on the passage of a pension reform law, which has not yet been filed for the consideration of Congress,” said Alejano, vice chair of the House committee on national defense and security.

“The omission of the retired military and uniformed personnel from the coverage of the SSL 2015 discredits the sacrifices made by our veterans and retirees who have spent almost half of their lives as guardians of peace and protectors of democracy,” he added.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

B1

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 26, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

PH exporters upbeat on 2016

By Julito G. Rada

STRONG fundamentals will make the economy robust enough to withstand global shocks in 2016, a high-ranking official of an exporters’ organization said.

Sergio Ortiz Luis, president of the Philippine Exporters Confederation, said the country’s growth momentum would be sustained next year amid forecasts of headwinds in the global trade.

Ortiz-Luis said the nation would remain a “bright spot” in Asia through next year despite the global export slump, noting the view of international economists that Philippine “domestic drivers can sustain economic expansion

despite external shocks.”

He said the economy had a number of advantages, including being relatively insulated from global upheavals compared with other more open economies in Asia. The Philippines, he said, had “strong fundamentals” and relied “a larger percent of growth” from domestic consumption.

Philippine exports fell by 10.8 percent in October, the seventh straight month of decline, due

mainly to sluggish external demand. The October shipments were an improvement from the double-digit drop of 24.7 percent year-on-year in September, following the slight improvement in the global manufacturing industry.

“To ensure sustained growth, the government and private sector must continue to take steps together to boost the economy, foremost of which is to help micro, small and medium enterprises to increase competitiveness, especially by providing them access to trade finance,” Ortiz-Luis said.

He cited a need to widen financing options for MSMEs, “specifically by government allocating P20 billion in loans for

MSMEs to directly tap without going through the usual collateral requirements, interest rate issues, strict repayment period and long documentation processes, among others.”

MSMEs account for nearly 100 percent of the country’s total establishments and contribute around 61 percent to the country’s total employment and 35.7 percent of the total value added.

Ortiz Luis said the efforts must be complemented by domestic reforms and measures “to help smoothen the way to sustainable, competitive exports amid challenges.”

These include developing infrastructure, transportation and communications facilities to un-

clog roads and other bottlenecks, addressing loopholes in the supply chain, and promoting innovation and productivity.

The government earlier projected the economy to grow between 7 and 8 percent this year. However, anemic fiscal expenditures by the administration dragged down growth to just 5 percent in the first quarter, 5.6 percent in the second quarter, and 6 percent in the third quarter. This brought GDP average in the first nine months to 5.5 percent, significantly below the target range.

The government became too cautious to spend since the third quarter of 2014, at the height of the controversy surrounding the administration’s Disbursement Acceleration Program.

PSe comPoSite index Closing December 23, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

7,002.42 36.24

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing DECEMBER 23, 2015 43.50 44.60 45.40

P47.225

46.20

CLOSE

47.00

HIGH P47.315 LOW P47.200 AVERAGE P47.275 VOLUME 427.000M

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

Batlling deflation. Shoppers select sweets at a market in Tokyo on December 25, 2015. Japanese consumer prices rose 0.1 percent in November year-on-year, official data showed, as the government continues to battle years of deflation. Story on B4. AFP

Cebu Pacific overtakes PAL, flies more passengers

By Darwin G. Amojelar CEBU Pacific has overtaken rival Philippine Airlines as the country’s largest airline in terms of passengers flown on domestic routes, the Civil Aeronautics Board.

Data from the CAB showed the budget airline owned by industrialist John Gokongwei carried 8.44 million passengers in the January-to-September period, up by 0.8 percent from 8.37 million passengers in the same period last year.

Cebu Pacific cornered 50.94 percent of the domestic market.

Cebgo, formerly Tigerairways Philippines, reported total do-

mestic passengers of 1.38 million during the period, higher by 57 percent from 878,681 passengers last year.

Rival Philippine Airlines posted total domestic passengers of 1.18 million in the first nine months, up 221 percent from 367,653 passengers last year.

PAL’s sister company PAL Express carried 3.60 million passengers in the January-to-September period, up 179.06 percent from 1.29 million passengers last year.

Air Asia Inc. flew 272,755 passengers, up 23 percent from 221,431 passengers.

AirAsia Zest, meanwhile, carried 1.61 million passengers, up

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

17.5 percent from last year’s 1.37 million passengers.

The total domestic passengers in the January-to-June period stood at 16.57 million, an increase of 31.9 percent from last year’s In terms of cargo, the local airlines carried a total 196.82 million kilograms in the first nine months of the year.

Of the total, Cebu Pacific carried 82.51 million kilograms, followed by PAL Express, 51.63 million kgs; PAL, 34.51 million kgs; Cebgo, 15.78 million kgs; AirAsia Zest, 10.72 million kgs; and AirAsia, 1.24 million kgs.

Cebu Pacific earlier asked the Civil Aeronautics Board to real-

locate the unused seat entitlements to United Arab Emirates previously granted to rival PAL Express.

Cebu Air requested the reallocation of seven weekly frequency entitlements to UAE from the unutilized frequency entitlements previously allocated to PAL Express.

PAL Express, however, said it was evaluating the possibility of operating the routes to the UAE. “We are keen on keeping our seven weekly frequency entitlements to the UAE,” PAL Express said.

PAL Express operated the Manila to Dubai route from November 2013 to March 2015.

oPriceS il P today

P25.03-P28.48 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, December 23, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.2980

Japan

Yen

0.008260

0.3907

UK

Pound

1.482500

70.1193

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128997

6.1013

Switzerland

Franc

1.012658

47.8967

Canada

Dollar

0.718081

33.9638

Singapore

Dollar

0.712099

33.6809

Australia

Dollar

0.723694

34.2293

Bahrain

Dinar

2.656395

125.6422

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266581

12.6087

Brunei

Dollar

0.709572

33.5613

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000073

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.027722

1.3112

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.8793

Euro

Euro

1.095300

51.8055

Korea

Won

0.000855

0.0404

China

Yuan

0.154350

7.3004

India

Rupee

0.015110

0.7147

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.233100

11.0252

New Zealand

Dollar

0.681106

32.2150

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030492

1.4422 Source: PDS Bridge

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 26, 2015

B2

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

New MRT-3 rail car THE Transport Department said pas-

sengers of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 can expect a new running rail car by the end of the first quarter next year.

The agency said the second new light rail vehicle for the MRT-3 arrived Wednesday as scheduled at the Manila International Container Terminal.

After it is processed by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and transported to the MRT-3 Depot, tests on the different components will be conducted until February.

These include testing the German-made traction motors from Voith and brake systems from Knorr-Bremse, and the overall performance of the LRV to ensure it is safe, reliable, and at par with international standards.

The Transport Department added two more LRVs were expected to be delivered over the next two months.

Four LRVs will be delivered a month

by March until the the 48th unit in January 2017.

The Transport Department awarded the P3.759-billion MRT3 capacity expansion contract to China’s Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co CNR Group. Darwin G. Amojelar

Metal output drops METAL production in the first nine

Scene stealer. One of Manila Ocean Park’s adorable South American sea lions steals the show as it streaks past a row of Pepsi-Cola Products

Philippines Inc. and Manila Ocean Park executives. Pepsi-Cola Manila Ocean Park held a ceremonial switch on of a 30-foot neon Christmas Tree made up of over 6,300 empty Mountain Dew bottles. Shown (from left) are Pepsi Philippines’ trade marketing manager Rodel Melendres, director for food service Alex Catindig, finance director Maricel Guro, MOP vice president for sales and marketing Armi Cortez, MOP executive VP Francis Low, Pepsi Philippines assistant VP Marvyn Taningco, H2O Hotel general manager Lily Santos Adrid, MOP VP for supply management Jenny Tan and MOP VP for human resources Andre Alip.

Meralco drops bid on Malampaya gas

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MERALCO PowerGen Corp., a unit of retailer Manila Electric Co., has lost interest in the Malampaya banked gas sale due to the limited time to put up power facility that will utilize the fuel.

“We were very interested during that time... But from when to start drawing the banked gas, we wouldn’t have enough time to build a small facility,” Meralco president Oscar Reyes said.

Meralco PowerGen earlier expressed interest in joining the sale of the banked gas from the Malampaya field in northwest Palawan.

The banked gas is estimated to

fuel a 400-megawatt power plant.

The government is conducting a joint tender for the banked gas, or reserves, of PNOC Exploration Corp. and Shell Philippines Exploration Corp..

The banked gas, according to an invitation bulletin, is to be delivered in the first quarter next year.

The invitation said Spex, Chevron

Malampaya LLC, PNOC Exploration as sellers were jointly tendering their respective gas volume entitlements under service contract 38 in northwest Palawan.

The quantity of gas available is up to 227.995 petajoules and an average daily quantity of up to 78.1 terajoules... was “available for delivery as early as January 1, 2016 and up to February 23, 2024.”

Meralco PowerGen attended the pre-qualification conference of the joint sale but did not submit a bid.

“It’s an industry that need to be carefully study,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said earlier.

Meralco PowerGen has long expressed interest in putting up natural gas power projects in the country, including liquefied natural gas.

The company is in talks with Osaka Gas of Japan for a possible joint venture for an LNG in Luzon but no firm commitment was made to date.

Meralco PowerGen is looking at up to 3,000 MW of power generation capacity in the next five years, with the bulk to be provided by coal.

The company is set to start next year the construction of three coal-fired power plants with a combined capacity of up to 2,255 megawatts.

The projects include the 455MW plant of San Buenaventura Power Ltd. in Quezon province, 600 MW by Redondo Peninsula Energy Inc. in Subic and 1,200MW Atimonan One Energy also in Quezon.

months of 2015 fell 20 percent to P85.78 billion from P107.24 billion year-on-year, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau said Friday.

Bureau director Leo Jasareno attributed the decreased value of metal production to the lower prices of gold, silver, copper and nickel.

Gold prices in the nine-month period dropped 8.4 percent from $1,288.73 per troy ounce a year ago to $1,180.13 per troy oz.

Analysts expect gold prices falling below the $1,100 per ounce mark before the end of 2015.

The average price of silver dropped 19.6 percent from $19.95 per troy oz to $16.03 per troy oz.

Nickel prices declined from $7.77 per lb to just $5.70 per lb, while copper dropped from $3.13 per lb to $2.57 per lb.

“The poor base metal price during the year was brought about by the listless world economic growth and slowdown of the Chinese economy,” Jasareno said.

He said said direct shipments of nickel ore and mixed nickel-cobalt sulfide accounted for 52.4 percent or P44.97 billion of the total production value. Anna Leah E. Gonzales

Emotors bullish EMOTORS Inc., maker of ZüM elec-

tric tricycle, is targeting small scale entrepreneurs as possible clients.

“Small and medium enterprises is a growing enterprise. We are willing to partner with the likes of Aling Puring of Puregold and even tricycle drivers association,” said Emotors president and chief executive Elizabeth Lee. She said Zum e-trike was a business that would spread the benefit of environmentally-sound technology at a cheap price.

The company recently sent feelers to Puregold Price Club to encourage store and grocery owners under its Aling Puring livelihood program to invest on e-trike.

It is also in talks with local government units to to replace transportation fleet with green technology e-trikes The company has initially set its sight on Palawan to test the economics and viability of e-trikes as an alternative means of transportation.

E-Motors is the only social enterprise registered with the Board of Investments under the Comprehensive Industrial Policy and Directions for the Motor Vehicle Development Program and the Omnibus Investment Code.

Othel V. Campos

SEC stops One Team Global from selling unregistered securities

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-anddesist order against One Team Global Solutions Inc. for selling securities not registered with the corporate regulator.

The SEC in a notice published on its Web site ordered One Team and its officers, directors, agents and representatives to stop from selling securities in the form of investment contracts until a registration statement was filed and

approved by the SEC. “The commission will institute the appropriate administrative and criminal action against any person or entities found to act as solicitors, information providers, salesmen, agents, brokers, dealers or like for an behalf of the subject corporations,” the SEC said.

One Team was registered with the SEC on February 2015 as a company engaged in the buying, selling, distributing and marketing of merchandise of every kind.

It has an authorized capital stock of P1 million with office along Kamuning Road, Quezon City. The company, however, is not licensed to sell securities to the public.

Based on the investigation conducted by the SEC, One Team operates as a fraud and violated the Securities Regulation Code, which prohibits the sale of securities in the Philippines without prior registration and approval by the SEC. Under One Team’s scheme, an investor will put in P2,500 into

the company and receive in return a product package for reselling. The amount paid for the products are far from their fair market value.

An investor can get higher profits if he recruits two investors as downlines. They serve as supports to recruit additional downlines until 15 slots are filed that resembles a pyramid.

The SEC explained that pyramiding was a form of investment taking and a variation of the Ponzi scheme. This is typically masked

as a multi-level marketing in which participants profit primarily through recruiting other people.

This means the funds invested by the downlines, often referred to as joining fee, are used to pay the “uplines”.

The SEC has been going after companies engaging in pyramiding scheme. Last month, the regulator issued a cease-and-desist order against EmGoldex, an online investment scam that has victimized mostly migrant Filipino workers.

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 26, 2015

B3

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

Dollar caps drop; oil rebounds

By Toshiro Hasegawa and Chikako Mogi

THE dollar held a five-day decline Friday against major peers after oil capped its biggest weekly advance in four months. Japanese stocks slid, while most markets in Asia were closed for holidays.

Japan’s Topix index fell, completing a fifth weekly drop, with exporters leading declines. Shares advanced in China and Taiwan.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 2.8 percent in the holidayshortened week through Thursday, recouping all but 12 points

of the two-day rout following the first interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve in almost a decade on Dec. 16. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 9.7 percent this week, the biggest gain since August after US crude inventories declined and drillers idled rigs.

Markets across Asia except in Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam were closed for holidays.

“The dollar may end the year with a little pause but it’s too early to declare the uptrend has reversed,” Koji Fukaya, the Tokyobased chief executive officer at FPG Securities Co. “The dollar will remain solid through 2016 as interest rates rise with an improving economy.”

The dollar fell 0.2 percent to 120.22 yen as of 4 p.m. in Tokyo Friday. It was little changed at $1.0969 per euro, after sliding 0.5 percent in New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,226.31 after drop-

ping for a fifth day Thursday, the longest decline since April.

A two-day gain in commodity prices through Thursday helped boost the Australian and New Zealand dollars. The Aussie gained 0.3 percent to 72.83 US cents and the kiwi rose 0.3 percent to 68.32 cents.

The offshore yuan headed for the biggest weekly gain in two months on speculation demand for the currency will increase after Chinese authorities announced they would expand trading hours in the mainland and move to liberalize the capital account.

The Chinese currency rose 0.07 percent to 6.5395 a dollar in Hong

Kong, according to data compiled

by Bloomberg. For the week, the yuan is up 0.3 percent, the most since the period ended Oct. 30.

The Topix declined 0.5 percent.

Exporters slid as the stronger yen weighed on their profit outlooks.

Toyota Motor Corp. fell 0.8 percent. Nikon Corp., the camera maker, dropped 0.3 percent, while Sony Corp. lost 0.6 percent.

“Then yen is back where it was before US interest rates were raised,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo.

“With foreign investors away for Christmas, domestic drivers aren’t enough to push stocks higher or lower.” Bloomberg

HK flat sells for record $76.7m HONG KONG—A luxury apartment in Hong Kong sold for a record HK$594.7 million ($76.7 million), days before Christmas, making it the most expensive flat in the city and possibly in Asia, reports said Friday.

An unidentified buyer paid more than HK$103,700 persquare-foot for the 5,732 square-foot (532 square-meter) unit at the luxury 39 Conduit Road apartment tower in the southern Chinese city’s upmarket Mid-Levels residential area, The Apple Daily and The Standard reported.

The condominium, on the 46th floor with a view of the iconic Victoria Harbour and a 1,754 squarefeet rooftop, had a list price of HK$646.48 million on developer Henderson Land Properties’ Web site.

The price beats the previous record HK$470 million paid for a luxury unit which takes up the entire eighth floor of the Opus Hong Kong, a 12-story residential building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, in 2012.

Henderson Land was not available for comment Friday, a public holiday.

This comes as analysts said a US interest rate hike could put an end to the housing boom in the Chinese city which maintains a decades old peg with the US dollar.

Hong Kong-based brokerage CLSA warned the residential market was at a “turning point,” with prices possibly dropping 17 percent by 2017, while other firms have tipped falls of up to 30 percent.

Hong Kong’s de facto central bank last Thursday raised its base interest rate by 25 points to 0.75 percent after the US Federal Reserve announced its first rate increase in more than nine years.

But chief analyst for Midland Realty Buggle Lau said the record-breaking purchase does not reflect the bigger picture of the overall property market in the city. AFP

Last-minute shopper. NEW YORK--A woman carries shopping bags as she walks in Times Square on December 24, 2015 in New York City. Last-minute shoppers get some of the best deals, many of the major retailers, including Macy’s and Kohl’s, are set to stay open until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. AFP

Toys’R’Us to close down flagship Times Square store NEW YORK—New York City is set to lose another landmark toy shop when Toys”R”Us shutters its Times Square flagship store on December 30.

The location, which boasts 110,000 square feet, will close after the toy chain declined to renew its lease, which expires in January. The store first opened in November 2001.

Closing Times Square enabled Toys”R”Us to “realize meaningful rent savings,” a company representative said.

“We have not signed a lease agreement for a new location at this time, but we are actively searching for another location in Manhattan.”

The company continues to operate 17 locations of Toys”R”Us

and Babies”R”Us in the greater New York area, the representative added.

The move comes on the heels of the closing of the iconic FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue earlier this year.

At the time, Toys”R”Us, which owns FAO Schwarz, cited soaring real estate costs, but said it could reopen FAO Schwarz elsewhere in Manhattan at a future date.

Conventional specialty retail chains like Toys”R”Us are under pressure from general merchandise retailers like Wal-Mart and Target that sell toys, as well as from Amazon and other online stores.

On December 15, Toys”R”Us reported a loss in the third quarter of $167 million. AFP

Customers enter and exit the Toys”R”Us Times Square flagship store December 24, 2015 in New York. The 110,000 square foot toy store is scheduled to close Dec. 30, 2015 after the toy chain declined to renew its lease. AFP

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 26, 2015

B4

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

Japan inflation rate inches up TOKYO—Japan’s inflation rate ticked up in November, posting the first gain in five months, official data showed Friday, but still-weak household spending weighed on the world’s number three economy.

The tepid figure—a 0.1 percent gain in core inflation excluding volatile fresh food prices—offered a glimmer of hope for Tokyo’s bid to conquer years of deflation, after the economy narrowly sidestepped a recession last quarter.

But the latest inflation number remains way below the Bank of Japan’s 2.0 percent target, as officials struggle to convince cautious firms to usher in big wage hikes to stir spending.

A falling price spiral in Japan

for years put consumers off buying in the hopes of getting goods cheaper down the road, denting firms’ expansion and hiring plans. That has weighed on growth in the wider economy.

In November, household spending fell 2.9 percent from a year ago, the third monthly decline.

Friday’s weak figures came despite signs of a tight labor market, with the headline unemployment rate at a near two-decade low of 3.3 percent, slightly up from 3.1

percent in October.

Japan’s economy saw a slight uptick in the July-September quarter, rising 0.3 percent—and reversing an earlier forecast of a contraction that had risked putting the country into recession for the second time in as many years.

A lackluster global economy, marked by the slowdown in China and weakness in emerging markets, is posing challenges to the recovery.

Tokyo has approved an extra spending budget to stimulate the still-weak economy.

The latest inflation data followed three months of consecutive declines and a flat reading in July, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The gain was mainly due to

a slowing decline in oil prices, as well as rising prices of travelrelated goods and services, the ministry said.

“The price gain was too small given the [BoJ’s] 2.0 percent target,” said Yusuke Shimoda, economist at Japan Research Institute.

“While prices are expected to improve moderately, it will take time to achieve that ambitious goal. I don’t think the Bank of Japan will take additional steps for now, but the market is pressuring the BoJ to launch more stimulus.”

Last week, Japan’s central bank announced an unexpected tweak to its vast monetary easing program in a bid to power a recovery in the economy.

BoJ policymakers rolled out a series of changes, including

boosting their holdings in firms dedicated to capital spending and new hiring.

They also made some other changes—including hiking the bank’s exposure to longer-term bonds—after wrapping up their last policy meeting of the year.

The announcement comes as analysts raise concerns the BoJ would struggle to scoop up enough bonds under its 80 trillion yen ($665 billion) annual asset-buying scheme—which effectively prints money to spur lending.

The central bank’s stimulus, launched more than two years ago, is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempt to kickstart the long-lumbering economy with a policy blitz dubbed Abenomics. AFP

Belgian chocolatier goes ‘bean-to-bar’ for best taste

Belgium chocolatier Benoit Nihant inspects chocolate production at his factory in Awans on December 11, 2015. In a country where chocolate is a national pastime, Nihant is one of around a dozen small number of ‘bean-to-bar’ makers who go direct to the source in Africa, the Americas and Asia to get the best possible taste. AFP

By Marine Laouchez

AWANS, Belgium—Chuao, Baracoa, Hacienda Rio Peripa: when it comes to cocoa beans, it turns out there are vintages just like there are for fine wines, says Belgian chocolate maker Benoit Nihant.

In a country where chocolate is a source of national pride, Nihant is one of around a dozen “bean-tobar” makers who go direct to the source in Africa, the Americas and Asia to get the best possible taste.

And it is the Chuao plantation on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, where the beans dry beneath the sun in the village square before a blue and yellow church, that produces the finest chocolate in the world, experts say.

The select group including Nihant and his fellow Belgian Pierre Marcolini are now trying to transform the often traditional world of chocolate making by mastering the process from the bean harvest to the creation of elaborate confections.

“It took us three or four years to really master, to understand the impact of the work on the plantations on the chocolate itself,” says the 41-year-old Nihant at his shop

in Awans, near Liege in southern Belgium.

After starting out as an iron and steel engineer in the Belgian rustbelt, Nihant says he had a revelation just before he turned 30.

“I suddenly realized that I hadn’t chosen my career, my destiny,” he says. “I really wanted to create something, and to live my passion on a daily basis.”

‘Chocolate is made with love’ That passion was chocolate, accounting for the attention to detail that now informs his work.

“Good chocolate is made with love. Good chocolate is made with beans which come from a small plantation, which have been chosen and not mixed with the harvest from a neighboring plantation,” he explains.

“It’s chocolate where the grower is aware of what the chocolatier

wants and respects all the steps of fermentation and drying without taking shortcuts.”

Most of the world’s major chocolate makers buy their chocolate ready-made from a small group of multinational firms which mix beans from different sources for a more consistent taste.

But for his chocolate, Nihant has hand-picked nine plantations after a series of journeys, in Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba, Madagascar and Bali in Indonesia. Soon he hopes to source beans from Peru, where he recently bought land.

He imports 25 tons of beans a year in a country that produces a massive 650,000 tons of chocolate a year, mostly by big brands including Godiva, Leonidas and Neuhaus.

Going direct to the source does not come cheap, though. He buys his beans for between six and 12

euros ($6.50 to $13) per kilogram, whereas ready-made chocolate is sold to manufacturers for 3.50 euros per kilo.

Chocolate fans pay the price in the end for their pleasure: a 50-gram (nearly 2-ounce) Benoit Nihant bar costs between 4.20 euros and 7.20 euros.

Changing tradition It’s not just the cocoa beans that have been taken back to their roots.

Behind a big window in his workshop, watched by curious customers, are two huge machines.

One dates from the 1950s and was rescued from an abandoned chocolate factory in Asia. The other, for grinding, has two huge granite wheels which turn the roasted and crushed beans into chocolate liquor, the base for all recipes.

The machine dates from the 19th-century and was being used as a decoration in a factory in Greece, but was restored thanks to the know-how of Belgian workers.

“These are the techniques which give you flavor,” Nihant says.

It is the operator’s job to determine when the cooking process is finished, a crucial yet precise step which extracts the taste from the cocoa.

It’s this process that allows Nihant to make a 70 percent dark chocolate that has strong taste without the bitterness.

The chocolatier has made his own expertise the centerpiece of his Christmas window display: five stars representing each of the “grand cru” or major “vintages” of chocolates that he makes.

The one in the middle is stuffed with praline made with lightly salted pecans.

Nihant started off his business in the garage of his parents-inlaw and in 10 years he has expanded three times.

Today, he has four shops in Belgium while his chocolate is also sold in around a dozen shops in Japan and is in talks to open in China and the United States, as well as a tie-in with the famed Harrods department store in London.

“We are a generation which is turning tradition and the old way of doing things on its head. We’re doing our bit for the Belgian tradition,” he says. AFP

S At u r D AY : D e c e m b e r 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

B5

ceSAr bArrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world

Light and sound show. People look at a light and sound show projected on the facade of the city hall of Rennes, western France, on December 22, 2015. The French company “Spectaculaires”, specialists in sound and light, displays each year a light show on the facade of the Rennes city hall for Christmas. They have also projected light and sound shows in Brazil and Vietnam and illuminated the Chartres cathedral, the Notre Dame cathedral and the concerts of French singer Francis Cabrel. AFP

US set to expel illegal migrants Attacks cast pall in Paris and around the world PARIS—It was a subdued Christmas Eve in Paris on Thursday, with tourist numbers down, security bolstered at shops and churches, and locals still on edge after last month’s jihadist attacks.

Heavily armed soldiers patrolled outside the iconic Galeries Lafayette and Printemps department stores in the city center, still doing a brisk last-minute Christmas trade but notably less crowded than usual.

“It’s a lot quieter,” said taxi driver Belkassem. “I feel bad for the hotels and restaurants because there are a lot fewer tourists in town this year and this is a crucial time of year for them.”

The famous “bateaux-mouches” boats that carry millions of tourists each year along the Seine have reported a 15-30 percent drop in business since the attacks

of November 13, which left 130 dead and hundreds injured.

It is not only France that is feeling the tension this festive season.

Christians around the world are bracing for potential attacks at a symbolic time of year -- even in China where the US and British embassies warned of possible violence against Westerners in Beijing.

But Paris the world’s mostvisited city has naturally taken the worst blow in the wake of last month’s attacks, with flight reservations down nearly a third compared with a year earlier.

Tourist guide Cecile Reverdy, who translates mostly for Chinese visitors, described a massive fall in business from some countries.

“There are around 30 percent less Chinese only 30 percent because the Chinese are pretty daring,” she told French television. AFP

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s administration is planning a vast operation to round up and expel from the United States migrant families who fled drought and violence in Central America, reports said Thursday.

Any such crackdown would be hugely controversial, with immigration one of the hottest topics in the 2016 presidential campaign, and rights groups expressed grave concern at the deportations.

The flow of families and unaccompanied children crossing into the United States from Mexico slowed this year, but the numbers surged upwards again in October and November.

Several Latin American countries are in the grip of violent lawlessness and the El Niño weather pattern has plunged a number of countries in the region into drought.

The Department of Homeland Security did not dispute anonymously sourced reports in The Washington Post and Wall

Street Journal that a crackdown is imminent.

According to the reports, hundreds of families living in the United States whose asylum requests have been denied will be rounded up and sent home.

DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Gillian Christensen told AFP that Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson “has consistently said our border is not open to illegal immigration.

“If individuals come here illegally, do not qualify for asylum or other relief, and have final orders of removal, they will be sent back consistent with our laws and our values.”

Refugee rights activists argue the families are fleeing corruption, gang violence and drought

in their homelands and should be treated as refugees.

Republican presidential hopefuls including front runner Donald Trump who took to Twitter to claim credit for the deportations are vying for who can promise the toughest stance on immigration.

Trump tweeted: “Wow, because of the pressure put on by me, ICE TO LAUNCH LARGE SCALE DEPORTATION RAIDS. It’s about time!”

In contrast, Hillary Clinton’s campaign said the Democratic front runner had “real concerns.”

Clinton “believes it is critical that everyone has a full and fair hearing, and that our country provides refuge to those that need it,” read a statement reported in US media.

“We should be guided by a spirit of humanity and generosity as we approach these issues.”

In the 2015 fiscal year, the arrests of non-documented migrants crossing the US southern border dropped by a third to the second lowest level since 1972. AFP

Nightmare white Christmas in Beijing BEIJING—Beijing residents woke up to a white Christmas Friday morning but with the sky obscured by thick toxic smog rather than snow after more than 100 million people across China had been warned to stay indoors.

The capital and surrounding parts of northern China are regularly blanketed in deadly pollution associated with heavy industry and an increase in coal consumption during the winter months.

Counts of PM2.5 harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs in Beijing peaked at 620 micrograms per cubic meter as of early Friday, according to data

from the US embassy.

The World Health Organization’s recommended maximum exposure is 25 micrograms over a 24-hour period.

“If this only happened a few days a year, I’d put up with it, but it’s paralyzing for it to be like this every day!” said one angry social media user on China’s Twitterlike Weibo platform. “Is this the new normal?”

The city posted contradictory alerts for Christmas day, with the Beijing Meteorological Service issuing an orange alert requiring factories to limit expelled pollutants and schools to cease outdoor ac-

tivities while the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau issued only a yellow alert, the second lowest in a four-tiered, colorcoded warning system.

The smog is expected to last until Saturday afternoon.

Photos on social media showed empty freeways shrouded in a white-out of haze as authorities shut down highways in the region and grounded flights out of the capital.

More than 500 international and domestic arrivals and departures at Beijing’s main airport were canceled due to “heavy fog and low visibility”, its website said. AFP

The smog persists. People cross a street during heavy pollution in Beijing on December 25, 2015. Beijing’s residents woke up to a white Christmas on December 25 but with the sky obscured by thick toxic smog rather than snow after more than 100 million people across China had been warned to stay indoors. AFP

S AT U R DAY : D E C E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Smith rejoins struggling Sixers NEW YORK—Ish Smith, a journeyman guard on 11 teams since his NBA debut in 2010, returned to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Lethwei martial arts fighter, US national Cyrus “Black Dynamite” Washington (center), reacts following a bloody blow to his face by home champion Tun Tun Min during their bout at the Thein Phyu boxing stadium in Yangon. AFP

Foreigners drawn to Myanmar’s bone-crunching sport of kickboxing YANGON—A roar erupted at the Yangon ring as the home champion ploughed a right hook into his American opponent’s face, crumpling him to the canvas in the opening round of the bonecrunching kickboxing bout.

But for the American fighter, and an increasing number of foreigners, the unvarnished brutality of the martial art Lethwei is the very reason they are seeking out Myanmar, primed for pain and ready to test their fighting skills.

With head-butts among the array of painful blows permitted, Lethwei pugilists say their sport is the hardiest member of Southeast Asia’s kickboxing family—even more brutal than Thailand’s better known Muay Thai.

Competitors have their hands wrapped but do not wear gloves as they attempt to batter their opponent

into submission. A win is by knock-out only.

The American in the ring that night, Cyrus “Black Dynamite” Washington, is among several professional boxers joining the roster.

He has competed several times in a country where the sport is booming and the prize-pots are growing.

“Headbutts? Yeah it’s dangerous but I think all ways of fights are dangerous,” the muscular 33-year-old told AFP, shortly before his match against the country’s top Lethwei fighter, Tun Tun Min. “Headbutts, strong kicks and other physical attacks, all are dangerous in the ring.”

During Sunday’s fight, however, headbutts were the least of Washington’s concern.

He was felled a little over a minute into round one by a lightning fast right hook from Tun Tun Min.

Ancient history But Washington knew exactly what faced him in the ring.

The Thailand-based Muay Thai specialist has travelled to neighbouring Myanmar with increased frequency and had already met Tun Tun Min twice before, with both fighters notching up a victory each.

He has also had bouts against former national champion Saw Nga Mann and Too Too, another famous local fighter.

Lethwei has an ancient history in Myanmar. Carvings on the temples of Bagan, which dot the central Myanmar plains, appear to show pairs of men locked in combat, suggesting the sport is over a thousand years old.

In the modern era it was kept alive in the eastern border states of Karen and Mon, where kickboxing bouts are held to mark everything from monks’ funerals to

New Year festivities.

Spectators in front row seats are close enough to hear bones shatter and expect a sporadic showering of blood, sweat and spittle. It is not unusual to find boys as young as 10 taking part in matches.

If no one gets knocked out in five three-minute rounds, the match ends in a draw.

Until recently it was rare for foreigners to fight in Lethwei rings but that is rapidly changing.

Zin Lin Htunn, a local Lethwei expert, said the first outsiders began fighting in the mid-1990s, but were mainly from neighbouring Thailand.

In more recent years boxers from Japan, the United States, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and Costa Rica have followed in their footsteps, usually after training in Thailand. AFP

The 76ers, losers in 30 of their 31 games this season, sent two second round NBA draft picks to the Pelicans in exchange for Smith. Philadelphia waived guard Tony Wroten to make room for Smith on the roster.

Smith is the only player in the NBA with at least 150 assists and 45 or fewer turnovers. He has played in 27 games for the Pelicans this season, averaging 8.9 points and 5.7 assists a game.

He ranks fifth in assistto-turnover ratio (3.42-to-1) and sixth in assists per 48 minutes (12.0) in the NBA. Last season, Smith averaged 12 points, six assists, three rebounds and one steal a game for the 76ers, whose next game is Saturday at Phoenix.

Wroten played in only eight games this season due to injuries. He was averaging 8.4 points, about half what he averaged last season.

Meanwhile, New York Knicks forward Derrick Williams has reported to New York police that $617,000 in jewelry is missing from his apartment.

Authorities say two women are the subject of a search in the case after surveillance video showed them leaving a club last Saturday and go-

ing to Williams’ home.

After 90 minutes in Williams’ upscale Manhattan apartment, the women departed and Williams later found the jewelry missing, then filed a report with the police.

Among the missing items Williams listed were a $50,000 diamond Rolex watch, three diamond rings worth an estimated $30,000 and three gold chains valued at $35,000.

Williams, 24, was the second pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He is averaging 7.3 points a game his season for the Knicks, who are 14-16, fourth worst in the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jahil Okafor was confronted by a man with a handgun during an October incident in Philadelphia, the first of three controversial offcourt incidents, USA Today reported Thursday.

Records obtained by the newspaper from the National Park Service, who patrol the area where the incident took place, indicated Okafor was believed to be intoxicated when he struck the back of a vehicle on October 4. A man in the car jumped out, knocked the teen center to the ground and aimed a gun at him before fleeing. AFP

Coach Jacobs dies LEGENDARY coach Ron Jacobs passed away on Thursday after a long illness caused by a stroke he suffered 14 years ago in Dec. 22, 2001.

He was 72. He would have turned 73 on Dec. 27.

The sad news was relayed by sports columnist Quinito Henson through his Twitter account on Thursday at 8:30 p.m., a few hours before Christmas.

Jacobs, the former coach of Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, California, is best remembered for handling the Northern Consolidated Cement, the predecessor of the Gilas program back in the 90s.

Under Jacobs’ watch, the NCC won six titles including the 1981 and 1985 William Jones Cup and the 1985 ABC Championship, now known as the FIBA Asia Men’s Championship.

By virtue of winning the ABC title that year, the NCC team qualified to join the 1986 FIBA World Championship, but failed to do so due to the political turmoil that gripped the country that eventually led to the EDSA People Power Revolution.

Balanga, Villamor rule Peugeot netfest THE Peugeot Philippines Tennis Open Nueva Ecija leg recently saw some of the country’s best tennis players battle it out to bag the championship crowns at the Center Court Tennis Club in Cabanatuan City.

Current Philippine Tennis Association’s Women’s Singles No. 6 Edilyn Balanga faced No. 7 Marinel Rudas in the championship match of the third regional qualifier leg of the PPTO. Balanga emerged triumphant, 6-3, 6-4.

Before their women’s singles championship duel, Balanga and Rudas teamed up for the doubles’ championship match against Hanna

Espinosa and Erika Manduriao. The latter’s combined firepower was no match for Balanga and Rudas as proven by a 6-3, 6-5 scoreboard.

Meanwhile, former De La Salle University tennis player Alberto Villamor and Baguio’s top player Jet Tangalin gave their all in the men’s singles championship match. Villamor, who lost in the first set (2-6), bounced back and swept the second (6-3) and third sets (6-2) to beat Tangalin. Prior to Tangalin, Villamor took on Vince Salas in the semi-finals match of the PPTO Nueva Ecija leg that lasted for two hours and 40 minutes, the longest match recorded in the

tournament’s run to date.

Despite losing to Villamor, Salas won the men’s doubles division with partner Al Michael Madrio.

The duo beat John Mari Altiche and Kyle Parpan with the score 6-3, 6-1.

“The Nueva Ecija leg has been our most exciting leg yet, with the participation of some of our country’s top tennis players, who displayed their skill and talent in the court,” Glen Dasig, Peugeot Philippines President, said. “We are eager to witness similar high intensity, exciting matches in the last two legs of the PPTO in Cebu and Manila in early 2016.”

PPTO Nueva Ecija leg Men’s Singles champion Alberto Villamor is shown with the PPTO Nueva Ecija leg organizers and representatives from Peugeot Nueva Ecija.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Tiger talks Ryder Cup, more majors

GlobalPort’s Terrence Romeo tries to figure out a way to beat two Barako Bull defenders in a PBA Philippine Cup game won by the Batang Pier, 94-85.

GlobalPort 5 marches on

By Jeric Lopez

WHATEVER coach Pido Jarencio said to his wards at halftime certainly worked.

Following a lethargic first half, GlobalPort came out with guns blazing in the second en route to a 94-85 thumping of Barako Bull to advance to the next phase of the quarterfinals of the 2015-16 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Terrence Romeo exploded with a game-high 33 points to go with five rebounds and five assists as he powered GlobalPort, which held a twice-to-beat advantage, to the next round with his stellar play.

With the win, No. 5 seed GlobalPort moved forward to the next phase of the quarters wherein it will figure in a

knockout game against either Barangay Ginebra or Star for a berth in the semifinals and a possible date with top seed San Miguel Beer.

“Nag-struggle kami nu’ng first half pero nag-step up ‘yung mga players, especially si Terrence (Romeo), kasi gusto na talaga nila pumasok,” said Jarencio of his wards’ exploits in the second half. “Waiting na lang kami now. Ready kami.”

Realizing that it needs to turn things around, GlobalPort stepped hard on the gas pedal in the third period.

Trailing, 41-48, at the half, the Batang Pier turned the tides in the third by orchestrating a game-chang-

double-digit lead, 86ing 18-1 blast in the first Games Today six minutes of the quar- (Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City) 75, with just 4:04 re3 p.m. - Rain or Shine maining after a triple ter to take a commandvs. Blackwater ing 59-49 cushion, the 5:15 p.m. - Talk ‘N Text vs. NLEX from Romeo and the Batang Pier did not team’s first lead since look back from there. the first quarter.

Stanley Pringle provided the Entering the payoff period, Barako Bull managed to trim the needed support for GlobalPort, deficit to only five, 64-69, after a registering a double-double with fightback late in the third to give 15 points and 13 rebounds.

The scores: itself hope in the fourth.

GLOBALPORT 94—Romeo Romeo scored 12 of his points in the third period as he was at the 33, Pringle 15, Washington 9, forefront of GlobalPort’s onslaught.

Mamaril 8, Jensen 7, Sumang 6, The Energy managed ro stay Yeo 6, Kramer 4, Maierhofer 4, Sewithin striking distance in the next merad 2, Hayes 0, Isip 0, Uyloan 0.

BARAKO 85—Wilson 15, Monseveral minutes but the Batang Pier kept its poise and went on to dish out fort 12, Urbiztondo 12, Intal 11, Penthe finishing kick as a vital 17-9 run nisi 9, Baracael 8, Brondial 8, Fortuna in the middle of the fourth proved to 4, Lanete 4, Sorongon 2, Caperal 0.

Quarters: 21-25, 41-48, 69-64, be the dagger.

That surge restored GlobalPort’s 94-85

MIAMI—Tiger Woods, the 14time major champion sidelined by back surgery, says he expects more major titles and top-level golf despite having no timetable for returning to the sport.

Woods, who turns 40 next week, posted pictures Thursday on Twitter and Instagram of his new dog “Bugs” with two other dogs and his two children, Sam Alexis and Charlie.

Earlier this week, Woods said on his website that despite being idled by the latest in a series of injury setbacks, he sees himself back at the top level as he moves through his 40s.

“Where do I see myself in the next five to 10 years? I am still playing golf at the highest level and winning tournaments and major championships,” Woods said.

Woods says his feelings change about turning 40.

“Mentally, people who know me know I’m like a five-year-old.

Physically, sometimes I feel old and sometimes I feel like a teenager,” Woods said. “I don’t like the polar opposites of the two. I’d like to be somewhere in the middle where I feel 40.”

Woods called 2015 “a rollercoaster ride the entire year, from being down to some pretty darn good highs” but anticipated he would return to PGA Tour play next year.

“The thing I’m looking forward to the most about 2016 is getting back out there again,” Woods said.

“I’ve missed it, and I would like to do it pain-free. I haven’t done that in what seems like a long time. I’ve had it in spurts the last few years and have done some pretty good things, but I’d like to have sustained health.”

Woods has signed up to be an assistant to US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love but said he still hopes to play his way into a spot on the team. AFP

Boxing organizations must crack down on cheats INSIDE SPORTS RONNIE NATHANIELSZ

BOXING’S major organizations such as the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization must begin a crackdown on fighters, who cheat by taking performance-enhancing drugs, which give them an undue advantage over their opponents.

Frankly, it seems the world boxing organizations are tolerating this malpractice for whatever reason, but it is slowly but surely killing the sport aside of course from the bum decisions by judges as evidenced in the Nicholas Walters’ draw in a 10-round bout against Jason Sosa some two Sundays ago.

While we don’t pay much attention to the Compubox stats, which are certainly not foolproof, they provide some sort of guide when assessing the scoring of the three judges, which has often been criticized by the media, boxing people and fight fans.

Scott Christ of SB Nation, who tells it like it is, referred to the Walters-Sosa results as “an absolutely baffling turn of events that robbed Walters of a clear win on HBO Boxing After Dark, with the three judges seated at ringside in charge of professionally scoring the fight, coming up with a draw, scoring the fight 95-95 on two cards and even more alarmingly 96-94 for Sosa on the third.”

The boxing site Bad Left Hook had Walters the winner by a 100-90 shutout, while HBO’s resident TV judge Harold Lederman scored the fight, 99-91, for Walters.

While we don’t necessarily have to agree with these scorecards, it tells you that there was something radically wrong with the judges’ appreciation of the performance of “The Axe Man,” who had effectively crushed Nonito “The Filipino Flsh” Donaire’s attempt to move up in weight with a sixth-round TKO with Donaire quickly realizing he had miscalculated badly and dropped back to super bantamweight where he ruled supreme in 2012 and was honored as “Fighter of the Year.”

Scott wrote that the only consolation for Walters was that judge Tom Screk’s proSosa card was over-ruled just enough by Don Ackerman and Wynn Kintz’s draw scores that prevented Walters from taking what he referred to as “an even more outlandish first loss. This is a hell of a way to to lose your unblemished record.”

While we can probably live with occasional issues of integrity involving the judging of fights and the fact that it could be subjective, we certainly are not prepared to stand idly by and watch boxers juiced up and getting away with it because the world organizations don’t have the guts or are unwilling to appropriate funds for random drug tests.

We recall that World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman told us sometime ago that the WBC was working with the University of California in Los Angeles to set in place a drug-testing program at least involving boxers in world title fights for a start. Great idea and we commended Mauricio for it.

Regrettably, that was the last we heard about this.

What has transpired so far? The media and the fans as well as the “clean” fighters

have a right to know, especially when they place their lives on the line when they enter the ring.

We believe you don’t have to be an expert like Dr. Margaret Goodman, who heads the Voluntary Anti Doping Agency to suspect a fighter is on some sort of stimulant when they get ripped in the first half of a 12-round bout and then suddenly turn things around in the middle rounds, show no signs of tiring at all, but amazingly come on really strong and throw flurries of punches non-stop and merely blink when hit with vicious shots to the head and body.

We don’t wish to name names and run the risk of lawsuits, but if the leaders of boxing organizations cannot see what is going on then, they don’t deserve to lead a sport that can be brutal especially if the use of perfor-

mance enhancing drugs is tolerated.

If the sport of boxing, which we love with a passion is to overcome the inroads made by Mixed Martial Arts and protect its integrity and adherence to the values and virtues of sportsmanship and fair play, then decisive action must be taken to enforce random drug testing.

Sulaiman can very well take a lead role in this effort and invite the WBA under its new president Gilberto Mendoza Jr., WBO president “Paco” Valcarcel and IBF president Darryl Peoples to at least reach a common stand on random drug testing.

If Olympic athletes and even national associations could be banned on the issue of performance-enhancing drugs, surely the world boxing organizations can themselves crackdown on this menace.

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JOEL D. L ACSAMANA EDITOR jdlacsamana@gmail.com

PROPERTY rEal EstatE’s top prEsidEntial picks in 2016

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ith the 2016 presidential race ostensibly heating up after the holidays, real estate website Lamudi Philippines (www.lamudi.com.ph) recenty ticked off the supposed accomplishments of five candidates for the country’s top post—Mar Roxas III, Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Rodrigo Duterte, Jejomar Binay Jr., and Miriam Defensor Santiago— that have somehow given a leg up to the local real estate industry.

Eco-zonEs buildEr Former congressman and senator and 2010 vice-presidential candidate Mar A. Roxas may not have pushed pieces of legislation directly related to real estate, but he did author two that in a way, benefited the industry.

One is Republic Act 8748, which is an amendment to the Special Economic Zone Act. In this amendment, although establishments operating within these eco-zones are exempted from paying taxes, they are required to remit 5 percent of their gross income earned: three percent to the national government and two percent directly to the treasurer’s office of the city, or municipality, where the eco-zone is located.

This legislation also gave disturbance compensation to residents who were displaced, or evicted to

Mar roxas : Investors’ champ?

JEJoMar binay, Jr.: Gimme shelter!

gracE poE llaManzarEs : Pushing for vital infrastructure

give way for the construction of these eco-zones.

Roxas likewise authored Republic Act 8756, which gives incentives to multinational companies who establish regional headquarters in the country. Among the incentives include issuance of multiple-entry visas to the foreign employees and immediate family members of said companies, a fixed withholding tax on compensation of 15 percent, and exemption on value-added tax, among others.

Most prolific Senator Santiago is the Senate’s most prolific member, having filed a total of 1,231 bills and resolutions during the Fourteenth Congress (2007–2010), which is almost twice as much as the chamber’s second placer (former senator, and now Vista Land president Manny Villar).

Among the bills Senator Santiago co-authored is the Republic Act 9646, also known as the Real Estate Service Act or the

RESA Law. This legislation called for the professionalization of the real estate service by means of mandating all practitioners to be licensed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the same way that lawyers, doctors, engineers, nurses, and architects, among other professionals, are licensed by the said agency.

Mrt, lrt probEr Although Grace Poe made election history by garnering the highest number of votes for any elected official during the May 2013 elections, this neophyte senator and now presidential candidate still has to leave an indelible mark on the real estate industry.

However, she did lead high profile hearings on public transport,

rodrigo dutErtE : Done deal in Davao, Philippines next?

most notably on the rehabilitation of the MRT and LRT. forMEr housing czar As head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), vice-president Binay cited a number of accomplishments for the country’s key shelter agencies. Among these is the provision of house and lot packages, lots, or houses to almost 800,000 families, the total value of which amounts to Php268.826 billion.

Binay the housing czar saw the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or the Pag-IBIG Fund, become the largest shelter agency with assets reaching more than Php376 billion. Under Binay, the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) likewise became stricter in monitoring the real estate industry, most notably on advertisements. Real estate developers, for example, are prohibited from including information that can mislead buyers of properties, such as inaccurate locations and exaggerations. pEacE and ordEr doEr Although long-time Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte has yet to make his political contributions felt throughout the country, his accomplishments as local chief executive include Davao City becoming more progressive (and safer) under his watch. His most important ordinance has to be the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which outlined flood- and landslide-prone areas within Davao City where human settlements are prohibited.

The tough-talking mayor is likewise popular for his focus on peace and order, and many of his supporters hope he can accomplish in the entire Philippines what he had in Davao City.

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

P OP CU LT U RE

LIFE

Cebu-made eco-speaker Loudbasstard Hybrid

Koh Onozawa is flanked by other designers from around the world upon receiving the SpotDesign Award in HK last December 5, 2015

Showcase of 50 designs from 15 countries, including Loudbasstard from PH

Spot Design Award

LOUDBASSTARD HYBRID WINS AT DESIGN AWARDS IN HONG KONG

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ebu-made eco-speaker Loudbasstard™ Hybrid was spot on as it won the Highest Design Quality Award during the SPOT Design Awards held at the Ovolo Southside Hotel in Hong Kong and organized by BuyMeDesign. com, a Hong Kong-based online curator of cutting-edge designs and products.

Besting 50 other entries from 15 countries, the Hybrid was chosen by eight distinguished industry experts for its design philosophy, innovation, functionality, quality, price range, eco-friendliness, aesthetics and durability.

This year, the Highest Design Award for Best Overall Product was also given to the creator of the Loudbasstard™ Hybrid, company cofounder, President and CEO Koh Onozawa.

The world’s first hybrid speaker, Loudbasstard™ is made from sustainable, locally sourced bamboo and rattan. It has two modes to amplify sounds from a smartphone: the passive (non-electric) mode, which uses natural acoustics much like Loudbasstard’s world-renowned bamboo amplifier to

amplify sound, works immediately when a phone is placed in the Hybrid’s slot; and the active (powered) mode, where the owner simply puts the phone on top of a blue sensor and the Hybrid’s induction speaker would amplify the sound right away without the need for wires, WiFi or Bluetooth – making music sharing fun and convenient.

But more than just innovation, however, the one thing that is admirable with Loudbasstard™ is its emphasis on social and environmental initiatives. No surprise there, since the 26-year-old Konozawa’s family also hired hearing impaired people in their home as he was growing up. The young CEO has partnered with the Philippine Accessible Deaf Services group, a non-government organization, for several initiatives that benefit the deaf community in Cebu.

Among the initiatives include programs that help the hearing impaired learn how to read and write in English – a skill that will be useful as the beneficiaries explore the world outside their communities.

“It’s very hard for the deaf to assimilate into society,” Onozawa observes, adding that “applying for jobs to companies, for example, would be very difficult” for these people.

Loudbasstard™ provides coexisting space for the NGO and the enterprise, for shared ownership and sustainability. In 2012, the company launched Note-for-Note, a project wherein it donated musical instruments to schoolchildren to promote love for music.

Onozawa shares that the partnership with the deaf community is more than just a mere corporate social responsibility project. One other project undertaken by the company this year involves the utilization of discarded conch shells and transforming them into graceful, elegant speakers. Onozawa recalls seeing hundreds of conch shells lying around in a Caribbean beach, about to be buried under the sand to decompose. An innovator and a visionary, Onozawa bought the conch shells. After making some modifications to take advantage of the natural acoustic properties of the conch shells and by

SPOT DESIGN AWARD 2016 goes to Loudbasstard

adding the Loudbasstard™ touch, the Conch Amplifier™ was born.

“Our success comes from empowering each other forward. As a people, country, and planet,” states Onozawa (whose mother is a Cebuana who loves eco-design and whose Japanese father loves the ocean), who also obtained a Bachelors of Arts degree in Anthropology with a double major in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Management from the University of San Carlos.

Expect only the best from this company that does it all “for the love of people, and music.”

Loudbasstard™ is a highly innovative and socially conscious Filipino brand based in Cebu, Philippines. Dubbed “The Little Bamboo That Could,” Loudbasstard™ produces the worldrenowned bamboo amplifiers that are ecofriendly and elegantly stylish. The Loudbasstard™ Hybrid is available in top design stores in the USA, Europe and Philippines, or online at www. buyMeDesign.com and www.loudbasstard. com. To pre-order the Conch Amplifier, send an email to hello@loudbasstard.com.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Craving for the bean The Cravings Group celebrates 27th anniversary with a chocolate and coffee event TEXT AND PHOTOS BY CLARENCE MANAOIS

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hocolate and coffee lovers converged in a one-of-a-kind event mounted in celebration of the 27th anniversary of one of the country's most favorite family restaurants, Cravings by The Cravings Group. The East Wing Atrium of Edsa Shangri-La Mall smelled of cacao as the affair, dubbed “Crave the Bean,” featured the world's most wanted bean –cacao bean – in various kinds and shapes.

The event was attended by chefs, baristas, gourmands and several personalities in the field of bean industry, one of whom was Alyssa “Lyss” McDonald-Bartl, the brains behind BLYSS Chocolate – a company that sells single-origin cacao beans that are prized by the world's top chocolatiers.

Coffee enthusiasts were also delighted as Phillip Di Bella of Australia’s top premium coffee brand Di Bella Coffee and green bean specialist Moshe Tawil graced the event. The three experts shared their experiences and insights about the beans.

Guests were also treated to cup after cup of lattes and cappuccinos, and a wide array of treats featuring no less than the cacao beans. Wicked

by Cravings, The Cravings Group's desserts specialty restaurant, prepared a desserts station filled with unlimited servings of baked goodies, chocolate bars, S'mores (one of the top desserts in

the country), and other novelty favors like wasabi truffles and chili chocolate.

Epicurious restaurant, also of The Cravings Group, sold locally produced products and exclusive imported merchandise.

“Crave the Bean” event also gave opportunity to various local and artisan chocolatiers and single-origin bean retailers like Magdalena’s, Theo & Philo, Cocoa Monsters and Malagos to showcase their chocolate offerings.

After hearty servings of coffee and desserts, the attendees participated in exciting activities such as coffee stroke portraits, coffee art, latte art, and barista cupping sessions.

The Cravings Group chief executive officer Marinela Trinidad expressed delight in the warm reception of the crowd to their chocolate and coffee event. “The crowd that gathered here is a clear indication of the growing interest for single-origin cacao or chocolate and coffee beans,” she said.

Being a staunch proponent of sustainable farming and agriculture, The Cravings Group sees the great possibilities that await Filipino coffee producers and cacao farmers because of the presence of Lyss and Philip.

“With Crave the Bean, the future for Philippine cacao and coffee is bright and hopeful,” enthused Trinidad.

Wicked by Cravings provides a wide array of desserts featuring cacao beans

S'mores, baked goodies and chocolate bars

Guests partake of unlimited dessert choices

Phillip Di Bella of Australia's Di Bella Coffee gives his insights about coffee beans

THE TAMARAW HEADS SOUTH

FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY TO OPEN CAMPUS IN ALABANG

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n response to the high demand for accessible quality education in southern Metro Manila, the Far Eastern University is set to open its sixth campus at Filinvest City in Alabang. Officials of the private university recently held a groundbreaking ceremony in the area.

Situated in a two-hectare lot in the booming central business district of Muntinlupa, FEU Alabang can accommodate up to 18,000 students enrolled in science and technology academic disciplines.

“It is our founder Dr. Nicanor Reyes Sr.’s aspiration that FEU graduates would

enjoy rewarding careers in professions that promote the country’s economic growth.

That is why FEU Alabang will have Accountancy, Law, and Medicine as its flagship academic programs,” explained FEU President Dr. Michael Alba.

The new FEU campus will feature a learning environment that encourages deep thinking, mentoring and collaboration similar to universities in the United States and Canada. Designed to invoke a piazza-like feel, cars are allowed only in limited areas of the campus and people are encouraged to walk or use bikes. The structure and facilities are modern yet iconic, built to

Crave The Bean is The Cravings Group's first-ever chocolate and coffee event

Chefs, baristas, gourmands and several personalities in the cacao beans industry attend the Crave The Bean event

take advantage of the prevailing wind direction and orientation of the sun.

FEU Alabang will have four main components, which includes the Administration Building, a 7-story structure that will house the auditorium and three floors of library; the Tertiary Building where laboratory and classrooms for IT, Science and Engineering are located; a multipurpose building; and a chapel with a 200 seating capacity as the center and focal point of the entire campus.

Attended by FEU Chairman Emeritus Dr. Lourdes Reyes Montinola, members of the FEU Board of Trustees, Commission on Higher Education commissioners, and representatives of Filinvest Group and Casas+ Architect Group, the groundbreaking commemorated more than eight decades of FEU’s steadfast role in education.

The program opened with the site blessing administered by Rev. Fr. Hero

Frias, followed by the lowering of three time capsules that symbolize the university’s foundations of excellence: Administration, Academics, and Culture and Sports.

Top executives of the university also planted a tree to represent its long-standing commitment to preserve the country’s environment and natural resources. In line with this, FEU Alabang is designed to fit the site which already has existing roads, terrain and vegetation.

“With this groundbreaking, FEU, in its small way, will contribute to national education and the country’s economic goals. FEU believes that with best practice, consultation and advice, we will be able to raise the bar and offer regionally competitive degree courses aiming at ASEAN relevance,” said FEU Chairman Aurelio Montinola III. FEU Alabang is expected to be completed in 2018 in time for the university’s 90th anniversary.

Officials of Far Eastern University pose during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Alabang campus expected for completion in 2018 to coincide with the university's 90th anniversary

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

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SPOTIFY WARS

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ecause we are not done yet talking about Star Wars, have you checked out spotify-starwars.com? Spotify, the award-winning digital music service, is celebrating Star Wars: The Force Awakens in this fun interactive site.

Go to spotify-starwars.com and log on to your Spotify account to find which Star Wars character (from the past, present and future) matches with your personality based on the music you often listen to. They say if you listen to a lot of ’80s hair metal then you will probably get Chewbacca. Wonder what you’ll get if you listen to a lot of Justin Bieber?

Well, that’s for you to find out. Share your results with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, and have fun judging each other’s character. Get those cursors on spotify-starwars.com now, and may the force be with you always.

THE FORCE AWAKENS WITH GRABCAR STAR WARS-themed GrabCars will cruise into Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok until December 30

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rabCar just joined the force and it’s treating all Star Wars fanatics with its exciting Star Wars-themed ride. From now ‘til December 30, indulge in the Star

Wars fantasy and travel in comfort and style in custom designed vehicles. Look for the special Star Wars GrabCar icon in the GrabTaxi mobile app today and book away.

Up to 100 Star Wars-themed GrabCars will be out on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok featuring the timeless Imperial Stormtrooper and BB-8, the astromech droid belonging to Resistance Pilot Poe Dameron, so for sure anyone who’s interested in hopping into one of these custom cars will definitely get his chance.

And if you don’t get lucky, you can always opt for the 500 specially wrapped taxis and motorcycle taxis and Star Warsthemed GrabBikes which are available in the Philippines and Indonesia until the 14th of January 2016!

“This initiative is part of GrabCar’s ongoing efforts to delight passengers and make their journey with GrabCar fun and memorable. Our Star Wars-themed GrabCars celebrate the release of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie, and will make one’s commute more entertaining,” says Cheryl Goh, Group VP of Marketing, GrabTaxi Holdings. “Diehard fans shouldn’t miss this opportunity to experience the thrill of our Star Warsthemed GrabCars. It is a full-on Star Wars immersion when they book our Star Warsthemed GrabCars to take them to and from the cinema to catch the movie,” adds Goh.

But the fun doesn’t stop there, all throughout the campaign, fanatics will get to win tickets one of the 15 pairs of movie tickets that will be given away daily. Winners will be chosen at random based on their booking IDs and notified at least two days after their ride. And, if you still ain’t lucky to get any merchandise, get those hopes up in social media and join their contest, snap and share the photo of the Star Wars-themed GrabCars on their social media accounts. Simply use the hashtags #theforceawakens #grabcar and tell them why you deserve to win by filling in the caption ‘I want to win STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS merchandise because…”

Excited much? Here’s how to book a Star Wars-themed GrabCar today: Download the GrabTaxi app via Google Play and App Store. Register your account for free.

1. Select the ‘STAR WARS GrabCar’ option as your vehicle type.

2. Enter your pick-up and drop-off locations.

3. Click Next and await confirmation of your STAR WARS-themed GrabCar. For more information, please visit http:// www.grabcar.com.

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 1 5

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

At Home with Ashley Thomas ceramic measuring spoon set

Because it’s still Christmas¼

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ome of you are still going to and fro different reunions and gatherings up to today, and for those who are still cramming for a suitable but late gift, or who want to reward themselves after all the stress of the Christmas season, visit Debenhams and find items for you or your special people.

Treat yourself to Debenhams’ cute holiday finds. Beat the cold December with cozy Aztec-print waterfall waistcoat

by Red Herring and Principles by Ben de Lisi’s bold geo printed scarf in navy that is just so perfect for the cold weather. Remember, it’s almost January and the breeze will just get colder so sift through the newest collection on the shelves. Update your home items with quirky finds like the Ben de Lisi dog and cat mugs or coasters and those Star Wars merchandise that everyone just can’t get enough of such as Storm Trooper stacking mugs, wash bags, and R2-D2 salt and pepper shakers.

When was the last time you shopped for new jammies?

Maybe it’s time for some new ones. Check out Debenhams cozy pajama sets from Lounge & Sleep. For the rest of the Christmas season, be sure to check out the special anniversary promotions in Debenhams.

Rustan Specialty Concepts, Inc. (RSCI) is the official franchise holder of Debenhams in the Philippines. Debenhams is located at Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Glorietta 4–Rustan’s Makati, TriNoma, Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons and Abreeza Mall in Davao.

Red Herring Aztec print waterfall waistcoat RJR.John Rocha floral pajama set

Ben de Lisi Benny dog cushion

Small robin bouncer

Star Wars salt and pepper shakers

Lounge & Sleep Fox print twosie and Party penguin twosie

Ben de Lisi cat mug and coaster set

J by Jasper Conran sleepwear

JARDINE SCHINDLER, DON BOSCO TECHNICAL INSTITUTE LAUNCH APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM

The first batch of scholars with (top row, from left) Jesus Bernardo Palma III, managing director, Jardine Schindler Elevator Corporation; Jujudhan Jena, CEO, Jardine Schindler Group; Rosita Oliveros, District Supervisor, TESDA Pasay-Makati District Office; Vice Rectors Fr. Alexander Garces and Fr. Jose Dindo Vitug; and Carlos Arturo, Technical and Field Support manager, Jardine Schindler Elevator Corporation

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n apprenticeship program that will provide hands-on training to select students of Don Bosco Technical Institute was recently launched in collaboration with Jardine Schindler Elevator Corporation, the Philippine operation of the Jardine Schindler Group, a leading provider of elevators and escalators in Southeast Asia. The training will focus on the ElectroMechanical Technology and Fitter Machinist Technology course.

A memorandum of agreement signed by Jardine managing director Jesus Bernardo Palma III and Don Bosco Vice Rector Fr. Jose Dindo Vitug in Muntinlupa City earlier formalized the partnership, which will offer full scholarship grants to 20 select DBTI students every year.

“The apprenticeship program offers a win-win solution for everyone.

It provides students with highly specialized technical knowledge on elevators and escalators, and presents

Star Wars stacking mugs

Star Wars wash bag

them with opportunities for a solid career path in a global organization while fulfilling Jardine Schindler’s talent pool needs in this rapidly growing market,” says Jujudhan Jena, Jardine Schindler Group chief executive.

According to Fr. Vitug, the adherence of the apprenticeship program to DBTI’s core values makes the program special. “This collaboration with Jardine Schindler allows our students to passionately pursue excellence in their technical skills through hands-on learning. It is commendable that the program’s emphasis on safety is attuned to DBTI’s values of kindness and integrity,” Fr. Vitug said.

The Jardine Schindler Apprenticeship Program is designed to complement the theoretical learning offered in DBTI’s EMT-FMT course with practical training on a wide range that includes mechanical installation and commissioning to maintenance methodologies.

Selected scholars will also have the opportunity to train in one of the company’s most advanced and fully-equipped training facility in Muntinlupa, where they will undergo tutelage from Jardine Schindler Elevator Corporation trainers who are acknowledged experts in their field. Aside from full tuition, the program provides onthe-job training allowance, medical insurance, training materials, tools, and personal protective equipment to selected apprentices.

Once they complete the training program, each apprentice will undergo assessment based on competency standards set by Jardine Schindler Elevator Corporation and DBTI. Scholars who demonstrate industry competency and dynamic leadership skills have the potential for employment with the company.

During the program’s launch the first batch of scholars was presented to DBTI and Schindler officials.

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 26, 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C5

Ethel Ramos with SPEED members Dindo Balares, Nestor Cuartero, Dinah Ventura, Gie Trillana, Maricris Nicasio and Isah V. Red

A SPEEDy ChrIStmAS PArty¼

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am happy that these new breed of editors showed dedication and a strong commitment to make the group become firm in its desire to stamp a mark in the entertainment industry. They met and agreed that as part of the group’s low key coming out, we should have a small Christmas party.

And ¡le voila! as the French would say, it happened on Dec. 17 at B Hotel on Scout Rallos in Quezon City.

A million thanks to Mr. Ryan Chan COO of B Hotel who was our godfather allowing SPEED use of its ballroom and letting the members and their guests partake of the hotel’s delicious holiday food. We’d like to extend our gratitude, too, to B Hotel Manager Carlo Librea for the very warm reception he and his staff extended to the members and their guests. Also big hugs go to Suzette Morelos for facilitating things between SPEED and B Hotel. Also big thanks to our assistants – Nickie Wang (The Standard), Euden Valdez (The Manila Times) and Kat Llemit (The Tribune) – for helping the group as part of the reception committee.

Ethel Ramos, considered in the entertainment writing circle as la doyenne of showbiz writing came to support the group the members of which, at least most of them, started writing as her “discoveries.”

Mons Romulo, an aspiring congressman in next year’s elections, also dropped by to bond with the group. Edd Fuentes and NJ Torres also braved the traffic that night to be with the group.

Pinky Fernando of D’ Fernando’s Bake Shop brought her signature

From C8

letter cakes and cupcakes for the guests. So did writer-turned-baker Benj Agustin of Manila Bulletin.

The members in their holiday best entertained the guests and with other performers courtesy of friends like Chris Cahilig, Arnold Reyes, Jobert Sucaldito, Jojo Gabinete, Chuck Gomez, and Ernie Duque.

Musical numbers entertained the guests and among those who took the small stage in the ballroom were the groups 1:4:3 and JBK, singers Edward Benosa, Michael Pangilinan and the magician Migz Ala Kim. Humorist Michael Angelo greeted everyone and so did actor Rafael Rosell, currently starring in GMA 7’s Because of You. Jonalyn Viray and Dessa also performed for the members and guests.

Among the guests were the head of the two networks’ Corporate Communications/ Affairs – Kane Choa of ABS-CBN and Angel Javier Cruz of GMA Network. Media XChange’s Peachy V. Guioguio who handles TV5’s public relations also came with her new associate Jhops Cruz.

The party lasted till about midnight. It was the first event of SPEED, but based on how it was, there would be more.

The group would like to thank the individuals and companies that supported the group’s first ever event. If I’d list them down individually, the entire newspaper would be compelled to have additional pages. So, you know who you are and there’ll be another occasion to thank you.

A million thanks to everyone and cheers to a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Dondon Sermino and Pinky Fernando

Party hosts Tessa Mauricio, Dondon Sermino and Ervin Santiago

Edd Fuentes, Mons Romulo and Salve Asis

Edward Benosa

PhotoS CourtESy oF NoEl orSAl AND Boy BorjAB

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 26, 2015

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

‘VikingS’ REtURnS fOR SEaSOn 4 On HiStORy History’s hit drama series Vikings returns for a gripping fourth season, 10 p.m. on Feb. 19. Led

by Travis Fimmel, star of the upcoming film Warcraft, the series airs new episodes every Friday for 10 weeks with the remaining episodes to air later in the year.

The network has also added four episodes to the initially slated 16-episode order.

Season three culminated with the extraordinary battle in Paris, where Ragnar (Fimmel) seized victory from the jaws of defeat – but still returns to Kattegat dangerously ill. Thoughts of his death galvanize the forces who seek to succeed him

as king, including his wife Queen Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) and his oldest son, Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig). Meanwhile, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) continues struggling with power with her calculating, former second in command, Kalf (Ben Robson); Rollo (Clive Standen) betrays his Vikings heritage by remaining in Frankia and Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård) is seized for his brutal actions to the Christian priest Athelstan.

Joining the stellar cast this season is Peter Franzén (The Gunman) as “King Harold Finehair,” a complex character who seeks to be King of Norway and a potential threat to Ragnar; Jasper Pääkkönen (Jet Trash) as “Halfdan The Black,” King Harold’s violent younger brother; and Dianne Doan (Descendants) as “Yidu,” a completely different character within the world of the Vikings who fascinates Ragnar.

Vikings is the critically acclaimed series from creator and sole writer Michael Hirst (Academy Award® winning film Elizabeth and the Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominated series The Tudors) and is a family saga that tells the remarkable tales of the lives and epic adventures of the raiders and explorers of the Dark Ages.

Hirst serves as executive producer along with Morgan O’Sullivan of World 2000 (The Count of

Monte Cristo, The Tudors), Sheila Hockin (The Tudors, The Borgias), John Weber of Take 5 Productions (The Tudors, The Borgias), Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer and James Flynn (The Tudors, The Borgias). Jana Bennett and Arturo Interian are the executives in charge of production for History.

History™ is available on SKYCable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch. 44; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 118.

‘Bleisure’ in PhiliPPines “Bleisure”– it’s the blending and blurring of the line between business and leisure travel. Globally, there are signs of a growing movement, especially among young business travelers, to take advantage of business travel by incorporating personal time.

Next month CNN Business Traveller heads to the Philippines where host Richard Quest discovers how the skyscrapers of Manila and the beaches of more than 7,000 islands make this country the perfect place to explore this evolving trend.

Highlights of January’s Business Traveller include: OLD City tOUR Richard Quest joins Philippines Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez on a whirlwind tour of Intramuros, Manila’s oldest district and historic core, to get his take on bleisure, and the evolving business traveller and tourism markets. fLOatPLanE gEtaWay Richard climbs on board one of Air Juan’s Cessna Grand Caravan Amphibians, for a 30- minute flight

Richard Quest in a Kalesa touring Manila’s oldest district

CNN's Richard Quest filming 'Business Traveller' in the Philippine

to Puerto Galera, one of the Philippines top diving destinations, avoiding what would normally be a six-hour trip by road and ferry.

Your Own Private Island The CNN team travels to Ariara, a private island escape, with anything and everything at your fingertips, including private chef and diving instructor.

CNN meets British businessman Charles McCulloch and his wife who built the ultimate getaway for today’s harried business traveler.

Discover “belisure” in CNN Business Traveller, 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 on CNN International.

CNN Road to ASEAN puts the spotlight on the Philippines

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 42 44 45 46 48 51 55 56 58 59 60 61 62 63 64

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Messy person 5 Humid 10 Woodworking tool 14 Roulette color 15 Bitterly pungent 16 OPEC member 17 What is more 18 Midnight opposites 19 Thoughtful 20 Kilt feature 22 Exclamation of dismay

23 24 26 29 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Campus VIP Interpret tea leaves Piece of plywood Serene Oater extras Military hats Festive night Type of mgr.

Remove the bones Shore catch Country addr.

Convention sites Red-waxed cheese

Joey or wallaby “Wabbit” antagonist Feels obligated Pantyhose shade Cancels More inferior Sooner city Diarist — Nin Prefix for second Trifling amount Canary seat Batter ingredients Draft animals — -turvy Rowboat

DOWN 1 Cold spell 2 Lounge about 3 Seine feeder 4 Least subtle 5 Exaggerated fascination 6 NCAA Huskies 7 Hot rum drink 8 Boll cleaner 9 NFL gains 10 A martial art 11 Roof problem 12 Big name in Western novels 13 Runs its course 21 Chapeau’s place 22 Shrill barks

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2015

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Thick cords Give off light Gunpowder igniter Plantain lily Ruhr Valley city String quartet member Antitoxin Hedge Preclude 2.2-pound units Ticket price Like the Parthenon, e.g.

Hems and — Flu bug — oldie Sevareid and Heiden Undemanding, as a job Verne’s skipper PC operating system Diet Bottom feeder Desdemona’s enemy RR employee Promising Suitable Prefix for classic

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 26, 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

DonAlD lim ToYm, DirecT mArkeTing news’ 40 UnDer 40 AwArDee

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BS-CBN Corporation’s chief digital officer Donald Patrick Lim is one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in the Philippines. Also, he was named one of Digital Marketing News’ 40 Under 40 awardees. Digital MaaarketingNews is a prestigious marketing organization based in New York.

Lim is among 10 Filipinos named to this year’s TOYM awards given by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Philippines. The TOYM seeks to give national recognition to young men and women between the ages of 18-40 showing exemplary dedication to their profession or vocation and resulted in positive and significant contributions to their fellow Filipinos.

Meanwhile, Lim, who started working for the Kapamilya network a couple of years ago, was also named as one of Direct Marketing News’ (DMN) 40 under 40 awardees, becoming the first Filipino to receive it in New York.

DMN’s 40 under 40 judge the awardees based on career accomplishments, marketing and leadership approach, accomplishments for the past year, and awards and contributions to the field of marketing.

According to DMN’s editor-in-chief Ginger Conlon, the Kapamilya network’s chief digital officer, is also the first Southeast Asian awardee.

Direct Marketing News as an organization provides comprehensive coverage of the hottest trends, success strategies, and core technologies that marketer need to get from raw data to something profitable for their company.

Lim has also been considered as one of the founding fathers of digital marketing in the Philippines, having been awarded the Digital Marketer of the Year at the Asian Leadership Awards in Dubai, UAE by the Asian Confederation of Business, the Young Market Masters Award in Online Market-

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ABS-CBN Chief Digital Officer Donald Lim spearheaded the company's Digital Media Division

ing by Mansmith and Fielders and an honorary Certified eMarketing Consultant title by the eMarketing Standards Board of Australia.

He was also the first recipient of the Digital Leader of the Future award conferred at the World

Brand Congress in Mumbai, India, among others.

With Lim at the helm of the company’s digital media division, ABSCBN has risen to the top of the digital media platform and has launched three digital products: Stellar for So-

cial Media Marketing, Chicken Pork Adobo, a multi-channel network that aims to empower Filipino YouTube content makers, and the Push Awards to recognize celebrities who communicate with their fans on social and digital media.

OffiCe 2016 fOr OS and iOS deviCeS

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From left, Jerry Bongco, Director for Consumer Business Division at Microsoft Philippines; Lawrence Sison, CEO of Power Mac Center; Karrie Ilagan, Country General Manager at Microsoft Philippines; and Richard Javier, Retail Sales and Marketing Channels Lead at Microsoft Philippines at the launch of Office 2016 for OS and iOS devices at Power Mac Center Rockwell.

ower Mac Center, the premier Apple partner in the country, together with Microsoft Philippines recently launched Office 365 bundles for the coming holidays.

Office 365 allows users to install Office on multiple platforms, including OS and iOS devices to be connected to the service with a single subscription, enabling users to do their best work – anywhere, anytime and with anyone.

“Power Mac Center is truly committed to provide Filipino consumers the complete Apple experience. We are always looking for ways to support their needs, which is why we know that a lot of our loyal patrons have been anticipating the Office 365 for OS and iOS,” said Joey Alvarez, marketing director of Power Mac Center.

“Aside from familiar apps – like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – Office 365 has a lot of new and improved features like Skype, OneNote and OneDrive, optimized for OS and iOS devices.”

“This partnership is a key milestone for Microsoft Philippines as we make Office 365 available across all platforms in the mobile-first, cloud-first world. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every individual and organization to achieve more – and we’ve taken this to heart by breaking down ‘competitive barriers’ and partnering with Power Mac Center. We want to make Office accessible across all platforms, most especially in a wide range of Apple devices,” said Jerry Bongco, director for Consumer Business Division at Microsoft Philippines.

A loT To love in The new office for mAc The new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote provide the best of both worlds for Mac users—the familiar Office experience, paired with the best of Apple devices.

Office 365 is also cloud-connected, so users can quickly get to their documents they’ve recently used on other devices and pick up where they left off. Sharing documents have also been made easier as Office 365 offers unparalleled compatibility on computers, tablets, phones, and online.

No more sending documents back and forth in email: it’s easy for users to share their work and have others review it, since several people can edit the same document simultaneously.

Office 2016 also includes professionally designed online templates, sharper graphics on Apple’s retina display, and multitouch gestures for navigating between apps. Office 2016 also has a redesigned ribbon menu and improved integration with OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint. office wherever, whenever YoU wAnT iT Office 365 Personal can be installed on two devices (one OS and one iOS device). Office 365 Home can be installed on up to five OS and five iOS devices, while Office 365 University can accommodate two OS or iOS devices.

Apart from being synced across multiple devices, Office 365 provides 1TB OneDrive online stor-

age that can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Office 365 also allows users to stay connected with 60 minutes of free Skype calls per month to landline and mobile phones in more than 60 countries.

Furthermore, subscription to Office 365 assures that one’s version of Office is always up to date. Users don’t have to worry about upgrading again because with Office 365, the latest Office applications, features, and services are always included.

Subscribers can also get support right away from Microsoft-trained experts, by phone or chat—at no extra charge.

New and loyal patrons of Power Mac Center stand to benefit from this milestone partnership. Office 365 with Office 2016 is now available at all Power Mac Center branches nationwide. Customers who will purchase any Mac device on cash or installment will get a special offer on the Office 365 Personal. Promo period runs till Feb. 29, 2016.

For those who already have Apple devices, Office 365 is available as a standalone product at Power Mac Center as well. Office 365 Personal goes for ₱2,730, Office 365 Home is at ₱3,500, and Office 365 University costs ₱3,360. Meanwhile, Office for Mac Home Student 2016 is priced at ₱7,650 and Office for Mac Home and Business 2016 costs ₱14,500. Office 365 requires 4GB RAM and at least Mac OS X 10.10.

Visit any of Power Mac Center’s 26 stores nationwide to know more about Office 365.

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 26, 2015

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

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SPEEDy ChriStmaS Party with Showbiz EDitorS ISAH V. RED Many years ago, I wasn’t an editor of the showbiz section of The Standard, I had a vision to organize writers not affiliated with existing entertainment writers’ organization, not to compete, but to build collegial bond among each other.

It nearly happened but was swiftly abandoned, the reason for which was nothing extraordinary. Everyone, I talked to about the planned group just didn’t have time for the nittygritty of organizing a group.

Five years passed, the idea had been totally abandoned. For me it was just a shot in the dark, an idea that would remain in the back of my head. I have also been appointed editor of the entertainment section of this paper, and the thought of an editors’ group might even be impossible.

And then this new breed of female editors from other newspapers – Tessa Mauricio-Arreola (The Manila Times), Gie Trillana (Business Insight Malaya), Ian Fariñas (People’s Tonight) toyed around with the idea of gathering the editors into a social group. It was during a press conference at the Kapamilya network and there, as the girls were wrestling with the idea, were Eugene Asis (People’s) and Nestor Cuartero (Tempo) who told them about the first group that I wanted to form. The girls agreed to revive it, this time with just the editors of dailies (broadsheets and tabloids).

Then came Dondon Sermino (Abante), Dindo Balares (Balita),

Dinah Ventura (The Tribune), Salve Asis (Pilipino Star and PM), and Janice Navida (Bulgar), and Ervin Santiago (Bandera) who all agreed to be part of the new group. Those who came in later were Maricris Nicaso (Hataw) and Rohn Romulo (People’s Balita) who said they could leave the group they were associated with and join the new group.

Eugene Asis suggested the name Society of Philippine Entertainment Editors or SPEED for short that everyone gave two thumbs up.

That was the new beginning of the editors’ group. In that meeting within a press conference, everyone who was there elected or rather appointed the officers of the new group. Eugene Asis was assigned to be vice president, Fariñas as secretary with Trillana as assistant; Salve Asis was the treasurer with Nicasio assisting her. Balares became the auditor. We also invited Jojo Panaligan (Manila Bulletin), Jerry Olea (Abante Tonight) and Gerard Ramos (Business Mirror) to the group. Theywere then busy when the group was formed.

Meanwhile, the members said I should be president of the group, which I refused initially as I am also the most senior in the group. I would have loved to see anyone in the younger batch steer the group to something that should become an organization the industry respects and considers its partner in its continuing evolution.

But, everyone was adamant I should be in that position. So, since the clamor was unanimous, and no one else wanted to wear the hat, so to speak, I accepted it if only to get things going. ➜ Continued on C5

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5 1 The members of SPEED 2 Isah V. Red, Michael Angelo and Suzette Morelos 3 Isah with Rafael Rosell 4 Jun Nardo of Enpress with Angel Javier Cruz and Tessa Mauricio and Dondo Sermino 5 Michael Pangilinan 6 Jonalyn Viray

6 PhotoS CourtESy of NoEl orSal aND boy borjab