The Standard - 2016 January 23 - Saturday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 345  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  SATURDAY : JANUARY 23, 2016  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

JUSTICE SECRETARY GETS NOD FOR SC POST

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PALACE DISOWNS BUSTED MARINE

By Sandy Araneta and Francisco Tuyay

THE Palace denied Friday that Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino, who was arrested in a drug raid Thursday, was ever detailed to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.

“Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino is not and has never been an operative detailed to the PAOCC,” the commission’s executive director, Gen. Reginald Villasanta, said in a statement.

“Our records likewise show that no ongoing PAOCC operations involve Lt. Col. Marcelino,” he added.

The statement was sent through the Office of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. Marcelino and a Chinese national were arrested Thursday after government agents raided a clandestine drug laboratory in a townhouse in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Marcelino, a former officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, was arrested along with Yan Yi Shou, 33, when PDEA agents and police barged into the drug laboratory at Felix Huertas and Batangas streets at 12:30 a.m.

At least 64 kilos of shabu or methamphetamine placed in four rectangular plastic bags with an estimated street value of P383 million, assorted chemicals, a beige Toyota Camry and other equipment were seized during the raid on the strength of a search warrant issued by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Shou was said to have served as an interpreter

for the PDEA in 2005.

After his arrest, Marcelino said he was doing surveillance work for the PAOCC when he was arrested.

PDEA chief Arturo Cacdac said they were surprised to find Marcelino in the drug laboratory because he was not on their radar.

Chief Insp. Roque Merdegia, a spokesman of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Group of the Philippine National Police said Marcelino would be charged with the illegal manufacture of drugs, but Marcelino denied he was part of the operation.

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Inquest. Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcelino (in handcuffs), a former PDEA official, and Chinese national Yan Yi Shou arrive at the Department of Justice on Friday for an inquest after they were arrested during a raid of a drug laboratory in Sta Cruz, Manila. DANNY PATA

ROXAS PINS BLAME ON RIVALS FOR BACKLASH

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Workers clamor for SSS veto override

By Sandy Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Araneta MEMBERS of a militant labor group picketed Congress Friday to urge lawmakers to override President Benigno Aquino III’s

veto of a bill that would have increased Social Security System pensions by P2,000 a month.

“We call on our legislators to alleviate the hardship of 1.9-million Filipinos who have to barely survive on a measly pension of P1,200

per month in the twilight of their lives,” said Leody de Guzman, president of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino.

“If you are truly representatives of the people, you must, at the very least, have a heart for those who duti-

fully contributed to the social welfare fund in the hope of living decently upon retirement,” De Guzman said.

“The current minimum pension of P1,200 is not even half the cost of living of P5,333 per individual,” he added.

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Aquino appoints Caguioa to SC

By Rey E. Requejo

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has appointed Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa as the 15th associate justice of the Supreme Court, to fill in the vacancy left by Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr., who availed of early retirement.

In a letter dated Jan. 20, the Office of the President informed Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno, that Caguioa had been chosen as the latest addition to the 15-member bench. The letter was received Friday.

“On behalf of the members of the Court, I welcome Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa to the Court. I am happy that we are once again a complete Court as there is a lot of work to be done which I expect Justice Caguioa to actively take part in,” Sereno said.

Caguioa’s appointment came after the Judicial and Bar Council endorsed him, along with four others—Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., CA Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr. and Apolinario Bruselas Jr., and former Commission on Audit chairperson Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan—for the vacancy.

Caguioa, who served as President Aquino’s chief legal counsel before being appointed Justice secretary, and his classmate from elementary to college, was said to be the top contender for the SC post.

Caguioa took up economics and later law at the Ateneo, where he was a classmate and close friend of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, and Senator Teofisto Guingona III. Son of the late Court of Appeals Justice Eduardo Caguioa, he was a senior partner of the Caguioa and Gatmaytan law office. Before passing the Bar in 1986, he obtained his law degree from the Ateneo de Manila law school in 1985, along with several members of the current Aquino administration.

He joined SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan in 1986 and was a partner there from 1994 until February 2007.

Caguioa went on leave for a year in 1987 to join his father—where he handled mostly appeal cases in the CA and the Supreme Court.

He was a professor at the colleges of Law of Ateneo de Manila University and San Sebastian College, where he taught obligations and contracts, property, statutory construction and administrative law.

Caguioa is a member of the JBC, but was substituted by Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs Menardo Guevarra during the JBC voting for the shortlist.

The other members of the council are Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., retired SC Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, retired CA Justice Aurora Santiago-Lagman and lawyers Jose Majia and Milagros Fernan-Cayosa.

Villarama retired on Friday after availing of optional or early retirement due to “deteriorating health” following his double-knee metal implantation in 2013 and his cataract operation in 2014. With Sandy Araneta

Protest. Farmers commemorate the 29th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre at the foot of Mendiola Bridge near

Malacañang on Friday. At least 13 farmers were killed on Jan. 22, 1987, when police dispersed the protesting farmers..

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Workers...

From A1 At the protest, the BMP, Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa brought a huge streamer that listed the millions in bonuses given to members of the SSS board, who they described as “execu-thieves”, “walang hiya” (shameless) and “kapalmuks” (thick-skinned, insensitive).

De Guzman appealed to the legislators to develop a spine by collectively standing up as a co-equal branch to the executive department.

The militant leader told Congress to over-

ride the presidential veto by garnering the required two-thirds vote to defend their just and reasonable proposal for a pension hike.

“Lest the people conclude that members of the august halls of Congress are more concerned with their electoral kitty than the welfare of our aging countrymen,” he said.

De Guzman is running for the May 2016 elections as first nominee of the Sanlakas party-list.

De Guzman said the SSS has sufficient funds to provide for a P2,000 increase in monthly pensions, especially if it would increase the collection efficiency from the present 35 percent to 38 percent and by reducing the administrative and operating costs of the social welfare fund.

He said it is the height of injustice that the SSS executives are receiving millions in bonuses despite their obvious inefficiency and lack of regard for the welfare of the millions of its member-contributors.

The call for an override of the presidential veto was joined by the leader of the independent minority bloc in the House, Leyte Rep. Martin Romuladez, who urged his colleagues to show malasakit or compassion for the millions of retired private workers.

Romualdez said lawmakers should ignore statements that overriding the President on the SSS bill is a long shot and an exercise in futility.

“We can weather the storm and win an uphill battle especially if our cause is about championing people’s interests as a show of

Palace...

From A1 “I’m not hiding anything. I’ve done no wrong,” he said in Filipino.

Some military officers including Marcelino’s classmates could not believe he was into drug trafficking, saying it was ironic that he stands accused of a crime he fought.

Former PDEA director general Dionisio Santiago said he too was surprised by what happened to Marcelino.

Santiago also said in a phone interview that Marcelino was still working with the government, and that he had been the one to brief President Benigno Aquino III about an anti-drug operation in his hometown of Tarlac.

In that operation, the National Bureau of Investigation raided a shabu laboratory in Camiling, Tarlac, arrested six Chinese nationals and seized P3 billion worth of shabu.

“Marcelino was the one who developed the intel for that particular operation,” Santiago said.

Marcelino said Friday his arrest was apparently linked to his busting of big-time

drug syndicate and said he was confident “the truth will come out.”

“I will not betray my country,” Marcelino yelled to reporters while being whisked away to the headquarters of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Illegal Drugs Group upon his arrival in Camp Crame Friday.

Asked if his arrest was the result of stepping on the toes of some influential people, Marcelino said “some generals” had been hurt by his activities, but he refused to elaborate.

The former chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Maj. Gen. Eduardo Ano, said Marcelino’s credibility and professionalism in military service remained untainted.

“I was his boss when I was chief of Isafp from late 2012 up to about mid2014,” Ano said, adding that he was “straightforward” and “sincere” in doing his job.

After Marcelino’s stint with the Isafp, he went back to his mother unit at the Navy and later took up the General Staff Course inside Camp Aguinaldo.

While studying, Marcelino continued to gather information relating to the illegal drugs operations through proper coordination with various intelligence units.

But Ano said he has no knowledge of Marcelino’s PDEA’s operations.

Interior Secretary Senen Sarmiento said they are giving Marcelino the benefit of the doubt, but said nobody has come forward to confirm that he was on a surveillance operation.

The Justice Department ordered Marcelino to substantiate his claim that he was in a covert operation when he was arrested in a drug bust.

During inquest proceedings, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva required Marcelino to show proof that he was on a covert mission at the time of the drug bust.

With Rio N. Araja malasakit for their welfare. All we need is to show a strong political will with our sincere desire to serve public interest,” Romualdez, a candidate for senator, said.

Earlier, the leftist Makabayan bloc led by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares filed a resolution to override the President’s veto.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said that if the bid to override the veto moves forward, Liberal Party members will decide based on their conscience.

“As far as I’m concerned, they’ll decide on their own,” Belmonte said.

LP members dominate the House with more than 100 members; while the Nationalist People’s Coalition has the second largest number of members with 45.

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LP members bolt party to join UNA

Meeting. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (center) meets with presidential candidate

Vice President Jejomar Binay (right) during the 81st birthday celebration of Philippine Constitution Association Chairman and CEO Manuel Lazaro at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City. Romualdez is a common senatorial candidate under the ticket of Binay. Ver NoVeNo

A NUMBER of Liberal Party members in the Visayas who resented the way they were being treated by the administration party had joined the United Nationalist Alliance, UNA secretary general JV Bautista said Friday.

“Administration allies from Southern Leyte led by Vice Governor Sheffered Tan and provincial board member Albert Esclamado have bolted the Liberal Party and joined UNA,” Bautista said.

Tan would be running for vice governor against Councilor Coco Yap of Sogo town, he said.

“We have taken the fight even at the doorstep of our primary adversarial camp from the Visayas,” said Bautista who announced that the LP defection in Cebu city was due to the increasing popularity of Vice President Jejomar Binay in the Visayas.

“It’s harvest time for UNA,” Bautista said.

He said more candidates from the different provinces in the country would soon announce they would be joining UNA and endorsing Binay in the coming elections.

UNA has a complete slate in Maasin city, in Leyte and all the other 18 municipalities of Southern Leyte that include former mayors and incumbent vice mayors.

He said former St. Bernard municipal Mayor Rico Rentuza, the chairman of the Liberal Party in Southern Leyte since 2010, was now serving as UNA provincial coordinator and candidate for congressman for the province’s lone district.

“He played the important role of convincing former LP colleagues to join the Binay camp,” Bautista said.

Tan said that in the latest survey for Southern Leyte, administration presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II’s rating stood at 12 percent while Binay had 54 percent. Vito Barcelo

Roxas hits rivals over attacks LIBERAL Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II on Friday blamed his political rivals for his alleged inept response to Super Typhoon “Yolanda” that had been appearing in social media.

Roxas, who paid a visit to the public market in Tacloban City through the invitation of Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, denied the claims in social media that Tacloban’s voters would not vote for him because of his inept response to Yolanda.

“All of that are just made up by our rivals,” Roxas told reporters.

He also slammed Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and claimed that Duterte’s claims against him were meant to increase the mayor’s approval ratings.

“You know, he’s going down in the surveys and that’s why he’s looking at me,” Roxas said in Dulag town in Leyte.

“I’m always the one he sees to elevate himself [in the surveys].

Roxas placed third in the January 2016 preferential polls for president by the survey firm Social Weather Stations, receiving 21 percent of the votes while Duterte placed fourth at 20 percent. Vice President Jejomar Binay received 31 percent to place first while Senator Grace Poe placed second with 24 percent.

Roxas said the Interior Department that he used to head had finished 85 percent of the projects intended for victims of Typhoon Yolanda.

In the earlier interviews, Roxas maintained that he did everything to mobilize help for the Yolanda-hit areas.

“Before Yolanda came I was already here. I risked my life to be with you and prepare. We did all before, during and after. I never left,” Roxas said.

Last October, Roxas’ spokesman Barry Gutierrez said Roxas and his running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, also received “unfair attacks” in the social media sites, including the one liners “Bahala kayo sa buhay n’yo” and “You are a Romualdez and the President is an Aquino.” John Paolo Bencito

Lower price. A gasoline attendant pumps diesel into a vehicle at a gasoline station on Malvar street in Manila on Friday. DANNY PATA

Santiago joins Bill Gates as adviser in law group SENATOR Miriam Defensor Santiago said Friday she could serve as president of the Philippines and a member of the International Advisory Council, with the consent of the Rome-based International Development Law Organization, if she won the presidential race in May. Santiago, who is running under the People’s Reform Party, has been invited to join Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other luminaries in an elite council of advisers for the IDLO. “I am honored yet humbled to receive the invitation from IDLO,” Santiago said.

“It challenges me to place my lifetime career as a lawyer and legislator in a larger frame of service for the pursuit of justice

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and international development.”

Santiago became the first Filipino and the first Asian from a developing country to be elected judge of the International Criminal Court, the independent tribunal that prosecutes individuals for war crimes and crimes against humanity, before she was invited to the IDLO Council.

She waived her post in 2013 due to chronic fatigue syndrome, which was later diagnosed as stage four lung cancer.

But in October Santiago announced she had defeated her cancer and would be running for president in the 2016 polls.

Santiago was presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City when she first catapulted into popularity,

receiving many awards for her no-postponement policy and for unburdening the court of backlogs.

She was then appointed commissioner of Immigration and Deportation for which she won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service.

She also became Secretary of Agrarian Reform, and in 1992 she ran for president and never conceded defeat.

At the Senate, Santiago is known as the resident constitutional law and international law expert. She has Doctor of Juridical Science and Master of Laws degrees from the University of Michigan and a law degree, cum laude, from the University of the Philippines. Macon ramos-Araneta

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCEMENT President Benigno S. Aquino III has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the nominations and ad interim appointments of the following officials: Department of Foreign Affairs (nominations) Denis Y. Lepatan – Chief of Mission, Class I, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Norway with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden; and Lilybeth R. Deapera – Chief of Mission, Class II, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Chile with concurrent jurisdiction over the Republic of Peru and the Republic of Ecuador.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (ad interim appointments) Benjamin R. Madrigal, Jr. – Major General; Nelia F. Valmonte Brigadier General; and Raul S. Hernandez PN(M)- Colonel The public may submit any information, written report or sworn complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above appointments to the CA Secretariat, 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, Metro Manila.

For the schedule of the public hearings, the CA Secretariat can be reached through telephone numbers 551-7532, 831-0893, 831-1824, 8342706, 831-1566 and 834-2713.

22 January 2016.

(TS-JAN. 23, 2016)

ARTURO L. TIU Secretary

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PNoy starts own countdown

By Sandy Araneta PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has apparently started his own countdown until the end of his term.

Personal countdown. President Benigno S. Aquino III tells his audience at the annual Friedrich Naumann Foundation Freedom Speech in Intramuros, Manila that he has only 161 days remaining in his term. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

Comfort women hit Aquino

By Rio N. Araja COMFORT women who were forced into sex slavery during the World War II slammed President Benigno Aquino III on Friday for saying the issue of apology and reparation for them by Japan has already been long settled.

At a news conference, Rechilda Extremadura, executive director of Lila Pilipina (League for Filipino Grandmothers), echoed the stance of the comfort women victims that Japan must still “apologize, uphold the truth and extend just compensation.”

“They are calling on the President to raise their concerns when Japanese Emperor Akihito, along with his wife Empress Michiko, arrives in the

Philippines for a state visit from Jan. 26 until Jan. 30.

The Philippines and Japan will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations after the end of World War II. “We may be older than him but our memory is far clearer. The grandmothers never heard an official statement of apology nor received compensation from the Japanese government. Perhaps, he is the one suffering from dementia,” Extremadura said.

She said they cannot believe Aquino would make good on his promise to bring up the issue of the comfort women with Emperor Akihito.

Earlier, the President said he would raise the concerns of the comfort women

victims.

“Now that a visiting forces agreement with Japan is in the works, Aquino has another reason not to go into this topic,” Extremadura said.

Four members of Lila Pilipina— Narcisa Claveria, 85, of Ilocos Sur; Hilaria Bustamante, 90, of Singalong, Manila; Felicidad de los Reyes, 87, of Masbate, and Estelita Dy, 85, of Negros Occidental— brought crane origami symbolizing peace to remind Aquino of his lost opportunities to help pursue justice for them.

Originally, La Lila has a total of 174 comfort women-members, but 104 of the have already died. The rest are now too weak or senile to actively come out for their struggle for justice, Extremadura said.

“Only 161 days remain before I am granted my own freedom to enjoy life as a private citizen,” Aquino said Thursday night in his speech at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation Freedom Speech and Dinner at Fort Santiago.

Aquino also spoke of the freedom from hunger and poverty in the Philippines, which his administration has been trying to work on since 2010 when he took office.

When a man cannot even be assured of the most basic needs, his entire existence becomes solely focused on survival.

Everything else, including reflecting on ideals such as democracy and dignity, is deemed an unattainable luxury, and therefore meaningless as he pursues his next meal, said Aquino.

“Freeing our people from hunger thus became one of the most vital imperatives of our administration. The task we set upon was two-fold: To address the immediate needs of the poorest of the population, while working to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty that has prevented our people from harnessing their full potential,” he said.

Aquino said this strategy found its embodiment in the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, he adopted from the administration of his predecessor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

“We provided the poorest households cash grants to ensure their most basic needs are met, on the condition that they send their kids to school, and vaccinate them against a menu of preventable diseases, among others,” he said.

The Aquino administration inherited the program with a mere 786,523 householdbeneficiaries and Aquino called it a middling program being used as a tool for patronage, with little hope of making a real impact on the lives of the poor.

By the end of this year, 4.6-million households and homeless families will be enjoying the benefits of the CCT program, identified through a non-partisan, scientific process by the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.

“We have already finished a second NHTS, our Listahanan 2, to validate the effects of the first. On top of that, we expanded the age of coverage so that students get to finish high school while still under the program, and thus become more employable in the future,” said Aquino.

SK reforms pushed SENATOR Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos expressed hope on Friday that the reforms senators inserted in the Sangguniang Kabataan Reform Act will address the concerns on politicizing youth councils across the country.

Conceding that it’s difficult to say they will not be politicized in entering politics, Marcos, however, said the youth will have a free hand and better system for which they can represent the young demographics.

“The youth movement will have a representation and voice in the government. I hope the final version achieves that,” said Marcos who is running for vice president in the coming election.

The senator, chairman of the Senate local government committee, said the anti-dynasty provision in the new law provides that a child of an elected barangay official cannot run in the SK elections within the jurisdiction of his relatives.

“We are happy about that. It will apply

in the next SK elections in October. We are confident that the reforms we infused will be to the benefit of the youth movement.

It will provide a voice for young people in government and society,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drilon said the SK law, which contains a landmark provision prohibiting political dynasties, proves that the passage of an anti-political dynasty law is achievable in the near future.

He the new SK Reform Act or RA 10742 “is a great start towards finally realizing an Anti-Political Dynasty Law, the passage of which has been long overdue.”

“We just saw that an anti-political dynasty provision is possible, so it may not be too far-fetched for us now to work on an anti-political dynasty bill as envisioned by our Constitution,” Drilon said.

“This new law shows that there is a good chance that the Congress can pass a legislation which will execute the express policy of the 1987 Constitution on the prohibition of political dynasties,” he added.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Reaching the youth. Students of the Centro Escolar University campus in Makati City rush to have a group photo taken with Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos during his visit on Friday.

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Francis to CBCP: Proclaim wonder of mercy

Plenary assembly. The country’s Catholic bishops gathered in Cebu City on Friday to open their biannual meeting presided by papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto. CBCP PHOTO

Jolo bishop laments desperate Christians CEBU CITY—Some Christians are arming themselves against extremists in Southern Philippines because they are getting increasingly “desperate,” Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon said Friday.

Lampon said the militant organization “Red God Soldiers,” whose members brandished firearms while burning a flag of the Islamic State, may have grown out of frustration and fear.

“This is a kind of desperate attempt by these Christians who are being attacked now and then by these armed groups,” said Lampon who is currently in Cebu for the bishops’ plenary assembly and the International

Eucharistic Congress.

In an apparent show of force, around 300 members of the armed Christian group on Tuesday showed their firearms, as they vowed to drive Moro renegades from their communities.

The group also burned a flag of the Islamic State and condemned recent attacks by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Police officials said the BIFF was behind the spate of deadly attacks on civilian communities last month in Mindanao and had pledged allegiance to IS militants in the Middle East.

The militiamen said they are ready to fight the BIFF for the sake of their families, communities, and in the name of self-defense.

According to the prelate, he sees the uprising among Christian community as a way of calling on the government to address their problem.

“If the government troops can defend civilians whether they are Muslims or Christians, then I think it will not come to this,” added Lampon.

“If only there’s enough security for them, I think they will not take up arms. But if they feel helpless, I guess it’s their form of self-defense,” he said.

After months of denial, the military had confirmed the presence of foreign jihadists in Mindanao and vowed to step up its search for four Indonesian jihadists amid increased terror activities in Southeast Asia.

Military sources identified the four as Arsyad Sagoni, 43; Suwito Tujimon, 23, Anuar Yancong, 27; and Amir Nanggi, 43, all Buginese Indonesians who fled Sulawesi after Jakarta cracked down on Islamic militants with apparent links to international terror group IS.

THE plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines opened in Cebu City on Friday with Pope Francis calling on Filipino bishops to seek “new ways” to proclaim the “wonder” of God’s mercy for all the people.

In a letter read to bishops by papal nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, the Pope emphasized the need for the Church to spread God’s “enduring love” for everyone in order that this Jubilee Year of Mercy may truly be a time “to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become more effective sign of Father’s action in our lives.”

Around 98 cardinals and bishops gathered in Cebu City for the meeting which is expected to discuss the coming May 9 general elections as well as the 51st International Eucharistic Congress which will begin as the plenary assembly ends on Sunday.

CBCP president LingayenDagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the CBCP were supposed to discuss the issue in their plenary assembly last July but deferred it for their January meeting.

And since the elections will be discussed, the CBCP is also expected to come out with a statement which will serve as guide to voters aside from the one that has been previously released.

Villegas said a Catholic cannot support a candidate who vows to wipe out religion from public life.

The Lingayen Dagupan prelate also urged the faithful not to choose candidates engaged in dirty tactics against their fellow candidates.

While there are no perfect candidates, Villegas said voters must opt for those who are willing to be better for the people.

The CBCP head reminded the faithful not to be too dependent on surveys and polls.

Catholics should be openminded saying “there are worthy candidates from other Christian communities and other religions.”

House adopts ‘oath of office’ bill

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives has adopted a Senate-approved measure empowering 42,000 barangay chieftains to administer the oath of office to any government official, including the president of the Republic of the Philippines.

The Lower House unanimously voted to adopt the Senate Bill 2693, principally authored

by Senators Bongbong Marcos, Francis Escudero and Miriam Defensor-Santiago. The measure will then be transmitted to the Palace for President Benigno Aquino III’s signature.

Under the bill the following officers have generally authority to administer oaths;

vice-president; members and secretaries of both Houses of Congress; members of Judiciary; secretaries of departments; provincial governors and lieutenant governors; city mayors; municipal mayors; bureau directors; regional directors; clerks of courts; registrars of deeds, other civilian officers in the public of the government of the Philippines whose appointments are vested in the president and are subject to confirmation by the Commission on Appointments; all other constitutional officers and notaries public.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. said the bill will give elected officials an appropriate choice on who among the public of-

ficials would administer one’s oath of office.

“This is in recognition of the very important role of the barangay chairmen in the political structure of government,” Belmonte said.

The measure seeks to amend Section 41 of the Administrative Code of 1987, as amended, by clearly providing that barangay chairmen will now be clothe with the authority to administer the oath of office of public officials.

“While this measure will break the long standing tradition where the president takes his oath before the chief justice, it will also give due recognition to the untiring support extended by the punong barangays to the president,” Belmonte pointed out.

In harm’s way. A fireman checks one of the 300 houses in Barangay

Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City that caught fire early Friday leaving about 400 families homeless. JANSEN ROMERO

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A6 MMDA reimposes policy vs physical contact

By Joel E. Zurbano ThE Metro Manila Development Authority has announced it will reimpose the no-physical contact policy in apprehending traffic violators in the metropolis.

This time, according to MMDA chairman Emerson Carlos, the target of this scheme are erring drivers beating the red light, and those violating bus segregation and traffic lane obstruction rule.

“Before, the target of the no contact policy was the over speeding motorists.

All traffic rules will now be included,” he said.

The Metro Manila Council, the MMDA’s policy making body, in 2002 approved Resolution 02-49 citing the need to improve the system of apprehending traffic violators by way of adopting a no contact policy in apprehending traffic violators thru the use of digital camera.

“Physical contact between the traffic enforcer and the driver during apprehension is an open invitation for graft and corruption,” the MMC cited this as one of the reasons in coming up with the resolution.

But the MMDA discontinue the practice following numerous complaint from motorists who claimed they were penalized without their knowledge.

A total of 400 close circuit television cameras were installed all over Metro Manila to monitor the movement of vehicles on major thoroughfares.

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Supreme Court reinstates ousted Antique governor

By Rey E. Requejo

The Supreme Court has ordered the reinstatement of ousted Antique Gov. exequiel Javier.

Voting 11-0, the Court reversed and set aside the order issued by the Commission on Elections en banc which granted the petition for disqualification against Javier filed by former Lakas-CMD secretary-general and UNA candidate Raymundo Roquero and Cornelio Aldon, also of the Lakas-CMD, over Javi-

er’s suspension of a town mayor critical of his administration two years ago.

Both Roquero and Aldon filed the disqualification case against Javier after he suspended Valderama Mayor Mary Joyce Roquero during the election period.

The Comelec held that Javier violated election laws when he suspended

Roquero on Jan. 23, 2013, which falls within the election period.

It was alleged that Roquero’s suspension came after she manifested her political opposition against Javier, also during an election period. Thus, the act falls under “coercion of subordinates.”

In a decision penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, the SC ruled that the basis for disqualifying petitioner Javier no longer existed with the express repeal of Section 216 (d) (1) and 2 of the Omnibus Election Code by Republic

Act 7890.

The tribunal said the jurisdiction of the Comelec to disqualify candidates is limited to election offenses under the Omnibus Election Code and that all other election offenses are beyond its ambit as these are criminal in nature.

“The Comelec gravely abused its discretion when it disqualified Governor Javier based on a provision of law that had already been expressly repealed,” the SC stressed.

The Comelec, in its Jan. 12, 2015 decision, ruled that petitioner Javier’s act

of preventively suspending Roquero during the election ban fell within the contemplation of Section 261(d) of the Omnibus Election Code, which is a ground for disqualification.

It held that while Section 261(d) was repealed by RA 7890, it did not remove coercion as a ground per se for disqualification.

“Comelec’s stubborn insistence that RA 7890 merely impliedly repealed Section 216 (d) despite the clear wordings of the law amounted to an arbitrary and whimsical exercise of judgment,” the SC added.

Sunset review. Center for Community Journalism and Development’s Girlie Alvarez presents findings and recommendations for the sunset review of the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. MEL CASPE

Former US veep to lead climate training in March

Resource persons. RP Energy and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

sponsored a Corporate Social Responsibility training. Among the speakers were Victor Chan, Melody Del Rosario, Rupert Ambil and Pia Bernal. ButCh Gunio

ThE Climate Reality Project announced the 31st Climate Reality Leadership Corps training to be held in the Philippines from March 14 to 16.

Al Gore, former vice president of the United States and founder/ chairman of The Climate Reality Project, will lead the Manila training for hundreds of new Climate Reality Leader. he will provide them with the knowledge and tools to build public awareness of our global climate challenge and drive action for solutions worldwide.

This is the first Climate Reality Leadership Corps training after the COP21 summit held in Paris this past December.

“In December, the nations of the world concluded a bold and historic agreement, demonstrating a strong and unified global

determination to solve the climate crisis,” said Gore.

“It is now time to take the next step. The Paris agreement lays the foundation for nations, businesses, investors and individuals around the world to work together to bring an end to the fossil fuel era and support the sustainable growth of a clean energy economy. My hope for this training is to build upon the momentum from Paris to work toward solutions from all corners of the world, starting with the Philippines— one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”

Scientists, strategists, communicators, and technical specialists will join Gore in discussing the science of climate change, the direct cost climate impacts are having on communities around the

world and solutions available to solve the climate crisis.

The program is designed to formally train a new group of community, government and business leaders to become Climate Reality Leaders, who will then become change agents in their own communities.

They will emerge from the program as energized and skilled communicators with the knowledge, tools and drive to educate diverse communities on the costs of carbon pollution and what can be done to solve the climate crisis.

The Climate Reality Project has thousands of Climate Reality Leaders from more than 130 countries, including recent trainings held in Miami, Toronto, New Delhi, Istanbul, Chicago, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Melbourne.

s at u r D aY : j a n u a r Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Multi-agency group wants an end to squatting in Baguio City

Muslim traders endorse Islamic banking system

By A. Perez Rimando

By Dexter A. See BAGUIO CITY—Combined legal efforts by concerned national government agencies, the city government, government-owned and controlled corporations and pro-environment groups will curb the proliferation of squatters in critical watersheds, public lands and even private properties in the different parts of the city, city legal officer Melchor Carlos Rabanes said here Wednesday.

Rabanes, a member of the city anti-squatting and illegal structures committee, said there is a need for all agencies involved, together with the support of the pro-environment groups, to consolidate legal efforts toward the demolition and removal of illegal structures on forest reservations, public lands and even private properties.

“The city government has done its part in filing the appropriate petitions before the concerned courts and quasai-judicial bodies for the nullification of titles that were issued over forest reservations and city-owned properties,” Rabanes said. “Thus, the legal team of other agencies must also do their part in filing the necessary petitions for the lands that they own which were squatted upon.”

For watersheds that are within the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the city legal officer suggested that the agency’s legal department must already initiate the appropriate legal action before the court or whatever quasi-judicial body concerned for the nullification of previously issued private titles or ancestral titles to portions of those that were proclaimed as watersheds.

He cited that the previous ruling of the Supreme Court upholding Proclamation No. 15 was clear that Busol is a forest reservation, thus, structures, whether or temporary or permanent, have no place within the portions of the forest reservation.

COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao—Business leaders and stakeholders of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Central Mindanao have endorsed the establishment of an Islamic banking system, specifically one that prohibits the charging of high interest rates, a Basilan lawmaker said.

Playtime. At sunset, kids play along the Coast of San Juan, La Union. DAVID CHAN

The proposal was indicated in House Bill No.5989 filed by Basilan Pary-list Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin Hataman which was supported by Salem Glandour of Maybank Islamic Berhad in Malaysia and Amanah Islamic Bank executive Isdrro Sobrecarey.

Both businessmen cited the advantages of an Islamic banking system to operate in the Southern Philippines.

Hataman, wife of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, stressed that under her proposed Islamic banking law, “banks do not rely on high interest rates to sustain operation but push for moderate to socialized interest charge.”

The Basilan legislator said that based on Islam, the banking system prohibits usury or taking high interest on cash loans and cater mostly on the poor and moneyed traders.

Glandour explained that “while Islamic banking system offers low interest rates, it has no conflict with conventional and commercial banks.”

Hataman hailed the business leaders’ warm reception of her proposal and pledged to continue dialogues through roundtable discussions with other stakeholders.

Albay adopts local version of PPP code

Queueing up. A Badjao woman waits for her turn to get her water from a common supply faucet in Bongao, Tawi-tawi. lANCe BACoNguIS

LEGAZPI CITY—The province of Albay has adopted a local version of the Public-Private Partnership code for the implementation of big infrastructure projects in the province designed to pursue unhampered economic growth, and become a development hub in Bicol and Southern Luzon.

Gov. Joey Salceda said the new “Public-Private Partnership Code of Albay” could be regarded as a major breakthrough in local government administration, that will pave the way for implementing monumental infrastructure projects for economic growth—under the build, operate and transfer scheme in a “climate of minimum government regulations.”

Salceda said Albay could probably be the first province

to have drawn its own local PPP code, as it stands in the threshold of becoming the development hub in Southern Luzon, most particularly the Bicol Region. BOT is regarded as the easier way to administer big government infrastructure development.

The Albay Sangguniang Panlalawigan, headed by Vice Gov. Harold Ong Imperial, recently approved the local PPP code which provides “clear guidelines for public-private partnerships by the province and its component local government units.”

Salceda said the Local Government Code allows LGUs to enter “into joint ventures and such other cooperative engagements with non-government and people’s organizations to engage in the delivery

of certain basic services…”

Among others, the Albay PPP Code aims to identify specific undertakings and potential support, financial or otherwise, that may be granted to the Project Proponents, as well as specific incentives as provided for under the Local Government Investment Code, the governor said.

As chairman of the Bicol Regional Development Council for nine years now, and the Luzon Area Development Council for three years, Salceda has sponsored and pushed for big infrastructure projects, among them the Bicol International Airport set to open in 2017, and the national government’s P171billion South Rail Line of the North-South Railways system, now being rescheduled for bidding under the PPP scheme.

S AT U R D AY : J A N U A R Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

ESPINOSA DECRIES COURT DELAY; THAT SHELL STATION IN SAN JUAN CITY

[ EDI TORI A L ]

NO FURTHER PROOF SCIENCE tells us that 2015 was the hottest year in modern times— proof anew that climate change is setting records and threatening to disrupt life as humankind knows it.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, average temperature across global land and offices last year was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average.

More alarmingly, 16 of the past 18 years were among the warmest in recent record.

The US space agency Nasa said the temperature changes are driven by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

Then again, we do not need space scientists to tell us that. The issue of global warming has confronted us for years, such that countries of the world had been trying to arrive at an agreement that would reverse, or at least slow down, the runaway warming of the planet which would in turn have catastrophic consequences.

In Paris last month, 200 nations made commitments to curb their own emissions and help vulnerable countries, usually among developing ones, adapt to the consequences of climate change.

Here in the Philippines, El Niño has been the bane of farmlands since last year. The heat has affected countless provinces in the country through adverse farming conditions and diminished production.

Meanwhile, erratic, out-of-season and stronger typhoons have become the norm, bringing death and destruction to the areas they affect.

As we ponder our choices for the next elections, we should consider an additional metric as we select the most deserving leader: Commitment to walk the talk in the issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

It would take decades to see what the destiny of this planet would be in terms of global temperatures and aggregate emissions. What is immediately perceptible are the decisions and actions—more than the words—that our leaders would utter to make our communities resilient against the blows, wet or dry, of nature.

SOCIAL INSECURITY POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO IS IT Social Security System or Social Insecurity System? Pardon the sarcasm but the more information is made available about the SSS, the more insecure people feel about its (mis) management and (in)capacity to sustain services to the fund’s members-owners.

Thanks to President Noynoy Aquino’s veto of the bill increasing SSS members’ monthly

pension by P2,000.00, the SSS has come under close scrutiny of the public.

To begin, let me say that the veto is not without merit. That the SSS will go bankrupt in so and so number of years is something we have heard many times in the past.

In our many years of advocacy for the passage of the Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy, a bill that provides for the rights and welfare of the majority of workers who are poor and not covered by labor legislations, we have always been told by the SSS that it could

not afford what the bill requires of it. SSS officials have told us time and again that the fund will dissipate fast if it does.

Initially, MACWIE wanted informal workers to be members of SSS without paying the employer’s share. Under the present scheme, workers in the informal economy (WIE) can enroll as selfemployed. However, they pay double because they pay both the employee and employer’s contributions. This is okay with entrepreneurs but what about the ordinary tricycle or jeepney drivers, ambulant market

A9

Because people got angry, the SSS has been put under the microscope.

vendors, home-based workers, waste-pickers, on-call laundry women and yayas? They definitely cannot afford to pay double. The big bulk of WIE does not have employers and among the poorest of workers.

Thus, they cannot become selfemployed members of the SSS. The mandate of SSS is for universal coverage of workers. This cannot be fulfilled without the 25-million workers in the informal economy.

MACWIE’s solution is for government to come in and shoulder the employers’ counterpart as far as WIE membership is concerned. The bill has identified several agencies as sources of funds. These workers are not asking for a free ride.

They are willing to pay BUT they cannot afford to pay double what an ordinary employed worker pays.

This is a matter of social justice. Yet, MACWIE remains pending in Congress despite the fact that it’s been there for four.

In the same vein, increasing the pension of retired SSS members is also a matter of social justice. While I said that there is merit to PNoy’s veto of the pension increase bill, it is government’s responsibility to make sure that retirees receive a kind of pension that is equi-

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-

table and just. Several things could have been done that could have saved the bill from being vetoed and Malacañang is not without fault here.

Legislative and policy advocacy is my game. My group has been at this for almost three decades so we know a thing or two about our legislative process.

All bills that become laws are negotiated laws. Meaning, bills go through a lot of haggling before they get passed.

Legislators we work with always tell us that there is no perfect law because of the negotiations involved in the process.

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

All relevant government agencies as well as non-government groups are heard during committee meetings that deliberate bills. It is virtually impossible that the SSS was not involved in this particular bill. Surely, its officials were heard during discussions because the bill is about its program.

We are told that the bill in question started with a P5,000.00 monthly increase. That the figure was decreased to P2,000.00 is proof that the bill underwent negotiations. So, what happened?

Continued on A11

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

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

YEARS before Manny Pacquiao became an international boxing champion, another Filipino boxer brought fame to the Philippines. He is Luisito Espinosa, who won the World Boxing Council featherweight championship match held at Koronadal, South Cotabato on Dec. 6, 1997.

Espinosa was entitled to a purse of US$130,349.00. Sadly, that purse was never paid to him by the organizer of the bout. After getting the run-around each time he tried to get the purse promised to him, Espinosa decided to litigate in the Regional Trial Court.

In 2009, while the case was pending in court, the promoter passed away, and he was substituted in the case by his estate.

His heirs are his widow, who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and his three children. Later that year, his widow retired from her judicial post.

The estate of the deceased organizer argued that there is no evidence to hold the estate liable for Espinosa’s purse.

Eventually, the trial court agreed, and dismissed Espinosa’s complaint.

Thereafter, Espinosa brought his case to the Court of Appeals. In May 2015, the appellate court reversed the ruling of the trial court, and ordered the estate of the deceased organizer to pay Espinosa’s purse, plus legal interest.

The media lauded the ruling, saying that Espinosa was finally able to obtain justice after almost 20 years of waiting.

Espinosa is now almost 50 years old, and because he is way past his prime, he does odd jobs abroad to support his family.

A reconsideration was sought by the estate of the deceased promoter. It also demanded that the three justices who decided the case in favor of Espinosa inhibit themselves from the case because they appear to be biased towards the ex-boxer.

Under the internal rules of the Court of Appeals, however, a losing party is not allowed to seek the inhibition of any justice after judgment is already rendered.

Despite this rule, the three justices who decided in favor of Espinosa inhibited themselves, as announced in a resolution released by the appellate court last December.

Espinosa opposed the inhibition of the justices and insisted that the rule be followed. The ex-boxer also lamented that unless the three justices change their mind and remain on board, his case will Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

S AT U R D AY : J A N U A R Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

ESPINOSA DECRIES COURT DELAY; THAT SHELL STATION IN SAN JUAN CITY

[ EDI TORI A L ]

NO FURTHER PROOF SCIENCE tells us that 2015 was the hottest year in modern times— proof anew that climate change is setting records and threatening to disrupt life as humankind knows it.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, average temperature across global land and offices last year was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average.

More alarmingly, 16 of the past 18 years were among the warmest in recent record.

The US space agency Nasa said the temperature changes are driven by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

Then again, we do not need space scientists to tell us that. The issue of global warming has confronted us for years, such that countries of the world had been trying to arrive at an agreement that would reverse, or at least slow down, the runaway warming of the planet which would in turn have catastrophic consequences.

In Paris last month, 200 nations made commitments to curb their own emissions and help vulnerable countries, usually among developing ones, adapt to the consequences of climate change.

Here in the Philippines, El Niño has been the bane of farmlands since last year. The heat has affected countless provinces in the country through adverse farming conditions and diminished production.

Meanwhile, erratic, out-of-season and stronger typhoons have become the norm, bringing death and destruction to the areas they affect.

As we ponder our choices for the next elections, we should consider an additional metric as we select the most deserving leader: Commitment to walk the talk in the issues of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

It would take decades to see what the destiny of this planet would be in terms of global temperatures and aggregate emissions. What is immediately perceptible are the decisions and actions—more than the words—that our leaders would utter to make our communities resilient against the blows, wet or dry, of nature.

SOCIAL INSECURITY POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO IS IT Social Security System or Social Insecurity System? Pardon the sarcasm but the more information is made available about the SSS, the more insecure people feel about its (mis) management and (in)capacity to sustain services to the fund’s members-owners.

Thanks to President Noynoy Aquino’s veto of the bill increasing SSS members’ monthly

pension by P2,000.00, the SSS has come under close scrutiny of the public.

To begin, let me say that the veto is not without merit. That the SSS will go bankrupt in so and so number of years is something we have heard many times in the past.

In our many years of advocacy for the passage of the Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy, a bill that provides for the rights and welfare of the majority of workers who are poor and not covered by labor legislations, we have always been told by the SSS that it could

not afford what the bill requires of it. SSS officials have told us time and again that the fund will dissipate fast if it does.

Initially, MACWIE wanted informal workers to be members of SSS without paying the employer’s share. Under the present scheme, workers in the informal economy (WIE) can enroll as selfemployed. However, they pay double because they pay both the employee and employer’s contributions. This is okay with entrepreneurs but what about the ordinary tricycle or jeepney drivers, ambulant market

A9

Because people got angry, the SSS has been put under the microscope.

vendors, home-based workers, waste-pickers, on-call laundry women and yayas? They definitely cannot afford to pay double. The big bulk of WIE does not have employers and among the poorest of workers.

Thus, they cannot become selfemployed members of the SSS. The mandate of SSS is for universal coverage of workers. This cannot be fulfilled without the 25-million workers in the informal economy.

MACWIE’s solution is for government to come in and shoulder the employers’ counterpart as far as WIE membership is concerned. The bill has identified several agencies as sources of funds. These workers are not asking for a free ride.

They are willing to pay BUT they cannot afford to pay double what an ordinary employed worker pays.

This is a matter of social justice. Yet, MACWIE remains pending in Congress despite the fact that it’s been there for four.

In the same vein, increasing the pension of retired SSS members is also a matter of social justice. While I said that there is merit to PNoy’s veto of the pension increase bill, it is government’s responsibility to make sure that retirees receive a kind of pension that is equi-

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-

table and just. Several things could have been done that could have saved the bill from being vetoed and Malacañang is not without fault here.

Legislative and policy advocacy is my game. My group has been at this for almost three decades so we know a thing or two about our legislative process.

All bills that become laws are negotiated laws. Meaning, bills go through a lot of haggling before they get passed.

Legislators we work with always tell us that there is no perfect law because of the negotiations involved in the process.

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

All relevant government agencies as well as non-government groups are heard during committee meetings that deliberate bills. It is virtually impossible that the SSS was not involved in this particular bill. Surely, its officials were heard during discussions because the bill is about its program.

We are told that the bill in question started with a P5,000.00 monthly increase. That the figure was decreased to P2,000.00 is proof that the bill underwent negotiations. So, what happened?

Continued on A11

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

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

YEARS before Manny Pacquiao became an international boxing champion, another Filipino boxer brought fame to the Philippines. He is Luisito Espinosa, who won the World Boxing Council featherweight championship match held at Koronadal, South Cotabato on Dec. 6, 1997.

Espinosa was entitled to a purse of US$130,349.00. Sadly, that purse was never paid to him by the organizer of the bout. After getting the run-around each time he tried to get the purse promised to him, Espinosa decided to litigate in the Regional Trial Court.

In 2009, while the case was pending in court, the promoter passed away, and he was substituted in the case by his estate.

His heirs are his widow, who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and his three children. Later that year, his widow retired from her judicial post.

The estate of the deceased organizer argued that there is no evidence to hold the estate liable for Espinosa’s purse.

Eventually, the trial court agreed, and dismissed Espinosa’s complaint.

Thereafter, Espinosa brought his case to the Court of Appeals. In May 2015, the appellate court reversed the ruling of the trial court, and ordered the estate of the deceased organizer to pay Espinosa’s purse, plus legal interest.

The media lauded the ruling, saying that Espinosa was finally able to obtain justice after almost 20 years of waiting.

Espinosa is now almost 50 years old, and because he is way past his prime, he does odd jobs abroad to support his family.

A reconsideration was sought by the estate of the deceased promoter. It also demanded that the three justices who decided the case in favor of Espinosa inhibit themselves from the case because they appear to be biased towards the ex-boxer.

Under the internal rules of the Court of Appeals, however, a losing party is not allowed to seek the inhibition of any justice after judgment is already rendered.

Despite this rule, the three justices who decided in favor of Espinosa inhibited themselves, as announced in a resolution released by the appellate court last December.

Espinosa opposed the inhibition of the justices and insisted that the rule be followed. The ex-boxer also lamented that unless the three justices change their mind and remain on board, his case will Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

S AT U R D AY : J A N U A R Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

A10

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

DELIBERATELY MISINTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION BACK­ BENCHER ROD P. KAPUNAN WHEN the Supreme Court voted to affirm the constitutionality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, the justices decided the case from a political rather from a legal perspective.

That means the Supreme Court can never be pressured or persuaded how it intends to interpret a provision in the Constitution that has been reworded many times just to circumvent or get away with what it clearly prohibits.The justices should not decide a constitutional issue on the basis of political sentiments or ideological inclination, but should stick to their duty of giving the people the right interpretation of what they ratified in their charter.

From the two bases we ordered closed in 1991, we allowed the return of eight.

What aggravates the situation is that the Supreme Court is the one spearheading in misleading the people about the treaty which the other party spat by their arrogance in refusing to have it ratified in respect to this country when our Senate ratified it as mandated by our Constitution. Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and her ilk in the Supreme Court consistently deceived our people by citing Section 25, Article XVIII of the Constitution when she should have cited Section 4 of the same article because even if we take it that the issue is no longer about the constitutionality of the presence of US military bases here, nonetheless the learned chief justice should have examined whether the process in ratifying that treaty or international

agreement was observed, as required.

To make ourselves clear, Section 4, Article XVIII refers to the process of how an ordinary treaty or international agreement becomes binding, while Section 25 has reference to a special kind of treaty or international agreement which is prohibited or not allowed by the Constitution even if ratified by the Senate or by the mischievous expedience of judicial legislation by declaring it constitutional. That is why Section 25 provides that “(military bases) shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when Congress so requires, ratified by the majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the contracting States.”

Section 25, Article XVIII is stricter although it provides a leeway. Yet, even that leeway was completely ignored by the other party, and making a fool of us by claiming that their presence here is pursuant to our defense and security interests. Section 25 tells us how to lift the prohibition, while Section 4 is the process which regular or ordinary treaty or international agreements or not otherwise prohibited can be made binding.

Had that process been observed, there would have been no debate, except that there is still a need to have it ratified by the Senate like any of the ordinary treaties and international agreements we entered into.

It is likewise noteworthy to point out that Section 4 does not mention or insist that the other contracting party recognize it as a treaty as required in Section 25, but merely requires that all existing treaties or international agreements which have not been ratified can be renewed or extended only if it has the concurrence of at least two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate.”

The Supreme Court under the leadership of Chief Justice Sereno should have been courageous enough to tell the administration that if it wants to allow the return of the US military bases, it should first

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA

RESOLVING THE EDCA CONTROVERSY

IN AN extensive ponencia, the Supreme Court dismissed the two petitions questioning the constitutionality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States. Ten justices ruled that Edca is an executive agreement that does not require Senate concurrence while four Justices dissented.

To justify the ruling, the majority, penned by no less than Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, invoked Article 18, Section 25 of the 1987 Constitution which states that the President can enter into an executive on foreign military bases, troops, or facilities if (a) it is not the instrument that allows the presence of foreign military bases, troops or facilities, or (b) it merely aims to implement an existing law or treaty; holding that the Edca is one such executive agreement. On this premise, the Court posited that “the President had the power to enter into executive agreements, which are different from treaties.

This is well-recognized and long upheld by the court”.

The Court further stressed that “The Edca

provides for arrangements to implement existing treaties allowing entry of foreign military troops or facilities under the VFA and the [Mutual Defense Treaty], and thus may be in the form of an executive agreement solely within the powers of the President and not requiring Senate concurrence under Article XVIII, Sec. 25.” To the majority, Edca implements the provisions of the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement and 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

The Court added that there is no court that can tell the President to desist from choosing an executive agreement over a treaty to embody an international agreement.

“Rather” it said “in view of the vast constitutional powers and prerogatives granted to the President in the field of foreign affairs, the task of the Court is to determine whether the international agreement is consistent with the applicable limitations.” The President has the option to choose the form of an agreement other than through a treaty, provided that the agreement dealing with foreign military bases,

troops or facilities is not the principal agreement that first allowed the entry or presence in the Philippines.

Moreover, the executive agreement must be consistent with the Constitution, as well as with existing laws and treaties, it added.

The high court likewise stressed that the law requires Senate concurrence to a treaty and that an agreement can only be considered a treaty when it serves as an “instrument that allows the presence of foreign military bases, troops or facilities.”

Four (4) justices namely, Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo de Castro, Arturo Brion, Marvic Leonen, and Estela Perlas Bernabe dissented from the majority decision.

Justice Leonen begins his dissent with a quotation from the movie Heneral Luna, that famous phrase the national hero hurled at Pedro Paterno, Felix Buencamino, at Emilio Aguinaldo when they argued that the Americans in 1898 could be trusted to give us independence: “Para kayong mga birhen na naniniwala sa pag-ibig ng isang puta!

(“You are like virgins who believe that a prostitute loves you!”)

More technicaly, Leonen argues that the decision amended the Constitution, or at the very least, emasculated its text and weakened its spirit.

Contrary to the holding by the majority, Leonen opined that the Edca does not simply implement but substantially modifies or amends the Visiting Forces Agreement, a treaty. Hence, Edca should be ratified by the Senate.

Supporting his stance, Justice Leonen pointed out that Edca includes matters not contemplated in the VFA, including the temporary stationing on a rotational basis of US military personnel and their contractors; pre-positioning of military materiel; used by the United States to launch military and paramilitary operations to be conducted within our territory or against targets in other states. All these, and more, indicate that Edca is a treaty different from the VFA. Echoing Leonen, Brion is also of the opinion that Edca is a treaty and not merely an agreement. To him, Edca should be in Continued on A11

amend the Constitution, for no matter how one would want to interpret the provision, it clearly prohibits the presence or establishment of any military bases in the country.

The Court cannot otherwise interpret the provision without impairing its image as an accomplice to the commission of constitutional vandalism.

There is nothing wrong if the Court suggests rather than decide a case everybody knows would constitute an intentional misinterpretation of the constitution just to appease a foreign power. It could have avoided being heckled as spineless and downright silly. It is different from one where no actual case brought before it for decision.

The trouble with this wayward government is it wants the US to regain their military bases here, but would not want us to amend the Constitution because PNoy considers it a “legacy” her mother bequeathed to the Filipino people. But PNoy cannot have both. Either he amends the Constitution

to allow the US to have their military bases here or stick to what it provides. To insist in having both is to forcibly drag the Supreme Court as an accomplice which is exactly what it did that even with a simple mind could well understand that foreign military bases are not allowed here under the 1987 Constitution.

The decision added that that Edca is “not the instrument that allows US troops or facilities to enter as the Visiting Forces Agreement already has done that,” citing the court’s earlier ruling upholding the validity of the VFA. “Edca merely provides for arrangements to implement existing treaties following entry of foreign military troops or facilities under the VFA and the MDT, and thus may be in the form of an execute agreement solely within the powers of the President and not requiring Senate concurrence under Article XVIII, Section 25 of the Constitution.”

That portion of the decision is pure nonsense.

First the Court should not cite the VFA as has already been upheld as constitutional, ergo the Edca merely supplements the VFA. Second, the Mutual Defense Treaty has automatically been modified by the ratification of the 1987 Constitution which prohibits the establishment of foreign military bases in the country. If the MDT contains provisions allowing the US to have military bases here, that cannot stand over and above our Constitution. Third, the court is under obligation to review all executive agreements. It cannot compartmentalize each and every agreement to say Edca is merely an implementation of the VFA and the MDT. The decision says the US cannot build permanent structures, for to do so could transform them to military bases, or as Sereno would put it “go beyond the parameters, limitations and standards set by the law and/or treaty that the former purports to implement and must not unduly expand

the international obligation expressly mentioned or necessarily implied in the law or treaty.” But did it come into the mind of the honorable justice that to evade that limitation, the US would merely eject our soldiers from their barracks to probably bivouac in the open field to accommodate their new overlords who insist they are merely here for a visit?

More than that, the US is tentatively eyeing the military facilities in Nueva Ecija (probably Fort Magsaysay), Clark in Pampanga, in Antonio Bautista in Palawan, Benito Ebuen in Cebu and Lumbia airfield in Cagayan de Oro and unnamed naval bases in Cebu and Palawan. In fact, the US has already made Subic the regular port of call for their warships even before it declared Edca as constitutional. Thus, from the two bases we ordered closed in 1991, we allowed the return of eight and that is something Jovito Salonga would never be able to figure out. rpkapunan@gmail.com

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

EVERYMAN

VETO THE VETO

By Juan Alvin Tiamson having the chance to benefit not need a pension decides call on all House representajust a little from a supposed “security” system that they carried on their shoulders for most of their lives. And the very sad truth is that they might not have another chance at this because, let’s face it, they have diabetes, cancer, dementia, and a host of old-age and life-threatening burdens staring them in the face.

And so for the rest of their lives, most of our senior citizens now would have no choice but to make do with a two-thousand plus monthly pension, barely enough to provide them with decent living at a time when their bodies and minds cannot anymore be maximized to earn their keep (although many of them still do, extending their physical capacities to enable themselves to survive).

Unfortunately, we have a system where one who does

for those who need one; and where one who has total financial and physical security (the state provides two bodyguards for former presidents for life) decides for those who have no security at all.

The double whammy is that the decision was supposed to have been made for actuarial reasons. Are we being told then that one man is wiser than the hundreds of experts that Congress has utilized in crafting this bill?

Are we being persuaded that the next president and Congress members are simply too idiotic not to be able to come up with a plan to make the SSS a feasible system in the years to come?

If Congress is really sure that it has crafted an effective bill, then it has to veto the veto by overturning the President’s decision. We therefore

tives and senators to step up and prove that they are correct this time.

If they do not, then they should be ready to meet the angry gaze and eternal loathing of the three million senior citizen pensioners of the land, whom they have left to fend for themselves; whom they have neglected at a time when they are most vulnerable.

If they do not, our leaders should just rename the Social Security System. After all, if it cannot provide social security, what is it for? One good suggestion would be to rename it the Intense Social Insecurity System. The resulting acronym stands for what the agency has become in terms of making pensioners hostage to a miserable life.

submitted to the city authorities bear false information ranging be assigned to three new justices from the location of the station who must review the volumi- to the name of the president of nous record of the case all over the petroleum corporation. By again—which will take time. the way, 2014 marked the cenEspinosa also expressed reserva- tennial of the Shell brand in the tions about his being up against Philippines. a retired magistrate of the SuFor example, while the docupreme Court in a judicial bout. ments submitted to the city From what is stated in his government indicate that the pleading, Espinosa may have to gasoline station is located on an wait indefinitely for the justice empty corner lot—the corner that was almost his last year, but of Ortigas Avenue and Xavier denied him again this year. He Street—a medium-rise buildasks—when will his quest for ing already exists on that site. justice end?

In fact, the station was built on -----------------------some nearby property along OrLast year, this column dis- tigas Avenue, but it isn’t erected cussed the Shell gasoline station on a corner lot. How this false located along the west-bound information escaped the attenlane of Ortigas Avenue in tion of the barangay officials Greenhills, San Juan City, Met- of Greenhills is a big mystery, ropolitan Manila. A nearby vil- and something which should be lage resident disclosed that the brought to the attention of the gasoline station was construct- Ombudsman. ed without the requisite permits The construction of the gasofrom the city government, and line station is finished, but it has that the documents the Pilipinas no fire lane, and its entrance is Shell Petroleum Corporation, rather narrow compared to othbeing the owner of the station, er gasoline stations built on cor-

ner lots. How it was constructed without the required building permit is another enigma, and something the Ombudsman ought to know as well.

As a result, the gasoline station remains closed today. Thus put, Pilipinas Shell filed a suit before the Regional Trial Court in San Juan City to compel the city government to issue the requisite permit for the construction of its virtually completed station. Included in the suit was the village resident who protested the constuction of the station.

The court records show that the city government emphasized that Pilipinas Shell acted in bad faith by submitting false information, and that for this reason, it will not allow the operation of a gasoline station which the city considers a threat to public safety and welfare.

For his part, the village resident opposed the suit on the ground that the documents submitted by Pilipinas Shell do not warrant the issuance of any permit for the construction of a

gasoline station which, admittedly, is already constructed.

On Dec. 21, 2015, the trial court ruled in favor of Pilipinas Shell and ordered the city government to act on the application of the petroleum company for the issuance of a development permit. The village resident sought a reconsideration of the said ruling.

The directive of the trial court is for the city government to act on the application of Pilipinas Shell. It does not require the city government to grant the permit sought. Evidently, there is no impediment for the city government of San Juan to deny the application nonetheless, considering that the supporting documents submitted

by Pilipinas Shell are spurious and tainted with false information. So far, the village resident is contemplating filing antigraft charges against those who allowed the controversial gasoline station to be built on a site other than what is stated in the application.

“China will think twice before attacking Philippine military re-supply ships to Philippineoccupied islands in the Spratlys.

With the Edca, the Philippines will have a fighting chance to hold on to Philippine- occupied islands in the Spratlys. With the Edca, China will think twice before attacking Philippine navy and coast guard vessels patrolling the West Philippine Sea. This will give the Philippines a fighting chance to ward off China’s impending enforcement of its nine-dashed lines as China’s “national boundaries” as shown in its 2013 official vertical map.”

Personally, I am not necessarily against the United States having a military presence in

the Philippines. I belong to the generation that ousted the military bases in 1992 and I am proud of that, but 2016 is very different from 1992. However, I am concerned that the decision unnecessarily expands executive power over foreign policy.

Justice Carpio’s argument for Edca as justified by our need to have a military alliance with the United States against China reinforces this concern. This is too important to leave only to the President; the people through its elected representatives must be involved in the decision.

In this sense, I agree with Justice Leonen’s observation: “There has never been a time in

our history—and will never be a time in the future—when the national interest of the United States was subservient to ours. We cannot stake our future on how we imagine the United States will behave in the future. We should learn from our history. If we wish the United States to behave in a way that we expect, then our government should demand clear commitments for assistance to our primary interests. The likelihood that this will happen increases when agreements with them run through the gauntlet of public opinion before they become effective.”

COUNTLESS articles had been written about the President’s veto of senior citizens’ pension increase. I wish to add one more, if only for the sake of my senior citizen friends and relatives, who were severely disappointed after years of waiting.

After all, a 2,000-peso increase in monthly pension is a pittance these days: it’s about 67 pesos a day, which could buy a few medicines; one ordinary meal, perhaps; and not even a kilo of fish or meat. It’s like giving one little bonefish to a starving cat or a band-aid to a dying patient.

And yet, the increase was still withheld, heartlessly.

I say heartlessly because I am seeing the results of the decision in the swollen eyes of the pensioners: dejection, frustration, even grief at not

Espinosa... From A9

Resolving... From A10 the form of a treaty as it brings back to the Philippines a) the modern equivalent of the foreign military bases whose term expired in 1991 and which Article XVIII, Section 25 of the Constitution directly addresses; b) foreign troops under arrangements outside of the contemplation of the visiting forces that the 1998 VFA allows; and, c) military facilities that, under modern military strategy, likewise can be brought in only through a treaty.

Interestingly, Justice Antonio Carpio wrote a concurring opinion that set forth the strategic logic of Edca. He points out:

Juan Alvin Tiamson is an educator and writer.

Facebook Page: Dean Tony La Viña Twitter: tonylavs

Social... From A9 It is common knowledge that no bill passes without the imprimatur of the Executive Department. Sadly, this is true.

Remember that we have a very largely Malacañang-controlled Congress. That the bill passed by an overwhelming majority in both the Belmonte-led House and Drilon-led Senate could only mean that the Palace agreed with its passage. If the bill was not acceptable, Malacañang’s allies could have easily blocked its passage. Perhaps, someone was sleeping on the job.

There could not have been any shortage of opportunities for negotiations. My hunch is that the Executive gave its yes and belatedly realized the difficulties in the implementation. If this is the case, this is irresponsible. If the President really had to veto it, he should have provided alternatives at the outset. But this did not happen so he appeared uncaring.

Something good happened, nonetheless. Because people got angry, the SSS has been put under the microscope. Now we know that its officials receive millions in salaries and benefits while the fund’s retired owners are given alms. SSS Commissioners receive an average of about four million pesos (P4,000,000.00) a year but a retired member gets thirty thousand (P30,000.00) a year. Anyway one looks at this, this is unjust. How does one live on a measly P2,500.00 a month?

One cannot.

Some say that we should pay SSS officials to get the best managers for the fund. I do not argue with this but do we have the best?

If this is so, then they should have been able to significantly increase its collections from the present 40 percent. News have it that the SSS presently has a P325-BILLION uncollected revenue. This is a lot of money that should benefit members.

If we have the best, they should have realized that it has invested precious members’ money in unprofitable investments that now lay idle. The Commission on Audit’s 2014 annual report and part of 2015 report indicated that the SSS own properties valued at almost P18 BILLION. Such properties include 102 condominium units, 44,000 square meters of office space, 16 residential houses, 663 units of memorial lots, and 69 parking lots. All of these assets are idle and incur costs to maintain apart from the fact that rental opportunities worth hundreds of millions of pesos are lost.

Yet, the SSS cannot even provide members with decent benefits.

The vetoed bill should lead us to revamp the SSS. Revisit its mandate, systems, and manner of doing things. SSS money belongs to its members. It should redound to their welfare.

The social insecurity must stop. bethangsioco@gmail.com @bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Cavs cruise past Clippers LEBRON James scored 22 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers put an embarrassing defeat further behind them Thursday with a 115-102 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kevin Love scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Cavs as all five Cleveland starters scored in double figures.

The balanced effort helped Cleveland overcome a 30-point night from Clippers guard Chris Paul, who scored 12 straight points in the first quarter to keep visiting Los Angeles close in the early going.

The Cavaliers then clamped down on defense to come up with a solid win against a top Western Conference team days after they were blown out by the Golden State Warriors -- a defeat that James said “opened a lot of eyes for us”.

“In order for us to be successful we have to defend at a high level. We’ve got to share the ball and get the ball moving from side to side and get the defense moving,” said James, whose Cavs began their bounce-back with a win over Brooklyn on Wednesday. “We’ve done that the last two games.”

Although James admitted that Monday’s loss to the Warriors was a wakeup call, he bridled at the suggestion it was a “red flag” for the 30-11 Cavaliers.

“We’re number one in our conference for a reason,” he said. “Monday was definitely a test for us to understand how much more room for improvement (we have), but I’d rather be in this position than a lot of other teams.”

Spanish center Marc Gasol converted the go-ahead three-point play with 12.2 seconds left as the Memphis Grizzlies held off the Nuggets in Denver by a score of 102-101.

Gasol scored 27 points and guard Mike Conley added 20 for the Grizzlies, who got off to a blistering start and led by as many as 18 in the second quarter before the Nuggets rallied.

Gasol scored 18 of his points in the second half, cutting to the basket for a layup with 12.2 seconds to

LeBron James (no. 23) of the Cleveland Cavaliers posts up against Wesley Johnson (no. 3) of the Los Angeles Clippers on January 21, 2016 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. AFP

play that put Memphis up 99-98. He was fouled on the play by Denver center Joffrey Lauvergne and made the free-throw to give the Grizzlies a 100-98 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

It was close as well in Sacramento, where

Kings guard Rajon Rondo notched his fifth tripledouble of the season and forward DeMarcus Cousins scored 24 points with 15 rebounds to lead the hosts to a 91-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Rondo scored 11 points

with 11 assists and 10 rebounds as the erratic Kings notched their fourth straight win.

San Antonio forward Kawhi Leonard celebrated his election as an All-Star starter with 21 points as the Spurs defeated the injury-

hit Suns 117-89 in Phoenix.

Reserve center Boban Marjanovic notched his first career double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs won their 12th straight game and took their record to 37-6. AFP

Gerrans bids Brady, Peyton meet for 17th time in Super Bowl ICONIC NFL quarterbacks Tom way he plays the position and the the order of the NBA’s Magic commercials unafraid to poke fun and Peyton Manning meet way he takes care of himself phys- Johnson versus Larry Bird, box- at himself. for 4th Down Brady for the 17th time in their storied ically and always answers the bell ing’s Muhammad Ali versus Joe The two spotlight rivals are careers Sunday with a Super Bowl every single season, every single Frazier, golf ’s Arnold Palmer and friends, dined together and Under bike berth at stake in what could be the week,” Manning said of Brady. Jack Nicklaus and Bjorn Borg ver- with theirhavefamilies and supportfinal edition of their generationManning, 39, would become sus John McEnroe in tennis. ed each other through injuries. tour title defining rivalry. the oldest winning quarterback in Brady has four Super Bowl Their mutual admiration is no AUSTRALIAN Simon Gerrans won a feisty sprint finish to claim Friday’s 138-kilometre fourth stage of the Tour Down Under, setting himself up for his fourth overall victory in the event.

Gerrans, who also won Thursday’s third stage in a sprint, has the advantage going into the fifth stage, a 151.5-kilometre stretch from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill on Saturday.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with that,” the 35-year-old said while thanking his team for making his run “as easy as possible”.

Gerrans, the overall winner of the Tour Down Under in 2006, 2012 and 2014, will be hoping experience pays off when it comes to Willunga Hill.

But the Orica GreenEdge leader is taking nothing for granted, having been caught in a mass pile-up inside the final kilometre of Wednesday’s stage just after putting himself in a perfect position to take the stage win.

“I still have to be very, very attentive going into Willunga tomorrow. We have a nice little buffer there, but there’s still a heck of a lot of work to be done,” he said. AFP

Brady will lead the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots into Denver to face Manning’s Broncos in the American Conference championship game. The winner will face either Carolina or Arizona in Super Bowl 50 next month.

While Brady owns an 11-5 edge in the all-time rivalry with Manning, they are 2-2 in playoff matchups and 3-3 when Brady and the Patriots are not playing at home.

“I’ve got great respect for the

Super Bowl history if he can lead the Broncos past the Pats and go on to capture the title. Brady, 38, would become the first quarterback to win five Super Bowls if he wins the title.

“He has just been an incredible player and incredible leader for his team,” Brady said of Manning.

“There have been so many games as a team he has been a part of that they have won. So you can see that he leads a great team.”

It’s the NFL’s equivalent of the epic man-to-man matchups on

crowns to one for Manning and six Super Bowl appearances, twice as many as Manning, although twice Brady has lost to Peyton’s little brother, Eli Manning, and the New York Giants in the NFL title spectacle.

- ‘Every-Manning’ versus ‘Bradywood’ And while Brady has the Hollywood good looks and supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen, Manning has become the NFL’s most marketable endorsement star, an everyday pitchman for television

surprise.

“He’s an incredible player, an incredible leader for his team,” Brady said of the elder Manning.

“He’s a great passer. He’s so accurate, throws on time, knows where everybody on the field is, offensively and defensively. He knows how to look defenders off and put the ball in the right location so those guys can catch and run with it. I think he’s just a great pocket passer.”

Manning heaps praise upon Brady as well. AFP

Asian, Euro golf merger up ASIA’S biggest golf tour said Friday it will resume talks over a merger with the European Tour that could change the face of world golf, and appointed Jimmy Masrin as chairman of the board.

The deal to merge the two Tour’s business dealings and memberships to create a mega-event straddling the two continents appeared in jeopardy last month after chief executive Mike Kerr resigned, followed by a major shakeup of the board.

But interim Asia Tour commissioner Kyi Hla Han said the discussions were set to resume after Indonesian businessman Masrin was appointed as the new chairman, with immediate effect.

“The Board also agreed to re-

sume discussions with the European Tour following the recent announcement on a proposed partnership between the two Tours,” Kyi Hla Han said in a brief statement.

The Asian Tour’s management vowed to protect the interest of Asian players in the event of a merger, after some pros voiced fears they would be squeezed out of tournament spots by higher-ranked European rivals.

Deep divisions emerged at a meeting at the Macau Open in October—players who ply their trade on both tours seemed in favour, but some members of the Asian Tour were scared their opportunities to make a living could be eroded. AFP

Polina Edmunds competes in the Ladies’ Short Program at the 2016 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championship on January 21, 2016 at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota.

AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Fierce battle looms in XTERRA Albay tilt VETERAN campaigners Jacqui Slack of Australia and Guamanian Mieko Carey brace for a tough duel for off-road triathlon supremacy as they take on a slew of upcoming bets from all over in the XTERRA Albay 2016 firing off Feb. 7 in Bicol.

Slack and Carey, who finished runner-up and fourth, respectively, last year, have been installed as the triathletes to watch in the women’s side of the keenly awaited off-road triathlon after 2015 winner Flora Duffy begged off to focus on her training for the Rio Olympics.

But with Lizzie Orchard of New Zealand and a host of new pros joining this year’s XTERRA Albay, a wide open battle for top honors looms in the event hosted by the Province of Albay with City of Legazpi, Municipality of Daraga, Bayan ng Sto. Domingo as venue hosts.

Bradley Weiss, meanwhile, returns to gun for back-toback title feat in the men’s

section of the event sponsored by 2Go Express as the official logistics and courier partner, Columbia, Finisher Pix and David’s Salon. And like in the distaff side, a down-to-the-finish is seen with the likes of Ben Allen and Brodie Gardner, also of Australia, Charlie Epperson of Guam, Michal Bucek of Slovakia and local bet Joseph Miller out to foil the South African champ’s repeat bid.

Others tipped to crowd the fancied bets in the event, backed by Shotz Sports Nutrition, DOT/ TPB, Cetaphil, Human Heart Nature, Prudential Guarantee and Assurance, Inc. Coca Cola Femsa (official hydration partner), and Tri Life Magazine, TV 5 and The Philippine Star (media partners), Timex (official timing partners), are Taylor Charlton, Cameron O’Neal and Hsieh Chun Shing, all raring to prove their worth in top-level swim, bike and run competition with the majestic Mayon Volcano as backdrop.

Delayed play. Competitors hit balls at the driving range after play was delayed due to fog during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. AFP

‘Support young Olympic hopefuls’ WITH the clock ticking away in most fronts of the country’s bid for slots in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, set to fire off on Aug. 5, Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero yesterday said government should go all out in supporting the youngest and brightest hopefuls, who remain in the hunt for the elusive berths.

The Philippines is facing the specter of sending the least number of qualifiers to the Summer Games as only Olongapo-born hurdler Eric Shauwn Cray has officially made Olympic grade.

Cray received his ticket to Brazil by clocking 49.12 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles in May last year, surpassing the qualifying standard of 49.40 seconds.

A second Filipino in weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz has yet to officially book

her slot in the last leg of the Asian Championship in Uzbekistan in April. She earned her berth after she won three bronze medals in the International Weightlifting Federation World Championship in Houston last November.

Trap shooter Hagen Topacio should have earned another Olympic ticket for the Philippines, but the International Olympic Committee did not recognize his points in the Asian Shooting Cham-

pionship held in Kuwait after it withdrew its recognition of the tournament as an official Olympic qualifier following a political gaffe by the host country.

Kuwaiti organizers refused to grant a visa to an Israeli participant, prompting the IOC to nix recognition of the continental meet.

Despite having just two slots assured for the Philippines for now, however, the Philippine Olympic Committee has asked sports officials to seek wildcard bets for their other hopefuls.

Olympic chief of mission Joey Romasanta, who is also the POC vice president, said athletes who have failed to qualify in the remaining

Olympic qualifying tournaments can earn Rio tickets via a universality place or wildcard berths given by the IOC to athletes from countries under-represented in the Olympics.

Daniel Caluag of cycling, Miguel Tabuena, Angelo Que and Princess Superal of golf, Hagen Topacio, Amparo Acuna and Jayson Valdez of shooting, Marestella Torres and EJ Obiena of athletics, Mark Anthony Barriga, Rogen Ladon, Eumir Felix Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Irish Magno of boxing, Pauline Lopez and Sam Morrisson of taekwondo, Kiyome Watanabe of judo and Nestor Colonia of weightlifting could still qualify via wildcard berths if they fall short in their respective qualifiers.

“We should give these athletes the chance to gain Olympic slots. Competition has become tougher through the years, but these are some of the youngest and the brightest among our sporting stars. They deserve to compete in the Summer Games and gain experience that would toughen them up in their next try,” Escudero said.

Escudero noted the experience of Diaz, the first Filipina to compete in an Olympic weightlifting event. She was a wildcard entry in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and competed in the 2012 London Games before becoming a legitimate entry to Rio de Janeiro this year. She is to turn 24 years old next month.

Griffins, Iron Eagles win

PBA partnership. Jose Paulo Legaspi, President of Healthwell Nutraceuticals Inc.

and Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Chito Narvasa seal a partnership between GlutaMAX and the PBA with a handshake. Also present at the contract signing at the PBA Head Office in Libis were (from left) Em Lingao, Brand and Marketing Manager of Healthwell; Cresel Love Narvaiza, Trade Marketing Manager of Healthwell; Dita Dobles, Assistant to the Commissioner; and Rhose Montreal.

THE Colegio de San Lorenzo Griffins and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics Iron Eagles repulsed their rivals at the resumption of the 8th Universities and Colleges Luzon Athletic Association basketball tournament at the Marikina Sports Complex.

The Griffins held the Lyceum of the Philippines University-Alabang Sharks to just five points in the first period and never looked back as they posted an 88-61 swamping.

The Philsca Iron Eagles banked on their outside shooting to repulse the Philippine Nautical Training College Mariners, 88-56.

Tristan Laman and Rustom

Borja fired 14 points apiece to lead the Bonnie Garciacoached Griffins to their third straight win.

Rodelle Bilar struck with 24 points while Mark Capricho tallied 19 points for the Iron Eagles, who notched their first win in three outings.

In earlier games, the St. Francis of Assissi Doves crushed the Iron Eagles, 7545, while the National College of Business and Arts Wildcats won over Asian Institute of Maritime Studies, 93-77.

The Bonnie Garciacoached Griffins once again got off to the strong start, leaving behind the Sharks after they gained a 24-5 advantage in the first period.

Barrios, FIBA executive in key talks THREE hours before the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament draw ceremony on Tuesday at the House of Basketball in Mies, Switzerland, Sonny Barrios, executive director of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, will sit down with Predrag Bogosavljev, FIBA sport and competitions director, to discuss various concerns regarding the country’s hosting of one of the forthcoming OQT competitions.

Barrios sought the appointment with the former Yugoslavian junior player on the instructions of SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, who wants preparation for the Olympic qualifier hosting to get underway immediately.

A meeting with the SBP head and federation officials has also been set upon Barrios’ return on Wednesday.

FIBA awarded OQT hosting rights to Manila, Belgrade (Serbia) and Turin (Italy) a few days ago and 18 countries – Angola, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Serbia, Tunisia, Latvia, Croatia and Turkey – will be divided into three groups via the draw and battle from July 4 to 10 for three slots made available to complete the Olympic cast in Rio de Janeiro in August.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Perpetual tossers bounce back

By Peter Atencio

THE University of Perpetual Help Altas showed their hunger for the men’s division crown of the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association volleyball tournament.

They stopped Howard Mojica’s game and went on to post a 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19 beating of the defending champion Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals in Game 2 of their best-of-three finals showdown at the Arena in San Juan.

They leaned on the 6’3” Bonjomar Castel’s defensive efforts on Mojica as they went on to tie the series at 1-all.

They will meet in a decisive Game 3 on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Mojica, who had 22 points, scored on a kill shot to the right, allowing EAC to keep up with EAC, 20-all, in the second set.

But Mojica’s service and net error proved to be the Generals’ undoing in the next two plays, with the Altas moving ahead, 22-20.

They eventually took the second

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set and held on in the Benilde Lady Blazers Games Tuesday third, taking advantage leaned on veterans Ja(The Arena in San Juan) of Denzel Rasing’s ser- 3 p.m. Perpetual Help vs EAC nine Navarro, Jeanette (Men, Game 3) vice error to score four Panaga and Ranya as 4 p.m. San Sebastian vs CSB(Women, Game 3) straight points for a dethey whipped the decisive 11-5 lead. fending champion San Rey Taneo Jr. had 16 hits, includ- Sebastian Lady Stags, 23-25, 25ing two crucial spikes in the fourth, 21, 22-25, 25-16, in Game 2 of the giving the Altas an opportunity to women’s finals. move ahead, 19-13.

All three hit 16 points, and this “I had one of our biggest guys, pushed the Lady Blazers a win closBonjomar in front of Mojica. He had er to a historic title conquest with to be stopped. He scores a lot,” said their second consecutive victory in Altas coach Sammy Acaylar. the series.

The Generals earlier took Game 1, “Sabi ko sa kanila, We have a 25-22, 14-25, 25-14, 25-16, with Mo- chance to make history with first jica showing the way with 22 points. title,” said CSB coach Michael Meanwhile, the College of St. Carino.

Decent finishes for PH riders N OTICE Notice is hereby given that VIFEL ICE PLANT AND COLD STORAGE, INC. is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as New Operator of Cold Storage and Blast Freezing Facilities on a Non-Pioneer Status with project site located in McArthur Highway, Meycauayan, Bulacan with the following annual capacities: C o l d S to r a g e B l a st Fr e ez i n g

3 ,13 9 , 5 8 4 M T o r 3 , 924 ,4 8 0 p a l l e ts 10 , 9 5 0 M T o r 10 , 9 5 0 p a l l e ts

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD.) NESTOR P. ARCANSALIN Director Resource-based Industries Service (TS-JAN. 23, 2016)

FILIPINA rider Marella Salamat and Irish Wong came up with decent finishes in the women’s individual time trials of the 36th Asian Cycling Championships in Oshima, Japan.

Salamat, the reigning Southeast Asian Games champion, pulled off a ninth-place ranking in the 22.4-kilometer women’s elite category, according to results released online.

She had a clocking of 36 minutes, 22 .29 seconds, some 3 minutes and 57 seconds behind gold medalist Mayuko Hagiwara of Japan.

Her SEA Games counterparts, Thailand’s Supeksorn Nuntana and Siw Dinah Chan of Singapore, were ahead of Salamat by placing 7th and 8th, respectively, among 12 entries.

On the other hand, the 16-year-old Wong,

who is in her first international meet, settled for 8th and last in the 11.9km women’s junior ITT. She submitted a time of 21 minutes, 2.88 seconds, which was more than 3 minutes behind gold-medal winner Ting Chang of Chinese Taipei.

Salamat, Wong and Avegail Rambaon are slated to see action in this weekend’s massed start. Peter Atencio

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bohol Municipality of Candijay Local Government Unit BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Republic of the Philippines Province of Ilocos Sur MUNCIPALITY OF SINAIT

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE COMPLETION OF CANDIJAY PUBLIC MARKETS

OFFICE OF THE BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE (BAC) INVITATION TO BID FOR VARIOUS PROJECTS January 23, 2016

1.

The Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol, has availed a grant/loan fund from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). The Municipality of Candijay, Bohol then now invites sealed bids from eligible bidders under Annex G of RA 9184 for the Completion of Candijay Public Markets with an Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) in the amount of Thirty Million Pesos (PhP. 30, 000,000.00) only.

2. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedure as specified in the Implementing Rules and regulation (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9184, otherwise known as Government Procurement Reform Act. Subject to exceptions stated in the Bidding Document, only bids from bidders who pass the eligibility check will be accepted. The bidder who passed the technical requirements and complied with the required performance specifications and parameters will be considered for financial evaluation. Prospective bidders will be required to present their design to the Municipal Design and Build Committee anytime after the pre-bid conference and day before the bid opening, as basis of the latter for their recommendation to the Bids and Awards Committee.

3.

Award of the contract shall be done once funds are already released by the funding agency (DBP) and/or Certificate of Loan Approval/Credit Line Commitment is already issued by bank. Implementation of the Project shall commence once the Detailed Engineering Design submitted by the winning bidder is reviewed and approved by the Procuring Entity.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM from January 21, 2016- January 27, 2016.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Twenty Five Thousand Pesos and shall only be issued to the prospective bidder who has obtained Certificate of Site Inspection duly signed by the Municipal Market Administrator and Municipal Engineer. The bid documents are available and shall be received personally by the bidder or his duly authorized representative on or before January 27, 2016.

6.

The Local Government Unit of Candijay, Bohol will hold a Pre-bid Conference only to those interested bidders who has already purchased Bid Documents on January 27, 2016 at 8:30 A.M., at the SB Session Hall, 2nd Floor, Municipal Building, Poblacion, Candijay, Bohol.

7. Qualification requirements include successful experience as prime contractor under Annex G of the RA 9184 contract (as solo, joint venture/consortia) at least one (1) work of nature and complexity equivalent to the works in the last five (5) years with single works cited to at least fifty percent (50%) of value estimated contract cost of works under bid.

(INFRA) The Municipal Government of Sinait, through the 20% Development Fund & BUB Projectsintends to apply the sum specified per Infra Projects below as being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the following various clustered projects to wit: Name of Projects

Location

CLUSTER XVII– (20% DF 2016) (Installation of Solar Powered Streetlights; Improvement of Children and Youth Fitness Center; Improvement of Livelihood Training Center; Improvement of Civic and Cultural Center; Construction of Flood Control (Macabiag)

Brgy. Masadag &Calanutian; Rang-ay and Macabiag, Sinait, Ilocos Sur

Approved Budget Cost (ABC) P 7,000,000.00

Source of Fund

Duration of Works

20% Development Fund

200cd

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

The Municipal Government of Sinait now invites bids for the said Projects stated above. Completion of the Works is required as stated above under Duration of Works.

Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instruction to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Municipal Government of SinaitBAC Office and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. BAC Office or MPDC Office – Sinait Municipal Hall, Sinait, Ilocos Sur. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address above and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents ISSUANCE OF BID DOCUMENTS – January 23, 2016-February 15, 2016 The Municipal Government of Sinaitthru BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on February 3, 2016 @ 10:00 A.M. at MPDC Office SinaitMun. Hall, Sinait, Ilocos Sur which shall be open to all interested parties.

8.

The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly in Section II- Instruction to Bidders.

Bids must be delivered to the address above on or before February 15, 2016 @ 9:30 A.M.at SinaitMun. Hall Main Bldg., Sinait, Ilocos Sur. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

9.

Interested bidders must submit their bids on or before February 12, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Opening of bids shall be at 10:00 A.M. on the same day at the Municipal Session Hall, 2nd Floor, Municipal Building, Poblacion, Candijay, Bohol. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in the form indicated in the Bid Documents.

Late bids shall not be accepted.

OPENING OF BIDS – FEBRUARY 15, 2016 @ 9:30 A.M. @ Sinait Municipal Hall, Sinait, IlocosSur..

10. The Bids and Awards Committee of LGU-Candijay, Bohol reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

(SGD) JOSEPHINE T. MANLUPIG Municipal Budget Office 2nd Floor, Municipal Building, Candijay, Bohol Or through: Mobile Phone. No. 09273328142

The Municipal Government of Sinait reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: BAC SECRETARIAT MPDC Office SinaitMun. Hall Main Bldg. (1st floor) Mobile # 09166725419 e-mail address: bacoffice_lgusinait@yahoo.com

11. For further information, please refer to:

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives with the Authority of the Signatory who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

( T S - J A N . 2 3 , 2 016)

( T S - J A N . 2 3 , 2 016)

(Sgd).EMELFA C. INES BAC Chairman

PAL golf back in Luzon THE Philippine Airlines Interclub, long regarded as the country’s official team golf championship, marks its 69th year next month by going back to the island of its birth — Luzon—for the first time in ages, while introducing a new division and opening its doors again to the best players in the land.

Play will be held at Mimosa’s two layouts inside Clark Field in Pampanga, even as the Championship Division, won last year by Manila Southwoods, has, for all intents and purposes, returns to its old stature as an ‘Open’ bracket where teams will not be burdened by handicaps anymore.

The likes of reigning two-time national amateur champion Jobim Carlos and many-time former winner Rupert Zaragosa will be returning to play for a Canlubang squad that breaks its long hiatus in the centerpiece division, when the Regular Men’s event tees off on March 2.

Seniors’ action, as usual, will be taking the lid off of the event’s 30th edition on Feb. 25 with Canlubang and Luisita renewing their storied rivalry in the event reserved for players 55 years old and above.

Carlos will be using this event as his farewell tournament before turning pro, as he plays in both the Asian Tour and the local ICTSI circuit while leading the Sugar Barons to a triumphant comeback.

“I’m excited, there’s no doubt about it,” Carlos said. “The PAL Interclub has a special place in my heart because this is a tournament like no other, where team comes first before individuality.

I’m looking forward to playing again.”

The PAL Interclub was first played at Wack Wack’s fabled East layout in Mandaluyong in 1948, with the home team winning.

There have been many stops in the past, but the event—which was hatched in 1947 by Leopoldo Rovira in Cebu— has treated the South as its home for close to the past 50 years, with Cebu taking its turn in hosting it last year.

From the old four divisions—Championship, Founders, Sportswriters and Friendship— a fifth bracket will be introduced, as tournament organizers will be dividing the Founders into two groups.

S AT U R DAY : J A N U A R Y 2 3 , 2 0 16

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

LOTTO RESULTS 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

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Austria: Junemar’s health is SMBeermen’s priority

By Jeric Lopez

Superal survives meltdown TAGAYTAY—Princess Superal blew a four-stroke lead as she floundered with her short game but pounced on Pauline del Rosario and Yuka Saso’s mishits on the closing hole to pound out a one-shot victory despite a 73 in the Philippine Ladies Open Golf Championship presented by Champion Infinity at Tagaytay Midlands here yesterday.

Superal flubbed par putts from long range on Nos. 14-15, enabling The Country Club teammate Del Rosario and Saso to draw level at two-under overall heading to the par-5 finishing hole. But the two challengers hit their drives into a hazard and reached the green in four.

While Del Rosario had a long putt for par, Saso, also a former TCC mainstay, flubbed hers from four feet, missing forcing a playoff with 70s and allowing the former US Girls’ Junior champion, who closed out with a regulation par, to post her biggest triumph on the local front.

While she relishes her couple of victories on the ICTSI Ladies PGT, a pro circuit, the 19-year-old Superal considers her latest feat in a string of victories as doubly significant, this being the country’s premier ladies golf championship.

“It’s nice to finally win this crown.

It’s an honor being able to join the elite circle of winners of this championship,” said Superal, who pooled a 214 and ended Thailand domination of the event the last three years.

But it didn’t come easy. While she appeared headed for a romp after storming to a four-shot lead over Del Rosario, Saso and Mikha Fortuna Thursday, Superal struggled with her irons, dropping crucial shots in the closing holes and aiding the trios’ fightback that set the stage for a pressure-packed finish in the 54-hole event organized by Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

THE future of Philippine basketball won’t be at risk.

At least that’s according to San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria as he reiterated that the health of two-time reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, unanimously tagged as the best Filipino player today, is the most important thing—more important than even a possible championship in the 2015-16 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup. At the moment, the Beermen are in a deep 0-2 hole against the Alaska Aces in their best-of-seven championship showdown, with Fajardo’s

absence being sorely missed by the defending champions.

Still, Austria said that Fajardo’s health is of utmost concern.

“I don’t want to take a risk and have him play even if he’s not a hundred percent,’’ said Austria. ‘’June Mar’s (Fajardo) health is the most important thing for us.’’

Obviously being groomed to be one of the country’s resident star in future international competitions, Fajardo, who is suffering from a bruised and swollen left knee, needs to recuperate fully if he

is to be one of the centerpieces of the Gilas Pilipinas National Team that will participate in the Olympic qualifier here in Manila this July.

Austria emphasized that Fajardo’s health and mobility for the long term is more important to Philippine Basketball, to San Miguel and to the MVP himself.

“The future of Philippine basketball is with June Mar especially in international competitions, kaya I really don’t want to take any risk kahit medyo hirap kami without him this championship,’’ quipped Austria.

“Hindi lang naman itong championship sa All-Filipino ang importante, but also his (Fajardo) health and long-term contributions pa both sa Philippine basket-

ball and sa San Miguel. Kaya iyon ang tinitignan natin,’’ said Austria.

Amid reports that Fajardo might actually force himself to suit-up late in the finals series against the Aces, Austria said that he and management will not force things.

However, should Fajardo, who indicated in a report that he might actually suit up for Game 4 of the finals tomorrow at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, himself decides he can give it a go, that’s the only time that Austria can exercise the option of playing him.

“We will not force him to play.

Unless lang talaga he forces himself kasi siya naman nakakaramdam niyan,’’ the two-time champion mentor said.

Condes added to Pinoy Pride card

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Princess Superal kisses her Philippine Ladies Open Golf Championship trophy.

FORMER International Boxing Federation minimum weight world champion Florante Condes, nicknamed “The Little Pacquiao” because of his southpaw stance and punching power, has been added to the ALA Promotions/ABS-CBN “Pinoy Pride 37” fight card at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino on Feb. 27.

Condes will battle unbeaten KO artist Melvin Jerusalem, who has a sizzling record of 7 knockouts in 8 wins and is ranked No. 1 by the Games and Amusements Board.

Jerusalem is coming off a second-round TKO of veteran Crison Omayao, who had a total of 30 fights.

Condes, who won the world minimum weight title on July 7, 2007, beating Muhammad Rcahman of Indonesia in Jakarta, has a record of 23 knockouts in 27 wins as against 9 losses and 1 draw.

He won the title with a split decision mainly because one Indonesian judge had the hometown boy ahead, eventhough Condes dropped him once in Round 3 and once more in Round 10.

The 34-year-old Condes won the vacant IBF Pan Pacific minimum weight title with seventh-round TKO over Cris Alfante, who had a record of 10-1 with 4 knockouts on March 15, 2014, but dropped a close eight-round decision to Japan’s Ryoichi Taguchi at the Korakuen Hall on July 5, 2014.

Missing the rascal INSIDE SPORTS RONNIE NATHANIELSZ

WE first received word that longtime friend and colleague Hermie Rivera had passed away from the former Editor in Chief of Ring Magazine when the integrity of the publication was its hallmark, the esteemed journalist Nigel Collins.

We had earlier been informed that Hermie had suffered a stroke and was in the Intensive Care Unit and later put on a life-support-system in a US hospital before the bell tolled to signify his passing.

Nigel said: “I just read on Facebook that Hermie Rivera died. I knew he’s been sick, but the last time I traded emails with him he said he was fine and that the only thing that

would kill him was the ‘hospital bill’. That was typical of Hermie’s sense of humor. I’m extremely sad. He was a rascal and one of the most colorful people, I’ve known. “ He went on: “I guess I’m writing to you because I met him in 2004 at the same time I met you and, other than Ted (Lerner), there’s nobody else I know to commiserate with.”

Collins, a valued friend penned: “I liked him very much and feel terrible. If my editor will allow me, I would like to write something about him. If so, I hope you don’t mind if I contact you again.”

We’d be honored for sure.

To us, “Rascals” as Nigel referred to, are often lovable.

And Hermie, was surely one of the most lovable rascals.

We actually recruited Hermie as a radio reporter for dzHP, “The Sound of the City” in the 1970s. He was at

that time, if we recall correctly, a fireman in Ilocos.

But he deserved more than the task of helping put out fires. Indeed, he probably started quite a few but only in the world of boxing which he loved with unbridled passion.

Hermie had an uncanny eye for seeing and sensing talent. His prized find if not possession was two-division world champion Luisto “Lindol” Espinosa, the son of another fierce competitor, Deo Espinosa, who worked in Malacanang at the time Hermie was assigned to the palace by then secretary Greg Cendana.

He steered the career of Espinosa with tremendous success after earlier handling Philippine flyweight champion and world title challenger Socrates Batoto, who lost to Betulio Gonzalez of Venezuela in a title fight in Ca-

racas, getting knocked out in the 4th round on June 3, 1972, when title fights were over 15 rounds.

We recall Hermie telling us that when he arrived in Caracas with the fairly good-looking, clean cut Batoto, the media men covering the arrival thought he was the fighter, not Batoto. That’s understandable because Hermie looked like a fighter with his rugged appearance and swagger.

He told us then that Batoto lost because on the eve of the fight, he went out at night with the pretty Venezuelan telephone operator.

Hermie also helped Morris East in his bid to win the world light welterweight title and delivered on his promise with the rugged Fil-American southpaw winning by an 11th round TKO in a 12-round WBA title fight against champion Akinobu Hiranaka on

Sept. 9, 1992 in Tokyo.

We also recall that the rascal had a tiff with boxing manager and trainer Lito Mondejar, who claimed he didn’t get his share of the promised income and they in fact exchanged blows at a boxing event some years later. But that’s how it is in the business of boxing.

We, too, had occasional differences with Hermie but never held it against him because to do so against someone, who loved the sport and did so much for our fighters would be terribly unfair.

As my beloved friend, the late Rudy Salud often reminded us, we need to weigh things first before taking an adverse stance.

There were other talented fighters, whose careers he molded including Philippine light flyweight champion and world title challenger Aniceto

Vargas, who he managed with three of his dzH P colleagues Ed Tpton, Milton Alingod and myself, who contributed on a weekly basis for the upkeep of Vargas.

One day, we learned that Hermie had fired Vargas for his indiscipline without even consulting or informing his partners. But despite being initially upset, we recognized that he did the right thing, although we eventually felt bad because Vargas, under another manager, fought twice for the world title but lost. We could have at least recovered our investment.

Like all of us, Hermie had his faults but we recognize that the world of boxing has lost a genuine lover of the sport and a man who knew it inside out. That indeed is the bottom line.

We will all miss the “rascal” deeply.

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RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Switzerland’s Roger Federer waves as he celebrates after victory in his men’s singles match against Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov on Day 5 of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. AFP

Pacquiao: Middle men jeopardized Khan fight

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

EIGHT-DIVISION world champion Manny Pacquiao claimed that “middle men” ruined chances of a showdown with Britain’s World Boxing Council Silver welterweight champion Amir Khan.

Pacquiao told Sky Sports in Britain that the fight with Khan, which he and his adviser Michael Koncz had personally discussed with the Briton during a meeting at the century-old Fitzroy Lodge Boxing Club in Lambeth, East London, last January 2015 fell through because of a collapse in negotiations with Khan’s middle men.

Koncz continued conversations with Khan’s handlers last November, but indicated that the financial terms for a third fight with Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley were

Cavs cruise past Clippers TURN TO A12

more attractive and that’s the fight Pacquiao decided to take.

Khan previously said he had pulled out of talks with Pacquiao, but on a trip to India revealed that negotiations with his former stablemate under trainer Freddie Roach had resumed some two months ago.

But the talks collapsed and the Filipino ring icon blamed Khan’s representatives for the fight not pushing through.

Pacquiao ruled out a fight with Khan or even a rematch with the

now retired Floyd Mayweather Jr., stating: “I’m going to retire so that’s impossible.”

Sky Sports quoted Pacquiao, who said “Yes, before this fight with Timothy Bradley, we were negotiating and trying to fix and get it done, this fight with Amir, but it didn’t work out. There were a lot of middle men in negotiations and a lot of representatives from him and that is the reason (the fight fell through).”

“I’m 100 percent sure that I’m going to retire after this fight (against Bradley),” said Pacquiao.

He told SkySports News HQ “he (Mayweather) is already retired, so that’s impossible but we don’t know.”

Pacquiao also believes he won his fight with Mayweather.

“If you ask me in my heart, I still believe I won that fight (last May 2), but I respect the decision of the

Superal survives meltdown TURN TO A15

judges, the Commission and that’s boxing,” said Pacquiao.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao told TMZ he is not ruling out a run for President of the Philippines in 2022.

TMZ reported: “President Manny Pacquiao?? It’s possible ... because the boxer appeared on ‘TMZ Sports’ and said he isn’t ruling out a presidential run in the Philippines when he retires from boxing.”

Pacquiao told TMZ he plans to run for a seat in the Senate after his fight with Bradley in April—and when he was asked if he eventually plans to run for the highest office in the land, he didn’t exactly say no.

Pacquiao’s desire to seek the presidency is not new. He told us at least three times in the past that he would “pray for us to live long enough to see him take his oath as President.”

Federer makes Baby Fed his 300th victim MELBOURNE—Roger Federer swept aside Grigor Dimitrov on Friday to become the first man to reach 300 Grand Slam wins and join Maria Sharapova in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Federer, 34, dropped the second set against “Baby Fed”, who has a similar game to the 17-time Grand Slam champion, before he got himself together and scorched into the first weekend.

Federer’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory puts him just six Grand Slam wins away from Martina Navratilova’s record of 306, and made him the oldest man to reach the round of 16 since Andre Agassi in 2005.

More importantly, he is a step closer to his fifth Australian Open title, a victory which would make him the oldest Grand Slam champion in 44 years.

“It is a little, from time to time,” conceded Federer, when asked whether facing Dimitrov was like playing a mirror. “I try to play like I wouldn’t want it and I play the wrong way sometimes.”

A busy day of action helped take the focus off corruption claims which have overshadowed the year’s first Grand Slam after a report said players had been suspected of fixing matches but never faced action.

Belgium’s David Goffin awaits Federer in round four, after he beat Dominic Thiem 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 in a match which included a generous act of sportsmanship from the Austrian.

Thiem, leading in the second set, told the umpire to give a point to Goffin rather than replay it after a Hawk-Eye challenge found a shot from the Belgian had landed in.

Sharapova maintained her push for a second Australian Open title when she beat America’s Lauren Davis, a full foot shorter than the Russian at 5ft 2ins (1.57m), 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-0. AFP

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SATURDAY: JANUARY 23, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

Property developer Ayala Land Inc. and LT Group Inc. will jointly develop an integrated mixed-use project that spans portions of Pasig and Quezon City. Shown during the signing of the joint venture agreement are (seated, from left) ALI senior vice president Meean Dy, ALI president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy, ALI chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala, LTG chairman Lucio Tan, LTG director Lucio Tan Jr. and LTG president and chief operating officer Michael Tan. Behind them are other top executives of the two companies.

Ayala, Lucio Tan team up in C5 lot

By Jenniffer B. Austria

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. and LT Group Inc., the investment company of tycoon Lucio Tan, signed a partnership to jointly develop a 35-hectare property along the C5 corridor.

Ayala Land and LT Group said in a joint disclosure to the stock exchange the project was envisioned to be a township development spanning portions of Pasig City and Quezon City.

No other details were provided.

Both companies said they would co-develop the project, pursuant to a joint master plan.

Tan, the chairman of LT Group, said the joint venture with Ayala Land would be an excellent addition to the growing portfolio of property unit

Eton Properties Philippines Inc. “We believe that this is an excellent partnership that will enable us to build an outstanding mixed-use development which will offer a wide range of property investment and lifestyle options to customers,” Tan said.

Ayala Land president and chief executive Bernard Vincent Dy said the partnership would allow both companies to combine their capabilities towards the development of a 35-hectare integrated mixed-use project in

one of the most prime locations in Pasig and Quezon City.

“We look forward to a successful partnership with the LT Group,” Dy said. “Our shared vision and commitment to this project will open new opportunities for economic growth, which will contribute to the development of the community.”

This will be the third partnership between Ayala Land and LT Group.

LT Group’s Eton Properties teamed up with Ayala Land’s mass housing arm Amaia Land Corp. in 2010 to develop a fourhectare property in Calamba Laguna.

Ayala Land through middleincome housing unit Avida Land also teamed up with Eton Properties in 2011 to develop a four-tower residential condominium along Edsa at the cor-

ner of Reliance Street in Mandaluyong City.

Share price of Ayala Land climbed 4.8 percent Friday to close at P28.50 while the stock price of LT Group advanced 1.7 percent to P14.54.

Eton Properties has an extensive land bank in strategic locations all over the country. It specializes in high-end and midincome high-rise and horizontal residential developments, office projects, commercial centers and mixed-use township developments.

Eton Properties has 26 projects under its wing and has completed seven high-rise condominiums, one mid-rise development, three residential subdivisions, two commercial centers, one events venue and three business process outsourcing hubs.

PSe comPoSite index Closing January 22, 2016

8000 8340 7880 7420 6960 6500

6,208.05 123.77

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing JANUARY 22, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the signal from the European central bank to step up its stimulus program will possibly create more volatility in the global financial markets.

But he assured local monetary authorities were ready to deploy the needed tools when necessary and appropriate.

“The ECB has been consistent in its messaging—they will do what is needed to meet their inflation target. Their policy meeting is not until a few weeks from now so this is part of guiding

market expectations, a powerful tool of central bank authorities,” Tetangco said in a text message Friday.

“Our operating environment is now more challenging with oil prices continuing to fall and global growth prospects softening. For the Philippines, these mean more potential financial market volatility in the near term, for which we have tools,” he said.

Tetangco said cited developments peculiar to the Philippine economy, such as El Niño that was expected to intensify through mid 2016 and the national elections.

“Right now, our forecast for

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inflation is still a slow move to within target over the policy horizon, indicating monetary policy stance remains appropriate for now. We will continue to monitor developments including growth prospects in advanced economies and China, and deploy tools as and when appropriate,” he said.

ECB president Mario Draghi on Thursday said his policy team could step up its stimulus program as early as March “in response to stubbornly low inflation and turbulence in the financial markets.”

Draghi said ECB was poised to take further actions in the fu-

ture if necessary, and that there were no limits to how far they could go to deploy their instruments.

In an inflation report for the fourth quarter of 2015 on Friday, Bangko Sentral said global economic prospects softened on the continuing slowdown in emerging markets. “... The subdued economic outlook for emerging markets dampened global growth prospects, to which a number of central banks responded by easing their monetary policy settings to support domestic economic activity and stave off deflationary pressures,” Bangko Sentral said.

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P47.800 LOW P47.915AVERAGE P47.857 VOLUME 511.800M

P417.00-P627.00 LPG/11-kg tank P33.30-P40.75 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P20.40-P23.80 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene

ECB signal to create more mart volatility—Tetangco

By Julito G. Rada

P47.805

44.00

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, January 22, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.8680

Japan

Yen

0.008490

0.4064

UK

Pound

1.422700

68.1018

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.127956

6.1250

Switzerland

Franc

0.993345

47.5494

Canada

Dollar

0.700427

33.5280

Singapore

Dollar

0.698275

33.4250

Australia

Dollar

0.696185

33.3250

Bahrain

Dinar

2.661202

127.3864

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266454

12.7546

Brunei

Dollar

0.695846

33.3088

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000072

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.027579

1.3202

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

13.0345

Euro

Euro

1.088000

52.0804

Korea

Won

0.000829

0.0397

China

Yuan

0.151983

7.2751

India

Rupee

0.014748

0.7060

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.228676

10.9463

New Zealand

Dollar

0.646998

30.9705

Taiwan

Dollar

0.029761

1.4246 Source: PDS Bridge

SATURDAY: JANUARY 23, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Friday, January 22, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 1.01 100 30.5 75 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 124 47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 20.6 36 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 9.4 0.98 241 79 3.95 33.9 90 13.26 293 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 238 3.28 0.315 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 2.17 0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 823.5 10.2 84 4.92 0.66 1455 76 6.5 5.29 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 9.66 0.0670 1.61 2.99 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.435 0.510 10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.3 2.82 44.5 44.1 97.20 94.50 85.80 83.70 35 34.4 2.49 2.49 1.25 1.23 14.48 14.04 16.1 15.98 0.435 0.415 69 67.8 15.50 15.50 22.00 22.00 45.95 43.20 96.5 95 235.2 235.2 32.2 31.8 145 140 55.00 54.60 INDUSTRIAL 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp.

40.05 40.55 39.8 1.11 Agrinurture Inc. 4.12 4.28 4.1 1.01 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.75 0.71 0.69 1.86 Alsons Cons.

1.2 1.22 1.11 7.92 Asiabest Group 9.9 10 9.6 15.32 Century Food 15.1 15.9 15 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 19.14 19.8 18.5 1.5 Crown Asia 1.9 2.18 1.92 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 2.98 3.08 2.62 10.72 Del Monte 11 11.18 11 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 7.020 7.500 7.000 9.04 Emperador 7.00 7.20 6.98 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.40 5.50 5.29 8.86 EEI 5.70 6.20 5.71 20.2 First Gen Corp.

18.24 18.24 17.6 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 50.8 53.5 51.95 13.86 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 11.50 11.84 11.50 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 4.9 4.95 4.85 0.395 Ionics Inc 2.010 2.150 2.040 173 Jollibee Foods Corp.

195.00 199.30 196.10 LBC Express 7 7.45 7 34.1 Liberty Flour 27.40 27.25 27.05 2.3 LMG Chemicals 1.7 1.86 1.69 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 24.7 24.7 24.2 17.3 Maxs Group 13.8 13.84 13.5 5.88 Megawide 5.5 5.57 5.4 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 301.60 308.00 301.20 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 2.94 2.96 2.9 8.45 Petron Corporation 5.60 5.63 5.45 10.04 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.50 10.80 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.65 3.60 3.55 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.33 1.35 1.31 1 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.15 2.18 2.1 4.02 RFM Corporation 3.75 3.74 3.70 5.9 Roxas Holdings 5.17 5.14 5.14 161 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 114.1 119.8 115.8 1.55 Splash Corporation 2.62 2.68 2.53 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.133 0.137 0.134 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 2.09 2.09 2.05 152 Universal Robina 179.5 184.4 179.9 4.28 Victorias Milling 4.55 4.55 4.55 0.640 Vitarich Corp.

0.6 0.6 0.58 1.2 Vulcan Ind’l.

0.98 0.99 0.98 HOLDING FIRMS 0.44 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.290 0.315 0.265 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 54.4000 54.5000 53.9500 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 12.70 13.30 12.68 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.00 1.00 1.00 6.62 Anscor `A’ 6.00 6.00 6.00 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.200 0.211 0.190 634.5 Ayala Corp `A’ 600 629 606 7.390 Cosco Capital 7.04 7.34 7.03 12.8 DMCI Holdings 10.90 11.24 10.72 2.26 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

4.41 4.50 4.42 0.152 Forum Pacific 0.181 0.183 0.183 837 GT Capital 1235 1235 1215 IPM Holdings 9.34 9.50 8.20 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 56.90 60.85 58.00 3.43 Jolliville Holdings 3.7 3.36 3.35 3 Keppel Holdings `A’ 4.15 5 5 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp.

5.05 5.25 5.04 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.53 0.53 0.52 12 LT Group 14.3 14.9 14.3 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.18 5.25 5.18 3 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.5 3 3 0.030 Pacifica `A’ 0.0270 0.0270 0.0260 0.550 Prime Orion 1.870 1.980 1.840 2.26 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.56 2.52 2.52 59.3 San Miguel Corp `A’ 60.00 60.00 58.70 1.5 Seafront `A’ 2.08 2.35 2.35 751 SM Investments Inc. 740.00 764.00 728.00 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 0.97 1.00 0.97 0.93 South China Res. Inc. 0.65 0.68 0.67 80 Top Frontier 70.000 71.450 67.550 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.1650 0.1900 0.1900 0.310 Zeus Holdings 0.229 0.249 0.249 PROPERTY 6.74 8990 HLDG 6.450 6.680 6.400 12 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 6.01 7.18 7.18 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.63 0.63 0.59 1.2 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.050 1.050 1.050 0.192 Arthaland Corp.

0.220 0.220 0.219 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 27.200 29.000 27.200 3.36 Belle Corp. `A’ 2.11 2.18 2.08 4.96 Cebu Holdings 4.3 4.6 4.2 0.79 Century Property 0.430 0.43 0.41 2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 59

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Union Bank

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

SHARES 23,245,515 77,120,793 92,109,643 292,852,156 294,008,321 154,217,256 935,703,894

3.02 44.35 94.40 84.10 34.15 2.40 1.35 14.48 16 0.445 68.1 15.50 22.00 43.00 97.5 235 31.9 141.9 54.00

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.82 44.5 96.50 85.80 34.4 2.49 1.24 14.44 16 0.435 68.3 15.50 22.00 45.95 95 235.2 32.2 140 54.60

-6.62 0.34 2.22 2.02 0.73 3.75 -8.15 -0.28 0.00 -2.25 0.29 0.00 0.00 6.86 -2.56 0.09 0.94 -1.34 1.11

770,000 12,000 1,539,170 590,900 50,000 5,000 52,000 156,800 73,800 190,000 5,103,440 34,300 10,000 3,500 1,310 60 124,800 1,344,130 3,210

38,640.00 403,550.00 25,283,625 11,296,366.50 -227,000.00

40.55 4.23 0.69 1.21 9.6 15.9 19.44 2.13 2.77 11.18 7.500 7.07 5.38 6.13 17.9 52.35 11.50 4.85 2.110 198.00 7.1 27.20 1.86 24.7 13.78 5.57 307.00 2.9 5.56 11.50 3.60 1.35 2.18 3.70 5.14 119.8 2.58 0.136 2.08 184.4 4.55 0.58 0.99

1.25 2.67 -8.00 0.83 -3.03 5.30 1.57 12.11 -7.05 1.64 6.84 1.00 -0.37 7.54 -1.86 3.05 0.00 -1.02 4.98 1.54 1.43 -0.73 9.41 0.00 -0.14 1.27 1.79 -1.36 -0.71 0.00 -1.37 1.50 1.40 -1.33 -0.58 5.00 -1.53 2.26 -0.48 2.73 0.00 -3.33 1.02

677,700 128,000 76,000 682,000 1,500 97,600 644,900 819,000 20,151,000 24,800 6,734,000 2,676,900 10,717,900 975,500 8,411,300 2,263,850 9,800 421,000 2,252,000 1,366,550 77,900 1,000 104,000 236,900 923,200 715,200 208,590 552,000 7,692,900 1,400 36,000 128,000 161,000 135,000 1,400 130 433,000 2,290,000 1,273,000 2,790,040 133,000 78,000 11,000

1,583,480.00

0.290 54.4000 13.20 1.00 6.00 0.200 613 7.06 10.78 4.42 0.183 1225 9.50 60.00 3.35 5 5.04 0.53 14.62 5.24 3 0.0270 1.960 2.52 60.00 2.35 740.00 1.00 0.67 71.450 0.1900 0.249

0.00 0.00 3.94 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.17 0.28 -1.10 0.23 1.10 -0.81 1.71 5.45 -9.46 20.48 -0.20 0.00 2.24 1.16 -14.29 0.00 4.81 -1.56 0.00 12.98 0.00 3.09 3.08 2.07 15.15 8.73

1,840,000 706,710 8,480,300 280,000 4,400 250,000 314,080 4,310,600 13,804,400 122,000 40,000 248,655 1,966,400 2,004,950 13,000 1,000 14,158,500 2,000 1,581,100 17,602,900 1,000 19,300,000 3,899,000 4,000 686,310 2,000 259,010 34,000 54,000 30,790 10,000 10,000

6.680 7.18 0.62 1.050 0.220 28.600 2.11 4.6 0.415

3.57 19.47 -1.59 0.00 0.00 5.15 0.00 6.98 -3.49

231,700 1,500 464,000 87,000 1,160,000 13,035,200 8,970,000 77,000 4,840,000

-86,388.00 -32,200.00 -156,592,471.00 220,000.00 -180.00 -28,950.00 3,937,100 -41,056,313.00 43,450.00

1,231,146.00 971,626.00 -67,740.00 9,583,170.00 5,435,420.00 -5,468,412.00 -15,594,515.00 3,914,704.00 -29,065,252.00 -8,602,994.00 761,450.00 -102,597,404.00

-80,735.00 420,018.00 25,900,164.00 -160,700.00 31,968,193.00 120,520.00 -3,710.00 8,244.00 1,800,620.00 117,693,568.00 605,150.00 -6,000.00

-16,228,846.50 15,419,794.00

18,750,665.00 256,523.00 -97,679,950.00 -119,147,815.00 43,354,355.00 -1,525,765.00 -9,667,534.00 45,384,073.00 76,360.00 -9,277,281.00 -48,652,865.00 -585,773.50

866,100.00 10,770.00

-61,623,630.00 -5,367,730.00 100.00 -776,350.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.72 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.39 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld Phil. Realty `A’ Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 2.6 7.67 4 1700 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 12.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 12.28 3.32 1 2.46 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 1.6 4.8 2.58 830 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 8.72 0.011 0.041 1.200 6.5 1.91 0.650 1.8 6

0.62 1.040 22.8 6.41 18 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 14.54 3 8.8 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.022 8.2 49.2 4.27 3.06 0.020 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.013 3.240 18.96 2.11 1.54 0.012 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Basic Energy Corp.

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

70 553 525 515 8.21 1060

33 490 500 480 5.88 997

1047

1011

84.8

75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred F

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

Alterra Capital Italpinas Xurpas

High

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

0.101 0.101 0.101 0.370 0.350 0.370 21.2 19.72 20.25 0.730 0.690 0.730 0.91 0.84 0.86 1.51 1.46 1.46 1.18 1.10 1.10 3.33 3 3.27 0.28 0.260 0.260 23.95 23.02 23.50 1.46 1.4 1.46 2.98 2.7 2.98 19.22 18.82 19.22 0.78 0.75 0.77 4.8 4.8 4.8 0.800 0.750 0.800 3.750 3.540 3.680 SERVICES 7.08 7.32 6.3 6.46 54.5 55 53.9 53.9 1.13 1.13 1.13 1.13 0.410 0.400 0.400 0.400 10 10.5 10.5 10.5 3.11 3.45 3.11 3.42 0.0380 0.0380 0.0380 0.0380 3.21 3.32 3.16 3.3 74.5 76 74.3 76 1.44 1.61 1.59 1.59 5.90 6.05 5.82 6.04 3.20 2.35 2.35 2.35 955 955 955 955 1687 1736 1687 1718 6.44 6.47 6.28 6.35 1.10 1.08 1.08 1.08 55 58 55.2 58 11.78 11 11 11 0.0077 0.0077 0.0077 0.0077 0.112 0.119 0.116 0.119 1.3000 1.3500 1.2900 1.3500 6.90 7.00 6.90 6.90 3.95 4.00 3.80 3.99 0.500 0.500 0.500 0.500 1.88 1.97 1.97 1.97 1.15 1.4 1.19 1.33 3.00 3.05 2.90 2.95 0.250 0.260 0.245 0.260 0.590 0.620 0.580 0.620 17.6 17.5 17.42 17.42 4.00 4.15 4.11 4.11 9.25 9.24 9.24 9.24 20.10 20.10 19.84 20.10 1940.00 1996.00 1940.00 1990.00 0.400 0.405 0.395 0.405 0.520 0.590 0.530 0.580 33.50 33.80 32.80 32.85 57.15 59.90 56.10 58.20 4.74 4.85 4.68 4.82 2.51 2.57 2.49 2.50 0.385 0.400 0.360 0.385 3.39 3.5 3.38 3.5 0.315 0.330 0.315 0.330 3.460 3.300 3.290 3.470 MINING & OIL 0.0040 0.0041 0.0040 0.0040 1.60 1.60 1.55 1.55 4.00 4.00 3.95 4.00 12.50 14.00 14.00 14.00 0.208 0.209 0.206 0.209 0.46 0.48 0.47 0.48 0.29 0.31 0.3 0.31 5.98 5.99 5.98 5.99 0.460 0.490 0.460 0.490 0.240 0.240 0.230 0.240 0.149 0.150 0.147 0.150 0.0097 0.0096 0.0096 0.0096 1.4 1.49 1.36 1.45 3.55 3.7 3.5 3.55 2.24 2.24 2 2.1 0.9500 0.9600 0.9500 0.9600 0.0092 0.0092 0.0090 0.0090 3.75 3.87 3.78 3.80 1.20 1.21 1.16 1.20 0.0100 0.0096 0.0094 0.0096 120.00 120.00 119.20 120.00 1.79 1.8 1.74 1.8 0.0070 0.0071 0.0071 0.0071 PREFERRED 54.5 54.35 53.5 53.55 529.5 529.5 529.5 529.5 530 530.5 530.5 530.5 534 510 510 510 6 6.02 6 6 1022 1020 1020 1020 1066 1065 1065 1065 1025 1035 1026 1026 107 106.5 106.5 106.5 82 82.3 82 82 78.4 78.4 78.4 78.4 78.5 79 78.5 78.6 WARRANTS & BONDS 1.100 1.310 1.140 1.300 SME 3.15 3.24 3.1 3.12 2.14 2.21 2 2.02 11.8 12.4 11.96 12.3 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 99.8 101.3 100.1 101.2

2.02 4.23 -2.64 2.82 0.00 -2.67 -7.56 5.48 -7.14 1.73 0.00 -0.67 2.02 0.00 -1.03 5.26 -2.13

20,000 1,080,000 68,750.00 1,642,900 -6,071,852.00 48,000 4,798,000 25,667,000 -10,349,930.00 107,000 191,548,000 -223,406,300.00 30,000 3,342,900 8,009,090.00 2,223,000 1,869,320.00 54,000 19,777,400 -22,244,854.00 1,246,000 6,000 240,000 12,132,000 -23,115,080.00

-8.76 -1.10 0.00 -2.44 5.00 9.97 0.00 2.80 2.01 10.42 2.37 -26.56 0.00 1.84 -1.40 -1.82 5.45 -6.62 0.00 6.25 3.85 0.00 1.01 0.00 4.79 15.65 -1.67 4.00 5.08 -1.02 2.75 -0.11 0.00 2.58 1.25 11.54 -1.94 1.84 1.69 -0.40 0.00 3.24 4.76 5.17

951,900 70,835.00 19,070 19,000 860,000 1,000 19,742,000 3,992,060.00 4,700,000 244,000 350,010 2,330,822.00 2,000 147,400 3,000 70 50,940 29,695,565.00 68,100 1,000 655,990 19,405,049.50 500 3,000,000 1,490,000 38,000 127,900 740,000 18,310.00 6,000 5,000 34,731,000 -21,150,490.00 5,775,000 -2,271,850.00 300,000 45,250.00 2,056,000 -60,000.00 54,000 12,000 -20,550.00 580,000 0.00 24,100 -29,900.00 98,055 -40,336,425.00 360,000 -12,000.00 55,213,000 -278,250.00 446,900 -2,111,970.00 1,782,240 -1,769,364.50 2,355,000 -307,900.00 3,167,000 -4,110,140.00 152,340,000 150,200.00 273,000 87,640.00 40,000 42,000

0.00 -3.13 0.00 12.00 0.48 4.35 5.17 0.17 6.52 0.00 0.67 -1.03 3.57 0.00 -6.25 1.05 -2.17 1.33 0.00 -4.00 0.00 0.56 1.43

93,000,000 90,000 437,000 100 300,000 110,000 930,000 200 4,310,000 20,000 1,290,000 10,000,000 373,000 6,132,000 897,000 82,000 28,000,000 1,005,000 632,000 5,300,000 121,650 62,000 1,000,000

-1.74 0.00 0.09 -4.49 0.00 -0.20 -0.09 0.10 -0.47 0.00 0.00 0.13

18,080 550 310 2,000 616,000 50 350 2,220 1,000 12,670 4,410 35,140

-962,165.50

18.18

342,000

5,000.00

-0.95 -5.61 4.24

15,000 479,000 1,646,800

9,153,492.00

1.40

9,410

100,400.00

-7,950.00

2,650.00

-8,346,220.00 35,690.00 -672,860.00 -120.00 -3,757,993.00

-3,313,730.00

644,520.00

T op L oSerS

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,455.88 (UP) 18.49 INDUSTRIAL 10,190.89 (UP) 168.04 HOLDING FIRMS 5,757.12 (UP) 74.79 PROPERTY 2,444.65 (UP) 74.86 SERVICES 1,399.76 (UP) 33.78 MINING & OIL 8,662.51 (UP) 30.43 PSEI 6,208.05 (UP) 123.77 All Shares Index 3,577.92 (UP) 58.34 Gainers: 104; Losers: 60; Unchanged: 40; Total: 204

Close

0.099 0.355 20.8 0.710 0.86 1.50 1.19 3.1 0.280 23.10 1.46 3 18.84 0.77 4.85 0.760 3.760

T op g ainerS VALUE 934,984,987.45 1,430,978,489.99 1,424,979,340.27 1,578,181,625.64 727,177,339.0186 48,881,689.795 6,167,212,298.16

Low

Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Keppel Holdings `A'

5

20.48

Easy Call "Common"

2.35

-26.56

Anchor Land Holdings Inc.

7.18

19.47

MJCI Investments Inc.

3

-14.29

LR Warrant

1.300

18.18

Jolliville Holdings

3.35

-9.46

Melco Crown

1.33

15.65

2GO Group'

6.46

-8.76

Wellex Industries

0.1900

15.15

Bright Kindle Resources

1.24

-8.15

Seafront `A'

2.35

12.98

Alliance Tuna Intl Inc.

0.69

-8.00

Crown Asia

2.13

12.11

Interport `A'

1.10

-7.56

Atok-Big Wedge `A'

14.00

12.00

Phil. Realty `A'

0.260

-7.14

Premium Leisure

0.580

11.54

Da Vinci Capital

2.77

-7.05

Discovery World

1.59

10.42

AG Finance

2.82

-6.62

SATURDAY: JANUARY 23, 2016

B3

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

Market rebounds; Megaworld tops gainers STOCKS rebounded Friday to end a two-day slump, following reports that Japan and Europe are ready to ramp up their economic stimulus programs.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, jumped 123 points, or 2 percent, to close at 6,208.05 Friday. The index, however, was still down 10.7 percent since the start of the year.

Property developers led gainers Friday. Megaworld Corp. climbed 5.5 percent to P3.27, while Ayala Land Inc. advanced 5.2 percent to P28.60. SM Prime Holdings Inc. added 2 percent to close at P19.22.

Conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., the investment company of tycoon John Gokongwei, rose 5.5 percent to P60, while Alliance Global Group Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan gained 4 percent to P13.20.

Meanwhile, Japanese stocks surged almost 6 percent Friday, leading an Asia rally, as dealers welcomed a report that the country’s central bank is planning to ramp up its stimulus program.

After a rout that has wiped several trillion dollars off global markets so far this year, the prospect that two of the planet’s biggest central banks were ready to step in finally gave investors something to cheer about.

Oil tacked on more than four percent for a second straight day, pushing prices back above $30 for the first time since last week, while emerging market currencies benefited from a newfound confidence.

On Thursday, European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi highlighted concerns about the impact of plunging equity and oil prices on already weak inflation and pledged to reconsider its monetary policy at its March policy meeting.

“We have the power, willingness and determination to act,” he told a news conference.

“There are no limits how far we are willing to deploy our policy instruments.”

His comments lit a fire under European stocks and also supported a Wall Street rally.

On Friday, Japan’s respected Nikkei business daily reported that the Bank of Japan is weighing up its own plans to fend off the threat of deflation caused by the oil crisis.

The latest developments spread some much-needed confidence around trading floors after the worst start to a year ever.

Tokyo surged 5.9 percent, the best one-day performance since early September, with a weaker yen helping exporters.

Hong Kong jumped more than three percent in the afternoon and Shanghai ended 1.3 percent higher.

Sydney added more than one percent and Seoul 2.1 percent, while there were also substantial gains in Taipei, Singapore and Manila. With AFP

Sta. Lucia bond listing. Property developer Sta. Lucia Land Inc. brings to the local debt market its maiden issuance and listing of the P4billion fixed rate bonds series A due 2018 and series B due 2021. Shown during the bell ringing ceremony at the Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. office in Makati City are (from left) SLI executive vice president and chief finance officer David Dela Cruz, China Banking Corp. president Ricardo Chua, SLI chairman Vicente Santos, SLI president Exequiel Robles and PDS Group president and chief executive Cesar Crisol.

SM Prime to spend P4.2b in new tower

By Jenniffer B. Austria

SM Prime Holdings Inc. is spending P4.2 billion to build its fifth office building called FourE-ComCenter at the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City.

SM Prime commercial properties group senior vice president David Rafael said in an interview following the groundbreaking ceremony that the company was bullish about the prospects of the office leasing business, despite the current market volatility.

Rafael said demand for office space, espc from business process outsourcing industry, remained strong as the slowdown in Europe and United States was forcing companies to look for ways to

reduce costs by outsourcing some of their operations.

“The demand for office space remains aggressive, thanks to the continued economic growth of the country. Strong interest remains due to more investors realizing the potential of the Philippines for their business. Our job is to provide them with a good office space for their operations,” said Rafael.

The 16-story FourE-ComCenter will have 123,968 square me-

ters of gross floor area and is expected to generate P700 million in gross rental revenues annually.

The project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Rafael said the Mall of Asia complex was slowly becoming a preferred area for BPO companies, as the average rental rate within the complex was 20 percent to 25 percent lower compared to those at Ayala business district and Bonifacio Global City at P600 to P620 per square meter.

“Companies are more selective now with their office locations whether it be for expansion or relocation. They are critical in analyzing traffic, safety and accessibility of their site even the lifestyle and well-being of their employees. The competition now is all about the overall quality of

the area and not just the building,” Rafael said.

The first five BPO office buildings within the Mall of Asia complex currently offer 645,000 square meters in gross floor area.

Meanwhile, Rafael said the group was also set to launch late this year or early 2017 its sixth office building at Mall of Asia complex.

He said while the original master plan of Mall of Asia complex provided for development of six office buildings in the area, the group still had more than13 hectares of property that it could develop for office development, depending on market conditions.

The first five BPO office buildings within the Mall of Asia complex currently offers 645,000 square meters of gross floor area.

PH oil imports fall 40% to $5.8b in nine months

By Alena Mae S. Flores The country’s net oil import bill fell 40 percent in the first nine months of 2015 to $5.83 billion from $9.680 billion a year ago, reflecting the drop in world crude prices.

Net oil import bill refers to the difference between oil exports and oil imports.

Latest data from the Energy Department showed total oil imports in January to September reached $6.523 billon, consisting of 108.038 million barrels of crude and finished products. The Philippines imports more than 90

percent of its petroleum needs.

The bulk of the imported oil products in 2015 were finished products, accounting for 57.055 million barrels, while imported crude oil products, used primarily by oil refiners, reached 50.983 million barrels.

The oil import figures last year revealed a significant decline from $10.628 billion in 2014, equivalent to 95.234 million barrels of oil imported during the period.

Export value of oil products also declined to $698.4 million or 12.237 million barrels of oil from $948 million or 8.645 million barrels worth of oil exports in 2014.

Petron Corp. captured the biggest market share during the period, as it cornered 30.7 percent of the market while rival Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. accounted for 23.4 percent.

Petron owns the country’s biggest oil refinery in Bataan with a capacity of 180,000 barrels per day while Shell owns a 110,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Batangas.

Chevron Philippines, meanwhile, captured 6.9 percent of the market while other oil companies, mostly new oil players, garnered 30.7 percent during the period.

The low oil prices in the world

market have resulted in lower transport fares and traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

“The cheap oil prices is being blamed for the traffic because everyone is bringing their cars due to the cheap fuel prices,” Energy Secretary Zenaida Monsada said earlier.

Oil companies, however, warned that the continuing decline in oil prices might result in inventory losses.

“Low oil prices make products cheaper but then another impact is inventory losses to the oil companies,” Shell country chairman Ed Chua said.

SATURDAY: JANUARY 23, 2016

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

IN BRIEF

Megahertz allocation

GLOBE Telecom Inc. said on Friday the National Telecommunications Commission has no clear plans to redistribute the 700 megahertz frequency to existing mobile operators despite the economic benefits to Filipino consumers.

Globe said the regulator “has not announced any timetable or plan to release the 700 MHz band to mobile operators, leaving the future of the band unclear.”

Globe and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. have asked the NTC for an equitable distribution of the 700 MHz spectrum.

Globe lawyer Froilan Castelo said giving active and operating telecommunications companies access to the 700 MHz spectrum would immediately release its socio-economic benefits especially insofar as consumer pricing is concerned.

“Harmonizing the 700 MHz spectrum will allow the industry to provide broadband and data services at faster speeds and in a more cost-efficient manner. This will ultimately redound to increased benefits for the consumers,” Castelo said. Darwin G. Amojelar

Moody’s: GDP at 5.9%

THE Philippine economy likely grew at a slower pace of 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter, from 6 percent a quarter ago, weighed down by weak exports due to sluggish demand overseas, Moody’s Analytics, a division of Moody’s Corp., said in a report Friday.

The figure would bring full-year gross domestic product growth to 5.7 percent, slower than the 6.1 percent a year ago, but enough to remain one of the fastest in the Asian region.

“Philippine GDP growth likely cooled to 5.9 percent year-on-year in the December quarter, after the September quarter’s 6 percent. This brings full-year GDP growth to 5.7 percent in 2015, making the Philippines one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies last year,” Moody’s said.

It said strong growth in services including business process outsourcing was helping offset weakness in exports from sluggish global demand and agriculture from drought in some parts.

Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that exports fell slightly to $5.1 billion in November from $5.2 billion a year ago due to weak demand overseas. Julito G. Rada

Korea rating agency upgrades PH to BBB

By Julito G. Rada

SOUTH KOREA-BASED NICE Investors Service on Friday upgraded the Philippines’ credit rating a notch higher from the minimum investment grade of BBB- to BBB, citing the country’s governance reforms and intensified campaign for infrastructure development.

NICE said in a statement the upgrade was anchored on “improved government transparency as well as enhanced environment backed by expanded infrastructure and social overhead capitals in the form of public-private

partnerships.”

The upgrade came amid sustained rise in infrastructure investments. From 1.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2010, the government’s infrastructure budget rose to 5 percent of GDP

this year.

Infrastructure contracts amounting to $4.8 billion have been awarded to private-sector investors since 2010 under the Public Private Partnership program, making the Philippines one of the most active infrastructure markets in the Asean region.

NICE also assigned a “stable” outlook for the Philippines, indicating it might stay the same at least over the short term despite challenges posed by external developments.

Compared with neighboring countries in the region, NICE

said the Philippines could be more resilient to external shocks, including the impact of a slowing Chinese economy and market volatility arising from higher interest rates in the United States.

“Considering its trade structure and strong FX [foreign exchange] liquidity, the impact of global economic uncertainties such as slowdown of the Chinese economy and US interest rate hike will be manageable,” NICE said.

NICE also expects the Philippines to sustain a robust economic growth of 6.3 percent over the short and medium term.

‘Balikbayan’ boxes

MIGRANT Filipino workers can soon enjoy tax and duty-free balikbayan boxes after the members of the bicameral conference committee on the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act agreed to retain the provision increasing the taxexempt value of their items.

The CMTA proposes to raise the tax exemption ceiling from the present P10,000 to P150,000.

Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the ways and means committee and sponsor of the CMTA, said the provision to raise the tax exemption ceiling was a unanimous decision among the bicameral members.

“It was really the intent of both Houses to increase the values,” he said.

Other legislators who attended the two-day bicam were Senator Bam Aquino, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Miro Quimbo, Reps.

Sharon Garin, Magtanggol Gunigundo, Estrellita Suansing, Raneo Abu and Terry Ridon.

Angara noted that the outdated P10,000-tax exemption ceiling, as provided under the late President Corazon Aquino’s Executive Order 206 in 1987, was now small. Othel V. Campos

Sacasol bucks NGCP

SAN Carlos Solar Energy, or Sacasol, has sought a cease-and-desist order from the Energy Regulatory Commission against National Grid Corporation of the Philippines from collecting transmission charges and suspending its service connection.

Sacasol in a petition objected to the regulated transmission services charges being collected by transmission operator National Grid, saying they were discriminatory.

Sacasol owns a 22-megawatt solar power plant in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, which is connected to the Visayas grid through the Cadiz-San Carlos 69 kV line.

It said National Grid charged the company by classifying it as an embedded generator after connecting to the CadizSan Carlos 69 kV line of Northern Negros Electric Cooperative Inc., which was acquired from National Transmission Corp.

Sacasol signed a connection agreement with National Grid and Noneco, subject to the consummation of the sale with TransCo. Alena Mae S. Flores

Beyond politics. The Stratbase Albert Del Rosario Institute, or ADRI, launches ‘Thinking Beyond Politics,’ a compilation of recommended economic and political policies for the new administration at The Tower Club Philamlife Building, Paseo de Roxas, Makati. At the book launching are (from left) Dr. Carlos Primo David, professor and president Victor Andres Manhit, Dr. Renato Castro, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario, Dr. Epicthetu Patalinhug, Dr.Francisco Magno and Edgardo Lacson, all Stratbase ADRI trustees. The published policy papers are borne out of the forum and debates organized by ADRI. SONNY ESPIRITU

Barclays cuts 1,200 jobs, shutters offices in PH, Asia LONDON—Troubled British bank Barclays announced a new round of job cuts Thursday, axing 1,200 positions at its investment banking division, exiting Russia and closing offices across Asia.

The job losses, confirmed by a bank spokesman, are the first round of cutbacks unveiled by new chief executive Jes Staley, and come on top of 7,000 jobs cut since 2014.

The latest cull will fall mostly on Asia, where Barclays will shut offices in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, and cover those countries from other locations.

Barclays will also completely

exit Russia and handle that country from London.

The lender’s investment division will, however, continue to focus on its two home markets in the UK and United States.

Fewer than 100 positions in the British capital will be affected by the restructuring.

The bank will maintain offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore and India, while keeping its derivatives and prime services business in Asia.

“With these actions, we are accelerating the investment bank strategy outlined in 2014, focusing on its core strengths and running the business for returns,” Barclays said in a brief statement that did not specify the number

of job cuts.

“We continue to build on the business’s dual home markets in the UK and US and remain committed to a strong presence in Asia and EMEA, consistent with operating a leading global investment bank within the Barclays Group.”

The appointment of 58-yearold American investment banker Staley late last year was seen as an attempt by the bank to focus anew on its investment arm.

Barclays is one of several banks implementing job cuts in a tough environment for investment banks, as slowing global growth and stricter capital rules affect lenders.

Staley is the former chief exec-

utive of JP Morgan’s investment bank and became Barclays boss on December 1.

Barclays added on Thursday that it expected to report “broadly flat” income at its investment banking arm on March 1, when it will post the group’s annual results.

Barclays’ investment banking wing was rocked in 2012 by the Libor rate-rigging scandal.

The recent stock market turmoil and commodity price rout is expected to have played a part in the decision to further scale-back its investment banking presence.

Barclays shares rallied 2.24 percent to close at 186.13 pence in an upbeat London market with the FTSE 100 index surging 1.77 percent highter to 5,773 points. AFP

S at u r D aY : J a n u a r Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

B5

ceSar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world

Foggy morning. An Indian man carries his son to school wrapped in a shawl on a cold foggy morning in New Delhi. AFP

19 killed in Somalia restaurant N. Korea arrests student for alleged hostile act SEOUL—North Korea said Friday it had arrested a US student who, under orders from Washington, had engaged in an unspecified “hostile act” after entering the country on a tourist visa.

The detention comes at a sensitive time, with the United States taking a leading role in the efforts to secure tough international sanctions on North Korea over its latest nuclear test.

Pyongyang has a history of using detainees as bargaining chips to extract concessions and high-profile visits to secure their release.

The student, identified as Otto Frederick Warmbier from the University of Virginia, had entered North Korea as a tourist “for the purpose of bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity at the tacit

connivance of the US government and under its manipulation,” the North’s official KCNA news agency said, using the official acronym for North Korea.

He was detained “while perpetrating a hostile act against the DPRK”, it added, without specifying when the arrest was actually made or when Warmbier entered the country.

He becomes the third North American detained in North Korea, which last month sentenced a 60-year-old Canadian pastor to life imprisonment with hard labor on sedition charges.

During a recent interview that the pastor, Hyeon Soo Lim, gave to CNN in Pyongyang, the North presented another ethnic Korean prisoner, whom they said was a US citizen arrested for spying in October. AFP

MOGADISHU—Somalia’s Islamist Shebab militants killed around 19 people when five gunmen detonated a bomb before storming a popular seaside restaurant in the capital Mogadishu, police and witnesses said Friday.

“They killed nearly 20 people, including women and children,” Somali police officer Mohamed Abdirahman said, describing it as a “barbaric and brutal attack against innocent civilians”.

The Lido beach area in Mogadishu is busy with restaurants, including upmarket establishments popular with business people and diaspora Somalis who have returned home to the city.

After a huge explosion, gunmen burst into the restaurant on Thursday night as diners were sitting down for their evening meal at the start of Somalia’s weekend.

“The fact that they have chosen this location during a weekend night shows how merciless the Shebab militants are,” Abdirahman added.

“They wanted to kill more civilians but the security forces rescued most of the people.”

The Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab claimed responsibility for the attack, in which four of their gunmen were also killed, and one captured.

“The mujahedeen fighters targeted the Lido Beach,” the militants said on the group’s Radio Andalus, calling it a “major operation against the enemy of Allah”.

Security minister Abdirazak Omar Mohamed told reporters that four of the attackers were shot dead by security forces.

The minister added that one gunman was captured when security forces entered the building to end the attack.

Survivors described the gunmen

spraying those in the restaurant with automatic weapons.

Abdirahman Halane was close to the restaurant when the gunmen attacked, and said some of those killed were hit by an explosion as they tried to flee.

“The gunmen entered the popular Lido Sea Food Restaurant from the back door and started shooting... a few minutes later there was a heavy explosion at the front gate while people were trying to escape,” Halane said.

“There was confusion, everybody started panicking, and some of them ran towards the gunmen and they were shot dead, I was lucky to escape,” he said.

Another witness described how some of those killed had died in the large blast, while others were shot dead at point blank range.

“There is a big mess here and many people died, I saw the dead bodies of 19 people who were killed during the attack,” said Hussein Ali, who saw the bodies being carried out of the damaged building. AFP

21 refugees die as boats sink off Greece

ATHENS—At least 21 people including eight children died after their boats sank off the Greek islands of Farmakonisi and Kalolimnos early Friday, with dozens of other migrants reported missing, the coastguard said.

They said 48 survivors managed to reach the shore of Farmakonisi in the Aegean Sea close to the Turkish coast after the first boat hit rocks around 2:30am (0030 GMT) as it was making the perilous crossing from Turkey.

The coastguard recovered the bodies of six children and a woman.

Several hours later, a second boat capsized off the tiny nearby island of Kalolimnos. The coastguard recovered 14 bodies two children, nine women and three men.

The 26 survivors reported that dozens of people had been on the boat. The coastguard was searching for the others, backed by a helicopter from EU border agency Frontex.

People fleeing war and misery in the Middle East and elsewhere― many of them Syrian refugees―are still arriving from Turkey in flimsy boats in their thousands every day, despite the dangers and the harsh

winter weather.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that some 31,000 migrants have reached Greece by sea so far this year, hoping to start new lives in Germany, Sweden and elsewhere in the European Union.

The IOM reported 77 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean between January 1 and January 17.

On Thursday at least 12 migrants, including children, drowned off the Turkish coast as their boat tried to reach Greece.

The Turkish coastguard rescued 28 people. AFP

Prevention. A Health Ministry employee fumigates a home against

the Aedes aegypti mosquito to prevent the spread of the Zika virus in Soyapango, six km east of San Salvador, on January 21, 2016. Health authorities have issued a national alert against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito because of the link between the Zika virus and microcephaly and Guillain-Barré Syndrome in fetuses. AFP

s at u r D aY : J a n u a r Y 2 3 , 2 0 1 6

B6

WORLD

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Eastern US braces for blizzard Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Bids and Awards Committee INVITATION TO BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF DOST SECURITY SERVICES FOR CY 2016 1.

The Department of Science and Technology, through the proposed Government Appropriations Act (GAA) 2016 intends to apply the sum of 19,905,600.00being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Procurement of Janitorial Services for CY 2016. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The Department of Science and Technology now invites bids for the provision of janitorial manpower, supplies, equipment and services. Delivery of the Goods is required within 30 calendar days upon receipt of the Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwiseknown as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Department of Science and Technology and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on January 22, 2016-February 11, 2016, 2010 and 8:00 am – 12:00 noon on February 12, 2016.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders on January 22, 2016-February 12, 2016 from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 15,000.00.

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

5.

The Department of Science and Technologywill hold a Pre-Bid Conference on January 29, 2016 at 1:00 pm at the DOST Executive Lounge, DOST Compound, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City, which shall beopen only to all interested parties.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before 1:00 pm of February 12, 2016. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on 1:00 pm of February 12, 2016 at DOST Executive Lounge, DOST Compound, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

7.

8.

The Department of Science and Technologyreserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

WASHINGTON—The eastern United States braced Friday for a monstrous blizzard, sparking flight cancellations and the looming shutdown of Washington’s public transportation system.

The US capital and the surrounding area could see up to two feet of snow accumulate in a short time from Friday to Saturday, coupled with fierce winds and blinding squalls, weather experts said.

The federal government in Washington is closing at noon Friday because of the storm.

As several states made frantic preparations as far south as Kentucky, the governor said he too was shutting down government offices on Friday.

Tens of millions of people could be affected by snow, and millions more by ice and other dangerous conditions, the National Weather Service said.

“You put all the ingredients together, you can get a storm like this and it’s happening in real time,” NWS director Louis Uccellini said.

With authorities warning the storm could bury Washington under more snow than it has

For further information, please refer to:

Republic of the Philippines Province of Oriental Mindoro MUNICIPALITY OF PINAMALAYAN ooOoo BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Ms. Clarissa C. Rivera Head, DOST-BAC Secretariat DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Rm. 206, 2nd Floor DOST Main Building DOST Main Building, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, TaguigCity, Metro Manila 02-8372940 TF www.dost.gov.ph (SGD) Urdujah A. Tejada Assistant Secretary and Chairperson, DOST-BAC

(TS-JAN 23, 2015)

Republic of the Philippines

I N V I TAT I O N T O A P P LY FO R E L I G I B I L I T Y A N D T O B I D I T B 2 0 16 – 2 0 1.

The Municipal Gover nment of Pinamalayan, Provinc e of Oriental Mindoro through i t s j o i n t B i d a n d A w a r d s C o m m i t t e e ( B A C) i n v i t e s b i d d e r s / s u p p l i e r s t o a p p l y f o r t h e eligibility and to bid for the hereunder project:

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Bids and Awards Committee INVITATION TO BID FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF DOST JANITORIAL SERVICES FOR CY 2016 1.

2.

3.

The Department of Science and Technology, through the proposed Government Appropriations Act (GAA) 2016 intends to apply the sum of Php 10,353,515.76being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Procurement of Janitorial Services for CY 2016.

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Name of the project

:

P r o c u r e m e n t o f 1 u n i t S e r v i c e Ve h i c l e f o r s e r v i c e o f Loc al Chief E xecutive

Location

:

Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Approved Budget

:

Php 3,000,000.00

2.

B i d d e r s s h a l l d e l i v e r t h e f o l l o w i n g s e r v i c e s /a c t i v i t i e s , t o w i t ;

Item No. 1

Item Description S e r v i c e Ve h i c l e

Quantity

Unit

1

unit

E n g i n e = 2 . 2 L D O H C 16 - Va l u e s H L A

The Department of Science and Technology now invites bids for the provision of janitorial manpower, supplies, equipment and services. Delivery of the Goods is required within 30 calendar days upon receipt of the Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

W i t h e l e c t r o n i c Va r i a b l e G e o m e t r y Tu r b o c h a r g e r

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwiseknown as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

S u s p e n s i o n = Fr o n t – M a c p h e r s o n S t r u t Ty p e H y d r a u l i c

M a x P o w e r = 19 7 p c / 3 8 0 0 r p m M a x To r q u e = 4 4 . 5 k g - m /18 0 0 – 2 5 0 0 r p m

D o u b l e A c t i v a t i n g S t r u t Ty p e = R e a r – M u l t i - L i n k Ty p e H y d r a u l i c D o u b l e A c t i v a t i n g S h o c k A b s o r b e r Ty p e

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

4.

seen in nearly a century, officials announced they would take the unusual step of closing down the city’s rail and bus system from Friday night until Monday morning.

The Metro system the second busiest in the US after New York serves about 700,000 customers a day in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.

It is likely the longest closing in the system’s 40-plus year history, The Washington Post reported.

Heavy snow was expected across at least 15 states, with icy rain and coastal flooding in other areas, according to the Weather Channel.

The NWS issued a blizzard warning for Washington and said New York could catch the tail end of the storm as the weekend progressed.

“Heavy snow and blowing snow will cause dangerous conditions and will be a threat

to life and property,” the NWS warned.

“Travel is expected to be severely limited if not impossible during the height of the storm Friday night and Saturday.”

Uccellini said the system had “the potential of being an extremely dangerous storm that could affect over 50 million people.”

“We are talking about a potentially paralyzing storm that is already setting up,” he told reporters.

American Airlines said it was canceling hundreds of flights, including at Washington’s two airports on Saturday. All flights on that day will also be scrapped in Baltimore and Philadelphia, a spokeswoman said, adding that service would likely resume Sunday and be reduced Friday.

United Airlines announced it was suspending flights at Washington’s Dulles and other Mid-Atlantic airports starting Friday afternoon.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a state of emergency and called off school Friday.

“I’ve lived in DC most of my life and I don’t know if I’ve lived through a forecast like this. It’s an extremely large storm,” she said. AFP

Step Board To u c h s c r e e n M o n i t o r w i t h N a v i

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Department of Science and Technology and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on January 22, 2016-February 11, 2016, 2010 and 8:00 am – 9:00 am on February 12, 2016.

Headrest Monitor 3 M T i n t ( M a g i c D a r k)

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders on January 22, 2016-February 12, 2016 from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 10,000.00.

3M Tint (Magic Neutral)

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

3M Carpet Matting

Rainvisor 1 yr Comp. Insuranc e with AOFG and TPL 3 y e a r s LTO R e g i s t r a t i o n

5.

The Department of Science and Technologywill hold a Pre-Bid Conference on January 29, 2016 at 9:00 am at the DOST Executive Lounge, DOST Compound, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City, which shall beopen only to all interested parties.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before 9:00 am of February 12, 2016. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

3.

1. I s s u a n c e o f B i d D o c u m e n t s 2. Opening of Bids 4.

Bid opening shall be on 9:00 am of February 12, 2016 at DOST Executive Lounge, DOST Compound, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, Taguig City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

7.

The Department of Science and Technologyreserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

8.

For further information, please refer to: Ms. Clarissa C. Rivera Head, DOST-BAC Secretariat DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Rm. 206, 2nd Floor DOST Main Building DOST Main Building, Gen. Santos Ave., Bicutan, TaguigCity, Metro Manila 02-8372940 TF www.dost.gov.ph

The c omplete schedule of activities is listed as follows: J a n u a r y 2 0 , 2 016 t o J a n u a r y 2 8 , 2 016 J a n u a r y 2 9 , 2 016 a t 2 : 0 0 P M a t M a y o r ’s E x t e n s i o n O f f i c e

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before Januar y 29, 2 0 16 a t 2 : 0 0 P M . A l l B i d s m u s t b e a c c o m p a n i e d b y a b i d s e c u r i t y i n a n y o f t h e acceptable forms and in the amount stated in Invitation to Bid as follows:

FORM OF BID SECURIT Y

Minimum Amount in % of Approved Budget for the Contract to be Bid

C a s h , c e r t i f i e d c h e c k , c a s h i e r ’s , m a n a g e r ’s c h e c k , b a n k Tw o p e r c e n t (2 %) draf t or irrevoc able let ter of credit Bank Guarantee

Tw o P e r c e n t (2 % . / )

Surety Bond

F i v e P e r c e n t (5 %)

5.

T h e M uni c ipal G ove r nm e nt of Pinam alayan re s e r ve s t h e r i g ht to ac c e pt o r rej e c t any bi d, to annul t h e bi d din g p r o c e s s, an d to r ej e c t all b i ds at any t im e p r i o r to c o nt r ac t awar d, w it h o ut t h e r e by inc ur r in g any li abi lit y to t h e af fe c te d b i d d e r o r b i d d e r s

6.

F o r f u r t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n p l e a s e r e f e r t o: M R . E N R I Q U E N . M O C L I N G , M G AG H I / B AC S e c r e t a r y, L o c a l G o v e r n m e n t o f P i n a m a l a y a n , O r i e n t a l M i n d o r o .

(SGD) Urdujah A. Tejada Assistant Secretary and Chairperson, DOST-BAC (TS-JAN. 23, 2016)

– _

( T S - J A N . 2 3 , 2 016)

( S G D ) M A U R O P. H E L E R A Municipal Administrator BAC Chair man

Russia rejects British inquiry LON DON—Moscow on Thursday dismissed as a “joke” a British inquiry’s findings that Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably approved” the killing of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko a decade ago in London.

Litvinenko, a prominent Kremlin critic, died of radiation poisoning in 2006 aged 43, three weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium at an upmarket London hotel.

The inquiry said that Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, two Russians identified as prime suspects

by British police, were likely to have carried out the poisoning on the instructions of the Russian security services, but Lugovoi quickly dismissed the allegations as “nonsense”.

Although Prime Minister David Cameron called it a “state-sponsored action”, his government did not announce sanctions in response, instead summoning Moscow’s ambassador to London for talks lasting less than an hour.

Russia was sharply dismissive of the conclusions. AFP

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PROPERTY jdlacsamana@gmail.com

JOEL D. L ACSAMANA EDITOR

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PH Real estate giRds uP..... from b8

Malls for every taste

Chairman Manuel B. Villar of Vista Land & Lifescapes (inset) recently welcomed tenants and investors of Vista Malls at an Investors’ Night at the Laurel House in Vista Shaw, Mandaluyong City. The former senator and presidential announced the following Vista Land projects in 2016: Vista Mall at EVIA in the heart of Vista City in Daang Hari; Vista Mall at Trevi Residences in Pasong Tamo, Makati City; Vista Mall Lakefront in Sucat; Vista Mall Pampanga; Vista Mall Antipolo ; and Vista Mall CDO. Villar promised more Vista Malls in the works in 2016. “We will grow Vista Malls nationwide and provide more communities with more expressive community-centric residential set-ups,” Villar said. Representatives from lifestyle products and services such as Salon de Laurel, Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks, Gilligan’s, Black Canyon Coffee, Powermac, Powerbooks, and National Bookstore were regaled with the different mall options and given a tour of a live gallery that showcased the various Vista Malls. Show in photo are (left to right) : Samantha Laurel & John Laurel (owners, Salon de Laurel), Vhernie Macatulad (Vista Malls operations), Leni Luya (managing director, Vista Malls), Bebot Laurel, Rajo Laurel (owners, House of Laurel), and Migs Alanon.

rule rather than the exception.

Office buildings have been identified as among the biggest users of earth’s resources, and contributors to climate change. This has prompted property managers to look for ways to save energy and water, or at least keep their usage to a minimum. Henry Torremonia, JLL head of property management in the Philippines, said new top-end buildings in the major business districts, for example, have veered away from floor-to-ceiling glass curtain walls, the big thing in the 90s when many of Makati’s iconic corporate towers were built. The reality of high energy and operating costs are now reflected in the design of buildings with JLL property managers giving inputs at the blueprint stage to building owners on how to lessen the load on the air-conditioning system, how to layout equipment for easy access and maintenance, etc. Torremonia said a number of buildings managed by JLL won citations from the Department of Energy which hands out the Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards. These buildings include Citibank Square, Citi Tower, and GT Tower. Meanwhile, the Panorama Building managed by JLL ( shown in photo), recently bagged a silver award for being a PWD-friendly establishment by the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Disabled.

neW gM in toWn. Anya Resort & Residences, an up-coming resort in Tagaytay, recently tapped luxury hotel executive Peter Lodovico D’souza as its general manager. D’souza, who has 17 years of industry experience in Asia and the Middle East, was introduced to Anya through a former boss in the Maldives. “The project owners showed me around Tagaytay, and the project in particular. I’ve always wanted to be in a place that is very close to nature, and away from the noise and pollution¼ . joining Anya was an easy decision,” he said. As general manager of Anya, D’souza is currently building the core principles that will guide all aspects of service. “Our tagline for Anya is ‘Welcome Home.’ We will welcome our guests, whoever they may be, whether they come with a small handbag or two huge suitcases,” he promised. Set to open in early 2016, Anya covers seven hectares located on the quieter side of the Tagaytay-Calamba Road.

Anya Resort & Residences is a project of Roxaco Land Corporation, whose projects include Peninsula de Punta Fuego, Terrazas, and Fuego Hotels

What bubble?

The residential market is the segment that is most competitive at present, since a lot of players have been cashing in from this profitable sector. Whispers of a property bubble persist, and have zeroed in on a smaller segment, the condominium market.

Most developers have been targeting overseas Filipinos. In addition, a lot of buyers have been promised of “good investments.” At this point, delivery of new residential condominium units is expected for the rest of 2015. Condominium buyers who are expecting rental income would like to see how their yields would flow in, especially if these purchases are leveraged with bank financing.

The SM Group intends to sell at an annual average of 20,000 units starting next year. DMCI announced that it would launch 14,000 units next year. The Ayala Land Group and Ortigas & Company have packaged their residential projects with mixed used and township developments.

Jockeying for retail space The retail market has been dominated by the “600-pound gorillas” like the SM Group, Robinsons Group and Cosco/Puregold Group.

SM Group has 55 stores, 41 SM Supermarkets, 43 SM Hypermarkets, 127 Savemore stores and 27 WalterMart stores.

The other big players like the Ayala Land Group and Megaworld are aggressively pursuing their own retail strategies. The Ayala Land Group is planning to open at least five new shopping malls in the next few years in line with its goal to earn a net income of Php 40 billion by 2020.

Megaworld Group is joining the race with its plan to put p up 20 malls in the next five years.

The Vista Land Group acquired 88.25% of Starmalls, Inc. from the Fine Group to officially seal the merger. The Group is integrating its retail platforms with its housing projects and intends to open six to seven “AllHome” annually over the next five years. hotels rising Hotel occupancy rates in Manila slipped to an average of 68% percent in the first half of the year, just 1.6%-points lower than the rates a year ago, according to a report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) report.

Even with this slight decrease, Philippines is actually doing better than most countries in Southeast where drops ranged from 2.1%-points (Singapore) to as high as 8.6%-points (Bali).

Tourist arrivals have been increasing every year. Robinsons Land Group is steadily beefing up its Go Hotel brand. At present, it has nine sites: Bacolod, Butuan, Dumaguete, Iloilo, EDSA-Mandaluyong, Ortigas Center, OtisManila, Puerto Princesa and Tacloban.

The Filinvest Group is beefing up its hotel portfolio and rebranded its Filarchipelago Hospitality, Inc. to Chroma Hospitality, Inc. that would offer hotel management services to third parties.

Chroma Hospitality is spending as much as Php 2.6 billion for a 228-room Canvas Hotel in Cubao and a 185-room Canvas Hotel in Mactan.

The Group is bringing to the market a Crimson Hotel in Boracay; Quest Hotels in Dumaguete and Tagaytay; Canvas Hotels and Resorts in Cubao, Mactan and Cebu City; and a Serulyan condotel in Mactan.

The Ayala Land Group plans to put up Seda hotels across the country in the next five years.

It is even considering bringing the Seda brand broad. The Ayala group currently has four Seda hotels located in Bonifacio Global City, Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City and Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The Rockwell/Lopez Group opened its first Aruga hotel-serviced apartments in Rockwell Center, Makati. It is offering 114 units of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom, catering to mobile businessmen and professionals.

bets are on for ph gaming sector.

Growing numbers of wealthy overseas high rollers, and local gamers, are coming over to roost.

casinos upbeat on prospects The gaming industry in the Philippines is “doing well,” at least in the eyes of casino operators.

The local casino industry was beset with challenges last year particularly with the Chinese government’s crackdown on illegal gambling that has affected gaming revenues in the entire region.

Still, casino operators in the Philippines are bullish on their prospects for the remainder of the year.

City of Dreams Manila COO Kevin Sim told The Standard they are “confident” that the newly-opened casino resort will “expand across all segments.”

“Despite being open only a few months, City of Dreams leads the Philippine market in visitation rates,” Sim said.

Travellers International Hotel Group, which operates the Resorts World Manila, also remains positive about the state of the local gambling industry.

Owen Cammayo, director for corporate communications at Resorts World, said they are focusing on “concrete and aggressive expansion plans in the next five years.”

Cammayo said the resort will offer a “more holistic customer experience” as it strengthens its integrated offerings, according to the report.

The casino development industry in the country is not showing any signs of slowing down in the near future. For example, the Sino-American Gaming Investment Group and Macau Resources Group Ltd. are already in talks with Philippine state gaming regulators regarding the possibility of opening two mega-resorts outside of Manila: one in Cebu, and one in Masbate.

Within Manila, two more casinos are expected: Manila Bayshore, a joint venture between Alliance Global Group Inc. and Malaysia’s Genting Group; and Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada’s Manila BayResorts. finishing strong While it is typical for companies to “finish the year strong”, especially for publicly-listed entities, the real estate market is more of a long distance marathon. Developing real estate products takes months, even years. This is the reason why due diligence and market scanning is very important in any segment of the property market. Maximizing the liquidity of the financial market is also important. This is the advantage of the country’s stable, low interest rate regime.

Politicians are likewise cleaning up their campaigns, and political alignments are becoming clearer. While there was a semblance of peace during the Christmas season, all gloves have been taken off this second week of January.

Political noise is now mounting.

For local politicos, now comes the hard part: harvesting enough votes in the next few months, and keeping them by May 9.

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JOEL D. L ACSAMANA EDITOR jdlacsamana@gmail.com

PROPERTY Ph real estate girds uP for Political heat in 2016 By joel d. lacsamana

Cleaning up house, throwing away old items, is a chore many Filipinos do after the New Year. For companies, there is also clearing of inventories and cleaning up of business plans before the year ends.

Some publicly-listed companies are said to be “window-dressing”. While the Chinese New Year falls this year on February 8, preparations are being made to welcome the Fire-Monkey Year. On the political front, the New Year is also highly anticipated due to the escalating fireworks leading up to the national elections this summer. Firing the monkeys is easier said than done. But most business pundits are optimistic that the local economy and the real estate industry will emerge stronger than ever, politics notwithstanding.

Bucking the trend NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan believes that the country’s economic gains have been a boon to the property sector. This week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that the Philippine economy likely grew 5.7 percent last year, and is expected to rebound with a more than 6-percent expansion in 2016 and 201, making it one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.. ”The shape of real estate industry in the Philippines has changed dramatically

over the years,” Balisacan said at a summit organized by the Land Registration Authority (LRA) and The Organization of Property Stakeholders.

“In particular, the property market has grown robustly over the last 20 years as increasing demand for residential and commercial properties in the country became ever more evident against the backdrop of our changing economic landscape,” he observed.

Bucking the trend of many property funds that have their sights firmly set on China, BPE Asia Real Estate said it is looking for gold elsewhere, such as the Philippines and Vietnam. “There are still some uncertainties in China,” explained Mark Fogle, managing director and head of real estate for BPE Asia, citing a glut and the economic downturn. “It may not be the right time to buy assets there.”

Its wariness over China apart, BPE sees good prospect in other countries. “We have confidence in the Philippines. The country is changing dramatically and the middle class is growing rapidly,” said Fogle.

“We are very positive on the way things are going for the real estate market,” said Rick Santos, founder, chairman and CEO of CBRE Philippines. “The transformation

Building the filiPino dream. Filinvest Land, Inc., a company with a diverse range of real estate developments, is picky when it comes to construction partners. The company believes that even the smallest board, or the most subtle of mouldings, should project quality. One brand Filinvest uses consistently is HardieFlex®. because of its products’ resistance to fire, impact, moisture damage, rodents and termites. Filinvest also demands versatility. Aside from using the fiber cement boards for interior purposes, they have explored outdoor applications, too. One of the company’s projects, Princeton Heights in Molino, Cavite, (see photo) has a New England theme, with traditional exterior siding as a notable design feature. To attain this look, Filinvest used HardiePlank® siding with a wood grain-textured finish. First introduced in the mid-1980s, James Hardie’s fiber cement technology is now the go-to building material for ceilings and walls.

600-pound gorillas. In synch with the Year of the Monkey, the top real estate developers are rampaging through the forest.

of areas outside the major central business districts are continuously creating more investment opportunities. From Clark up north to Davao down south, the playing field is becoming more exciting, especially for the BPO sector which will sustain the momentum and drive for the coming years.” ruling the forest The Ayala Land Group leads the biggies by building townships all over the country. The Group generated revenues from property development reaching Php 75.1 billion for the first nine months as compared to the same period last year of Php 68.3 billion or 10% higher.

SM Group is selling an average of 15,000 units every year. Based on Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) figures, the average license to sell given to condominium developments has an average of approximately 75,000 per year. SM Group intends to increase its annuals sales to the 20,000-unit level, thereby solidifying its market share in the condominium segment.

Another big “gorilla” is the Megaworld Group that has been busy with its five new townships all over the country. The group also announced its intention of catching up in the retail mall segment by building 20 malls in the next five year.

The Vista Land Group has been pushing major real estate projects all over the country, with its patriarch declaring that he will stay away from politics. The Group already unveiled 27 projects in the previous months that may rake in Php 20.7 billion of sales, plus the additional planned launches with estimated sales value of Php 15 billion.

DMCI Group will launch nine projects next year with approximately 14,000 units and estimated sales value of Php 50 billion.

Likewise, the Group intends to generate recurring income when it launches its 36-storey office project along Pasong Tamo in Makati City.

Eton Properties, the real estate unit of the Lucio Tan Group, will continue to focus in generating income by building more office

buildings to meet the growing demand in the BPO-IT industry. Eton has already built office buildings with a total leasable area of 124,000 square meters. It intends to build an additional of 200,000 sqm of leasable office spaces.

BPos still going strong The business process outsourcing (BPO) industry is expected to end the year with 1.2 million employees, which is very close to the next year’s goal of hitting 1.3 million jobs, industry sources say. Revenue-wise, the BPO industry generated total revenue of US$ 18.9 billion in 2014, and expect to between 15%-18% this year. The 2016 revenue target is pegged at US$ 25 billion.

Property Report, one of Asia’s leading luxury real estate, architecture, and interior design publications, recently cited the Philippines as a solid performer and although analysts are predicting a slight slowdown in growth, they see plenty to be positive about—especially in an office market likely to be the beneficiary of a thriving BPO (business process outsourcing) sector. Duncan Forgan, writer for Property Report, said “the IT (Information Technology)-BPO industry in the Philippines is poised to create up to 1.3 million jobs this year, thus the rise in demand for more office spaces.”

“The growth pillar in the Philippines, its BPO industry, is powering ahead thanks to sound economic management, a stable political landscape, and a largely young and well-educated population,” added Sigfrid Zialcita, managing director of research at commercial real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield. “The next five years could still see BPO companies enlarging their footprints across the country to ensure high occupancies and a platform for long-term moderate growth of more than five percent.”

With strong demand of four million square feet of office space each year, the Philippines is a solid market for many big and multinational companies, added Fogle.

“Office occupancy of high-quality buildings is just 10 to 20 per cent of that in Central,” said BPE Asia’s Fogle. ➜ continued on B7

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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 "Day & Night 1" 24x36in, Oil on Canvas, 2016

"Atma 2" 60x36in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

"Day & Night 3" 24x36in, Oil on Canvas, 2016

JOHN MARIN’S MOMENT OF INTROSPECTION

“I

BY BERNADETTE LUNAS PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

want them to feel that my paintings he needs that resonate with how some are staring back at them.” belief systems have come to terms with the This is how visual artist John relationship between man and the universe.

Marin wants viewers to feel when The message may be rather profound – if they look at his latest series of not confounding to the ordinary onlooker artworks, entitled “Introspection,” currently – but being passionate about art and doing on exhibit at Ayala Museum’s ArtistSpace what he has been doing at an early age, until January 26.

Marin says it only took him less than two It would probably be hard to imagine a months to finish this series. He likewise painting looking back at its observer when admits to being a bit restless. “I had to the figures on frame are devoid of faces. control myself not to overwork the pieces.

But for Marin, his presentation unravels a And then I stared at them a lot. When I felt person’s place and purpose in the universe that they were okay, then they were okay,” that would ultimately give sense to the shares Marin. complexity of human experience – from While frustration may be par for the survival and mastery of nature to feeling course for many artists, Marin says he has love, joy, pain, and suffering. no such feelings, which is perhaps just as For a 24-year old, the artist’s outlook in well because it helps him articulate his life and art is rather philosophical. Through message. By merging an image of vastness art, the Technological University of the within the confines of a finite body, the Philippines Fine Arts graduate attempts to answers to man’s many questions about unlock the puzzles of life, and his place and purpose in life uses his art to interpret how may actually be infinite, life can be understood. and that by losing one’s In his exhibited consciousness into the artworks, he removes the unknown, man will be figures’ – reminiscent of able to realize that the mythological and religious truth lies within. icons – individuality and The artworks may not identity by stripping off their have eyes to stare back at faces, putting instead images their observers, but the very of the vast night sky or outer composition will draw viewers space. The resulting images to examine and look into illustrate how one’s themselves to find the answers individuality dissolves to the questions they have about into an infinite darkness life and their existence. and unites in harmony with “Introspection” is Marin’s second the larger universe from where solo exhibition following his show at the man originated.

Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2015.

Like one of his influences – German contemporary The exhibit is free for public artist Anselm Kiefer’s recent viewing. ArtistSpace is located at paintings – one notices that the ground floor of Ayala Museum the recurrent color notes at Makati Ave. cor. Dela Rosa St. of his works on display are Makati City. For more information, black, gray and white. But he call (02) 759-8288 or email "Day & Night 2" has all the visual elements 11.5x11.5x25in, artistspace@ayalafoundation.org.

Mixed Media, 2016

"Atma 6" 60x48in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

"Atma 4" 60x48in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

"Atma 5" 48x36in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

"Atma 1" 48x48in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

"Atma 3" 60x48in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

"Atma 7" 48x48in, Oil on Canvas, 2015

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

New SM Youth brand ambassador DJ Carlo Atendido

RISING HIP DJ JOINS THE SM YOUTH PARTY

Y

oung, good looking, vibrant, and an inspiration to their peers – these are the qualities that describe the roster of individuals representing SM Youth. This year, the brand brings in upcoming hip DJ Carlo Atendido to join the other brand ambassadors that include models turned reality TV stars Tommy Esguerra and Richard Juan, statuesque model Janna Tee and athlete heartthrob L.A. Aguinaldo.

Known for being the first Filipino and only Asian representative to the 2015 Red Bull Thre3style World DJ Championships and winning third place after battling it out with five other finalists in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2014 – DJ Carlo has hit the party scene and has been all over the hippest events and shows in the Metro. Beyond his local rounds in the trendiest bars in Manila, this world class DJ has shared the stage with some of the hottest local and foreign acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Empire of the Sun, Kendrick Lamar, and Kaskade in the biggest music festival held in the country to date. His performances also cross over TV and radio, likewise appearing in one of Philippine TV’s highest-rating weekly variety shows as guest DJ. He also plays music for local radio’s most influential R&B station.

His spunky attitude and trendy way of dressing makes him a perfect ambassador for SM Youth, as he represents the best clothing variety in boys’ and teens’ wear in classic silhouettes and rugged pieces. This young man’s continuous journey to reach success represents today’s youth culture and embodies the SM Youth dream.

For more information, visit SM Youth Lifestyle on Facebook or @SM_Youth on Twitter and Instagram.

Power Mac Center enhances service provider operations for 2016

L

eading Apple authorized service provider in the Philippines Power Mac Center starts 2016 with a stronger commitment to deliver utmost customer satisfaction by enhancing its repair and inquiry processes. These improvements will bring about more convenience and accessibility to customers especially with significant changes on service levels.

Among these changes include an enhanced Service Menu as well as quicker and easier resolution of queries from a well-trained customer service team. Serviced iPhone and iPad devices will also be given the Power Mac Center personal touch upon release through a specially designed packaging.

A major highlight however is the allocation of special lanes for the exclusive use of the elderly, the pregnant and persons with disabilities (PWDs).

“Power Mac Center welcomes 2016 with additional ways to keep our relationship with our customers. At the forefront of that is our service operations,” shared Power Mac Center Marketing director Joey Alvarez. “Along with the new year, we renew our commitment to provide our patrons with the complete Apple experience,” he added.

Customers are ensured of the service team’s full commitment to maintain current customer service support following the transition into the new model that is set to provide the highest standard of Apple expertise, care, and service to the Power Mac Center clientele.

Experience easier transaction and faster turnaround time by visiting Power Mac Center’s Apple Authorized Service Provider locations in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao, with stores located in Greenbelt 3, Glorietta 5, The Annex at SM City North EDSA, SM City Fairview, TriNoma, Robinsons Magnolia, SM Megamall, The Podium, SM Mall of Asia, SM Aura Premier, Festival Supermall, Cash and Carry Mall, Abreeza Mall, SM Lanang Premier, SM City Marikina, Power Plant Mall, SM City BF Parañaque, Harbor Point, SM City Southmall, SM City Pampanga, SM City Bacoor, SM City Lipa, SM City Santa Rosa, SM City Batangas, SM City Dasmariñas and Circuit Makati. For more information, call the Power Mac Center Hotline at 725-4762 (4PMC) or email serviceupdate@powermaccenter.com.

You may also visit www.powermaccenter.com; www.facebook.com/powermaccenter: www.twitter.com/powermaccenter; or www.instagram.com/powermaccenter.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Buy Now, Die Later

A FESTIVAL OF ERRORS THE GIST

BY ED BIADO

T

he Metro Manila Film Festival is always controversial. Just go to the festival’s Wikipedia page to read about the numerous “notable incidents” that occurred throughout its 41 years of existence. The previous installment was no different. Hounded by critics due to the disqualification of the entry Honor Thy Father, the festival is currently at risk of being overhauled by Congress, which reportedly found inconsistencies and plenty of areas of improvement in the annual event and award-giving ceremony.

The reality of it is that the MMFF is hardly a “film festival” as entries are meant more to appeal commercially and generate revenue for the ailing domestic film industry than to showcase talent and excellence. It capitalizes on the Christmas holidays to boost ticket sales and bars the exhibition of foreign films to eliminate competition.

Perennial entries capitalize on formulaic storylines that almost always guarantee success and bank on box-office draws like Vice Ganda, Ai Ai delas Alas and Vic Sotto. It’s a no-brainer for the most part and the only point of interest each year is which movie starring a comedic superstar will emerge the top grosser.

One token “artistic” film is included in the annual roster – Honor Thy Father in the case

Meryll Soriano portrays Kaye, Krystal Brimner as Angel, and John Lloyd Cruz plays the film's protagonist Edgar

Family of Edgar. From left: Manny (Dan Fernandez), Nanang (Perla Bautista), Erwin (Boom Labrusca), and Emil (Khalil Ramos)

of the 2015 edition – and said artistic film is often seen as the entry that will bag most of the awards. At the same time, it is also the movie that earns the least and gets pulled out of theaters first due to lack of public interest.

The question is, then – is a film festival a film festival if it favors commercial viability over artistic merit?

Are we even going to pretend that there is any validity to the awards recognizing the supposed “best” when very little effort was put into seven of the eight “films” (yes, I’m putting the word films in quotation marks) in contention? And for the love of filmmaking,

how can one take the merit awards seriously when the body awards the Best Float as well?

More critical colleagues in the press have called out the MMFF for its sheer disregard of standards. I’m sure we all understand the local business of show’s need to resort to Band-Aid solutions to keep the industry earning money. We get it that they have to make movies that they know will sell to their target audiences.

One can argue that the country has other film festivals, such as Cinemalaya and CinemaOne Originals, that focuses on filmmaking excellence and social relevance,

and that we should just leave the MMFF to its tried-and-tested moneymaking ways.

But that brings me back to the question of whether or not the MMFF deserves to be called a film festival.

If Congress really will create a technical committee to study and makeover the MMFF, I’d like to suggest that they explore the possibility of making the event more focused.

If highlighting Filipino films’ quality and excellence is the goal, then standards should be in place in the tradition of the great film festivals of the world. I know for a fact that our filmmakers and artists are intelligent, artistic and possess high levels of taste – and therefore are more than capable of elevating mainstream Philippine cinema. After all, they are the same people who come up with some of the most well-crafted works of cinematic art that the general public rarely sees.

If it’s commercial appeal and revenue generation, then let that be in the criteria for qualification and let’s stop the practice of including a token quality film. Then maybe we should stop calling the event a film festival. At its present state, the MMFF really is just a bunch of forgettable movies with tired cliches premiering at the same time.

The awards are simply a frivolous selfpatting on the back. It’s actually embarrassing and quite disrespectful that they’re awarding the so-called best among works that do not at all reflect the excellence, passion, talent and skill of our dear filmmakers – great qualities that are most definitely there but are being disregarded and blatantly devalued by this festival of errors. It is indeed time for a change.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @EdBiado

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Tokwa Peñaflorida's Mayari creaftbeer–chamomile lavender garden ale

@LIFEatStandard

Dee Jae Pa’este's Makiling Magma, a sweet chili pale ale infused with mango and Dumang chili

Electrolychee's Buhawi, roasty brown ale brewed with toasted coconut

THE ARTISTS’ BREW

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PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

well-made craft beer is a work of art. Craft brewers use their skill and knowledge in creating good quality bottled beer from carefully choosing malt, going through the process of boiling and hopping, fermentation down to storage and bottling. And with creative imagination, flavors and signature tastes come alive.

In the Philippines, the art of brewing beer has become a burgeoning practice and there are a lot of microbreweries popping up on the scene. Different flavors, different techniques – the main competition is the end flavor, and a lot distinct flavors have been introduced in the market lately.

Craftpoint Brewing Company, one of the first Manila-based commercial craft breweries that was started in 2013 by hobbyists Aldous Bernardo, Marvin Moreno and Chip Vega,

Craftpoint's Artists brew

has recently launched its artist brew bottles.

They call it a “collabrewation” as they worked closely with Manila’s rising artists Dee Jae Pa’este, Electrolychee, and Tokwa Peñaflorida.

The partnership brought forth not only the design for the label but at the same time the artists’ rendition on the beer flavor that interprets their style. During the recent launch, Craftpoint brewed a 50-bottle batch for the exhibition of the artists’ bottle and accompanying art in one of Manila’s hippest contemporary art galleries, Vinyl on Vinyl, located at Chino Roces Avenue, Pasong Tamo, Makati. The endless lines for hours from the entrance to the exhibition hall proved that the young market for craft beer is alive and thirsty.

Dee Jae Pa’este has been making a mark in the Philippines for the short span of time that he moved here. His art has been seen

Tokwa Peñaflorida’s artwork for Mayari craftbeer

People were lining up for hours to get a taste of the 50 first bottles of the artists' brew

Electrolychee's installation for Buhawi craftbeer

Dee Jae Pa’este's Makiling Magma artwork with accompanying burning incense during the launch

around the streets and public areas of the metro as well as the murals in restaurants.

For his bottled brew, he named the creation Makiling Magma after the famous Philippine folklore about Maria Makiling, the mysterious spirit guarding the volcano Mount Makiling.

Flavors used are mango and Dumang chili, and the brew produced a spicy and sweet chili pale ale that tickles your nose before it explodes in your tongue with a spicy aftertaste.

Electrolychee, a Manila-based design and illustration studio founded by Marcushiro+Bru, is known for their vector art and organic, handdrawn imagery. Beside their usual stints in exhibiting their work in galleries, their art is seen in different hotels and contemporary spaces in the Philippines. Their bottle is called Buhawi, the Filipino word for tornado. Their bottled roasty brown ale is brewed with toasted coconut, and the taste is a reminder of a tropical summer paradise –sweet, aromatic, and gives a comforting but surprising flavor finish.

Painter and illustrator Tokwa Peñaflorida’s bottle is the first to leave the counter during

the night of the launch. His art has been featured in various glossies and celebrated in galleries around the Metro; his art transcends audiences with his dreamy and enigmatic illustrations. And just like his works of art, his bottled creation called Mayari after Philippine mythology’s goddess of the moon, reflects his dreamy art as it literally combines chamomile and lavender teas –sleep inducing ingredients –in the flavor. A crowd favorite, its intense floral aroma draws you in as you take a sip, and it makes you want to make it linger in your mouth just before swallowing.

It’s sweet and bitter to the palate and gives a fresh lemony finish in the end.

Craftpoint Brewing Company continues to push the boundaries and perceptions of the public in what beer is supposed to be and what it can be.

For more information on where to get its beers and catch the next batch of the artists’ brew, visit Craftpoint Brewing Co.’s Facebook page and follow @craftpointbrew on Twitter or visit its website at craftpointbrew.com.

Patterns as art in DLS-CSB exhibit

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fter a successful exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines last year, the exhibit titled The Oxymoron of Patterns – curated by Studio Solum’s director Walther Ocampo and DLS-CSB Center for Campus Art’s director Gerry Torres –is now on exhibit at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) until February 27.

The intriguing exhibit features art installations and sculptures that explore patterns found in everyday objects. The Oxymoron of Patterns collection was created by students of architecture, graphic design and interior design from DSL-CSB, the Technological Institute of the Philippines, Adamson

parts representing patterns in colors, structure and chaos, and is represented in different objects in repetition.

Peanuts, wires, pieces of wood, cloths, cigarettes, and beer cans are just some of the common household items (some recycled from garbage) used in the installation. The exhibit attempts to showcase balance and order among so many things we see everyday but fail to notice.

University, Far Eastern University, Mapua Institute of Technology, National College of Science and Technology Dasmariñas, University of Perpetual Help, and FEATI University.

The exhibit is divided into different

The exhibit is available for viewing at the School of Design and Arts Ampitheater of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), Pablo Ocampo Street, Malate, Manila. For inquiries, call Annel Pabitu at (+63) 917 570 29 55.

SAT URDAY : JA NUA RY 2 3, 2016

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

I hAve one-yeAr moments AheAd of me -- PIA

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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2015 Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach wearing the diamond encrusted DIC crown

By eton B. ConCePCIon

W

hile the nation awaits Pia Wurztbach’s homecoming, the new Miss Universe continued her guest appearances on daytime American radio and TV shows giving her the opportunity to share her life story.

She recently graced the Hot 97 FM program hosted by Ebro Darden with Laura Stylez and Peter Rosenberg who were mesmerized and enjoyed every bit of their one hour encounter with the gracious and fresh looking Miss Universe wearing an all black, stylish long sleeve outfit.

Pia’s got to relate her growing up years, her family and beauty training as well her feeling on the crowning fiasco, which New Yorkers and celebrities could not seem to get enough of, like in the 2016 People’s Choice and Golden Globes Awards. Pia gained lots of admiration and exposure as a woman who’s refreshing, classy, humble, relatable, eloquent and fun personality.

“I woke up like this. There is no training for make-up,” Pia was kidding the three hosts when asked about her attractive face and make-up. “I enjoy doing my own make up, it’s like an art to me. I was once a contributing writer in the Lifestyle section of a newspaper and I used to write about this stuff. But now I can tone it down a bit since I am no longer competing,” she said.

On the crowning fiasco, Pia was asked on her level of disappointment if she felt slighted or super upset not getting her crowning moment when majority thought that ‘she already got it in the bag (the title), and that

Pia Wurtzbach's grand homecoming parade will take the route from Manila City to Makati City. She's also scheduled to visit PLDT Headquarters within her stay in the country.

she was the one who got screwed up and not Miss Colombia who got tones of fame and exposure as a result of the mess. “I did not feel like I lost anything. I don’t mind Miss Colombia sharing the limelight with me because of what happened. I have the whole year moments ahead of me as Miss Universe.”

When asked how she felt when she stood beside Miss USA Olivia Jordan Pia after the announcement, Pia thought, “Oh so close.

I was happy though making it that far with 79 beautiful girls competing from around the world. But seeing the reaction of my countrymen, still proud and cheering me on, I just thought I did not disappoint them, they were happy, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Pia also revealed that she did not see the teleprompter, which said that she (Miss Philippines) was the winner as she was looking at host Steve Harvey all the while.

She added that she felt hesitant to go in front of the stage, seeing Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez there. “I was happy but could not rejoice all out. I was careful and really concerned for her, because I knew that moment, she was hurting,” Pia related.

Pia was also asked about her being a young breadwinner and the kind of training she underwent as a beauty queen. Pia justified her being a working child, as a model at age 11 and acting at 12, which she said was not uncommon in her country, and that she was never forced to it but enjoyed working to help out her mother and younger sister. Pia added that after her family had settled in England, that’s when she started to devote her time and efforts to win a Miss Philippines title.

Pia also briefed them (the hosts) on the kind of training local beauty queens undergo which she said consisted of walking in high heels, going to the gym at least three times a week, the Q&A with fellow beauty aspirants, doing their homework of reading the newspaper, make-up lessons, as well as passing a background check that includes no sexy photos in men’s magazines.

Pia got a little embarrassed when asked about the exchange of “I heart U” on Instagram with her crush Oscar nominee James Franco. Pia assured them though that since winning, while she has gained a lot of admirers, nobody has ever asked her out on

a date. She pointed to the crown on her head as her boyfriend for one whole year. Meaning that when Pia’s reign is over, rumored friend and admirer President Noynoy Aquino is no longer sitting as president.

Absolute class act, words used by controversial Miss Universe 2015 host Steve Harvey to describe Pia when she appeared on the first part of Steve Harvey Show, a two-part special which also featured First runner-up Ariadna Gutierrez. Harvey told Gutierrez that his heart bled for her during the confusion and asked her and Pia for forgiveness so that everyone could move on from the sad experience.

PLDT HOME DSL wELCOMES 2015 MiSS UnivErSE Pia wUrTzbaCH

A

fter the dramatic coronation of 2015 Miss Universe and PLDT HOME DSL ambassadress Pia Wurtzbach in Las Vegas, the whole nation is indeed very excited for the homecoming of the most talked about beauty queen today.

Wurtzbach bested 79 women from various parts of the globe to claim the country’s third Miss Universe title. She follows in the footsteps of Gloria Diaz who won in 1969 and Margie Moran who brought home the crown in 1973.

“We are among the millions of Filipinos who are very excited to welcome home our very own PLDT HOME DSL ambassadress and now Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach.” PLDT VP and HOME Marketing Director Gary Dujali said.

Wurtzbach was joined by fellow beauty queens Bb. Pilipinas International Janicel Lubina, Bb. Pilipinas Supranational Rogelie Catacutan, Bb. Pilipinas Intercontinenal Christi Lynn McGarry, Bb. Pilipinas Tourism Ann Lorraine Colis, and first and second runners-up, Hannah Ruth Lulu Sison and Kimverlyn Suiza in a courtesy call right after the conclusion of the 2015 Bb. Pilipinas pageant at the PLDT headquarters in Makati City.

“I’m happy to be part of the PLDT HOME family,” Wurtzbach said during the courtesy call. “I share the same values with the brand and I’d like to use my influence to infuse family bonding.

Sharing my time with my family is the most important for me as it strengthens my connections with them. “ “Just like Pia, we want to help build strong bonds among family members with our No. 1 broadband brand HOME DSL. She has been with us throughout the year as we aggressively went around the country bringing the family-sized broadband connection of HOME DSL to more Filipino homes nationwide,” Dujali added.

In 2014, Bb. Pilipinas Universe MJ Lastimosa also travelled nationwide to promote the benefits of having a strong and reliable family-sized connection of HOME DSL. The brand is expected to not only bring beauty queens but more inspiring personalities across the nation as it continues to bring their services closer to more Filipino homes.”

Wurtzbach arrives today 23 with a scheduled visit to PLDT headquarters within her stay.

For more details, check out pldthome.com

SAT URDAY : JA NUA RY 2 3, 2016

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Cardo (Coco Martin) goes incognito in Ang Probinsyano

Sungha Jung Live in ManiLa

PaLOma’S REaL iDEntity REvEaLED

C

ardo’s (Coco Martin) mission gets more complicated as he tries to hide his identity as Paloma from his loved ones in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.

While playing in Cardo’s room, Onyok (Xymon Pineda) unexpectedly sees a lady’s hairpiece under his bed, eliciting suspicion from Lola Flora (Susan Roces). His best friend Glen (Maja Salvador) also insists on asking details about his mission and casts doubts on Cardo’s operations.

Meanwhile, Olga’s (Gina Pareño) gang continues to kidnap innocent women and its latest victim is Elaine (Dawn Chang), a saleslady.

Onyok (Xymon Pineda) in a scene from the primetime series

As she is headed home, the members of the syndicate grabbed Elaine and forcefully bring her to Olga to be auctioned to interested businessmen.

How long can Cardo keep his secret identity? Can he successfully seize the syndicate as Paloma and save Carmen (Bela Padilla)?

Don’t miss the action-packed scenes in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, weeknights on ABS-CBN. For more information about the program, visit the official social networking site of Dreamscape Entertainment Television at Facebook.com/DreamscapePH, Twitter.com/DreamscapePH, and Instagram.com/DreamscapePH.

Ang Probinsyano stars Maja Salvador, Dawn Chang and Susan Roces

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 — shui 5 Dipped in indigo 9 Wheel buy (2 wds.)

12 Turkey’s neighbor 13 Fight off 15 Mr. Trebek 16 Pre-Tina Turner 17 Phoenician port 18 Brain part 19 Packed away

21 23 25 26 29 31 35 36 38 39 41 43

Fruity desserts Express relief Playboy TV hookup Caboose’s place Scoundrels Gleeful shout Fish-eating birds Rumormonger Soften Matterhorn echo Wind-driven spray

44 46 48 49 51 52 53 55 57 61 65 66 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

More ashen Ran in neutral Oklahoma town Vogues Wine label info Guinea pig, maybe More than misled Distort data Dazzling Large lizard El Cid foe Coast along Walk unsteadily Heavy burden Brownies Baja Ms. Mdse.

Road crew’s supply Easy pitch

DOWN 1 Monsieur’s son 2 The E in QED 3 Prefix for second 4 Torments 5 Unpleasant work 6 Even so 7 DeMille genre 8 Interior design 9 Lotion additive 10 It’s S. of S. Dak. 11 Fire brigade tools

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

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Cabinet post Claims Emerald Isle Gull’s perch Asian capital Seductive women Not play fair Come from behind “Angie Baby” performer Pop a top Chopin piece Mubarak predecessor Monica of tennis Check cashers Least seaworthy Jockey’s brake Remnant Papyrus plant Pickling herbs Leipzig link Urban woe Body of water Dobbs and Rawls Met celeb Flying prefix Makes after taxes Anguished wail Tierra — Fuego

Finger-Style guitarist and Youtube star, Sungha Jung is back to wow us with his acoustic guitar brilliance in Manila on Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m. at Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila. .

Sungha Jung is one of the most successful teenage finger style guitar players in the world while still in his teens. With staggering more than three million subscribers in his YouTube channel alone, his guitar rendition of pop music, contemporary, jazz and classical tunes have been viewed more than one billion times around the world Sungha Jung’s unique playing style enables him to play the bass, melody and rhythm on one guitar, creating a sound that would normally be played by several band members.

He has performed and collaborated with other artists such as Jason Mraz, Big Bang,

Youtube sensation Sungha Jung returns to Manila for a concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater

Tommy Emmanuel, Sam Tsui and also appeared in a Korean movie in 2011, The Suicide Forecast.

This concert is organized by Wind Strings Entertainment.

SavE EnviROnmEnt anD gEt ExCiting REWaRDS With Sky’S PaPERLESS biLLing It’s never too late to make a change.

Kick off 2016 with a new habit by helping save the environment through SKY’s paperless billing and get a chance to be one of the lucky few who will win an iPad Mini.

SKYcable, SKYbroadband, and Destiny Cable residential postpaid subscribers with a good credit standing who will enroll their account in the electronic billing statement service via SKY’s website (mysky.com.ph) until Jan.y 31 can join the promo.

During the grand raffle draw, four lucky subscribers will win one iPad Mini 16GB each from Discovery Networks AP, while 10 subscribers will take home environmentfriendly health and wellness products from Gina Lopez’s G Stuff.

Simultaneous with Discovery Channel’s global airing of Racing Extinction, an ecothriller that captures the world’s attention by exposing how human actions are leading to a 6th mass species extinction, this promo was launched to inspire SKY subscribers to switch to paperless billing. Paperless billing is also a convenient and accessible way for subscribers to view their bills whenever, wherever.

Make the switch now! Don’t miss the chance to win great promo prizes from SKY and help save the environment at the same time.

For 25 years, SKY has established itself as a pioneering leader in digital cable TV, offering unmatched entertainment and constantly innovating to provide the best experience to its valued subscribers.

SKY subscribers should look forward to better and brighter things as SKY continues to bring world-class, accessible entertainment to every Filipino home in the future.

For more information on the promo mechanics and to know more about the services and promotions of SKY, visit www. mysky.com.ph or call 381-0000.

SAT URDAY : JA NUA RY 2 3, 2016

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

C7 Alvin Cruz, a former construction worker from Cavite, is one of the lucky winners of Kapuso Milyonaryo 8 winning a brand new house and lot

KapuSo milyonaryo 8’S lucKy winnerS

S

everal Kapuso viewers are now opening 2016 on a positive note as GMA, together with the sponsors of Kapuso Milyonaryo 8, gave away millions worth of prizes to 14 lucky winners on its Grand Draw on Dec. 20.

From the highly successful Network promo’s eighth season emerged 10 winners of P1 million, one winner of a brand new house and lot from Bria Homes, and two winners of brand new cars through the Proof-of-Purchase promo. Furthermore, one lucky player of Kapuso Milyonaryo’s mobile app received P300,000.00 tax-free.

The Kapuso Milyonaryo 8 Proof-ofPurchase Grand Draw changed the lives of 10 contestants from all over the Philippines.

Manilyn Sobrado of Bukidnon, Ramites Victorio of Pangasinan, Romel Arlos of Iloilo, Madelyn Alforgue of Cebu, Rommel Agnote of Sorsogon, Marla Yingcong of Negros Occidental, Jennilyn Dagsa and Helvy Rose Datan of Cagayan de Oro, and Ma. Teresita Amaro and Wilfredo Patdu of Manila, each received P1 million in cash.

For Alvin Cruz, a former construction worker from Cavite, it was a dream come true when he was announced winner of a brand new house and lot. “Minsan naisip ko habang gumagawa ako ng bahay ng iba, sana magkaroon rin ako ng sarili kong bahay at lupa… Masayang masaya ako

A lucky Kapuso winner

From c8

noong nalaman kong nanalo ako.”

As he welcomes a lucky 2016, Alvin is looking forward to a fresh start when he and his family move into their new home.

With numerous prizes being given away, two more Kapuso viewers, Mary Ann Duldulao of Quezon City and Eugenia Dizon of Malabon, also got to see their dreams come true as they each won a brand new car from the promo’s biggest installment to date.

The luck spread well into the new year as Imee Lorica was named the winner of the Kapuso Milyonaryo Mobile App Grand Draw on Jan. 7. She won P300,000 in cash tax-free from playing the promo’s endless runner game app featuring the lovable character, Tobz.

With the prize money, Imee, a mother of three, intends to throw a birthday party for her two-year-old son, while making plans to expand her internet shop and repair their house.

To date, Kapuso Milyonaryo has produced eighty-seven millionaires and has given away eleven cars and seven new houses since its launch in 2012.

For updates on the next season of Kapuso Milyonaryo, visit the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/GMAKapusoMilyonaryo.

HHHHH Dangwa nearS enD Expect more surprises and twists in the life of Rosa as GMA’s morning primetime drama Dangwa nears its final episode this month.

This week, the real identity of the beautiful flower vendor Rosa—played by Kapuso young actress Janine Gutierrez— will be revealed.

An unexpected guest will also drop by, striking a chord in Rosa’s life. He is Miguel (Martin del Rosario), the grandson of Dante who is responsible for Rosa’s decision to give up her immortality, thus her descent to Dangwa.

What happens when Miguel discovers that the lady he meets is the same woman his grandfather loved before?

Meanwhile, now that Baste (Mark Herras) already professed his feelings for Rosa, the true personality of Lorenzo (Aljur Abrenica) will also be revealed. Among her two suitors, to whom will Rosa give her heart?

Not to be left behind is Miriam, Rosa’s

Dangwa star Janine Gutierrez

dear friend. Viewers will surely feel the romantic excitement as Miriam’s blooming love story further unfolds.

Only one mysterious flower is left with Rosa. Who will be its lucky recipient? What will happen to Rosa as Dangwa’s heroine nears the end of her mission?

Don’t miss the last two weeks of Dangwa, 11 a.m. on GMA 7.

HHHHH SuSan anD grace remember Kuya germS’S KinDneSS Susan Roces remembers German Moreno or Kuya Germs when they were both stars of Sampaguita studios. She says that the late comedian was really kind and generous toward fellow talents.

The widow of Da King –Fernando Poe, Jr. – says Kuya Germs didn’t think how much he’d earn because his priority then was for his show to continuously be on the air as well as the welfare of each and every

Mother and daughter Susan Roces and Grace Poe

member of the cast.

Susan knows Kuya Germs very well.

They were in a lot of pictures together, and among her favorite is Dance O Rama.

“Sa kapwa talent niya, marunong siyang mag-share, hindi siya madamot. Hindi niya sinusukat kung magkano ang ibabayad sa kanya para sa kanyang serbisyo basta matuloy ang show. Ang importante sa kanya ay magtanghal ng isang magandang programa saan mang larangan, sa stage show o sa TV,” says the one time queen of Philippine movies.

If Susan feels the loss, so does her daughter Sen. Grace Poe who has known Kuya Germs since she was just a little girl. “He was a friend of the family,” she remembers.

“He’d always asked how was I every time we met,” she recalls. “Si Kuya Germs talaga, iyan yung matulungin. Haligi iyan ng ating industriya kasi, binibigay niya ng pagkakataon yung mga bata. Lagi siyang very optimistic, very positive. Wala siyang masamang sinasabi sa kanyang kapwa,” Grace said when she went to the wake of the comedian at Mount Carmel Shrine in Quezon City.

HHHHH congratulationS to the 2016-2017 aliw boarD After the successful staging of the 28th Annual Awards by the Eagle Broadcasting Corporation, 8 Trimedia Pro, Star Theater and the Aliw Awards Foundation, Inc., the awards-giving body held its annual election on Jan. 8 at Sitio Verde in Quezon City.

Re-elected president was Alice H. Reyes with Brian J. Lu as 1st Vice-President; Frank G. Rivera as 2nd Vice-President; Tess A. Tan, Secretary, Francia Conrado, Treasurer, and Sonny Valencia, PRO. Also reelected were trustees Dennis Aguilar, Efren Montano,Angelo Eloy Padua, Len Santos and Art Tapalla.

Reyes announced plans for the 29th Aliw Awards this year and bared negotiations for the holding of “The Best of Aliw” sometime this year, featuring only Entertainers of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awardees.

Meanwhile the AAFI Screening Committee, co-chaired by Frank Rivera and Sonny Valencia, has begun monitoring live performances starting Oct. 1.

The airing of the 28th Annual Aliw Awards is scheduled on Feb. 14 from 8 to 10 p.m. on Net 25.

SAT URDAY : JA NUA RY 2 3, 2016

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

Kapuso channel’s first quarter offerings feature (from left) Solenn Heussaff, Michael V, Eugene Domingo and Iya Villania

Filipinos in EuropE EmbracE Kapuso programs ISAH V. RED GMA International, which manages the operations and distribution of GMA Network’s international channels abroad, continues to gain ground in Europe following the launch of its three international channels – GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV and GMA News TV International – on Lyca TV. Lyca TV, one of the largest ethnic content providers in the world, enables its consumers to enjoy GMA content not just in their homes, but also through their mobile devices.

With this launch, Filipinos in over 16 countries in Europe – UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Austria and Finland – can now enjoy their favorite Kapuso programs through GMA’s three international channels.

Since its launch in Europe in September, GMA International has been receiving positive feedback on social media from Filipinos across the continent for bringing Filipinos in Europe closer to home through the programs that they offer.

Facebook user Rhodora Red Rodriguez Capidaglis welcomed the channels’ launch on Lyca TV saying, “Our kababayan

Kapuso loveteams Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali (left) and Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras

from London and other parts of Europe will enjoy GMA Pinoy TV international. Good Christmas gift to all GMA fans and subscribers.”

“Ay salamat naman at mapapanood ko na dito sa Norway ang paborito kong station, ang GMA [Thank goodness, I can finally watch my favorite station, GMA, here in Norway],” says Cynthia Brosas Hansen.

Ruby de Gracia from Italy shares, “Magandang balita yan para sa amin na narito na malayo sa pamilya… [This is good news for all of us here who are far from our families…]”

As it continues to expand its reach abroad, the Network also welcomes the new year with a fresh line up of shows for Kapuso viewers worldwide.

The opening salvo in the first quarter features GMA Artist Center’s popular teen tandems led by Wish I May, headlined by the love team of Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali, who were last paired in the primetime program Once Upon A Kiss.

On the heels of their phenomenal series The Half Sisters, fellow teen stars Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras share the screen once again in That’s My Amboy,which will be launched this month.

Meanwhile, in February, Vampire Ang Daddy Ko costars Bea Binene and Derrick Monasterio are set to star in

Bea Binene

Hanggang Makita Kang Muli.

Rounding out the Kapuso Network’s first quarter offerings are programs that are sure to keep audiences worldwide tuned in each week - Dear Uge, with Eugene Domingo as host, and Lip Sync Battle, hosted by Michael V. and Iya Villania - starting February.

The latest Kapuso programs are not the only things Kapuso audiences in Europe can look forward to as Kapuso star Solenn Heussaff, who hosts the GMA lifestyle show Taste Buddies, will head to the United Kingdom, Paris, Ireland and Italy for a funfilled celebration of Kapuso month in February.

Solenn will also grace Handog: Philippine-Paris Ball, a black tie event that honors outstanding

Derrick Monasterio

Filipino youth, entrepreneurs, community organizations and businesses on Feb. 14 at the Club Haussmman in Paris, France.

Subscription details and updates on Lyca TV may be found on its website www.lycatv.tv, Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ Lycatv/timeline and Twitter account https://twitter.com/LycaTV. Meanwhile, Kapuso viewers abroad can catch the latest updates from GMA International channels by visiting the website www.gmapinoytv.com, Facebook pages www.facebook.com/ GMAPinoyTV, www.facebook. com/gmalifetv, and www.facebook.com/gmanewsinternational, and Twitter pages @GMAPinoyTV and @GMA_LifeTV. ➜ continued on c7