The Standard - 2016 February 28 - Sunday

VOL. XXX  NO. 18  3 Sections 24 Pages P18  SUNDAY : FEBRUARY 28, 2016  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

HANDCRAFTED OPULENCE

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CHINA’S MOVES ALARM NATIONS

MORE nations expressed concern at China’s rising maritime assertiveness with Japan, Australia, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations expressing “concerns” about tensions in the region.

PANAGBENGA 2016. Schoolchildren join the street dancing during the 21st Panagbenga flower festival in Baguio City on Saturday. DAVE LEPROZO

JAPANESE ENGINEER TRANSFORMS PH EDUCATION

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Senior officials of Japan, Australia and India met in Tokyo on Friday to stress the importance of maintaining the rule of law in the South China Sea and expressing “strong concerns” about tensions in the region amid China’s rising maritime assertiveness.

“We shared strong concerns about moves to unilaterally change the status quo that would lead to destabilization in the region,” Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki told reporters after talks with his Australian and Indian counterparts.

The three-way meeting comes as China’s deployment of an advanced surface-to-air missile system has stoked concerns the country is pursuing militarization in the South China Sea, adding to tensions already heightened by Beijing’s massive and fastpaced reclamation works in the sea.

China is also boosting its presence in the Indian Ocean, which provides essential maritime traffic access for the transportation of oil, gas and other resources from the Arabian Sea. “We also shared the need to establish a new rule in the region to secure the rule of law and the freedom of navigation,” Saiki Next page said.

ARMY STEPS UP WAR ON JIHADISTS

By Francisco Tuyay THE death toll from the fighting in Lanao del Sur rose to 55 on Saturday as the military pressed its operation against a group of militants who are believed to be harboring foreign fugitive jihadists who had been training local extremists in bomb making and other terrorist activities.

Col. Billy dela Rosa, commander of the Army’s 51st Infantry Battalion, said his troops have tallied the deaths of at least 55 members of the group led by brothers Abdullah and Omar Maute at the outskirts of Butig town in Lanao del Sur. Dela Rosa said his troops only found the bodies of three rebel fatalities while

the others were likely dragged away by their comrades, but government troops found rifles, including a Barret sniper rifle, and other military materiel at the site of the battle.

Dela Rosa said they also recovered photographs of young boys brandishing assault rifles and were apparently recruited into the Maute group.

Next page

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news

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AFP: LUMAD SET CAMP ON FIRE

By John Paolo Bencito

THE fire that hit the Haran Mission House of the United Churches of Christ in the Philippines in Davao City last Wednesday may have been set by local tribesmen themselves to gain more sympathy and donations, the military claimed on Saturday.

AIR SUPPORT. Two gunships support ground troops during the ongoing military offensive in Lanao del Sur against a group of local militants who are believed to be harboring fugitive foreign jihadists. AFP PHOTO

ChinA’S...

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Saiki was referring to the ongoing discussions between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to conclude the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, a legally binding document that could be used to resolve deadlocks, disputes and tensions in the sea.

Peter Varghese, secretary of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took part in the three-way meeting, the second of its kind following a meeting in India last June.

The diplomats also discussed their responses to North Korea, following its nuclear test last month and long-range rocket launch earlier this month.

Given the likelihood that the UN Security Council may soon adopt a fresh resolution that would expand sanctions on North Korea, the three officials also agreed to steadily implement the sanctions to prevent North Korea from further promoting its nuclear development, Saiki said.

The trilateral framework is part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to promote a “security diamond” strategy connecting Japan, Australia, India and the US state of Hawaii to safeguard maritime interests stretching from the Indian Ocean region to the western Pacific.

Abe introduced the concept in December 2012 to counter Beijing’s military buildup and perceived attempts to change the status quo in the South China and East China seas.

Ahead of the three-way talks, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a press conference, “The trilateral cooperation covering the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean contributes to the peace and stability of the region.” “Japan seeks to further strengthen tri-

ARMY...

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But the officer said the group has decreased from around 400 on Thursday to a few dozens on Saturday and the military is trying to verify reports that Abdullah Maute was wounded in the weeklong offensive.

Abdullah’s brother Omar is also believed to have been killed on Thursday along with an Indonesian jihadist identified as Muhammad Mukhtar. However, the military could not find the bodies of the two slain leaders.

The Maute brothers are believed to be members or sympathizers of

lateral ties,” he added.

In Vientiane, officials said China’s recent artificial island-building and fortification of its garrison in the South China Sea is among the pressing political and security challenges that Asean foreign ministers will discuss when they meet in the Laotian capital.

One diplomat said Asean ministers are “seriously concerned” by recent and ongoing developments in the South China Sea. Specifically, Asean sources said the ministers will have frank discussions about the land reclamation and escalation of activities in the disputed sea, saying “these assertive moves erode trust and confidence, increase tension and may undermine peace, security and stability in the region.”

Charles Jose, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the Philippines will focus on maritime security, saying that China’s construction of islands in the disputed waters has heightened tensions in the South China Sea. Jose said that reports claiming Beijing has positioned surface-to-air missiles in the disputed territory in the Paracel Islands chain are a cause of concern.

“We are expressing concern over these developments, including the reported missiles on Woody Island,” Jose said.

“Of course all these things raise our concern and its effect on freedom of navigation, over-flight and unimpeded flow of commerce.

In this meeting we will continue to express our concern with the developments in the South China Sea.” Laos, this year’s �Asean chairman, is expected to issue a press statement at the end of the day-long retreat Saturday.

“There are ongoing discussions and consultations on whether to include in the press statement a line that says that ministers reaffirmed their commitment to non-militarization and

Jemaah Islamiya and Omar is supposedly married to an Indonesian jihadist who even underwent training in the Middle East.

Mukhtar, on the other hand, is believed to be part of the group of jihadists from Indonesia and Malaysia, who sought refuge in Mindanao after they were hunted down in their own countries.

Western Mindanao Command spokesman Major Filemon Tan said Butig town is now under military control as the rebels fled in small groups to the mountains surrounding the town ranges after the military unleashed artillery fire and aerial fire on rebel positions Thursday.

Tan said four soldiers were

self-restraint in the conduct of activities in the South China Sea,” an official source said.

As of Thursday night, an Asean official said the draft press statement still contains paragraphs on maritime security and the South China Sea “that may or may not be there [in the final statement].”

Like in past meetings, the ministers are expected to stress the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability, and freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea. Asean officials said the ministers will again “emphasize the need to enhance mutual trust and confidence, exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation” in the disputed sea.

The ministers are also expected to underscore the importance of the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea that China and the 10-member Asean signed in 2002, according to the officials.

Another Asean official said that Asean wants “substantive development” and “an expeditious establishment” of the code of conduct, a binding code aimed at reducing the risk of conflict in the disputed sea that Asean and China have been trying to hammer out since efforts to reopen talks began in 2012.

Competing claims to the South China Sea have for decades been a source of tension in the region.

China’s recent moves to conduct massive land reclamation in the sea have further escalated tensions, leading even non-claimants like the United States to voice concerns.

The overlapping territorial and maritime disputes involving China and four Asean members—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam—have divided Asean on how to deal with the issue. PNA, AFP

killed during the fighting, but declined to identify them pending the notification of their families.

Also on Saturday, the Provincial Social Welfare Development Office of the Lanao del Sur appealed for more supplies for the thousands of civilians who fled the fighting and are now billeted in mosques and evacuation centers.

PSWD officer Marhalanny Alonto said in a radio interview that they are in need of food and medicine supplies for 4,000 families that fled from 14 villages.

Meanwhile, in North Cotabato, a road side bomb was detonated by a passing police patrol vehicle bearing three policemen.

A belated report reaching Camp Crame in Quezon City said Chief Inspector Sunny Leoncito were with two other policemen on board a truck when their Isuzu Dmax hit an improvise explosive device along in Matalam, Cotabato at about 9:15 a.m. Friday.

The three-man police party were on their way to a community gathering in Barangay Kibia when they hit the bombs, badly damaging the vehicle but leaving the three policemen unhurt.

Shortly after the explosion, three suspects were spotted just near the blast site and policemen engaged them but failed who managed to escape towards a mountainous terrain.

“Perhaps they orchestrated it just to gain more attention and sympathy so their donors would give more because Haran was burned,” Col. Cristobal Zaragoza, commander of the military’s Task Force Davao, told Mindanaobased journalists.

“Those inside Haran are like prisoners. The relatives of some want to take them back but they will not be released from Haran,” Zaragoza added.

On Tuesday, unidentified men torched a building in the compound which was being used by indigenous people who sought refuge in the church compound. The fire injured five people, including two children.

Witnesses said men in motorcycles set fire to the camp and dormitories inside the Haran Compound while the Bureau of Fire Protection in Davao City said arson was the cause of fires that broke out on opposite ends of the Haran Mission House.

The Army’s 4th Infantry “Diamond” Division based in Cagayan de Oro also issued a statement Friday calling the Haran arson a “ploy of the Left” and repeated the claim that the lumad are “manipulated” by so-called rebel “front” groups. “[The fire incident] is orchestrated by [Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front] front and allied organizations,” the statement read.

The 4th ID cited as proof the continued call by “lumad evacuees exploited by the Left” for the military to pull out of their ancestral communities.

Security forces also claimed that the Haran arson bore “an uncanny similarity” to the torching of the Sibagat, Agusan del Sur campus of the award-winning Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development in November last year, as well as the attempted burning of another tribal school run by the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc. in Barangay White Kulaman in Kitaotao, Bukidnon.

But the local UCCP clergy denounced the incident and said the incident is an act of “direct attacks” against the church.

Bishop Modesto Villasanta said Thursday that the UCCP bishops were deeply concerned with the fire “that occurred in our sanctuary.”

UCCP Haran serves as an evacuation center for some 700 refugees who fled from the militarization of their communities in Davao del Norte and Bukidnon since last year.

Villasanta said the lumad people, threatened with corporate mining or logging, have long considered the Haran compound their sanctuary as the UCCP continued to accommodate them “since it is part of our ministry to help those who are homeless and helpless.”

“They have considered this place their second home,” Villasanta added.

Meanwhile, the regional alliance of lumad group Pasaka scored the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples as anti-tribe, following the recent arson incident.

Kerlan Fanagel, secretary general of the tribal alliance, Pasaka, said the NCIP “is of no use to the welfare of those in the evacuation center.”

“The NCIP was useless in uplifting the situation of the lumad and in giving them services,” Fanagel said.

Jong Monzon, Pasaka spokesperson, added that when they sought for the NCIP’s help in their human rights violation case, “the agency passed its obligation to the people in the evacuation center to search for evidences regarding the case.”

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

PALACE URGES MEDIA KILLING PROBE

ADOPTED CLASSMATE. Presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay speaks with members of the Philippine National Police Academy Class of 1987 that adopted the vice president as an honorary classmate. DANNY PATA

EVEN PALACE SUPPORTS VOTE RECEIPTS IN POLL

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Vito Barcelo

THE Commission on Elections should consider the public demand that the poll body activate the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail so that they will have a receipt showing the votes they cast on the May 9 election, Palace said on Saturday.

In a radio interview, Presidential Communication Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III also asked the Comelec to explain why the agency has decided to forego activating the receipt of the vote counting

machines.

Quezon made the appeal after Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said on Wednesday that they have decided not to activate the voter receipt feature because it may lengthen the time required to cast a ballot and receipts may be used by unscrupulous candidates to buy votes.

For Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the Comelec’s justification for refusing to give the voters receipts is “flimsy.”

“The Comelec has no prerogative to decide whether to implement the voter receipt or not. Its mandate is to fully implement the law,” Pabillo said.

Bishop Efraim Tendero, secretary-general of the Interfaith Coalition for Fairness, Accuracy, Integrity, and Honesty in Elections coalition, said political instability could emerge if the Comelec fails to

make the elections credible.

“Based on our assessments, the voter’s receipt remains to be the most effective means for the voting public to verify that the machines have read and counted their votes correctly,” Tendero added.

To forestall this, Tendero urged the Comelec to implement all the security features to erase doubts on the system’s integrity.

The Church leaders said their call finds more relevance in the light of the recent survey by Pulse Asia finding that four out of 10 voters believe that cheating will happen in the coming elections.

If the Comelec will implement all the security provisions mandated by law, they said this confidence-building measure will impact positively on the public’s current perception of the credibility of the elections.

AFTER United Nations official Irina Bokova condemned the killing of Zamboanga del Sur broadcaster Elvis Ordaniza, Malacañang condemned the killing and appealed to the public to support a thorough investigation of the case for its immediate resolution.

Asked to comment on the Ordaniza killing, Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said it is always a cause of grave concern and great outrage that journalists should die for doing their jobs.

“In these cases, we should bear in mind that there is a task force that has been set up and that we can point to cases moving faster,” he told dzRB Radyo Ng Bayan on Saturday.

Media killings like the case of Ordaniza requires thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“So let us all call for and support the thorough investigation of this terrible tragedy to ensure that a case that is water tight is filed,” Quezon said.

“And let us also appeal because at the end of the day even the best investigation will only take you so far.”

But Quezon also said that the case is already in the disposition of the court and the executive branch can do nothing about the pace of the litigation in the court.

“There have been many instances when we have all been waiting for justice and a resolution because the court process is slow and courts are supposed to be independent. The government can’t do much in that case,” the Palace official said.

“And it requires our constant appeals to the judiciary in a respectful but firm manner to bear in mind that justice delayed is justice denied.”

Ordaniza was very critical against the proliferation of prohibited drugs and illegal gambling and police suspected that he was gunned down because of his stand against drugs and gambling.

Ordaniza, 49, works for the dxWO Power 99 FM of the Times Broadcasting Network based in Pagadian City.

Police said Ordaniza was gunned around 7:10 p.m. Tuesday, February 16, at Purok Bagong Silang in the village of Poblacion, Pitogo in Zamboanga del Sur.

THREE KILLED AS ROUGH SEAS SINK QUEZON FERRY THREE people were killed after a small ferry sank in the Philippines, police said Saturday, the latest in a series of maritime accidents in the archipelago.

The Lady Aime ferry was traveling to Alabat Island from the coastal town of Gumaca in Quezon province, 117 kilometers from Manila, when it sank just 200 meters from shore at 4:40 p.m. on Friday, said Chief Inspector Juan Byron Leogo.

Fishermen on the seashore were able to rescue 60 passengers and four of the crew, but three passengers were killed, said Leogo, the town police chief.

He attributed the sinking to “sudden high and strong waves” and possible “overloading,” saying the boat’s maximum number of passengers is less than 50.

A police report said part of the boat was destroyed by the waves.

Authorities are considering criminal charges against the ferry owners.

Poorly-maintained, loosely-regulated ferries form the backbone of maritime travel in the Philippines, a sprawling archipelago of 100 million people.

Frequent accidents involving overloaded ferries in recent decades have claimed thousands of lives, including the world’s worst peacetime maritime disaster in 1987 when the Doña Paz ferry collided with an oil tanker, leaving more than 4,300 dead.

Last July, 38 people were confirmed dead when the ferry MB Nirvana, carrying 180 people, capsized off Ormoc City in Leyte on its way to Pilar town on Camotes Island.

The boat was barely 200 meters from the shore when it capsized, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.

There were 173 passengers and 14 crew members on board the ship, the coast guard said. A total of 134 people have been rescued, it said Friday. AFP

LAST TERM. After three terms as mayor of Kalayaan town in the West Philippine Sea,

Mayor Eugenio Bito-on walks past a campaign poster of one of his three political rivals in Pagasa island. ERIC APOLONIO

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

TWITTER’S KIND OF WINNING ITS WAR ON ISLAMIC STATE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

By Tobin Harshaw

THE GREAT SALE TWO and a half months before the May 9 elections, voters are hearing national candidates accusing each other of vote buying.

There was a video of Vice President Jejomar Binay distributing hundredpeso bills to people on a queue. It looked so bad that his daughter, the senator, had to explain that it was taken at Christmastime. They had such a tradition, she said.

And now the Binay camp is accusing the administration presidential candidate, former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, of using the funds from the conditional cash transfer program to buy the votes of the poor.

We don’t actually know what it being assailed: the idea of buying votes itself, or the fact that the Liberal Party is using government money to which it has access.

Vote buying, whatever the fund source, is reprehensible. But selling one’s vote is a personal decision by the voter, and personal decisions cannot be legislated or regulated. This is what makes it difficult to slay.

The lines are blurred. When does one say exactly that the votes have been bought? An incumbent official or his agents handing out cash to constituents may be outrightly branded as vote buying, but what if the incumbent delivers relief during a calamity or provides funds for a basketball team’s uniforms or a burial? In both instances, goodwill is created, the official shows himself benevolent, and the constituent decides this is a person worthy of his vote.

For the man on the street struggling to make ends meet, the primary consideration is likely not the credentials or even the honesty of a candidate but his or her ability to make people’s lives better on a day-today basis. Is there going to be food on the table, are there going to be jobs, will there be greater access to education and other social services?

Candidates are well aware of this and exploit it to the hilt. That many voters are on survival mode, ready to compromise their decision for short-term gain speaks ill of politics in this country. This is why, too, they resist, even scoff at, efforts to improve voter education. They benefit from an unthinking voting population.

It is too much to ask of politicians to help enlighten voters to think hard. That would be going against their interest and their nature.

THE WEEK I TURNED 40

I DON’T normally make a fuss about my birthday but this year I turned 40. That life begins at this not-so-tender age is a cliché embraced by many, even by those who despise clichés.

I was given the opportunity —a choice, really—to spend it in a rather different way, far from loved ones and eat outs (these came before, and after). Instead, on the day itself, I was on an earlymorning flight to General Santos

and then a drive to Koronadal City to help determine winners in a contest for campus journalists nationwide. It was a choice, I said: I accepted the engagement because I had a soft spot for high school writers—I used to be one myself— and because I was looking for an opportunity to step back from my routines and take stock of how I had been living, now that I have entered, ugh, middle age.

Out of the brief trip were extreme experiences and sobering thoughts: Up in the air and still in awe at how science allows a mean, heavy machine full of people and baggages to be airborne for even just a second, I realized I had conquered my fear of flying, having gone on a fair amount of trips especially in the

I would have fallen knowing that I was doing exactly what I was meant to do.

That should be the way to live, and that was enough.

past two years.

Crazy as it sounds, I used to freeze upon takeoff, remembering

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all the episodes of Air Crash Investigation I had seen on NatGeo. Every minute on the flight meant one more minute wishing I were safely on the ground. Despite sophisticated machinery and intensive pilot training, surely there are some things we cannot foresee, much less control. I had thought of downloading one of those antiflight anxiety applications but was scared that keeping my gadget open would interfere with the signals, making me anxious all over again.

To comfort myself, I imagined God carrying the aircraft from one point to another on his hand. But the thought of God with enormous hands gently cusping a plane—that did not seem to make any sense, either.

Eventually air travel had become

quite ordinary such that I started worrying about mundane things, like keeping my belongings safe, packing light, and making it to and from airports on time given the notorious Metro Manila traffic.

As I gawked at how the morning sun lent a golden-red hue to the cloud formations outside my window, I realized I had gotten past the early fears and was actually enjoying flying. It snatches you away from the ground you have become accustomed to, transplants you onto another place, reminding you that everything is happening at all places at the same time—not just in the places where you are, or are aware of.

••• And then, there was the habalhabal.

Short though our trip was, we were able to sneak out for a few hours exploring the province of South Cotabato, specifically, Lake Sebu. We spent an hour in a UV Express van to the motorcycle terminal up the mountain.

I had just been telling my friends earlier that week that I had recently taken a backride at a motorcycle to go around an eastern town I had to write about. But this ride was something else. It took us around 30 minutes, along gently sloping terrain, to reach a point overlooking the lake where, surprisingly, tilapias were being cultured.

My companions and I did not have time

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to take the boat cruise, but to me the motorcycle ride was an experience in itself.

For one, it brought me into close physical contact with a total stranger, a small T’boli man whose name I do not remember anymore.

Despite the noise of the motor and the breeze and the bends on the road, I discovered it was possible to carry on a conversation. Kuya said he alternated between driving the habal habal and going to Manila where he had a few friends, working as a waiter. While he was a T’boli, he also knew some Ilonggo, because his father was from Iloilo who settled in South

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Cotabato after marrying his mother.

“Wow, true love!” I exclaimed, both my hands steady on his shoulders.

Much later, when I had paid him for the work that he had done, I wondered: how many tourists had he talked to about himself and his family? I bet he would never see any of them again.

How many of us, too, come into contact with people we share our stories with, and reveal ourselves to, only to drift away from them eventually because of choice or circumstance? What determines whether they would stay and be part of the story?

Continued on A6

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IT’S unlikely that the chief executives of Facebook and Twitter have ever considered their social-media competitor Telegram much of a threat. But that may have changed on Thursday, when a video was spotted on Telegram showing images of Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey riddled with bullet holes.

The 25-minute propaganda video—found by “deep Web analysts” at the website Vocativ—was apparently posted by Islamic State supporters angry at Facebook and Twitter for efforts to delete the accounts of fellow jihadis. “If you close one account we will take 10 in return,” the video taunted, “and soon your names will be erased after we delete your sites, Allah willing, and will know that we say is true.”

But how accurate is that boast? Not very, at least when it comes to Twitter, according to a new study by J.M. Berger and Heather Perez of George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.

The two researchers looked at Twitter accounts supportive of Islamic State that were active from June to October of last year. It was compiled in part using a list of pro-jihadi tweeters maintained on Twitter by an Islamic State supporter who goes by Baqiya Shoutout.

Berger and Perez found that the network of prominent English-language Islamic State supporters was actually quite small, between 1,000 and 3,000. Moreover, these accounts had, on average, relatively few followers—300 to 400—although some did have several thousand.

Twitter says it has suspended more than 125,000 accounts of violent extremists since mid-2015, but these efforts have been somewhat sporadic: The researchers found that fewer than 2 percent of the accounts on the list were suspended on an average day. And over all, the size of the pro-Islamic State network of followers remained steady in the period under study.

The good news was that users who were repeatedly suspended “suffered devastating reductions in their follower counts.”

It’s relatively easy for a banned user to create a new account under a new name and e-mail address, but it’s far harder to recover the deleted account’s audience. (The Baqiya Shoutout list is regularly updated to help Islamic State confederates regroup, but it can’t repair the damage.)

Another bonus of Twitter suspensions is that all the user’s previous tweets are deleted, sending a huge body of Islamic State propaganda into the black hole of cyberspace. The report also found that the user network of people actually in Iraq and Syria had shrunk, “partly because of suspension activity, but also because of operational security concerns within ISIS and the deaths of some prominent Syria-based network participants.”

Not everyone is convinced of the efficacy of account suspensions. “At best, the impact of Twitter’s efforts like these will be negligible,” Michael S. Smith II, a principal at the security consultancy Kronos, said in an e-mail. “Islamic State members and supporters have touted as credentials the number of times their accounts have been suspended. Since Twitter began cracking down more rigorously, all of the key IS propagandists and influencers on Twitter are still active. They’re just establishing new accounts more frequently. And these accounts often generate followings into the thousands within a few hours.”

Admittedly, the sample size of the new research is limited. A more exhaustive study last year by Berger and the data scientist Jonathon Morgan found that there were more than 20,000 serious Islamic State-supporter accounts in all languages. And Islamic State backers have recently been sharing countermeasures, such as switching to new services like Telegram.

Nonetheless, it’s promising to see some evidence that while the US-led ground war against Islamic State moves ahead in fits and starts, there is other progress being made, 140 characters at a time. Bloomberg

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S U N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

TWITTER’S KIND OF WINNING ITS WAR ON ISLAMIC STATE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

By Tobin Harshaw

THE GREAT SALE TWO and a half months before the May 9 elections, voters are hearing national candidates accusing each other of vote buying.

There was a video of Vice President Jejomar Binay distributing hundredpeso bills to people on a queue. It looked so bad that his daughter, the senator, had to explain that it was taken at Christmastime. They had such a tradition, she said.

And now the Binay camp is accusing the administration presidential candidate, former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, of using the funds from the conditional cash transfer program to buy the votes of the poor.

We don’t actually know what it being assailed: the idea of buying votes itself, or the fact that the Liberal Party is using government money to which it has access.

Vote buying, whatever the fund source, is reprehensible. But selling one’s vote is a personal decision by the voter, and personal decisions cannot be legislated or regulated. This is what makes it difficult to slay.

The lines are blurred. When does one say exactly that the votes have been bought? An incumbent official or his agents handing out cash to constituents may be outrightly branded as vote buying, but what if the incumbent delivers relief during a calamity or provides funds for a basketball team’s uniforms or a burial? In both instances, goodwill is created, the official shows himself benevolent, and the constituent decides this is a person worthy of his vote.

For the man on the street struggling to make ends meet, the primary consideration is likely not the credentials or even the honesty of a candidate but his or her ability to make people’s lives better on a day-today basis. Is there going to be food on the table, are there going to be jobs, will there be greater access to education and other social services?

Candidates are well aware of this and exploit it to the hilt. That many voters are on survival mode, ready to compromise their decision for short-term gain speaks ill of politics in this country. This is why, too, they resist, even scoff at, efforts to improve voter education. They benefit from an unthinking voting population.

It is too much to ask of politicians to help enlighten voters to think hard. That would be going against their interest and their nature.

THE WEEK I TURNED 40

I DON’T normally make a fuss about my birthday but this year I turned 40. That life begins at this not-so-tender age is a cliché embraced by many, even by those who despise clichés.

I was given the opportunity —a choice, really—to spend it in a rather different way, far from loved ones and eat outs (these came before, and after). Instead, on the day itself, I was on an earlymorning flight to General Santos

and then a drive to Koronadal City to help determine winners in a contest for campus journalists nationwide. It was a choice, I said: I accepted the engagement because I had a soft spot for high school writers—I used to be one myself— and because I was looking for an opportunity to step back from my routines and take stock of how I had been living, now that I have entered, ugh, middle age.

Out of the brief trip were extreme experiences and sobering thoughts: Up in the air and still in awe at how science allows a mean, heavy machine full of people and baggages to be airborne for even just a second, I realized I had conquered my fear of flying, having gone on a fair amount of trips especially in the

I would have fallen knowing that I was doing exactly what I was meant to do.

That should be the way to live, and that was enough.

past two years.

Crazy as it sounds, I used to freeze upon takeoff, remembering

A5

all the episodes of Air Crash Investigation I had seen on NatGeo. Every minute on the flight meant one more minute wishing I were safely on the ground. Despite sophisticated machinery and intensive pilot training, surely there are some things we cannot foresee, much less control. I had thought of downloading one of those antiflight anxiety applications but was scared that keeping my gadget open would interfere with the signals, making me anxious all over again.

To comfort myself, I imagined God carrying the aircraft from one point to another on his hand. But the thought of God with enormous hands gently cusping a plane—that did not seem to make any sense, either.

Eventually air travel had become

quite ordinary such that I started worrying about mundane things, like keeping my belongings safe, packing light, and making it to and from airports on time given the notorious Metro Manila traffic.

As I gawked at how the morning sun lent a golden-red hue to the cloud formations outside my window, I realized I had gotten past the early fears and was actually enjoying flying. It snatches you away from the ground you have become accustomed to, transplants you onto another place, reminding you that everything is happening at all places at the same time—not just in the places where you are, or are aware of.

••• And then, there was the habalhabal.

Short though our trip was, we were able to sneak out for a few hours exploring the province of South Cotabato, specifically, Lake Sebu. We spent an hour in a UV Express van to the motorcycle terminal up the mountain.

I had just been telling my friends earlier that week that I had recently taken a backride at a motorcycle to go around an eastern town I had to write about. But this ride was something else. It took us around 30 minutes, along gently sloping terrain, to reach a point overlooking the lake where, surprisingly, tilapias were being cultured.

My companions and I did not have time

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to take the boat cruise, but to me the motorcycle ride was an experience in itself.

For one, it brought me into close physical contact with a total stranger, a small T’boli man whose name I do not remember anymore.

Despite the noise of the motor and the breeze and the bends on the road, I discovered it was possible to carry on a conversation. Kuya said he alternated between driving the habal habal and going to Manila where he had a few friends, working as a waiter. While he was a T’boli, he also knew some Ilonggo, because his father was from Iloilo who settled in South

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Cotabato after marrying his mother.

“Wow, true love!” I exclaimed, both my hands steady on his shoulders.

Much later, when I had paid him for the work that he had done, I wondered: how many tourists had he talked to about himself and his family? I bet he would never see any of them again.

How many of us, too, come into contact with people we share our stories with, and reveal ourselves to, only to drift away from them eventually because of choice or circumstance? What determines whether they would stay and be part of the story?

Continued on A6

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IT’S unlikely that the chief executives of Facebook and Twitter have ever considered their social-media competitor Telegram much of a threat. But that may have changed on Thursday, when a video was spotted on Telegram showing images of Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey riddled with bullet holes.

The 25-minute propaganda video—found by “deep Web analysts” at the website Vocativ—was apparently posted by Islamic State supporters angry at Facebook and Twitter for efforts to delete the accounts of fellow jihadis. “If you close one account we will take 10 in return,” the video taunted, “and soon your names will be erased after we delete your sites, Allah willing, and will know that we say is true.”

But how accurate is that boast? Not very, at least when it comes to Twitter, according to a new study by J.M. Berger and Heather Perez of George Washington University’s Program on Extremism.

The two researchers looked at Twitter accounts supportive of Islamic State that were active from June to October of last year. It was compiled in part using a list of pro-jihadi tweeters maintained on Twitter by an Islamic State supporter who goes by Baqiya Shoutout.

Berger and Perez found that the network of prominent English-language Islamic State supporters was actually quite small, between 1,000 and 3,000. Moreover, these accounts had, on average, relatively few followers—300 to 400—although some did have several thousand.

Twitter says it has suspended more than 125,000 accounts of violent extremists since mid-2015, but these efforts have been somewhat sporadic: The researchers found that fewer than 2 percent of the accounts on the list were suspended on an average day. And over all, the size of the pro-Islamic State network of followers remained steady in the period under study.

The good news was that users who were repeatedly suspended “suffered devastating reductions in their follower counts.”

It’s relatively easy for a banned user to create a new account under a new name and e-mail address, but it’s far harder to recover the deleted account’s audience. (The Baqiya Shoutout list is regularly updated to help Islamic State confederates regroup, but it can’t repair the damage.)

Another bonus of Twitter suspensions is that all the user’s previous tweets are deleted, sending a huge body of Islamic State propaganda into the black hole of cyberspace. The report also found that the user network of people actually in Iraq and Syria had shrunk, “partly because of suspension activity, but also because of operational security concerns within ISIS and the deaths of some prominent Syria-based network participants.”

Not everyone is convinced of the efficacy of account suspensions. “At best, the impact of Twitter’s efforts like these will be negligible,” Michael S. Smith II, a principal at the security consultancy Kronos, said in an e-mail. “Islamic State members and supporters have touted as credentials the number of times their accounts have been suspended. Since Twitter began cracking down more rigorously, all of the key IS propagandists and influencers on Twitter are still active. They’re just establishing new accounts more frequently. And these accounts often generate followings into the thousands within a few hours.”

Admittedly, the sample size of the new research is limited. A more exhaustive study last year by Berger and the data scientist Jonathon Morgan found that there were more than 20,000 serious Islamic State-supporter accounts in all languages. And Islamic State backers have recently been sharing countermeasures, such as switching to new services like Telegram.

Nonetheless, it’s promising to see some evidence that while the US-led ground war against Islamic State moves ahead in fits and starts, there is other progress being made, 140 characters at a time. Bloomberg

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S U N D AY, F E B R U A R Y 2 8 , 2 0 1 6

A6

OPINION

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RACE, LAND AND MURDER IN SOUTH AFRICA

By Ben Sheppard PARYS, South Africa—To learn about race relations in rural South Africa more than 20 years after the end of apartheid, I travelled to the endless fields of the highveld, with its wide open spaces and barely a soul as far as the eye can see.

A 90-minute drive from Johannesburg brought me, an AFP photographer and a videographer to the Biesiebult Farm in the Free State province. Surrounded by old barns and rusting tractors, the farm has a straight dirt road running past an entrance that displays its name and owner, L. van der Westhuizen, on a sign made out of a plough.

Something happened on this spot one afternoon last month that ended a few hours later with two black farm workers lying in a field, dying after a savage beating, and four white farmers charged with their murder.

The case has ignited visceral emotions in the area. The white farmers’ first bail hearing in the nearby small town of Parys attracted angry protests, with a white crowd singing the apartheidera national anthem, while a black crowd chanted “kill the farmers.”

We came to attend the second court hearing in the Parys magistrates court, hoping to find out more about how the men died and how blacks and whites relate a generation after Nelson Mandela won the country’s first democratic election.

According to police, on that fateful day Seun Tangasha and Samuel Tjexa went to van der Westhuizen, demanding that he hand over 20,000 rand ($1,300) in what may have been a long-running

Demonstrators protest outside the Parys court, February 2016. AFP dispute over unpaid wages. When he refused, Tangasha and Tjexa allegely hit him over the head with a gun, before he pressed a panic button that alerted neighboring landowners who rushed to his aid.

The two men fled on foot as up to 60 farm vehicles joined a high-speed chase to catch them across the huge fields. Police said the farmers eventually found the pair eight kilometres from van der Westhuizen’s farm, beat them up and left them for dead.

‘These farmers must go to jail for life’ There, standing in their bare house, we interviewed Tangasha’s relatives. Two young pregnant women were inside, as well as a very ill old lady lying on the hard floor, barely breathing.

“These farmers must go to jail for life,” Tangasha’s aunt, Anna Jubeba told us. “The courts see these guys killing black people, but they are let out on bail because they are white. No one has come to help us.

The police haven’t even come to our house.”

Seun had left from this house to go to van der Westhuizen’s, so we re-traced his final journey along the dusty tracks and drove to the Biesiebult Farm some 11 miles (18 kilometres) away.

On the way, we stopped in to interview a neighbouring white farmer, Kobus Dannhauser, who knows van der Westhuizen and the four men charged with murder. Dannhauser welcomed us into his expansive farmhouse, with beautiful lawns and a swimming pool. His ancestors have farmed the same land since 1876, and he prides himself on good relations with his employees, some of whom are the fourth generation to work for the family.

He was carefully even-handed over the murder case, but admitted that race relations in general are not good.

‘Farm attacks’ on the rise “Last year South Africa had the

most farm attacks ever, but that doesn’t excuse that these guys lost their lives. We totally condemn it,” he told us. “The first farmers who caught [Tangasha and Tejexa] tied them up. I think emotions were high, and they did it roughly. Then what happened? That is what I want to hear from the court.”

A nationwide wave of violent, often deadly “farm attacks” has targeted white landowners, many of whom view the Parys murder case as evidence that they have been forced into a vicious fight for their lives.

At Biesiebult, we pulled in and shouted through the locked wire gate, but no one was at home except some friendly dogs.

A handful of white protesters —furious, but subdued—gathered next to a Spar supermarket where customers shopped undisturbed.

Nearby, one group of black protesters was from the ruling ANC party, while the other was from the new, radical opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters.

Political temperatures in the country are rising ahead of municipal elections later this year, with land redistribution and racism among key battlegrounds. And the Parys murder case seems to be a microcosm of many of the fierce issues that confront the country.

Our day’s reporting had proved an eye-opening experience— wealthy farmers in lush gardens, white supremacists at noisy rallies, political activists keen to stir up friction, bereaved relatives in an impoverished black township, and the reality that the long legacy of apartheid still hangs over South Africa. AFP

WHY APPLE’S FIGHT WITH THE FBI IS SO HARD TO REFEREE

By Faye Flam THE fight between Apple and the US government comes down to a technical enigma wrapped in layers of emotional debate.

On the surface, people seem to be drawn to opposing sides depending on feelings: fear of terrorism, or suspicion of government, or distrust of corporations.

But the crux of the disagreement comes down to a technical question, not a gut feeling: whether it’s possible for Apple to disable its own security system to break into a deceased terrorist’s iPhone without jeopardizing the security of all iPhones.

Since Apple software is proprietary, the answer to the technical question remains shrouded in uncertainty. Still, decisions need to be made, and good policy can be formulated in uncertain situations, just as health authorities had to respond to the Zika outbreak though little was known about its potential health consequences.

In the Apple case, decisions will affect the way we balance the fight against terrorism with concerns over the erosion of privacy in a world increasingly dependent on smartphones to track and guide people’s lives.

The phone in question was used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who, along with his wife, shot 14 people in San Bernardino last December.

Unlocking it may not sound like a hard problem for the technical wizards at Apple, but computer scientists and cryptography experts say it may indeed be impossible, which is what the company claimed in a letter to

customers issued Feb. 16. Apple set up the security system so even its creators can’t break into a customer’s phone without creating new software to make it possible.

The hard part is bypassing a feature that deletes sensitive data if someone types in an incorrect password more than 10 times. That’s important because it’s surprisingly easy to guess a six-digit password.

If not for such a limit, the FBI, or hackers for that matter, could use what’s been called a brute force approach to try every combination of six numerals until they hit on the right one. There are a total of 1,000,000 such combinations, and on average it should take about half a million guesses before the system is cracked.

That’s a lot of tapping for a person who steals a phone, but not for a fast computer, said Cornell University computer scientist Steven Wicker.

Most computer science grad students could create such a system to enter perhaps 1,000 possible passwords per second, he said. That would hit upon to the right one in 15 minutes or less, depending on luck.

Code makers stay ahead of code breakers by making strings of characters so long that it would take an eternity to try even a fraction of the possibilities.

The fact that codes can be made to withstand brute force attacks, at least for the next few million years, allows people to send credit card information over the Internet with reasonable safety, said Indrajit Ray, a computer scientist from Colorado State University.

In a simple example, he said, imagine the formula A + B = C. A is your secret number. B is a number only known to a colleague you want to receive your secret message. Your colleague sees C and subtracts to discover A, but a hacker, picking up just C, would have to guess every possible value of B to get to your secret. If C is 1,000, that might not be so hard, but if it’s 20 billion or trillion, it gets unwieldy.

In the real world, encryption systems are more complicated but the idea is the same—some operation shuffles your secret numbers and only those holding a key can unshuffle them. To keep the key safe from brute force, it has to be big.

Apple can’t rely on large numbers to keep passcodes safe, because it would mean using more than 40 digits. “It’s a human factor,” said Cornell’s Wicker.

People would refuse to do it or would choose strings of a single digit, thus defeating the purpose.

So instead, iPhones include a security option to erase data after 10 incorrect attempts to guess a password.

To disable it will mean writing new operating system software. This is what the experts are calling a back door.

“A back door is an intentional weakness in the system that allows a group that’s in the know to get in,” said Wicker. Apple doesn’t already have a back door into iPhones, and so, the company claims, one would have to be created. “They’re being asked to create a tool that could potentially break into any iPhone,” Wicker said.

Ray, the computer scientist from

Colorado State, compared it to a situation in which there’s a secure storage facility with no master key.

Imagine that the FBI wanted to get into one of the lockers, he said, but only the owner knows how the locks work. Can the owner create a crowbar that can only open one locker but is useless for all the others?

It’s hard for anyone outside Apple to know whether it’s possible to make such a specialized single-locker crowbar, said Ray, since the company’s software codes are secret. And yet, people on both sides of the debate tend to be sure, either that it is or is not possible. Good decision making in cases like this rests on understanding the boundaries of current knowledge and resisting the temptation to fill in the gaps with assumptions.

There’s a lot at stake, with the explosion of smart phones now tracking our whereabouts, our interests, health data, contacts and appointments. “It’s a permanent record of our daily lives,” said Wicker, and it’s potentially available to both commercial interests and the federal government. “A lot has gone on without public debate,” he said.

The experts laud Apple for prompting that long-needed public discussion. Court documents unsealed this week revealed that the FBI has made similar requests of Apple in nine other cases.

This is a good test case to start considering where we want to draw the line between the need to helping crime fighters and the risk of a future in which we can’t keep much of anything secret. Bloomberg

THE WEEK... From A5 Finally, the zip line.

To be sure, it was not my first time. A year and a half ago, I rode one of those things at a resort in Bataan, but the ride, while pretty, was low and short, and I valued it more for the photos that came out of it.

Now the one in Lake Sebu gives one all the bragging rights one would want. At 600 feet above ground, it is the highest in Southeast Asia.

The first leg is 700 meters; the second, a shorter 400 meters. More importantly, it affords one a view of four out of the seven waterfalls that the area is famous for—that is, if one could keep one’s eyes open during the ride.

First, a confession: As I was being harnessed before the ride, asked to lie facedown and abandon all my weight to the gear, I had a momentary flash of horror at what I had gotten myself into. The view was spectacular, but I looked below and realized we were on a mountain, and the uneven ground, populated with trees and rocks and yes, the waterfalls, was so far down.

What if the line malfunctioned?

What if the harness broke? What if I got stuck midway? What if I fell?

But the prospect of chickening out was far more unsavory. I could not live with the shame of backing down. I went ahead and clutched at the gear. Pu*yeta, bahala na.

Once released, I was happy I went ahead. The ride was slow and leisurely. I took in the view as far as my eyes could see. Out of the trees I saw a man with a camera and smiled. But even after I had passed him, I could not wipe that smile off my face. I felt so small and inconsequential with the beauty around me. What privilege!

Overwhelmed with this feeling, I felt the last of my fears melting away. What was the worst thing that could happen? If I fell, I might die, but I could not have done anything to prevent it at that moment. There was no point worrying—I stretched both my hands into the air.

Besides, I’ve done well, I think.

I’ve raised the four children well, impressed upon them the importance of finding their place in the world while looking after themselves. Now they are almost ready to strike out on their own; they’re great in their respective fields, but more importantly, they’re good people.

I would have fallen knowing that I was doing exactly what I was meant to do. I was working to be a good parent, daughter, friend and storyteller, and it was a comforting thought that I had inspired a few people. That should be the way to live, and that was enough.

So yes, I thought, falling would be least objectionable here. I would not feel as though I had missed out on a lot. I knew I’d be missed, but the kids would be fine. And isn’t that our role as parents, eventually, is to be dispensable?

But I did not fall. I lived to smile for yet another picture, to take a ride behind Kuya again for the next 45 minutes in the late afternoon and, on the way back to the city, worry about the usual things again: work, dinner, more work. I flew back and saw all the people I needed to see and resumed living as though I did not cross that line. And today, I feel light and youthful and purposeful, looking forward to things and places and connections that are yet a mystery this early.

Forty is just a number. We begin living every day we wake up. adellechua@gmail.com

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A7

NEWS

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PPA’S TOP EXECS JUMP SHIP OVER PORT MESS—DUTERTE WHY are these officials resigning? This was the question raised by the camp of presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on the announced resignation of Collete Canilao of the PPP Center.

Duterte spokesman and head of media group Peter Lavina said it is bewildering why Canilao followed the lead of Philippine Ports Authority general manager Juan Sta. Ana in giving up their government posts.

They must be abandoning ship afraid to face the ire of the people of southern Philippines, he said.

The resigned officials should still be held liable and accountable for their acts on this over-priced PPP project, he added.

Lavina said the City Council of Davao passed a resolution on Dec. 21, 2015 calling for the filing of charges against officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications and the PPP Center over the anomalous Sasa Port Modernization PPP in Davao City.

He said the resolution was an offshoot of the continuing open defiance and violation of the provisions of the Local Government Code on lack of prior information and consent by the local governments on national government projects.

He said the DoTC and the PPP Center have been forcing down the throats of Davaoeños the modernization project that will have a total cost of P18.9 billion.

Lavina said the original cost of the PPA study in 2012 was only P4 billion.

In comparison, he said the modern private container port in nearby Panabo City costs only over P5 billion.

He said various sectors are opposing the project including the Davao City Chamber of Commerce, tourism and environmental groups, con-

sumers and informal settlers who will be displaced by the project. He said Sta. Ana resigned on the eve of the Senate investigation on Dec. 9, 2015 on the controversial project that again involved former DoTC secretary and Administration bet Mar Roxas and his replacement Joseph Emilio Abaya.

He said Senator Serge Osmeña described the project as a form of “forced taxation” because the people of Davao Region were not consulted with the expected rate increase on various port and shipping charges.

The first port PPP project under the Aquino administration calls for the conversion of the Sasa Port into a purely container terminal hub omitting the public port’s other role as handler of bulk and break bulk cargo that are not in container vans and cruise ship passenger facility.

One of the five qualified bidders, Portek Singapore, has withdrawn on account of the issue of lack of consultation and transparency and the viability of the project, Lavina said.

SPAIN OKAYS ALBAY 3RD WATER FILTER MACHINE LEGAZPI CITY—Spain has given Albay another water filtration machine for use in calamity stricken areas where potable water is scarce, through its aid agency, the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo.

The water filtration machine is the third the Spanish government has given Albay since a partnership in disaster risk reduction was formally forged between them about nine years ago. The machines were on top of various other grants such as permanent evacuation centers that also serve as classrooms.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, elated over the new grant, said their viable partnership with Spain has gone a long way, and has greatly benefited Albay and helped pursue excellence in governance, particularly in the field of DRR and Climate Change Adaptation.

Of the 11 evacuation centers cum classrooms built in Albay, five were funded

by Spain. These facilities have remained impressive, well maintained and useful, and were personally inspected by Spanish Queen Sofia herself during her Albay visit in 2013, Salceda said.

The water filtration machines, on

the other hand, have proven to be indispensable equipments of the Water and Sanitation Unit of Team Albay, during its emergency response operations in many calamity stricken areas of the country, where potable water supply disrupted and urgently vital.

“Team Albay would not be where it is now, a multi-awarded emergency response group, without the water filtration machines which provided many disaster victims safe water,” Salceda stressed.

Albay received its third Galing Pook Award in 2015 through Team Albay. In all of its 13 humanitarian missions from 2008 to 2014 alone, the team had served some 103,642 families involving 518,208 persons and the water filtration machines have produced 4,863,612 litters of potable water for them.

Salceda said the Albay-AECID partnership goes beyond mere benefactorbeneficiary relationship. Following the devastation by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in 2014, the Department of Interior and Local Government and AECID have teamed up to replicate Albay’s successful DRR strategy in at least 10 other provinces of the country.

Republic of the Philippines CITY OF SAN PEDRO Province of Laguna BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE INVITATION TO BID The City Government of San Pedro Laguna through the (DILG FUND 8,500,000.00) Budget Approved by Sangguniang Panglungsod intends to apply the sum of Php 10,000,000.00 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the hereunder project: NAME OF PROJECT LOCATION ABC SOURCE OF FUND

: : : :

CONTRACT DURATION

:

Proposed Evacuation Center Rosario Complex San Vicente Php 18,497,447.96 Budget Approved by the Sangguniang Panglungsod 300 Calendar Days

The City Government of San Pedro, Laguna now invites contractors registered with and classified by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) to apply for eligibility and if found eligible, to bid for the above-mentioned projects. Completion of the Works is required on or before the contract duration.Bidders should have completed, two (2) calendar 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. Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract shall be automatically rejected at bid opening

CAMARILLO EXHIBIT. Freelance photojournalist Sonny Camarillo, past president of the Camera Club of the Philippines and the Press Photographers of the Philippines mounts his 23rd Edsa themed photo exhibit, in partnership with Ayala Land Inc. Presented by Fil-Estate Management Corp., Pagcor and Camerahaus, the exhibit entitled “Edsa 1986 Before and Beyond: Ipagpatuloy Ang Pagkakakisa Ng Bayan Para sa Kaunlaran,” is in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power. Camarillo is dedicating his show to Former President Fidel Valdez Ramos. This unique visual presentation sponsored also by PCSO, RCBC, CWC Int’l. Corp. and JRS Express is free for public viewing. The clear, sharp and fresh looking pictures were taken with negatives some 30 years ago, but expertly digitized and enhanced by YKL Digital Imaging. Shown during the opening ceremony on Feb. 20 are (from left) Camera Club president Philip Yu of CWC International, Robenson Ong of Camerahaus, former first lady Ming Ramos. Behind Ramos is Camarillo, Noel ‘Toti’ Cariño of Fil-Estate Management Corp. Sonny Oliver Cortez, Sonia Camarillo, Erin Cortez and former Naia Assistant GM TG Serrano who emceed the event. Supported also by dzRJ Radyo Bandido, Osmundo Antique, Balikbayan Handicrafts and the Spirit of Edsa Foundation, the photo exhibit runs from Feb. 15 to 29 at the Cinema Lobby of the Ayala Malls Trinoma at North Edsa, Quezon City. REVOLI CORTEZ

US-TRAINED FOTOG SETS SEMINAR

By Sara Fabunan

WHILE browsing through sports magazines, Felipe A. Fernandez Jr. became interested in photography, intrigued by how the pictures were taken and how the use of proper lighting magnify the message the images want to impart. For him, just looking at the pictures is like reading the words.

Because of those pictures, he was enticed to enroll in basic photography classes with the Art/Photography Department of San Jose City College in San Jose, California. He later became a Studio Assistant in the photography studio of Henson/Hathaway Photography, a commercial photography studio located in San Francisco. Here he mastered the skills to handle commercial assign-

ments needed to produce photography for the advertising industry.

After several years, he started the Felipe Photography where he was able to secure work from Elliot/ Dickens Advertising, an ad agency located in San Jose, California.

In 1995, after several years of doing commercial work, Fernandez enrolled in the Art Department at San Jose State University, also located in California, and concen-

trated on photography as a fine art. During this time, Fernandez also worked for Qualex, a photo finishing company owned by Kodak, as a production manager.

Fernandez left Qualex and enrolled at Monterrey College also in California to learn digital photography.

Fernandez has been in the Philippines since July 2006, and has successfully mounted three solo exhibits about Historical Preservation during the whole of 2008.

He did another solo exhibit in 2009, showcasing all his works at his own gallery, Galleri Felipe in Malate which he established in early 2009.

He conducted his first workshop in the country, “Snap Shooting vs. Art Making,” for beginners at Epson Bldg. in Ortigas, 2008, sponsored

by Epson. This was followed November 2011 with “Simplified Techniques for Quality Pictures,” at Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, sponsored by Mayor Teddy Ramos, and Canon Marketing Phils. On Feb. 28, 2016, Sunday, he will start his first seminar for the year entitled “Over Exposed or Under Developed—more importantly—What Camera Should I get? And How Will I Increase My Income?” This will be in partnership with CB Mall in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, Epson, LBC, RCBC and Aquino Optical.

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”. Bidding is restricted, unless otherwise stated, to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to Republic Act 5183 (RA 5183) and subject to Commonwealth Act 138 (CA 138).Only bids from eligible bidders will be opened. In accordance with the IRR-A of R.A 9184, the contract/ project shall only be awarded to the Lowest Calculated and Responsive Bidder who was determined as such during post-qualification.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the City Government of San Pedro, Laguna and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:30AM to 9:30 AM only.

Office of BAC Secretariat 4/F Conf.Rm. City Administrator’s Office San Pedro City Hall A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address above and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of PESOS: 25,000.00.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before March 11, 2016at 10:00AM: Office of BAC Secretariat 4/F Conf.Rm. City Administrator’s Office San Pedro City Hall Pre-Bid Conference: February 29, 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. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference, Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Awards of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

The City Government of San Pedro, Laguna 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: Mr. Merlin B. Paala Office of the BAC Secretariat San Pedro City Hall San Pedro, Laguna Telefax No. 808.2020 loc.320 (sgd.) ENGR. FILEMON I. SIBULO Chairman Bids and Awards Committee (TS-FEB. 28, 2016)

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SUNDAY: FEBRUARY 28, 2016

NEWS editorial@thestandard.com.ph

SOLON’S BID TO PROBE SSS BACKED

By Maricel V. Cruz

THE Makabayan Bloc has rallied behind the effort of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez to look into the finances of the Social Security System in the light of its recent pronouncement that the proposed monthly increase in the pension of senior citizens would result in bankruptcy.

Senatorial candidate Rep. Martin Romualdez looks amused as vice presidential candidate Ferdinand ‘BongBong’ Marcos Jr. cradles a male child at the sidelines of the grand alumni homecoming of the Philippine National Police Academy in Silang, Cavite. EY ACASIO

CONDONE P12-B IRRIGATION LOAN—FM JR.

By Vito Barcelo VICE presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Saturday vowed to push for the condonation of the P12-billion loan taken by farmers from the National Irrigation Administration. He said that irrigation services should be given to farmers for free.

Marcos reminded government officials that they are running the government to serve the people and not for profit, adding “the government is not a corpora-

tion created for profit. It exists to give service to the people, not for money.”

He said the NIA farmers’ irrigation loan is a classic example of the government’s diverted path to “earning” profits from its original course of helping the people improve their lives.

He said it is lamentable that farmers, who hardly get government support, are still saddled being with a P12- billion outstanding debt to NIA. Marcos pointed out that farmers should not have been charged

in the first place by the NIA because it is an agency of the government tasked to give irrigation service.

“We should forget the P12billon loan because there is no way farmers could pay for that.

What the government should do is think how it can help our farmers and not earn profit from their situation,” he said.

Marcos pointed out that farmers in other countries get a wide array of subsidy and services from their government to enable them to increase productivity and live

decent lives. “Here, farmers are practically left on their own and then we still charge for them for services that the government is duty-bound to give in the first place,” he stated.

He said it’s lamentable that the government is charging the farmers for irrigation service despite the fact that they consist 70 percent of the total number of the country’s poor.

“That’s public service. That’s the job of the government, not for profit, not to make money,” he said.

PARTY-LISTERS AS HOUSING PROPONENTS GET PANEL OK THE House of Representatives has approved a measure encouraging the participation of party-list representatives in the implementation of the local housing program.

The House committee on housing and urban development, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, recommended plenary action on House Bill 6417 as a substitute bill to HB and House Resolutions 277 and 560, authored by ABS party-list Rep. Catalina Leonen-Pizarro and Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, respectively.

Under the measure, Benitez said the party-list lawmakers will act as proponent of the socialized housing projects for their respective constituencies in selected urban and urbanizable area in all congressional districts.

Benitez said it is the opportune time to provide for a free housing partylist representatives program to the citizenry just like providing cash subsidies through the Department of Social Welfare and Development to alleviate poverty, with preference to those marginalized and underprivileged who belong to the poorest of the poor.

“There is an urgent need to afford our marginalized and underprivileged but deserving citizenry non-recoverable housing projects program and expand the coverage of such by including newly created districts and elected party-lists’ constituencies as beneficiaries,” Benitez said.

The bill seeks to amend RA 7835 to conform not only to the programs of the government but as well as to afford the Filipino people their longcherished dreams of owning the roofs over their heads.

Leonen-Pizarro said the Constitution mandates the State to uplift the conditions of the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban and resettlement areas by making available to them decent housing at affordable cost, basic services and employment opportunities. Maricel V. Cruz

SUMMER’S HERE. Residents of Quezon City take a refreshing dip in the pool of the La Mesa Eco Park. MANNY PALMERO

One of the group’s member, Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan expressed belief that Congress will be able to reverse the veto of President Benigno Aquino III on House Bill 5842 that was principally authored by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares.

“There is a resounding demand to grant SSS pensioners the muchneeded P2,000 increase in their pension. Members of Congress, as elected representatives of their districts and sectors are obliged to respond to this clamor for muchneeded relief,” Ilagan said.

Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, filed House Resolution 2638 urging the SSS to disclose its current and real financial standing.

Romualdez said the SSS must be able to provide Congress and the Filipino people cogent reasons that will justify its claims of financial incapability and possible bankruptcy as early as 2029.

Romualdez was among the 75 lawmakers who co-authored the resolution of Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Neri Colmenares seeking to override the presidential veto on HB 5842 that was approved by the House of Representatives in June 2015 and was adopted in toto by the Senate last November.

In supporting Romualdez, Ilagan said the pension hike which SSS officials estimate to cost an additional P56 billion, can be sourced from foregone revenues from idle assets at P198 million; collections from delinquent employers, P13.5 billion; uncollected revenue as of 2009 at P325 billion; and the P447 billion in assets as of October 2015.

“SSS officials are always quick to claim financial stability and strength every time we question the huge bonuses given to SSS officials. Now that pensioners are asking what is due them, they are painting a picture of doom with claims of being on the brink of bankruptcy, how convenient!,” Ilagan pointed out.

Ilagan also said her group would demand a probe into the appointment of five commissioners of the SSS whose salaries are “very huge” and so the supposed P2,000 monthly pensions of senior citizens are compromised.

She stressed that pensioners need not be made to suffer for the pension fund’s inefficiency.

SUNDAY: FEBRUARY 28, 2016

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

BUSINESS

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JAPANESE ENGINEER

TRANSFORMS PH EDUCATION ONLINE schooling is now here in the Philippines. More than 200,000 Filipino students are studying Math, Science, English and other subjects under the K+12 basic curriculum monthly, using an online platform developed by Quipper Inc., a technology company led by Japanese investors.

Its flagship product, Quipper School, which was released in the Philippines for free in January 2014, now has more than 50,000 teachers and 1 million students at grades 4 to 10 as members.

“Quipper serves private and public elementary and high schools nationwide,” Quipper country manager Yuki Naotori says in an e-mail interview.

The goal of the technology company, according to Naotori,

is to help improve the quality of education by transforming the teaching and learning experience in the Philippines and other countries.

Headquartered in London, the company has offices in Manila, Tokyo, Jakarta and Mexico City and is used by 150,000 teachers and 2 million students across the Philippines, Indonesia and Mexico.

Quipper School, its first prod-

uct, is a free online homework platform, which allows teachers to manage classes, send assignments to their students and analyze the performance of students. Students then build their knowledge through ‘mastery’ of topics, modules and courses, earning rewards in the process.

Naotori says through Quipper School, educators can manage multiple classes through a customized dashboard, send and schedule their assignments as well as assess their students’ individual performances.

Quipper School also houses readymade content sanctioned by the Education Department and aligned with the local curriculum and language, which double as assignments and exams.

Students can study lessons and answer accompanying questions until they master a topic. Upon answering TURN TO B3

Quipper country manager Yuki Naotori

SUNDAY: FEBRUARY 28, 2016

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

YOUNG CULINARY TALENTS

COMPETE IN COOK-OFF CHALLENGE

FOR aspiring entrepreneurs and budding chefs, the door of learning and career opportunities opens wide once more at Jolly University as the successful campus-wide search continues to empower young minds in its third consecutive year.

Following its success in the last two years, JU – a campaign spearheaded under Jolly, one of the leading brands in canned foods and vegetables – is now regarded as one of the most prestigious culinary competitions and learning platforms.

One of JU’s core programs that is currently underway is the University Boot Camp, a workshop where select delegates get to connect and learn first-hand from industry professionals.

Jun Cochanco, president of Fly Ace Corp., exclusive marketer and distributor of Jolly Food Line, said he was expecting to see a new generation of passionate, talented leaders and entrepreneurs emerge from the boot camp.

Jolly is a canned fruits and vegetable line marketed and distributed by Fly Ace Corp., one of the leading food and beverage consumer goods companies in the country.

“I am delighted with the turnout of boot camp participants this year as we received more inquiries and entries which showed that Jolly University has gained momentum through the years.

Ultimately, we aim to inspire these students and may they remember what they have learned here and apply those lessons when they have a food business in the future,” Cochanco said.

Learning from the masters For year 3, Jolly University welcomed its new batch of students from all over the metro to participate in the boot camp where they were given handson training and seminars such as food styling by Jolly University head master chef Mitchie Sison, Jolly brand ambassador/ blogger Frances Amper Sales and chef Ben Bernardo.

Among the boot camp highlights was the talk on ‘How to Become a

Food styling and photography workshop

Successful Chef ’ where chef Ben advised the students not only to learn the basics of cooking, but also to have a well-rounded personality, which is a combination of passion, skills and knowledge.

“Our profession is more than just cooking, it’s a tedious process that can test one’s patience so you better have the passion, the ambition, to feed your mind by continuously learning by yourself and from others,” he said

Amper and director Lorenzo Marcos discussed the fascinating world of social media blogging and video content making. “Social media blogging is very important. It can open doors for you. Through various online platforms, you can create marketing tools that can help you build networks and relationships with like-minded people, as well as people who can help you expand your careers and businesses in the future,” said Amper.

For the second and third legs of the bootcamp, featured resource speakers and seminar topics included Janice Villanueva (events management), Chef Kalel Chan, Leo de Leon of Allegro Beverages (finding niche in the market) and Francis Kong (defining competitive advantage).

For Lorenzo Juaquin of University of Sto. Tomas, the boot camp was a very enriching experience. “I learned to use blogs and make viral videos to promote myself and my passion.”

Another student, John Prestin of La Consolacion College-Manila, said he liked the talk on the importance of money, making smart investment and financial savings. “I’m also inspired by the workshops on becoming a good chef, cooking, and preparing food with style. On photography, I learned a lot about capturing the best shots by showing the right style and image of the subject,” he said.

This year’s Jolly University delegates and participants hope to advance their future careers through the Food Congress, happening on March 4, 2016 at Le Pavillon, Pasay City.

Featuring highly interactive and informative seminars, event highlights include forums and culinary demonstrations, personality/ career and entrepreneurship that will be presented by noted industry leaders. The event will also include booths and stage activities that will be presented by various brand partners.

“Everyone is invited to join the Food Congress where they will have a chance to meet, connect with and be inspired by renowned speakers who will share their insights and expertise on various industry-related matters,” said Marilou Acuña, Jolly senior product manager.

Another exciting highlight is the grand culminating activity called the Cook-Off Challenge where group representatives, as well as individual culinary talents, can vie for prestige in different categories.

The announcement of winners will also be on March 4. Apart from cash prizes, the champions will bring home products from Fujidenzo, Masflex, Corelle and Glad. They will also receive hands-on culinary training under Chef Mitchie, Jolly Food Line team, among many others.

THE THREAT OF A SIMPLE COUGH A SYMPTOM as simple as a cough may be an early sign of lung cancer when it becomes persistent, according to oncologists.

Some people would tend to dismiss the cough until it worsens or develops other symptoms such as shortness of breath, anorexia and weight loss.

It’s often only when patients start coughing up blood that they decide to have themselves checked. By then, the worst possible result is that they have Stage IV lung cancer.

The American Cancer Society says nonsmall cell lung cancer is usually left undiagnosed until it has advanced to the late stages. A 2012 report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer states that

lung cancer is responsible for nearly 1.5 million deaths, making it the top cause of global cancer deaths.

IARC also predicts that in the next two decades, the number of new cancer cases will rise from 14 million to 22 million.

In the Philippines, lung cancer has the highest incidence and mortality rates among all types of cancer among Filipino men, while it ranks fourth in incidence among Filipino women.

Not a smoker’s disease Though tobacco is responsible for 20 percent of cancer deaths worldwide, and smoking is considered the top cause of cancer, a study conducted in three US hospitals reveals that a growing percent-

age of lung cancer patients are non-smokers. Many of these patients are also likely to be women.

Aside from smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke, other causes of lung cancer include exposure to indoor radon, family history of lung cancer, air pollution and household air pollution such as cooking and heating fumes.

“The early symptoms of lung cancer are often mistaken as part of common illnesses. Unfortunately, many patients don’t consult early enough, and so, they only find out that they have cancer after the disease has advanced,” says Dr. Ena Ang of MSD Oncology.

Hope remains Despite the growing burden of lung

cancer in the Philippines and abroad, the newest cancer medicines are already helping more patients survive the disease, even if it is already in the late stages.

According to oncologists, the most promising cancer treatment method to date is immunotherapy, and it could possibly replace chemotherapy as the standard method for treating cancer. Immunotherapy taps the body’s immune system to find and ward off cancer cells.

With the availability of innovative treatment options for cancer, patients now have a new source of hope. By working with their oncologists for the best possible treatment, patients are more likely to receive the gift of a second life.

SUNDAY: FEBRUARY 28, 2016

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

MAKATI HOUSES COST OVER P200M A TYPICAL house and lot in Makati City’s premier subdivisions costs more than P200 million, according to a research by online real estate portal Lamudi Philippines.

JAPANESE...

FROM B1

each question, they are provided real-time feedback as well as a short explanation of the item.

The platform also has a messaging system, allowing teachers and students to communicate even outside of class hours.

The free content available on Quipper School covers Math, English, Science, Filipino, Araling Panlipunan and Computer for grades 4 to 10. By the beginning of school year 2016-17, Quipper will also provide content on more specialized subjects for grade 11 such as Oral Communication, Statistics and Probability and Earth and Life Science.

Two years after it was introduced in January 2014, Quipper has grown significantly in the Philippines. “Our user base has grown to 1 million registered students, with 200,000 monthly active users. We’ve also forged partnerships with 31 DepEd [Department of Education] divisions and 311 public schools nationwide,” Naotori says.

The education technology company was founded in December 2010 by Masayuki Watanabe, the Japanese entrepreneur behind the mobile gaming company DeNa. Masa saw firsthand the impact education—or the lack of it—had on communities in developing countries, and Quipper was born out of his desire to ensure that anyone —regardless of their background— has access to excellent quality education, according to Naotori.

The Philippine office led by Naotori has a little over 50 employees. Quipper was acquired by the Japanese conglomerate Recruit Holdings in April 2015.

Naotori says the company will soon launch Quipper Video in the Philippines, which is expected to be the ultimate resource for senior high schools around the country.

“This year, we are launching

is known for Wack-Wack Village with P21.1 million.

Completing the list of cities with highest home prices are Pasig (P19 million), San Juan (17.7 million), Cebu City (15 million), Quezon City (14.6 million), Tagaytay (P13.4 million) and Parañaque (12.2 million).

The prices are based on actual listings at lamudi.com.ph, the top online real estate website used by homebuyers, sellers, developers and brokers.

“These ten Philippine cities now have an average home price of over P10 million,” Ambas says.

He says to buy homes in these cities, a family needs to be earning millions in a year. He says in Parañaque City, the least costly among the 10 cities, a buyer should be earning P4.8 million a year to afford the monthly mortgage for a P12-million home, using the 2.5 rule.

He says according to this rule, a homebuyer can afford to mortgage a home that is 2.5 times of his or her annual income. “If you are making P50,000 a month or our first premium service, Quipper Video, which enables learners to stream video lessons by top teachers anytime, anywhere,” says Naotori, who holds office at GT Tower International on Ayala Ave. in Makati City.

“We’re also currently doing trials for another service called Quipper Live, an online class platform that enables teachers and students to interact in real time. We are also planning to bring Quipper School to more public and private schools, and establish more partnerships with DepEd division offices and schools,” he says.

Quipper Video was launched in Indonesia in November 2015, and is also now available in Mexico.

“With the premium service, we are expecting to establish a profitable and sustainable education platform, and invest in and deliver even better content to more learners,” says Naotori.

Naotori says while Quipper does not have any direct competitor, it faces many challenges in the Philippines such as Internet connectivity, the ICT literacy of teachers and parents, and the lack of the appropriate ICT infrastructure in schools.

“Our customers include entire DepEd divisions, principals, teachers, and students,” he says.

On how the online platform works, Nautori explains that Quipper School offers an excellent overall experience for both teachers and students.

“Teachers can access readymade, K-12-aligned, DepEd-sanctioned content, and even upload their own. They can get analytics on their students’ performance, and can also interact with students via a messaging system,” he says.

“Students are able to build their knowledge in a fun yet effective way,” he says.

He says the reception to Quipper School in the Philippines has been very good, with a study by UP Professor Ferdinand Pitagan showing

P600,000 per year, multiply that by 2.5, the amount of property that you can afford is ….P1.5 million, which is extremely far from the prices in the 10 cities we mention,” he says.

“That rule is something to keep in mind when looking to buy a property in the future,” says Ambas.

The Lamudi white paper also shows that Makati and Taguig are the most expensive condo markets in the Philippines.

As of the first quarter of 2015, Makati’s average condo price was P139,503 ($3,090) per square me-

Internet Group of Germany, the one behind other successful ecommerce ventures in the Philippines such as Lazada, Zalora, FoodPanda and Carmudi. “The whole shift from offline to online is going very rapidly and that is driving the success for many ecommerce companies...And the Philippines is the number one focus country because it has a lot of potential in e-commerce and online business,” she says.

Van den Ende, a Dutch citizen, says to support the expansion of Lamudi in the Philippines, the company appointed German investment banker Benedict Faber as the chief operating officer.

“In 2016, we want to expand the dominant position of Lamudi and MyProperty, which have a market share of 55 percent of total online real estate market, or almost two to three times bigger than our closest competitor. MyProperty has 150,000 listings while Lamudi has 60,000 listings. We want to really ensure to get every single property for sale or for rent on to the website, so that we are true to our mission of bringing transparency to the real estate market in the Philippines,” she says.

“Together, we have 1.5 million people searching for property on our sites every month,” says Van den Ende. Roderick T. dela Cruz

that constant and even intermittent exposure to Quipper School is likely to foster higher mean scores and higher passing rate in tests, as well as a higher attendance rate.

“Quipper Video is also doing well in Japan and is starting to take off in Indonesia, and we’re hoping for similar success in the Philippines, especially with the implementation of senior high school this year,” he says.

Naotori was born and raised in Japan, and went to local public schools up to high school there. He went to the US and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Florida Institute of

munications, tourism, entertainment, and so on,” he says.

Naotori is already married with two children who study and live in Makati City. On weekends, he engages in sports such as marathon and triathlon.

Before he went to the Philippines, Naotori was the founder and president of Ext LLC, the world’s first distributor of Sencha Inc., a leading HTML5 technology vendor. He was also the cofounder and director of Open Associates Inc. in Tokyo, Japan.

He was appointed country manager of Quipper Inc. in the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand in April 2014.

searches are also being published about how people learn from the cognitive science perspective and its implications on teaching and learning. We are realizing that sound instructional design, assessment literacy [data driven decision-making], and innovative teachers are three key factors that drive successful education programs,” he says.

“I believe that efforts are more sustainable if these are in place, even if the tools change. While it’s not realistic to expect teachers and schools to use all types of technology, it would be ideal if they were to use their different affordances towards achieving their instructional and school improvement goals,” he says.

Naotori is particularly optimistic about the Philippine education market. “The Philippines is rapidly growing in its economy and population, and I believe there are almost infinite number of chances for those who wish to start their own businesses.

With new K-12 program in action, children will have more chances for learning advanced lessons and preparing themselves for global competition while companies will be able to hire more talents right out of schools,” he says.

Among the growing number of learning institutions that have embraced Quipper’s learning solutions is Aguho Elementary School in Pateros, which saw its National Assessment Test ratings scale up to 18 percent.

The actual use of Quipper School in 2015 registered a 37-percent year-on-year growth in the number of teachers who logged-in, 120-percent more teachers who created assignments, and 316 percent additional students who actively engaged with the service.

“We are here to see Filipino students through while they evolve with this exciting transition, emerging as this country’s new sets of leaders,” Naotori says.

Roderick T. dela Cruz

PHOTO CREDIT TO LAMUDI PHILIPPINES

Lamudi Philippines, in its white paper presented to journalists, says Makati City is the most expensive housing market, both for residential condos and landed houses, based on more than 60,000 property listings on its website.

Rodel Ambas, head of content at Lamudi Philippines, says the average price of houses in Makati stood at P217.3 million as of the first quarter of 2015. Home prices in Makati actually varied, based on gated communities, starting from P35 million in Magallanes Village and P76 million in San Lorenzo Village to P80 million in Bel-Air, P200 million in Dasmariñas Village, P236.3 million in Urdaneta Village and P382.9 million in Forbes Park.

Makati City is way ahead of the second most expensive housing market, Muntinlupa City, home to Ayala Alabang Village, where the average home price was P55.8 million. Taguig City, where McKinley Hills Village is located, ranks third with P34.4 million, followed by Mandaluyong, which

ter, while Taguig condos had an average asking price of P125,031 per sqm ($2,770).

Ambas says the consolation is that Makati remains a bargain when compared to other key cities in Asia. Condo price in Hong Kong is around $22,814 per square meter, while properties in Singapore sell for $15,251 per square meter.

Lamudi Philippines co-founder and chief executive Jacqueline van den Ende says the numbers are based on the property listings on the company’s website as of the first quarter of 2015. Lamudi, which is present in 34 countries, considers the Philippines as one of its top markets, she says.

Lamudi Philippines acquired MyProperty.ph last year to have a dominant position in the online real estate market in the country.

Van den Ende says along with Mexico, the Philippines will receive the bulk of the $31.4-million fund raised by Lamudi Group from investors recently.

“Lamudi Philippines, all around the globe, is the number one focus country for Lamudi.

Why? Because the timing here is just right. Our real estate market is booming. More importantly, we are ready to move online here,” she says.

Lamudi is a part of the Rocket

Lamudi Philippines chief executive Jacqueline van den Ende

With Quipper School, students from Sta. Lucia High School in Quezon City have increased their engagement in everyday learning.

Technology in 1994.

He also attended Stanford University where he obtained Master of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering in 1995.

After earning his engineering degrees, he decided to join the information technology sector, which would later open the opportunity for online education. “Right after the graduation, I started my professional career as an IT consultant at Andersen Consulting [Accenture]. Since then, I have been involved in numerous IT-centric projects in many industries which include banking, insurance, telecom-

“We just started our business in the Philippines, so I just want to focus on establishing a sustainable business foundation for next several years, and then start planning for the next step,” he says.

Naotori says Quipper is working on partnerships with private and public institutions to help bring Quipper School and Quipper Video to a wider audience.

“Globally, our research and development team is looking into expanding to Vietnam and Thailand,” he says.

Naotori says education needs to keep up with technology. “Alongside this development, many re-

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WORLD

N. JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRISTIE ENDORSES TRUMP WASHINGTON—The Republican party’s last-gasp bid to deny Donald Trump’s presidential nomination suffered a momentous setback Friday, when the billionaire won the shock endorsement of charismatic conservative grandee Chris Christie.

Christie—a New Jersey governor once seen as White House material himself—jettisoned earlier criticism to describe Trump as best placed to defeat Democrats in the November election and “provide America with the strong leadership that it needs.”

“The single most important thing for the party is to nominate the person to give us the best chance to beat Hillary Clinton,” said Christie, who joined Trump on the campaign trail in Florida to pledge his support, two weeks after dropping out of the race himself.

Christie’s endorsement of Trump is unlikely to win over many voters, but it significantly dampens the anti-Trump message that had been emerging from within the party.

Christie, as the Republican governor of a Democratic state, has long been seen as one of the party’s most talented politicians.

Although he was forced to drop out of this year’s White House race after polling badly, he provides Trump with a powerful surrogate, who has earned a reputation as a potent attack dog.

Riding a populist wave that has often veered toward racism and demagoguery, the real estate mogul has won three of the first four statewide nominating contests before next week’s “Super Tuesday,” when 11 more states vote.

The meticulously timed endorsement from Christie immediately dulled a newly-launched assault by the party mainstream aimed at blocking Trump’s path to the White House before it is too late. AFP

FLOCK. Migrants and refugees rest in

a camp as they wait for a train to Serbia near Gevgelija on the Greek - Macedonian border. Balkan countries along the welltrodden migrant path towards northern Europe explore ways to stem down the flow despite growing fears that tighter controls will spark a humanitarian crisis, particularly in Greece. AFP

SHAKY TRUCE SUSPENDS 5-YR CIVIL WAR IN SYRIA DAMASCUS—Guns fell silent across Syria on Saturday after a landmark UN-backed ceasefire came into effect, as a special task force led by rivals Moscow and Washington prepared to begin monitoring the fledgling truce.

But Washington immediately expressed skepticism as to whether the ceasefire would last, but said it offered the “best chance to reduce the violence.”

Speaking in Washington on Thursday, President Barack Obama put the onus firmly on the regime and Russia, saying the “world will be watching” whether they keep to the truce.

US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington had received assurances from Moscow that it would not bomb the “moderate opposition” after the truce.

“I don’t know how to put it any better than saying: ‘It’s put up or shut up time,”

he told reporters.

Iran, another key Assad ally, has said it is confident the regime will abide by the agreement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in televised remarks said that Moscow would continue targeting “terrorist groups.”

“The decisive fight against them will, without doubt, be continued,” he said in televised remarks. “There is no other way.”

Moscow backs Assad and Washington supports the opposition, but both have made a concerted push for the ceasefire to be respected.

On the stroke of midnight, firing stopped in suburbs around the capital and the devastated northern city of Aleppo, AFP correspondents said, after a day of intense Russian air strikes on rebel bastions across the country.

Monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was quiet in the north of Latakia province and in the central provinces of Homs and Hama.

The nationwide cessation of hostilities is the first pause in five years of a civil war that has claimed more than 270,000 lives.

United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura said peace talks would resume on March 7 if the agreement holds and more aid is delivered—a key sticking point in negotiations for a truce.

Fighting appears to have “calmed down,” he told reporters shortly after midnight, adding that a special task

force would meet in Geneva on Saturday to monitor the ceasefire.

Russian forces on Saturday said that its warplanes would not fly any sorties over Syria on Saturday in support of a ceasefire and to rule out any possible “bombing mistakes.”

“On February 27, sorties of the Russian aviation in Syria including longrange aviation, are not (being) carried out”, Sergei Rudskoi, a senior representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, told reporters.

He said it was being done to rule out “any possible bombing mistakes” and in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution.

Moscow and Washington, co-chairs of the task force which back opposing sides in Syria, have set up rival offices to monitor the truce along with a UN operation centre and would be first to deal with any infractions. AFP

ANGRY FARMERS MOCK HOLLANDE AS FRENCH AGRI HITS WORST CRISIS

HECKLE AND BOOS. French President Francois Hollande (R) received jeers as he spoke to French farmers during his visit a agricultural fair in Paris, France marking the ‘worst crisis ever’ faced by the country’s farmers. AFP

PARIS—French President Francois Hollande was heckled Saturday as France’s annual agricultural fair kicked off against the backdrop of the “worst crisis ever” facing the country’s farmers.

Livestock farmers booed and whistled as Hollande and Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll made their way through the vast hall in southern Paris, walking past a large banner reading: “I am the best in my profession but my passion is no longer enough.”

After months of protests across the country that saw farmers blocking roads with their tractors or dumping manure outside government offices, security was tight outside the venue, but no

incidents were reported.

Inside, flag-waving representatives of farmers’ unions were the first to greet the president, who spoke with them for some 20 minutes before going on to admire the fair’s mascot, a Bazadais cow from southwestern France named Cerise (Cherry).

Hollande acknowledged that the crisis facing farmers is “exceptionally hard, exceptionally long, exceptionally generalized.”

He added: “To come and exhibit in the context of so much difficulty and pain is a lovely act of patriotism. It is not compliments that farmers want but lasting policies.”

Laurent Pinatel, spokesman of the national small farmers group

Confederation Paysanne, told AFP earlier: “Agriculture is experiencing its worst crisis ever.”

And the head of the main farmers union FNSEA, Xavier Beulin, said he would “remind (Hollande) of the depth of the crisis.”

“There is a lot of worry on the farms, a lot of people are quitting (because) they feel there is no future,” Pinatel said, noting that 5,000 farmers are leaving the sector each year.

The beef, pork and milk sectors have seen prices collapse because of declining sales to China and especially the Russian embargo on most Western food imports in retaliation for sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. AFP

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WORLD editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Beijing charms g20 over slowing growth ShAnGhAI—China’s normally reclusive central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan is an unusually prominent presence at the G20 finance ministers meeting in Shanghai, racing from seminar to news conference to spread positive messages about the world’s second-largest economy.

After months of silence, the governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) wants investors to know that the yuan currency—also known as the renminbi (RMB)—will be stable despite the slowest growth in a quarter of a century.

“The fundamentals of China’s economy remain strong. There is no basis for persistent renminbi depreciation,” Zhou told a conference on Friday, before delivering a similar message half an hour later at a rare media briefing by the central bank, all after he gave respected business magazine Caixin a lengthy interview earlier this month.

Chinese officials are mounting an unprecedented charm offensive in an attempt to convince global investors that its economy and currency are healthy, but doubts over their message remain despite the public statements.

The drive comes after senior officials from around the world—among them IMF chief Christine Lagarde and US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew—urged Chinese authorities to communicate better.

“China is ramping up public relations in what will be a difficult 2016,” China economist at IhS Global Insight, Brian Jackson, said in a research note.

“During the second half of 2015, a vacuum of public statements raised market uncertainty, which officials are now trying to fill, itself a positive development regardless of their exact messaging.”

A stock market slump and shock currency devaluation in mid-2015 raised worries about Beijing’s ability to avoid a hard landing.

Policymaking is secretive in the Communist-ruled country and statebacked media toe the party line, restricting the free flow of information that modern capital markets need, analysts say. AFP

Nearly 1m japaNese died iN past 5 years TOKYO—Japan’s latest census confirmed the hard reality long ago signaled by shuttered shops and abandoned villages across the country: the population is shrinking.

The number of Japanese dropped to 127.1 million in a national census for 2015, down 0.7 percent compared with five years earlier, according to data released Friday by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The decline was the first recorded since the 5-year census started in 1920.

The 947,000 decline in the population in the last five years was the first since the once-every-five-years count started in 1920.

Unable to count on a growing market and labor force to power economic expansion, the government has drawn up urgent measures to

counter the falling birth rate.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made preventing a decline below 100 million a top priority. But population experts say it would be virtually impossible to prevent that even if the birth rate rose to Abe’s target of 1.8 children per woman from the current birthrate of 1.4.

Without a substantial increase in the birthrate or loosening of staunch Japanese resistance to immigration, the population is forecast to fall to about 108 million by 2050 and to 87 million by 2060.

Japan is one of the world’s fastest aging countries with 27 percent of

people over 65 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Germany, France and Italy face similar population trends, with one in every five of their citizens over the age of 65, data showed.

The rate of population growth peaked in 1950 and has fallen continuously since 1975. By 2011 it had hit zero, the census figures show.

Though Japan is leading this demographic shift, the rest of Asia is following. In South Korea, China and elsewhere in Asia, improved life spans and falling birthrates are raising worries over how to provide for the rapidly expanding ranks of seniors with shrinking labor forces.

A World Bank report issued late last year forecast that health and pension spending will rise sharply at a time when elders can count on less support from their families.

“The rapid pace and sheer scale of aging in East Asia raises policy challenges, economic and fiscal pressures and social risks,” the report said.

It recommended that governments facilitate more participation in the labor force by women and seniors, provide better childcare and elder-care, and revamp their pension and health systems to cope.

For Japan, the demographic crunch is one of the biggest challenges to a postwar economic model based on rising incomes and consumption.

Tokyo, Japan’s capital, had the highest municipal population with 13.5 million. The city also recorded the biggest increase in population after Okinawa prefecture. Osaka, the country’s second biggest city, is among 39 prefectures and cities that had a decline in population. AFP

ChoiCe. an iranian man casts his ballot in a box designated for the assembly of experts as a policeman looks on at a polling station. iranians will vote for both parliamentary elections and the assembly of experts in an elections billed by the moderate president as vital to curbing conservative dominance in parliament and speeding up domestic reforms after a nuclear deal with world powers. AFP

suicide BomBer kills at least 10 people in west afghanistan

WATeRWoRLD. A resident walks through a flooded alley in his neighborhood after it

was submerged by floodwaters in Jakarta on February 26, 2016. Heavy monsoon rains have left many areas of the Indonesian capital flooded causing heavy traffic and leaving some commuters stranded. AFP

JALALABAD—At least 10 people were killed and over 40 injured in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar on Saturday, officials said.

“A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle detonated his explosives in a market in Asadabad the provincial capital, 10 people were killed and over 40 were injured,” Ghani Mosamem, spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP. Sayed Maqsood Pacha, deputy provincial police chief, put the death toll slightly higher at 11. no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban insur-

gents, who have been waging a 14 year-long bloody insurgency in the country, have been blamed for such attacks in the past.

The incident comes as direct peace talks with the Taliban are due to take place next week.

A witness to the blast, who did not want to be named, told AFP that an influential tribal elder, haji Khan Jan, was the target of the attack and was killed.

Jan had led a local uprising against the Taliban in the past, the witness added.

Kunar is a restive and remote province that shares a long border with neighbouring Pakistan—which the

Afghan government has accused in the past of harbouring Taliban militants.

Delegates from Afghanistan, China, the US and Pakistan met in the Kabul last week for a fourth round of talks aimed at forming a path back to the nascent peace process, which was interrupted by last summer’s announcement that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had died.

The fresh peace initiative comes as the insurgents wage an unprecedented winter campaign of violence across Afghanistan, underscoring a worsening security situation more than 14 years after they were driven out of power by US-led nATO forces. AFP

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SPORTS

riera mall ari EDITOR

sports@thestandard.com.ph

A pARtiCipAnt CRAwls undeR BARB wiRes.

are you tough enough?

By Randy Caluag

IF YOU think you’re tough, then Tough X Rough is for you, the world’s most difficult Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) and Asia’s only OCR World Championship Qualifier.

Brought to the Philippines by TV5, Tough X Rough has attracted thousands of registrants and they keep on pouring in.

Participants will compete in eight race events patterned after a military-type com-

mando training, including three short courses, four long courses, four booth camps and a national championship to be held in various venues around the country.

The top male and female individual winners and the top men and women’s teams will get prizes, including a free trip to the coveted OCR World Championship at the Blue Mountain Resort, the largest mountain resort in Ontario Canada on Oct. 15 and 16.

David Broth, the man behind the Rough and Tough Asia, said participants will get to test their character and their physical capabilities in a safe and controlled environment.

“It’s more than just a race, it’s about experience, hard work, perseverance, teamwork and the sense of community,” said Broth,

who has handled several blue-chip events like the Challenge Family Triathlon in the Philippines, F1 Night Race, 1st Youth Olympic Games, Net Ball World Championship, FINA World in Singapore, and Ironman Triahtlon, among others.

The international rules for OCR require the competitors to race across various challenges like climbing over walls, lifting heavy objects, traversing bodies of water, crawling under barbed wires and jumping through blazing hoops.

Races vary both in the distance and challenge levels, combining the skills for trail running, road running and cross-country running.

“We are very excited to bring this

breakthrough event that promises Filipino sports fans an entirely new level of sports action,” said Sports 5 head Patricia Bermudez Hizon. “We’ll get to witness individuals pushed to their limits and the value of teamwork and sportsmanship in achieving one’s goals.”

What makes the individual race unique is that competitors can help one another, especially in the climbing course when one needs a push to get to the other side of the walls.

The Tough X Rough was recently launched at the Greenfield Central Park in Mandaluyong with hundreds of trial participants testing some of the challenges.

Actor-sportsman Derek Ramsay will host the event that will be shown over TV 5.

WORLD-CLASS MMA nOW On yOUR SMARTPHOnE

A Tough X Rough participant will get to test his climbing skills.

SMART, the country’s unrivaled mobile services provider and UFC, the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization, have announced a multiyear partnership that will bring the world’s fastest growing sport closer to more Filipinos.

As part of the partnership, Smart will be the official and exclusive mobile carrier of the UFC in the Philippines, and will introduce exciting consumer promotions and marketing activities that are set to provide unique experiences to UFC fans and subscribers of Smart Bro, the telco’s mobile broadband brand.

These consumer promotions will give Smart Bro subscribers special access to UFC fan events and experiences, as well as the exclusive opportunity to meet and interact with top UFC athletes. Moreover, Smart Bro subscribers will enjoy exclusive access to live viewing parties throughout the year, and chances to get their hands on premium co-branded items.

Smart will also be a provider of UFC FIGHT PASS, a digital platform providing fans with exclusive UFC content and access to the world’s largest library of fight content. This will be made available through Philippines’ largest and fastest mobile broadband network.

“Beyond providing the country’s fastest, widest and most reliable mobile broadband connection, Smart always goes out of its way to support the many passion points of our subscribers with awesome

experiences. We are very delighted to partner with UFC, and we can’t wait to bring the sport to our subscribers through our unparalleled services and offers,” said Oscar A. Reyes, First Vice President and Wireless Consumer Broadband at Smart.

“Filipinos can take a huge step toward the ultimate UFC experiences by getting a Smart Bro Pocket WiFi now and start enjoying full-packed Big Bytes offers,” Reyes added.

“The Philippines continues to be one of UFC’s strongest markets in Asia and a blueprint for our growth in the region. With our massive fan base and huge media interest in our sport, combined with the runaway success of our inaugural sold out Manila event, we want to be able to provide as

much opportunity as possible for fans to interact with UFC. This partnership is a huge step in that direction,” said Kenneth Berger, UFC’s Executive Vice-President and General Manager, Asia.

SMART’s new collaboration with UFC adds to its impressive portfolio of world-class partnerships, further asserting its position as the country’s unrivaled telecommunications and mobile provider, delivering a Smart Life experience to all subscribers.

To find out more about the upcoming UFC consumer promotions for Smart Bro subscribers, visit www.smart.com. ph/UFC and follow Smart’s accounts on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SmartCommunications), Twitter and Instagram (@ LiveSmart).

Smart and UFC executives announce multi-year partnership that will bring world class MMA to more Filipinos. In the photo are Gary Dujali, Vice President and Consumer Broadband Marketing Head; Ramon Isberto, PLDT and Smart Public Affairs Head; Pamela Santiago, Assistant Vice President and Smart Bro Head; UFC Fighter Stephen “The Wonderboy” Thompson; Filipina UFC Octagon Girl Red dela Cruz; and Kenneth Berger, UFC Executive Vice President and General Manager, Asia.

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SPORTS

ARMAN ARMERO EDITOR

sports@thestandard.com.ph

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GM Eugene Torre and local tournament organizer Aries Sacayanan (2nd from left) pose with the winners of the team event led by GM Darwin Laylo during the awarding ceremony of the Bobby D Pacquiao Random Chess Festival 2016 at the SM Mall in General Santos City. Below, blitz champion Jerich Cajeras (middle) and rapid chess champion IM Joel Pimentel with Torre and Sacayana proudly displaying their trophies.

A CHESS FESTIVAL IN GENSAN CITY

By Arman Armero

There were familiar faces and there were new players. There were young men, old warriors, women and teens, and players of all sizes.

They were all there at the Trade Hall of the SM City Mall in General Santos City to try their skills, or perhaps a dash of luck in the Bobby D. Pacquiao Random Chess Festival 2016 held Feb. 20-26.

The prestige of being a champion team and the best rapid and blitz players was tempting enough, but the lure of the P2,000,000 cash prize was so strong, players from all over the country made the trip to faraway GenSan, at least to those who flew from Manila and from the northern side of the country.

Some of the players were already familiar with Fischer random chess, more

By Danny Simon

popularly known as Chess 960, so named because it offers 960 different positions from the get-go.

Others, however, treaded on unfamiliar grounds. GM Eugene Torre, who organized the event under his Eugene Torre with the money coming from Sarangani Cong. Manny Pacquiao, a mean chess player when not re-arranging his opponents in the boxing ring, were nevertheless ecstatic on the outcome of the event “It was very successful,” said Torre of the weeklong event. “Not only in terms of participation, but you can see that Filipino chess players now appreciate random chess, which

encourages more creativity and not solely rely on memory or by rote.”

Indeed, the numbers didn’t lie. The team tournament, which has four players each, including one or two titled players, drew 64 teams, the rapid event had 230 participants and the blitz even also had the same number of bidders.

And after seven days of mental jousts, psyching and moments mixed with doubts and certainties, only the toughest survived, won and went home happier and richer.

In the team event, the Elegant Houses in Pampanga emerged as champion via a superior tiebreak, after it ended up tied with NICA Team Ilonggo and Pacman Team A with similar 12 points.

GM Darwin Laylo, Elegant’s top board player, led the team’s onslaught, when he beat fellow GM

Jayson Gonzales, while his teammates followed suit to complete a 4-0 whitewash.

But because the three teams ended with the same score, they split the combined 1st-3rd places cash prize of P960,000 and went home richer with P320,000 each.

But if the results of the team tournament were a bit surprising, the outcome of the next two events presented a little twist.

The rapid event was won by a Bacolod native, IM Joel Pimentel, who is on his third year at College of St. Benilde taking up a Computer Application course. Pimentel won P60,000 as solo champion.

The blitz event, on the other hand, was won by another player from Bacolod, Jenrich Cajeras, who graduated from the same school and took up the same course.

In both their final round, they faced the same oppo-

nent in GM Joey Antonio.

Pimentel agreed to a draw with Antonio in the rapid event’s final round, while Cajeras beat the same player in his final round assignment in the blitz side.

Ironic, but that’s the way the chess pieces rolled—or moved.

Maybe that’s part of the

YOUNG TRIATHLETE ON THE RISE

YOUNG promising triathlete Everly Janarie M. Macalalad has a clear, 20/20 vision despite her young age. This early, she is setting her sights in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

The 13-year old pride of Muntinlupa City and a gem of an athlete from Colegio San Agustin-Biñan in Laguna, who is also a swimmer for her school, started her triathlon career only last year but had immediately made an impact when she made a podium finish in the age-group trievent calendared by Triathlon Association of the Philippines headed by its president Tom Carrasco Jr. The sixth-grader, who finished in the top 3 of the event, naturally felt proud of her achievement, even as the triathlon community welcomed its newest jewel in the country’s growing list of young, promising triathletes.

Encouraged by her good showing, Janarie has now fully embraced her new endeavor and now dreams of

someday wearing the national uniform to compete abroad and bring honor to her country.

Asked why she chose triathlon as her sport, Janarie has this to say: “Triathlon is different from other disciplines. It is a unique tri-event competition, it’s fun and very challenging I love the sport.”

The daughter of Engr. Edgardo Macalalad and Soledad M. Macalalad, Janarie said she’s very thankful of her parents’ full support.

The proud parents never fail to accompany Janarie to school, training and actual competitions—which had encouraged the young athlete to strive to win more medals for her family.

Already an achiever at a young age, the youngest of the five Macalalad siblings started competing and finishing in the top three places in TRAP-organized events last year.

She capped her consistent showing when she ruled the Anvaya Cove Beach and NatureClub Super Tri-

Janarie Macalalad in action Kids (12-under category) in Morong, Bataan last Oct. 29, 2015, where she even surpassed the the clocking of the champion in the boys’ category in their age category.

Her impressive victory prompted TRAP chief Carrasco, who is concurrently the Philippine Olympic Committee chairman), to endorsed the promising triathlete to the Philippine Sports Commission as a member of the national training pool.

The move set a clear direction for Janarie in her dream of becoming a national athlete and follow the footsteps of her idol and “kuya” Edward Vince Jared Macalalad, a former no.1 junior triathlete who is among the top ten junior triathletes in Asia, an ITU-ASTC scholar and is now a member of the country’s elite triathletes currently training in Portugal.

Janarie admits of feeling envious of her “kuya,” but for all the right reasons.

“I’m jealous of my kuya , I want to compete too,” Janarie was reported to have said when she only seven, seeing the attention being showered to her big brother by the family at that time that Edward was busy competing in

beauty of the game, and its latest incarnation as a random chess. Whatever it was, the Gensan tournament indeed was a rousing success, not only for those who won, but for all those who became richer by the experience of playing the sport and appreciating the city and its amazing people.

various triathlon events.

But that envy or jealousy turned out to be a good motivator for Janarie.

Soon after, Janarie began competing in triathlete and proved that she too can be as good as her brother when she started going to the podium to claim her medals and likewise do well in school.

She was part of the school’s swimming team since Grade 3, and recently, was recognized by the school for her feats not only in swimming but also in triathlon.

Janarie won a silver medalist in Batang Pinoy triathlon, an STCAA qualifier since Grade 3, while staying at the Top 5 in her class. She has, in fact, posted a consistent 90-plus average since junior kinder.

Recently, in a TRAP/ NAGT held at the ACEA Beach Area in SBMA, Olongapo City, Janarie saw action in a higher age category (13-above) and competed with rivals 2-years older and still managed to steal the show for a strong podium finish.

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REUEL VIDAL EDITOR sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

BEST PLAYERS

FROM NORTH LUZON CHOSEN AT LA TRINIDAD CAMP

By Reuel Vidal

THE eight best young basketball players from northern Luzon were chosen at the JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented

by Alaska Regional Selection Camp at the Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet the strawberry capital of the Philippines, last weekend.

The two-day camp was held at the sprawling campus of BSU, which was awarded the State Universities and Colleges Level IV, the highest category in the SUC leveling classification by the Commission on Higher Education.

The six boys selected are Jan Zyrus de Ayre of Berkeley School Baguio, Ric Ozner Gatuz of Cherished Moments School in Baguio, Vincent Madiwo of University of Cordilleras in Baguio, Wrench Mason Roquid of University of Perpetual Help System in Laguna, Emmanuel Macaramas of Bayambang National High School in Baguio and Sergz Quitales of St. Louis University-Laboratory High School in Baguio.

The two girls are Treena Areola of Berkeley School Baguio and Rae Jemina Caba of SLU-Laboratory Elementary School.

Kianah Ochabillo of SLULHS, John Jacob Chua of University of Cordilleras in Baguio, Brandon Jan Atijera of SLU-LHS and Ethan Rodelas of Berkeley School Baguio were named reserves.

The La Trinidad camp is the first of four regional camps which will select the best basketball players aged 10-14 who become members of the JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska All-Star teams.

Five hundred fifty eight boys and 108 girls came from all over Luzon to participate in the camp. Young basketball players from Malvar, Lipa, Batangas endured a 10hour drive to reach the camp.

Thirteen-year-old Areola,

Participants display their dribbling skills during the JrNBA and JrWNBA Regional Selection Camp.

the camps will advance to the National Training Camp in Manila on April 22-24. There is also a search for the boys and girls coaches who will handle the two teams.

Ten boys, five girls and two coaches – along with other top campers from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia – will fly overseas to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime NBA experience.

Last year, the JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska All-Stars went to China to watch the NBA Global Games in Shenzhen featuring the Charlotte Hornets and the Los Angeles Clippers.

The JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska hopes to challenge and inspire children to achieve their dreams and aspirations in life. It is free and open to boys and girls born 2002 to 2006.

“These holistic programs train children to be confident, disciplined and hardworking because Alaska Milk Corp. aims to prepare them to be winners in life in the future. This year’s program includes new locations such as Batangas, Catanduanes and Cavite to reach more children and coaches and discover the best basketball players across the country,” said Marketing Director Blen Fernando.

The national finalists ex-

Alaska Aces assistant coach Jeff Cariaso teaches a young boy the proper form when passing the basketball during the JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska Regional Selection Camp.

celled in the skills stations (dribbling, passing, shooting, running and jumping) and scrimmages. They also exemplified the STAR values of Sportsmanship, Teamwork, a positive Attitude and Respect throughout the camp.

The 2016 JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska program kicked off at Don Bosco Technical Institute Makati last month.

Open clinics that teach basic basketball skills will run until April with stops in Bukidnon, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Metro Manila and Puerto Princesa. New locations include Batangas, Catanduanes and Cavite.

More than 36,000 players and 2,700 coaches have participated in the program since it started in the Philippines in 2007. The JrNBA and JrWNBA program will reach more than 6.5 million youth in 32 countries during the 2015-2016 season.

For general information about JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska please visit www.jrnba.asia/philippines, www.alaskamilk.com, and www.alaskapowercamp. com/basketball. For live updates log on to www.playph. com or follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @ playph #jrnba #jrwnba.

The eight best young basketball players from northern Luzon join the JrNBA coaches after being chosen at the JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska Regional Selection Camp at the Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet.

who lives in nearby Baguio, was in tears after being selected as one of just two girls from the camp.

“Masaya po at tuwang tuwa na mapili. Last year pa ako nag try out dito pero ngayon lang ako nag qualify. Maliit

na bata pa po ako nagba basketball na ako,” she said.

The young girl represented Baguio in the 2016 Cordillera Administrative Regional Athletic Association (Caraa) last Feb. 6-10. She joins the region’s selection that will com-

pete in girls basketball during the Palarong Pambansa in Albay Province April 10 to 18.

The next regional selection camps will be held in Davao (Feb. 27-28), Cebu (March 5-6) and Metro Manila (April 9-10).

Fifty boys and 24 girls from

Katreena Areola (right) watches the flight of the basketball during a scrimmage.

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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

S U NDAY L IF E

LIFE Salvage wood designs—her candidate pieces during NY NOW 2016

Ann Ong holding her plaque for Best New Product Design in NY NOW Winter Show 2016 and her organic coco wood clutch winning piece

At her booth in NY NOW 2016

HANDCRAFTED OPULENCE

ANN ONG BECOMES THE FIRST FILIPINA AWARDEE AT NY NOW WINTER 2016

CAROTID ARTERY

BY TATUM ANCHETA The strongest may survive, but it is the passionate that will thrive.

– Jon Gordon

I

t was during my second time to judge for Katha Awards at Manila Fame last 2012 when I first encountered the works of unique accessories designer Ann Ong. Looking for pieces that stand out from the work of thousands of other artisans can be a grueling task, but choosing Ann’s work didn’t come so hard as there’s something about her pieces that keeps you coming back and draws you in, as if you are looking at a work of art.

Ann’s booth didn’t look like the work of an artisan who was joining Manila Fame for the first time.

“Who is this designer?” the jurors were all asking each other. All we heard was that she consigns at the House of Laurel. We all chose her Binanig clutch bag that was inspired from the banig (woven mat), finding it very interesting that a banig design could look so elegant in a luxury clutch bag.

After that win, Ann Ong’s name wasn’t just credited as

that of an accessory maker from the House of Laurel, as people would soon say, “Oh that’s an Ann Ong!” whenever they see her work.

Her name became splashed all over the fashion pages of so many publications, her pieces featured in different fashion editorials, or seen worn by fashionable society icons in parties and balls.

“The first time I joined Manila Fame was October 2012. It was beginner's luck for me because I won my first Katha Award,” Ann shares. “The Binanig clutch bag was inspired from the banig which was used in the province. From my Binanig clutch bag you can see the handwoven metal.” Today, the Binanig clutch had become a bestseller abroad from her recent shows in Paris, New York, Ambiente in Germany, Jakarta Fashion Week, Singapore, and Hong Kong exhibits.

“The Binanig clutch bag is a classic timeless work of art,” says Ann. For two more consecutive years after her first win, she would bag the Katha Award for Best Product Design for Fashion for her salvage wood clutch bag then another for her buko twigs clutch bag.

Fast forward to 2016, she now holds the distinction of being the first Filipina awardee at New York NOW Winter 2016 to take home the Best New Product Design award for her organic coco wood clutch.

“They thought it was made in Italy and they were

Ann Ong, a proud Filipina artisan PHOTO BY MJ SUAYAN

surprised (that) it's made in the Philippines,” shares Ann about her winning piece. Her designs always mesmerize as inspiration from unlikely materials always seem elegantly put together, creating a piece

that looks like a piece of luxury. “My signature designs are very organic.

It's handcrafted opulence,” says Ann. For her NY winning piece, her coco wood clutch design looked like

a luxurious and functional work of art despite being just made from coco wood.

“All my designs are nature inspired. Nature has given me so much joy and to appreciate nature by heart is for free,” she adds.

“Being the first recepient for the Best New Product Design in NY NOW Winter Show 2016 gave me an edge in the global arena. Now I have a strong presence in New York and in Paris,” she says. But she attributes her win and the global recognition she is getting to the Filipino artisans under her wing. “Every curve and every line of my jewelry is not just a work of art but it is the heart and soul of my artisans,” she explains. “My creativity is a gift from God, I am just an instrument in this universe to make a difference and improve the lives of Filipino artisans.

That gives me the strength and my dedication with compassion to promote the work of my people."

She adds, “When you are happy with what you do in this universe everything aligns to your success. I was in the clothing business before and handled the marketing of our hotel supplies business. It was three years ago when I told my husband that I wanted to do something that makes me happy which is handmade jewelries that are works of art and one of a kind. I like wearing unique pieces of jewelries and this makes me happy.”

Ann Ong’s journey has been driven by her passion to create but now her mission is not just about her works but her responsibility and dedication to promote Filipino craftsmanship.

Continued on C3

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

COLGATE-PALMOLIVE PARTNERS WITH OPERATION SMILE TO KEEP THE PHILIPPINES SMILING

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PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

hildren with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities have more reason to smile following the inking of a memorandum of agreement between Colgate-Palmolive Philippines, Operation Smile Philippines and Puregold Price Club that would help raise funds for cleft surgeries, dental health checkups and fluoride treatments. The MOA signing held at the Seda Business Hotel in Bonifacio Global City coincided with the 90th anniversary of Colgate-Palmolive Philippines, which also heralded the launch of the oral care company’s nationwide year-long corporate social responsibility campaign called “Keep the Philippines Smiling.”

According to OSP country director for Development Roberto Manzano, the year-long campaign is an expansion of a long-running oral health program by Colgate Palmolive called “ Bright Smile, Bright Futures.”

The strategic partnership will make the future brighter for Filipino children and young adults who find it difficult to smile From left: Country director of development for Operation Smile Philippines, Roberto 'Bobby' Manzano; Chairman of Board of Trustees, Operation Smile Phils., Edith Villanueva; vice president/general manager of Colgate-Palmolive Philippines, Stephen Lau; and Colgate-Palmolive Phils. finance director, Jennifer Peng

Colgate-Palmolive Phils.vice president/general manager Stephen Lau poses by the project’s campaign poster 'Keep the Philippines Smiling'

due to congenital facial deformities. Under the agreement, every Colgate participating product purchased at Puregold Stores until April 17 entitles Operation Smile Philippines to a corresponding P5 donation, with the funds to be utilized for the cost of reconstructive surgery for facial deformities.

“The company feels privileged to have this opportunity to make a meaningful impact to the community,” said ColgatePalmolive Philippines vice president and general manager Stephen Lau. At the launch, the company also introduced new products, among them a sugar acid neutralizer toothpaste that can reduce oral cavities by 25 percent. “We at Colgate Palmolive firmly believe that good oral health is a basic right of every citizen,” Lau shared.

The company has also partnered with the Department of Education for the implementation of its flagship corporate social responsibility program Bright Smiles, Bright Futures to promote oral health education and literacy, conducting dental screenings and providing oral care kits to students particularly those in public schools. Along with the Philippine Association of Dental Colleges, oral health projects are being implemented nationwide in the hopes that the initiative will make a difference by changing the world one smile at a time.

Under the program, free oral dental checkups and free fluoride treatments are conducted, with a fleet of two mobile dental vans staffed by volunteer dentists providing free dental screenings and education to various communities in the Philippines. Last year, over 2.3 million students benefited from the program that also has the support of parents and local government units.

Certainly, the program of Colgate-Palmolive fits in very well with the objectives of Operation Smile, a volunteerbased international medical charity organization founded

by Dr. Bill Magee and his wife Kathy and has its roots in Naga, Camarines Sur when the couple flew there in 1982 to conduct the first Operation Smile mission. Since then, thousands of children have seen their lives change with the free reconstructive surgery performed by volunteer doctors and personnel in over three decades.

For more on Operation Smile Philippines, visit www. operationsmile.org.ph or follow on Facebook www.facebook. com/operationsmilephils/. You may also check out www. colgate.ph/app/BrightSmilesBrightFutures/PH/HomePage. cvsp for updates and other information on Colgate-Palmolive Philippines’ Bright Smiles, Bright Futures program.

FORUM POWERS UP BUSINESSES

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xpanding and up-and-coming enterprises got an auspicious head start as Meralco’s first Biz Partners Power Up Forum for 2016 provided strategic insights on how to turn electricity costs into profits, with feng shui forecast for the Year of the Fire Monkey also provided for good measure.

Meralco Biz Partners is a special segment of the electric distributor dedicated to assisting companies in opening up and expanding their business. The Power Up Forum is an ongoing session that aims to educate businesses on energy best practices, and solutions to manage and maximize their energy efficiency, consumption and profits.

Through highly informative presentations and Q and A, the attendees in the first installment of the Power Up Forum gained strategic insights on how Meralco Biz Partners’ services can help their bottom line.

The said value-added services mentioned in the forum include helping entrepreneurs with contract right sizing,

enrolling them in the Peak/Off-Peak program, giving them Power Ideas for innovative energy solutions, as well as connecting them with the Accredited Meralco Contractors who have received technical and safety training from Meralco.

Spearheading the forum were Meralco Biz Partners’ group head Engr. Ma. Cecilia Domingo, Biz marketing head Anne Ablaza-Gomez, and zone heads Lauren Velasco and Engr. Mike Antonio.

Also in attendance were the Meralco zone representatives who answered customer queries and handled new business requests. Philip Te, president of Philstone Industrial and Manufacturing Corp., a Meralco Business Luminary awardee for 2014, made his presence felt as well.

Capping the insightful forum was a talk by feng shui Master Charlie Chao who gave his forecast on the Year of the Monkey along with tips on how to plug into prosperity and ring in the new year with good luck.

Meralco Biz Partners’ zone head Ricky Martinez and Cold Chain Association of the Philippines president Anthony Dizon

From left: Meralco Biz Partners’ customer service engineer Patrick Avedillo, The Address at Wack Wack’s Luisa Joven, Perry’s Group of Companies’ Arlene Jocson, Arvin Paunil and Gretel Castro

Go Negosyo’s Ramon Lopez with Meralco Biz Partners’ group head Engr.

Ma. Cecilia Domingo and marketing head Edeliza Lim

CJP Industries International Corp.’s John Lumbang, Philstone Industrial and Manufacturing Corp.’s Philip Te and Biz marketing head Anne Ablaza-Gomez

Albert Tanching of Palafox Associates

Feng Shui Master Charlie Chao

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Don't Forget The Parsley And More From A Positively Filipino Family Living Abroad

Marie Claire Lim Moore PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

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CELEBRATED AUTHOR REMINDS US: ‘DON’T FORGET THE PARSLEY’

wo years after she published her bestselling book Don’t Forget the Soap (And Other Reminders from My Fabulous Filipina Mother), FilipinaCanadian-American banker, speaker and author Marie Claire Lim Moore unveils its sequel featuring more heartwarming stories and tips for a happy life.

Entitled Don’t Forget the Parsley (And More from a Positively Filipino Family), Lim Moore picks up from where she left off after receiving overwhelming requests from the fans of her first book. According to her, writing the sequel was a big commitment and discipline that she did for the people who are genuinely interested in what she shares.

Same as its prequel, Don’t Forget the Parsley is a family memoir that chronicles entertaining stories about Lim Moore’s life and her family that she believes readers can appreciate and connect with. She takes her readers on a journey – from her parents’ migration from the Philippines to their experiences living abroad.

“There are a number of books that methodically try to measure and dissect happiness. I just wanted to share stories about my family,” she says pertaining to her books.

Lim Moore uses parsley – a popular herb used for garnishing – to remind people to

always put a garnish, a spice, a color to every aspect in their life, however silly or mundane it is. The author shares that the idea came from her mother, Lenore, who always makes it a point to garnish each dish she serves to them.

Lenore would then tell them that a garnish doesn’t only apply to the dinner table, but also in other places like in the office. Lim Moore explains that one can always and should always find a way to make one’s job exciting, like getting involved in other activities in the company.

Another way of adding color to all events and tasks one does, according to the author, is finding balance. This especially applies to working mothers who want to spend more time with their kids without having to give up their job.

After speaking with a number of women who are trying to balance their career and family, she discovers that many of them get to the point that they need to choose. But she thinks that a working mom should have confidence to impose rules on herself and her co-workers that would allow her to finish her job in the office and attend to her family at home.

She recounts that her parents always remind her to “Don’t forget the parsley” because it keeps things exciting no matter what age,

HANDCRAFTED OPULENCE From C1

“That the world will put value that is handmade from the Philippines,” says Ann. “My advocacy is to create more jobs for Filipino artisans. If you are skilled you don’t need a formal education. What is important is you have the

heart and soul in your skills.

If we can train and help more people to be artisans they can earn a decent job here in our country and they don't need to leave their families to work abroad.”

You may find Ann Ong’s designs in her shop in

status and situation a person is in. As her mother and father put it, “You don’t have the best of everything. But no matter what you have, make every thing as best as you can.”

In 2014, Lim Moore received the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World Award that recognizes Filipina women who are influencing the face of leadership in the global workplace. Her over 15 years of international

Claire shares a favorite excerpt from her book

Marco Polo Ortigas and soon she will be opening at Shangri-La Hotel in the Fort. “I have my distributor in New York and I have a strong presence in different countries. I am happy that my international buyers are very supportive to me. Each country has a different market. I just make sure that I personally attend to them.”

What's next for Ann Ong? “My journey continues. I will be in New York this August and

experience managing global consumer banking and payment products across different countries has earned her the recognition of being one of the leaders in the Asian and Filipino-American professional communities.

Don’t Forget the Parsley is now available on Amazon.com through bit.ly/dftp-amazon.

PHOTO BY ENA TEROL

Paris by September for another show. I see myself creating more jobs, collaborating with other international designers to resurrect handcrafting which is a dying industry, to inspire people that creativity is a gift from God that if you put your heart and mind into it, nothing is impossible. To improve myself more as a designer.

Everyday for me is filled with love and opportunities. I want to do

more arts and crafts for the needy children. And through my natureinspired designs, may women learn to value and protect mother nature,” she ends.

For comments, and topic suggestions, you may email me at tatum@thestandard.com.ph. For my crazy life’s adventures follow me at @tatumancheta on Instagram and Twitter.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

‘Fly’

The Biophilia masterpieces

‘Endure’ (left) and ‘Finding Freedom’ (right) are part of the Biophilia collection

Jewelle’s painting entitled ‘Full Throttle’

AFFINITY WITH NATURE #INTHEMOMENT

BY FRANCIS DE LEON

To my beloved readers, kindly indulge this columnist by pausing for a minute (or so) and picture yourself in the great outdoors amidst fresh foliage and scenic landscapes (but before you close your eyes – be mindful in exploring the limits of your imagination). Then, breathe deeply and slowly open your eyes (while smiling). How do you feel?

Now, imagine yourself looking at a blank white page, or a white screen, or a blank canvass. What do you see?

Most probably, you will have varied perceptions and thoughts on what will compel you to compose in your very own blank

Ann and Atty. Rene Puno with Tina Jacinto and Johnny Litton

canvass. However, I simply wanted to point out (through this brief exercise) that the state of wellbeing is a matter of mind.

My singular intention was to make you understand how the aforementioned connects us with the environment and how it empowers our inner sanctum to be well – through the energy that connects us with nature.

To prove this theory, one young and promising artist was able to interpret such innate force which encouraged her first foray into the Manila art scene entitled “BIOPHILIA: Our Connection to Nature.”

“I’d like to encourage viewers to get in touch with their emotional side and tap into their imagination, pushing the envelope of what is seen and unseen by creating their own imagery using the idea that we are all connected in one way or another,” expressed Jewelle Yeung on the occasion marking her second solo art exhibition in her home country.

According to Jewelle, she spent her formative years between Hong Kong, Cebu and the United Kingdom. She moved to London in

Art aficionados Leo Valdez, Tess Schoefer, Dra. Cecile Infantado, Donnalee Olive and George Sison

Len Olbes, Anna Sobrepeña, Mariquita Yeung and Mayenne Carmona

2001 and graduated with a Bachelor of Fashion Design and Technology degree at the University of the Arts. In 2006, she graduated from The City and Guilds of London Art School with a Master’s degree in Fine Art (oil painting). Seven years ago, she returned to Asia to pursue her passion. Since then, Jewelle has exhibited her paintings in galleries in New York, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The recent opening of her exhibit drew crowds from different parts of the world including Manila’s well-heeled art aficionados and patrons. Her works of art were beautifully curated by Collective 88 – an organization that aims to support and showcase emerging Filipino artists such as Jewelle.

Their creative collaboration was inspiring and one that definitely elevated the local art scene.

A big shout out goes to Jewelle for opening to a sold out crowd on her first exhibition in Manila.

Likewise, congratulations are in order for those who acquired her masterpieces. “I’d like them to feel liberated, that we are all

Tess Schoefer with Collective 88 founder Tessa Herrera

organic products of life at the end of the day, uncontrollable and unstoppable,” explained the artist.

She added that, “Even in death, we continue to evolve… there is some sort of strength in that.”

I must agree, there is a certain gush of energy and mystery that escalates when appreciating her opus (as depicted in the images in this Sunday’s column).

For the young and emerging artist, nature and emotion seem to be the driving force that inspire her to move forward with her creative pursuits – “Nature is never stagnant… constantly changing, this is the same for emotion, and they are both so powerful at the same time,” she shared.

The artist believes that nature and emotion go hand in hand, affirming that, “As long as I am near something living, I will continue to be inspired.”

Jewelle Yeung also told this columnist that she intends to do more shows in Manila and collaborate with other artists, be they painters, sculptors, light designers, and musicians. “My work is constantly evolving,” she

says, laughing as she adds, “maybe a little bit too fast, as my style tends to change quite quickly.” She is also gratified to see that “the amount of creativity here is limitless and it would be interesting to see what happens next.”

As for this columnist, I have discovered that art is part of our entirety. And while appreciating its complexities makes us mindful – it is fundamental to a well-lived life. When in doubt, pause for a moment, then develop the desire to be one with art and one with nature. I am optimistic that you, too, will harness the same affinity with nature.

After Jewelle’s exhibit, many of her paintings will soon be on the private walls of collectors.

Fortunately, you can still view (and be one with art) the “Biophilia” paintings until March 9 at A Space Gallery located at the 5th floor of Aboitiz Building, 110 Legazpi Street, Makati City.

Follow me on Twitter or Instagram @francis_deleon8 or email deleon_francis@yahoo.com.

Artist Jewelle Yeung (second from left) supported by her friends Sandra Ignacio, Rebecca Zabarte, Grace Zabarte and Jeremiah Zabarte

Carla Yeung-McKowen (fourth from left) with friends Guillaume Soumier, Michelle Soumier, Carlos Faustman, Edu Jarque, and Madlem Faustman to support her younger sister Jewelle

Len Olbes, Dra. Cecile Infantado, and Donnalee Olive from Australia

PHOTOS BY STAR SABROSO

Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Mariquita Yeung

The Rising ‘Rockstar’ painter that is Jewelle Yeung in her element

SUNDAY : F EBRUA RY 2 8, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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BO Asia, home of the Oscars®, takes 14 viewers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong to watch the red carpet live at the 88th Annual Academy Awards.

True to the glamour and glitz of Hollywood’s biggest event of the year, these 14 winners of HBO’s 2015 Ultimate Oscars® Experience contest will receive celebrity treatment, arrive at the Oscars® on Feb. 29, decked in red carpet style, all set to cheer their favorite Oscar® contenders, presenters and performers as they walk the red carpet.

Seven new pairs of viewers will again stand to win this chance of a lifetime, all-expense paid

Tom Hanks in the historical thriller Bridge of Spies

HBO ASIA’S COMPLETE

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also be streamed live on HBO GO. HBO Asia’s social media crew and TaiwaneseAmerican host, Janet Hsieh, will be reporting live from the star-studded 2016 Oscars® red carpet on the network’s social media platforms. And for the very first time, HBO Asia’s microsite (www. hboasia.com/oscars) will feature backstage interviews and web exclusive footage.

Hosted by Chris Rock, the 88th Annual Academy Awards will be held at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood. Additional Oscar® presenters and performers recently announced are Morgan Freeman, John Legend, J.J. Abrams, Sacha Baron Cohen, Henry Cavill and Dave Grohl.

OSCARS® EXPERIENCE Brie Larson and a child actor in a scene from the CanadianBritish drama Room

Emory Cohen and Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn

Alicia Vikander and Amber Heard, stars of the bio drama The Danish Girl

opportunity to experience the Oscars® red carpet live in 2017 when they answer a question that will be revealed during HBO’s live and exclusive broadcast of the 2016 Oscars® this February 29 at 9.30am. To find out more about the contest, log on to www.hboasia.com/oscars.

The 88th Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live exclusively on HBO on Feb. 29 across multiple screens, starting with the Oscars® Red Carpet ‘Live’at 8a.m. (same night primetime encore at 7 p.m.), and the 88th Annual Academy Awards ‘LIVE’ at 9.30a.m. (same night primetime encore at 8p.m.). The show will

Kate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in the romantic drama Carol

Michael Jordan and Sylvester Stallone in the ports drama Creed

13 EPISODES OF ‘HOUSE OF CARDS’ SEASON 4

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Kevin Spacey and Kevin Wright in a scene from House of Cards season 4, premiering on March 5 on RTL-CBS Entertainment HD

TL CBS Asia Entertainment HD announced it will air all 13 episodes of the fourth season of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning series House Of Cards with a watchathon beginning on March 5, 4 p.m., the same day as the release of the series in the US. The watchathon will have an encore the following day, 8 a.m. March 6.

“The fourth season of House of Cards is highly-anticipated by viewers in the region and we are very excited to bring the brand new season to this part of the world first and exclusive within 12 hours of its release in the U.S.,” says Jennifer Batty, EVP Programming, RTL CBS Asia Entertainment Network.

“RTL CBS Entertainment HD is the only place where fans can see the new season of House of Cards,” says Jonas Engwall, CEO, RTL CBS Asia Entertainment Network. “Delivering all 13 episodes in high-definition, back-to-back, localized with subtitles on the same day as the U.S., we guarantee audiences in the region a great viewing experience.”

House Of Cards follows the ruthless and cunning, Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his wife Claire (Robin Wright) as they stop at nothing to conquer everything. Underwood has risen from House Majority Whip to President of the United States of America. His wife Claire plays the dutiful wife with her own political ambitions. This wicked political drama penetrates the shadowy world of greed, sex and corruption in modern Washington D.C. House Of Cards is executive produced by Wade/Thomas Productions and Trigger Street Productions in association with Media Rights Capital. It has earned several accolades including Kevin Spacey’s Golden Globe® award for Best Actor in a Television Drama, Robin Wright’s Golden Globe® award for Best Actress in a Television Drama, as well as Emmy® Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series. It was also honored as one of the AmericanFilm Institute’s TV Programs of the Year for 2013.

SunDAy : F EbRuA Ry 2 8, 2016

SHOWBITZ C6 ThE MasTER shOwMan’s FInal BOw L ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

ast Friday, the brightest stars of Philippine entertainment industry gathered in one super show to celebrate the legacy of the country’s star-builder extraordinaire, the late German “Kuya Germs” Moreno.

GMA Network paid tribute to the Master Showman via the TV special entitled The Master Showman’s Final Bow where different artists from across networks came together to bring the kind of performance that Kuya Germs have inspired them to master.

Joey de Leon, Aiai de las Alas, Eugene Domingo, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Michael V shared their fondest memories of Kuya Germs.

Megastar Sharon Cuneta delivered a touching message for her Tatay in showbiz and how he had touched her life and heart.

Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid graced the stage with BetongSumaya, Jerald Napoles, Nar Cabico and Mike “Pekto” Nacua to offer the Master Showman a song that captures the emotion that the entire showbiz industry feels for the late icon.

Conquering one stage were Christian Bautista, Julie Anne San Jose, Jon Joven and Vina Morales as they performed “The Prayer” for Kuya Germs.

Jaya, Gino Padilla, Gian Magdangal and Keempee de Leon perormeda number for the Master Showman.

Universal Motion Dancers’ Wowie de Guzman, Jim and James Salas, Marco McKinley, Starstruck 6 Final 4 Klea Pineda, Elyson de Dios, Ayra Mariano and Migo Adecer plus Diva Montelaba, Julian Trono, and Ruru Madrid showed their dancing skills.

Meanwhile, letting the nostalgia kick in were Manilyn Reynes, Sheryl Cruz, Tina Paner, Jessa Zaragoza, and Rachel Alejandro as they shares the spotlight to perform some of their most famous hits in honor of their beloved mentor.

Jake Vargas, Ken Chan, Michael Pangilinan, Ralf King, Buildex, and John Nite shared the stage to serenade the audience with one of the most cherished songs of their mentor, “Kung MerongPangarap.”

Gerphil Flores with the UP Singing Ambassadors gave the audience a performance fit for a legend as they performed the song “Hanggang”, the most favorite song of Kuya Germs.

Various Kapuso stars together with That’s Entertainment alumni gathered once more for a grand parade to honor the Master Showman. There was unlimited parade of celebrities as members of the cast of Walang Tulugan With The Master Showman also took the chance to pay tribute to theirone and only “Tatay” in showbiz.

Having touched by Kuya Germs’ loving hands, Dingdong Dantes together with Billy Crawford, Ara Mina, Sunshine Cruz, Jackielou Blanco, Mariz Ricketts, Shermaine Santiago, Shirley Fuentes and Dennis Trillo were honored to lead the celebration of the Master Showman’s legacy.

The late host and local television’s Master Showman German Moreno

Christian Bautista Captivates indonesian fans

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FEBRUARY 27, 2016

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 46 Hansel’s sister 47 Door frames 50 Wax makers 51 The One-L Lama 52 Ex ugly duckling 54 It has a lot of pull 57 Well-versed 58 Soil aerator 61 — Haggard of country 62 Artificial locks 63 Pop up 64 Organic compound 65 Sault — Marie 66 “Blowin’ in the Wind” composer DOWN 1 Corn leftovers ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE 2 Time unit 3 Electrical units ACROSS 23 Coral formation 4 Gym iteration 1 Sound from a guitar 25 Girl, informally 5 Banned bug 6 Draw a bead on 26 Stockpile spray 9 Copy 29 Arrange for 6 Distant 14 — and aahed 31 Urge strongly 7 Debt memos 15 Mauna — 32 Queened it?

8 “Hot Lips” series 16 Spout rhetoric 36 “— Woman 9 Belittling 17 Pushy Blues” 10 Presses 19 “— the 37 Unopened flower 11 Jungle ruffs Barbarian” 38 Scope 12 Where Rome is 20 Almost-grads 40 Crept home 21 Grab a cookie 43 Dismay 13 Small change 22 Paid homage 45 From memory 18 Like helium

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2016

23 Geneva’s river 24 Poet’s always 25 — tai cocktail 26 Mineral find 27 Logging tools 28 Rather you — me 29 Goody-goody 30 Directed 33 Where hackles rise 34 Was, to Ovid 35 Edit out 37 Poker stake 39 Winner’s take 41 Judge 42 Pugilist’s stat 43 Go-between 44 Before, in combos 47 Green carvings 48 Paying attention 49 Tree for autumn color 50 Flat-bottomed boat 51 Slangy lady 52 Bastes 53 Cultivate patience 54 Elbow grease 55 Bear in the sky 56 Feds (hyph.)

59 I’ve been —!

60 Sardonic

nown as Asia’s Romantic Balladeer, Christian Bautista continues to make waves throughout Southeast Asia as he just celebrated his back-to-back Valentine’s concert in Indonesia to the delight of his fans. The warm love of Christian’s Indonesian fans was felt with the massive success of both of his twin Valentine performances. He shared the stage with Bunga Citra Lestari in a Romantic Valentine Concert at the Coliseum Club in Jakarta on Feb. 13. And on Valentine’s Day itself, he serenaded fans from Solo, Indonesia at Alia Hotel.

Prior to his concerts, Christian visited three local television shows including Sarah Sechan, NETTV’s local Ellen Degeneres, in a live show where Christian surely enjoyed an afternoon of songs and games with fans. He also visited the largest media group in Indonesia; as he shared in his Instagram, Christian had an interview with Merry Riana of Sonora FM 92.

That same weekend, he also guested in a daily morning show of Trans TV where he talked about his career in the Philippines and in Indonesia. And for those interested, Christian shared with Insert Gossip his health fitness routine. One of the highlights of his TV appearances was being one of the first guests in a new weekly musical variety show of Trans TV as well. This show is hosted by the singer-actress Rossa who joined Christian in singing the classic “Please Be Careful with My Heart.”

Viewers got to hear Christian’s hits “The Way You Look at Me,”“Since I Found You,” and“Fixing a Broken Heart.”

The Kapuso star is back in Manila but Christian’s international renown still continues to fly.

He recently released his first digital single “Who Is She to Me” that topped the United Kingdom charts late last year.

For more updates, visit Christian’s website http://www.christianbautistaonline.com or follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/ xtianbautista, Facebook https://www.facebook. com/Christian-Bautista-Official and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/xtianbautista.

SunDAy : F EbRuA Ry 2 8, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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Some of the stars that join JaDine at the big Dome, (left) nadine lustre and James Reid otherwise known as JaDine in a prod number

HEARt to CHIz: ‘I wIll StAnD by youR SIDE’

From Cabanatuan last Friday, Heart traveled to Baguio with husband Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who is running for Vice President and still leading in surveys.

Heart is really a sweet wife and tells everyone how she feels for her husband.

In a recent post on her Instagram account, she posted a photo of her and her husband before the rally in Cabanatuan.

Said the actress, “You are indeed a blessing in my life.

I wake up each day inspired, driven and full of love:) as I step into this ‘scary’ time they call ‘election season’ I will continue to love, support and stand by your side.”

The actress said she is going around the country to campaign for her husband and to tell them how deserving Chiz is to be the next Vice President.

What is important is that we have each other and that we support each other.

“I will do my very best to show everyone how amazing you are as an individual and share your ‘big heart’ to everyone. Know this: at the end of the race, we will always have each other. To my dream guy, my hero and my husband God bless you,” the actress added.

PAulA bIAnCA PERFoRmS At HRC HARD Rock Café (HRC) closes the month of February with a series of great performances from the country’s top artists and show bands. Singer Paula Bianca performed backto-back with show band Part 3 last night, while Part 3 is set to power the house tonight, and Kudos Loves 80s will have the ultimate throwback musical party on Monday.

Hard rockers can look forward to amazing evenings of beautiful music as these artists dish out live a sampling of today’s hottest chart-toppers, homegrown favorites, standard classics, and energy-packed party anthems.

HRC recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in the business and it continues it advocacy to provide Filipino music lovers an alternative entertainment venue that provides quality and topnotch entertainment from the country’s biggest and most respected bands and artists.

BEsT Of caBlE TV EnTERTaInmEnT In fIRsT famIly caBlE faIR SkyCable Corporation is set to culminate its 25th anniversary through a grand cable fair made for Filipino families that will feature a roster of the most popular cable TV characters and programs worldwide coming to life on March 12 and 13.

Touted as SKY’s first and biggest experiential cable fair in the country for families, “SKY Alive!” brings together some of the world’s highly in demand programming networks to showcase an interactive display of content, ranging from well-loved hits to the latest season of top-rating shows.

“Sky has always provided Filipino families with superior content experiences. ‘Sky Alive!,’ the first ever cable fair for families, will give everyone a chance to experience

the world of their favorite cable TV programs and characters,” said March S. Ventosa, Chief Operating Officer of Sky Cable Corporation.

ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo L. Katigbak believes ‘SKY Alive!’ embodies the shared vision of ABS-CBN and SKY. “’SKY Alive!’ is an innovative way to really bring the world closer to Filipino homes and it echoes SKY and ABS-CBN’s same vision to constantly be in the service of the Filipino people.”

The line-up of ‘SKY Alive!’ will include a slew of the best entertainment coming from ABS-CBN HD, ABS-CBN Cable Channels, HBO, FOX, AXN, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Cartoon Network, and RTL CBS Entertainment among others.

The theme park-inspired cable fair will be divided into several zones composed of the different participating channels, reflecting SKY’s complete and rich channel line-up suited for every family member.

The zones will showcase interactive games and surprises from genres spanning from

ThOusanDs shOw lOVE fOR JaDInE

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ertified OTWOListas and loyal fans filled the Araneta Coliseum as they showed their love and support for today’s hottest love team and On the Wings of Love stars James Reid and Nadine Lustre in their sold out concert JaDine in Love on Feb. 20.

James and Nadine did not disappoint their fans in their first major concert as they dished out spectacular performances and brought overflowing kilig to their fans.

Cheers and applauses filled the Big Dome all throughout the show, but fans went wilder during the pair’s wedding number where they danced to “On the Wings of Love” sung by the Queen of RnB Kyla.

James also sent the crowd into frenzy when he expressed his feelings and said “I love you” to Nadine, drawing louder screams from everyone.

Aside from kilig, the tandem also showcased their singing and dancing prowess that impressed the audience.

James serenaded the whole coliseum with his rendition of his favorite OPM songs and grooved to Michael Jackson’s greatest hits. He also showed his smooth moves and vocals as he did

entertainment, sports and action, lifestyle, and all the way to learning and news.

Families also have the chance to meet and greet their favorite celebrities, join kidfriendly art sessions, take selfies with mascots and cosplayers, take part in interactive games, sit on the Game of Thrones’ iconic iron throne, and a whole lot more.

In partnership with HBO, provincial subscribers of SKYcable can also become part of the country’s biggest experiential cable fair.

One family per region (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao) can win a trip for four to Manila to enjoy “SKY Alive!” and bond at Kidzania, an indoor play city where kids can have fun exploring the adult world.

To join the “FUNtastic Family Getaway to Manila” promo, existing SKYcable postpaid subscribers just need to add HBO (1 raffle entry) or HBO Pak (2 raffle entries) to their basic plan to qualify. Meanwhile for new subscribers, an installation of one prepaid cable (2 raffle entries) or an installation of postpaid cable of any plan (3 raffle

a Justin Bieber tribute.

Nadine, meanwhile, stole the show with her performance of her hit song “Para-Paraan” and showed her edgier side as she danced to Jennifer Lopez’s “Get Right.” A heartfelt performance from Nadine also captivated the audience with her rendition of the OPM classic “Kanlungan,” which she dedicated to her grandmother.

Also joining the kilig fest were Vice Ganda, Elmo Magalona, Yassi Pressman, and Myrtle Sarrosa.

As the concert ended, James and Nadine thanked their supporters for their unwavering support and for the phenomenal success of their primetime series.

As On the Wings of Love endedlast Friday, certified OTWOListas had the chance of meeting the whole cast in OTWOL’s finale live viewing party at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Meanwhile, Kapamilyas abroad will also have the chance to watch JaDine in Love concert as James and Nadine with Yeng Constantino and Jay-R are set to take a tour around the world. They will be in Doha, Qatar on March 18 and in Dubai, UAE onMarch 19. They are also set to perform in London, UK on March 26 and Milan, Italy on March 27.

entries) can entitle them to raffle entries.

The promo runs until Feb. 29.

“SKY Alive!” is open to the public on March 12 and 13 at Mall of Asia’s SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. The event is free for all SKY subscribers (two free tickets per active subscriber account), while non-SKY subscribers or SKY subscribers who want to purchase more can avail of tickets priced at P200 per person available at the event’s registration booth or online via the ABS-CBN Online Store.

For 25 years, SKY as a cable TV unit of ABS-CBN 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 details on “Sky Alive!” and the promo, visit mysky.com.ph/skyalive.

SUNDAY : F EBRUA RY 2 8, 2016

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

Madonna stages a two-night concert at the Mall of Asia Arena. The pop queen performs for the Philippine audience live for the very first time. (inset) The cross shaped stage on which the 57-year-old singer performed from end to end

I

MADONNA KEPT FANS WAITING, PERFORMING AN HOUR BEFORE MIDNIGHT

t was the longest wait I had for a foreign act, and like the rest of Madonna’s fans that trooped to the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday night, the pop superstar tagged the “Unapologetic Bitch” and “Queen” appeared on stage close to midnight in a cage lowered from the ceiling of the arena as dancers clad in some Roman-inspired outfits marched and strutted on a cross-like stage that extended from end to end while the music blurred from giant speakers hung above the stage.

The crowd was visibly in awe, applauding as Madonna, started singing and dancing at the same time.

Finally, the “Queen” was on a performing mood and making her Filipino fans savoring the show that had them coughing up a big sum of money just to watch her in person.

Yes, the crowd estimated at 12,000 ignored the two Southeast Asian archbishops to their Roman Catholic flock to boycott her Manila and Singapore concert.

“This is my first time in the Philippines, motherfuckers!…You don’t mind if I swear, do you?…I’m here to take the city!” she greeted her cheering fans.

Fans cheered when she performed two of the numbers the Roman Catholic leaders have been anxious since her announcement of Rebel Heart’s world tour – “Holy Water” and “Devil Pray” – that made use of Catholic imagery like dancers dressed as nuns and priests suggestive of sex and religion.

No, Madonna wasn’t apologetic at all. And her act wasn’t meant to please the Catholic Church or any other Christian sect. She was performing for her adoring fans, this time Filipinos who have waited three long decades to watch her perform in person.

In an interview with the pressin September to promote the ongoing tour, Madonna explained her thought-provoking act.

“It’s in my DNA to take ideas and conventions and to challenge the norms, to question things, to turn them inside out and say, ‘But what

ISAH V. RED if …?’ It’s not because I don’t respect people’s ideas and beliefs. I have ultimate respect for people’s ideas and beliefs. But people need to have their ideas and beliefs challenged, if only to make them stronger about what they

The pop queen singing “Rebel Heart”

believe in,” she said.

Madonna’s spiels were spiced with profanity, a big part of her ongoing tour.She repeatedly prodded her Filipino audience to reply, “Fuck, yeah!” to everything she did that pleased them. After receiving a crown as a gift from a fan, she boldly declared, “Nobody fucks with the Queen!”

In another spiel, she told a story which she later qualified as a joke about her Filipina trainer that went on to have sex with her boyfriend.

And whatever her bashers or haters say, the show was a spectacle and unparalleled in this part of the world.

Her fans finally saw what they’ve only

seen on YouTube or DVD. She brought with her a troop of acrobatic dancers that could give Cirque du Soleil a run for their money, especially the number where they stood and swung in thin stilts on stage with another group of dancers on the floor.

Breathtaking was her use of the cross-shaped stage parts of which were able to move, appear and disappear with the use of hydraulics.

The nearly two hours of singing and dancing satisfied everyone and made them forget that they waited nearly two hours to watch Madonna sing her songs (mostly rearranged to electronic beat) like“Burning Up,” “True Blue,” “Like a Virgin,” “La Isla Bonita,” “Music,” “Material Girl,” “Holiday” and the surprise additions of “Who’s That Girl,” and “Like a Prayer.” No, on Wednesday night, she didn’t sing “Crazy For You” but did so on the following nigt.

Shahani Gania thought she became Madonna’s “Unapologetic Bitch” when she was chosen to perform with the “Queen.”

She said she was Super Starlet when asked by the pop queen.

“Do you have a hearing problem?” the 57-year-old singer jokingly asked Gania when the latter did not get her first question, “Do you feel like you just won a beauty contest?”

He was given a banana and a straw “for being courageous and brave”.

In every leg of the Rebel Heart Tour concert (here it was brought to the fans by Globe and Huawei), someone from the crowd is chosen to be Madonna’s “Unapologetic Bitch.” Gania joins the likes of Jean-Paul Gaultier, Stella McCartney, Ariana Grande, Idris Elba and Katy Perry.

When Madonna came out performing “Holiday” with a Filipino flag draped around her body, I knew this was her finale. And when she disappeared while in midair, the crowd didn’t scream for more. Maybe they thought it was too late and they had seen it all.

Celebrities spotted at the Rebel Heart Tour concert: (from left) Edgar Mortis, Glaiza De Castro and Gabby Eigenman, Ina Raymundo and husband Brian Poturnak, JC Intal and Bianca Gonzalez-Intal, Jing Monis and Iza Calzado and couple Yong Larrazabal III and Donna Cruz-Larrazabal

Madonna surprises the crowd with her opening number “Iconic” in which she appears from above enclosed in a steel cage

Madonna onstage at the MOA Arena performing her catalogue of iconic hits and chart toppers