The Standard - 2016 March 13 - Sunday

VOL. XXX  NO. 32  3 Sections 24 Pages P18  SUNDAY : MARCH 13, 2016  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

VISA-FREE ENTRY TO ISRAEL FOR PINOYS

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COMELEC: MANUAL VOTING AN OPTION

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Maricel V. Cruz

FEARING IT may not be able to hold credible elections in May, the Commission on Elections suggested it may have to revert to manual elections and forego the overseas absentee voters automated elections in April.

These are among the options that the Comelec is considering after the Supreme Court required the poll body to issue vote receipts in the May 9 elections, according

to a resolution the Comelec approved after the high court handed down its ruling.

“But in my opinion, we still have to consult [the public] with

that. It’s not yet time to talk about manual elections because there is still time,” Bautista said, although the matter was already included in the resolution it prepared after the issuance of the SC decision.

Bautista said the resolution details 15 issues that need to be addressed within the next 60 days to ensure that the elections could push through on May 9 as required by law. It also includes the possibility of reverting to manual elections or postponing Election Day altogether.

“We have several fears and reservations given the things we still have to do. With these, we cannot ensure that we can still deliver credible elections if ever we are forced to print voter receipts. We don’t know any more if we can still have credible elections by May 9,” Bautista lamented.

“Our job is not only to ensure there will be an election. It is also our mandate to ensure that there will be credible elections. If that will not happen, then we have failed in our mandate,” he said.

Former Comelec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who was involved in the first automated election, slammed the idea of reverting to manual elections or postponing Election Day. “The date set is fixed and only the passage of a law by both Houses of Congress can change the date of the elections,” Larrazabal said, noting that the both the Senate and the Congress have already spoken that they will not agree to the passage of a law to postpone the elections. Next page

WEEKEND FIRE. Thick smoke billows out of the homes that were razed in a fire at Manila’s San Andres district on Saturday. The blaze rendered about 200 families homeless. MANNY PALMERO

DEBATES MADE NO DIFFERENCE

By Adelle Chua

POLL

SEVENTY-NINE percent of Filipinos said they did not change their minds on whom they would vote for after watching the first Commission on Electionssponsored presidential debate, while 72 percent of those who had expressed their preference for a specific candidate will

definitely no longer change their minds, the latest The Standard Poll revealed.

Of the 40 percent nationwide who said they watched the debate held at Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City on Feb. 21, just 21 percent said they changed their mind depending on the performance of their earlier bets.

According to the survey done by this

newspaper’s resident pollster, Junie Laylo, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Grace Poe performed the best during debate, with 28 percent and 27 percent nationwide, respectively.

The opinion varied greatly across geographical areas, however. In the National Capital Region, Northern and Central Next page

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news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Debates...

From A1

DAVAOEÑAS FOR MARCOS. Women folk of Tagum City in Davao del Norte flock to vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. when he arrived at a Women’s Month celebration in the city.

77% pinoys concerned over chinese missiles Seventy-seven percent of respondents across the country were either very concerned or somewhat concerned over the missile deployment. The numbers for Metro Manila, South Luzon and Bicol and the Visayas were even higher at 82 percent, 80 percent and 78 percent, respectively.

Seventy-four percent of North and Central Luzon respondents said they were concerned while 71 percent of

those in Mindanao said the same.

It was in Mindanao and the Visayas where respondents were most undecided at 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

Despite this development in the South China Sea, however, a significant plurality remain undecided on whether it was right or wrong to pursue the arbitration proceedings with China.

The Philippines has lodged an ar-

bitration complaint before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, a body under the United Nations, in The Hague. The PCA had acknowledged jurisdiction over the issue but China has refused to participate in the proceedings.

Nationwide, 44 percent of respondents said they were undecided on the arbitration issue, with 35 percent saying it was right and 22 percent saying it was wrong.

In Metro Manila, 46 percent were undecided, 39 percent said it was right and 15 percent said it was wrong.

Respondents from the Visayas were most undecided at 62 percent, with 25 percent saying arbitration is right and 12 percent saying it was wrong.

The highest percentage of those who believed arbitration was right came from Northern and Central Luzon at 43 percent, with 20 percent

Comelec: ...

Direct Recording Electronic automated voting system and not for a paperbased OMR. Lawmakers also denounced the Comelec for trying to blackmail the public with the threat of a failed election just because the SC ordered the poll body to comply with automated election law that they should have observed in the first place.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said it was improper for the Comelec to make any pronouncement about the postponement of the May elections pending because they have not even exhausted all the remedies available. “[The Comelec] should look for solutions and file a pleading, if necessary, instead of ventilating publicly,” Belmonte told The Standard.

While he acknowledge efforts of the Comelec to ensure credible elections on May 9, Belmonte said the Comelec is now only sowing panic and chaos with its threat of a failure of elections.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate also expressed dismay at the Comelec’s pronouncement that the general elections might not push through because of the SC decision.

“The Comelec actuation is an added disgrace to the institution and only bolsters further distrust in an already clouded automated election process.

“The issue of voter’s receipt has not only been raised now. It has been an issue since 2010,” said Zarate, a member of the opposition Makabayan Bloc.

Zarate chided the Comelec for blackmailing the SC and the Filipino people if it fails to win its appeal against the issuance of voters’ receipt.

“If only Comelec did not choose to be blind, deaf and numb to the demands and proposals for a more transparent process, it could have inspired more confidence in the upcoming elections. It is lamentable that it is resorting to a blackmail or hostage situation if only to cover up its failings,” Zarate said.

Zarate also said the Comelec and the Smartmatic should be held liable for any glitch or delay in May 9 scheduled polls. ‘‘Both Smartmatic and the Comelec are to blame for any glitch, delay or even an election failure. Since 2010, Comelec and Smartmatic have deliberately violated our election laws that expressly require Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail,” Zarate said.

He said high court’s decision is a slap on the Comelec’s defiant stand since 2010.

“This voter receipt is not a new issue,” Zarate maintained. “Comelec and Smartmatic should have been

By Adelle Chua

MOST Filipinos are concerned over China’s deployment of surface-to-air missiles from the Paracel Island in the South China Sea in February even as a majority remain undecided on the wisdom of arbitration proceedings between the Philippines and China, according to the latest The Standard Poll.

From A1

Larrazabal said the options being suggested by Bautista should not even be entertained because the Comelec was able to hold automated elections in 2010 with very little time.

“So people should forget about even thinking about that option. Section 5 and 6 of the Omnibus Election Code provide circumstances for the postponement of elections and instances where there is a failure of elections,” he said.

He urged the Comelec to just focus on implementing the order of the SC by activating the vote receipt features and the Comelec can accomplish the task if they will start as soon as possible.

“The reality is that the Supreme Court rendered a decision on the matter, and unless it reverses itself completely, there is no option other than to implement it’s decision, whether we like it or not,” Larrazabal said.

He said the Comelec should have explained the technical differences between a Direct Recording Electronic automated voting system and a paperbased automated voting system, like the Optical Mark Reader, but the poll body did not.

He said the VVPAT was meant for a

believing it was wrong and 37 percent undecided.

In South Luzon and Bicol, 42 percent believed arbitration was right, 25 percent said it was wrong, with 34 percent undecided.

In Mindanao, 42 percent were undecided, and more people believed arbitration was wrong at 32 percent; 26 percent of respondents believed it was right.

Among respondents from urban areas, 40 percent were undecided, 30 percent believed arbitration was right with 21 percent believing it was wrong.

Among respondents from rural areas, 47 percent were undecided, 31 percent said arbitration was right and 22 percent said it was wrong.

The Standard Poll was conducted in 79 provinces among 3,000 biometrically registered voters between Feb. 24 and March 1 this year. The national figures have a margin of error of plus/minus 1.8 percent.

prepared for it. They could not just pull the ‘no-el [no election]’ bogey to scare the electorate and get away with not fulfilling its duty,” he said.

For his part, House deputy majority leader and Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said the poll body has no option but to comply with the SC decision and prepare contingency plans which it should have done a long time ago.

“Let the SC exercise its mandate. Let the Comelec do its job. At the end of the day, the law should be followed and we should do all means necessary to implement what the law says,” Vargas said.

The Comelec, in a motion for reconsideration filed through Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, pleaded for a reversal of its unanimous ruling last Tuesday mandating the activation of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail feature of the vote counting machines to be used for the polls.

But Bautista said they are already preparing for contingencies and necessary preparations for the use of voting receipts.

But that includes building new configurations for the vote count machines, another mock elections to test them as well as public biddings for the purchase of necessary supplies and services and massive voter education on the new procedure.

Luzon, Poe emerged best performer with 34 percent, 33 percent and 37 percent, respectively. Respondents from the Visayas and Mindanao gave her a rating of only 17 percent each.

In Mindanao, 57 percent of respondents said Duterte performed the best. Ratings from respondents in the NCR, North and Central Luzon, South Luzon and Bicol and Visayas were 18 percent, 15 percent, 15 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

Administration candidate Manuel Roxas II, a native of Capiz, was adjudged best performer by 38 percent of respondents in the Visayas even as he ranked only third among respondents nationwide at 18 percent.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago were named best debate performer by 14 percent and 9 percent of respondents nationwide.

Among those who said the debate changed their minds, 42 percent of Duterte’s voters, 36 percent of Binay’s, 62 percent of Roxas’ and 16 percent of Santiago’s now prefer Senator Grace Poe. Forty-one percent of those who used to prefer Poe, 51 percent of those who preferred Binay, 18 percent of those who chose Roxas and 45 percent of those who chose Santiago have shifted to Duterte.

Thirty-six percent of Poe’s previous supporters, 23 percent of Duterte’s and 39 percent of Santiago’s are now inclined to vote for Roxas.

No previous Binay supporters expressed preference for the former Interior and Local Governments secretary.

Twenty-three percent of Poe’s previous likely voters, 26 percent of Duterte’s and 12 percent of Roxas now prefer Binay.

Eight percent of Duterte’s voters, 13 percent of Binay’s and 3 percent of Roxas’ expressed preference for Santiago.

Of Roxas’ previous supporters, 5 percent said they no longer had any preference.

Broken down into specific regions, the highest percentage of respondents who watched the debate were from the Davao region (58 percent), followed by those from the Zamboanga Peninsula (56 percent), Northern Mindanao (53 percent) and the NCR (52 percent).

Those who were most steadfast on their choices even after watching the debate were from Mimaropa, Davao Region and Soccskargen (89 percent each), Caraga (88 percent) and Northern Mindanao (85 percent).

The highest percentage of respondents who changed their minds after the debate were from Negros Island and Eastern Visayas (50 percent each) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (38 percent).

Meanwhile, just 28 percent of respondents nationwide who already chose their specific candidates said they may still change their minds.

Seventy-eight percent of the 24 percent who said they would vote for Duterte said they will definitely not change their minds.

Among the voters who prefer Roxas (22 percent), Binay (23 percent), Poe (26 percent) and Santiago (2 percent), 74 percent, 70 percent, 66 percent and 64 percent said they will definitely no longer change their minds.

The Standard Poll was conducted in 79 provinces among 3,000 biometrically registered voters between Feb. 24 and March 1 this year. The national figures have a margin of error of plus/minus 1.8 percent.

s u n d ay : M a R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

A3

LENI: AQUINO BACKING LIMITED

By John Paolo Bencito

THE ruling Liberal Party’s candidate for vice president, Camarines Sur Rep. Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo, admitted on Saturday that the endorsement of President Benigno Aquino III doesn’t assure victory for her and her running mate, Manuel Roxas II. “There’s nothing wrong with the endorsement. It doesn’t mean that if the President endorsed and campaigned for you, you will get automatically elected.

That’s why we are making extra efforts in campaigning and making rounds because we know that we need to work hard,” Robredo said.

“It’s his responsibility to support and campaign for the candidates whom he see as appropriate for our country.

Should he now let go?” she asked.

Robredo made the remarks after her rival for the vice presidency Senator Francis Escudero said Aquino should not have endorsed any candidate in the May elections to show that the polls will indeed be fair.

He added that the ‘straight path’ would have best exemplified the ideals of fair play had Aquino not gotten himself involved in the campaign.

“I was slightly saddened by the decision of President Aquino to endorse a candidate,” Escudero said in Cebu.

“It would have been better if he hadn’t, not

because he did not endorse Senator Grace or me. It would have been better if the President just supervised and oversaw the conduct of clean and fair elections.”

President Aquino took the lead role in the LP’s latest political ad where he said there are people “who surely love only themselves,” referring to the rivals of Roxas and Robredo.

But there “are the people who truly love you and will continue to love you: Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo,” Aquino said in a thirty-second commercial.

Aquino is actively supporting the candidacy of Roxas and Robredo, even giving out ballers and campaign paraphernalia in sorties.

Robredo also slammed Escudero and said he did not complain during the 2013 senatorial campaign when Aquino adopted as part of the administration’s slate although he was an independent candidate.

“He did not complain about our endorsement before, why is he complaining now?” Robredo asked.

Escudero’s survey rat-

DON’T USE DOLE, PALACE WARNED

By Maricel V. Cruz TWO lawmakers warned the Aquino administration on Saturday not to use the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino” dole program for the Liberal Party’s electoral agenda, specifically against progressive groups and other critics of the administration.

Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Emmi de Jesus made the warning as she denounced reports that beneficiaries of the government’s 4Ps are being barred from attending gatherings and rallies led by Gabriela in commemoration of Women’s Month last week.

“The DSWD engaging in partisan politics and is now clearly a willing tool of the corrupt and oppressive for disempowering women.

The use of government resources to campaign for or against certain candidates and political parties or sabotaging

women’s participation in political actions is clearly illegal, unethical and anti-women,” De Jesus said.

Members of the Gabriela alliance and Gabriela Women’s Party had earlier affirmed that they were threatened with removal from the list of 4Ps beneficiaries should they participate in rallies on Women’s Day, March 8.

They also reported how Department of Social Welfare and Development officials and local leaders are campaigning for LP bets in 4Ps family meetings, De Jesus said without elaboration.

De Jesus explained that women, especially marginalized women should be encouraged to participate in political activities and exercise their right to express grievances against government policies that worsen women’s poverty and vulnerability to abuse.

ings have gone down from its highest at 43 percent in October to just 26 percent in the latest Pulse Asia results.

On the other hand, Robredo’s survey ratings have climbed consistently from seven percent in October. Now, she is within striking distance at 21 percent, five points behind the leader.

“The President sees that it’s important for his successor to follow his footsteps, that’s why he’s doing everything to continue what he has started,” she added.

MANDALUYONG MISSION. The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry

Inc., FFCCCII Foundation Inc. and the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Mandaluyong Inc. gave free medical and dental services, medicine and vitamins during its recent charity mission at the Mandaluyong City Hall. Leading the activity were FFCCCII honorary president Dr. Alfonso Siy, vice president William Yap Castro, board member Antonio Cosing, and officers of FFCCCII’s Social Responsibility Project Committee.

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

JAPAN’S CAREFUL RETURN TO NUCLEAR POWER FIVE years after the nuclear plant meltdown at Fukushima, Japan has begun the controversial process of restarting its other reactors. The challenge for government and industry remains no less critical, however: to continually improve safety, lest they further undermine public support for what should be a reliable, climate-friendly fuel source.

Before Fukushima led the government to close all the country’s reactors, Japan got almost 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear. Now it’s importing about 84 percent in the form of coal, oil and liquefied natural gas. Some 45 new coal-fired power plants are scheduled to open, threatening to increase carbon emissions and worsen lungdamaging air pollution in Japan. The yen’s slide since 2013 has made those fossil-fuel imports especially expensive, driving up the cost of electricity for consumers.

While use of renewable power in Japan, especially solar, is growing at a healthy clip, it remains under 15 percent—not enough to make up for the loss of nuclear power anytime soon.

That shouldn’t be a problem. Under the right conditions, nuclear power should be able to provide a significant share of Japan’s clean energy, and safely. The meltdown at Fukushima has done more than anything in history to make the Japanese people question the safety of nuclear power, but the government has been working to allay their concerns. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has been given a strong mandate and detached from the pro-nuclear economy ministry. Improved hiring rules have reinforced its independence from Japan’s powerful bureaucracy. Indeed, the slow pace of reactor restarts thus far suggests the agency takes its responsibilities seriously.

Yet the Nuclear Regulation Authority still needs more staff and resources, as well as outside voices and expertise. And while the International Atomic Energy Agency has praised Japan’s new regulatory framework, it has also warned that inspectors need to be given a freer hand to do their work properly.

To regain the public’s trust, Japan’s nuclear companies also need to fortify their own safety cultures. This has to start with accepting accountability for Fukushima. Executives from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. have finally been indicted for professional negligence. Now employees throughout Tepco and other nuclear companies need to be empowered to ask questions and challenge superiors.

Some common fears are probably overblown.

Concerns about radioactive seafood, for example, have yet to be borne out. Only one confirmed case of cancer linked to Fukushima radiation has so far emerged.

Nevertheless, Japanese authorities need to respect and address people’s understandable worries.

Ignoring them will only breed resentment and raise the risk that inevitable stumbles will set back the whole process of restarting reactors and, perhaps one day, commissioning new ones. By demonstrating that all reactors can be operated safely, the government, regulators and power companies can see that nuclear again provides reliable, emissions-free power for Japan. Bloomberg Editorial Board

[ EDI TORI A L ]

TRAIN WRECK CIRCULATING now on social media is a video taken from inside a moving train of the Light Rail Transit 1 running from Central Station to Pedro Gil with its doors open.

The Facebook user who uploaded the video said the train continued to run fast, posing extra danger to the passengers.

Earlier this week we also saw photos of the extremely long lines of people wanting to take the Metro Rail Transit 3. While long queues are not altogether foreign to metro commuters, this episode was unprecedented because the line actually reached the grounds of Edsa, where it intersects with West Avenue, and then snaked up the footbridge used by people crossing the intersection.

On Friday, too, some rail trouble prompted the service to stop, limiting the serviced stations to just between Shaw and Taft Avenue.

That none of these are new does not ease our indignation that this administration actually made things worse for the ordinary commuter who must allot precious hours—not to mention energy and sanity—going to and from the workplace.

Lo and behold, the secretary of Transportation and Communications, on whose shoulders the burden of the deterioration of our mass transport system lies, has the gall to remind us that people deserve better services from the government.

“Will the people be happy? Not yet. It’s their right to demand better services, get impatient, and ask for better services from the DoTC,” said Joseph Emilio Abaya during an administration sortie in Cavite this week.

Funny that he should tell the people it is within their rights to demand better services, as though we are not already doing that. This man, who once reminded us that traffic is not fatal, should be ashamed of himself: not only did his department fail to improve the transport system, it actually made it worse.

We count the days until this set of administrators pack their bags and leave their offices second half of the year. For all their self-righteous talk, they have done little to assure the people that they have our best interests in mind.

The person who uploaded the LRT video said he was ashamed because there were foreign students who were on that trip. We say there is no need to have foreigners around for us to realize the shame in the situation—a government that makes life difficult for its workers who toil everyday to eke out a decent living.

Abaya and his boss, the President, must be sentenced to taking public transportation every day for the remainder of their terms. We will then have the satisfaction of telling them, when they do complain, “you’re still alive, aren’t you?”

‘DRAMA SA RADYO’ I GREW up with my grandmother who preferred listening to AM radio more than she liked watching the television. More than the news, she stayed tuned to the drama—voice actors portraying various roles, depicting real life domestic or love problems, moral dilemmas, and sometimes, even horror stories. I can still remember the opening credits of ‘Gabiiii ng Lagiiiim.’ Sometimes we would listen while eating kropeck and drinking Coke, fanning ourselves during a hot summer evening.

My grandmother has passed

on and I am no longer a child, but these days, in the age of the Internet, it is actually quite possible to relive the glory days of being transported to the drama world.

And I am happily absorbed in it.

I happened upon this belated realization in late January, when I finally got myself a tablet and my daughter informed me that Modern Love, my favorite column on The New York Times, was now on podcast. I knew what podcasts were but the few I had actually tried listening to I found chatty and shallow, much like the banter of radio show hosts who get paid to talk about anything and everything but actually end up saying nothing.

I like it too because while it looks easy, it’s not mindless chatter. The ‘drama’ is well-written, well-researched and the discussions occasion further thought.

A5

It proved to be a revelation. I had been following Modern Love —where NYT readers contribute their personal essays on love and life and anything in between—for years. Listening to the well-written essays, spiced up by appropriate background sounds (fish swimming, for instance) and read aloud by noted actors, was a good destressing experience.

I had searched and been advised to try other podcasts, some of which I heeded and some of which I nixed. And then, about two weeks ago, I found the New Yorker Fiction podcast where published writers read the stories of other writers from the Magazine’s archives, which stretch back

to decades ago.

Here’s how it goes. The writer, who must himself or herself been published in the New Yorker, chooses a story and discusses with the fiction editor why he or she chose it. The story is read. After the reading, there is another discussion of the story which is as engaging to listen to as the story itself. The characters, the contexts, the literary devices are analyzed, heightening the listener’s appreciation of the story.

Since one can only listen to a limited number of stories (in my case, one) per day or every couple of days, because I like to stew in it and because like any other grownup I have a million other things to

do, I now have a huge backlog of things to listen to—and that is just from one site alone. On my list are the poetry section of the same magazine, two documentary sites, two horror and of course, Modern Love. There, I am current.

The children find me in the early morning, seated on my rocking chair and looking out the cityscape, or toward midnight, home from work and calling forth some sleep, sporting my headphone. Sometimes they talk to me and I don’t reply and they know why. “Ayan na naman si mommy

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

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at ang drama nya,” (There goes Mom again and her drama), they would say.

I have tried to plug my device onto a speaker and gather everybody in the living room. I figured listening to a podcast could be a great family activity. To my utter befuddlement, the children stand up and leave, muttering one excuse or another.

So I get that it’s not for everybody. I like it because it makes learning just a bit easier. For someone who has to read and write for a living and spend a crazy amount

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of time on the road every day, it is a consolation to know one can still pick up a few things or two while lying down, resting, or sitting by the window gazing at the view. Talk about multi-tasking, still.

I like it too because while it looks easy, it’s not mindless chatter. The “drama” is well-written, well-researched and the discussions occasion further thought.

Sometimes what I hear inspires me to write a few things—things I dare not publish in this column.

Finally, and this is perhaps the most ma-drama of my reasons, it

brings me back to my days with my grandmother. She’s been gone nearly 12 years. She was a simple woman with simple aspirations— she had wanted me to be a pharmacist so I could work at the local drug store and be home and spend no more than 10 minutes getting home. Her forms of entertainment were as down to earth and humble as her roots. Our magazines at home were hardly the New Yorker type—more like Kislap and Teenstars. I learned to read using Wakasan and grew up with Niknok of Funny komiks.

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

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer

Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

Name a moviestar and I could immediately tell whether he or she belonged to the Monday (or Tuesday, or Wednesday, and so forth) group in That’s Entertainment.

Everybody has his or her preferred mode of entertainment. We upgrade our standards every so often, but it’s no reason to scoff at the preference of others. We live and let live, so long as what works for us continues to work for us and allows us to transcend our daily hassles and woes. adellechua@gmail.com

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

A4

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

JAPAN’S CAREFUL RETURN TO NUCLEAR POWER FIVE years after the nuclear plant meltdown at Fukushima, Japan has begun the controversial process of restarting its other reactors. The challenge for government and industry remains no less critical, however: to continually improve safety, lest they further undermine public support for what should be a reliable, climate-friendly fuel source.

Before Fukushima led the government to close all the country’s reactors, Japan got almost 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear. Now it’s importing about 84 percent in the form of coal, oil and liquefied natural gas. Some 45 new coal-fired power plants are scheduled to open, threatening to increase carbon emissions and worsen lungdamaging air pollution in Japan. The yen’s slide since 2013 has made those fossil-fuel imports especially expensive, driving up the cost of electricity for consumers.

While use of renewable power in Japan, especially solar, is growing at a healthy clip, it remains under 15 percent—not enough to make up for the loss of nuclear power anytime soon.

That shouldn’t be a problem. Under the right conditions, nuclear power should be able to provide a significant share of Japan’s clean energy, and safely. The meltdown at Fukushima has done more than anything in history to make the Japanese people question the safety of nuclear power, but the government has been working to allay their concerns. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has been given a strong mandate and detached from the pro-nuclear economy ministry. Improved hiring rules have reinforced its independence from Japan’s powerful bureaucracy. Indeed, the slow pace of reactor restarts thus far suggests the agency takes its responsibilities seriously.

Yet the Nuclear Regulation Authority still needs more staff and resources, as well as outside voices and expertise. And while the International Atomic Energy Agency has praised Japan’s new regulatory framework, it has also warned that inspectors need to be given a freer hand to do their work properly.

To regain the public’s trust, Japan’s nuclear companies also need to fortify their own safety cultures. This has to start with accepting accountability for Fukushima. Executives from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. have finally been indicted for professional negligence. Now employees throughout Tepco and other nuclear companies need to be empowered to ask questions and challenge superiors.

Some common fears are probably overblown.

Concerns about radioactive seafood, for example, have yet to be borne out. Only one confirmed case of cancer linked to Fukushima radiation has so far emerged.

Nevertheless, Japanese authorities need to respect and address people’s understandable worries.

Ignoring them will only breed resentment and raise the risk that inevitable stumbles will set back the whole process of restarting reactors and, perhaps one day, commissioning new ones. By demonstrating that all reactors can be operated safely, the government, regulators and power companies can see that nuclear again provides reliable, emissions-free power for Japan. Bloomberg Editorial Board

[ EDI TORI A L ]

TRAIN WRECK CIRCULATING now on social media is a video taken from inside a moving train of the Light Rail Transit 1 running from Central Station to Pedro Gil with its doors open.

The Facebook user who uploaded the video said the train continued to run fast, posing extra danger to the passengers.

Earlier this week we also saw photos of the extremely long lines of people wanting to take the Metro Rail Transit 3. While long queues are not altogether foreign to metro commuters, this episode was unprecedented because the line actually reached the grounds of Edsa, where it intersects with West Avenue, and then snaked up the footbridge used by people crossing the intersection.

On Friday, too, some rail trouble prompted the service to stop, limiting the serviced stations to just between Shaw and Taft Avenue.

That none of these are new does not ease our indignation that this administration actually made things worse for the ordinary commuter who must allot precious hours—not to mention energy and sanity—going to and from the workplace.

Lo and behold, the secretary of Transportation and Communications, on whose shoulders the burden of the deterioration of our mass transport system lies, has the gall to remind us that people deserve better services from the government.

“Will the people be happy? Not yet. It’s their right to demand better services, get impatient, and ask for better services from the DoTC,” said Joseph Emilio Abaya during an administration sortie in Cavite this week.

Funny that he should tell the people it is within their rights to demand better services, as though we are not already doing that. This man, who once reminded us that traffic is not fatal, should be ashamed of himself: not only did his department fail to improve the transport system, it actually made it worse.

We count the days until this set of administrators pack their bags and leave their offices second half of the year. For all their self-righteous talk, they have done little to assure the people that they have our best interests in mind.

The person who uploaded the LRT video said he was ashamed because there were foreign students who were on that trip. We say there is no need to have foreigners around for us to realize the shame in the situation—a government that makes life difficult for its workers who toil everyday to eke out a decent living.

Abaya and his boss, the President, must be sentenced to taking public transportation every day for the remainder of their terms. We will then have the satisfaction of telling them, when they do complain, “you’re still alive, aren’t you?”

‘DRAMA SA RADYO’ I GREW up with my grandmother who preferred listening to AM radio more than she liked watching the television. More than the news, she stayed tuned to the drama—voice actors portraying various roles, depicting real life domestic or love problems, moral dilemmas, and sometimes, even horror stories. I can still remember the opening credits of ‘Gabiiii ng Lagiiiim.’ Sometimes we would listen while eating kropeck and drinking Coke, fanning ourselves during a hot summer evening.

My grandmother has passed

on and I am no longer a child, but these days, in the age of the Internet, it is actually quite possible to relive the glory days of being transported to the drama world.

And I am happily absorbed in it.

I happened upon this belated realization in late January, when I finally got myself a tablet and my daughter informed me that Modern Love, my favorite column on The New York Times, was now on podcast. I knew what podcasts were but the few I had actually tried listening to I found chatty and shallow, much like the banter of radio show hosts who get paid to talk about anything and everything but actually end up saying nothing.

I like it too because while it looks easy, it’s not mindless chatter. The ‘drama’ is well-written, well-researched and the discussions occasion further thought.

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It proved to be a revelation. I had been following Modern Love —where NYT readers contribute their personal essays on love and life and anything in between—for years. Listening to the well-written essays, spiced up by appropriate background sounds (fish swimming, for instance) and read aloud by noted actors, was a good destressing experience.

I had searched and been advised to try other podcasts, some of which I heeded and some of which I nixed. And then, about two weeks ago, I found the New Yorker Fiction podcast where published writers read the stories of other writers from the Magazine’s archives, which stretch back

to decades ago.

Here’s how it goes. The writer, who must himself or herself been published in the New Yorker, chooses a story and discusses with the fiction editor why he or she chose it. The story is read. After the reading, there is another discussion of the story which is as engaging to listen to as the story itself. The characters, the contexts, the literary devices are analyzed, heightening the listener’s appreciation of the story.

Since one can only listen to a limited number of stories (in my case, one) per day or every couple of days, because I like to stew in it and because like any other grownup I have a million other things to

do, I now have a huge backlog of things to listen to—and that is just from one site alone. On my list are the poetry section of the same magazine, two documentary sites, two horror and of course, Modern Love. There, I am current.

The children find me in the early morning, seated on my rocking chair and looking out the cityscape, or toward midnight, home from work and calling forth some sleep, sporting my headphone. Sometimes they talk to me and I don’t reply and they know why. “Ayan na naman si mommy

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at ang drama nya,” (There goes Mom again and her drama), they would say.

I have tried to plug my device onto a speaker and gather everybody in the living room. I figured listening to a podcast could be a great family activity. To my utter befuddlement, the children stand up and leave, muttering one excuse or another.

So I get that it’s not for everybody. I like it because it makes learning just a bit easier. For someone who has to read and write for a living and spend a crazy amount

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of time on the road every day, it is a consolation to know one can still pick up a few things or two while lying down, resting, or sitting by the window gazing at the view. Talk about multi-tasking, still.

I like it too because while it looks easy, it’s not mindless chatter. The “drama” is well-written, well-researched and the discussions occasion further thought.

Sometimes what I hear inspires me to write a few things—things I dare not publish in this column.

Finally, and this is perhaps the most ma-drama of my reasons, it

brings me back to my days with my grandmother. She’s been gone nearly 12 years. She was a simple woman with simple aspirations— she had wanted me to be a pharmacist so I could work at the local drug store and be home and spend no more than 10 minutes getting home. Her forms of entertainment were as down to earth and humble as her roots. Our magazines at home were hardly the New Yorker type—more like Kislap and Teenstars. I learned to read using Wakasan and grew up with Niknok of Funny komiks.

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S U N D AY, M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

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OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

WAITING WITHOUT END

By Louisa Gouliamaki GREECE-MACEDONIA border— The waiting, the lack of information and the horrible conditions. That’s what struck me most during this assignment.

I spent 12 days photographing the refugees camped out on Greece’s border, hoping to enter Macedonia and from there make their way into Western Europe along the so-called Balkan route.

But the border was only opening for just a few hours at a time, so a huge number of people had gathered, there was between 10,000 and 14,000 while we were there.

Because the border only opened for a few hours at a time, people were sleeping in front of the gate because they didn’t want to lose their place in line. It was just crazy, especially after the rain started. Mud, cold, rain, babies crying.

Inhumane conditions There were too many people, with babies, crammed in tents.

The conditions from the health point of view—and any other point of view I would say—were just completely inhumane.

You just saw this basic instinct of survival. People would just concentrate on basic things and left the other things behind. The tents were near the toilets. It was smelly, stinky. Some people were so afraid to leave—they never knew when the border would open and for how long and how many people would pass—that they wouldn’t even get food.

They just sat there, waiting.

A refugee waits for the border to open in Macedonia. AFP

Waiting and hoping. Hoping and hoping and hoping that the border would open and they could pass through. They gave up on everything else just in the hope that maybe there was a place to go.

And because there were so many people there wasn’t enough of anything. There weren’t enough aid workers. There weren’t enough tents.

Another striking thing was the complete lack of information.

People just didn’t know anything.

They didn’t know when the border would open, or if it would open at all. Because of this and because there weren’t enough aid

workers, they would turn to us.

People would come to me with their problems to see if I could help. Most of them can’t speak English. I can’t speak Arabic. But we all tried. You talked to people and you tried to help them in any way you could, to at least to show that someone cares about them.

When we were first arriving, we met an Afghani family. They had walked for 13 hours, the woman carrying her toddler of about a year and a half the whole way. They were burnt by the sun.

They had walked to the border, but were turned away. We met them walking back on the road.

They didn’t know what to do, where to go. And there was nothing that we could do for them.

Absolutely nothing. They were just lost.

‘What else can I do?’

One day I saw a young woman in a tent, writing. It really struck me, as that was not something that you saw normally. You normally saw people taking care of basic needs, not writing. So I started talking to her. She was from Aleppo and spoke perfect English. I asked her why she was writing and she said “what else can I do?”

And then she asked, “please if

you have any news, please tell us the truth, what would be the best thing for us to do.” What could I tell her?

I couldn’t really help her much.

But it was so nice to find a person who in other circumstances could be your friend. I got her phone number and will follow up. When we met she had just been there for five days. Others had been waiting for 19-20 days.

On a professional level, when you first get there, you are excited about the assignment. Then gradually, you get more and more involved. You try to do more and more things for the people, to get them some information—at this spot, you can get bread at this time of the day, at that spot, you can get blankets. The people are very appreciative of this type of information.

So whether you want to or not, you start to get involved. Then you get to know people, you start seeing them again and again. You become part of the story.

But after a while, you have to leave because you need to clear your head. The day we left it was raining again and picture-wise the conditions were amazing. But the decision was that it was better to go, we had been there enough.

Some thought that (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel is waiting for them and everyone else is stopping them. Others thought that Germany was paying Macedonia to close the borders.

Lots of people told me, “we would go back, but we have nowhere to go, what will happen to us. Let’s wait here and hope for something.” AFP

TED CRUZ KEEPS TRYING TO SOLVE TRUMP

By Francis Wilkinson NO REPUBLICAN presidential candidate in advance of 2015 read the primary electorate as shrewdly as Senator Ted Cruz, or displayed the capacity and willingness to exploit it so assiduously. From his first moments in the Senate in 2013 Cruz established himself as a vehicle for rage. He staked his claim to leadership of the anti-government forces heading nowhere in particular but flouting whatever governing norms, civility or rational expectations stood in their path.

In his first year in the Senate, Cruz led the shutdown of the government, the obvious purpose of which was to establish him as a guy who was, well, willing to shut down the government—even after others had proved it counterproductive. The shutdown elevated his name in the news media and won acclaim from the kind of voters who are both extremely anti-government and blithely unconcerned that politics, like chess, is a game best played with more than one move in mind.

Among sophisticated politicians, Cruz’s claim to rage was unparalleled. Last year, he called his own Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, a “liar” on the Senate floor, hurling another cherished vase against the wall of congressional decorum.

As the primary has unfolded,

it’s become clear that Cruz had plotted the most promising path to his party’s nomination. The product of Princeton and Harvard Law School, spouse of a Goldman Sachs executive, skillful climber up the ladder of ambition, he played the angry rebel perfectly.

Until Donald Trump.

The emergence of a candidate, born with a golden spoon in his mouth, who could project populist rage with an even more authentic inauthenticity than Cruz did not at first appear to be an obstacle to Cruz’s ambition. In fact, Trump’s initial popularity only validated Cruz’s brilliant strategy.

“I like Donald Trump. He’s a

Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz talk during a broadcast break in the presidential primary debate in Florida on March 10, 2016. AFP

friend of mine. I’m grateful that he’s in the race,” Cruz said last summer, at a time when most political savants still considered Trump’s blowhard campaign sure to be dashed against the Scylla of policy ignorance or the Charybdis of crude buffoonery. Cruz even invited Trump to share a stage with him at a September protest against the deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

As Trump’s staying power grew, however, and his hold on racially resentful white voters tightened, reports surfaced that Cruz would seek to ride Trump’s “slipstream.” Cruz would continue to mimic Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, for instance, while showing greater skill coloring inside the lines. This tactic, too, was predicated on a conviction that Trump voters would eventually prefer a competent vessel for their anger—Cruz —to a candidate who knew his poll numbers backward and forward but displayed little interest in the way the federal government, or much of anything else, actually works.

In January, with voting approaching, Cruz concluded that he had to confront Trump, attacking his personal finances and business acumen and saying a vote for Trump was “a vote for Obamacare.” In the South Carolina primary in February, Cruz ran an ad attacking Trump as unprincipled. (Trump lashed out at Cruz in turn.) South Carolina’s heavily evangelical electorate might have

favored Cruz. Instead, Trump dominated that state, then others.

In the GOP debate Thursday night, Cruz, eager for a two-man race with Trump yet still unsure how to prevail in one, opted for a new tack. He gently, respectfully nudged voters toward the realization that Trump is an ignoramus who, while able to recognize the issues that energize them, can propose no viable solutions.

Cruz used the word “solution” nine times in the debate, as when he complimented Trump for identifying trade as a vexing problem but then followed up with a gentle reminder that Trump’s proposed response is likely catastrophic.

“Well, Donald is right, for example, he was just talking about international trade,” Cruz said.

“He’s right about the problems.

But his solutions don’t work.”

Cruz’s varied efforts to break into Trump’s electoral palace— finding a door locked, he tries the window—will doubtless continue. But Thursday night’s debate only reinforced how thoroughly Trump has beaten Cruz at his own game. Cruz once went to extremes to cast himself as a radical who, in the words of one conservative commentator, “wants to burn Washington to the ground.”

Having been bested by a superior act, Cruz is now forced to remake himself as a man with “solutions” for sale. Bloomberg

S U N D AY : M A R C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

P. PRINCESA TOURISM SLUMPS FILIPINOS IN SAUDI SUFFER 5-MONTH PAY DELAY

By Vito Barcelo A NUMBER of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia have refused to return to the Philippines as their employers can’t pay their salaries for five months, according to the Labor Department.

Migrante International said that many Saudi employers, mostly in the construction and oil firms, have incurred delays in giving the salaries of their workers.

The delayed payment of thousands of foreign workers was blamed on the drop in the prices of oil products.

The DoLE also expressed apprehension that hundreds of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia face arrest because their iqamas or residence permit have yet to be renewed, which makes them vulnerable to arrest.

Migrante Philippines appealed to the Philippine authorities to help convince the Filipinos to return to the country and look for other jobs.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Jeddah said that it is currently assisting OFWs who have filed labor cases against their employers before the Saudi Labor Court.

Philippine labor officials are pressing authorities and executives in Saudi Arabia to ensure that local construction firms give their salaries to thousands of workers.

Since late last year, the Saudi government has responded to shrinking oil revenues by clamping down on state spending to curb a budget deficit running at about $100 billion annually.

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—More than 14,000 women from 66 barangays in this city gathered at BM beach resort in Barangay San Pedro to celebrate International Women’s Day over the weekend with a unified call for drastic action to stave off the huge slump in tourism revenues which has caused business closures and unemployment.

The women’s day celebrants called on former mayor Edward Hagedorn to step up and lead a campaign to revive the city’s tourism industry and restore its status as a premier international and local tourism destination.

The women’s groups said Hagedorn’s experience in developing and promoting the city’s eco-tourism industry is the kind of leadership that is needed to stem the deteriorating economic situation in the city as the sharp drop in tourism revenue in the past three

years continues to bedevil the local tourism industry and allied businesses and workers.

The city’s women said Hagedorn who led the city in achieving international and local recognition as a model city in environment and eco-tourism destination for more than 20 years could effectively revitalize and restore Puerto Princesa’s role in global eco-tourism and sustainable environmental development.

Senate President Franklin Drilon, guest of honor in the event, as-

sured the women of Puerto Princesa that he would push enabling legislation in the next Congress that would establish Puerto Princesa as the model city in eco-tourism and environment protection and sustainable development.

Drilon and another LP senatorial bet, former Tesda secretary Joel Villanueva were in the city for International Women’s Day celebration and to also declare former mayor Edward Hagedorn as LP’s official mayoralty candidate and incumbent 3rd District Rep. Douglas Hagedorn as the party’s official candidate for the third district of Palawan province.

Hagedorn expressed admiration for Filipina women who have evolved from being in the sidelines and turning themselves into active and effective catalysts and agents for social and economic change.

Former Tesda chief and LP sena-

torial bet Joel Villanueva, on the other hand, underscored the significant role of women and their crucial contribution in nation building.

Villanueva said “based on our experience in Tesda, women who have received skills training are more in demand for jobs that used to be dominated by men.”

The growing ranks of women leaders in government and the private sector, prove that women are very effective managers and leaders, Villanueva added.

The event in Puerto Princesa was highlighted by the ribboncutting rites for opening of the LP headquarters.

The 14,000 International Women’s Day celebrants brought their own meals and cleaned the venue after the affair. The women’s groups and volunteers at the celebration were organized by Mrs. Ellen Hagedorn, wife of the former mayor.

At a Women’s Day rally, groups call on former mayor Edward Hagedorn (middle) to lead a campaign to revive Puerto Princesa’s tourism industry and restore its status as a premiere destination. Flanking Hagedorn are senatorial candidate Joel Villanueva (2nd from left) and Senate President Franklin Drilon.

TUTUBAN CENTER HOLDS BOMB-BLAST SIMULATION DRILL TO MAINTAIN the safety and security of shoppers, Tutuban Center recently conducted a bomb explosion and simulation exercise to test the capability of its emergency response team.

The simulated exercise was also meant to determine the strength and weaknesses of its Disaster Emergency Response Team in responding to emergency situations and enhance its response procedures when dealing with delicate situations.

Tutuban’s assistant vice president-Safety and Compliance, Ted Mosquito, led the activity in close coordination and collaboration with PNP Police Station 2 to comply with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management and Council manual and its implementing rules. The

station, located at Nolasco corner Morga Streets in Tondo, Manila, has jurisdiction over Tutuban, and is headed

by P/Supt. Nick Pinion.

“We have conducted this activity on a yearly basis in our efforts to serve our customers better, and maintain a safe and secure shopping center. By doing so, we also train and equip with enough knowledge and awareness our DERT staff, our tenants, employees and contracted service providers on how to respond and react properly in this kind of emergency,” explains Mosquito.

Bottom line, the participants were proven effective and efficient in performing their individual roles and assigned tasks when responding to this type of emergency.

There were a total of 168 registered participants, comprised mostly of Tutuban personnel and police officers from Precincts 6 and 7 both under Police Station 2. Other units that participated include the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit (EOD), the Special Reaction Unit (SRU), Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) and the Manila Traffic Bureau, plus other Manila Police Department (MPD) units headed by no less than P/Senior Superintendent Carlito Felicano.

Tutuban Center is located along C. M. Recto Avenue in Manila and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 12 midnight. Visit our Facebook page Fb.com/ TutubanCenter, follow us at Twitter and Instagram accounts, @TutubanCenter.

Police gather pieces of evidence at the ‘explosion site.’

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SUNDAY: MARCH 13, 2016

NEWS editorial@thestandard.com.ph

ROXAS’ INACTION COSTLY FOR MRT MRT passengers are now paying P20 for each Beep Card that could have been free but the proposal for a zero-cost automatic fare collection was unacted upon by former Transportation secretary Manuel Roxas II. In July of 2012, then MRT-3 general manager Al Vitangcol gave a proposal to then DoTC secretary Roxas for Beep Cards that would have been implemented at zero cost to government.

A letter dated July 30, 2012 to Roxas from Vitangcol shows that

DoTC-MRT-3 had proposed the implementation of a Pilot Contactless Automatic Fare Collection System “to cushion the impact of the forthcoming ‘death’ of the AFC System” and that “efforts were done to engage a proponent... to supply a Contactless

AFC System, all at no cost to the government and to the riding public.”

The letter, however, also expressed frustration that these efforts were “to no avail.” The letter sought direction from Roxas as to how the problem on the Beep Cards should be solved, as Vitangcol had stated that Roxas was in a habit of ignoring letters.

Vitangcol further admitted in an exclusive interview that there was a proposal that could have been accepted and implemented

where the Beep Cards would have been free and passengers would only have to pay for the load. The proposal of proponent Eurolink International would have given the cards for free to the first one million passengers. Instead, the contract for the beep cards was eventually awarded to the Ayalas and the cards now cost P20 per card without load.

The public, when the Beep Card was launched, noted that the cards would cost them P20.00 until Dec. 31, 2019; after which the cards would then

cost P30.00. As of today, more than 1.5 million beep cards are in circulation, which means that without load, the Ayalas have already grossed P30 million from the beep cards, instead of MRT riders having been allowed to avail of the beep cards for free.

Beep is the brand that the Ayalas made for the reloadable contactless smart card which replaced the magnetic card-based system in paying rail-based rapid transit transportation fares in and around Metro Manila.

‘EXPLAIN FORGED ACCOUNT’ LAWYER Ferdinand Topacio should realize that his client, RCBC Jupiter Branch manager Maia Deguito, had already admitted in a radio interview that she only “assumed” Mr. Lorenzo Tan knew about the $81-million transaction at Ms. Deguito’s branch that is now being investigated by antimoney laundering authorities and that she is not accusing Mr. Tan. This directly contradicts her previous position that Mr. Tan, RCBC president, “knew.”

So instead of asking RCBC to sanction Mr. Tan, Topacio should instead assist his client to explain the accusation of Mr. William Go that she opened an account in her branch without his knowledge, used this account for deposit and withdrawal without his knowledge, and identify who forged Mr. Go’s signature to withdraw money, Tan’s legal counsel Francis Lim said.

He should also busy himself explaining why she attempted to fly to Japan last Friday which has been perceived as flight and therefore an implied admission of guilt, Lim said.

Deguito was invited by the Senate to appear at a public hearing next week after authorities in Bangladesh, the US and the Philippines were informed that Chinese hackers stole $100 million placed by the Bangladesh central bank in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Some of these funds had been traced to Philippine banks and casinos, authorities said.

For his part, Tan offered to go on leave pending investigation on the alleged money laundering involving the RCBC Jupiter branch and its branch manager but the bank’s board instead thanked him for his gentlemanly and decent gesture, saying their trust in him remains “intact and unshaken.”

THUMBS UP FOR MARTIN. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (center) flashes the thumbs-up sign with vice governors (from left) Gabrielle Quimpo of Aklan, May Calaunan of Quirino, Virginia Almonte of Misamis Occidental, Katerine Agapay of Laguna, Jo Kristine Revil of Masbate, and Agnes Magpale of Cebu. Romualdez is a guest of honor and speaker during the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines’ 64th General Assembly at the City of Dreams Hotel in Pasay City. VER NOVENO

200 FAMILIES HOMELESS IN MANILA FIRE, 6 HURT

By Joel E. Zurbano AT LEAST 200 families were rendered homeless after a fire of still unknown origin razed a densely populated area in San Andres, Manila Saturday morning.

Six persons were injured and more than P5 million worth of property was destroyed by the four-

hour fire which started around 7 a.m. at the corner of Pedro Gil and Onyx Streets.

Arson investigators have not yet determined the cause of blaze but residents claimed they heard an explosion from a nearby area of informal settlers. The fire alert reached Task Force Alpha and gutted the houses, mostly built with light materials.

The fire partially damaged the nearby Holy Family Parochial School.

The fire was declared under control around 11 a.m.

Last week, Mayor Joseph Estrada directed the Manila Fire Department to coordinate with barangay officials in undertaking prevention and safety measures during this fire season.

Records showed that 470 fire

CLOSING TIME.

Kindergarten pupils assisted by their parents march during the closing ceremony for the preschool basic education department of the La Consolacion University Philippines in Malolos, Bulacan.

MANNY PALMERO

incidents were recorded in Manila from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 in 2015. Of the number, 51 happened in March.

Presidential Proclamation No. 115-A signed in 1966 declared March as Fire Prevention Month, aiming to “propagate safety consciousness among people” as preventive approach against occurrence of accidents and toward reduction of hazards.

Records from the Manila Fire District under the supervision of Senior Supt. Jaime Ramirez showed that 51 fire incidents, or roughly two cases per day, occurred in the capital city in March 2015 alone.

This figure was significantly higher as compared to the monthly average of 30 fire cases in that year.

Those 51 fire cases brought about an estimated P68 million in damage.

There were nine people who sustained injuries also during March last year, through there were no recorded deaths.

Based on official data, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015, there were 470 incidents of fire in Manila, which is one of the most densely-populated cities in the country and in the world with 48,000 people living per square kilometer. Manila has 896 barangays and an estimated population of more than 1.7 million.

SUNDAY: MARCH 13, 2016

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

GENERAL Electric Co. is selling its appliance business to Haier Group of China, but a Filipino executive says GE will remain an important part of the Philippine economy, where the US brand serves a lot of industries.

A Harvard-educated lawyer, who once headed the policy and planning division of the Department of Energy, now takes charge of the Philippine unit of GE, a US conglomerate that built the first street lights in Manila more than a century ago.

Jose Victor Emmanuel De Dios, or simply Jocot, wants to continue the legacy of GE Philippines, by illuminating Filipino homes, buildings, roads and parks with energy-efficient LED, the acronym for light emitting diode that can do much more than providing lights. Lighting is not a part of the appliance business that GE is selling to Haier for $5.4 billion.

“It is always good to work for a company that really provides solutions, that can help the country’s economy and improve people’s lives,” Jocot says in an interview at Shangri La at The Fort Manila in Taguig City, which is just across the street from GE Philippines headquarters.

Jocot was in Perth, Australia in January 2012, overseeing an oil and gas exploration company when he received a call from someone who offered him a job to lead an energy-related company.

One who enjoys challenges, he said yes and moved his wife Mariann and four children back to Manila to become the chief executive of GE Philippines. Jocot was born and raised in Navotas in the northern part of Metro Manila.

“I got a call and the person on the other line said are you interested to come back to the Philippines? It was an energy-type company, so I said why not. That company turned out to be GE, which is not only into energy, but also into vast array of businesses including aviation, healthcare, transportation, oil and gas. That appealed to me,” he says.

GE, one of the world’s largest industrial companies worth around $130 billion and ranked No. 6 in terms of global brands, has presence in 170 countries. “It was a great transition for me. Our history is over 100 years. Our predecessor, Thomson-Houston Company, lit the first electric lights in Manila at the turn of the [20th] century,” he says. The Philippines is currently the largest market for GE’s industrial solutions in Southeast Asia, according to Jocot.

GE itself is in a transformation stage, as it sold a significant stake in media company NBC Universal and is exiting most of its financial services platforms, apart from selling its appliance business. It is also taking a leading market position in the digital wave that is beginning to reshape the industrial

BUSINESS

B1

ENERGY MAN RECHARGES GE IN THE PHILIPPINES

GE Philippines chief executive Jose Victor Emmanuel De Dios

world.

GE aims to become one of the 10 largest software companies, with the belief that by 2020, around 10,000 gas turbines, 68,000 jet engines, more than 100 million lightbulbs and 152 million cars will be connected to the Internet. GE actually manufactured computers in the 1960s and competed with IBM. Jocot, 51, has been leading GE Philippines for four years now. He got the job, because of his wide range of skills and experience, having obtained Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines and Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo School of Law. He also holds a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School.

He worked for Romulo Law Office, where he handled capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture capi-

If you fly an airplane, chances are it uses a GE engine. If you read your power meter, that is most likely a GE meter.

tal deals and energy advisory. It was also at the Romulo Law Office, where he was exposed to en-

ergy policy, which proved helpful when he was assigned as undersecretary of the Department of Energy when he was just 36 years old, joining former Energy Secretary Vicente Perez.

He became the chairman of Philippine National Oil Co.- Exploration Corp., the oil and gas unit of PNOC. After his government stint, he did some energy consultancy, which would later open for him a high-profile job at an Australian company exploring oil and gas in the Philippines.

In February 2008, he was assigned in Australia as managing director and chief executive of Nido Petroleum Ltd., a publicly listed oil and gas exploration and production company, which is a part of the consortium operating the Galoc oilfield northwest off Palawan.

“I ran policy for the Energy Department. I ran a small oil and gas

company so I understand how to run a business. I also practised commercial law,” he says, recalling his experience in the energy sector.

Joining GE Philippines, however, has exposed Jocot to other major industries, with significant contribution to the economy.

General Electric Co., one of the world’s largest conglomerates, traces its roots to Thomson-Houston Electric Company and Edison General Electric Company, the one established by incandescent lamp inventor Thomas Alva Edison in the 1870s.

Thomson-Houston Electric Company installed the first electric street lights on Real Street in Manila in 1890, which makes GE Philippines one of the oldest companies in the country.

GE became known in the Philippines as a leading brand for lightbulbs, stoves, refrigerators and air-conditioners, but Jocot says the company provides more products and services than what consumers know.

GE manufactures big engines, machines and solutions for the aviation, transportation, oil and gas, water, power, renewable energy, healthcare and industrial sectors. “It is just the lightbulb that you buy, you can touch, but at the end of the day, our turbines are also for consumers. If you fly an airplane, chances are it uses a GE engine. If you read your power meter, that is most likely a GE meter. Those who ride the PNR train, chances are it is a GE locomotive,” says Jocot.

As chief executive of GE Philippines, Jocot is tasked to drive the company forward and spread the GE brand in the country. He also leads GE Lighting Philippines Inc. and GE Philippines Meter and Instrument Co. Inc., which has a manufacturing facility in Taguig City that produces smart meters for utilities and exports to Japan.

Jocot says GE is now a digital industrial company. The US conglomerate has recently announced major deals, including the acquisition of the energy business of French conglomerate Alstom and the sale of the GE appliance business to Haier.

It was the GE appliance business that Filipinos were mostly aware of, and ownership of GE appliances somehow became a benchmark or status symbol in the past. “In fact, I get emails from people saying they still have stove or oven, which was purchased in the 1960s and are still working and hospitals were saying they still have x-ray machines acquired years ago, but are still well preserved. GE is really synonymous to quality,” says Jocot.

Jocot is the first Filipino chief executive of GE assigned to focus on the Philippine market. “I TURN TO B3

SUNDAY: MARCH 13, 2016

B2

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

WHY ISRAEL OFFERS VISA-FREE ACCESS TO FILIPINO TOURISTS

ISRAEL provides visa-free access to Filipinos who want to visit the “Holy Land,” an arrangement forged in history and made possible by Filipinos’ open door policy.

An act of Filipino hospitality, at a time the Jewish people needed it most, earned the gratitude of Israel, which now shows it by welcoming Filipino pilgrims, tourists and even skilled workers, according to Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Effie Ben-Matityau.

Ben-Matityau said the moral courage shown by the late Commonwealth president Manuel Quezon and the Filipino people in the 1930s was not forgotten by the Israeli people.

“It is a moral victory for the Philippines,” said Ben Matityau, referring to the time Quezon opened the Philippines to Jews fleeing the holocaust perpetuated by the Nazi in Europe. Around six million Jews died at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.

Filipinos condemned the holocaust, and Quezon declared the Philippines open for Jewish survivors seeking refuge. BenMatityau said records showed that Quezon planned to welcome as many as 170,000 Jews and initially issued 10,000 visas, with the help of American High Commissioner Paul McNutt, Lt. Col.

Dwight Eisenhower, American Jewish businessman Herbert Frieder and his brothers.

Eisenhower, an aide of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, later became the 34th president of the US. Nearly 1,300 Jews mostly from Austria and Germany made it to the Philippines, including two young women met by Judge Simplicio Sempio del Rosario on a ship leaving Germany. Simplicio, the late grandfather of former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, adopted the two women and gave them jobs in Manila.

These were among the stories shared by Ben-Matityau when he visited The Standard recently to remind the paper’s editors of the strong friendship between the Philippines and Israel spanning more than 80 years.

He said that in 1947, the Philippines led by then president Manuel Roxas, was the only Asian country that voted in favor of United Nations Resolution 181, creating the state of Israel. That was a crucial vote that broke the tie in favor of Israel’s statehood. Ben-Matityau said the two “Manuels” of the

Philippines were among those responsible for the close bond between the two countries.

Israel and the Philippines established full diplomatic relationships in 1957 and signed a treaty of friendship in 1958. The Philippines established an embassy in Tel-Aviv and Israel opened an embassy in Manila in 1962.

Israel is now one of the few rich countries, along with Singapore and Hong Kong that do not require Filipinos to obtain a visa prior to travel. Israelis can also visit the Philippines visa-free for up to 59 days.

Some 15,000 Filipinos visit Israel mostly for pilgrimage each year, while nearly the same number of Israelis, including young backpackers, tour the Philippines, according to Ben-Matityau.

Some 30,000 Filipinos work in Israel, most of them as caregivers, he said, but the number could change, depending on how many really obtained work visas.

Philippine passport holders are interviewed at the port of entry in Israel and can stay for up to 90 days as tourists, as long as their passports are valid for at least six months beyond the period of intended stay, they have confirmed round trip tickets with onward flight, confirmed hotel reservation before departure, sufficient pocket money worth at least $2,000 and a letter of invitation

Filipino pilgrims visit the Open Doors monument at the Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon Lezion, Israel. (Source: Facebook page of Ambassador Effie Ben-Matityau)

Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Effie BenMatityau

from the sponsoring establishment or tourist agency.

Ben-Matityau recalled that on several occasions, he met descendants of Jewish refugees in Manila, an evidence that the opendoor policy of Quezon saved lives. Today, Israeli diplomats pay their respects to Quezon by visiting the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

Israel also built the Open Doors monument at the Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon Lezion in 2009, in honor of Quezon and the Filipino people. One of the holocaust survivors who made it to Manila, Frank Ephraim, also wrote a book about his experience, titled ‘Escape to Manila: From Nazi Tyranny to Japanese Terror’.

Ben-Matityau said Israel and the Philippines have become good friends over the years. He said Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, has trained around 3,000 Filipinos in agriculture.

These Filipino scholars formed the Shalom Club of the Philippines to share their knowledge with other Filipinos and promote Israel’s modern farm technology.

Ben-Matityau cited opportuni-

ties for stronger trade and economic relations between the two countries. “Tourism is an opportunity for growth,” he said, noting that only 15,000 Israelis visit the Philippines each year, or just a tenth of 150,000 Israelis who tour Thailand.

Other areas of cooperation are agriculture and information technology, with Tel Aviv being a major IT hub in the world. BenMatityau said popular mobile apps such as Viber and Waze were developed in Israel.

He said Israeli business process outsourcing companies were also looking at the Philippines, which had gained prominence as a call center capital.

Ben-Matityau said Israel welcomes Filipinos, because at one time, the Philippines, led by Quezon, opened its door to the Jews when only a few others did.

In welcoming the Jews in the 1930s, Quezon himself was quoted as saying: “It is my hope, and indeed my expectation, that the people of the Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when the time of need came, their country was willing to extend a hand of welcome.”

Roderick T. dela Cruz

UPLB INNOVATOR DEVELOPS MACHINE TO CUT PEST DAMAGE A GRADUATE of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños has devised a simple and affordable solution to help poor rice and corn farmers substantially reduce pest damage on their crops while in storage.

Josine Macaspac, a 27-year-old entomologist, says post-harvest losses from pests amount to millions of pesos in damaged produce and lost revenues a year.

This is especially true for small farmers who continue to use traditional storage methods for their grains because they do not have the capital to buy modern storage facilities.

Macaspac says the main motivation for the project is to provide rural, small-scale

farmers an effective, affordable and environmental-friendly way to control postharvest and storage pests.

“If you’ve ever experienced insects in your stored dry food items, you would know how much damage they can cause. This is a simple machine that can help farmers reduce that damage. Imagine a machine remove all those pesky bugs, leaving behind clean and pure produce,” Macaspac says.

At the heart of the system is a vibration machine called the MPReS or the Mechanical Pest Removal System. It cleans the produce by separating the pests from the grains. Once they are removed from the grains, the pests are ejected out through holes at the bottom of the machine. The

whole process will only take 5 to 8 minutes from start to finish, and a farmer can clean 600 kilos of produce in an hour.

Effectively, the system can clean 12 sacks of produce in a single hour without the use of electricity or expensive fuel.

This makes the MPReS functionally more effective even in far-flung farms where electricity and fuel may be scarce, Macaspac says.

The system is especially effective on crops infested by such pests as rice weevils, lesser grain borers and red rust flour beetles, Macaspac says. These are the three major grain pests attacking crops in the country, she says.

MPReS is Macaspac’ entry in the

Youth Agripreneurs Project competition sponsored by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research every year. GFAR is a body that is committed to making agriculture more relevant and modern through agri-research and innovation.

The competition will sponsor 10 winners from around the globe by providing a $5,000 project grant to use as seed money for various agricultural projects.

Macaspac is a partner in Dream Agritech, an agricultural consultancy company owned by young graduates of UPLB engaged in providing new technologies in agriculture and the environment to help the country’s farmers, among others, improve crop production.

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

ENERGY...

FROM B1

guess, the GE leadership realized that there is a lot of opportunities in emerging economies like the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar and saw the need for someone who can get the deals done and get the pulse of the public. I belong to a global growth organization that is responsible for delivering growth outside the United States,” he says.

John Rice, the vice chairman and chief executive for global growth organization of GE, visited Manila twice last year, a proof that the conglomerate considers the Philippines a growing market.

Jocot says GE affects Filipino consumers more than they know.

“We are present in all businesses—from aviation where we supply aircraft engines to carriers that operate in the Philippines, to power and water where we supply gas and steam turbines, power plants, water solutions, both chemical and equipment, to energy connections, which is energy equipment and industrial solutions business.”

GE also manufactures uninterrupted power supply or UPS devices, transformers, power substations, train locomotives, medical equipment and lighting solutions.

The company still maintains the old diesel locomotives used by Philippine National Railways.

“Now as a digital industrial company, I think people should realize that every time they fly anywhere outside Metro Manila, whether in the Philippines or in the region, one out of five flights is powered by GE engines. You go to a hospital and you have an MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] or CT [computed tomography] scan, if you take a closer look, chances are it is a GE machine. People just have to be conscious of that,” he says.

“People don’t get to visit power plants. But we have good power plants, efficient power plants that we bring to the table,” he says.

Jocot says GE, being a digital industrial company, also has a large team of information technology professionals who automate processes and link the machines to the digital space.

“Digital industrial company is really the intersection of an industrial corporation that makes industrial machines and industrial solutions to solve the world’s toughest problems and that of the digital economy. As you have seen, the digitization of the economy is transforming the way we do business,” he says.

“Practically speaking, it is where machines talk to each other and talk to people. From that intersection, the data generated from that vast intersection of industrial machines and digital economy, we are able to make more efficient machines, do preventive maintenance even before machine breaks down,” he says.

“For lighting for example, street lights will have sensors that will take data that will tell us how traffic is. Even in healthcare, we have a cloud-based application where data from machines like MRI or CT scan can be uploaded and read by an expert or radiologist who is not necessarily on the site and compare it to multiple other examples. It is that combination,” he says.

GE established its digital headquarters in San Francisco in 2015 and developed the first cloud-

based operating system dedicated exclusively for industrial solutions.

“We are an industrial company because we build stuff like aircraft engine, we build drilling equipment, we build turbines and yet we have a lot of software that goes into the hardware that we build.

We actually are aiming to have around 20,000 software professionals around the world as we push ourselves into being a digital industrial company,” he says.

Jocot, who manages 140 employees in the Philippines, says he works with the best people in the industry. “If you work with good people, then your learning curve is not difficult. My mantra has always been you have to be surrounded by people who are better than you,” he says.

Jocot, who enjoys running, cooking and fishing at leisure, describes his job as exciting “because there are so many businesses that we are into.”

“You get to learn something new every day. There are a lot of exciting things I learn. I meet different customers, private sector, government sector, a lot of smart people for a lot of challenges.”

Jocot says GE has also been a part of Philippine history, starting with the installation of street lamps more than a century ago. “I would says that over the course of our history, it [GE contribution] has been significant because our solutions helped people. We are a global leader in different industries,” he says.

He says the company expects to sustain its growth in the country in the years to come. “I think the business is growing. We are paying attention to obvious sectors such as power, which has a lot of opportunities,” he says. “We see a lot of opportunities in healthcare because as the middle class becomes affluent and the sin taxes contribute to national healthcare, people are paying attention to healthcare and healthcare expenditure is increasing,” he says.

“We would like to see more opportunities in the transportation sector, particularly rail. Aviation is growing. With lower oil prices, carriers are turning in profit and increasing passengers,” he says.

Jocot says as the Philippines becomes more of a digital economy, GE will be active to tap opportunities. “Digital industrial is the wave of the future and we want to be able to leverage technologies to other businesses. We are known for a lot of training, improving ourselves. As we learn from our customers, we would like our customers to learn from us,” he says.

Jocot does not mention a growth target for the GE business in the country, but he says the benchmark is a multiple of GDP growth. “What that multiple is, we are trying to assess how the economy is growing,” he says. The Philippines’ gross domestic product grew by an average of 5.1 percent annually between 2001 and 2015, one of the fastest in Southeast Asia. The government’s target is to achieve a growth of at least 7 percent over the medium term.

Jocot says his goal is to sustain the company’s growth trajectory in the Philippines and firm up its digital industrial profile, making “GE top of mind when it comes to industrial solutions.”

“I am very excited for prospects here. Even though I have been with the company for four years, there are still a lot of opportunities,” he says.

Roderick T. dela Cruz

Cropital founder and chief technology officer Rachel de Villa

YOUNG FILIPINO ENGINEER REMODELS FARM FINANCING RACHEL de Villa, a platform engineer at Voyager Innovations Inc., the digital innovations unit of the PLDT Group, has been chosen

by Forbes Magazine to be part of its Signature List 30 Under 30, a select group of millennial venture capitalists and financial technology entrepreneurs in Asia.

De Villa, who graduated from Quezon City Science High School in 2009 and obtained a Computer Science degree from the University of the Philippines in 2013, was chosen for her pioneering work on agritech startup Cropital, which she founded and serves as chief technology officer. Cropital is a platform that gives farmers access to scalable and sustainable financing through the crowd.

It enables the public to help finance local Filipino farmers and gain returns at the same time.

The farmers get to develop their operations with the aim of increasing their margins, while investors get a nominal return and the satisfaction of helping an often marginalized group.

Cropital is thus not your usual startup - it is a fintech startup that aims to serve a greater good. It is this social element that de Villa is most proud of when reflecting upon her selection for Forbes 30 Under 30.

“Being chosen as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 is a huge honor and one of the proudest moments in my young career. But I am ultimately most grateful for the selection because it brings more attention to Cropital and our mission to serve farmers in the Philippines and around the world through sustainable financing,” said de Villa, who has won several awards over the course of her career as a Voyager Innovations engineer in recognition of both her entre-

preneurial as well as engineering skills.

De Villa has been with Voyager for almost three years - she was one of its earliest platform engineers - and during this time, she has placed or won many hackathons, including WebGeek DevCup Hackathon 2015, where her team was a top 4 winner, and Talk ‘N Text Mobile Web Developer Challenge, where her team won the grand prize.

Our mission is to serve farmers in the Philippines and around the world through sustainable financing.

Voyager Innovations is known in the industry for its perks, workplace, and benefits.

But beyond the free morning treats, flexible working hours and cool office, what has made the company into an innovation factory is its people. Each employee is encouraged to be entrepreneurial and to work effectively as individuals and teams.

“We are proud of Rachel

and all our young talents who are getting recognition for their achievements not just in the workplace but also in their personal lives.

Our aim is to develop young talents who will settle for nothing less than changing the world through technology and entrepreneurship,” said Voyager first vice president and people group head Carla Lanza.

Voyager Innovations is fast gaining a name in the global tech industry. Under the leadership of Orlando Vea, who also founded Smart and Cignal, Voyager Innovations has so far produced over-the-top products and platforms for emerging markets including fintech services LockByMobile and Lendr, data in sachets network platform PowerApp, sponsored data platform SafeZone, shopping discovery platform Takatack, overseas communication app Talk2, and with PayMaya Philippines, the digital payments app, PayMaya.

Vea said that de Villa’s selection for Forbes 30 Under 30 made him think back to his own beginnings as a tech entrepreneur.

“We congratulate Rachel on being part of the Forbes 30 Under 30. It brings honor not only to Voyager but to all Filipinos. We are here to support her remarkable passion for inclusive innovation,” said Vea. Cropital is among the first batch of start-ups that have been accelerated by maGIC, the largest acceleration program in Southeast Asia.

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world

donald cancels chicago sortie CHICAGO—Donald Trump cancelled a rally in Chicago Friday in the face of huge protests, triggering chaotic scenes as demonstrators scuffled with supporters of the Republican White House frontrunner and police struggled to maintain order.

The billionaire said he decided to call off the rally after consulting with police in Chicago, where tensions had been rising for hours in the build-up to the event at a sporting arena at the University of Illinois.

“I don’t want to see anybody hurt,” Trump told CNN afterwards. “I think we made the right decision [to cancel] even though our freedom of speech was violated.”

Hundreds of protesters, many of them blacks and Latinos angered by Trump’s incendiary antiimmigrant rhetoric, had massed outside and inside the venue itself, mingling with the candidate’s supporters.

CNN estimated there were between 8,500 to 10,000 people in the arena when tensions erupted into chaos.

According to an AFP photographer at the scene, scuffles broke out as the decision to cancel was announced, with police struggling to separate angry supporters and protesters.

News footage showed police wearing body armor escorting groups of people out of the building. Police reportedly said there were no arrests and no injuries.

“We are not rapists,” read one sign held by a protester inside the arena, referring to Trump’s characterization last year of Mexicans rapists. AFP

AFtermAth. syrian rescue workers and residents try to pull a man out from under the rubble of a building following a reported air strike on the rebelheld neighbourhood of salhin in the northern city of aleppo on march 11, 2016. AFP

SOUTH SUDAN’S POLICY OF rAPe FOr wAge HIT GENEVA—South Sudan has encouraged fighters to rape women in place of wages, while children have been burnt alive, the United Nations said, calling it one of the world’s most “horrendous” human rights situations.

Grotesque rights violations could amount to war crimes, said a report on the world’s youngest country from the United Nations human rights office.

The UN findings coincided with an Amnesty International report saying government forces deliberately suffocated to death more than 60 men and boys

by stuffing them into a baking hot shipping container.

After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan erupted into civil war in December 2013, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines.

The UN said it had evidence that fighters from

pro-government militia which fight alongside the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) are compensated under an agreement of ‘do what you can and take what you can.’

“Most of the youth therefore also raided cattle, stole personal property, raped and abducted women and girls as a form of payment,” the report said.

It also found that civilians suspected of supporting the opposition, including children, had being burnt alive and hanged from trees and cut to pieces.

“This is one of the most horrendous human rights

situations in the world,” UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

Both the government and rebel sides have been accused of perpetrating ethnic massacres, recruiting and killing children and carrying out widespread rape, torture and forced displacement of populations to purge their opponents from areas.

The UN report found that most civilian casualties in South Sudan appeared not to be the result of combat operations, but of “deliberate attacks on civilians.”

Condemning the gov-

ernment’s “scorched earth policy,” the UN said satellite images showed that towns and villages had been systematically destroyed.

Over a period of only five months last year, from April to September, the UN recorded more than 1,300 reported rapes in Unity, just one of South Sudan’s 10 states.

One women told investigators she was stripped naked and raped by five government soldiers in front of her children on the roadside and then raped by more men in the bushes, only to return to find her children missing. AFP

venezuelan opposition seek maduro’s ouster CARACAS—After winning by a landslide in legislative elections only to see its authority hamstrung by the courts, the Venezuelan opposition on Saturday is counting on the power of the street to force the deeply unpopular President Nicolas Maduro to listen to calls for change.

Seventeen years into the socialist “revolution” launched by the president’s late mentor Hugo Chavez, a punishing economic crisis has stoked outrage in the once-booming oil giant, where chronic shortages of basic goods, long lines and soaring prices have become the norm.

After weeks debating its plan of attack, the fractious opposition coalition, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), announced it would use not one but all options available to oust Maduro, including a recall referendum and a constitutional amendment reduc-

ing the presidential term.

But with an unfriendly Supreme Court likely to stand in its way, it is placing special emphasis on its call for protests—a potentially explosive path amid the tensions tearing at Venezuela, after anti-government demonstrations in 2014 left 43 people dead.

Maduro will lead a rally of his own Saturday morning in Caracas, at the same time as the opposition demos.

Officially, his is a protest against the United States’ decision to renew sanctions on several top Venezuelan officials, first imposed a year ago over a government crack-down on opposition leaders.

But beneath the anti-American rhetoric he and Chavez have long relied upon to whip up their leftist supporters, the rally is a clear attempt to counter the opposition’s protests. AFP

wAter world. Aerial view of a flooded area in the municipality of Itapevi, some 41 km from sao paulo, Brazil. torrential rains overnight killed at least 19 people on the outskirts of the Brazilian economic capital sao paulo, rescue workers said Friday. a landslide buried 17 of the victims, while two others drowned in the floodwaters, the rescue service said on its official Twitter account. AFP

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B5

WORLD editorial@thestandard.com.ph

suu kyi aide poised to lead myanmar NAYPYIDAW—A trusted aide of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi was a step closer to becoming the country’s first civilian leader in generations after sailing through a parliamentary vote Friday, while the still-powerful military put forward a hardline retired general as its vice president nominee.

Htin kyaw, a respected writer who helps run Suu kyi’s charitable foundation, was seen as the top choice to act as a proxy for the democracy veteran who is barred from the office by a junta-scripted charter.

One further vote of approval is needed in the combined houses dominated by Suu kyi loyalists before Htin kyaw can officially be anointed leader of the nation that has been run by the military for decades.

His parliamentary confirmation comes as the military put forward their own candidate, Yangon chief minister Myint

Swe, a retired army general seen as an ally of former strongman Than Shwe.

The decision is likely to prove controversial in a country still burdened by the legacy of nearly 50 years of rule by the military, which retains significant influence including a quarter of the parliament’s seats.

Suu kyi is beloved by many in Myanmar and the uncontested figurehead of the country’s long democracy struggle, but months of negotiations have failed to convince the military to change a charter clause that blocks her from top office.

She has nevertheless vowed to rule “above” the next president as she strives to meet the soaring expectations of millions of voters who handed her national League for Democracy party a thundering election win in november.

The combined houses are expected to vote between three candidates next week, with a new president set to replace outgoing President Thein Sein at the end of March.

With the nLD dominating both houses, Htin kyaw is likely clinch the top post with a comfortable lead.

The nLD’s other candidate is from the upper house, ethnic Chin MP Henry Van Thio. Both he and Myint Swe would then become vice presidents.

Even the state-backed Global new Light of Myanmar, which normally shies away from coverage of Suu kyi and her party, on Friday said Htin kyaw “is favoured to ascend to the presiden-

trying times. a pedestrian walks past a building site next to high rise buildings in hong kong on march 12, 2016. property prices in hong kong, famous for its sky-high rent and super-rich tycoons, have more than doubled in six years due to record low interest rates and a flood of wealthy buyers from mainland china. AFP

cy absent any irregularities in the process.”

Though he did not run in november’s polls, Htin kyaw is a close and trusted confidante.

He sometimes drove for the democracy activist during her brief moments of freedom from house arrest, and was at her side when she was finally freed in 2010.

Htin kyaw commands significant respect in Myanmar, partly because his father was a legendary writer and early member of the nLD. He is married to sitting nLD MP Su Su Lwin, whose late father was the party’s respected spokesman.

“We are going to see our first ever civilian president. He is endowed with presidential qualifications and has worked alongside Daw Aung San Suu kyi for democracy. He is a deserving one,” Tin Thit, a lower house nLD lawmaker told AFP. Daw means auntie and is a term of respect. AFP

erdogan hits court for freeing reporters AnkArA—Turkish President recep Tayyip Erdogan fired a fresh broadside at the country’s top court over the release of two journalists, saying its existence could be in doubt if it did the same thing again.

The Constitutional Court— one of the few Turkish public institutions not fully under Erdogan’s control—last month allowed the release of the Cumhuriyet newspaper’s editor-inchief Can Dundar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul after three months in jail.

The decision to free the pair, detained since november on charges of revealing state secrets over a report alleging the government tried to deliver arms to Islamist rebels in Syria, infuriated Erdogan, who said he had “no respect for it.”

On Friday, Erdogan used a speech in the southwestern city of Burdur to renew his attack on the court.

“I hope the Constitutional Court will not try to repeat this in a way that would call into question its existence and its legitimacy,” Erdogan said.

He accused the court of giving a judgment that was “against the country and its people.”

The Cumhuriyet report sparked a furore, fuelling speculation about the Erdogan government’s role in the Syrian conflict and its alleged dealings with Islamist rebels.

The arrest of the journalists also amplified concerns about press freedom under Erdogan, who personally warned Dundar he would “pay a price” for the story.

The pair are still facing trial on the charges—and possibly life sentences—and Dundar has vowed to use the hearings, due to start on March 25, to “put the crimes of the state on trial.”

In what was seen as a fresh blow to press freedom in Turkey, last week the Zaman newspaper, which had been highly critical of the government, was seized by the authorities. AFP

nokor sub goes missing SEOUL—A north korean submarine is missing, reports said Saturday, as the reclusive state issued a fresh threat of retaliation against US and South korean forces involved in joint military drills.

The unknown class of vessel had been reportedly operating off the north korean coast earlier in the week when it disappeared.

A South korean defense ministry told AFP Seoul was investigating the reports. Pentagon officials declined to comment on the matter.

The US military had been observing the submarine off the north’s eastern coast, Cnn said, citing three US officials familiar with the incident.

American spy satellites, aircraft and ships have been watching as the north korean

navy searched for the missing sub, the report added.

The US is unsure if the missing vessel is adrift or whether it has sunk, Cnn reported, but officials believe it suffered a failure during an exercise.

The US naval Institute (USnI) news said the submarine was presumed sunk.

“The speculation is that it sank,” an unidentified US official was quoted as telling the USnI news.

“The north koreans have not made an attempt to indicate there is something wrong or that they require help or some type of assistance.”

The incident comes as tensions were further heightened on the korean peninsular by a fresh threat from Pyongyang.

The official kCnA news

agency, citing a statement from military chiefs, warned of a “preemptive retaliatory strike at the enemy groups” involved in the joint US-South korean drill.

Pyongyang added it planned to respond to the drills with an “operation to liberate the whole of South korea including Seoul” with an “ultra-precision blitzkrieg.” responding to the statement, South korea’s defense ministry urged Pyongyang to stop making threats or further provocations, according to Yonhap news agency. north korea’s navy operates a fleet of some 70 submarines, most of them being rusting diesel submarines that are capable of little more than coastal defense and limited offensive capabilities. AFP

Air strike. palestinian children inspect a bedroom of the damaged khussa family home after an israeli strike on hamas bases in beit Lahiya, northern gaza strip on march 12, 2016. israeli planes struck hamas bases in the gaza strip early on march 12, killing a child living near one of the targets and injuring his sister. AFP

B6

S U N D aY : m a r C H 1 3 , 2 0 1 6

SPORTS

riera mall ari EDITOR

sports@thestandard.com.ph

Members of the la Salle-Greenhills team, shown with coach nic Jordge, display their medals and trophy.

Building future champions ALL eyes were on the hardworking team captains of La Salle Greenhills and Adamson University, who dominated the court and helped their teammates win the coveted national championship titles at the recent 30th season of SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament.

La Salle Greenhills team captains Victorino Bulado Torres and Mark Anjelo Torrijos joined forces and led their team rule the SBP division, which pitted 9-11 year old players against champions from Luzon (Berkeley School Baguio), Visayas (Ateneo de Iloilo) and Mindanao (Ateneo de Davao). Outside the court, they also worked together to provide their team stability by acting as leaders.

Despite their young age, Torres and Torrijos understand leadership like few

kids do.

“I enjoy being a team captain. Everyone in the team is my friend. It’s not easy being the leader, but I think if you listen to your teammates, they will listen to you as well,” said Torres.

“I think your teammates listen to you when they see your hardwork and determination. Aside from being a role model by arriving on time during practices and playing hard inside the court, I also motivate others to give their best shot,” Torrijos added.

Torres and Torrijos aim to play in the Passerelle division of the twin tournament in the near future.

They also aspire to join the big basketball leagues, like the Philippine Basketball Association and Gilas Pilipinas someday.

“We want to represent the country in international basketball competitions and bring honor to Filipinos,” declared the young team captains.

On the other hand, Adamson University team captain Forthsky Padrigao led his team to victory in the Passerelle division, where they competed against players aged 12-15 year old regional champions from Luzon (Holy Angel University), Visayas (Sun Yat Sen High School of Iloilo) and Mindanao (Ateneo de Davao).

Asked if being a basket-

ball team captain has affected his grades, Padrigao said no. In fact, it motivated him to study harder.

“Basketball helps me become more competitive and study hard because I want to inspire my teammates.

I think that when you perform well `in school, your teammates look up to you.”

Sponsored by Milo and Chris Sports and organized by the Basketball Efficiency and Scientific Training Center, the SBP-Passerelle Twin Tournament is the country’s most prestigious interschool basketball competition for kids. A renowned breeding ground for champions, the tournament has produced countless basketball stars over the years, including Chris Tiu, Keifer Ravena, and Mark and Mike Nieto.

For more information about BEST Center’s classes and tournaments,

Globalport Batang pier owner Mikee romero, with son Mikhail

call the hotlines 411-6260, 3723066 and 372-3065, email bestcentersports@ gmail.com or follow its of-

ficial Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ pages/BEST-Center-SportsInc/66172039922.

Manila Bay SeaSportS FeStival lureS elite caSt THE country’s best motorboat enthusiasts square off to determine this year’s “master-bangkero” while top clubs and university teams take part in the dragon boat competition of the

2016 Manila Bay Seasports Festival, which will be held on March 19 and 20.

Presented by Manila Broadcasting Company and the City of Manila, in cooperation with the Philippine

the coast Guard Squad, one of the teams to watch out for

Coast Guard, the Manila Bay Summer Seasports Festival is once more expected to draw big crowds to the Baywalk area along Roxas Boulevard.

Olympic rowers, South-

east Asian Games medalists, and members of the various Philippine national teams that have copped the numerous World Dragon Boat Championships will all see action in the twoday event, including the Bruins, UP Alumni, EAM Events Paddling Interactive Crew, Adamson University, NTMA Dragons, Manila Ocean Park, Philippine Blue Phoenix, Onslaught Racing Dragons, Rogue Pilipinas Paddlers, Pilipinas Wave Warriors, Maharlika Drakon, Dragons Republic Paddlers, One Piece Drakon Sangres, Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coast Guard, Triton A & B, RCP Sea Dragons, and Amateur Paddlers Philippines.

army paddlers ready for action Motorboat racers from all invited to grace the awardover the Philippine archi- ing ceremonies that will cap pelago will compete in stock the two-day event. and formula races, tradiThe 2016 Manila Bay Seationally dominated by boat- sports Festival is supported men from Rizal, Bataan, by Cobra Energy Drink, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Kremtop, The Generics Laguna, La Union, Quezon, Pharmacy, Executive OptiIlocos Sur, and Navotas. cal, Revicon, M. Lhuillier, My Races begin at 8 a.m.

Juiz, White Castle, and Herco Music artists have been Trading Corporation.

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SPORTS

ARMAN ARMERO EDITOR

sports@thestandard.com.ph

EAC, PCU OUTPLAY RIVALS EMILIO Aguinaldo College staved off repeated rallies by Our Lady of Lourdes Technological College-Takeshi Motors to eke out a hard-earned 90-81 win in the 2016 MBL Open basketball championship at the EAC Sports and Cultural Center in Manila.

Igee King, son of PBA legend Abe King, scored six of his 18 points in the final three minutes to lift the Generals of newly-appointed coach Ariel Sison to victory over the hard-fighting Blue Warriors.

King’s heroics came after the Blue Warriors battled back from several double-digit deficits to come to within four points.74-78, and keep the game close and interesting.

Francis Munsayac topscored with 20 points, including three triples, for the Generals, who improved to 2-1 in this tournament supported

by Smart Sports, Ironcon Builders, Bread Story, Dickies Underwear, PRC Couriers and Gerry’s Grill.

Ivan Villanueva scattered 23 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter, to lead OLLTC-Takeshi of managers Ismael J. Alamares and Dr. Jennifer Alamares and coach Monel Kallos.

Joseph Nalos added 16 and William Polican had 11 for the Novaliches-based Blue Warriors, who are seeking to return as founding members of the NAASCU. Overshadowed by EAC’s victory was Philippine Christian University, which humbled Microtel Plus, 130-82, for its third win in four matches.

Jackson Corpuz mocked all defenders thrown against him to score a game-high 33 points for the Dolphins, who are seeking their first MBL title with former St. Benilde standout Elvis Tolentino as coach.

With Corpuz and Von Tambeling leading the way, the Dolphins raced to an early double-digit advantage and never looked back in posting another dominant victory.

ABL veteran Toto Bandaying led the fight for the Jun Da Josementored Microtel with 16 points.

Julian Sargent added 11, Elmejerab Seraj contributed nine and Christian Pamulaklakin had eight in a losing cause.

The scores: First game EAC (90)—Munsayac 20, King 18, Morada 11, Pascua 7, Laminoli 6, Guzman 5, Diego 4, Mendoza 3, Estacio 3, Aguas 3, Mendoza 3, Neri 3, General 2, Corilla 2, Alpiche 0, Umslo 0.

OLLTC-Takeshi (81)—Villanueva 23, Nalos 16, Polican 11, Pineda 8, Marilao 8, Torrado 5, Garcia 4, Burtonwood 4, Castro 2, Brutas 0, Sequilasao 0.

Quarterscores: 25-17, 42-38, 64-57, 90-81.

Second game PCU (130)—Corpuz 33, Tambeling 18, Vasauez 16, Ayonayon 11, Meruado 8, Catipay 7, Apreko 5, Costan 5, Palatao 5, Malto 3, Bautista 2.

Microtel Plus (82)—Bandaying 16, Sargent 11, Seraj 9, Taladua 8, Managuelod 7, Barnes 6, Pamulaklakin 5, Kalaw 5, Comerciase 5, Catamora 3, Vacaro 3, Sanchez 2, Pablo 2.

Quarterscores: 37-12, 67-30, 93-58, 130-82

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SHARAPOVA LASHES OUT AT CRITICS OVER POSITIVE TEST

Maria Sharapova’s Nike products are seen for sale in the merchandise store during day four of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. AFP

M

ARIA Sharapova hit back Friday at suggestions she received five separate warnings about changes to tennis’ anti-doping rules which ultimately led to her testing positive for a banned drug.

A defiant Sharapova defended herself in a post on her Facebook page, saying that she received one clear notice in December titled “Main Changes to the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme for 2016.”

“I should have paid more attention to it. But the other “communications”? They were buried in newsletters, websites, or handouts,” the Russian star said.

Former world number one Sharapova announced Monday that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January.

Sharapova tested positive for meldonium, which was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list on Jan. 1.

The 28-year-old Sharapova also insisted Friday that she has never faked an injury to try and foil the drug testers.

“I won’t pretend to be injured so I can hide the truth about my testing,” said Sharapova, vowing

to set the record straight over her supposed multiple warnings.

“I am determined to fight back,” she said. “No excuses, but it’s wrong to say I was warned five times.”

The Times of London on Wednesday reported that Sharapova had received five separate notifications that meldonium was to be banned.

The newspaper said three correspondences had been sent by the International Tennis Federation [ITF] and two from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

WADA had also issued communications in September that the substance was to be added to the banned list from Jan. 1.

The Times said all of the warnings from the ITF and WTA arrived in December, with the final reminder landing on Dec. 29.

Sharapova said on Dec. 18 she received an email

titled “Player News” and mixed in with the rankings, tournament news, bulletins, and birthday wishes was the notification of changes to the anti-doping rules.

“In other words, in order to be aware of this “warning”, you had to open an email with a subject line having nothing to do with anti-doping, click on a webpage, enter a password, enter a username, hunt, click, hunt, click, hunt, click, scroll and read.

“I guess some in the media can call that a warning. I think most people would call it too hard to find.”

Sharapova said earlier this week that she used meldonium for the past decade to treat illnesses, a heart issue and a magnesium deficiency.

Sharapova also took issue with reports that the normal course of treatment with meldonium spanned four to six weeks.

Maria Sharapova

“I didn’t take the medicine every day. I took it the way my doctor recommended I take it and I took it in the low doses recommended,” she wrote.

“I’m proud of how I have played the game. I have been honest and upfront.”

Sharapova said she is eager to have her hearing with ITF officials so she can give her side of the story.

“I look forward to the ITF hearing at which time they will receive my detailed medical records.”

She said she hopes to return to tennis but also admitted that because of the scandal her career may be in jeopardy.

“I hope I will be allowed to play again,” she said. “But no matter what, I want you, my fans, to know the truth and have the facts.” AFP

PHILIPPINES KEEPS SUZUKI CUP HOSTING RIGHTS THE Philippines has retained the rights to host the 2016 Suzuki Cup after it agreed to move the venue to a sprawling new stadium, the local football federation said Saturday.

The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) had initially offered the ageing Rizal Memorial Stadium in downtown Manila for the biennial tournament between

Southeast Asian nations, but its 15,000 seating capacity fell short of organisers’ standards.

At a meeting with Asian Football Federation Council in Da Nang, Vietnam this week, the PFF offered the 20,000-seater Philippine Sports Stadium, a brand new venue in the capital’s outskirts and the proposal was approved, PFF general secretary

Edwin Gastanes said.

“The hosting of this event is an opportunity and a challenge to PFF and all football stakeholders in the Philippines,” Gastanes told AFP. While the Philippine Sports Stadium will be the primary venue for the Suzuki Cup Group Stage on November 19 to 26, some matches will be played in

the smaller venue, he said.

Opened in 2014, the Philippine Sports Stadium is located inside a sprawling entertainment complex run by members of a local Christian sect. The adjacent Philippine Arena hosted Katy Perry’s “Prismatic” tour last year.

Thailand won their fourth Southeast Asian title during the last Suzuki Cup in 2014. AFP

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REUEL VIDAL EDITOR sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS

FROM VISAYAS SURVIVE JrNBA SELECTION PROCESS The 11 best young basketball players from the Visayas proudly hold their basketballs after being selected to advance to the National Training Camp (NTC) after the Cebu Regional Selection Camp at the Don Bosco Technology Center in Labangon, Cebu City last weekend. The players include Justin Atilano, Tracy Carl Dadang, Lowell Jhan Francis Chan, Anskie McLouise Respina, Kendall Limana, Daphne Nardo, Florence Jil Talas, Darliene Ragasajo, Harold Alarcon, Fritz Felix Valencia and Nicholas Steven Pura of St. John’s Institute.

By Reuel Vidal

THE 11 best young basketball players from the Visayas passed through the gauntlet of the Cebu Regional Selection Camp at the Don Bosco Technology Center in Labangon, Cebu City last weekend to advance to the JrNBA and JrWNBA Presented by Alaska National Training Camp.

The players were chosen from 333 youngsters who went through the rigorous selection process of the twoday camp.

Eight players from Cebu will head the delegation to the NTC. The Cebuanos include five boys in Justin Atilano, 13 and Tracy Carl Dadang, 13, of the University of San Carlos; Lowell Jhan Francis Chan, 13 and Anskie McLouise Respina, 13, of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu; and Kendall Limana, 13, of Abellana National High School.

The high school girls basketball team of Abellana National School swept all slots for girls when three of their rookie players – Daphne Nardo, 13; Florence Jil Talas, 13 and Darliene Ragasajo, 13 – qualified to the NTC. Three boys from Bacolod will join them. They are Har-

JrNBA and JrWNBA aspirant Lowell Jhan Francis Chan glides to the hoop as he attempts a fastbreak layup.

JrNBA and JrWNBA coach Andrea Stevens (right) talks to Darliene Ragasajo (7) as she tries to dribble past plastic cones as obstacles.

old Alarcon, 13 and Fritz Felix Valencia, 13, of Bacolod Tay Tung High School and

Nicholas Steven Pura, 13, of St. John’s Institute.

The players were tested in

the skills stations where their dribbling, passing and shooting skills were measured.

They also played against each other in in competitive scrimmages.

The aspirants were judged not just for their basketball skills but more for their dis-

play of the STAR values of sportsmanship, teamwork, positive attitude and respect.

The final selection camp will be held at the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati on April 9 and 10.

Fifty boys and 24 girls from the selection camps will ad-

vance to the NTC on April 22 to 24 at the SM Mall of Asia.

The final 10 boys and five girls will be named to the JrNBA and JrWNBA AllStar team.

The All-Star Team will travel overseas for their NBA experience trip together with fellow JrNBA All-Stars from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. The 2015 JrNBA All-Stars traveled to China to watch the NBA Global Games in Shenzhen featuring the Charlotte Hornets and the L.A. Clippers.

The Alaska JrNBA and JrWNBA is not just searching for the best basketball players.

It also challenges and inspires children to achieve their dreams and aspirations in life. It is free and open to boys and girls born 2002 to 2006.

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.

VOLUNTEER COACHES HELP ABELLANA STUDENTS ADVANCE

THE high school girls basketball team of Abellana National School (ANS) swept all slots for girls to the Alaska JrNBA and JrWNBA National Training Camp after the Cebu Regional Selection Camp.

Three rookie players— Daphne Nardo, Florence Jil Talas and Darliene Ragasajo —qualified to the NTC. The school went three-forthree when all of its eligible players were selected to advance. Four girls should have advanced but the school’s best player—Ardelyn Delantes, niece of former professional basketball player Max

Delantes—was overaged by one month.

A lot of the credit should go to their hard-working coaching staff of volunteer coaches Noel Talas, Del Gahudo and former Philippine Basketball Association pro Freddie Serafica a member of the 1976 Crispa team which won a PBA Grand Slam.

Their regular coach is Darwin Denoy who allows the volunteers plenty of leeway to train the girls as they see fit.

How good is the girls basketball team of ANS? The team made basketball history on its way to win-

Three players from the Abellana National School front, from left: Florence Jil Talas, Daphne Nardo and Darliene Ragasajo join their coaches Freddie Serafica (right) and Noel Talas (third from left) after they were selected to advance to the National Training Camp.

ning the girls high school title in the 25th Cebu City Olympics held last year with 109-0 victory over Tabunan Integrated School.

That ANS team prepared for the City Olympics by playing against other teams in the boys division of the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) U-15 category. In a tune-up game before start of the Cebu City Olympics the team defeated college alumni squad As-Es Cebu Normal University Alumni, 62-45.

Serafica said the girls get the benefit of the best and most modern training regi-

men. But they’ve become really good because of their diligence and hard work. It also helped immensely that they have time to practice their sport because of the unique curriculum of ANS. The school was named Abellana National School in 1993 by the virtue of the RA 3027. The same act authorized the offering of both Trade and General Curriculum which allows athletically gifted students to spend more time becoming the best they could be in athletics and team sports like football and basketball.

Reuel Vidal

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TATUm ANchETA EDITOR

BING PArEL

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

BErNADETTE LUNAS WRITER

life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIfEatStandard

S U NDAY L If E

LIFE

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The Great British Festival features British fashion brands via a fashion show at Bonifacio High Street in Bonifacio Global City

A BRITISh WEEkEnD AT BGC

ShakeSpeare and Filipino FirmS take centerStage at the great BritiSh FeStival

By BERnADETTE lunAS

T

he humid weather was unmistakably Filipino but the vibe was distinctly British at the opening of the third The Great British Festival at Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City.

Last February 26 to 28, festival goers enjoyed a British-style weekend with family and friends as they reveled in the stunning attractions and participated in the impressive lineup of activities organized by the British Embassy in the Philippines and its partners.

ThE BARD lIvES On

Headlining this year’s The Great British Festival was English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare, as the organizers mounted a Shakespeare Pavilion.

The Pavilion housed a series of events and performances that celebrate the life and legacy of Shakespeare, who’s considered one of the greatest and most influential literary figures in the world.

“The themes of Shakespeare’s works are timeless. Politics, romance, intrigue, comedy and tragedy are seen in many adaptations in films, music, opera, literature and animation. You don’t have to be a Literature or English major to understand and enjoy Shakespeare,” shared British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad The Manila Shakespeare Company conducted Everyday Shakespeare Talks, while the Philippine Education Theater Association hosted a theater acting workshop for children. In addition, PETA staged excerpts of its highly-lauded Shakespeare rap-musical “William,” while Word of Mouth Theater presented “William Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits.”

British School Manila students performed parts of A Comedy of Errors, and students from Miriam College surprised audiences with pocket live performances of Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar.

Continued on C4

British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad (center) officially opens The Great British Festival 2016. Joining him at the arc inspired by the London Eye are (from left) Shell Philippines Vice President Ramon del Rosario, Shell Philippines country chair Ed Chua, UK Education Ambassador and Chevening scholar Joyce Tan and British Council country director Nicholas Thomas

Family and friends experience a small taste of Britain as they go around the venue dotted with UK landmarks, pop culture icons and dinosaurs, too—alluding to the priceless treasures in UK museums

Musical performance at the British Festival 2016

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

caption

Carotid artery By tatum ancheta ‘Women have always been the strong ones of the world...’ Coco Chanel

W

hile stuck in traffic, my friend and I were talking about having kids and I asked her, “If you finally give birth to one, would you like a boy or a girl?”

“Of course I’d want a girl,” she says, and I sat by the passenger seat ready to argue. For me, my choice would be to give birth to a boy. I’ve always believed that women have a harder time growing up, and I wouldn’t want my kid to go through some scary experiences I went through as a girl and as a woman. Plus, I would feel better sleeping at night knowing my boy is better at protecting himself against the bad elements in this world.

“Hello, why would I want a boy? All the men in my family are weak; it’s the women who are powerful,” she adds, and then started to enumerate the women in her family. “I want my kid to be like me, my mom and my sister.” It got me thinking – I never thought of it that way.

I then looked at my family: All the three-generation progeny are mostly boys, all my siblings

'What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable.' –Tavi Gevinson, May 2011 TedxTeen Talk

celeBrating strong characters that are Women are boys, and I can count my girl cousins with the fingers from one hand. I then looked at the strongest characters in my family, and they are all women – my lola, my mom, my aunts. These

are women I look up to, women who strived, who struggled, who sacrificed, and they are the ones who kept their families intact, happy, and surviving.

My lola is a retired teacher and she raised seven kids on her own when my lolo passed away at a young age and my mom was barely in her twenties. I remember my lola telling us how she was selling atchara (pickled shredded green papaya) to have extra money to provide for her kids while working as an elementary school teacher. My mom and all my aunts all worked at a young age to have enough for each of them growing up. My lola now has a lot of apos (grandchildren) and apo sa tuhod (great grandchildren) and she is still a strong matriarch whom everyone looks up to.

It got me thinking, maybe my friend is right – having a baby girl would be a better choice. Why would I think of the struggles when I myself was able to overcome these hurdles and I came out unscathed and tougher than some of the men I know? I’m the eldest and have three brothers, and I can say that I came out stronger than all of them. Yes, my little bros – write comments on my feed or I won’t give you and your kids gifts for Christmas, haha!

In my line of work, I’m lucky enough to have met so many amazing and strong women. People who I can only dream of becoming – maybe one day, someday.

These power women all have different stories to tell, most are mothers, girl bosses, unapologetic

women who came from poverty and persevered, women who were left by their husbands to fend for themselves, women whose lives are the very core of the community that they live in.

But what is it that makes a strong woman, and why is it that even in a male dominated society, the little voices of women are able to do more?

According to the United Nations Development Programme in the Philippines, “in education and literacy, Filipino females have fared consistently better than males. Since (the) 1990s, females maintain higher rates of cohort survival and completion rates than males in all levels of education.” Though there is still a great gap in gender equality, there has been a continuous shift in power as more women are now empowered through political and economic participation.

Since the women’s suffrage movement in 1937, more and more Pinays are holding seats in the Philippine government.

The ratio of men in Philippine politics still outnumbers women even though there are more women voters than men (18,921,744 female voters versus 18,028,326 male voters according to Commission on Elections data based on the 2010 elections), but we have come a long way since 1937. Based on reports by the Philippine Commission on Women as of September 2013, “automated national and local elections shows that around 19.97 percent (3,503) of the elected posts, including ARMM elections, are won by women candidates, higher than the 18.4 percent turnout in 2010.” So far, 2016 will hold the record for the highest percentage of women running for the top seats in government with two out of five presidentiables actually women – Senators Miriam Defensor

Santiago and Grace Poe. Let’s just wait for the results of the May elections when the Comelec declares the winner of the presidential race.

In the workplace, based on PCW preliminary results of the October 2013 Labor Force Survey (LFS), the statistics on Filipino women and men’s labor and employment shows that female employment was estimated at 14.8 million compared to 22.9 million males.

The number is not equal but we are there, and that number is a force to reckon with. In lifestyle publications and in advertising, I’ve had mostly female bosses and clients, though each has her own flaws and differentsized egos, they are still one of the strongest female characters I’ve ever met, and some are exceptionally strong role models, if not for the many, maybe even just to their kids and their employees.

Woman are complicated homo sapiens but our quirks are what make us who we are and also make us interesting – and weirdly enough, endearing. Like what Tavi Gevinson said during her May 2011 TedxTeen talk, “What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable.”

For the entire month of March and the many days after that, let us celebrate these strong women. Send messages to your mom today, your lola, your girl boss, your lover, your sister and friend, congratulate them and thank them for being well, women.

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, Twitter, and Snapchat.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Quezon City Celebrates national Women’s month

U

Campaign makes Cities safe for women

nited Nations Women organization is a global champion for women and girls, created for the purpose of promoting gender equality and empowering women all over the world, in the process also accelerating progress as the needs of women are met. The organization s dedication in upholding women s rights and womenfocused advocacies gave birth to the Safe Cities Global Initiative covering 24 cities globally. In the Philippines, Quezon City is the pilot city for the implementation of the program.

Women are usually subjected to cat calling, abuse, and sexual harassment, and part of the UN Women s Safe Cities Global Initiative is a study that would aid in the organization’s goal to develop a comprehensive approach to decreasing the risk of sexual harassment and other forms of violence against women and girls in public spaces.

Last February, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) conducted the study and worked with 800 respondents in Barangays Payatas and Bagong Silangan in Quezon City.

The results of the study indicate the prevalence of sexual harassment, with three out of five women respondents saying they experienced sexual harassment at least once in their lifetime. According to respondents aged 18 to 24, the most prevalent type of sexual harassment is verbal in nature such as wolf whistling, catcalling or lascivious language, while 34 percent of the women respondents experienced the worst forms of sexual harassment such as flashing, public masturbation and groping. Of these incidents of sexual harassment, 70 percent was actually exhibited by strangers. What s also disturbing is the revelation that one out of two women didn t say anything about it, nor did they report to authorities or do anything after the incident of harassment.

According to these women, keeping quiet was motivated by fear.

In celebration of Women s month for the entire March, UN Women and the Quezon City Government kicked off a month-long

Jay Sandoval from Social Weather Stations (SWS), with UN Women Safe Cities celebrity supporter Glaiza De Castro and Katherine Belen, UN Women Safe Cities Programme head during the presscon on the eve of International Women’s Day celebration

campaign on Safe Cities. During the eve of the celebration of International Women s Day, the sky lit up with floating lanterns as a symbolic gesture to raise national awareness on the issue of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces. Activities for the monthlong celebration will also include trainings against sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women in public spaces by male advocates of gender equality, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and

transgender) grassroots organizations, and women with disabilities. Celebrity Glaiza De Castro supports the cause as an ambassador for the campaign and is active in communicating the messages of the organization, with posters and images also displayed all over Quezon City to raise more awareness about the campaign.

Through this initiative, UN Women and the QC government hope that more women will learn how to respond and protect themselves should incidents of

sexual harassment occur. Hopefully, even the other sectors of society will get the message and have their eyes opened regarding this issue, in the process creating ripples of change that would make cities safer for women.

For more information on UN Women and its activities, log on to www.unwomen.org or follow UN Women Safe Cities Metro Manila on Facebook and @UNWSafeCitiesMM on Twitter.

INSULAr LIFE WINS GoLD IN 51St ANvIL AWArDS

Magnetic bookmark and calendar

Insular Life bagged a Gold Anvil under the Publications category for its corporate calendar set composed of a desk calendar and planner with a design inspired by the travel and cultural tidbits around the country

Desk calendar

Insular Life bagged a Gold Anvil under the Publications category in the recently held 51st Anvil Awards Gabi ng Parangal under the PR Tools-Publications category.

For the second time, Insular Life’s corporate calendars received the Gold Anvil, and it was also the third time that the project was cited for an Anvil award. The corporate calendar set is comprised of a desk calendar and planner with a design inspired by travel and cultural tidbits around the country. The corporate materials, titled “Hope and Aspiration,” serves as a guide book featuring lesser known Filipino monuments across the country. At the same time, brand-related messages, such as financial planning tips and Insular Life’s historical trivia, are injected in the designs. The calendar also includes a pop-out drink coaster from the desk calendar and a clip-on magnetic bookmark.

The publication materials are targeted for the younger professional market to boost top-ofmind awareness about the brand.

The Public Relations Society of the Philippines, which spearheads the Anvil Awards, noted that the entry which won the Anvil for Insular Life is a testament to the fact that the brand is “living up to its image of a contemporary company that is proud of its Filipino heritage.”

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

from left: anZ philippines chief executive officer peter chan, australian embassy trade commissioner natasha monks, Qantas airways General manager honeybee hubahib, and telstra philippines general manager rosanne suarez

minister counsellor and senior trade commissioner of australian Government australian trade commission anthony Weymouth and wife Kerrie

filipinos who studied in australia’s superb schools include alumni (second from left) martin andanar of tV 5 and (fourth from left) national historical commission of the philippines director Vic badoy

G’DAY AUSTRALIA! Celebrating the good life down Under

A

ustralia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, offering a variety of attractions that would delight any tourist. Just recently, mall goers had a great opportunity to discover more about the sights, sounds, history, movies, music, education, food, and shopping available Down Under during the “Celebrate Australia: Say G’Day at SM” exhibit held at SM Aura Premier Atrium.

The exhibit, which was a joint project of the Australian Embassy and SM, was held to commemorate the 70th year of diplomatic relations between Australia and the Philippines. Australia opened its first Consulate General in Manila on May 22, 1946, and the event highlighted the warm relations between the two countries with an exhibit that highlighted a timeline covering the first 70 years, as well as milestones in bilateral relations between the two countries.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Amanda Gorely graced the launch together with embassy officials including Minister Counsellor and Senior Trade Commissioner Anthony Weymouth, First Secretary Felicity Lee, Political and Public Affairs Counsellor Richard Rodgers, and Economic Counsellor Daniel Featherston. Joining the celebrations were National Historical Commission of the Philippines director Vic Badoy, Qantas Airways general manager Honeybee Hubahib, musician Jim Paredes with wife Lydia, and SM officials led by SM senior vice president for Marketing Millie Dizon and SM Supermalls AVP for Operations Bernice Baculi.

The exhibit showed a collection of breathtaking photographs featuring iconic Australian tourist attractions like the

Sydney Opera House; Twelve Apostles in Victoria; Cradle Mountain in Tasmania; Wave Rock in Western Australia, and many more.

An exhibit titled The Philippines and Australia: The First Seventy Years showed a timeline of photographs that captured significant moments in the shared history between Australia and the Philippines.

The photographs also depicted the close connection between the two countries and the strong people-to-people links and their influence in both cultures.

Also showcased were Australian education, science and innovation as well as lifestyle. These included threedimensional trivia materials and interactive displays and equipment. Complementing the exhibit was a trade fair and sampling of both the leading and the emerging Australian brands in our country: Cotton On, Ever New, Rip Curl, Roxy, Quiksilver, Globe Skate Brand, BYS, Lol, Scanasia, Silverwave. There was also a booth of Australian Wine and of course, Flat White Coffee, which originated in Australia from Vittoria Café.

Following the Aura run, the Celebrate Australia: Say G’Day at SM exhibition will be touring SM’s Premier Malls: SM City Cebu on March, SM City Davao in April, and SM North EDSA in May. Incorporated in the tour is a mall promotion that will give shoppers a chance to win SM gift certificates with Australian wine and cheese packages, and a trip to Melbourne with tour packages via Qantas Airways.

The Celebrate Australia: Say G’Day at SM is one of the many exciting cultural events at SM’s premier malls.

For more details, visit https://facebook.com/AustralianEmbassyManila/.

A BrItISh wEEkEND...

From c1

“This Pavilion and lineup of performances are our way to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary,” Ahmad said during the opening ceremony of the festival.

The ambassador even quoted Shakespeare as he welcomed guests to the three-day affair. “Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors says that ‘Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast,’ but what he should have said was, ‘With the help of Whyte and Mackay, I expect a very strong whisky-fueled cheer tonight, and with the help of Monde Nissin and Quorn, I expect a real big merry feast.’”

FILIpIno FIRmS mAke IT bIG In GReAT bRITAIn

This year’s edition of The Great British Festival was also the first time Filipino businesses established in Great Britain were featured alongside British brands.

“This is not only a celebration of the UK but the celebration of the Philippines truly emerging as a global economic power,” enthused Ahmad.

Representatives from the Philippine companies gaining foothold in Britain were present to talk about

honorary consul of togo evie costa

musician Jim paredes and wife lydia

australian embassy political and public affairs counsellor richard rogers

their products and services available for British and Filipinos alike. Featured firms included BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Philippine National Bank, PLDT Global, Whyte and Mackay (the company that works with Emperador Distillers), and Quorn Foods (a British brand bought by Monde Nissin).

“We are a country as a whole that is a tax haven with corporate tax down to 20 percent, and it will go down further in the next few years, the reason why BDO and BPI have chosen to locate to London,” explained the British diplomat.

“I’m sure that these great Filipino companies will make their mark in Great Britain,” he added.

oTheR AcTIvITIeS AnD ATTRAcTIonS

The weekend festival gathered several families and friends who enjoyed the tastes and sights of Britain.

Replicas of British landmarks (Big Ben, The London Eye, Stonehenge, etc.) and pop culture icons (e.g. Harry Potter’s Platform 9 ¾, Game of Thrones’ Iron Throne, and Doctor Who’s TARDIS, among others) at the UK Miniature area made the entire stretch of Bonifacio High Street a compact version of the United Kingdom.

The elusive Loch Ness Monster also made a surprise appearance at the three-day affair to the delight of festival

australian ambassador to the philippines amanda Gorely flanked by nhcp Director Vic badoy and sm senior vice president for marketing communications millie Dizon

australian embassy economic counsellor Daniel featherston and son hugh listen to the playlist of australian hit songs

assistant vice president for operations of sm premier 4 malls bernice baculi welcomes guests to the exhibit

goers who took turns taking selfies and groupies with Nessie and other replicas around.

Visitors also got to taste the flavors of Britain as they had fun sampling the delicious assortment of British food and drink while completing the festival passport, which was stamped by each booth they visited.

Meanwhile, some guests channeled their inner Sherlock Holmes when they participated in the mystery game created by Escape Hunt.

The yearly Rockaoke contest saw finalists who belted out West End hits in a bid to grab the top prize of round trip tickets to the UK courtesy of Etihad Airways. In the end, Richard Supat emerged victorious.

British Embassy staff joined PMAP models as they strutted the catwalk in the latest summer trends of top British brands in a fashion show directed by Robby Carmona.

At the finale, Deputy Ambassador Nigel Boud thanked everyone who participated and came to the festival. Awardwinning a capella group Los Cantantes de Manila wowed the crowd with their stunning renditions of British and Filipino songs, a perfect end to show the greatness of Britain and the Philippines. photo courtesy of the british embassy manila

SunDAy : m A RcH 13, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C5

fujifilm X-A2 automatically delivers the ideal amount of flash for every scene, clearly and brightly capturing pictureperfect subjects Bea Alonzo captures every special moment with fujifilm X-A2

G

MIlEs OcaMpO In FujIFIlM, FOREvER 21 pREsEnT FEMalE phOTOgRaphy Talks sERIEs

one are the days when women were relegated to the background. In today’s world, women have found their voices, chosen career paths where they excel, and taken on interests that allow them to inspire other women to lead substantial, insightful lives.

FujiFilm Philippines Inc. kicks off Women’s Month with Click to Chic: Female Photography Talks (Series) in partnership with Forever 21.

Click to Chic is a workshop series geared towards aspiring female photographers that aims to help them learn how to use their Empowered FujiFilm chic: teen cameras, actress miles especially ocampo joins fujifilm talk the X-A2. series The first leg will be at 1p.m. at SMX SM Aura today.

Click to Chic will also feature talks, live shoot, fashion show, and raffle. Admission is free.

Click to Chic will be participated in by the X-A2 Circle of Influencers, a group of female photographers, experts who will share basic photography skills and practical tips on how to best use the X-A2 be it in beauty, travel, or lifestyle photography.

FujiFilm X-A2 is the best fashion accessory to highlight a photographer’s total look. It is armed with a wide range of functions that delivers simple operation and picture-taking power. The X-A2’s Super Intelligent Flash or IFlash automatically delivers the ideal amount of flash for every scene, clearly and brightly capturing faces even under strong backlit or dark conditions. It makes one’s skin tone look smoother and more ravishing.

Also when shooting macro shots in dim lighting, the IFlash prevents the washout of the subject and background. For food shots, at extreme close-up, dishes look more appetizing and expertly-shot at that. When you’re ready to share your photos, you can easily highlight up to 30 images in your camera and wirelessly

transfer them from your smartphone to post immediately.

Miles Ocampo, a bright young thing on ABS-CBN, is the perfect picture of a young woman on the verge of limitless possibilities that FujiFilm X-A2 has come to embody. Ocampo will be the celebrity guest at the grand launch of Click to Chic: Female Photography Talks (Series) by FujiFilm.

FujiFilm Philippines endorser Bea Alonzo is also one super celebrity who has fallen in love with X-A2. She takes it to her travels and documents her adventures with it. She also brings it to work and loves discovering and trying out each and every feature of the mirrorless camera. “The X-A2 is such a reliable camera, like a dependable buddy whom you can count on to deliver pictures of high quality,” says the top TVmovie actress.

With an 80-year history and expertise in photographic film manufacturing behind it, FujiFilm believes in the power and influence of women to see and capture things of beauty and milestones through the lens. It is both a journey and an adventure worth championing and shining a light on.

kapamilya star and fujifilm endorser Bea Alonzo

PERfEct tHInG to wAkE uP to EVERy moRnInG

Born out of a legacy for the love of barako, Café de Lipa’s business model is to genuinely do good, building a better community and at the same time have fun.

Café de Lipa is the home of Filipino coffee providing the magical brew called Barako. Featuring coffee beans from all over the Philippines – robusta from Batangas, Cavite, Ilocos, Basilan; excelsa from Batangas, Quezon, Basilan and Mindoro; and arabica from Benguet, Bukidnon and Cotabato.

It takes pride in providing the best cup of coffee every time, each time through continuous learning, making a better cup each day.

Each cup of coffee served and each coffee pack offered are a distillation of everything Café de Lipa knows about coffee.

Philippine coffee traces it roots to Batangas province, Lipa City in particular. In common vernacular, coffee has been synonymous to Batangas.

In the 1800’s, the first coffee seedling of Liberica were planted in Pinagtung-ulan, Lipa City by Dominican priests together with two assistants, Macasaets, who arrived from Spain with a mission to evangelize the Filipinos.

Liberica flourished in Lipa, in contrast to the cacao seedlings that were also planted in the area. Many people account this to the volcanic soil, relatively low temperature and cultivation practices in the area.

The volume of Liberica trees in the area increased rapidly becoming a major source of income for Lipeños. The extraordinary wealth of the people of Lipa during the 1880s was astounding especially for six months between 1886 to 1888 where a frost hit Latin America making the Lipa the world’s biggest supplier of coffee beans.

In October 21, 1887, Queen Regent Maria Cristina of Spain, acting for the young King Alfonso XIII, elevated Lipa to a city honoring its importance by giving its own coat of arms.

Liberica, better known by its moniker Kapeng Barako, became a popular beverage. The coffee cups with a remarkable aroma, pleasant acidity and heavy body.

The Macasaets continued on growing Liberica and making this magical brew.

Continuously perfecting their craft with years of experience passed on from generation to generation. Coffee became a way of life for them, living and breathing coffee.

They gave their own heart and soul to this

magical brew: café de Lipa is the home of filipino coffee “kapeng Barako”

bean and in the process making this coffee something that is distinctively Filipino.

This passion for great coffee continues on with Jose H. Mercado and his family, direct descendants of the Macasaet clan. Barako Joe, as his friends and colleagues call him, started on the humblest of beginnings as he jokingly recalls “I was born in a coffee sack under a coffee tree.”

Café de Lipa is the culmination of the dream of Jose Mercado’s father, Macario Mercado who wanted to be able to serve barako from bean to cup. A seemingly distant dream then as Macario started his love affair with barako as a tenant farmer.

Fueled by the love for barako and armed with a commitment to quality and service, the first Café de Lipa opened its doors on Oct. 26, 2006.

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SunDAy : m A RcH 13, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

G-FORcE paInTs nEw cOlORs ThROuGh DancE After reaching the milestone of 10 extraordinary years inspiring dancers nationwide, the movement doesn’t stop there.

The G-Force Project continues to grow bigger and better. This year, the dance group paints new colors and give back on its 11th year through Dance X Glamp Summer Dance Workshop 2016.

G-Force is branded to be the home of dance choreographers to stars like Sarah Geronimo, Enrique Gil, Maja Salvador, Kim Chiu, Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, to young artists like Elmo Magalona, Jerome Ponce, Joshua Garcia, Sarah Lahbati, and popular tandems JaDine and AIDub to name a few.

The most unique, innovative and no.1 dance company in the Philippines gives the opportunity to experience specialized dance classes and performance like a celebrity.

G-Force translates what’s hot in the Philippines’ dance scene, which is why they promise to impart that to their students and more. Dance enthusiasts have a variety of classes to choose from, catering to all ages: hip-hop, street jazz, pop de deux, quickstep, AT’s quirk, dancehall, sexy hip-hop, lyrical hip-hop, kids classes and #whiteshirtlove - a class designed to empower women, handled by the artistic director of G-Force herself, Teacher Georcelle. Students also have the opportunity

to showcase what they learned at the MOA Arena Dance Concert on May 31.

By popular demand, “glamorous camping” is back. The “glamping” activities will allow students to develop their character and personality, practice camaraderie, build stronger bonds, boost their confidence in preparation for the dance concert, and of course have countless, cherishable experiences with GForce to take home.

G-Force takes their classes wider across the nation to 11 cities – Cebu, Davao, Naga, Lucena, Legazpi, Baguio, Pangasinan, Makati, Alabang, Batangas and their home-base, Quezon City – to celebrate 11 years. The company also proudly announced that they have a bigger and better home for dancers and dancers-at-heart. They are relocating to Il Terrazo, Penthouse along Tomas Morato cor. Sct. Madrinan in Quezon City in April.

G-Force is also bringing back the class best for bonding between parent and child - Me & My Little Force. The company will also offer a new set of classes. Hover Dance - inspired from the viral video showcasing exceptional and fun choreography utilizing the hover boards. This is offered to students who own a hover board. Choreography class is another new edition to the series of classes wherein students will explore further the different aspects of choreography. And we have more

G-Force matriarch Teacher Georcelle

advanced classes for those who want to anteup their dance skills.

A realization struck Teacher Georcelle while recollecting the feeling of fulfillment when receiving feedback from students and parents. The G-Force Project is #MoreThanJustDance, as they give opportunities for aspiring teachers, choreographers and inspire people to pursue their dreams.

The much-awaited “Dance X Glamp

Summer Dance Workshop 2016” is a mark of their overflowing gratitude. GForce is hyped to share their gift of dance and share an unforgettable experience to treasure for a lifetime.

Book a class now at the new G-Force Dance Center at II Terrazo, Penthouse, Tomas Morato cor. Sct. Madrinan, Quezon City. You may also call or text 0917.8GFORCE (436723) or 0998.52FORCE (367236) for any inquiries.

‘Art 2 Art’ celebrates 9th year with Pilita corrales

“Art to Art” host Lisa macuja and Asia’s Queen of Songs Pilita corrales

Art 2 Art celebrates nine years of showcasing art and culture personalities with no less than Asia’s Queen of Songs Pilita Corrales as guest.

The episode airs 3:30 to 4 p.m. today on radio via DZRH (666 khz on the AM band), on cable television via RHTV (Channel 18 on Cignal Cable) and online through DZRH Live Streaming.

Corrales tells Art 2 Art host Lisa Macuja how she became a popular recording artist in Australia before she made a name for herself in the Philippines. Singing Spanish and English songs, she became a regular performer at the Manila Grand Opera House and eventually entered the international circuit. She was

cROsswORD puzzlE 71 72 73 74 75 78 79 80

answer PreVIOUs PUZZLe ACROSS 1 Dandies 5 Wax-tablet pen 11 Forget it! (2 wds.)

17 Shock the schnoz 21 Ersatz butter 22 Pat on the back 23 Not right or wrong 24 Mystique 25 Coat with gold 26 “Ivanhoe” damsel 27 Swiss lake 28 Branding — 29 Evaded (2 wds.)

31 Best course of action (2 wds.)

33 Fence in 35 Bisque and miso 36 Jett and Fontaine 37 Diameter halves 38 Moo companion 41 Stopped for lunch 42 Why? (2 wds.)

43 44 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 68 69 70

Ingenuity Apt rhyme for “snarl” Rite sites Microwaves, slangily England’s FBI Rod Stewart’s “— May” Pond blossom After a while “The Waterboy” star Newt Catch on Autumn pears Soured Cushy So far — — know AAA or EEE Idioms e.g.

Berry of “Catwoman” West Coast bay South Seas staple Trendy Auction-goer

SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2016

They may be split Sponge up — diem Gas tank status Pirates’ arms Theorem sign-off Ariz. neighbor Mars, for one (2 wds.)

84 Like a frontier piano 85 Gin flavoring 87 Russian export 88 Work — — sweat 89 Draws on 90 Spare time 91 Cote dwellers 92 It may be knitted 93 MMV / V 94 Consequence 95 Excised by an editor 96 Girl, in Grenoble 97 Writing to a spy 99 Box-score fig.

100 Yak habitat 101 Some buses 102 Rial spender 103 Foot, in zoology 104 Alternatives to Volvos 105 Flair for music 106 Poker winning 107 Garden shed items 109 Like dishwater 110 Mesa’s cousin 112 Dangerous swimmer 115 Stingy 116 Thick-skinned one 120 Gem of superstition 121 Positively!

123 Delphi consultant 125 Eat “lite” foods 126 Salinger heroine 127 Evidence of rain 128 Painter of many nudes 129 Cyrus’ realm, today 130 Little hopper 131 Braces oneself

132 Changes a bill 133 Fish without scales DOWN 1 Eighty-day traveler 2 Melange 3 Trapper’s hide 4 Ice-cream treats 5 Buds 6 Road company 7 Opens wide 8 More than misled 9 Admiral’s org.

10 Crete, once (2 wds.)

11 1998 Olympics site 12 Shaman’s quest 13 Lady of Lisbon 14 Umbrage 15 Literally, “beware” 16 Veld grazer 17 Banister 18 Latvian currency 19 Piccadilly statue 20 Welles’ “Citizen —” 30 Surf sounds 32 Bonny miss 34 George Burns’ prop 36 Funny ones 37 Shot through 38 Fragrant fir 39 Maria Conchita — 40 Realize 42 Pen or cupboard 43 Britain’s royal house 45 Traditional (hyph.)

46 Thumb through 47 Scrabble tile 49 Dog days mo.

50 Loathsome 51 Chewy candy 52 Sweater sz.

54 Prospectors’ dreams 55 California’s Big — 56 Guitarist — Paul 59 Fledglings 60 T’ai — ch’uan 61 Unhappily

the first Filipino to perform at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, upon the invitation of Sammy Davis Jr. She has worked with global superstars such as Bob Hope, Pat Boone, Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews, Dave Clark Five, Matt Monro, Johnny Mathis and Jack Jones.

For the Art 2 Art episode, Corrales invited Macuja to sing a duet with her – a challenge that the acclaimed “Ballerina ng Bayan” decided to accept. The result is a rare joint performance of two iconic artists, which also reflects the nature of Art 2 Art. Through the years, the show has become a springboard for various creative collaborations between the host and her guests that go beyond the Art 2 Art set.

63 “Peter Pan” girl 64 Male parent 65 Broom- — (comics witch) 67 Small gulls 68 Speakers’ spots 70 Where cowboys sleep 72 Motion detectors 73 — for the course 74 Slowly vanished 75 Plaster 76 Kind of tooth 77 Lake near Syracuse 78 Brunch orders 79 High note 80 Feel envious 81 Gunnysack need 82 Moonshot mission 83 Least cooked 85 Travel option 86 Opposite of post87 Short-tailed rodents 90 Carry with difficulty 91 Pat Boone’s daughter 92 Razor brand 94 Pungent veggie 95 Scattering of a population 96 Two-score 98 Sniffed 100 Dramatic intro (hyph.)

101 Froths 103 Gallery or butter 104 Napped fabrics 105 Geometry pioneer 108 Pier group 109 Egg part 110 Breakfast strip 111 Arsenio’s buddy 112 Bard or minstrel 113 — facto 114 Hero of Hindu epics 115 Yield territory 116 Window part 117 Blarney Stone site 118 Not phony 119 Natural elevs.

122 Ike’s initials 124 Sleep phenomenon

The episode also continues Art 2 Art’s Women’s Month celebration which kicked off on March 7 with the appearance of Monique Wilson and fellow artist/activist Eve Ensler of The Vagina Monologues fame. The two discussed with Macuja their One Billion Rising campaign, said to be the biggest mass global action to end violence against women. Ensler is the founder of the movement while Wilson is its current global director.

Art 2 Art is produced by the Manila Broadcasting Company.

For inquiries, please e-mail art2artdzrh@ gmail.com. On Facebook, check out the account Ballerina ng Bayan for updates on Art 2 Art episodes.

SunDAy : m A RcH 13, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C7

TEams gET pITch-slappED anD ThE DancE flOOR hEaTs up On lIfETImE

Pitch Slapped follows a cappella teams from two new Jersey high schools that are mentored by some of the best coaches in the music industry

S

“Dance moms” puts the spotlight on young talents to be professional dancers

inging takes the spotlight as Lifetime premieres the new docu-series Pitch Battles 10 p.m. on April 26.

Ever wonder what really goes on in the intensely competitive world of high school a cappella?

The eight hour-long episodes reveal the pressure-cooker atmosphere as two crosstown rival teams from New Jersey are given the chance to work with the world’s best coaches and face off in weekly competitions, culminating in a champion sing off.

Vocal powerhouse Deke Sharon (Pitch Perfect) will stop at nothing to get his Cherry Hill team, Stay Tuned, out of their shells and perfectly in tune, while a cappella rock star and performance coach Diana Preisler (Blue Jupiter) guides Allendale’s Highlands Voices to harmonize their way to a win.

Dance Moms is back with brand new season. Starting April 2, Tuesdays at 6-9 p.m. for a three-episode stack, Abby Lee Miller continues her tough training to prepare her students for fierce dance

competitions and to eventually become “professional, employable working dancers.” Of course, the competitive spirit doesn’t just stay on the dance floor but also among the girls’ doting mothers.

In Season 4, Abby fears that her Junior Elite Competition team isn’t showing enough drive and hosts nationwide open auditions to shake them up. On the show’s 100th episode, Abby unveils her new “Select Ensemble” for the first time.

On April 20, 9 p.m., Lifetime premieres its original movie Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart. Starring newcomer Lex Scott Davis, the story follows the seven-time Grammy® Award-winning R&B icon’s journey – from her discovery by mega producers L.A. Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, to her battle with Lupus. Delving into the struggles of her public divorce and son’s autism, the film chronicles the untold measures this wildly talented artist took to make herself and her family whole again.

West Baltimore actress Lex Scott Davis as Toni Braxton in the original Lifetime television movie “unbreak my Heart”

In SEVEnTH HEAVEn Successful fragrance entrepreneur Joel Cruz hosted a royal banquet for the christening of his new set of twins, the adorable Prince Harry and Prince Harvey at Santuario de San Antonio Parish in Forbes Park, Makati.

The list of godparents alone was a long one—54 name-droppable personas, among them, Dr. Elenita Binay, Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. President and CEO Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Belo Medical Group Founder and Medical Director Dr. Vicki Belo, Jayelles’ Roselle Rebano, Margie Moran-Floirendo, TV news anchor Mel Tiangco, Julius and Christine Babao, Erich Gonzales, and Kris Aquino.

The Aficionado Germany Perfume president and CEO planned a strictly black-tie event—cocktails at 6 p.m. that was immediately followed by a lavish dinner—at Makati Shangri-La’s Rizal Ballroom for 300 guests. Joel was simply overjoyed with the latest addition to his growing family.

In lieu of gifts, the proud parent requested all godparents and guests to make a donation to the Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro Parish in Sampaloc, Manila.

(Front row from left) maridol cruz, Letty Aquino, milagros cruz, Princess Synne, marilou Regis, Avic cruz, Prince Sean, Tessie Santos, marilou cruz, (standing from left) michael and Ricardo cruz, Aficionado Germany Perfume president and cEO Joel cruz and the twins, Boyet Aquino, and Freddie cruz

Singer-actress Vina morales and daughter ceana

TV personalities christine Bersola and Julius Babao

Jayelles’ Roselle Rebano and Erich Gonzales

Xyriel manabat and Bugoy cariño

SunDAy : m A RcH 13, 2016

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ INC fOuNDER bIOpIC bags 5 sTaR awaRDs

F

elix Manalo, the eponymous biopic of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) founder shown in theaters in October last year, bagged five major awards at the recently-concluded 32nd PMPC Star Awards on March 6.

The sprawling historical drama won Movie of the Year plus Best Director and Best Actor honors for Joel Lamangan and Dennis Trillo, respectively.

The film likewise won awards for Movie Production Designer of the Year (Edgar Martin Littaua, Joel Bilbao, and Danny Red) and Movie Original Theme Song of the Year (“Ang Sugo ng Diyos Mula Sa Mga Huling Araw”) sung by Sarah Geronimo.

Produced under the leadership of the present INC Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo as part of the INC’s 100th year celebration on July 27, 2014, it featured actors and actresses including Joel Torre, Elizabeth Oropesa, Bella Padilla and Gladys Reyes.

Last year, the film broke the Guinness Book of World Records for “Largest Attendance For A Film Screening” and “Largest Attendance For A Film Premiere.” A record-setting 43,624 people

Actor Dennis Trillo as Inc founder Felix manalo

trooped to The Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan for its first public showing.

Reached for comment. Lamangan said that he was proud of the film, and the awards were a validation that the Manalo the film and the person deserved serious consideration from Filipino critics and the movie-going public for offering a truthful narration of the origins and challenges of the homegrown Filipino church.

The movie will be released worldwide on DVD worldwide.

A scene from Star Awards movie of the year, “Felix manalo”

‘born to be wild’ in Japan

Today, Born to be Wild’s Doc Ferds Recio continues his journey of discovering Japan’s wildlife. This time, he visits Miyagi where 200 foxes live in a “fox village”. The village caretakers say the foxes were saved from slaughter for the fur trade. Doc Ferds meets the foxes and documents their behavior. Although living under the care of people, some foxes

Doc Ferds Recio visits miyagi, Japan to study and document the behavior of some 200 foxes that live in a fox village

A wild fox finds home at miyagi’s fox village after being saved from slaughter

still show their wild side and fight each other for territory.

Meanwhile, Doc Nielsen Donato and local DENR officials rescue a reticulated python that has been kept as a pet for 15 years. This snake has grown to 16 feet and is one of the largest snakes ever recorded and rescued on Born to be Wild.

Born to be Wild airs Sundays right after AHA! on GMA.

Doc nielsen Donato and local DEnR officials rescue a reticulated python that has been kept as a pet for 15 years

‘PAmbAnSAng bAE’ now A KA-cEbuAnA

Alden Richards, one half of the phenomenal AlDub love team, is now officially the latest Cebuana Lhuillier brand ambassador. The actor, TV host, and singer recently signed a contract with the country’s leading microfinancial solutions provider.

Richards has long been a loyal client of Cebuana Lhuillier, even before the AlDub phenomenon. According to him and as confirmed by the company’s records, he has been availing of Cebuana Lhuillier’s Pera Padala service since 2011.

“We are more than happy to formally welcome Alden Richards to the Cebuana Lhuillier family. We’ve always believed

that the best persons to promote our services are those who have actually availed and experienced the services and products we offer, those who are truly Ka-Cebuanas themselves, and Alden Richards suits the description perfectly,” Cebuana Lhuillier President and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier said.

“I am so happy to be part of the Cebuana Lhuillier family because it is a brand that has positively impacted the lives of many Filipinos including mine and my family’s,” said Richards.

He is set to star in Cebuana Lhuillier’s newest TV commercials, which will be released this summer.

In this photo (from left): gigi Santiago-Lara, Senior AVP for Alternative Productions of gmA network, Inc., michael Sena, Integrated marketing communicatinos group Head of cebuana Lhuillier, Jean Henri Lhuillier, President and cEo of cebuana Lhuillier, Alden Richards, brand Ambassador of cebuana Lhuillier, Philippe Andre Lhuillier, Vice President of cebuana Lhuillier Services corporation, and Simoun Ferrer, AVP and Head of Talent Imaging and marketing of gmA network, Inc..