The Standard - 2016 April 20 - Wednesday

VOL. XXX NO. 67 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDAY : APRIL 20, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Marcos confident he’ll win VP race

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DIGONG RELENTS, SAYS HE’S SORRY

Daughter Inday Sara claims she was also raped

By Rio N. Araja

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte relented Tuesday and apologized for saying he was furious at inmates who had raped an attractive Australian missionary in 1989 because they beat him to it—even as his own daughter Inday Sara said that she had been raped, too.

“I apologize to the Filipino people for my recent remarks in a rally. There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime. Sometimes my mouth

can get the better of me,” Duterte’s statement read.

This was in contrast to a defiant statement Monday in which he refused to apologize and urged women’s groups and Catholics

who were outraged by his remarks not to vote for him.

On the other hand, Duterte said he would not apologize for actions he has taken to protect the people, “especially the weak and defenseless, from crime.”

“I know what it can do to the victims and their families. The anguish and pain they cause. The trauma that can’t be erased. I have witnessed these myself numerous times,” he said.

“This is why I am angry. I am angry because horrendous things like this continue to happen to our women and children all over our land. And sadly, government

has failed to protect them,” he added.

Duterte’s daughter said she too, was a victim of rape years ago at the hands of a priest, but her parents did not know about it.

As a rape victim, she added, she was not offended by her father’s remarks, which were widely denounced by women, his opponents, critics, the Catholic Church and the Australian ambassador to the Philippines.

Duterte also turned his apology into a pitch for his presidency, one day after he said he didn’t care if he won or lost.

“If you will give me the chance

to lead this country, I promise to all of you that I will protect our women, children and families from the horrors and disorder of crime. I will do this even if I lose my life, my honor and even the presidency,” Duterte said.

“My life is an open book. I am a man of many flaws and contradictions. But when it comes to securing the lives and future of our countrymen and women, you can trust me to do the right thing. I will fight for the people until my last breath.”

The mayor’s camp also defended him against attacks based on his failed marriage.

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Women’s protest. Leaders of women’s groups hold up signs condemning Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s recent remarks about the raping and killing of an Australian missionary in 1989. MANNY PALMERO

Comelec to probe forced LP rally attendance

By Christine F. Herrera GENERAL SANTOS CITY—The Commission on Elections and the Commission on Human Rights will investigate reports that government officials are forcing dole recipients to attend political rallies in favor of administration candidate for president Manuel Roxas II.

Opposition candidate for president Vice President Jejomar Binay tagged Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman as being behind the coercion of beneficiaries under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, a multi-billion-peso dole program.

But Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus named President Benigno Aquino III, Budget Secretary Flor-

encio Abad and Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento as the culprits behind the use of government funds to promote the Roxas campaign.

Binay, the standard bearer of the United Nationalist Alliance, said members of the 4Ps were being used much in the same way they were in the 2013 Next page mid-term elections.

Duterte keeps lead in latest Pulse poll

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Duterte keeps lead in Pulse poll DAYS before he said he was furious at inmates who raped an attractive Australian missionary in 1989 because they beat him to the punch, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte continued to hold the lead in the latest Pulse Asia Research Inc. survey sponsored by ABS-CBN. The survey of 4,000 registered voters, conducted from April 5 to 10, showed Duterte ahead with 32 percent of the vote, seven percentage points ahead of Senator Grace Poe, who had 25 percent.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and administration candidate Manuel Roxas II shared third place with 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Only one percent of respondents said they would vote for Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, while four percent said they did not favor any presidential bet.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent on the national level.

Duterte had the lead in Mindanao (58 percent) and all socioeconomic classes (31 percent to 37 percent).

Three candidates shared the lead in Metro Manila—Duterte,

Comelec...

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De Jesus added that Soliman was threatening to cut monthly stipends

by P500 for those who did not go to the pro-Roxas rallies.

Gabriela, she added, had gathered reports showing the practice was evident in Cebu, Bacolod, Pikit in North Cotabato and in Metro Manila.

Membership in the 4Ps has swollen to 4 million households on a budget of P65 billion.

“Dinky Soliman did the same thing in 2013,” Binay said.

De Jesus added: “Like President Aquino, Soliman has also been joining Daang Matuwid sorties, at the expense of DSWD’s 4Ps operational budget. Women reported they were forced to attend Liberal Party town hall meetings in Cebu, where Soliman specifically named Gabriela and Bayan Muna as candidates that should be voted out for opposing the conditional cash transfer also known as the 4Ps,” De Jesus said.

“Together with Sarmiento and Abad, Soliman was also sighted in Bacolod City last week, ostensibly to gather CCT program beneficiaries and promote its budget-drafting tool Bottom Up Budgeting,” De Jesus said.

But De Jesus questioned the handing out of P15 million to 15 municipalities.

“Aquino’s party mates have been caught in the last elections for using 4Ps enlistment events as sorties funded by the CCT budget, and in one case sample ballots were found stapled to application forms. Mar Roxas is without shame in the conduct of his campaign and deserves outright rejection on May 9,” said Bai Ali Indayla, Gabriela Mindanao spokesperson and third nominee.

Some 4Ps members said the rally organizers and DSWD were checking their attendance to make sure they complied with the directive.

The most recent complaint was raised by the militant Bagong Aly-

32 percent; Poe, 32 percent; and Binay, 23 percent.

In the rest of Luzon, Poe was ahead with 33 percent.

Roxas retained his lead in the Visayas with 35 percent.

The largest number of voters (29 percent) said they would vote for Poe if their top choice for president left the race.

Binay, Duterte and Roxas came next as the second choice preference among 17 percent, 16 percent, and 14 percent of the voters, respectively.

Some 6 percent named Santiago as their second choice.

At the national level, 18 percent of voters do not have an alternative presidential candidate. Levels of non-support vary from 14 percent to 20 percent across geographic areas and from 12 percent to 21 percent in the different socio-economic classes. ansang Makabayan that said the 4Ps recipients were told to attend Roxas’ political rallies in Luneta and Quezon Memorial Circle last week.

Soliman denied using the 4Ps members for political purposes.

The CHR’s Bantay Karapatan sa Halalan said it has started investigating reports of “abuse of government resources and partisanship of civil service employees, lack of information to the electorate, and vote buying.”

The BKH said it was investigating in particular reports that “incumbent officials are using the 4Ps to force voters to attend political rallies.”

The CHR said its regional offices have started a probe on reported incidents of different violations of election laws.

The initiative, which is a partnership among the CHR, Comelec and other human rights groups, aims to monitor cases of human rights abuses during the election.

Rona Ann Caritos, executive director of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), said CHR investigators are gathering enough information for the possible filing of cases against officials. “[We hope that] within the next few weeks or after the elections, there will be cases filed against these violators,” she said.

Aside from the election-related offenses, the CHR added that administrative cases may also be filed before the Civil Service Commission.

Max de Mesa, national coordinator of Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, reminded officials that use of government resources is considered a form of electioneering and may result in penalties.

He called on the public to be vigilant and report such illegal practices to proper investigating bodies such as the BKH. De Mesa said 4Ps beneficiaries should not be coerced into joining political rallies under threat that their benefits would be removed or that they would be delisted.

The BKH also reminded voters

Four in 10 voters of Duterte would throw their support behind Poe if the mayor drops out of the race.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. continued to lead the vice presidential race with 27 percent, followed by Senator Francis Escudero, with 23 percent.

Administration bet Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo had 21 percent, followed by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (17 percent), Senator Gregorio Honasan II (4 percent), and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (3 percent).

Only 4 percent of registered voters said they would not vote for any of these candidates.

Marcos was the leading choice in Metro Manila (40 percent), the rest of Luzon (35 percent), Class ABC (43 percent) and Class D (28 percent).

Robredo was the top pick of Visayan voters (35 percent) while Cayetano led in Mindanao (32 percent).

Voters were naming an average of seven out of the 50 senatorial bets, 13 of whom were likely to be winners. Only one in three voters picked a complete slate of 12.

Five of the 13 probable winners not to be swayed by the promise of money in exchange for their votes amid rampant reports of vote buying in different parts of the country.

Indayla lambasted the Roxas campaign sortie in Pikit, North Cotabato, where a video now going viral exposed how 4Ps beneficiaries were being rehearsed to cheer enthusiastically for the expected arrival of Roxas.

The emcee threatened to withhold cash envelopes if the crowd failed to deliver a robust cheer.

The Pikit rally happened a few days before the deadly dispersal by police and soldiers of starving farmers in nearby Kidapawan City, Indayla said.

“In their desperation, Mar Roxas and his team have gotten so brazen in their dirty tricks. Their campaign smacks of impunity and obscene entitlement that the ruling Team Daang Matuwid feels are its privileges.”

An official from the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines expressed alarm over reports of the delayed release of government funds that would help ease the burden of farmers suffering from the ill effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

“What is taking them long from releasing these available funds? We have already seen enough bloodshed in Kidapawan which [was the result of] government inaction,” said the executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action / Caritas Philippines, Edwin Gariguez.

“Time is of the essence here. The government needs to act now and disburse the funds intended for the farmers, who have suffered enough.

Loss of livelihood means hunger for our people who are already living in poverty to start with,” Gariguez said.

Roxas on Tuesday said the Comelec should exempt local government units affected by the dry spell in Mindanao from the election-period ban on the release and disbursement of public funds. With Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and John Paolo Bencito

came from the Liberal Party, four were running as independent candidates, two were members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, one each went to the United Nationalist Alliance and Akbayan.

Practically all of the probable winners, with the exception of former Justice secretary Leila M. de Lima, have served before as members of Congress.

In the lead was Senate President Franklin M. Drilon whose overall voter preference of 51.6 percent translates to a statistical ranking of 1st to 2nd place.

Close behind are Senator Vicente Sotto III (49.8 percent) who is ranked 1st to 3rd and former Senator Francis Pangilinan (46.8 percent) who has a statistical ranking of 2nd to 3rd places.

Completing the list of probable winners were: former senator Panfilo M. Lacson (40.8 percent, 4th to 5th places); former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri (38.9 percent, 4th to 6th places); Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao (36.3 percent, 5th to 11th places); former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director general Emmanuel Villanueva (35.6 percent, 6th to 11th places); Senator Ralph

Recto (35.6 percent, 6th to 11th places); Senator Sergio Osmeña III (34.2 percent, 6th to 13th places); former senator Richard Gordon (33.8 percent, 6th to 13th places); former Akbayan Party-List Representative Risa Hontiveros (33.7 percent, 6th to 13th places); (9) former Justice secretary De Lima (32.3 percent, 9th to 13th places); and Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin T. Gatchalian (31.5 percent, 9th to 13th places).

Poe said she was confident voters would choose the right leader in the May 9 elections.

“I believe that on Election Day, the people will choose a leader who is humane and competent for the good of our country,” she said.

The Roxas camp said they remain hopeful that voters will soon realize that Duterte is not fit to rule the country after his rape joke.

“The survey was conducted before Mayor Duterte damned the memory of Jacqueline Hamill, a victim of rape in Davao City,” Roxas spokesman Barry Gutierrez said in a text message sent to The Standard. Sandy Araneta, Macon Ramos-Araneta, John Paolo Bencito

Digong...

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“What happened to the marriage of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte and former wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, does not reflect Duterte’s impressive record as a public servant,” Duterte’s spokesman Peter Laviña said.

“Reports said Duterte will be painted as psychologically incapacitated, impulsive, selfish, and someone who makes decisions without remorse,” the Duterte camp’s statement read.

But as a lawyer and a public servant, the Davao City mayor has definitely not failed, the younger Duterte said.

“Psychological incapacitated in a marriage does not reflect the character of a person outside the marriage,” she said. “He’s impulsive? He’s selfish? Does his track record in governance, as a public servant, show that he is impulsive or selfish? They do not,” she added.

“The court may have used these as grounds for the annulment of the marriage, but the court did not say that he is unfit to become a leader,” she said. “The court said my parents are unfit to be together in a marriage, but it did not say that my father is unfit to become our leader.”

Despite the apology, the administration camp continued to criticize Duterte, saying his antagonistic remarks to the Australian ambassador about his rape remark could damage relations with an ally.

Earlier, he had offended the Mexican ambassador by joking that there was no reason to visit Mexico with all its drug-related crimes.

“Mayor Duterte has now insulted two countries. These countries are our friends who accept our OFWs, joined us in making a stand against the theft of our territory, and help us in improving our economy,” said Barry Gutierrez, spokesman for administration candidate Manuel Roxas II. “Is this the president we want? How will he protect our OFWs if these countries are mad at him?” Gutierrez said.

Responding to criticism from Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely, Duterte told the envoy to stay out of local politics.

On Tuesday, students and alumni of Miriam College joined various women’s groups in urging people not to vote for Duterte.

At a news conference, Angelica Samson, Miriam’s student council president, said she was not endorsing any presidential candidate, but said she would never back Duterte as a “woman and human being.”

“Utang na loob at labas, never vote for Duterte. We do not deserve Duterte. We deserve more than this. I am appealing to all your morality not only as a woman, but also as a human being. I am appealing to your conscience,” she told the forum of “Abusado sa Kababaihan, Abusado sa Kapangyarihan #RapeIsNotAJoke.”

Sister Mary Jane Mananzal of Miriam College said a Duterte presidency would be a “nightmare,” saying the mayor had “no decency at all to be president.” With John Paolo Bencito

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‘People will choose right leader’ “WHY are we women humiliated, derided, belittled and embarrassed?”

This was the question raised by Senator Grace Poe in her new political ad released and posted on her Facebook account on Tuesday.

The ad showed many faces of women, and toward the end of it Poe said that, under her “Gobyernong may Puso, she would respect everyone whether rich or poor.

“I am Grace Poe and I respect everyone,” said Poe whose latest political advertisement came amid the public outcry over the “rape joke” of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte.

Duterte was criticized after making a statement about an Australian woman who was taken hostage and raped at the Davao City Jail in 1989, when he was serving his first term as mayor.

Poe made her statement even as she remained confident that the voters would choose the right leader for the country during the May 9 elections following the results of the latest survey commissioned by ABS-CBN that showed Duterte as the voters’ top choice for

president.

The survey polled 4,000 respondents and was conducted from April 5 to 10.

“I believe that on Election Day, the people will choose a leader who is humane and competent for the good of our country,” Poe said.

Poe had earlier criticized Duterte for his “distasteful and unacceptable remark” and said he could be a “dangerous president” as a result of his mindset.

“While some may seem impressed with the mayor’s nonchalance and tough-talking stance, he should be reminded that at all times, women, men and the LGBT alike should be treated with dignity and respect,” she said.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who is also seeking the presidency, said Duterte’s remarks had “crossed the line.’’

“If the people don’t like his remarks, they can express it through their ballots,” she said.

Her running mate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Duterte’s remarks were “inappropriate.”

Former senator Panfilo Lacson said Duterte’s remarks were abominable. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Whistle stop. Independent presidential candidate Grace Poe wooed the crowd during a whistle stop at the CAA compound in Las Piñas City on Monday afternoon. EY ACASIO

Marcos confident about his chances

Visit. United Nationalist Alliance standard bearer Jejomar Binay visited wounded Army soldiers at the Camp Navarro General Hospital in Zamboanga City recently. The soldiers had clashed with the Abu Sayyaf group in Sitio Bayoko, Barangay Baguindan, Tipo-Tipo in Basilan on April 9 that left 18 soldiers dead and 50 wounded. Binay had previously expressed his sympathies to the families of those killed. He added that the incident was a reminder that the government should address poverty, the root cause of the turmoil in Mindanao. But Binay stressed that there should be no compromises with terrorist groups like Abu Sayyaf as the government must deal with them decisively.

ON THE verge of securing his family’s biggest victory since their humiliating downfall three decades ago, dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s son talks confidently about his political ambitions and his father’s legacy.

In an exclusive interview with AFP ahead of the May 9 elections, with the surveys showing he could win the vice presidency, Marcos Jr. conceded there were “widespread human rights abuses” during his father’s rule.

But the 58-year-old insisted the Marcos name remained one of his strongest assets, as he stuck to a no-apology mantra that has been a key part of his family’s remarkable political resurrection.

“I think one of the things that is happening now is I am a beneficiary of the good work that was done in my father’s time,” Marcos said Monday night at his campaign headquarters in Manila.

“There were so many different things that were initiated at that time that to this day are of benefit to the people.”

Marcos was a fresh-faced provincial governor in his father’s dictatorship when millions took to the streets in a famous 1986 “People Power” uprising that forced the family to give up two decades of power and flee into US exile.

The Marcos family and its business allies are accused of plundering billions of dollars during the patriarch’s rule, while the regime’s security forces allegedly killed and tortured thousands of critics.

However, after Marcos Sr. died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, his controversial wife, Imelda, and their children were allowed to return to the Philippines, and they slowly began rebuilding a power base.

Part of their strategy was to portray the Marcos years as a golden age of peace, security and infrastructure-building for the nation.

They also consistently denied any major wrongdoing, fending off dozens of legal challenges and probes aimed at retrieving the fortune allegedly stolen from state coffers.

Marcos, who rarely gives interviews, deflected questions about the mass theft by his parents, saying he believed the accusations against them were exaggerated but that he was not privy to their decisions.

“I think a great deal of it was made up because none of it has been verified,” he told AFP when asked whether they stole billions.

“These huge numbers that we hear about, we don’t really know where they come from and how they were made up.”

Marcos did concede there were abuses under his father’s regime, but insisted they were no worse than those committed by the democratically elected governments that followed. AFP

Binay vows help to the people of Mindanao THE Aquino administration failed to extend assistance to the millions of poor Filipinos and poverty remains a problem particularly in Mindanao, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Tuesday.

He vowed to put up a regional office in Malacañang to deliver help quickly to the people of Mindanao once he is elected president in this year’s elections.

He told a crowd of 20,000 he will address the problem of poverty by providing jobs and building infrastructure in Mindanao.

“I was asked what was the real problem of the country and I said poverty is the number one problem,” Binay said.

“I’ve been asked to rate this government and I gave it a failing mark. Why? Because they never extended any help.”

Binay also said he will be a hands-on president and will personally oversee the developments in regions that have seen little progress under the Aquino administration.

Binay visited the Cogon, Agora and Carmen markets to meet with supporters before resuming his motorcade around Cagayan de Oro. He was accompanied by UNA senatorial bets former Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas Jr., labor lawyer Allan Montaño and broadcaster Rey Langit.

He visited wounded Army soldiers at the Camp Navarro General Hospital in Zamboanga City recently.

The soldiers had clashed with the Abu Sayyaf group in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, on April 9 that left 18 soldiers dead and 50 wounded.

Binay had previously expressed sympathy for the families of those killed. He added that the incident was a reminder that the government should address poverty, the root cause of the lack of peace in the region.

But Binay said there should be no compromises with terrorist groups like the Abu Sayyaf as the government must deal with them decisively. Vito Barcelo

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCEMENT President Benigno S. Aquino III has submitted to the Commission on Appointments (C.A.) for confirmation the ad interim appointments of the following officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs: Melanie Rita B. Diano – Foreign Service Officer, Class I; Nomer B. Ado II and Irish Kay L. Kalaw-Ado – Foreign Service Officer, Class II The public may submit any information, written report or sworn complaints or oppositions in forty (40) copies on the above appointments to the CA Secretariat, 6th Floor, PNB Financial Center, Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City, Metro Manila.

For the schedule of the public hearings, the CA Secretariat can be reached through telephone numbers 551-7532, 831-0893, 831-1824, 834-2706, 831-1566 and 834-2713.

19 April 2016.

ARTURO L. TIU Secretary (TS-APR. 20, 2016)

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Local superheroes. Members of the Sanlakas party-list dressed up as superheroes in urging candidates to join the fight against coal-fired power plants. MANNY PALMERO

US to give PH ‘eye in the sky’

By Vito Barcelo

THE United States will transfer some $42 million worth of sensors, radar and communications equipment to help track maritime activity and guard its waters, particularly the West Philippine Sea, according to US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.

In a television interview, Goldberg said Washington is willing to provide the Philippines additional capability to put sensors on ships and put an aerostat blimp in the air to see into the maritime space.

The US ambassador said that both the US and the Philippines had earlier agreed to set up a system for “secure and classified communications” as part of a five-year, $425-million security initiative by Washington in Southeast Asia.

The Philippines, which is an old ally of the US, will receive some $120 million in US military aid this year, the largest sum since 2000 when the American military returned to the Philippines for training and exercises after an eight-

year hiatus, Goldberg said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

When asked about the end of the military exercises, dubbed Balikatan 2016, the US official described the exercises as a good time to show Beijing that the US was serious about freedom of navigation and that no decision has been made about the ownership of the disputed territories in the South China Sea. “The military exercises was something to keep in mind during the whole issue of disputed territories, he said, adding “much of what we’re doing is what we always do in supporting the Philippines—our ally—helping the Philippines as it goes about building and modernizing its defense.”

China has been expanding its presence on its seven artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago and the latest was landing a military plane for the first time on Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef last Sunday.

China’s defense ministry said on Monday an air force plane landed on Fiery Cross reef in the Spratlys archipelago on Sunday to evacuate sick workers.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital sea, even waters close to its Southeast Asian neighbors, and has created artificial islands in an effort to assert its claims.

It has significantly expanded Fiery Cross, which is also claimed

by Vietnam and the Philippines, drawing international criticism.

In 2014, China began work on a 3,000-metre (10,000 foot) runway on the reef, which is around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from its island province of Hainan.

Beijing in January carried out several of what it called civilian flights to Fiery Cross, enraging Hanoi.

Sandigan stops talk on MRT-3 contract THE Sandiganbayan on Tuesday prohibited all presidential candidates from discussing in mass media the alleged anomaly in the maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, because it violates the due process rights of former MRT general manager Al Vitangcol III. “In order to protect the right of the accused and the integrity of this court in the administration of justice, let all the presidential candidates be prohibited from publicly accusing Mr. Vitangcol of criminal act included in the information of this case,” said Sandiganbayan Third Division senior member, Associate Justice Samuel Martires.

“Presidential candidates Manuel Roxas, Jejomar Binay, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Rodrigo Duterte and Mary Grace Llamanzares-Poe are hereby prohibited from discussing, talking, writing, or profounding questions that may illicit or seek to obtain answer or information with respect to the awarding of the interim maintenance contract of MRT 3 with the joint venture of PH Trams

and CB&T,” Martires said.

“The presidential candidates may, however, publicly discuss, talk or say something about the awarding of the maintenance contract to the joint venture PH Trams and CB&T provided that such statement, speech or communications shall not be publicized, either through print, broadcast media or digital media… such as but not limited to the use of internet,” the ruling added.

The anti-graft court issued the gag order as it granted the plea of Vitangcol last week asking the court to prohibit presidential candidate and former Interior secretary Mar Roxas from making any allegations against him in connection with the MRT 3 maintenance deal.

Vitangcol filed plea after Roxas claimed during the March 20 presidential debate in Cebu City that the contract for MRT 3 maintenance was awarded to the company in which Vitangcol has pecuniary interest as his unclein-law was one of the company’s incorporators.

‘Unofficial debates will cost bets’

By Sara D. Fabunan AMID reports of more televised debates organized by media organizations, the Commission on Elections reiterated that the exposure of candidates in unsanctioned debates will be deducted from their airtime limit.

“By and large, the Comelec wants more debates [because] it’s better. But we also have regulations regarding these that need to be followed, said Commission on Elec-

tions Chairman Andres Bautista.

“All debates that are not Comelec-enabled shall be deducted from their limits,” Bautista added, after television network ABSCBN organized its own vice presidential debate that was not sanctioned by the Comelec.

Bautista said government-owned PTV4 and NET25, which is owned

by Iglesia ni Cristo, is also purportedly planning to hold a televised debate, but that too is unsanctions.

Based on Comelec Resolution

No. 10049, national candidates and their parties can have exposure of 120 minutes for every television outlet and 180 minutes for every radio station while the local bets and their parties have 60 minutes limits for television and 90 minutes for radio.

The Comelec has already conducted two presidential debates —one in Cagayan de Oro and another in Cebu—and is set to hold a third debate in Pangasinan, sponsored by ABS-CBN and Manila Bulletin.

No-contact citation. Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman

Emerson Carlos explains to reporters aspects of the no-contact traffic violation citation program using closed-circuit television cameras. More than 1,000 violators have already been cited so far. JOEL ZURBANO

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Govt loses $510-m Piatco case

By Rey Requejo

Republic of the Philippines OFFICE OF TH E PRESIDENT COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION

THE SUPREME Court on Tuesday upheld with finality its September 2015 decision ordering the government to pay the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. $510 million in just compensation for the expropriation of Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.

The SC rejected the petition of the government through the Office of the Solicitor General for a lower compensation of P104 million to expropriate the Naia 3.

During its en banc session in Baguio City, the tribunal instead sustained its unanimous decision setting the amount of just compensation at $267,493,617.26 as of December 2004 plus annual interest of 12 percent from Sept. 2006 and another annual interest of six percent from July 2013 until full payment.

“The Republic is hereby ordered to make direct payment of the just compensation due to Piatco,” the resolution penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion stated.

The 15-member bench also dismissed the appeal of Piatco seeking higher compensation and inclusion of attendant cost and value of depreciation and deterioration amounting to about $106.9 million.

Apart from the attendant cost, the Naia 3 builder also asked for the inclusion in the just compensation award the P1,784,704,634.23 in taxes being collected from it by the Bureau of Internal Revenue following the SC decision.

Nonetheless, the SC granted the appeal of OSG to declare government’s full ownership of the airport facility—free from any obligations to any of the claimants —upon full payment of compensation to Piatco.

In its motion for reconsideration

filed in Sept. last year, the OSG noted that while the government was willing to pay just compensation, the Court should make sure that Piatco would end up with a clean title so as not overlook other claimants who were interested in a portion of just compensation.

Among these claimants were Fraport, an equity investor of Piatco for the Naia IPT III project; and Takenaka and Asahikosan, the subcontractors which actually built the Naia IPT II facility.

Fraport has sued the government several times before the international arbitral tribunal, while the dispute between Piatco and Takenaka and Asahikosan was still pending before the high court.

This prompted the OSG to seek for court’s ruling to declare that any claim by Fraport, Takenaka and Asahikosan is enforceable only against the money to be paid by the government to Piatco.

In the latest ruling, the SC also junked the partial appeal filed by Takenaka and Asahikosan for lack of merit.

SC spokesman Theodore Te said the ruling is already final.

“No further pleadings will be allowed. Entry of judgment should be made in due course,” he said in a media briefing.

In its earlier decision, the high court pegged the total amount due to Piatco as $510 million as of December 2014.

Final push for override of Noy’s veto deserve to get from the government.

“I will still move for the override MILITANT lawmakers on Tuesday resolution of Pres. Aquino’s veto of the renewed their appeal to colleagues P2000 pension hike when Congress in the House of Representatives for a resumes session on May 23. We hope congressional override of a pension that our fellow lawmakers will not fail hike bill vetoed by President Benigno us and our seniors and support the Aquino III last January. override,” Colmenares said.

Congressmen Carlos Zarate and “We ask our senior citizens to go to Neri Colmenares, proponents of the their respective representatives and remeasure, said they would push for the quest them to support and vote in favor rejection of the President’s veto on the of override on May 23 when Congress measure when Congress resumes ses- reconvenes,” Colmenares added. sion on May 23.

The two Bayan Muna lawmaker “It’s not too late to win the P2000 reiterated that the pension hike is feaincrease in pension for our senior sible and just. citizens. We are gathering an increas“SSS has the gumption to give ing number of signatures to override millions in bonuses, perks, and President Aquino’s heartless veto on salaries for its top ranks. This alone the SSS pension hike. We are trudg- belies their claim of bankruptcy if ing on to gather the 192 signatures the pension increase happens,” Colneeded to trump the Aquino veto,” menares said.

Zarate said.

“A total of P116,826,265.95 was givSo far, Bayan Muna has already en to at least 34 officials as against the clinched the support of at least 89 two million SSS pensioners awaiting members of the House. the P2000 increase on their pensions,” “We are halfway there. The he added. welfare of our seniors are at Zarate said SSS collection rate restake, so we are still pushing for mains at a dismal 38 percent. the veto even at the 11 th hour,” “We urge SSS to go after big-time Zarate added. companies and demand SSS payThe pension hike bill was princi- ments as required by law. Slashing off pally authored by Colmenares who is extravagant bonuses and improving now seeking a Senate seat. collection efficiency will make SSS Zarate, and Colmenares, said they fund more stable and far from the are hopeful that the senior citizens doomsday scenario that SSS wants us and pensioners will still get what they to believe,” Zarate said.

By Maricel V. Cruz

NOTICE TO TH E PUBLIC The C ommis sion on Higher Educ ation (CH ED) through the Tec hnic al Panel for Sc ienc e and M athematic s ( TPS M) will c onduc t a National Public H ear ing /C onsult ation on the following proposed Polic ies, St andards and G uidelines (PSG s): Program Bachelor of Science in Statistics Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology Bachelor of Science in Mathematics

Date April 28, 2016

Time 9:00 a.m

Venue Richville Hotel, 286 EDSA, Brgy.

Highway Hills Mandaluyong City

April 28,2016

1:00 p.m.

April 29, 2016 (Luzon)

1:00 p.m.

Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM) Auditorium, National Science Complex, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City

June 1, 2016 (Visayas and Mindanao)

9:00 a.m.

Cebu City (exact venue to be announced)

Relative to this, heads /represent atives of higher educ ation institutions (H Els) of fer ing Bac helor of Sc ienc e in St atistic s, Bac helor of Sc ienc e in M ar ine Biolo gy and Bac helor of Sc ienc e in M athematic s and other related programs, represent atives f rom c onc er ned gover nment agenc ies, industr y, profes sional organiz ations and other st akeholder s, and CH ED RO D irec tor s /Super visor s in Charge of the pro gram are invited to at tend the said ac tivit y.

Funds for travel expenses of the CH ED RO represent atives (one represent ative per CH ED RO) will be transfer red to their respec tive of f ic es while travel and other expenses of par tic ipant s c oming f rom public H Els shall be c harged against their loc al f unds subjec t to usual ac c ounting and auditing r ules and regulations. Par tic ipants f rom pr ivate H Els and other st akeholder s shall have to make ar rangement s on their travel expenses with their respec tive institutions, Fo od dur ing the public hear ing /c onsult ation shall be provided by CH ED, To asc er t ain lo gistic preparations, only one (1) represent ative per H EI shall be allowed to at tend this ac tivit y. CH ED Regional O f f ic es are requested to for ward c onf ir mations of par tic ipants f rom their respec tive regions to CH ED - O f f ic e of Pro grams and St andard Development not later than f ive (5) days before the date of public hear ing /c onsult ation. For c onf ir mation or inquir ies, please c ont ac t M s. D edeth Talingdan at Telephone Number s (02) 4 41-125 3 /4 41-12 28 or through ops.tpsm@c hed,gov.ph.

( T S - A P R . 2 0 , 2 016)

PATR I CI A B. Ll CUA N A N. Ph. D. Chair per son

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Romualdez’s message. Senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (right) delivers his ‘malasakit’ message to the delegates of the Philippine Federation of Electric Cooperatives during their 11th Annual General Assembly at Diplomatic Hall, Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City. Romualdez vows support for electric cooperatives nationwide. VER NOVENO

$81-M CYBER LOOT

Elderly couple caught with bullet in bag at airport

Deguito: I lied to protect others

By Macon Araneta

DismisseD banker maia santos-Deguito on Tuesday admitted that she lied to conceal the personalities involved in the $81-million cyber loot stolen from the Bangladesh bank and channeled to casinos in the Philippines. the Department of Justice, meanwhile, deferred the preliminary investigation on the anti-money laundering complaint filed against casino junket operator Kam sin Wong (Kim Wong) to May 3, 2016. testifying before the senate Blue ribbon committee, Deguito said that Wong instructed her to transfer the money from the accounts of four depositors—Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, enrico teodoro Vasquez and Alfred santos Vergara. the funds were then transmitted to the account of Centurytex trading owned by William Go, said Deguito, former branch manager of rCBC Jupiter branch.

senator serge osmeña iii asked why she followed Wong’s order, Deguito said the operator was the one who referred the four account holders and “acted as their authorized representatives to inquire balances and instruct me for further instructions.”

But Deguito said she also cannot understand why Wong would order the transfer of the money to the account of Go. rCBC’s legal chief Maria Celia estavillo countered Deguito’s claim, saying they have her letter which stated that it was Lagrosas who gave her instructions on the transfer of funds to Go. estavillo accused Deguito of contradicting her own written statement to the bank.

Confronted by osmeña in giving a different statement to the bank, Deguito related that during that time, she was not yet ready to speak up on who were the referrals of the accounts, and the person she was talking to. that was the advice of her lawyer.

Yes, your honor, it was really Mr. Wong who instructed me,” she said. “so you were lying to your own head office?,” osmeña asked Deguito.

When Deguito tried to repeat her explanation, the senator cut her off and told her: “No, don’t give us the excuse for lying if you will consider that lying.” “sir, yes, i would acknowledge,” replied Deguito.

Mark Palmares, a messenger of Philrem service Corp., told the senate that P90 million and another $500,00, said to be part of the $81-million stolen from Bangladesh bank, were delivered to solaire resort and Casino Manila in Parañaque City on Feb. 5. testifying for the first time before the senate panel chaired by senator teofisto Guingona,

By Joel E. Zurbano

Palmares confirmed that he delivered the money upon the instruction of his boss, Philrem president salud Bautista.

Bautista said the delivery of funds was supposedly upon the instruction of Deguito. he said the huge amount was loaded in suitcase, a traveling bag and a shoulder bag and was brought inside the hotel by means of a trolley.

According to Palmares, he picked up the money from their office at Cityland in Makati City and transported it to solaire around 7:30 p.m. he said he delivered the money by himself.

When senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce enrile asked him how heavy is P90 million that one person can carry it, Palmares replied they were placed in a trolley after being unloaded from their vehicle. enrile then inquired how many bags were used to carry the money, Palmares said there were three in all. this was also the same response given by Palmares when Guingona asked him the same question. With Rey Requejo

Authorities placed under investigation a septuagenarian couple caught with a bullet inside their hand-carry bag while about to board a flight to Los Angeles tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino international Airport terminal 1. esteban and salvacion Cortabista were able to get past the initial x-ray scanning counter but were stopped upon reaching the second and final checking at the departure area by members of the office for transportation security. the bullet was that for a .38 caliber pistol, ots said. the Cortabistas, according to airport policemen, initially admitted owning the live bullet but when their relatives and members of the media arrived at the scene, they denied owning the prohibited item. the Cortabistas were about to board Korean Air flight Ke 622 bound for Los Angeles, California when the incident happened. they claimed they came from Antipolo and this was the second time they will go to the united states.

Airport management, meanwhile, conducted a probe of ots personnel assigned at the initial checking where the couple was able to pass through without the bullet being noticed by ots. since November, airport authorities apprehended more than 50 passengers carrying bullets in their bags at Naia terminals 1, 2 and 3 amid the growing controversy over the alleged bullet-planting scheme involving erring personnel. the Police Aviation security Group said they continue to apprehend people despite the installation of disposal booths or cubicles served as passengers’ luggage checking station before entering security screening checkpoints. the cubicle dubbed as the “Last Look Booth” would help passengers dispose of items the airport authorities prohibit such as gun, bullets, knife and other deadly weapons.

Pacquiao’s new role—‘crowd drawer’ in Binay camp sorties

By Christine F. Herrera

Senate witness. Mark Palmares, messenger of Philrem Service Corp., testifies at the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon probe of the alleged money laundering involving his company in the presence of Philrem president Salud Bautista (middle) and her husband Michael. EY ACASIO

ALABeL, sarangani—World boxing champion and sarangani rep. emmanuel Pacquiao on tuesday vowed to be the “crowd drawer” in the last two weeks of the campaign to make opposition presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay win so as to change the “shameful image” of the Philippines in the world. in a news conference before he led the Binay camp’s motorcade and campaign rallies in his lone districtprovince and nearby General santos City, Pacquiao said he would start actively cam-

paigning for Binay and would be highly visible in the provincial sorties. “i will be the crowd drawer. maraming pupunta sa rallies especially that i just returned from the fight, which i won. our countrymen would want to see me and i want them to hear the platform of our Vice President, who would be the next president, VP Binay,” Pacquiao said. the crowd at the rally was placed at 15,000. “i want to tell the people to support VP Binay because i knew him as humble and sincere to help the poor,” Pacquiao said. “he has the heart

for the poor.”

Pacquiao took the opportunity to thank the public for their continued support for his boxing feat.

Pacquiao, uNA senatorial candidate, said several camps have been trying to get him on their side but that he has already firmly decided to stick it out with Binay.

“You see, i always go abroad and when i am abroad, i make sure i invite foreigners to come to the Philippines because it is beautiful. Nahihiya ako when they tell me they did not want to come because nakakatakot daw, magulo,” Pacquiao said.

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

PDEA arrests known dealer CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga— Agents of the Central Luzon Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested Sunday a known drug dealer and seized some 200 grams of “shabu” or methamphetamine hydrochloride worth almost a million pesos in a buy-bust operation in Quezon City.

PDEA 3 Regional Director Gladys Rosales identified the suspect as Victor Guilani, 42, and resident of Litex, Commonwealth, Quezon City.

Rosales said Guilani is a notorious drug pusher who is responsible for the bulk distribution of shabu in Bulacan and Pampanga.

“PDEA agents were able to negotiate for the purchase of 200 grams of shabu for P300,000 from Guilani and first agreed to meet in Apalit, Pampanga then in Malolos, Bulacan and eventually in Matandang Balara, Quezon City where he was collared after handing over the illegal substance to a PDEA agent who acted as poseur buyer,” Rosales added.

The apprehension of the suspect resulted in confiscation of four medium-sized plastic sachets containing 200 grams of shabu with an estimated street value of P940,000 and the marked money used in the operation.

The suspect is now detained at the PDEA 3 Jail Facility in Camp Olivas, City of San Fernando, this province. PNA

Foldables. Children in Baguio City play with campaign materials by fashioning them into paper boats and airplanes. DAVE LEPROZO

Lone suspect shoots, kills ex-Bulacan town vice mayor PANDI, Bulacan—Police are investigating whether the Monday evening killing of a former vice mayor here is politically related or not.

Police said that former vice mayor Roberto Rivera, 61, resident of Barangay Bunsuran, was driving his white Nissan pick-up truck and heading home from his piggery farm in Barangay Manatal here when he was

shot several times at pointblank range at around 6 p.m.

Reports said that a lone suspect shot Rivera three times in the head and once in the body.

The victim was brought

to the Rogaciano District Hospital in nearby Sta. Maria town but was declared dead-on-arrival by doctors.

Chief Inspector Victor Bernabe, town police chief, said investigators gathered from some witnesses that the suspect boarded a tricycle before transferring to a blue car after shooting the former vice mayor.

“We are following leads that will help us establish

the identity of the killer.

We still cannot say if the incident is politically related since the victim is not running for any position in the coming elections,” he said.

Relatives of Rivera told police that the victim had received death threats but ignored them.

Rivera was a known staunch supporter of mayoral candidate Celestino Mar-

quez of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan Party, who is running against reelectionist mayor Enrico Roque in the May 9 polls.

Rivera served as vice mayor of Pandi from 1992 to 1998.

He started a farm business which he was personally managing while at the same time supporting the candidacy of mayoral candidate Marquez. PNA

Bomb experts foil blast attempt in Cotabato City COTABATO CITY—Police bomb experts on Monday morning defused an improvised explosive device planted beside the barangay hall of Rosary Heights 10, Cotabato City.

Kagi Bongol Mamalangkay, village chairman of Barangay Rosary Heights 10, said the attempt could be meant for him or his visitors to an Islamic “thanksgiving” event known as “Kanduli.”

Senior Insp. Roel Zafra, speaking for the local police, said the IED, fashioned from two rounds of M-203 rifle grenade at-

tached to one MK-2 fragmentation grenade with mobile phone as trigger mechanism, was safely deactivated at 11:40 a.m.

After the deactivation process, police bomb experts also found switch diagram, wires and 9-volt battery. It was not clear who was behind the attempt.

Zafra said investigation on the matter is ongoing.

“This was a high-caliber bomb, it was meant to kill or maim people,” Zafra said, adding that had it exploded it could have damaged the village hall.

“We are looking at one or

two groups to be behind the attempt,” he said.

Mamalangkay said it was clearly politically motivated since the thanksgiving party for a dead relative had local candidates as visitors.

Zafra said the village compound located along San Isidro Street, has no closed-circuit TV cameras that could have helped the police in identifying the suspects.

He appealed to the public to remain vigilant and help the police foil any attempt to disrupt the city’s peace and order situation. PNA

Making history. The World Historical Theme Park at the Baguio Country Club offers fun and education to young visitors. DAVID CHAN

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ

THE RAPE OF DEMOCRACY

[ EDI TORI A L ]

A GOD-GIVEN MOUTH TWO things were terribly wrong with presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s explanation for his crude remarks about how he was angry at inmates who had raped and killed an Australian missionary in 1989—not only because they had committed a crime, but because they had beat him to the having sexual relations with the attractive woman.

Reacting to criticism by the militant women’s group Gabriela, the outspoken mayor unleashed even more vitriol.

“Son of a bitch, do not control my mouth, Gabriela. This is my mouth. It is Godgiven. That’s gutter language because I grew up in a poor neighborhood. My mouth is vulgar (bastos). I grew up in a vulgar neighborhood,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The statement suggests that Duterte was vulgar because he grew up poor, and that it is all right to be vulgar as long as you are poor. We take issue with both notions.

Despite the mayor’s rough affect and fondness for gutter talk, he did not grow up poor.

His father was a lawyer who had served as governor of Davao, while his mother was a school teacher and a civic leader.

Duterte attended elementary school in Maasin, Southern Leyte, and in Davao City, and finished his secondary education at the Holy Cross Academy of Digos in Digos City, after being expelled twice from previous schools, including Ateneo de Davao University, due to misconduct.

A boy who had grown up poor would not have had all these opportunities.

The second part is more difficult to dispute because it is a statement of the mayor’s world view that the poor are vulgar as a rule.

But are the poor, in fact, vulgar by nature—and are they doomed to remain so, as Duterte seems to believe? Our day-to-day interactions with poor people suggest that this is not so, and that the poor are often even more courteous than the well to do.

Nor need they be a prisoner to their poor roots, stuck forever with crude thoughts and vulgar behavior, as Duterte suggests.

About a month before the uproar over Duterte’s rape remark, a prominent figure in public service passed away. He was a statesman, a lawyer, a former president of the Senate, and a World War II hero—and a model of intelligence and civility throughout his life.

Unlike Duterte, former Senate president Jovito Salonga really grew up poor, the son of a Presbyterian pastor and a market vendor. Yet Salonga, who worked to put himself through college and topped the bar exams in 1944 with a grade point average of 95.3 percent, never felt the need to use gutter language to gain respect or to display crudity of thought as a badge of honor that encourages the public’s basest of instincts. This was not a matter of having a God-given mouth, but true character.

We all have the first; not all of us have the second.

WHERE’S GRACE POE? LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES WHERE in the world is Grace Poe? And why doesn’t anyone seem to really care anymore?

As Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s rise continues in the surveys, his two more established rivals seek refuge in the supposed strength of their organizations and political machinery. But where does that leave Duterte’s third major rival, Senator Poe, the former frontrunner before the potty-

mouthed mayor captured the imagination of the people, as reflected in the mainstream polls?

I still recall Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Poe’s spokesman, predicting a 10-percent “bounce” in the senator’s survey numbers if the Supreme Court rules in her favor in the citizenship and residency cases filed against her. Gatchalian’s prediction still hasn’t happened, weeks after Poe—already the survey frontrunner at the time—secured favorable verdicts from the tribunal.

What happened to “Amazing” Grace? Is there still a way (and time enough) for her to retake

the survey lead and to sustain her once-great run all the way to the May 9 finish line?

To be fair, the latest Pulse Asia survey still has Poe firmly in second place, with 25 percent behind Duterte’s 32 percent.

Duterte may be the choice of a little less than one-third of all the voters polled, but Poe was still picked by a solid fourth of the Pulse respondents.

(With his 20 percent, Vice President Jejomar Binay retains his apparently undiminished base of one-fifth of the voting population. Administration candidate Mar Roxas, at 18 percent, has less than that, main-

A9

‘May laban pa kami. She could still wind up as destiny’s child,’ says one top Poe adviser.

taining his last-place position among the four major candidates.)

The difference, of course, is that both Binay and Roxas can claim to have party organizations and machinery that will, they insist, allow them to make an end run in the dying moments of the race and win it all.

Poe, who is like Duterte in her lack of such an organization, cannot make a similar claim.

In fact, ever since Poe got her Supreme Court rulings, she seems to have dropped off entirely from the headlines and the national consciousness. Indeed, the last time I remember Poe hogging the headlines was in the aftermath of the March 20 presidential debate in Cebu City,

where she performed very well. After the April 3 Supreme Court rulings, Poe seemed to level off—coinciding with the time when Duterte started making noise, literally and figuratively, cussing his way to the top of the survey heap.

Even after Duterte famously shot himself in the foot with his recollections of the rape-killing of an Australian missionary in 1989, I don’t recall Poe capitalizing on the one issue that seemed tailor-made for her, as the only woman in the Big Four. Poe did denounce Duterte, but perhaps because

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everyone else who didn’t like the mayor did the same, her reaction was buried in the ensuing avalanche of real—or feigned—condemnation. *** Athletes and their coaches have a theory about not “peaking too soon.”

According to this theory, competitors should husband their strength for a final, decisive push at the very end, keeping pace with the main pack until opponents tire out and can no longer offer any resistance when they go for the finish.

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I don’t know if Poe has already peaked. I do know that, as Duterte was making his upward move, he appears to have gotten the most number of survey “votes” from Poe. Binay, Poe’s early victim in the survey derby, also shed points to Duterte, even if he has kept his head, overall, above the 20-plus mark. Roxas has basically remained where he is, failing to get out of the teens even as he keeps repeating his mantra about the “real survey” taking place on May 9.

Continued on A11

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

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

IN HIS Gettysburg Address in 1863, Abraham Lincoln, to me the greatest American president, defined democracy as a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” He also expressed hope that it “shall not perish from the earth.”

One Stanford paper says democracy as a system of government has four key elements: 1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; 2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; 3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens; and 4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

Knowing these elements, one may conclude that in the Philippines, democracy is being raped every day. Why? 1. There is no free elections in the Philippines.

Voting machines decide who should win and lose. The Supreme Court says it alone decides who are qualified to be presidential candidates. So an alien with no known progeny can be declared a natural-born Filipino and must have had 10 years of residence in the Philippines if that alien thought in his/ her mind he/she had wanted to reside in this country 10 years ago.

People are not free to vote. They sell their vote to the highest bidder. A candidate also can buy votes from the Commission on Elections which allows slogans (like “Matuwid na Daan”) as proper middle names for formal names of administration candidates. It’s like Rocky Marciano calling himself “The Raging Bull” as his formal candidate name and the voter shades the circle on its right. The vote then becomes Bull Shit.

2. There is no active participation by the people.

Only 100 families have ruled this country for the last 100 years. And this is a country which has more than 25 million families.

In the last 55 years, Philippine presidents came from exactly just four families—cousins Ferdinand Marcos and Fidel V. Ramos (26 years), father and daughter Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal (13 years and a half ), mother and son Corazon and Benigno Continued on A11

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO Ambassador Del Rosario’s column will resume soon.

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

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ

THE RAPE OF DEMOCRACY

[ EDI TORI A L ]

A GOD-GIVEN MOUTH TWO things were terribly wrong with presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s explanation for his crude remarks about how he was angry at inmates who had raped and killed an Australian missionary in 1989—not only because they had committed a crime, but because they had beat him to the having sexual relations with the attractive woman.

Reacting to criticism by the militant women’s group Gabriela, the outspoken mayor unleashed even more vitriol.

“Son of a bitch, do not control my mouth, Gabriela. This is my mouth. It is Godgiven. That’s gutter language because I grew up in a poor neighborhood. My mouth is vulgar (bastos). I grew up in a vulgar neighborhood,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The statement suggests that Duterte was vulgar because he grew up poor, and that it is all right to be vulgar as long as you are poor. We take issue with both notions.

Despite the mayor’s rough affect and fondness for gutter talk, he did not grow up poor.

His father was a lawyer who had served as governor of Davao, while his mother was a school teacher and a civic leader.

Duterte attended elementary school in Maasin, Southern Leyte, and in Davao City, and finished his secondary education at the Holy Cross Academy of Digos in Digos City, after being expelled twice from previous schools, including Ateneo de Davao University, due to misconduct.

A boy who had grown up poor would not have had all these opportunities.

The second part is more difficult to dispute because it is a statement of the mayor’s world view that the poor are vulgar as a rule.

But are the poor, in fact, vulgar by nature—and are they doomed to remain so, as Duterte seems to believe? Our day-to-day interactions with poor people suggest that this is not so, and that the poor are often even more courteous than the well to do.

Nor need they be a prisoner to their poor roots, stuck forever with crude thoughts and vulgar behavior, as Duterte suggests.

About a month before the uproar over Duterte’s rape remark, a prominent figure in public service passed away. He was a statesman, a lawyer, a former president of the Senate, and a World War II hero—and a model of intelligence and civility throughout his life.

Unlike Duterte, former Senate president Jovito Salonga really grew up poor, the son of a Presbyterian pastor and a market vendor. Yet Salonga, who worked to put himself through college and topped the bar exams in 1944 with a grade point average of 95.3 percent, never felt the need to use gutter language to gain respect or to display crudity of thought as a badge of honor that encourages the public’s basest of instincts. This was not a matter of having a God-given mouth, but true character.

We all have the first; not all of us have the second.

WHERE’S GRACE POE? LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES WHERE in the world is Grace Poe? And why doesn’t anyone seem to really care anymore?

As Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s rise continues in the surveys, his two more established rivals seek refuge in the supposed strength of their organizations and political machinery. But where does that leave Duterte’s third major rival, Senator Poe, the former frontrunner before the potty-

mouthed mayor captured the imagination of the people, as reflected in the mainstream polls?

I still recall Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Poe’s spokesman, predicting a 10-percent “bounce” in the senator’s survey numbers if the Supreme Court rules in her favor in the citizenship and residency cases filed against her. Gatchalian’s prediction still hasn’t happened, weeks after Poe—already the survey frontrunner at the time—secured favorable verdicts from the tribunal.

What happened to “Amazing” Grace? Is there still a way (and time enough) for her to retake

the survey lead and to sustain her once-great run all the way to the May 9 finish line?

To be fair, the latest Pulse Asia survey still has Poe firmly in second place, with 25 percent behind Duterte’s 32 percent.

Duterte may be the choice of a little less than one-third of all the voters polled, but Poe was still picked by a solid fourth of the Pulse respondents.

(With his 20 percent, Vice President Jejomar Binay retains his apparently undiminished base of one-fifth of the voting population. Administration candidate Mar Roxas, at 18 percent, has less than that, main-

A9

‘May laban pa kami. She could still wind up as destiny’s child,’ says one top Poe adviser.

taining his last-place position among the four major candidates.)

The difference, of course, is that both Binay and Roxas can claim to have party organizations and machinery that will, they insist, allow them to make an end run in the dying moments of the race and win it all.

Poe, who is like Duterte in her lack of such an organization, cannot make a similar claim.

In fact, ever since Poe got her Supreme Court rulings, she seems to have dropped off entirely from the headlines and the national consciousness. Indeed, the last time I remember Poe hogging the headlines was in the aftermath of the March 20 presidential debate in Cebu City,

where she performed very well. After the April 3 Supreme Court rulings, Poe seemed to level off—coinciding with the time when Duterte started making noise, literally and figuratively, cussing his way to the top of the survey heap.

Even after Duterte famously shot himself in the foot with his recollections of the rape-killing of an Australian missionary in 1989, I don’t recall Poe capitalizing on the one issue that seemed tailor-made for her, as the only woman in the Big Four. Poe did denounce Duterte, but perhaps because

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everyone else who didn’t like the mayor did the same, her reaction was buried in the ensuing avalanche of real—or feigned—condemnation. *** Athletes and their coaches have a theory about not “peaking too soon.”

According to this theory, competitors should husband their strength for a final, decisive push at the very end, keeping pace with the main pack until opponents tire out and can no longer offer any resistance when they go for the finish.

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I don’t know if Poe has already peaked. I do know that, as Duterte was making his upward move, he appears to have gotten the most number of survey “votes” from Poe. Binay, Poe’s early victim in the survey derby, also shed points to Duterte, even if he has kept his head, overall, above the 20-plus mark. Roxas has basically remained where he is, failing to get out of the teens even as he keeps repeating his mantra about the “real survey” taking place on May 9.

Continued on A11

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IN HIS Gettysburg Address in 1863, Abraham Lincoln, to me the greatest American president, defined democracy as a “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” He also expressed hope that it “shall not perish from the earth.”

One Stanford paper says democracy as a system of government has four key elements: 1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; 2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; 3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens; and 4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

Knowing these elements, one may conclude that in the Philippines, democracy is being raped every day. Why? 1. There is no free elections in the Philippines.

Voting machines decide who should win and lose. The Supreme Court says it alone decides who are qualified to be presidential candidates. So an alien with no known progeny can be declared a natural-born Filipino and must have had 10 years of residence in the Philippines if that alien thought in his/ her mind he/she had wanted to reside in this country 10 years ago.

People are not free to vote. They sell their vote to the highest bidder. A candidate also can buy votes from the Commission on Elections which allows slogans (like “Matuwid na Daan”) as proper middle names for formal names of administration candidates. It’s like Rocky Marciano calling himself “The Raging Bull” as his formal candidate name and the voter shades the circle on its right. The vote then becomes Bull Shit.

2. There is no active participation by the people.

Only 100 families have ruled this country for the last 100 years. And this is a country which has more than 25 million families.

In the last 55 years, Philippine presidents came from exactly just four families—cousins Ferdinand Marcos and Fidel V. Ramos (26 years), father and daughter Diosdado Macapagal and Gloria Macapagal (13 years and a half ), mother and son Corazon and Benigno Continued on A11

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Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

UNTRIED, UNTESTED, READY: THREE WEEKS REMEDIES FOR THE GLOBAL ECONOMY TO GO TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Du-Dirty, a self-confessed killer and womanizer, says he has a foul mouth because he grew up in a foul neighborhood.

This was his excuse for that joke about the Australian lay missionary who had been gangraped in 1989 during a riot at a Davao jail.

After finding out that Jacqueline Hamill was as beautiful as an actress, Duterte remarked that he should have been the first to rape her. Believe it or not, his audience roared with laughter. He remains unapologetic.

Funding is critical in this crucial leg.

My gulay, Du-Dirty is truly a demagogue and an agitator. Among those who similarly lack decency and values are Senator Koko Pimentel, president of PDP-Laban, and Du-Dirty’s vice presidential running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. They continue to defend Du-Dirty’s foul mouth and antiFilipino acts. I consider them no better.

The reason Du-Dirty is so popular, analysts say, is that he has become everything the Aquino administration is not. BS Aquino III is the worst president this country has ever had.

Corruption and criminality reign.

Even if this were true, however, does it mean we should settle for somebody like DuDirty? This is a man who tries to justify his vulgarity despite near-universal condemnation.

Santa Banana, to me, the worst part is not Du-Dirty’s popularity.

It is that his supporters, cheerleaders and politi-

cal strategists seem to be mesmerized by him.

I pray to God he does not win. This will be our worst nightmare. My problem is that I only have one country—unlike the other presidential candidate, Mrs. Mary Grace Por Llamanzares, who could settle again in the United States if she does not make it. After all, her husband and children are American.

Are we that desperate that we should elect somebody like this man, Du-Dirty, to the highest office? *** With three weeks to go before election day, the usual things are happening: unholy alliances, candidate junking and vote buying.

Yesterday I wrote about the supposed AlDuB alliance between Du-Dirty and Senator Bongbong Marcos, the frontrunner in the vice presidential race. The plan was supposedly hatched by Du-Dirty’s strategists to take advantage of Marcos’ stronghold in the Solid North, Eastern Visayas (of the Romualdezes) and even in Mindanao among Ilocanos who had settled there.

There are reports that Du-Dirty has also forged an alliance with Senator Francis Escudero, the running mate of Mrs. Llamanzares.

The tandem is known as DutEscu. The story is that Escudero has been demanding an accounting of campaign contributions from the Llamanzareses, but they have refused.

Alliances like these happen all the time, especially in a tight race.

Finding during the last two weeks of the campaign also gets critical. While the usual campaign contributors spread their money among candidates they believe have a chance of winning, the real funding comes in the last two weeks of the campaign when and where they are most needed.

This is why I say all elections are local. The difference between losing and winning is determined at the local

Bloomberg editorial

THE deeper the slump, economists used to say, the stronger the recovery. They don’t say that anymore. The effects of the crash of 2008 still reverberate, with the latest forecasts for global growth even more dismal than the last.

The persistently stagnant world economy is more than just a rebuke to economic theory, of course; it exacts a human toll.

And while politicians and central bankers—or economists, for that matter—can’t be faulted for their creativity, their remedies might have more impact if they were bolder and better-coordinated.

By ordinary standards, to be sure, governments haven’t been timid. Without fiscal stimulus and aggressive monetary easing in the US and other countries, things would look even worse.

And yet, worldwide output is predicted to rise only 3.2 percent this year, falling still further below the pre-crash trend. Simply doubling down on current strategies is unlikely to work. Large-scale bondbuying, or so-called quantitative easing, has run into diminishing returns. Negative interest rates, where they’ve been tried, haven’t revived lending, and central banks are unable or unwilling to cut further.

What about new fiscal stimulus? Where possible, that would be good—but it’s hardest to do in the very countries that need it most, because that’s where public level.

I saw this in 1992 when the late Cory Aquino, as an outgoing President, threw her support behind Fidel V. Ramos as against then popular Miriam Santiago and businessman Danding Cojuangco.

I saw it again when movie icon Fernando Poe Jr. lost to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. During the last two weeks of the campaign, FPJ ran out of funds being demanded by local politicians.

It’s a sad commentary of our times, but it’s a fact of life. Indeed, elections get costlier every three years.

It is said that to have a chance of winning the presidency and vice presidency, it now takes about P3 billion to make it. In 2010, they say it cost P2 billion.

To be a senator unless a political party like the

debt is already dangerously high.

True, as the International Monetary Fund’s new fiscal report says, almost all countries could become more growth-friendly by combining measures to curb public spending in the longer term (for instance, raising the retirement age) with steps to increase demand in the short term (cutting payroll taxes, raising employment subsidies and building infrastructure). Getting fiscal policy right country by country would surely help—yet probably wouldn’t be enough: No single country can adequately deal with a global shortfall of demand.

A finance ministry for the world isn’t happening any time soon. Still, it’s a pity that governments aren’t trying harder to coordinate their fiscal policies more intelligently, or indeed at all. The global slump persists partly because of international spillovers. Better coordination would take these into account: Countries that could safely deploy fiscal stimulus would give some weight to global as well as national conditions, and fiscal policy would be formed interactively.

Even within the European Union, where you’d expect economic coordination to be the norm, and where the single currency makes it essential, there’s no sign of it. At the global level, in forums such as the IMF, you might expect the US to take the lead in any such effort. So it

Liberal Party handles all the expenses, it now takes at least P700 million to P800 million.

To be a governor now costs at least P500 million, and to be a mayor, P300 million.

Santa Banana, I recall that many years ago, a vote in Makati City and Taguig City cost only from P250 to P300. It now costs at least P500.

No wonder, only the rich and the affluent can win elections. Would you believe that members of the Sangguniang Bayan have to buy votes if they hope to make it? *** My dear friend and colleague, Rodolfo “Rod” T. Reyes died last week and was buried last Monday. I went to his wake at the Manila Memorial chapels last Saturday.

To me, Rod, a veteran journalist, who was the only press secretary for

should —but it will need to mend its shattered policy-making machinery first. If Washington can’t come to a decision on its own on taxes or spending, the question of coordination doesn’t arise.

The last resort, if the slump goes on and governments can’t coordinate better, might be to combine monetary and fiscal policy in a hybrid known (unfortunately) as helicopter money. Governments would cut taxes and/or spend more, but meet the cost by printing money rather than by borrowing. In one variant, central banks might simply send out checks to taxpayers.

That’s a startling idea, no doubt—but so was quantitative easing not long ago. In one way, helicopter money would actually work better than QE: It acts directly on spending and couldn’t fail to stimulate demand. The danger is that it might raise inflation in a way that central banks couldn’t then control. Oh, and there is the minor detail that in Europe it would be illegal, while in the US it would merely be politically toxic.

On one hand, then, you have the prospect of persistently slow global growth, and all the waste of talent and resources that entails.

On the other, you have a few untried remedies that governments can’t or won’t use. Maybe, as the first point sinks in, governments will be willing to take a hard look at the second. Eight years after the crash, the problem sure isn’t taking care of itself.

two Presidents, Fidel V. Ramos and Erap Estrada, is my perfect example of a true journalist. I admire and respect him.

I recall that in February 1987, Rod called me and asked me to lunch when he told me the last Manda Elizalde called him from Miami, Florida, where he went after having resided in Costa Rica after his self-exile.

Manda, according to Rod, wanted me to be with his publication.

When Manda came back to the Philippines, Rod and I met with him, and we started forming the staff of The Manila Standard with offices at the former Elizalde and Tanduay Rhum building along Ayala Avenue.

As chairman of the editorial board, I was also a columnist with Rod as publisher and editor-inchief. Thus, The Manila Standard was born with

me as the oldest opinion writer since many others have left.

There had been changes of ownership of The Standard since then and after Manda passed away. After Manda came the Sorianos and Al Yuchengco. When Yuchengco parted ways with the Sorianos, then came Ricky Razon. Later on, Razon sold out to the Romualdez, Martin and Philip.

I had also Andy del Rosario, Jullie Yap Daza, Cip Roxas and now Jojo Robles as editor-in-chief and Rollie Estabillo as publisher. At one time, Teddyboy Locsin was publisher when The Manila Standard Today publisher sold out to Razon. That’s why the publication was called The Manila Standard Today.

I will miss Rod Reyes, the journalist I had wanted to be.

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

CHINA’S ALARMING SUV BOOM

By Adam Minter CHINA is determined to become the low-emissions electric-car capital of the world. Unfortunately, its car buyers aren’t cooperating.

The Chinese government has been spending billions on research grants, steep subsidies and new infrastructure— such as charging stations—to encourage consumers to go electric. It hopes to boost the number of such vehicles on the road 10-fold by the end of the decade.

One problem: Consumers are instead lining up to buy eco-unfriendly sport-utility vehicles. In 2015, Chinese drivers bought 6.2 million SUVs—up 52 percent yearover-year, and accounting for roughly a third of all car purchases. The same year,

they bought a mere 189,000 plugin vehicles, or less than 1 percent of total purchases.

What’s going wrong?

Consumer preferences are running ahead of wellintended government policy.

For example, one key reason for the SUV boom is a simple desire for safety.

With very few traffic cops, Chinese roads and byways often have a Mad Max flavor to them. In 2015 alone, there were more than 200,000 traffic fatalities and more than 17 million cases of road rage reported. A bigger car, in such an environment, can feel like an insurance policy. As one analyst told Bloomberg News, “The angry ones are scaring the sane ones into buying SUVs for self-defense.”

China’s consumers are also

The rape... From A9 Simeon Aquino III (12 years and four months), and actor Joseph Estrada (30 months). Note that if you don’t come from a politically entrenched family and backed by the economic elite, you don’t last very long. Erap is the prime example.

The 20 richest Filipinos produce two-thirds of economic production.

That is the most iniquitous economic setup in the world.

People are perpetually hungry.

Agricultural production has risen by an average of 0.20 percent per year in the last 30 years while the population grows by two percent per year. So in 30 years, the population grew by more than 60 percent compounded, while food production went up by just six percent compounded. The result is massive poverty since food is 55 percent of family expenditure.

Poverty means you cannot go to school. If you cannot go to school, you cannot be employed except as a farmer or a fisherman (the poorest of the Filipino poor). If you are a farmer and you march towards the Palace, you are massacred like in 1987, or march along the highway in Kidapawan, you are again massacred like in 2016.

Those who are not massacred are

#FAILOCRACY

more affluent these days, and thus capable of upgrading to better rides. As recently as 2012, the unsafe Wuling Sunshine microvan, costing about $4,500, was China’s most popular passenger vehicle. But in recent months, the Sunshine’s sales have declined precipitously, as rural Chinese trade up for budget SUVs. The high ride and luxury stylings of SUVs appeal to the attentiongrabbing inclinations of the Chinese consumer.

Finally, China’s car buyers, like their US counterparts, have been emboldened by an era of cheap gas. In 2015, gasoline demand grew by about 10 percent over the previous year, prompting China’s government to overhaul its system for setting fuel prices in an effort to curb

arrested, jailed and denied liberties, without charges. Farmers have no future if the president is a haciendera (like Cory Aquino) or haciendero (like BS Aquino III).

If you cannot be employed, you resort to crime and drugs. A P5 rugby will save three meals for a boy of eight on the street. He feels filled up. Crime means robbery. Survival is the basic instinct of human and animals. It is also the basic human right. Thus, you steal to survive. Except if you are Jojo Binay. You run for president. This makes our so-called democracy much more fun.

In a society where crime and drugs become the mode for human survival, human rights cannot thrive. Neither can rule of law.

In Moses’ Ten Commandments, Thou Shall Not Kill (No. 6) is a higher or bigger crime than Thou Shall Not Steal (No. 8).

In fact, on the day just before Jesus Christ died He promised to bring a thief beside him to Paradise. The lesson here: There is redemption in stealing. But not if you are a killer.

Yet, surveys show the No. 1 candidate for president is a self-proclaimed killer and would be murderer, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. He is a four or five percentage points ahead

consumption.

Yet even if Chinese stopped buying SUVs entirely, fuel consumption and pollution would only grow. China still has only about one car on the road for every five people, compared with one for every 1.3 people in the US. As its economy grows and its population gets richer, that gap is destined to narrow.

That makes it all the more urgent for China to curb the growth in gas guzzlers.

One useful step for the government would be a concerted effort to enforce traffic laws, which would save lives and help convince drivers that they’re safe packing their families into fuel-efficient cars. Another would be to apply subsidies solely to non-plugin hybrids, such as the Toyota Prius,

of a self-proclaimed natural born Filipino, Grace Poe. The margin is equivalent to 1.7 million to 2.0 million votes.

No. 3 is a man accused of multiple thievery, Vice President Jejomar Binay.

No. 4 is a man considered to be welleducated and not a killer but one who condones thievery and murder (of farmers and soldiers) under the current Aquino administration, Manuel Araneta Roxas II. Not being able to help Aquino solve the massive problems of this country, Mar is considered incompetent.

Recently, Duterte, it was discovered not only loves women. He also loves to rape them. This is commandment No. 10—Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife. It is the lowest of the Ten Commandments, two rungs below No. 8 Thou Shall Not Steal, and four rungs below No. 6, Thou Shall Not Kill.

So take it from there on May 9.

Remember democracy also means bad choices which means choosing the least bad of the very, very bad.

But why do Filipinos love democracy, no matter how fake it is? It’s fun, especially in the Philippines. Indeed, democracy shall not perish from the earth. It can only be raped. biznewsasia@gmail.com

which have proven popular around the world. Hybrids won’t save as much fuel as allelectric plugins, but they’re certainly better than SUVs, and they’ll acclimate car buyers to the idea that ecofriendly doesn’t have to mean unsafe or inconvenient.

Finally, the government should raise fuel prices to a level that makes gas guzzling less attractive. It could offer exemptions for commercial vehicles and for the poor, but for middle-class drivers —especially in big cities, where complaints about air pollution are loudest—the consequences of excessive fuel use should hit the pocketbook as well as the lungs, and drive China’s growing fleet of SUVs off its traffic-choked roads.

Bloomberg

Where’s Grace... From A9 But Poe has lost, on average, eight to 10 percentage points to Duterte in the past weeks, ever since The Standard’s resident pollster Junie Laylo first recorded the Davao mayor’s rise as frontrunner in his last survey, conducted right after Holy Week. And, this late in the race, that can’t be good news for the senator.

A top Poe adviser, however, still thinks Poe has better chances than either Binay or Roxas to beat the Duterte juggernaut. This is his analysis: “She seems to be retaining her core support of 25 percent, despite the daily black propaganda battering which must have taken away from the ‘soft’ votes when she led in the low 30s, before Duterte’s momentum run, which took more away from Binay and Mar,” said this source. “[Duterte’s] latest foot-in-mouth braggadocio will now hurt him somewhat, and GP stands to regain the soft votes, especially the women’s vote, more than the other two who seem dead in the water, even if they distribute money.”

“May laban pa kami,” he added. “She could still wind up as destiny’s child.”

I guess, like Roxas keeps saying, we shall see when the real survey takes place in a little over two weeks. Then we’ll know if Grace Poe is for real or just a blinding flash in the political pan.

CHONG ARDIVILLA

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Dubs win; Raptors, Mavs rebound Bicol Open tennis tourney begins NAGA City’s Albert Cornelio and Philip Segio headline the Open class while Gerry Dumalasa and Lito Gallenito seek title repeat in their respective divisions as action in the Palawan PawnshopPalawan Express Pera Padala Bicol Open fires off Wednesday at Lignon, DPWH-Res, Camp. Ola and Binitayan Tennis Club courts.

Close to 500 players from the Bicol region are vying for top honors in singles and doubles categories of the 31st staging of the event hosted

by Gov. Joey Salceda, Rep. Al Francis Bichara and Mayor Noel Rosal and sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop with Slazenger as presentor.

“We wish to welcome the participants, spectators and guests of the Bicol Open with the beauty of our province, the heartwarming hospitality of the Albayanos and all the best we can offer for a successful staging of the event,” said Gov. Salceda.

Cornelio, last year’s men’s singles champion, and Segio gain the top two seedings in the premier class that also drew Justin Prulla, Banong Villamer, Kurt Angelo Molina, Marlon Joson, Jennard Gonzales and Brendan Gazmen.

Dumalasa, a former top San Beda player from Legazpi City, sets out as the favorite in the 40-44 age division while Gallenito from Sorsogon is the player to beat in the 50-54 class of the week-long tournament sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association and backed

by Asiatraders Corp., exclusively distributor of Slazenger, the official ball.

Rep. Bichara also cited the participation of the various tennis federations in the region, including the Catanduanes Tennis Federation, Iriga City, Naga City, Camarines Norte, Tabago City, Albay, Legazpi City, Partido Tennis Club, Masbate, Sorsogon and Nabua tennis federations.

Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket against Josh Smith #5 and Patrick Beverley #2 of the Houston Rockets in Game Two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. AFP

Becker hits out at Murray over doping comments LONDON—Boris Becker has criticised world number two Andy Murray after the British tennis star voiced suspicions some of his opponents may have been taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Murray has been vocal in condemning the use of drugs in sport and enthusiastically backed the suspension imposed on leading female player Maria Sharapova following her failed test for the banned substance meldonium at

this year’s Australian Open.

More controversially Murray, beaten by Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo on Saturday, has also spoken about being suspicious of opponents who he thought were not tiring as they ought to in matches.

But six-times Grand Slam winner Becker, now the coach of world number one Novak Djokovic, said Murray was “out of order” in making his feelings known without proof.

Becker, speaking at the Laureus World Sport Awards in Berlin, told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper: “We have random drug-testing and unless it’s proven, they are 100 percent innocent.

“So to assume something because somebody has won a Grand Slam or is fitter is totally out of order.

“Andy is one of the fittest players on the tour—he often outlasts players and nobody is questioning his ethics,” the

German added.

“I believe 100 percent Andy is clean. Roger (Federer) is clean, Rafa is clean, all these guys are clean.

“Novak gets tested a lot. That can mean twice in a Grand Slam.”

Murray had told the Mail On Sunday, the Daily Mail’s sister paper: “I have played against players and thought, ‘They won’t go away’ or ‘They don’t seem to be getting tired’. AFP

PH jin settles for silver KRISTOPHER Robert Uy suffered his second setback in three days, absorbing a stinging 4-7 loss to defending champion Dmitriy Shokin in the men’s +87-kilogram finals of the Asian Taekwondo Championships at the Marriott Hotel Grand ballroom late Monday night.

Ahead 4-3 with under a minute left in the third and last round, Uy was struck by Shokhin, also the 2014 Incheon Asian Games gold medalist, with a turning side kick – worth three points – before allowing the Uzbek to sneak in another punch before the match ended.

“This was a tough loss, but I am glad to have won a silver medal for my country,” said Uy, who saw action in the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament last Saturday but lost in his opening match of the event sponsored by Meralco, PLDT, the MVP Sports Foundation and Resorts World Manila .

Garnering a bronze was Olympic qualifier Kirstie Elaine Alora, who lost once again to Cambodia’s Rio-bound Seavmey Sorn, 1-0, in the women’s -73-kg. semifinals of the event also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.

Swinging into action in the last day of the competition today are Kit Sembrano (men’s -68-kg.) newcomer Edtone Lumasac PH taekwondo jins (from left) Glenn Lava, Jean Pierre Sabido and Ernesto Guzman Jr. bite (men’s -74-kg.) , Pauline Louise Lopez (women’s -57-kg) and the gold medals they won in the 4th Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championship 2016’s Male Plus-30 Division.

Shanelle Romuar (women’s -62-kg.)

LOS ANGELES—The reigning champion Golden State Warriors shrugged off the injury absence of Stephen Curry to take a 2-0 lead in their playoff series with the Houston Rockets on Monday.

Curry was left a frustrated spectator at Oakland’s Oracle Arena after failing a pregame fitness test on a sore ankle shortly before tip-off.

However, the Warriors made light of their talisman’s absence, romping to a 115-106 win that leaves Steve Kerr’s record-breaking side firmly on course to advance.

The Rockets must now win one of their next two games at home, on Thursday and Sunday, to extend the series and avoid a first round exit.

With Curry absent, it was left to Klay Thompson to do the damage, with the guard stepping up to weigh in with 34 points.

Thompson added five assists to go with his points haul while Andre Iguodala chipped in with 18 points.

Draymond Green finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.

Elsewhere Monday, Raymond Felton scored 21 points as the Dallas Mavericks staged a late rally to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 85-84 on Monday to level their Western Conference playoff series.

The game finished dramatically, with the Thunder just missing by a split second what would have been a winning tip in from Steven Adams after Kevin Durant’s missed layup.

Durant was left ruing a miserable shooting performance, which saw him go seven-for-33 for 21 points.

Durant’s wayward shooting saw him equal the record—held by Michael Jordan—for most missed field-goal attempts in a single game.

“Just a bad shooting night for me. I’m going to have nights like that,” Durant said.

“That’s part of the game.

I just have to keep staying confident. And my teammates and my coaches stay confident in me. They told me to keep shooting tonight, so I did. I didn’t make them, so that is a part of it. Get ready for Game 3,” Durant added, referring to Thursday’s third game in Dallas.

In Toronto, Jonas Valanciunas scored 23 points as the Raptors beat the Pacers 9887 to level their series at 1-1.

Valanciunas also grabbed 15 rebounds while teammate Kyle Lowry chipped in with 18 points and nine assists.

Paul George led the Pacers with 28 points as Indiana reduced an 18-point deficit to just four points in the third quarter before Toronto pulled away. AFP

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Garcia wins another age-group net crown

By Ronnie Nathanielsz MATTHEW Castillejo Garcia, the tennis protégé son of former multi-titled national ladies’ champion Dyan Castillejo and husband Anton Garcia, continued his amazing run of victories in the national age-group championships at the Alabang Country Club after previously winning three under-14 tournaments.

The 13-year-old Garcia first won the Palawan Pawnshop Championships at the GSIS Tennis Club in Davao.

In the three-day, Group 2 Philippine Tennis Association-sanctioned tournament, Garcia had a fine run on the fastpaced hardcourt, beating young Sebastien Lhuillier, 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals, before cruising past Djondi Velez in the finals, also in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

He then won back-to-back tournaments at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City and the Milo Technifibre age-group tournament that ended last April 10.

Garcia’s tremendous ground strokes and wicked forehand, which often merely skimmed the net in the Henry Lee Memorial tournament, keyed his 7-5, 6-4 win against no. 4 seed Miguel Luis Vicencio, after beating No. 5 Diego Dayrit, 6-3, 6-3 in the semis, third seed Rafael Liangco, 6-1, 6-1, in the quarterfinals and Marlon Avila, 6-1, 6-0, in the Round of 16.

In the Milo tournament, Garcia crushed Nicolas Katigbak, 6-0, 6-0, in his opening match before ousting top seed Lhuillier, 6-1, 6-3, followed by a 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 3 seed Rafael Liangco, 6-1, 6-3.

In the finals, Garcia made short work of No. 4 seed Miguel Luis Vicencio, 6-1, 6-1, to cap a rousing run of success in the 14-under championships, clearly following in the footsteps of his mother Dyan, who together with her sisters Jackie and Nina, were a formidable trio in women’s tennis in the Philippines some years ago. Dyan even qualified for the Asian Games, Wimbledon and the Federation Cup.

Cage court in Tacloban. Globalport owner and 1Pacman Partylist No. 1 nominee Mikee Romero (5th from right) and daughter

Milka (4th from right) are joined by Batang Pier players and local government officials, led by Mayor Alfred Romualdez (second from right) during the inauguration of the basketball court donated by Romero inside the Pope Francis Village in Kawayan, Tacloban City through SM Cares Foundation, headed by its Chairman Han Sy (3rd from right) last Saturday. The donation of a basketball court is just one of the many projects of the 1Pacman Partylist candidate as part of his corporate social responsibility. Romero also pledged P500,000 to the city for its several outreach programs. SM Cares built 1,000 houses for Typhoon Yolanda victims. Also shown are officials of Canadian Embassy.

Football for Peace set

ONE Meralco Foundation and the Loyola Meralco Sparks team up anew with the Philippine Marine Corps to stage the annual ‘Football for Peace Festival’ from April 23 to 29.

Now on its fifth year, the advocacy utilizes football as a tool to instill peace-loving values of sportsmanship, camaraderie, teamwork, and discipline in the minds of young athletes, especially those living in conflict areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Around 218 kids from TawiTawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Misamis, Lanao del Sur, Pagadian, Bohol, and Palawan are participating in the festival, highlighted by the holding of exhibition games to be held at the football field of the Philippine Marine Corps general headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

The kids are set to embark in a series of exposure activities such as visits to factories, educational institutions, historical landmarks and science museums.

By the end of the festival, they will be grouped into teams and will compete with various football clubs from Metro Manila and other nearby provinces in Luzon.

“It’s an ongoing activity year in and year out, which culminates in the ‘Football for Peace’ in Manila,” said event co-founder Rookie Nagtalon during the formal launching of the advocacy at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at

Shakey’s Malate.

Nagtalon was joined in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Shakey’s, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. by One Meralco president Jeffrey Tarayao, Capt.

Ryan Lacuesta and Capt. Gandesa of the Philippine Mariner Corps, Loyola Sparks coach Simon McMenemy, and players James Younghusband and Ricardo Padilla.

As part of their preparation for the festival, the kids will undergo a football clinic sponsored

by One Meralco Foundation and facilitated by the Loyola Meralco Sparks under McMenemy, the former Philippine Azkals coach.

The clinic is set on April 26 at the University of Makati Stadium, where members of the Loyola Meralco team will teach the young athletes advanced techniques which could help

them gain an advantage over their more experienced competitors.

James and brother Phil Younghusband will also be around to meet the kids during training.

“It is a great honor for us to be chosen by the Philippine Marine Corps as their partner in this inspiring initiative. We have been supporting ‘Football for Peace’ since 2011 and we are committed to sustaining this valuable cause,” said Tarayao.

“Our shared belief of building the skills of our young people to become responsible, productive, and peace-loving citizens will hopefully lead us to a better country. One Meralco Foundation’s participation in the program is a concrete expression of its commitment to youth development through sports.”

The event was started by the Marines in 2011 under Lt. Col. Stephen L. Cabanlet.

Australian promoter eyes Petalcorin-Kimweri rematch

By Ronnie Nathanielsz PETER Maniatis, the co-promoter of former World Boxing Association light flyweight interim champion Randy Petalcorin, informed The Standard his ward is prepared

to give Omari Kimweri a rematch within 90 days.

Meanwhile, a committee created

by World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman, is now reviewing a tape of the PetalcorinKimweri fight, following a protest

filed by Maniatis over the failure of referee Malcom Bulner to call four knockdowns scored by the Filipino and the fact that all three judges, besides the referee, were all Australians, like Kimweri, who is a Tanzanian fighting out of Melbourne.

This writer informed Sulaiman that one of the judges was Bulner’s wife, who along with one other Australian judge, also scored the fight for Kimweri who won a hugely controversial split decision last Friday at the Mel-

bourne Pavilion.

Sulaiman also learned that Kimweri’s manager was also the promoter of the WBC Silver title fight and picked the ring officials, which is a violation of the Muhammad Ali Act.

Layoso cops TBAM mixed open masters’ crown

Winners of the Masters’ Event are shown here, namely (from left) first runner-up Nico Olaivar, champion Benshir Layoso, second runner-up Kevin Cu, third runner-up Kenneth Chua, fourth runnerup Ivan Malig and Alexander Lim.

BENSHIR Layoso captured the mixed open masters’ crown of the 27th Tenpin Bowling Affiliation of Makati Inc.-Boysen Easter Open Bowling Championship at the Superbowl, Makati Cinema Square in Makati City. Layoso, representing MTBA-NLEX, scored a perfect 300 game on the 13th to grab the lead and earn the top-seeding going into the shootout round and dominate the centerpiece event of the tournament organized by TBAM tournament director Bonnie Solis.

Layoso topped the qualifying round with 3160, while Kevin Cu

(3119), national player Kenneth Chua (3107) and Nicco Olaivar (3090), also made it to the “Shoot-out” of the tournament supported by Boysen Paints, Prima Pasta, Cebuana Pera Padala and Alveo Land. Olaivar of the PBA, who finished fourth in the qualifiers, had to string 5 strikes to score 214 in a dramatic shoot-out in the first match to upset Cu of PBAP Bowlmart (207) and Chua of TBAM-Prima (204). He advanced to the final match to face the top-seed Layoso. Layoso, for his part, easily dominated Olaivar in

the 2-game-total finals, 226-198 and 190-180, to pocket the title. Olaivar settled for the first runner-up honors, while last year’s defending mixed open champion Krizziah Tabora failed to qualify to the shoot-out round, finishing only at No. 6 with 3067. “We are very grateful to the bowlers who came over to participate in this year’s tournament, which showcases competitions in various classifications without handicaps,” said Solis. “We are so thankful to Mr. Alex Lim for giving full support to our annual tournament.” In the mixed ladies’ masters, Abbie Gan

of TBAM Prima secured the crown by posting 1584, two marks over second placer Lou Laforteza also of TBAM-Prima (1564) and third placer Daphne Custodio also of TBAM Prima (1525). Manny Laurel of MTBA-PSB clinched the senior men masters’ title, amassing 1884 to defeat first runner-up Sammy Say Sy of MTBA Henrich (1668) and second runner-up Boy Florencio of SLETBA Prima (1747). Offie Marino of MTBA PSB copped the ladies’ seniors’ crown by outplaying Lynn Tan of PBA PSB (1663) and Nelia Santos of PBA (1585) with 1670.

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INVITATION TO BID FOR THE SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF SIX (6) LOTS VARIOUS PLASTIC BAGS UNDER ITB NO. PB16-025 The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming Public Bidding for the Supply and Delivery of Six (6) Lots Various Plastic Bags under ITB No. PB16-025.

Brief Description

Lot 1 : Supply and Delivery of Cling Wrap Lot 2 : Supply and Delivery of 40” x 40” Polyethylene Bag Lot 3 : Supply and Delivery of 20” X 30”, X .004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag Lot 4 : Supply and Delivery of 18” X 14”, X .004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag Lot 5 : Supply and Delivery of 4” X 8”, X 0.004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag Lot 6 : Supply and Delivery of 8” X 14”, X 0.004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

The total ABC is in the amount of Two Million One Thousand One Hundred ThirtyFive Pesos (PhP2,001,135.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction.

The ABC for each lot is as follows: Lot 1 (Supply and Delivery of Cling Wrap) – Seventeen Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty Pesos (PhP17,760.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction Lot 2 (Supply and Delivery of 40” x 40” Polyethylene Bag) – One Million Nine Hundred Twenty-Six Thousand Four Hundred Pesos (PhP1,926,400.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction Lot 3 (Supply and Delivery of 20” X 30”, X .004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag) – Five Thousand Six Hundred Twenty-Five Pesos (PhP5,625.00), VAT Exclusive, ZeroRated Transaction Lot 4 (Supply and Delivery of 18” X 14”, X .004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag) – Forty-Seven Thousand One Hundred Fifty Pesos (PhP47,150.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction Lot 5 (Supply and Delivery of 4” X 8”, X 0.004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag) – Two Thousand One Hundred Pesos (PhP2,100.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction Lot 6 (Supply and Delivery of 8” X 14”, X 0.004 of an inch Polyethylene Bag) – Two Thousand One Hundred Pesos (PhP2,100.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction

Delivery Schedule

The complete schedule of deliveries is provided in Section VI (Schedule of Requirements) of the Bidding Documents which will commence starting from the contract effectivity date specified in the Notice to Proceed.

Source of Funds

Internally Funded

enabling Malaysian Gavin Green to snare the win over Thai Donlaphatchai Niyomchon and Singapore’s Deng Shan Koh. But the 23-year-old American vowed to make up for his final round foldup but admitted it would be doubly tough to score a victory at Sherwood with its length, hazards that come into play in most holes and the dreaded wind.

“Definitely, I will give it my best shot,” said O’Toole, seeking a second ADT triumph after ruling the PGM Clearwater Masters in Malaysia last month. He tees off at 7:50 a.m. on No. 10 with Mars Pucay and Thai Chanat Sakulpolphaisan.

Humbled at Southwoods with no one barging into the Top 10, the local aces also set out for a big finish this week with Tony Lascuña put-

ERRORS & OMISSIONS In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published. We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

ting premium on shotmaking and Charles Hong upbeat of the Filipinos’ chances for the top $10,500 purse in the 72-hole championship sponsored by International Container Termi-

nal Services, Inc. “Sherwood is tough, a thinking course. But I think sa paluan at diskarte magkakatalo dito kasi mahaba at malakas ang hangin,” said Lascuna, the former three-

Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows:

Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference

INVITATION TO BID FOR TH LOTS VARIOUS PLASTIC

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming C its forthcoming Public Bidding for the Supp ITB No. PB16-025.

Brief Description

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids 4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

April 28, 2016, 2:00 p.m.

May 10, 2016, 2:00 p.m.

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bidding documents which will be available to prospective bidders at the Bids and Awards Services Department (BASD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, upon payment of the non-refundable cost for the sale of bidding documentsbased on the following matrix: Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000.00 and below More than 1 Million to 5 Million

Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Pesos) 500.00 5,000.00

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the non-refundable bidding fee not later than the date of the submission of bids. The Pre-bid Conference is open to all prospective bidders. Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from BASD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Lot 5 : Supply and Deliv

Lot 6 : Supply and Deliv

John Michael O’Toole (left) and Charles Hong are among the favorites in the Approved The total ABC is in the a $60,000 ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic.

Budget for Five Pesos (PhP2,001,1 NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF MOBILE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES INTERNATIONAL INC. Notice is hereby given on the amendment of the Articles of Incorporation of Mobile Travel Technologies International Inc., shortening the term of its corporate existence and thereby dissolving the said corporation as of February 15, 2013. All persons having claims against the corporation are requested to present the same at its principal office at Unit 1703 Hanston Square, 17 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City for immediate settlement.

This announcement will serve as a notice to all parties concerned of the legal dissolution of the said corporation.

Signed this 29th day of March, Makati City, Philippines.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 – Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 1 shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: 1.

2.

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR FINAL EXTENSION OF THE SAFEGUARD MEASURE AGAINST IMPORTATIONS OF TESTLINER BOARD FROM VARIOUS COUNTRIES 2012 AHTN Subheading Nos. 4805.24.00 4805.25.10 4805.25.90

PHILIPPINE PAPER MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, INC. (PPMAI)

CAROLINE M. EDGINTON President Affiant ( T S - A P R . 13 , 2 0 & 2 7, 2 016)

In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper.

The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For: SAFEGUARD MEASURE (R.A. No. 8800) S.G. Investigation No. 01-2010

x---------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Under Section 10 of Commission Order No. 00-02 or the Rules and Regulations to Govern the Conduct of Investigation by the Tariff Commission Pursuant to R.A. 88000 (Safeguard Measures Act), notice is hereby given that marathon public hearings on the petition of Philippine Paper Manufacturers Association, Inc. (PPMAI) for final extension of the safeguard measure against importations of testliner board from various countries (2012 AHTN Subheading Nos. 4805.24.00, 4805.25.10, 4805.25.90) will be held at the Conference Room of the Tariff Commission, 5/F MAB Philippine Heart Center, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, on the following dates and time: DATE 3 May 2016 4 May 2016

TIME 9:00 AM 9:00 AM

At least five (5) days before the public hearing, parties are required to submit a list of issues they want to explore during the public hearing, which will consider evidence that the safeguard measure continues to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury and that the domestic industry is making positive adjustment to import competition. A party which does not submit said list is deemed to have no controversial/ contestable matter to raise and will be given less priority in the order of parties who will ask clarificatory questions during the hearing. Parties are likewise required to submit affidavits of their witnesses three (3) days prior to the public hearing.

All interested parties, their counsels and witnesses should appear before the Commission on the first day of the public hearing.

For particulars, please inquire from the Safeguard Measures Task Force on Testliner Board at Telephone Nos. (632) 928-8419 and 926-8731 or email at info@ tariffcommission.gov.ph.

Issued this 18th day of April, 2016 at Quezon City, Metro Manila.

Please address all communications to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 1 thru the BASD, Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: (02) 524-3911, (02) 336-6906 and (02) 521-1542 local 223/617.

(SGD.) RODERICK R. CONSOLACION Chairperson BidS And AwARdS CommiTTee (BAC) 1

(TS APR. 20, 2016)

Lot 2 : Supply and Deliv

Lot 4 : Supply and Deliv

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES TARIFF COMMISSION

May 10, 2016, 2:00 p.m. onwards

Lot 1 : Supply and Deliv

Lot 3 : Supply and Deliv

Schedule April 20, 2016 to May 10, 2016

time PGT Order of Merit champion seeking his first victory this year.

The veteran campaigner drew Scot James Byrne and American Blake Snyder in the 7:40 a.m. group on No. 10.

A Sure Bet for Progress

Note: Bidders may bid on any or all lots.

10

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“It’s a challenging course, very windy and long,” said John Michael O’Toole of the US during a break in yesterday’s pro-am of the event serving as the 11th leg of the ADT and fourth stage of the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour.

O’Toole led in the third round in last week’s ADT leg at Manila Southwoods but faltered in the final round,

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

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sports@thestandard.com.ph

TRECE MARTIREZ, Cavite— The Asian Development Tour winds up its two-week local swing here Wednesday with the $60,000 ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic with the elite international field bracing for a punishing week given the Sherwood Hills Golf Club’s playing condition.

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W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

the Contract (ABC)

The ABC for each lot is

Lot 1 (Supply and Delive Sixty Pesos (PhP17,760

More PH Olympic qualifiers expected

Lot 2 (Supply and Deli Hundred Twenty-Six T Exclusive, Zero-Rated T

Lot 3 (Supply and Delive Thousand Six Hundred Rated Transaction

Lot 4 (Supply and Deliv Forty-Seven Thousand Zero-Rated Transaction

Lot 5 (Supply and Delivery One Hundred Pesos (PhP

Lot 6 (Supply and Deliv

By Peter Atencio Two Thousand One Hu Transaction

PHILIPPINE Olympic Delivery The complete schedule Schedule Requirements) Committee president Jose of the Bi contract effectivity date “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. Source of Internally Funded Funds confidence that expressed more willbidqualify Note:athletes Bidders may on any or all lots. for the 2016 Olympics in Bidders should have completed, within the l Rioof bids, de aJaneiro, eventoas contract similar the Project. The Documents, Hidilyn particularly,Diaz in Section II. Ins weightlifters open competitive bidding procedures usin andthe Nestor Colonia areRegulations ( Implementing Rules and Procurement Reform Act”. still“Government awaiting confirmation is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole onBidding their status. sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding There also golfers citizens orare organizations of a country the law FilipinoAngelo citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and s golfers Que and Miguel Tabuena, whoto are All particulars relative Pre-Bid Confere Award of Contract shall60 be of governed by the both inside the top theThe Olympic rankings schedule of activities isin listed, as follow golf.

Activities “We’re 1. Issuance ofexpecting the Bidding Documents more, said Cojuangco.

2.”Pre-Bid Conference Cojuangco also cited 3. Deadline for the Submission and Rec the case of Ian Lariba, 4. Opening and Preliminary Examinatio who defied great odds of the project are indica to Complete becomedetails the first-ever prospective bidders at the Bids and Aw Filipino female tenSecretariat, upontable payment of the non-refun nisfollowing playermatrix: to qualify for the Olympics.

Approved Budget for the Contract “It500,000.00 was very surprisand below ing in table tennis,” said More than 1 Million to 5 Million Cojuangco.

Prospective bidders may also download t Lariba, a varsity player www.pagcor.ph and www.philgep forwebsites: La Salle bidders shallin paythe the UAAP, non-refundable biddin Pre-bid Conference is open to all prospective beat Indonesia’ s Lilis IndriCashier located at the Sixth (6 ) Floor, PAG ani,M.H. 11-6, 11-2, 11-8, 11-5, del Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Stree from BASD or a copy in secured the women’ s singles onof this ITB in e accompanied by a bid security in any of the Saturday night in the 2016 PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatso ITTF-Asian Olympic incurred in the preparation of their bids.

Qualification Tournament In accordance with Government Procurem Bids and Awards Committee (B in Method, Hong the Kong to secure based on sheer luck or chance, wh themeasure 11thbeen and final Olympic have post-qualified and determined a determine the final having the LC seat(LCRB) in herto event.

She is the fifth Filipino 1.

In alphabetical order, the bidders shall 2.

The who would athlete to lucky earnbidder a ticket to pick the pa as the final bidder having the LCRB an the Rio de Janeiro OlymPAGCOR right to pics after reserves Eric the Cray ofaccept or rejec at any time prior to contract award, without the athletics, Rogen Ladon address all communications to the B andPlease Charly Suarez of box203, Second (2 ) Floor, PAGCOR House, 13 ing,(02)and Kirstie Elaine 336-6906 and (02) 521-1542 local 223/ Alora ofRODERICK taekwondo, who (SGD.) R. CONSOLACION Chairperson earned an Olympic berth BidS And AwARdS CommiTTee (BAC) 1 only last Saturday. th

nd

(TS APR. 20, 2016)

ERNESTO L. ALBANO Commissioner Presiding Officer

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Jacobs to represent Arum in Donaire-Bedak bout TOP Rank’s event producer Brad Jacobs will represent Top Rank promoter Bob Arum at the huge boxing event at the Cebu Sports Center on April 23, featuring the World Boxing Organization super bantamweight title defense of Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire and No. 4 contender and former Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak.

Top Rank publicist Fred Sternberg informed The Standard in an email: “I wanted to let you

know that Brad Jacobs will be representing Top Rank at the event and that he is looking forward to celebrating his Passover Seder (April 22) in Cebu.”

“The Passover is a Jewish ritual feast with the Seder being a ritual which involves re-telling the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt,” according to Wikipedia.

Jacobs was involved in the many Top Rank promotions at

the classy Cotai Arena at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Macau, where eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao headlined two title fights.

Jacobs was quoted in the past as saying: “Our goal is not only to create an in-arena experience that was second to none anywhere in the world.”

The Donaire-Bedak showdown titled “It’s About Time” is being held in a sprawling open-air venue

with a canopy over the ring and surrounding areas even better than the WBO world title fight that drew 18,000 fans, when Z “The Dream” Gorres dropped a somewhat controversial decision to Mexican champion Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel on Feb. 24, 2007.

Donaire himself avenged the Gorres loss with a spectacular second-round TKO on Feb. 19, 2011.

Ronnie Nathanielsz

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 6 DIGITS 0-0-0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

Algieri conqueror Spence eyes fight with Pacquiao

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

RIDING the crest of his impressive fifth-round devastation of Chris Algieri, unbeaten welterweight Errol Spence, who has a record 20-0 with 17 knockouts, has followed promoter Lou DiBella’s boast that he was ready to bet his house and lot on him beating eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.

This is should Pacquiao come out of his announced retirement and fight again following his dominant victory over Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley in their third fight last April 9 in Las Vegas, in which he dropped the American twice, once in Round 7 and once more in Round 9.

Spence decked Algieri three times before the referee decided to call a halt to the one-sided bout.

And although Pacquiao dropped Algieri six times, he couldn’t put him away, which is sparking Spence’s confidence that he could beat the Filipino ring icon.

Boxing Scene reported that when Spence was asked to explain why he was so successful in finishing Algieri off and why Pacquiao, after six knockdowns, was unable to close the show, said: “While Pacquiao was strong and fast, he lacks some of the basic fundamentals for a good boxer

—like cutting off the ring.”

Pacquiao’s inability to properly cut off the ring allowed Algieri to last the full distance and also hurt the Filipino star when he lost a 12-round decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May, according to the opinion of Spence.

When Algieri was seriously hurt, Spence prevented him from getting away by cutting off the ring.

“It goes back to what my coach said. Manny Pacquiao is a hard puncher, he’s quick—but he lacks fundamentals and that’s what I’m big on....fundamentals. I can cut off the ring, I can vary up my punches. Manny Pacquiao, he can’t cut off the ring—as you’ve seen with Floyd and as you’ve seen with Algieri. When Chris Algieri got hurt with Pacquaio, he was able to move and recover.

When I had Chris Algieri hurt, I didn’t allow him to do that,” Spence said.

Alaska Marketing Director Blen Fernando (left), Alaska Volleyball Power Camp director Michelle Gumabao (second left), Alaska Sports Development Head Richard Bachman (third from left) and Football Power Camp Director Tomas Lozano.

3-sport Alaska Power Camps launched

By Reuel Vidal ALASKA Milk ensured that children will have fun, productive and healthy summer activities with the launch of the annual Alaska Power Camps in basketball, football and volleyball Tuesday at the Holiday Inn, Makati.

Philippine Basketball Association legend Jeff Cariaso will run the basketball camp.

Philippine Super Liga volleyball player and De La Salle University Lady Spikers star Michelle Gumabao is in charge of the volleyball camp, while former Spanish football player Tomas Lozano will run the football camp.

Blen Fernando, Alaska Milk Marketing Director said the power camps do not just teach sport specific skills, but also instill the value of discipline, perseverance, teamwork and determination among children.

“More than just business branding our programs and activities further our commitment to nation building through professionally run programs which help the youth develop physically, emotionally and adopt proper values such as hard work and integrity,” said Fernando.

Cariaso will be assisted by NCAA head coaches Topex Robinson and Rodney Santos.

They will teach the most im-

portant aspects of the game of basketball to boys and girls of all ages.

The Alaska Football Power Camp will teach football enthusiasts the fundamentals of the sport and develop their skills with the help of the best football coaches in the country.

Lozano will lead former members of the Philippine national football team and United Football League first division players in teaching the most important aspects of football.

Gumabao will lead a team of volleyball experts in teaching aspiring young girls five to 18 years old the most important aspects of volleyball.

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

IOC closely following Brazil’s political crisis LAUSANNE—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Monday it is “closely following” Brazil’s political crisis but believes nothing can knock the Rio de Janeiro Games off course in August.

A vote by lawmakers to allow impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff is the latest blow to the event which has already been hit by austerity and the familiar nervous race to get venues ready on time.

“The IOC is following closely the latest developments with regard to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff,” an IOC spokesman told AFP. But he added that “preparations for the Olympic Games have now entered into a very operational phase where these kinds of political issues have much less influence than at other stages of organising the Olympic Games.”

IOC leaders carried out their latest inspection visit last week.

“We have seen the great progress being made and we remain confident about the success of the Olympic Games this summer,” said the spokesman.

“The Brazilian people will deliver a memorable Olympic Games full of passion for sport for which they are world renowned.

“The Olympic Games will deliver an important legacy and provide an important opportunity to unite the people of Brazil no matter their background or political views.”

The Rio Games start on August 5. AFP

Willett joins PGA Tour after Augusta Masters’ triumph LOS ANGELES—Newly crowned Masters champion Danny Willett has joined the PGA Tour following his shock victory at Augusta, it was announced on Monday.

The 28-year-old Englishman has been given a fiveyear exemption which will allow him to play on the tour until the 2020-21 season, the PGA tour said in a statement.

The world number nine was also handed 600 ranking points in the FedExCup for his Masters triumph earlier

this month.

Willett needs to finish in the top 125 in the FedExCup standings to gain entry to the lucrative end-of-season FedExCup Playoffs.

Willett was ranked outside the top 100 as recently as November 2014 but on April 10 became the first Briton since Nick Faldo in 1996 to win the green jacket.

Willett was a surprise victor on the final day in Augusta, snatching the title after a spectacular collapse by

defending champion Jordan Spieth on the back nine Meanwhile, when Jean van de Velde says he believes that Jordan Spieth will get over his Masters meltdown, the Frenchman knows what he is talking about.

Needing a double-bogey six down the last hole of the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie in Scotland, Van de Velde produced a calamitous triple-bogey seven and eventually lost out to Paul Lawrie in a play-off.

It was a moment that came to mind at the Masters when Spieth blew the lead by putting two balls into the water on the 12th hole, allowing Danny Willett to storm past him to victory.

“Trust me, you can’t believe how fast everything is happening when that guy is you,” said Van de Velde.

“That’s what I love about golf. It slaps you on the finger five minutes after the biggest high you could ever think of.”

Van de Velde stepped onto the final tee of the 1999 Open

leading by three shots and needing only to record a six to become the first Frenchman since 1907 to capture golf ’s oldest major.

He had birdied the 18th hole in two of three prior rounds.

Van de Velde chose a driver off the tee, but put his tee shot well right of the fairway.

Rather than lay up with his second shot, he decided to go for the green, only to come horribly unstuck as his ball ricocheted off a grandstand, hit the top of a stone wall and

cannoned back into kneehigh rough.

He put his third shot into the Barry Burn, which stretches across the 18th fairway, and then removed his shoes and socks to step into the water as he contemplated whether or nor to attempt a shot.

In the end he elected to take a penalty drop, from where he found a greenside bunker, before bravely hoisting his sixth shot onto the green and sinking a six-foot putt for a triplebogey seven. AFP

A16

W E D N E S DAY : A P R I L 2 0 , 2 0 16 RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Rain Or Shine’s Maverick Ahanmisi drives to the Greg Slaughter of Ginebra in this bit of action Tuesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Elasto Painters won to make it to the semifinals for ninth straight time.

La Salle, Adamson try again

By Peter Atencio THE Adamson Falcons and the La Salle Lady Spikers get another chance to make it to the finals of the 78th University Athletic Association of the Philippines Volleyball Tournament.

The Falcons take on the National University Bulldogs at 2 p.m. today in a rubber match for the second finals berth in the men’s division at the Mall of Asia Arena after forcing a deciding match when they turned back the twice-to-beat NU Bulldogs, 2325, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22, in their Final Four encounter Saturday.

In that game, Dave Pletado scored 16 points and Jerome Sarmiento chipped in 14 points for the Soaring Falcons.

Defending champion Ateneo earlier secured a finals’ spot with a straight-sets win over University of the Philippines.

In the women’s side, the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraw seek to keep their finals hopes alive when they take on the Lady Spikers for the second time in the Final Four.

The Lady Tamaraws fought back from two sets down to beat the Lady Spikers, 15-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 16-14, on Sunday.

Third-year outside hitter Bernadeth Pons, who led the attack for the Lady Tamaraws with 20 points, is expected to take charge again.

The winner will face the Ateneo Lady Eagles in the women’s finals.

RoS makes semis for 9th straight PBA conference

By Jeric Lopez

RAIN Or Shine is back in familiar territory, the semifinals.

The Elasto Painters methodically picked apart Barangay Ginebra before coasting to an impressive 102-89 rout to sweep their quarterfinals series, 2-0, and move forward in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

JR Quinahan continued to shine once again as he chipped in Rain or Shine with 21 points and five rebounds while Jeff Chan was likewise steady, top scoring with his 22 points.

Rain or Shine thus moved into the semifinals for the ninth straight conference.

Warriors go 2-0; Raptors, Mavs win TURN TO A12

Raymund Almazan’s lay-up with just over 10 minutes left gave the Painters their largest lead of the game at 15, 79-64, which practically cemented their entry to the next round and the complete demise of the Gin Kings, who had no answer all game long to their foe’s efficiency.

The Elasto Painters will now face the winner of the quarters series between top seed San Miguel Beer and Star, who are set to face off again in a do-or-die game to determine who moves forward, in a best-of-seven semis clash.

The Beermen, who had a twice-

to-beat edge but showed that it Game Today got stunned last wants no part of a (Quarterfinals, Smart Araneta Monday, and the rubber match.

Coliseum) Hotshots go at it 7 p.m. - Star vs. San Miguel Beer The Elasto tonight at 7 p.m.

Painters came out with the ticket to of the gates with the round of four on the line. bad intentions, pouncing on the Rain or Shine coach Yeng Gin Kings right away to zoom to a Guiao had nothing but praises double-digit lead, 31-21, at the end for his squad. of the first quarter.

“We played good tonight and Several minutes into the second, avoided the bad start we had last Rain or Shine expanded its lead furgame,” he said. “We played excellent ther, pushing it to 12, 42-30, after a defense and we’re hustling. We’re the basket from Henderson-Niles. most consistent team in the league Ginebra managed to get itself (in terms of semifinals appearances) back into the thick of things, finand we’re proud of that.” ishing the first half fairly well to On the other hand, Barangay slice Rain or Shine’s lead to just six, Ginebra finished the tournament in 50-44, at halftime. another disappointing fashion, once However, that proved to be the again exiting in the quarterfinals just Gin Kings’ last stand as the prolific like the past few conferences.

Elasto Painters restored their large Early on, Rain or Shine already lead right away.

3-sport Power Camps launched TURN TO A15

B1

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 20, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

business@thestandardtoday.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESS

Cavite LRT project faces delay

By Darwin G. Amojelar

CONSTRUCTION of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite extension project may not be completed by 2020, amid the delay in the delivery of right-of-way and procurement of new trains, the consortium that bagged the project said Tuesday.

“It’s likely to be delayed, not just the right-of-way but the question on trains. Jica [Japan for International Cooperation Agency] has to decide whether they will rebid or negotiate it or untie the loan so that it can be sourced from elsewhere. We have no visibility,” said Metro Pacific Investments Corp. president and chief executive Jose

Ma. Lim. Light Rail Manila Consortium of Ayala Corp. and MPIC won the bidding for the 11.7-kilometer Cavite extension project and took over the operation of LRT Line 1 on Sept.12, 2015.

The Transportation Department earlier announced a failed bidding for the P30-billion con-

tract to supply 120 brand-new light rail vehicles for LRT Line 1, as no prospective bidders submitted offers.

The agency earlier identified Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. as prospective bidders for the procurement of 120 brand-new LRVs. “What’s the point of spending when you know the trains are not going to come,” Lim said.

Lim said the bigger problem for the project was the relocation of the informal settlers in the area.

“We were supposed to receive the right of way by now. Actually. we were supposed to receive the right of way for phase 1 last year.

They had 99-percent of it [ROW] last year, but there are still informal settlers,” Lim said.

LRMC president and chief ex-

ecutive Jesus Francisco earlier said the government aimed to transfer the informal settlers in April and start the construction of the LRT Line 1 Cavite extension project in the second half of 2016.

The 11.7-kilometer Cavite extension will connect into the existing system immediately south of the Baclaran station and run in a generally southerly direction to Niyog, Cavite.

It will consist of elevated guideways throughout most of the alignment, except for the guideway section at Zapote which will be located at grade. It will consist of the satellite depot and new station.

Eight new stations will be provided with three intermodal facilities across Pasay City, Parañaque

City, Las Piñas City and Cavite.

The new stations are Aseana, MIA, Asia World, Ninoy Aquino, Dr. Santos, Las Pinas, Zapote and Niyog. The intermodal facilities shall be located at Dr. Santos, Zapote and Niyog.

The commercial speed of the Cavite extension will be 60 kilometers an hour. The horizontal alignment shall be designed for a train speed of 80 kph for the mainline track; 60 kph through stations and 30 kph for secondary and depot tracks.

The extended rail line is expected to help increase the capacity of LRT 1 from 500,000 to 800,000 passengers daily and benefit more than four million residents in the southern part of Metro Manila and Cavite.

PSe comPoSite index Closing April 19, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,215.09 28.31

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing April 19, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P46.085

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P46.060 LOW P46.150 AVERAGE P46.099 VOLUME 462.900M

Community award. Capital One Philippines Support Services Corp., the Alabang-based global in-house contact center of Capital One Financial Corp., receives the Outstanding Community Project award from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Capital One Philippines general manager Peter Hayden (right) accepts the award from President Aquino and Peza director general Lilia De Lima (second and third from right, respectively) at the PEZA 21st Anniversary and Investors’ Recognition Night held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

P400.00-P620.00 LPG/11-kg tank

GSIS profit down sharply on lower market returns

P19.25-P22.75 Diesel

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE state-run Government Services Insurance System booked a net income of P48.85 billion in 2015, down 65 percent from P140.2 billion in 2014, on lower returns on stock market and bond investments, and the absence of property sales.

GSIS president and general mnager Robert Vergara said the income in 2014 was “a tough act to follow,” adding the bond and stock markets were doing well in that year.

“Last year [2015], was a complete reverse, equity markets were bad, bond markets were bad. We did not have any property sales,” Vergara said.

Unaudited figures showed the agency’s expenses in 2015 rose 3

percent to P93.374 billion while liabilities jumped 12.7 percent to P24.657 billion.

GSIS assets, meanwhile, grew 5.8 percent to P960.148 billion at the end of 2015.

Vergara said the pension plan aimed to hit the P1-trillion mark in terms of assets by the middle of the year.

“This year, despite the dreadful start of the year and with the stock market bouncing back, I think we are on track for that milestone of joining some of the financial institutions with over trillion of assets hopefully by the middle of this year,” Vergara said.

“Again, the markets will have a lot to do but it seems to be something that is certainly within range,” he added.

Verrgara said the agency had

expected to dispose of real properties in the first six months of the year to gain additional funds.

“We’re going through our properties and we’re conducting appraisals, we need to do that to set a minimum price, to the extent that we have time to do something, then the ideas is to try to get one auction going this year in the first half ” Vergara said.

GSIS failed to dispose of three of its properties amounting to about P32 billion, or about 6 percent of the pension fund’s real estate portfolio.

The properties include the 18,500 square-meter Metro Manila Development Authority lot in Barangay Ugong, Pasig City.

The other property was the 2,429 square-meter old GSIS building in Legaspi Village in

Makati City.

Another failed property disposal last year was the 18.4-hectare Payanig sa Pasig lot by the Presidential Commission on Good Government just across the MMDA property.

“Valuation via an independent third party surveyor. I was hoping we would get some clue because of the Payanig sale, but that sale sadly was not able to push through,” Vergara said earlier.

Other real estate assets of the pension fund manager include the 6,470-square meter Jai Alai property along Taft Ave. in Ermita, Manila; the two-hectare Water Fun amusement park in Sucat, Parañaque City; and the 1.6-hectare Philippine National Railways property along Dagupan St., Tutuban area in Tondo, Manila.

P30.00-P39.32 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, April 19, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.1740

Japan

Yen

0.009189

0.4243

UK

Pound

1.427600

65.9180

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128959

5.9546

Switzerland

Franc

1.037452

47.9033

Canada

Dollar

0.782167

36.1158

Singapore

Dollar

0.739919

34.1650

Australia

Dollar

0.774900

35.7802

Bahrain

Dinar

2.658938

122.7738

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266745

12.3167

Brunei

Dollar

0.737191

34.0391

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000076

0.0035

Thailand

Baht

0.028563

1.3189

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.5732

Euro

Euro

1.131600

52.2505

Korea

Won

0.000876

0.0404

China

Yuan

0.154409

7.1297

India

Rupee

0.015059

0.6953

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.254777

11.7641

New Zealand

Dollar

0.695700

32.1233

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030969

1.4300 Source: PDS Bridge

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 20, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Tuesday, april 19, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 890 1.01 100 1.46 30.5 75 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 625 0.225 78 0.9 17.8 58 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 20.6 125 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 15.32 62.5 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173

3.95 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.86 7.34 1450 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 1.3 26 2.17

2.3 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 1.65 5.9 801 4.1 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 0.640 10.02 1.2

0.59 59.2 30.05 3.4 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5

0.44 48.1 20.85 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 2.26 0.152 837 5.3

76 5.29 6.66 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 9.66 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 974 1.66 1.39 390 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

49.55 3 3.52 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 3 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 751 1.13 0.93 170 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 5.6 1.44

6.74 12 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 2.8 0.79

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.05 2.92 46 45.1 103.00 102.30 89.80 88.55 39.5 38.2 2.98 2.95 1.71 1.42 14.3 14.2 16 15.84 7.40 7.35 1.78 1.78 599.00 590.00 0.660 0.640 84.2 83 1 0.98 14.72 14.68 25.20 25.20 53.80 53.30 102.9 98 274 271 32.1 31.75 176.6 171.8 1400.00 1360.00 58.00 57.50 1.59 1.57 INDUSTRIAL Aboitiz Power Corp.

44 44.4 43.75 Agrinurture Inc. 4.78 4.93 4.66 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.79 0.8 0.79 Alsons Cons.

1.46 1.48 1.39 Asiabest Group 10.96 12.78 10.92 Century Food 19.44 19.46 19.12 Chemphil 178.9 178.5 178.5 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 290 290 220 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 18.6 19 18.62 Concepcion 48 48.5 47.5 Crown Asia 2.35 2.39 2.33 Da Vinci Capital 5.58 5.96 5.56 Del Monte 11.12 11.24 11.02 DNL Industries Inc. 9.150 9.250 9.100 Emperador 8.10 8.09 7.81 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.92 5.90 5.80 EEI 7.39 7.40 7.09 First Gen Corp.

21.9 22 21.7 First Holdings ‘A’ 69.5 70.2 69.5 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 15.00 14.50 14.26 Holcim Philippines Inc. 13.90 13.96 13.96 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.8 5.8 5.74 Ionics Inc 2.640 2.650 2.550 Jollibee Foods Corp.

224.20 225.00 221.40 LBC Express 11.06 12 11 LMG Chemicals 2.09 2.07 2.07 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.7 3.6 3.4 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27 27.5 27 Maxs Group 22.55 22.5 21.9 Megawide 6.55 6.65 6.6 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 326.80 331.00 326.00 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.8 3.78 3.77 Petron Corporation 10.18 10.90 10.28 Phil H2O 3.23 3.17 3.17 Phinma Corporation 11.60 11.62 11.50 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 4.42 4.42 4.25 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.62 1.65 1.60 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.72 2.76 2.73 RFM Corporation 4.20 4.23 4.16 Roxas and Co. 2.5 2.5 2.5 Roxas Holdings 4.56 4.8 4.7 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 222 222 210 SPC Power Corp.

4 4.05 3.96 Splash Corporation 2.79 2.81 2.7 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.166 0.167 0.158 TKC Steel Corp.

1.22 1.22 1.21 Trans-Asia Oil 2.73 2.80 2.73 Universal Robina 207.4 210 205.8 Vitarich Corp.

1.18 1.26 1.1 Vivant Corp.

28.00 32.50 30.00 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.27 1.30 1.27 HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.365 0.370 0.360 Aboitiz Equity 64.00 64.00 63.40 Alliance Global Inc. 16.20 16.42 16.24 ATN Holdings A 0.315 0.320 0.300 Ayala Corp `A’ 780 781 776 Cosco Capital 8.3 8.41 8.23 DMCI Holdings 12.40 12.50 12.38 F&J Prince ‘A’ 5.23 5.23 5.06 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

5.63 5.80 5.70 Forum Pacific 0.214 0.214 0.214 GT Capital 1398 1412 1354 House of Inv. 6.48 6.49 6.49 IPM Holdings 9.74 9.80 9.70 JG Summit Holdings 82.50 82.85 81.35 Keppel Holdings `A’ 6.19 5.99 5.3 Keppel Holdings `B’ 5.01 5.08 5.08 Lopez Holdings Corp.

7.26 7.4 7.15 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.68 0.69 0.68 LT Group 15.72 15.8 15.7 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.94 5.93 5.81 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.45 3.4 3.4 Pacifica `A’ 0.0330 0.0340 0.0330 Prime Media Hldg 1.300 1.400 1.270 Prime Orion 1.930 1.950 1.910 San Miguel Corp `A’ 74.55 74.90 74.45 SM Investments Inc. 960.00 970.00 958.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.26 1.28 1.25 South China Res. Inc. 0.78 0.78 0.78 Transgrid 195.00 195.00 193.00 Top Frontier 173.000 173.000 165.500 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3150 0.3250 0.3150 Wellex Industries 0.2050 0.2010 0.2010 Zeus Holdings 0.285 0.275 0.275 PROPERTY 8990 HLDG 8.100 8.280 8.100 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 8.00 7.17 7.12 A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.41 1.42 1.27 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.450 1.510 1.430 Arthaland Corp.

0.275 0.295 0.240 Ayala Land `B’ 34.950 35.050 34.250 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.07 3.12 3.07 Cebu Holdings 5.2 5.25 5.2 Cebu Prop. `A’ 5.51 5.51 5.51 Century Property 0.560 0.57 0.550

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

Close

SHARES 13,527,958 188,350,264 131,917,186 160,660,031 314,542,698 3,917,293,731 4,728,995,407

3.02 46 102.40 89.80 39.55 2.98 1.41 14.26 16 7.42 1.7 590.00 0.640 84 1 14.72 24.50 53.70 103 271 31.75 174 1360.00 57.50 1.59

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.05 46 102.90 88.85 39.5 2.98 1.53 14.28 15.88 7.35 1.78 590.00 0.650 83 1 14.70 25.20 53.50 102.9 274 32 173 1400.00 57.50 1.59

0.99 0.00 0.49 -1.06 -0.13 0.00 8.51 0.14 -0.75 -0.94 4.71 0.00 1.56 -1.19 0.00 -0.14 2.86 -0.37 -0.10 1.11 0.79 -0.57 2.94 0.00 0.00

351,000 12,100 1,265,390 1,091,700 565,300 18,000 488,000 1,400 3,216,400 5,000 5,000 780 1,566,000 1,902,780 116,000 14,700 200 130,180 900 32,830 799,400 1,870,300 405 23,990 49,000

44 4.73 0.79 1.42 12.5 19.12 178.5 255 18.68 48.5 2.37 5.72 11.24 9.180 8.09 5.90 7.30 21.85 70.2 14.28 13.96 5.74 2.590 221.80 12 2.07 3.47 27.3 21.95 6.65 330.00 3.78 10.90 3.17 11.62 4.42 1.61 2.73 4.23 2.5 4.7 217.6 4.05 2.75 0.164 1.22 2.73 206 1.11 32.50 1.27

0.00 -1.05 0.00 -2.74 14.05 -1.65 -0.22 -12.07 0.43 1.04 0.85 2.51 1.08 0.33 -0.12 -0.34 -1.22 -0.23 1.01 -4.80 0.43 -1.03 -1.89 -1.07 8.50 -0.96 -6.22 1.11 -2.66 1.53 0.98 -0.53 7.07 -1.86 0.17 0.00 -0.62 0.37 0.71 0.00 3.07 -1.98 1.25 -1.43 -1.20 0.00 0.00 -0.68 -5.93 16.07 0.00

1,103,600 7,204,220.00 460,000 124,000 8,198,000 3,700,620.00 106,400 396,800 1,291,184.00 50 6,550 164,000 3,800.00 49,400 343,750 447,000 288,760.00 3,480,700 1,839,449.00 11,500 2,227,600 1,163,062.00 1,324,700 999,625.00 4,379,800 -19,570,543.00 542,900 154,658.00 1,441,900 -8,899,805.00 110,650 -1,628,055.50 13,700 203,600 -1,563,520.00 138,000 280,025.00 4,783,000 46,150.00 845,070 -125,704,974.00 33,600 8,000 64,000 1,887,900 9,232,550.00 417,900 2,250.00 69,300 -169,570.00 92,660 -907,012.00 450,000 1,080,460.00 6,535,200 11,901,070.00 2,000 91,000 92,000 316,000 104,000 98,000 343,330.00 2,000 5,000 33,880 808,352.00 30,000 1,547,000 15,170,000 29,000 3,084,000 2,435,740.00 915,900 -99,370,950.00 115,360,000 1,727,880.00 3,100 352,000

0.360 63.70 16.36 0.305 779.5 8.4 12.42 5.22 5.80 0.214 1363 6.49 9.75 81.35 5.99 5.08 7.4 0.68 15.76 5.9 3.4 0.0330 1.270 1.910 74.80 959.50 1.27 0.78 195.00 173.000 0.3150 0.2010 0.275

-1.37 -0.47 0.99 -3.17 -0.06 1.20 0.16 -0.19 3.02 0.00 -2.50 0.15 0.10 -1.39 -3.23 1.40 1.93 0.00 0.25 -0.67 -1.45 0.00 -2.31 -1.04 0.34 -0.05 0.79 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -1.95 -3.51

270,000 790,630 7,060,000 2,440,000 254,040 677,600 5,160,200 600 692,700 10,000 127,895 3,400 1,815,000 1,279,990 4,500 100 2,703,700 3,000 693,500 30,250,700 5,000 34,300,000 57,000 1,085,000 68,480 286,600 1,091,000 50,000 60 11,800 1,930,000 80,000 10,000

8.150 7.16 1.28 1.430 0.280 34.450 3.09 5.2 5.51 0.560

0.62 -10.50 -9.22 -1.38 1.82 -1.43 0.65 0.00 0.00 0.00

447,100 3,200 19,685,000 38,000 6,120,000 17,981,000 17,493,000 225,200 100 3,953,000

381,800.00 4,987,568 -44,813,456.00 -81,000.00 -539,588.00 12,790.00 64,200.00 -86,527,173.50 5,040.00 815,157.00 980.00 1,307,245 -5,886,640.00 158,700.00 -874,192.00

-29,596,306.50 24,276,036.00 107,298,365.00 -2,226,685.00 -18,138,814.00 -5,800.00 -45,199,860.00 -97,900.00 -11,035,580.50 -819,159.00 4,718,058.00 -39,237,464.00

-1,493,945.50 -65,432,800.00 -1,260.00 41,620.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

46,400.00 -73,518,270.00 534,840.00 -224,536.00 -546,900.00

High

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

Cityland Dev. `A’ 1.000 Crown Equities Inc. 0.127 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.510 Double Dragon 36.4 Empire East Land 0.860 Ever Gotesco 0.161 Global-Estate 1.10 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.88 Interport `A’ 1.29 Keppel Properties 4.20 Megaworld 4.01 MRC Allied Ind. 0.087 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2650 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.520 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 26.45 Primex Corp.

8.6 Robinson’s Land `B’ 29.00 Rockwell 1.6 SM Prime Holdings 22.00 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.87 Starmalls 6.3 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.140 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.800

0.00 -4.72 0.00 0.27 0.00 -4.97 0.91 0.00 -0.78 0.00 0.00 1.15 -3.77 -1.92 -16.64 -0.93 -0.17 0.00 0.00 1.15 4.13 -0.88 -0.21

11,000 2,840,000 3,739,000 1,024,700 105,000 100,000 9,279,000 10,474,000 240,000 7,000 24,551,000 1,520,000 20,000 182,000 600 250,200 1,385,700 217,000 20,137,500 167,000 1,300 2,495,000 7,563,000

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 4 1700 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 7 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 3.2 1 2.46 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 2.58 830 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 3.01 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 1.95 0.650 1.8 6

0.62 1.040 22.8 6.41 4 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 14.54 3 2.28 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 2.95 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 1.71 5 0.315 1.14

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Macroasia Corp.

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

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

1.11 -0.68 0.79 3.45 -1.24 0.69 0.00 0.31 -0.06 -1.03 -5.03 -2.00 0.00 -4.00 1.38 0.83 -1.67 -1.63 -4.65 0.00 3.28 2.34 -3.06 2.08 -2.56 -1.41 0.00 -1.00 0.85 2.28 7.14 -1.05 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.33 0.00 2.33 1.12 1.47 1.23 4.82 0.00 -0.52 -0.28 0.00 0.40

132,600 57,620 27,000 4,010.00 1,493,000 6,000.00 800 8,928.00 3,791,000 1,340,560.00 33,580,000 62,000.00 1,487,000 999,470 -5,819,344.00 7,000 34,000 100,500 3,000 530 59,330 3,705,730.00 748,600 275,000 281,210 -14,629,346.50 69,200 1,000,000 110,480,000 1,479,700.00 12,262,000 -1,369,340.00 9,000 319,300 357,000 -103,680.00 123,000 113,000 66,000 12,899,000 -1,994,400.00 2,104,000 331,400.00 330,000 56,050,000 877,090.00 6,000,300 10,000 18,000 33,090 36,370.00 55,200 88,310 -46,908,325.00 5,530,000 35,300.00 37,281,000 -60,480.00 5,095,100 48,507,665.00 1,718,090 54,116,372.00 5,146,400 120,780.00 4,443,000 -188,170.00 4,226,000 32,000.00 2,000 553,000 -877,790.00 40,000 3,450.00 143,000

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

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

Benguet Corp `A’ Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Semirara Corp.

TA Petroleum

-4.65 -0.99 -2.59 -0.94 0.00 -2.44 -9.38 -2.63 -1.79 -0.61 20.69 0.00 -4.05 -1.96 -8.33 0.00 6.34 0.19 3.97 8.62 6.30 1.33 -0.18 5.05 0.00 0.32 -1.25

3,541,000,000 435,100.00 68,000 24,120.00 596,000 -764,000.00 1,700 480,000 27,400 19,500 4,474,000 -92,760.00 3,002,000 1,080.00 1,400 253,111,000 -50,305,190.00 840,000 49,590,000 15,830,000 -70,000.00 5,900,000 26,500,000 8,400.00 1,141,000 -75,400.00 3,523,200 -6,547,944.00 244,000 2,921,000 458,540.00 1,775,000 -314,450.00 19,000 861,700 -374,785.00 1,714,000 -24,230.00 1,000,000 597,930 -33,323,021.00 2,039,000 -265,590.00

70 525 8.21 12.28 1047

33 500 5.88 6.5 1011 74.5 75

-1.35 0.00 0.28 -0.93 0.00 0.97 0.00 0.31 0.00 -0.13 -0.13 0.00 0.00

72,640 9,500 550,700 1,000 945 1,790 17,600 62,090 1,200 400 45,400 201,460 68,200

-24,416.50 4,997,000 -2,792,402.00

78.95 84.8

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

12.28

2,735,000

92,380.00

3.69 1.05 -1.23 1.36

32,000 108,000 263,000 2,297,400

96,200.00 12,325,618.00

-0.50

2,830

-118,330.00

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,612.99 (DOWN) 7.48 INDUSTRIAL 11,726.07 (DOWN) 4.30 HOLDING FIRMS 7,157.58 (DOWN) 32.49 PROPERTY 2,935.67 (DOWN) 17.27 SERVICES 1,532.31 (UP) 6.08 MINING & OIL 10,685.33 (UP) 82.00 PSEI 7,215.09 (DOWN) 28.31 All Shares Index 4,271.42 (DOWN) 0.77 Gainers: 86; Losers: 99; Unchanged: 52; Total: 237

Close

0.97 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 0.188 1.15 1.42 1.27 3.1 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 23 2.69 22.15 1.6 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

1.000 0.980 1.000 0.125 0.121 0.121 0.520 0.500 0.510 37 36.4 36.5 0.860 0.850 0.860 0.159 0.153 0.153 1.13 1.09 1.11 1.89 1.85 1.88 1.29 1.28 1.28 4.20 4.12 4.20 4.06 3.96 4.01 0.088 0.085 0.088 0.2700 0.2550 0.2550 0.540 0.510 0.510 22.05 22.00 22.05 8.57 8.52 8.52 29.00 28.60 28.95 1.63 1.6 1.6 22.25 21.05 22.00 0.88 0.86 0.88 6.56 6.25 6.56 1.150 1.110 1.130 4.800 4.780 4.790 SERVICES 7.23 7.4 7.21 7.31 59.2 59.2 58.2 58.8 1.27 1.34 1.28 1.28 0.580 0.620 0.590 0.600 11.3 11.16 11.16 11.16 4.37 4.44 4.29 4.40 0.0620 0.0620 0.0610 0.0620 3.2 3.3 3.18 3.21 90 90.05 89.9 89.95 9.68 9.69 9.58 9.58 1.79 1.7 1.7 1.7 7.00 7.00 6.86 6.86 2.92 2.92 2.92 2.92 1000 960 950 960 2168 2198 2112 2198 7.27 7.37 7.27 7.33 1.20 1.20 1.18 1.18 67.6 67.7 66.5 66.5 16.34 16.00 15.28 15.58 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.305 0.330 0.300 0.315 1.7100 1.8300 1.7200 1.7500 2.29 2.22 2.22 2.22 7.69 8.00 7.58 7.85 3.91 3.85 3.80 3.81 2.83 2.80 2.60 2.79 0.570 0.570 0.570 0.570 2 2 1.98 1.98 2.34 2.39 2.31 2.36 3.95 4.10 3.94 4.04 0.280 0.300 0.280 0.300 2.850 3.040 2.700 2.820 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.5 4.99 5.09 5.00 5.09 2.74 2.74 2.7 2.74 111.00 111.00 110.00 111.00 22.00 22.00 21.70 22.00 1844.00 1860.00 1820.00 1850.00 0.445 0.460 0.435 0.445 0.860 0.880 0.850 0.880 40.30 41.00 40.30 40.75 78.15 79.45 78.00 79.30 6.50 6.88 6.48 6.58 3.53 3.70 3.55 3.70 0.630 0.650 0.620 0.630 1.93 1.92 1.81 1.92 3.63 3.65 3.62 3.62 0.335 0.345 0.335 0.335 5.000 5.450 5.000 5.020 MINING & OIL 0.0043 0.0044 0.0039 0.0041 2.03 2.02 2.01 2.01 4.25 4.25 4.13 4.14 12.70 12.58 11.98 12.58 0.250 0.255 0.250 0.250 8.2000 8.2 8 8.0000 8.8500 8.8400 8.0200 8.0200 0.76 0.82 0.74 0.74 0.560 0.550 0.530 0.550 8.25 8.23 8.06 8.20 0.870 1.120 0.900 1.050 0.295 0.310 0.295 0.295 0.247 0.245 0.226 0.237 0.255 0.260 0.240 0.250 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 0.0110 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 2.05 2.2 2.05 2.18 5.14 5.37 5.07 5.15 2.52 2.68 2.52 2.62 0.5800 0.6600 0.5600 0.6300 1.2700 1.4600 1.3000 1.3500 3.75 3.80 3.75 3.80 5.45 5.45 5.31 5.44 2.18 2.31 2.20 2.29 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 0.0120 126.50 127.00 126.10 126.90 3.21 3.35 3 3.17 PREFERRED 59.05 59.1 58.25 58.25 526 526 526 526 7.06 7.08 7.05 7.08 1.08 1.07 1.07 1.07 1018 1018 1018 1018 103.5 104.5 104.4 104.5 77.5 77.5 77 77.5 80 80.4 78.6 80.25 75.5 75.5 75.5 75.5 77 76.9 76.9 76.9 77 77 76.8 76.9 75 75 75 75 75 75.05 75 75 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.340 3.790 3.330 3.750 SME 4.06 4.21 3.71 4.21 3.81 4.2 3.83 3.85 3.26 3.3 3.16 3.22 19.14 19.7 19.1 19.4 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 119.1 118.7 118 118.5

T op g ainerS VALUE 829,561,035.12 985,884,631.01 1,561,775,770.869 1,578,814,621.41 1,278,796,941.36 415,884,816.024 6,697,053,504.989

Low

1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 0.305 2.22 2.1 1.8 8.4 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

-246,000.00 121,100.00

Close

31,000.00 -7,820,520.00 -4,367,410.00 -1,042,890.00 -33,037,960.00

9,111,005.00 91,200.00 -143,424,910.00 14,560.00 2,728,660.00

271,250.00

3,464,760.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Ferronickel

1.050

20.69

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

22.05

-16.64

Vivant Corp.

32.50

16.07

Conc. Aggr. 'A'

255

-12.07

Asiabest Group

12.5

14.05

Anchor Land Holdings Inc.

7.16

-10.50

LR Warrant

3.750

12.28

Benguet Corp `B'

8.0200

-9.38

Omico

0.6300

8.62

A. Brown Co., Inc.

1.28

-9.22

Bright Kindle Resources

1.53

8.51

Manila Mining `A'

0.0110

-8.33

LBC Express

12

8.50

Mabuhay Vinyl

3.47

-6.22

MG Holdings

0.300

7.14

Vitarich Corp.

1.11

-5.93

Petron Corporation

10.90

7.07

Discovery World

1.7

-5.03

Marcventures Hldgs., Inc.

2.18

6.34

Ever Gotesco

0.153

-4.97

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 20, 2016

B3

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

ALI allots P25b for Vertis North

By Jenniffer B. Austria

PROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said Tuesday it will spend P25 billion from 2016 to 2018 to complete the initial phase of the 46-hectare Vertis North project in Quezon City.

Ayala Land senior division manager for strategic land bank management group Jay Teodoro said the company would complete the construction of a shopping mall, three residential towers and three office buildings in the next three years.

Teodoro said by the end of

2016, Ayala Land would open Vertis North Mall, which would offer 45,000 square meters of gross leasing area, and the first tower of the Vertis North Corporate Center.

Teodoro said Vertis North Mall would be similar to Greenbelt in Makati City and would not

compete with Trinoma, Ayala Land’s flagship mall located in the same area.

Ayala Land will open the 438-room Seda hotel in 2017, becoming the biggest Seda hotel launched by the property firm, the second Vertis North Corporate Center and two residential towers

by Avida Land.

The property firm will turnover the third residential tower of Avida Land and the third office project by 2018.

The development of Vertis North project is expected to accelerate after the National Housing Authority signed an agreement with majority of the

informal settlers in the area in December.

Under the agreement, the informal settlers agreed to voluntarily relocate to two relocation sites being offered by the government. The relocation sites are slated for completion by 2016 and 2017.

Meanwhile, Avida Land, the affordable housing unit of Ayala Land, also launched Avida Towers Sola, a two-tower residential development within Vertis North with total sales value of P3.8 billion.

The first tower will offer 1,004 units offering one-bedroom, twobedroom and three-bedroom

units. Unit sizes range from 22 square meters to 61 square meters at a starting price of P2.6 million.

Avida Land corporate group planning head Raquel Cruz said the company launched Avida Sola after the group was able to sell out the first residential development, a three-tower condominium project called Avida Towers Vita.

“The first tower was more than 90-percent sold in three months which triggered the launch of two succeeding towers. All three towers of the development were launched within nine months and are almost sold out in less than three years,” Cruz said.

Market declines; Globe, FNI rise STOCKS fell for a third day, bucking the gains in other Asian markets as investors assess the impact of rising crude prices on the economy.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 28 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 7,215.09 Tuesday.

The bellwether was still up 3.8 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, was flat at 4,271.42, on a value turnover of P6.7 billion.

Losers outnumbered gainers, 99 to 86, while 52 issues were unchanged.

Seven of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., which surged 21 percent to P1.05.

Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. climbed 1.5 percent to P79.30, while Globe Telecom Inc. added 1.4 percent to close at P2,198.

Meanwhile, Tokyo led a recovery in Asian stock markets Tuesday, soaring more than 3 percent as dealers built on a strong lead from Wall Street and disappointment over failed oil talks gave way to hope for the global economy.

While Asia ended lower Monday following the collapse of the weekend meeting to cap crude production, initial sharp losses in Europe and New York turned to gains as dealers were lifted by positive comments on the US outlook and recent upbeat data out of China.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Eric Rosengren said Monday that the world’s number one economy was much healthier than financial markets thought and saw growth picking up through this year.

“While there have been significant headwinds from abroad, and market turbulence related to those headwinds, I view the US economy as fundamentally sound and likely to perform better than the domestic economies of most trading partners,” he said.

Also, New York Fed president William Dudley said he foresaw inflation picking up as the economy improves.

With Bloomberg, AFP

Lhuillier donates school. More than 800 students in Tacloban City will welcome the start of classes with a new and improved school building courtesy of Cebuana Lhuillier, the country’s leading microfinancial solutions provider. Shown during the turnover ceremony are (from left) Cebuana Lhuillier Foundation Inc. program department manager Kristina Muñiz, Northern Tacloban City National High School principal Ma. Delia Soria, Cebuana Lhuillier executive assistant to the president Raffy Ladao, Cebuana Lhuillier president and chief executive Jean Henri Lhuillier, Department of Education Tacloban City schools division superintendent Thelma Quitalig, DepEd external partnerships service director Margarita Ballesteros, CLFI executive trustee Cesar Vidal, P&EL Realty Corp. general manager Norman Fumar and Cebuana Lhuillier area manager Raphael Omar Aguilar.

Aboitiz Power unit inaugurates 59-MW San Carlos solar

By Alena Mae S. Flores SAN Carlos Sun Power Inc., a unit of Aboitiz Power Corp., on Tuesday inaugurated a 59-megawatt solar power plant in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

The solar plant, the first solar facility of Aboitiz Power, is now delivering 82 gigawatthours a year of clean and renewable energy to the Visayas grid.

The project started delivering energy to the Visayas grid on March 9, 2016, ahead of the March 15 deadline imposed by the Energy Department for solar power projects under the feed-intariff mechanism.

SacaSun’s clean and renewable power output is expected to qualify for FiT incentives and get priority dispatch in the electricity

spot market under the FiT rate for solar power at P8.69 per kilowatthour.

Aboitiz Power president and chief operating officer Antonio Moraza said any expansion in the same site would no longer be feasible because of limited availability of land.

“We would have to acquire or lease more land and am not sure if there is any available,” Moraza said.

He said any expansion in other parts of the country would have to wait for the government’s resolution on oversubscription for solar power projects.

“FiT for solar is oversubscribed.

Without FiT, solar is not viable…

We will have to wait for action of DoE [Department of Energy]. I am sure they will find a resolution

over subscription,” Moraza said.

The SacaSun project sits on a 75-hectare property inside the San Carlos Economic Zone in Barangay Punao, San Carlos City on the eastern side of Negros Island.

The project, whose construction started in August 2015, employed more than 4,000 workers throughout the construction phase.

About 80 percent of the hired workers came from the host community of San Carlos City and about a third or 1,500 were women. The women assembled parts of the solar panels, while the men and technicians carried the assembled parts for installation at the solar farm.

“AboitizPower is one of the country’s largest producers of renewable energy and our Cleanergy portfolio generates 1,263 MW,

or close to 40 percent of our total net sellable capacity. This represents our commitment to support the government’s push for a balance of renewable and non-renewable power sources to address the country’s increasing energy demand,” AboitizPower chief executive Erramon Aboitiz said.

Aboitiz Power has other power projects in the pipeline, including SN Aboitiz Power’s 8.5-MW Maris Canal hydro plant in Isabela, Hedcor’s 68-MW Manolo Fortich hydro plant in Bukidnon and Aseagas’ 8.8-MW biomass facility in Batangas.

The company also has geothermal and coal power plants.

The company is also on track of achieving its goal of increasing attributable capacity to 4,000 MW by 2020.

B4 Treasury raises P25b from sale of bonds

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE national government on Tuesday sold P25 billion worth of new treasury bonds on higher market demand, the Bureau of Treasury said Tuesday.

The BTr fully awarded the newly issued 7-year Treasury bonds on a coupon rate of 3.5 percent, nearly flat from the previous auction average rate of 3.501 percent.

“The auction committee decided a full award of the newly issued 7-year bond at a coupon rate of 3.5 percent which aligns with other existing tenor benchmarks and is backed by healthy market demand,” the BTr said in a statement ater the auction.

Tenders for the government’s newly-issued debt papers reached P54.94 billion, or more than twice the original offer of P25 billion.

The newly issued treasury bond will mature on April 21, 2023.

The last offering of new 7-year debt paper was in March 2014 when the yield also settled at 3.5 percent.

The sold treasury bonds are part of the programmed P135billion debt paper up out for auction in the second quarter of the year.

The agency said in a notice posted in its Web site it would keep a borrowing cap of P135 billion in the second quarter this year through the auction of Treasury bills and bonds.

The budget department earlier issued a directive indicating the government would further improve its borrowing cap to 80:20 fron 2017 to 2019 from the current mix of 84:16 this year in favor of local borrowings.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the move would lessen the country’s exposure to exchange rate volatility, and at the same time support domestic liquidity for cheaper and more efficient future fund raising efforts.

“Access to external financing will still be maintained, however, to allow greater borrowing flexibility,” Abad added.

New TOAP president. EastWest Bank’s Angel Marie Pacis, first vice president and trust officer, is elected president of the Trust Officers Association of the Philippines for the year 2016-2017. Securities and Exchange Commission director Vicente Graciano Felizmenio Jr. (second to the right) inducts Pacis and the rest of the 2016-2017 TOAP board of directors. Behind Felizmenio is outgoing TOAP president Mario Miranda, senior vice president of Bank of Philippine Islands. Pacis is the first trust officer from EastWest to become TOAP president. She chaired the UITF Development Committee of the 2015-2016 board. TOAP, organized in 1964, is one of the oldest professional associations in the financial industry.

BoP posted surplus of $854m in March

By Julito G. Rada

THE country’s balance of payments position swung to a surplus of $854 million in March from a deficit of $244 million a year ago due mainly to net inflows of hot money and remittances, data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show Tuesday.

Data showed the March surplus was the highest in 13 months, or since the $985-million surplus in February 2015. It was also a sharp turnaround from the $316-million deficit in February this year.

The March figure trimmed the balance of payments deficit in the first three months to $275 million from $1.129 billion in February.

“Capital flows-wise, we

continue to see foreign direct investments and portfolio investments remaining generally resilient,” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a text message.

Foreign portfolio investments or “hot money” in March posted a net inflow of $482 million, the highest in 12 months, due mainly to the renewed investors’ confidence on the country’s

macro-economic fundamentals.

The BoP in January registered a deficit of $813 million due to some outflows given the negative market sentiment following the expected US Fed tightening and China’s economic slowdown.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo earlier said the BoP deficit would not persist through the rest of the year. He said the BOP, instead, would show a surplus of around $2 billion because of sustained current account surplus on remittances from migrant Filipino workers and business process outsourcing revenues.

Money sent home by Filipino workers in February rose 9.1 percent to reach $2.11 billion from $1.935 billion a year ago, the fastest in eight months, due mainly to the

sustained demand for local skilled workers abroad.

Bangko Sentral earlier projected remittances to grow around 4 percent this year, the same pace of expansion in 2015.

Guinigundo said monetary authorities were closely monitoring external developments because of their impact to the country’s external trade. These are the tightening moves of the US Federal Reserve, the growth trajectory of the Chinese economy and oil prices in international markets.

The balance of payments summarizes the country’s economic transactions with the rest of the world, with a deficit indicating foreign exchange payments outstripping receipts and vice versa.

Filipinos among most heavily taxed in Asia, says Escudero BUTUAN CITY—Independent vice presidential contender Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said the “Gobyernong may Puso” will cut down the income tax rates to increase the take-home pay of millions of salaried Filipino workers, who are among the most heavily taxed people in Asia.

Escudero said lowering the country’s personal income tax rate, which at 32 percent is one of the highest in the continent, would be the on top of the legislative agenda of her running

mate, Sen. Grace Poe, if she became president.

“We have one of the highest tax rates in Asia. It’s really time to bring them down. We intend to do this, especially the income taxes of workers,” Escudero said in a recent radio interview.

He said if the government could not raise the salaries of private sector employees, it might as well ease their tax burden to boost their take-home pay and help them keep up with the rising cost of living.

“If we cannot raise their salaries, then we can certainly raise their take-home pay,” said Escudero, who is responsible for exempting minimum wage earners from paying the income tax, or Republic Act 9504.

There are around 39 million people comprising the nation’s labor force and about 36 million of them are in the private sector.

While the country’s estimated 1.53 million state workers have been recently granted an increase in pay and benefits, private sector

employees only received minimal pay increases in the last five years, the latest of which was in April 2015 when P15 was added to the daily minimum wage in Metro Manila.

The wage adjustment, the fith under the Aquino administration, raised the minimum pay to P481 for workers in the non-agriculture sector from P404 in 2010.

Since 1997 when the Tax Reform Act was passed, tax brackets in the Philippines have not changed. Salaries, however,

have been adjusted to inflation, pushing more wage and salary workers into higher brackets, which compel them to pay higher taxes.

The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines said the 32-percent individual tax rate in the country for income over P500,000 was the second highest in Southeast Asia and the seventh highest in the entire continent.

Japan, which has a top marginal tax rate of 50 percent, is the highest in Asia.

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

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

Liberty registers net loss of P1.6b

CoA asked to probe reward scam vs Shell

By Alena Mae S. Flores

By Darwin G. Amojelar FORMER Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, THE telecommunications unit of San Miguel Corp. said on Tuesday it booked a bigger net loss in 2015, mostly because of higher operating expenses.

Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc. said net loss amounted to P1.59 billion in 2015, up 75 percent from P883.06 million in 2014.

Revenues amounted to P291.94 million last year, down 32 percent from P427.15 million in 2015.

“The Group’s revenues for the period reflect the decrease in subscribers of broadband services and lower rental and utility charges received from other telecommunication companies during the year,” Liberty Telecoms said.

Liberty Telecoms’ expenses during the period amounted to P1.86 billion, higher by 55 percent from P1.20 billion in 2014.

Despite the losses, the company said its major shareholders fully understood that these losses were expected following the launch of the group’s Internet access product.

Liberty Telecoms said it planned to maximize existing assets and network sites through leasing agreements and optimize operating cost to increase the company’s revenues.

It also plans to synergize its operations with the SMC Telecommunications Group.

Besides Liberty Telecoms, San Miguel has other telecommunication companies under its portfolio, namely Express Telecommunications Inc., Eastern Telecommunications Philippines Inc. and Bell Telecommunications Philippines Inc. San Miguel and Australia’s Telstra Corp. in March ended talks on a $1-billion joint investment in a new mobile network in the Philippines due to “commercial arrangements” issue.

Despite the collapsed joint venture, San Miguel said it would still switch on its telecommunications network along with a high-speed Internet service as scheduled.

Telstra offered to continue technical work design and construction consultancy support to San Miguel.

“SMC’s entry in the telecom market will definitely be a game changer. When we launch, consumers will benefit from better, cheaper service,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said.

Ang said San Miguel was still interested in considering other joint venture opportunities for its telecom business.

B5

lawyer of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., asked the Commission on Audit to investigate the alleged illegal payment of public funds under the tax informer’s reward of the government in the oil industry.

“It is an illegal granting of reward. There is no legal basis for the granting of the reward,” Marcelo of the Cruz, Marcelo and Tenefrancia law office said.

In a letter addressed to CoA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo, Marcelo requested the agency to conduct an audit of the informer’s reward payments by the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 2004 to 2010 during the second

term of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Marcelo asked the government agency to consider looking into the informer’s reward supposedly paid in connection with a claim for duties against Chevron Philippines Inc. Chevron was forced to pay for the dutiable value of its importations, which were deemed abandoned by the government under Section 1801 of the Tariff Code, amounting

to over P1 billion.

Marcelo said the supposed informer against Chevron was allegedly able to collect a reward of about P200 million.

He said the same syndicate was also allegedly involved in the tax case of Shell. The group wanted the oil refiner to be declared liable for alleged unpaid excise taxes amounting to around P7 billion in a case now pending with the Court of Tax Appeals.

The amount has been reduced to P3.5 billion based on the latest CTA ruling.

“We’re trying to prevent this scam from happening. Based on reliable information we got, its the same people involved,” Marcelo said.

“For Shell, the case is still ongoing but we want to show there is a syndicate, there is no

basis for the case. What is fueling the case is the scam for the informers’ reward,” he said.

He said the informer’s reward was being used as the incentive for “these unscrupulous public officials and their conspirators to unlawfully seek to collect taxes which are not even due from law-abiding citizens and corporations, and make it appear that the non-payment of taxes was discovered due to instrumental information provided by certain private informers.”

“We would like to respectfully request the honorable office to investigate this criminal syndicate considering that the extremely huge informer’s rewards collected came from public funds that should have otherwise accrued to the government,” Marcelo said.

Pepsi award.

Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. wins a Gold Anvil Award for public relations tools at the recently-held Anvil Awards of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines, in recognition of the food and beverage maker’s exemplary 2015 annual report entitled “Refreshing Growth.” At the awarding rites are (from left) PRSP board adviser Ed Alcaraz, APR; Anvil juror Dean Edna Bernabe; PCPPI’s corporate communications manager Thea Del Barrio; PCPPI’s vice president for corporate affairs and communications Jika Dalupan, APR; PCPPI senior manager for corporate affairs Rondell Torres; and PRSP president Ronald Jabal, APR. PCPPI actively engages shareholders, investors, and the larger business community with meaningful and engaging communications materials that help people understand the Pepsi growth story in the Philippines.

Aquino appoints key officials to statistics agency THE full complement of ranking executives and regional directors of the Philippine Statistics Authority have been in place since last month, following their appointment by President Benigno Aquino III. Appointed Deputy National Statistician of the Sectoral Statistics Office is Romeo Recide who took his oath recently before Lisa Grace Bersales, PSA National Statistician and Civil Registrar General.

Created by Republic Act No. 10625, PSA is envisioned to

serve as the unified statistical organization that will empower all government agencies to better contribute to the overall countrywide imperative for equitable development, and establish a highly developed statistical system which can provide timely, accurate and relevant data to the government and the public.

RA No. 10625, entitled An Act Reorganizing the Philippine Statistical System, Repealing for the Purpose Executive Order No. 121, merged under PSA the National

Statistics Office, the National Statistical Coordination Board , the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics and the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics.

President Aquino also appointed four directors under the Office of the National Statistician and 17 regional directors who will be assigned to the PSA’s field offices.

Prior to his appointment, Recide served as the interim deputy national statistician for SSO of the PSA. He was previously the director of BAS under the Department of Agriculture. Recide

joined Estela de Guzman, DNS for civil registration and central support office, and Josie Perez, DNS for censuses and technical coordination office.

The four new ONS directors were Divina Gracia Del Prado, who will head the Statistical Methodology Unit; Benjamin Arsenio Navarro, who will head the International Cooperation Unit; Reynor Imperial, who will serve as the Planning and Management Service head; and lawyer Lourdines dela Cruz, who will head the legal service.

WEDNESDAY: APRIL 20, 2016

B6 BAIC expands line-up of vans

By Othel V. Campos BAYAN Automotive Industries Corp., a unit of Universal Motors Corp., launched a new line-up of commercial light vehicles under the BAIC brand.

Bayan Automotive president and chief executive George Chua said the company was moving on to become a part of the major automotive industry again.

“We were really looking to develop another brand. BAIC is our new brand and we intend to grow this to become a major automotive brand in the Philippines. We know for a fact that any new startup is a difficult thing, but we are determined to be successful in this endeavor,” he said during the groundbreaking of BAIC’s inside UMC headquarters in Makati City.

BAIC or Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company is one of the top five Chinese carmakers. It is 12-percent owned by Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes Benz cars.

The brand had a quiet debut in 2014 and built seven dealerships nationwide with presence as far as Zamboanga City.

Bayan Automotive assistant vice president for marketing and corporate communications Honeymae Limjap said the company, while taking a proactive stance on all models, considered two van nameplates – MZ40 and MZ 45 – as their bread and butter.

“We also bring in premium models such our 4x4 SUV but this is just to show that we can do quality. But by testing our vans, which are our bestsellers, one will realize that what we have is quality beyond expectation,” she said.

Fleet sales of vans grew as the company recently signed up to deliver 40 MZ45 to Bounty Fresh, the poultry brand of Vitarich Corp.

It also signed another fleet sales contract with a cable company services group for installation and trouble-shooting.

Limjap said Bayan Automotive was working very hard to correct misconception that Chinese vehicles were not road-worthy.

“We know of that stigma, but since we are an experienced company with over 50 years of good track record since we brought in Nissan, we are aware that we need to double our efforts for brand consciousness. We brought our team back from when we were still manufacturing Nissan light commercial vehicles to train in China and make sure that the brand is a worthy investment,” said Limjap.

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

Presidential policy to affect economy

By Julito G. Rada

THE economic policy of the next administration could either sustain or break the growth momentum in the next couple of years, an economist of a Dutch bank said Tuesday.

ING Bank senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said in a report recent reforms and gains would provide a momentum to the economy in the next 12 to 18 months.

“But gains are not totally irreversible. A president who is pressured to deliver on the campaign promise, or a president who lacks the full appreciation of economic and business matters. And if the gains are squandered, then promises of presidential candi-

dates could be a source of major challenges,” Cuyegkeng said.

“A number of reforms have been instituted and passed into law. Crafting implementing rules and regulations and execution are as important. Squandering the fiscal gains is possible. We mentioned the fiscal challenges that the new administration could face. There are a number of promises that have significant fiscal ramifications,” Cuyegkeng said.

Cuyegkeng said presidential candidates were making several promises that could be considered reasonable and compelling.

“We estimate that the impact on the fiscal position costs an equivalent to 3.4 percent of GDP [including the claw back higher consumption]. If implemented [and more so if done simultaneously] then fiscal situation could bring us back to the dire fiscal conditions early last decade when the government was posting a chronic deficit of around 4 percent of GDP and primary balance veers back

to a deficit,” he said.

He said credible economic advisers of the candidates, especially the frontrunners, were a source of cautious optimism. However, Cuyegkeng said the president would make the final call and an appreciation of economic and business nuances would be critical.

He said political developments in the Philippines have been largely favorable. He said elections were expected to proceed in a credible and peaceful manner.

“Current government, the market and the business sector believe that the economic reforms and gains during this administration are irreversible. We believe that the recent reforms and gains would provide a momentum to the economy in the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.

Cuyegkeng said fiscal spending was expected to remain strong in 2016. The report of the February fiscal performance is expected this week.

New IT player. Third Pillar Business Applications Inc. brings fresh perspective to the information technology sector by helping transform

customers to being innovative and revenue earning organizations. Shown during a news briefing in Makati City are (from left) Third Pillar director for SAP and business consulting Tannet Mendoza, director and head of strategic initiatives Pinky De Guzman-Alban, managing director and head of consulting Alan Alipao, president and chief executive Jennifer Ligones, sales director Djang Granados and director at global delivery center Marvin See.

Marikina fashion brand Rusty Lopez expands to Indonesia

THE Trade Department’s commercial office in Jakarta, Indonesia asked more Philippine fashion brands to venture into the Indonesian market, following the lead of shoe brand Rusty Lopez.

The Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Jakarta said it was supporting Philippine companies such as fashion retail brands through trade shows and business development activities to gain a foothold overseas.

“The AEC [Association

of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community] is an exciting opportunity for Philippine companies to introduce established brands in Asean and beyond. We are optimistic that our local fashion brands can compete in the region because we are strong in design and we aim for the best quality,” said Philippine commercial representative to Indonesia Alma Argayoso.

Rusty Lopez, known as a highquality footwear brand, brought

its classic and contemporary designs to the Indonesian market with a wide range of products from the basic black shoes, pumps, step-ins to more classy and sophisticated styles.

“We have carefully selected the best styles suited to the Indonesian market because we understand that fashionistas in Indonesia want more shoe styles that are fun, colorful, chic and fashionable. We see great potential in Indonesia and we plan to open

more outlets this year,” said PT Cruzzini Sejahtera president and director Sanny Cruz, who also serves as Rusty Lopez managing partner in Indonesia.

Maritalia Manufacturing Inc., the company behind men’s footwear under the Rusty Lopez brand, also manufactures high-fashion ladies’ footwear under the brand Centropelle, streetwear under the brand Russ, school shoes under the brand Walk-over and ladies shoes under the brand Azaleia.

Other Philippine fashion brands that made it to the Indonesian market are Gingersnaps, Periwinkle, Penshoppe and Karimadon.

Meanwhile, at least 14 furniture and furnishing companies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are set to visit the Philippines for potential product sourcing in time for the Trade Department’s Manila Fame exhibition.

Othel V. Campos

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

German faces trial for hate speech D R E S D E N —T h e founder of Germany’s xenophobic and anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement will appear in court Tuesday on hate speech charges for branding refugees “cattle” and “scum” on social media.

Lutz Bachmann, founder of the farright “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident” movement, was charged in October with inciting racial hatred through a series of widely-shared Facebook posts.

The trial will be held under tight security in Dresden in the former communist east, the birthplace of PEGIDA, which bitterly opposes Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal migration policy that brought more than a million asylum seekers to Germany last year.

The court said the 43-year-old’s comments, which date back to 2014, also “disrupted public order” and constituted an “attack on the dignity” of refugees.

If found guilty, Bachmann could face between three months and five years in jail.

The comments were published in September 2014, shortly before PEGIDA started life as a xenophobic Facebook group.

The group initially drew just a few hundred supporters to demonstrations in Dresden before gaining strength, peaking with rallies of up to 25,000 people in early 2015.

Interest subsequently began to wane following wide coverage of Bachmann’s overtlyracist comments and the surfacing of “selfies” in which he sported a Hitler-style mustache and hairstyle.

But the pendulum swung back a few months later, as tens of thousands of asylumseekers—many fleeing war in mostly Muslim countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan—poured into Germany each week.

Bachmann has repeatedly labeled the newcomers “criminal invaders” while also railing against “traitor” politicians and the “liar press”, whom he blames for jointly promoting multiculturalism. AFP

B7

Obama immigration plan faces uncertainty in court WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama’s plan to delay deportation for nearly half of the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants was fraught with uncertainty Monday, as US Supreme Court justices signaled deep divisions.

If the eight justices deadlock in their ruling, due by late June, the plan would remain on hold, dealing a bruising defeat to Obama during his last year in office and pushing the issue to the next president.

Hundreds of activists massed outside in blaz-

ing sunshine, brandishing heart-shaped signs reading “Keep families together” and chanting “Si se puede”—putting a Spanish twist on Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan “Yes We Can.” Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, two

conservatives whose opinions are critical in this case, sparred repeatedly with the Obama administration’s attorney during an extended 90-minute session of oral arguments.

At stake is a series of executive actions the president took in November 2014 to bypass a Republican-held Congress that refused to enact his promised reform of America’s immigration system.

One initiative, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents, would shield

from deportation people living in the United States since 2010 whose children are US citizens or residents. They would also be able to obtain a work authorization and pay taxes.

Another measure would expand on an existing program that grants a reprieve to immigrants who entered the country as children.

Obama, who has deported more people than any other US president, said he wanted to prioritize deportations of “felons, not families.”

The four liberal-lean-

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

ing justices pointed to similar executive actions by his predecessors.

Critics accuse Obama of overstepping his authority, a view echoed on the conservative wing of the bench.

“It’s as if the president is setting the policy and the Congress is executing it,” Kennedy said. “That’s just upside down.”

Mirroring Obama’s gridlock with Congress on immigration is that of a Supreme Court evenly split between liberals and conservatives while Senate Republicans refuse to fill the

ninth seat left vacant by the late Antonin Scalia.

One way out of a stalemate would be for the justices to issue a narrow ruling on whether the 26 mostly Republicanled states bringing the challenge would suffer enough injury as a result of Obama’s actions to legally sue the federal government.

Roberts, who has insisted the Supreme Court should stand above the political fray, is likely to focus on the issue, which dominated much of the court’s morning session. AFP

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building

INVITATION TO BID FOR SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF GAMING GUIDE/CATALOGUE UNDER ITB NO. PB16-026

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF LOT ONE (1) PAPER TOWEL AND LOT TWO (2) TISSUE PAPER UNDER ITB NO. PB16-028

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming Public Bidding for the Supply and Delivery of Gaming Guide/Catalogue under ITB No. PB16-026.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming Public Bidding for the Supply and Delivery of Lot One (1) Paper Towel and Lot Two (2) Tissue Paper under ITB No. PB16-028.

Brief Description

Brief Description

Casino Filipino – Gaming Guide/Catalogue Quantity Size

: 80,000 pieces : 18 inches width x 6 inches height (spread) Saddle stitch 9 inches x 6 inches (inlay page) Media : C2S 200 (inside-outside cover, 4 pages) C2S 120 (inside pages, 18 pages) Color/s : Full color with coating Paper Type : Cover – C2S 200 Pages – C2S 120 Coated with Lamination Type of printing : Offset Delivery Schedule

Lot 1 : Supply and Delivery of Paper Towel Lot 2 : Supply and Delivery of Tissue Paper

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

The ABC for each lot is as follows: Lot 1 (Supply and Delivery of Paper Towel) – Six Million One Hundred Ninety Seven Thousand One Hundred Pesos (PhP6,197,100.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction

Within thirty (30) calendar daysfrom the effectivity date specified in the Notice to Proceed.

Lot 2 (Supply and Delivery of Tissue Paper) – Ten Million Twenty Thousand Six Hundred Thirty-Four Pesos and 50/100 (PhP10,020,634.50), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction

Approved Budget for the Two Million One Hundred Eighty-Seven Thousand Two Hundred Contract (ABC): Pesos (PhP2,187,200.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction Source of Funds:

Internally Funded

Bidder should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidder. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows: Activities

Schedule

1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents

April 20, 2016 (Wednesday) to May 11, 2016 (Wednesday)

2. Pre-Bid Conference

April 29, 2016 (Friday), 11:00 a.m.

Venue: MEETING ROOM 2, 5th Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Blvd., Ermita, Manila

Delivery Schedule

The complete schedule of deliveries is provided in Section VI (Schedule of Requirements) of the Bidding Documents which will commence starting from the contract effectivity date specified in the Notice to Proceed.

Source of Funds

Internally Funded

Note: Bidders may bid on any or both lots, Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of activities is listed, as follows:

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids May 11, 2016 (Wednesday), 10:00 a.m.

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

May 11, 2016 (Wednesday), 10:00 a.m. onwards

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bidding documents which will be available to prospective bidder at the Bids and Awards Services Department (BASD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, upon payment of the non-refundable cost for the sale of the bidding documents in the amount based from the address below: Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000.00 and below

Cost of Bidding Documents(in Philippine Pesos) 500.00

More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million

1,000.00

More than 1 Million up to 5 Million

5,000.00

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidder shall pay the non-refundable cost for the sale of bidding documentsnot later than the date of the submission of bids. The Pre-bid Conference is open to all prospective bidder.

Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth(6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del PilarStreet corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from BASD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidder for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - TieBreaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 4 shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidder have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: 1. In alphabetical order, the bidder shall pick one rolled paper.

2. The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

The total ABC is in the amount of Sixteen Million Two Hundred Seventeen Thousand Seven Hundred ThirtyFour Pesos and 50/100 (PhP16,217,734.50), VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated Transaction.

Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents

Schedule April 20, 2016 to May 11, 2016

2. Pre-Bid Conference

April 28, 2016, 3:00 P.M.

3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids

May 11, 2016, 10:00 A.M.

4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

May 11, 2016, 10:00 A.M. onwards

Complete details of the project are indicated in the bidding documents which will be available to prospective bidders at the Bids and Awards Services Department (BASD), acting as the BAC Secretariat, upon payment of the non-refundable cost for the sale of bidding documents based on the following matrix:

More than 5 Million up to 10 Million

Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Pesos) 10,000.00

More than 10 Million to 50 Million

25,000.00

Approved Budget for the Contract

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the non-refundable bidding fee not later than the date of the submission of bids. The Pre-bid Conference is open to all prospective bidders. Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s Cashier located at the Sixth (6th) Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, New World Manila Bay Hotel, 1588 M.H. del Pilar Street corner Pedro Gil Street, Malate, Manila either the Bidding Fee Slip which may be secured from BASD or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 – Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 1 shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: 1.

2.

In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper.

The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidder.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all Bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

Please address all communications to the BAC thru BASD, Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: 524-3911, 521-1542 local 223 or 671.

Please address all communications to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 1 thru the BASD, Room 203, Second (2nd) Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, Tel No.: (02) 5243911, (02) 336-6906 and (02) 521-1542 local 223/617.

SGD CELESTINA R. ADOR Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 4

SGD. RODERICK R. CONSOLACION Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) 1

(TS APR.20, 2016)

(TS APR.20, 2016)

W E D N E S D AY : A P R I L 2 0 , 2 0 1 6

B8 Suicide bombing, gunfire rock Kabul KABUL—A powerful Taliban truck bombing followed by a fierce firefight left at least seven people dead and 327 others wounded Tuesday, officials said, a week after the insurgents launched their annual spring offensive.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack near government offices, which sent clouds of acrid smoke billowing in the sky and rattled windows several kilometers away.

The brazen assault in a packed neighborhood marks the first major Taliban attack in the Afghan capital since the insurgents announced the start of this year’s fighting season.

“The latest toll shows at least seven people have been killed and 327 others wounded,” health ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kawoosi told AFP. “Most of those wounded are civilians and many are in a serious condition.”

Security officials said the loud explosion was triggered by a truck bomb, expressing concerns that other bombers may still be on the loose.

The Afghan interior ministry denounced the attack as a “war crime”, pledging to track down the perpetrators.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed their fighters had managed to enter the offices of the National Directorate of Security, the main spy agency.

Afghan officials dismissed those claims, saying that the target of the attack was a government office responsible for providing security to government VIPs. Pitched gun battles were ongoing near the building, which was cordoned off by security officials as ambulances were seen rushing to the scene.

The Taliban are generally known to exaggerate battlefield claims. “[We] condemn in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Puli Mahmood Khan neighborhood of Kabul, as a result of which many of our countrymen were martyred and wounded,” President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement. AFP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD

Envoy: Japanese media freedoms under threat TOKYO—A UN special envoy urged the Japanese government on Tuesday to protect media independence, which he warned was facing “serious threats.”

Onstage. Becky G performs on stage at iHeartRadio LIVE Move with the music powered by Degree with Becky G at iHeartRadio Theater on April 18, 2016, in Burbank, California. AFP

The visit of David Kaye, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, came as the concerns over media freedoms have grown.

The government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party have both drawn criticism for allegedly threatening the press.

Parliament in 2013 passed a law on protecting specially designated secrets, while the cabinet minister responsible for regulating broadcasting told parliament this year the government could revoke licenses if broadcasters failed to correct reporting deemed politically biased.

“There’s a significant concern about the direction of independent media in Japan,” Kaye told reporters after a week-long visit, saying he had heard from journalists of worries “about their ability to independently report on issues, particularly issues of sensitivity to the government”.

In 2014 the conservative LDP wrote to broadcast networks urging “fair” coverage ahead of a general election, in what was seen as an attempt to intimidate media.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe supported the February comments by Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi on the broadcast law, which stipulates “politically fair” coverage. But Abe has insisted his government “cherishes freedom of speech”.

Kaye said the law should be amended since “the government—any government—should not be in the position of determining what is fair.”

“Broadcast media should not even theoretically be subject to regulation by government administration,” he said, adding they should be overseen by an independent entity.

He said he was unable to meet Takaichi during his visit despite repeated requests.

The envoy also touched on the secrets protection law, saying he remains concerned even though the government assured him harsh penalties would not be applied to journalists.

“The law should be so amended to eliminate any chilling effect” on journalists, he wrote in a report on his preliminary observations.

The envoy also called on Japan to abolish its press club system, under which select media outlets have exclusive access to government ministries and police departments at the national and local levels. AFP

Held for carrying half ton of cannabis BANGKOK—A Malaysian has been arrested for trying to smuggle more than half a ton of cannabis into his country across Thailand’s southern border, police said Tuesday.

It was the latest major bust on a well-worn smuggling route.

Mohd Nizam Bin Ishak, 34, was stopped on Monday while driving a truck with fake Malaysian license plates at a border checkpoint at Sadao in Thailand’s province of Songkhla.

Investigators said they found 520 kilograms of marijuana worth around $440,000 hidden under furniture in the back of the truck.

“The suspect confessed to the trafficking charge and said he was hired for 1,000 ringgit ($257) to transport marijuana from Hat Yai [in Songkhla] to a warehouse in Kuala Lumpur,” police Lieutenant General Rawat Klinkasorn said in a statement.

The suspect also allegedly confessed to taking drugs along the same route on previous occasions.

Thailand is both a producer and major transit hub for drugs.

Much of the regional drug manufacturing takes place in the Golden Triangle, a remote border area where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet.

Major General Chartee Paisarnsilp, divisional commander of the narcotics suppression police, told AFP the cannabis came from a neighbouring country but declined to say which.

Thai police last month announced a major bust involving a Malaysian gang allegedly smuggling millions of dollars of heroin and methamphetamine between the two countries by train.

So far 21 Malaysians have been arrested for links to that operation.

Drugs usually sell for a significantly higher price in Muslim-majority Malaysia, making it a tempting prospect for criminals. AFP

Meeting. Former US secretary of the treasury Henry Paulson speaks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 19, 2016. AFP

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BiNG pArEl

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

BErNADETTE lUNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@liFEatStandard

H oME & l i v iNG

LIFE

Aurora - A Light Imprint installation piece designed by Stanley Ruiz, Jinggoy Buensuceso and Wataru Sakura

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STAnlEy RuIz lIghTS up MAnIlA FAME 63RD EDITIOn

he works of internationally awarded industrial designer Stanley Ruiz will be one of the higlights of Manila FAME’s 63rd show to be held this April 21-24 at the World Trade Center.

Organized by the Center of International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions agency of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, the country’s premier design and lifestyle event will also feature the works of designers Nina Santamaria and Ito Kish who are collaborating with Ruiz for the Spring Forward special setting, which will also showcase the finely crafted seasonal indoor and outdoor product collections for the home by several Filipino manufacturers.

Ruiz, who took up Industrial Design in UP Diliman, will be designing light and home accent pieces to complement the spring-themed presentation. He will also be collaborating with 10 exhibitors from Pampanga, Cebu, Davao, Negros Occidental, and Metro Manila to develop functional, stylish, and commercially viable lighting products. Together, they are exploring the themes of post-industrial design and Philippine heritage taken on a more modern-day level.

Chosen as one of the “Rising Asian Talents” who showcased collections in the Rising Asian Talents section of the March 2016 Singapore edition of Maison & Objet Asia, a prestigious international trade show featuring front-line interior design concepts, Ruiz discovered his passion for designing when he was a student. After learning about materials and the essentials of design and being able to apply what he learned, he embraced his major and began taking on designing projects for small and medium enterprises in the provinces while still studying in the early to mid-2000s.

His efforts eventually paid off, and so he decided to work in the design industry.

Stanley Ruiz

As a designer, Ruiz gets inspiration from everyday life, local industries and materials, and nature, transforming the ordinary into clever and exceptional design patterns.

Asked what he could advise aspiring young designers, the designer shares that one should take the work seriously and “explore on your own, think outside of the bounds of the academe, read a lot – not only about design, but other disciplines like music, film, arts, social sciences because these all come into play eventually. It’s not only about being good at drawing, colors, or computer software. There is a lot that you can apply if you know the world more.

So, travel – just expose yourself,” he says, adding that it is what he did.

No wonder then that Stanley has become recognized in the international scene with his own studio in Manila, the Estudio Ruiz Design Consultancy. Some of the awards and recognitions he has received include being listed by New York-based Surface Magazine as one of the Avant Guardians of 2010,

Ruiz's lighting pieces during the March 2015 Manila FAME show

getting the Bronze Award at the A’ Design Awards in Italy in 2013, and receiving the Outstanding Asia Talents award at the Bangkok International Gift Fair in 2014.

At the October show edition of Manila FAME last year, Stanley worked with Filipino visual artist and sculptor Jinggoy Buensuceso and Philippine-based Japanese designer Wataru Sakuma to create the northern lights-inspired installation titled “Aurora – A Light Imprint.” Inspired by the Aurora Borealis, the dreamy natural lights spectacle in the northern hemisphere, the ingenious display was made of over 20,000 chain-linked colorful glow sticks hanging from the ceiling.

Many admire Ruiz for remembering his roots and not letting fame get in his head, continuing to return to Manila to join FAME. “I love Manila FAME because this is the venue for local companies to show their prowess. It’s actually a showcase of real industry – what our resources are, who we are as a people, and what our crafts are

all about, which are basically part of our culture,” he shared.

The designer has in fact been participating in Manila FAME for six editions now as a product specialist, creating product designs for Philippine manufacturers under CITEM’s Design for Exports Program aimed at assisting Philippine manufacturers in creating globally competitive products with design support from some of the country’s top design experts.

“We get fulfillment out of it, like collaborating with companies. I learn from them. I was able to impart some of my knowledge with them to come up with some new products for their collections. In fact, that’s one of the main goals of my design studio here in Manila: to be able to contribute to the local design landscape. And by doing these consultancy projects, I think I’m partly on my way to achieving my goals,” he said.

For more information on Manila FAME, visit www.manilafame.com.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@liFEatStandard

ExploriNg thE WorlD With KiDS (WhY i lovE trAvEliNg With KiDS) Liv.e SimpLy

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By LIv esteBan

’ll come right out and admit it: It started off as a simple case of young-parent separation anxiety. More than 20 years ago, the hubby and I took our first extended trip to Europe while our second son was barely two years old. After sighing wistfully each time we’d see a child in a stroller and especially after that call home to the grannies when we heard our boys’ saying “We miss you!” over scratchy phone lines, we got back on the plane two days early and flew back to our nest. And decided that next time we’d go exploring, we’d take the whole nest with us.

That’s how the story of our travels around the world with kids started, and it continues to this day, with more chapters added to that story year after year. And it’s a wonderful story supported by photos of jaunts to different parts of our own country as well as different corners of the globe and filled with anecdotes that we love to revisit when we sit around the dinner table and go tripping down Travel Memory Lane.

There are some people who think that traveling with kids is like asking for trouble; that parents who do, give up the R&R aspect of travel; that it’s best to travel before having kids or waiting till the kids are grown before traveling again.

I will concede that traveling with younger kids poses its own special challenges, like the time we searched in vain for the brand of formula milk for our toddler and had to settle for giving him melted vanilla ice cream (I know, don’t gasp!) because he wouldn’t take any of the four other brands we got. Or the time our youngest woke up from a nightmare while everyone else was asleep on the plane and proceeded to scream his head off (as a mom of kids who are the best and quietest of travelers, this was a particularly humbling experience for me). Or the time we actually witnessed a family walking out of the airport with their kid sitting in our third kid’s stroller – and I, a nonconfrontational, peace-loving mom, surprised the hubby by marching up to them and bravely demanding my stroller back. But we laugh about all that now, and the adrenalin rush during those situations has been replaced by great appreciation for those experiences which have, in their own way, added spice and flavor to our family’s travel memories.

There are many reasons why I truly believe traveling with kids, whether it’s to a place a few cities away or a country halfway around the globe, is an important part of family life.

It gets them off their gadgets.

In this world and age, where vacation is synonymous with freedom to play with their various gadgets (an activity limited to weekends during the school year), it can be almost mandatory for the hubby and me to plan trips that will limit the temptation for our kids to resemble summer couch potatoes. We do allow them to take just one gadget (usually their handheld 3DS) on our trips as a boredombuster during airport layovers, but once we get to our destination, they hardly even touch them, simply because there are so much more interesting places to discover and explore.

On our most recent trip, our 14-year-old declared upon arriving back at home, “Can you believe we never even used our 3DS? How awesome was that?” Even he realized the importance of being unplugged, and that’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.

It breaks open the four walls of their classroom.

We all spend a good deal of our student life learning from books within the four walls of our classrooms. That’s normal. But learning sticks more strongly when it is tangible, and the experience of travel achieves exactly that for our kids. It makes the content of

They know that trips are planned with prime consideration given to where and when we can attend our Sunday Masses, because a vacation from home does not equal a vacation from our family’s most valued priorities.

Traveling with kids expands their horizons and teaches them valuable life lessons

their books and lessons real, and stuff that they’ve only read about or seen pictures of on Google images are brought to life. I’ll never forget how astounded and proud I was of my then-8-year-old boy when, pointing at a huge painting in one of the Prado galleries, he declared, “Mama, look! It’s St. Thomas More!”

I was especially amazed because I wouldn’t even have recognized the saint myself (insert guilty giggle here). It turns out that the same painting had appeared in one of the chapters of his book, and he was all round-eyed and awed that he was seeing the larger-than-life version right in front of his eyes.

It expands their horizons and teaches them valuable life-lessons and new skills.

Many of the most important lessons in life can’t be found in books. They’re on the road of experience, and kids get a really healthy dose of that from travel. They learn how to deal with people from other cultures; they learn how to eat food that hasn’t found its way to the dinner table at home; they learn how to read maps and understand time differences.

They learn how important it is to remember hotel information, and how to stay safe in certain areas. They learn how to be polite and tolerant, especially when seated beside lessthan-considerate travelers. These are lessons that build their character and prepare them for any challenging situations that they will inevitably go through later on as adults.

It makes them better problem-solvers.

There are certain problems that arise during travel that don’t show up in everyday life.

Delayed flights teach kids to be patient and to find ways of keeping themselves entertained.

Stolen slippers on the beach? They learn how to stow them in a better place so they don’t get picked up while they’re frolicking on the waves. These seem like really simple problems that don’t amount to much, but watching their parents deal with unforeseen circumstances with a calm and positive attitude gives kids

a blueprint for their own ability to solve problems confidently in the future.

It advances world peace.

Travel teaches our children to appreciate the beauty of differences among cultures and races and practices around the world. Beyond that, they also learn that in spite of these differences, they are all from the same family of worldwide brothers and sisters. And they learn to celebrate, whether consciously or not, the similarities that exist between them and others.

I remember our first trip to London’s Natural History Museum years ago with my two young sons. I looked across a room filled with British kids on a field trip – you can imagine how that’s like looking for two needles in a haystack, notwithstanding differently-colored hair on little heads. I finally located them with a group of British schoolboys, and understood why it was so difficult to find them. There they were, immersed in lively discussion with their British peers, acting like long-lost best friends, complete with on-the-spot British accents acquired unconsciously. We got a kick out of that, the hubby and I… but more than the amused chuckles, we were awed by children’s natural ability to strike immediate friendships with other children so different from them, innately digging beyond surface differences to find common interests. I remember thinking, if everyone in the world had this attitude toward people from different walks of life, achieving world peace would be a walk in the park.

It cements family values.

Travel teaches my kids that no matter which part of the world they find themselves in, por favor and arigato gozaimasu are essentials, and that a smile has the same power to build bridges and foster friendships, even without the facility of a shared mother tongue. They learn that certain things are non-negotiable, regardless of which part of the world we find ourselves in:

It strengthens the team.

With five sons, we choose to book in serviced apartments instead of hotel rooms, for both bonding and practical purposes.

We love spending time together, whether engaged in active conversations or just sitting around doing our own thing, and we’re better able to do that in flats rather than in disconnected hotel rooms. Being together 24/7 with no nannies, no household help, no one else but nuclear family means we do everything together – getting groceries and cooking meals and doing the dishes and laundry and ironing, all things that we don’t normally do in full tandem on ordinary days at home. We hone our family teamwork, building with basic blocks of ordinary home chores, till keeping an eye out for each other and having each other’s backs become natural and instinctive. We must have hit on a gold mine here, because whenever we ask our kids which travel experiences they treasure most, their answers always include those times we lived in each other’s pockets 24/7 doing the simplest things together.

It teaches them to be better travelers themselves.

Experience is the best teacher, right? When kids learn the ins and outs of traveling at a young age, they instinctively pick up the best lessons that will serve them when they travel independently as adults. Now that one of my sons is studying abroad for the bigger part of a year, I am comforted by the knowledge that he knows everything he needs to know about traveling safely and living in places away from home.

Most important of all, we create precious memories together.

More than anything else, I believe the biggest advantage of traveling with kids is the irreplaceable bonding that glues us together as we go on shared adventures of learning and discovery. The weeks we spend exploring different places are precious deposits into the bank of treasured lifetime family memories that we can dip into with fond remembrance as well as pass on to the next generations in the future. Each travel experience we go through together, both the good and the not-so-great, serve as multicolored threads that weave the beautiful tapestry of the story of our family.

And every trip we take to nearby islands or faraway continents offers the invaluable gift of defining and refining the meaning of belonging not just to our own nuclear family but to the greater family of humankind, the family we share with the whole world.

Follow me on Twitter @ LivE_LiveSimply Like my page, follow all my articles, and send me feedback @ Facebook/liv.esimplywithLiv

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

KEEp tHE pEStS AWAY WHILE You’rE oN vACAY

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ummer means fun getaways with family and friends. It’s the time when we discover new destinations and try new things. It’s the time when we usually leave our houses for long periods, which disgusting home pests may use to their disgusting advantage.

Once you have accomplished your itinerary and have packed everything you need for the trip, make sure your house is secured from rats, ants, mosquitoes and cockroaches that can have their own “staycation” right in the nooks and crannies of your home. The problem with these nasty critters is they can multiply rapidly if they are not contained soon enough.

Make your house pest-proof for a long stretch of time with the help of these tips from home pest solutions provider Jardine Distribution Inc. 1. Do a general cleaning of, and a major decluttering in, your house. Rats and mice like to settle in dark, seldom-cleaned nooks and corners. Get rid of your horde of empty boxes, broken kitchen appliances, and other old and useless stuff.

2. Drain, clean and cover all receptacles including tiny, disposable plastic containers that usually lie around to avoid mosquitoes that lay eggs in stagnant water.

3. Seal and repair all cracks and small openings on walls and ceilings.

4. Store food items like pasta, grains and cereals in airtight jars or high-grade plastic food containers to keep ants and cockroaches at bay.

5. Use home pest solutions to prevent pests from invading your home, wreaking havoc on your possessions, and worse, causing disease and illness in your family.

With proper hygiene and right home pest solutions, you can have peace of mind even as you have fun in the sun.

Jardine’s complete line of Home Pest Solutions includes Klerat Single Feed Rodenticide, Optigard Roach and Ant Bait, and ZAP aerosol insecticide.

Klerat Single Feed Rodenticide will eliminate rats or mice in a single feed.

Meanwhile, Jardine’s Ant Bait and Roach Bait will attract and kill ants and roaches, including the colony, providing protection for three months. For the flying mosquito, there is Zap Aerosol Insecticide eliminating mosquitoes in a zap.

Optigard Roach and Ant Bait allows you to put a solution in the tiny niches and crevices of your living spaces to ensure that all pests will be eliminated

Keep your family safe from creepy crawlies with Jardine’s complete line of home pests solutions

Jardine’s line of Home Pest Solutions is available at leading supermarkets and DIY stores nationwide. For more information, go to www.jardinedistribution.com.ph.

Optigard Roach and Ant Bait will effectively and quickly solve your roach and ant problems

Beat the Summer Heat

3 Simple Ways to Make Your Air Conditioner Summer ready The April heat is taking its toll on everyone. For some of us heading to the beach, going out under the sun is inviting but for city folks going about their normal days, staying indoors where an air conditioner is available is their best bet.

For the past several days, everyone’s AC has been turned on full blast. But just like any machine, ACs tend to conk down when not properly taken cared of. The worst possible thing that can happen during the blaze of summer is for your air con to come crashing down. Yes, the question on social media whether you’ll choose a love life or air con has been clearly answered – people want air con!

But just like an actual love life, you have to tend to your AC properly to

Electrolux Viva Grande Air Conditioner

keep that lasting breeze. Electrolux, a global leader in home appliances, has prepared pointers to ensure that your air conditioner is summerready. Here are a few tips to get that air conditioner at home in tip-top condition: 1. Clean or replace the filters.

An air conditioner’s air filter is one of the most important parts of the unit and keeping it well maintained is very crucial. Filters should be regularly cleaned and replaced as mold and other particles get trapped there. There are units that provide self-cleaning function for the air con just like Electrolux Viva Grande Air Conditioner; it makes maintenance less of a hassle because it comes with a self-cleaning function that helps

prevent mold formation to ensure clean air and a longer service life.

2. Clear the debris. The condensing unit of a typical splittype air conditioner is usually located outside the house.

Keeping the airflow of the condenser free from obstruction is important so make sure that there are no obstacles.

Remove debris on the condenser and make sure the drain is clear.

A vacuum cleaner is best to use when cleaning the outer part of the condenser, but if a vacuum is not available, a clean rag will do the work. Remember to always unplug the power supply when you are cleaning as it might cause accidents.

3. Call for help. Now if you are unsure on how to get started with cleaning the air con, it’s always best to call a maintenance personnel to do it for you. Leave it to the experts.

For Electrolux air conditioners, you may call their customer care team and request for maintenance at Customer Care Hotline (+63-2) 845-CARE (2273) and 1-800-10845-CARE (2273) for domestic PLDT toll-free number.

The worst possible thing that can happen during the blaze of summer is for your air con to come crashing down

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Pet Pulse

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Bow & wow, CARA welfARe Phils to hold fundRAising dinneR foR ABAndoned And homeless AnimAls

special benefit dinner to be held on April 23 (Saturday) at Robinsons Magnolia Garden in Quezon City is being organized

by CARA Welfare Philippines and Bow & Wow to raise funds to cover the medical treatment and care of rescued, homeless and abandoned animals.

Appetizers, cocktails, music and celebrity appearances are in store for guests. To be hosted

by Tessa Prieto-Valdes, the Benefit Dinner will feature a mouthwatering human buffet

by Gaita Fores’ Cibo di M and a delectable pet buffet courtesy of Bow &Wow and ALL4PETSParty.

Crisp white wines for pet parents will be served throughout the night by Planet Grapes.

Several fun activities where both humans and pets can join have been lined up, such as games, raffle prizes, massage station, pet caricature station, pawprint keepsakes, designyour-own cupcake activity and a

silent auction have been lined up during the event.

CARA will also be giving insights into the workings of rescuing abused or abandoned animals and the volunteer work being done on a regular basis.

Run by animal-loving volunteers who help place unwanted, abandoned and rescued pets into responsible homes, CARA strongly advocates the rescue and protection of abandoned and abused dogs using a humane approach.

CARA is the country’s key non-profit organization involved in animal welfare activities, including saving, relocating and rehabilitating over a hundred Pitbulls rescued from a dog fighting ring run by Korean nationals in Laguna. Among its projects include spaying and neutering cats and dogs and putting them up for adoption if their owners are not found.

Attendees may come in their best matching outfits.

Pets and pet parents may win special awards and “strikea-paws” at the photo booth.

Guests will also enjoy special performances by Jona Viray and the Pole Cats Manila.

Tickets can be purchased for P3,000 with pet and P2,000 without pet at any Bow & Wow store. All of the proceeds from the event will go to CARA to help pay for the medical care, food, and shelter for dogs and cats under its care. Get tickets at Bow & Wow, with locations at ShangriLa Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City (with tel. no. 638-3372); Greenbelt 5, Makati City (with tel. no. 501-3681); at Al Fresco, Robinsons Magnolia Quezon City (with tel. no. 477-2963); at Excelsior in Eastwood City, Libis, Q.C. (with tel. no. 650-3010); and Ayala Center, Cebu.

For pet-related pointers and information, visit the Bow & Wow website at www.bowandwow.com.ph.

DOGS AND THE CITY: YOur ONE-STOp SHOp FOr pET NEEDS For dog owners, their little pooch is not just a pet but an important part of the family. They bring joy and unconditional love to their owners. Usually they are the first thing that wakes their owners up in the morning and insists on snuggling into bed at night. Having a dog in the house is actually like having another child, and most times, these furry creatures are even more pampered than their owners.

Today, there are a lot of dog supply stores that sell just about anything – from beds, potties, water bottles, hair care products and supplies for grooming needs – thanks in large part to Dogs and the City that opened its first store in 2005, pioneering a change in the pet care and grooming industry. Haydee Chua, owner of Dogs and the City, put up the shop due to the lack of available dog product supplies to suit the needs of her four-legged friends. Just like any dog owner, she wants the best for her dogs and pampers them in the best possible way. Her trips abroad were spent sourcing for good quality products for her furry friends and this passion eventually led to the very first 18-sqm store in Frontera Verde in Tiendesitas Pasig, a small shop that offered pet food, treats and accessories.

As pet lovers grow in number, so does the demand for good quality pet products in the market. It only took less than two years for Dogs and the City to expand, and today, the shop has branches in SM Mall of Asia, Fort Bonifacio, Eastwood City, Trinoma, Lucky Chinatown, Alabang Town Center, Greenhills Shopping Center, Bluebay Walk, and Solenad in Nuvali, with an online shop that started in 2013. The expansion also added added grooming, day care, and veterinary services to its offerings in selected branches, making it a one-stop shop for all pet needs.

The store’s mission is to be the shopping destination for the most discerning pet owners as it brings to consumers upscale pet merchandise that are unique and

functional. From designer collars and leashes, cozy pet blankets, chic pet beds, stylish pet apparel, unique toys and treats, sleek pet carriers, wide selection of shampoos and toiletries, fun feeding bowls, fabulous grooming accessories, nutritious pet cuisine, the choices are endless for your lovely little pooch.

Since the store expanded to medical and grooming services, it makes sure owners get nothing but the best from its facilities especially now that there are a lot of horror stories about pet clinics and grooming centers disseminated on social media.

“We conduct regular trainings for our managers, sales representatives, groomers, and veterinarians. It is important to keep ourselves updated with regards to the new trends such as food diet and hairstyles,” shares Haydee.

If you have cats instead of dogs, don’t be discouraged by the “Dog” on their signage as the shop also caters to felines, and has a range of products that can cater to other animals. “We cater mostly to dogs and cats in terms of grooming services. Our product offerings are concentrated mostly to dogs and cats, although we also offer fish, hamster and rabbit food and accessories in selected stores,” she explains.

Dogs and the City is located at Ground Floor Entertainment Building, SM Mall of Asia; Forbes Town Center, Bonifacio Global City; 2nd Floor Eastwood City Walk 2; Lobby level, North Building, TriNoma Mall; 4th Floor Lucky China Town Mall; 2nd Floor Entertainment Complex, Alabang Town Center; Shoppesville Arcade, Greenhills Shopping Center; 2nd Floor Building D, Solenad 3; Cluster J, Ground Floor Blue Bay Walk. Keep updated with Dogs and the City on social media and follow on @dogsandthecityph on Instagram, @dogs_thecityPH on Twitter and dogsandthecityph on Facebook.

Dogs In The City offers designer collars and leashes, cozy pet blankets, chic pet beds, stylish pet apparel, unique toys and treats, sleek pet carriers, wide selection of shampoos and toiletries, fun feeding bowls, fabulous grooming accessories, and nutritious pet cuisine. The choices are endless for your lovely little pooch

wEDnES DAy : A pRIl 20, 2016

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CElEbRaTE sEasOn Of fun wITh sOny summER EsCapE 2016

ony Channel steals the scene as it hosts this year’s Summer Escape in Boracay.

Fun-filled summer activities await the participants in this event happening on April 22 at The Sand Bar Station 1 in Boracay starting at 1 p.m., to be hosted

by Jaz Reyes. In the evening, the mood is set with special performances by Clara Be-

nin, RJ Jimenez, and Up Dharma Down.

To participate in this event, guests need to register by liking Sony Channel’s Facebook page. After which, they’ll be given an “event passport,” which they could use to participate in different activity booths, and enjoy the evening performances as well.

Guests can also make memorable beach

moments with henna tattoos, hair braids, massages, nail art, bead buffet, printstagram, giant beerpong, and more. Plus, Sony Channel will be giving away exciting freebies for its summer-loving guests.

Sony Channel’s Summer Escape 2016 is brought to you by Western Union in partnership with 2go Express, 2go Trav-

el, Tanduay Select, Deborrah Lippman, Palmers, OPI, Style Aromatheraphy, Havaianas, Piknik, Boracay Crossfit, Megstreetwear.ph and Meg. Sony Channel is seen on SKYCable Channel 35, Cignal Digital TV Channel 60, Destiny Cable Channel 62, Cable Link Channel 39.

‘let’s work past tirades, unite to move the country forward’ – Marcos Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. shrugged off the moves launched against his candidacy saying he will continue to speak of national unity and his programs that will help the Filipino people.

Speaking before members of the Rotary Club in Baguio City on their 19th Chartered Anniversary at the Newtown Plaza Hotel, Marcos said while the criticisms hurled against him are part of the election process, he didn’t think further division is what the country needs at this point in its history.

“All of these backstabbing, name-calling, paninira, pagmumura, pag-iinit ng ulo, walang silbi ‘yan. Sa aking palagay, bawat halalan, ang tanong ng tao sa bawat kandidato ay simple lang - ano ang magagawa mo para pagandahin ang buhay ko, bakit kita iboboto? At ‘yan ang dapat sagutin,” he said.

He said while it is easier to engage in name-calling and backstabbing, he has decided

not to join in the fray of mudslinging because it is not what the people deserve to hear from their candidates.

“Mas mahirap magbigkas ng programa, mas madali manira (para sa iba). It is unfair sa ating mga voters na ginagawang parang teleserye ang pulitika na nagsisigawan, nag-iiyakan, nag-aaway, pero maganda lang ‘yan sa telebisyon… That is why I have avoided it and I will continue to talk about program,” he stressed He also called on the people to forget the “pains” brought about by the elections as he urged them to join him in his campaign for national unity.

“Pagdating ng kampanya, maraming nasasabing masasakit na salita, pagtataas ng boses. Mahirap talagang sabihin na kalimutan na natin ‘yun, but we have to do it. We have to do it because if we continue to fight amongst ourselves because of politics, then nothing will get done, nothing will get done to finally solve our problems, to move the country forward,” he said.

The Rotary Club of Baguio City gives a rousing welcome to vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.

‘Dad taught me not to hold a grudge against anyone’ – Sandro Marcos

Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos, 22, eldest son of vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., charms the faculty and students of AMA University during the university’s forum webcast

Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos, 22, eldest son of vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., proved to be as endearing as his father when he spoke before a student body in Quezon City recently.

Subbing for his father who was in Bohol for a campaign sortie, the young Marcos charmed and delighted the students and faculty of the AMA Education System on Panay Avenue in Quezon City during the university’s forum webcast streamed live in AMA’s 39 campuses across the country.

Interviewed by AMA Executive Director of the Special Projects Division Ludivina Pagkalinawan, Sandro said his father had always told him

not to hold a grudge against anyone and instead reach out and offer a helping hand even in the face of the harshest and most painful criticisms.

“Despite my youth and inexperience, I believe him and I think these are the best and surest ways to win the trust and the hearts and minds of everybody, including the Anti-Marcoses, the haters, the doubters, and the still-undecided out there,” he said.

And whatever the outcome of the coming elections, the young Marcos said his father will continue to reach out to every Filipino.

When asked about the possibility of making peace with the family’s critics, Sandro said it is highly possible. “Despite everything, I believe in the possibility of making peace someday,” he said.

Sandro also explained how impressed his father was with the cutting-edge system being employed in AMA. “He said that this is clear testament to the innovation and creativity of AMA, which are precisely the reasons why AMA has continued to make waves in all its strong years in the task of educating the youth of our country,” Sandro said.

In the student-submitted questions portion of the webcast, Sandro answered fun and light-hearted queries from the AMA system’s students from across the country.

When asked whether he believed in the concept of “forever”, the good-natured Sandro took a cue from his father and had this to say, “I do believe in forever - that I’m forever a Filipino and that I will forever love this country.”

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wEDnES DAy : A pRIl 20, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

A moVIE bESt SEEn In ImAX wIThOuT wang2 nIckIE wang

M

arvel’s Captain America: Civil War is the first film to use the new IMAX/Arri 2D Camera, which enables viewers to have better and immersive experience watching a movie.

This we learned at the launch of Captain America: Civil War exhibit on display at SM North Edsa.

IMAX has been very selective as to who utilizes its cameras, limiting it to Zack Snyder (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice), Brad Bird (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Christopher Nolan (Interstellar), and J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

Naturally, the film is best projected on IMAX screens, which widen the view of the scene making sure no perspective is cut off frame.

In a recent interview, the film’s co-director said, “When you’re working on a Marvel film, there’s a sense of showmanship that goes along with the movies, and no exhibitor exploits that better than IMAX.” Also at the launch, SM unveiled the eight-feet tall statues of Iron Man and Captain America. Interactive activities are also available. The booth is open to the public and will be available at SM City North EDSA. Fans are encouraged to “make a stand” by choosing #SMTeamCap or #SMTeamIronMan online to win a threeday, two-night stay at a hotel in Singapore and a chance to see Chris Evans and other stars live at Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War blue carpet premiere at the Marina Bay Sands.

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War will be out in all IMAX theatres and SM Cinemas beginning April 27.

Sm lifestyle Entertainment, Inc.’s nicole Deato and Disney media’s Anna Driz at the Captain America Civil war exhibit in Sm north Edsa

Clark County Jail without officers, fellow inmates, or staff knowing their secret.

This social experiment is documented for the series entitled 60 Days In, an unprecedented new, original docu-series following seven innocent participants who enter the dangerous world of incarceration at the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville,

Indiana, in an effort to expose internal issues and what really happens behind bars.

“While I cannot give a lot of details away, I will say that being incarcerated as an inmate on the show has completely changed me. I am a different person. I think differently, I act differently, I view life differently.

You will see me go through a complete

transformation,” Barbra noted in an email interview with The Standard.

She added that her most memorable experience in jail was when she finally hit her breaking point with an inmate who had antagonized her since the day she arrived.

“I was able to get to the bottom of what was really going on and figure out why she was so threatened by me. You will have to watch the show to see what happens,” she said.

When we asked what were their living conditions like and how did she adapt to it, Barbra answered: “A day to day schedule in jail would be to sleep all day and stay awake all night.”

She said that they would wake up at around 8 a.m. for breakfast after only having about 3 hours of sleep. After lunch, they usually tried to stay awake for the rest of the day and read books, or draw pictures and in her case, write stories in her journal.

“I would find ways to bide the time until dinner…showed up around 5 p.m. After dinner, I would play cards, watch TV, or continue to write stories in my journal. You almost go through a complete time flop in jail, because most inmates stay awake all night long and sleep all day, because they say “it makes the time go by faster,” Barbra ended.

60 Days In premiered on April 9 at 9 p.m. on CI, which is available on Skycable Ch 98, Dream Satellite Ch 35, Cablelink Ch 41 and Destiny Cable Ch 98.

‘60 Days In’ prison

“The most interesting thing that I went through while I while I was incarcerated was the complete world change. When you leave behind your life to go to jail, it is almost like entering a different country.”

This is the statement of Barbra, a military wife and a mother of two, who volunteered to live in jail for 60 days. She is one of the seven participants that lived inside the

“60 Days In” is an unprecedented new, original docu-series following seven innocent participants who enter the dangerous world of incarceration

cROsswORD puzzlE 38 39 40 41

answer PreVIOUs PUZZLe

ACROSS 1 Hodgepodge 7 Health resort 10 Wine-press residue 14 Ilsa in “Casablanca” 15 Successful at-bat 16 Helm position 17 Potato flour 18 Mi. above sea level 19 Layered mineral

20 Funnel maker 23 Understands intuitively 26 Got acquainted 27 Watered silk 28 Ruby and garnet 29 All-purpose MDs 30 Dock denizen 31 — take forever!

32 Mr. in Bombay 33 Swollen ego 37 Prior to

Ben- — More than med.

Hire a lawyer On the house (2 wds.)

43 Sighs of relief 44 Prefix for dent 45 Rapper — Kim 46 Mich. neighbor 47 High wire act 48 Colorado ski resort 51 Tampa Bay pro 52 Full of lip 53 Dismay at the dealers (2 wds.)

56 Journey 57 Winery feature 58 Canceled 62 Rev the engine 63 Floe or berg 64 Natural 65 Used plastic 66 Was in front 67 Longitude unit DOWN 1 Skippy rival 2 One, to Maria 3 Dept. head 4 Building blocks 5 Nobelist — Pauling 6 Party cheese 7 Fossil-yielding rocks 8 Sitcom demo 9 Business letter abbr.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016

10 11 12 13 21 22 23 24 25 29 30 32 33 34 35 36 42 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 54 55 59 60 61

Tar pit victim Suspect’s need Happen again Knock it off Strike caller PR concerns Deep distress Nostalgic style Stranger Thin porridge Some angles Draw up Turn pale “Melrose Place” star Sights for psychics Apollo but not NASA Speckled Bounced by the bouncer Feigning Kind of turf Camel’s backbreaker Thug’s gun Shore up Tea biscuit Malicious Roman poet — es Salaam Nice summer Billy — Williams

barbra, one of the civilians who volunteered to be part of “60 Days In”

wEDnES DAy : A pRIl 20, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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VIVA lAuncHES book on cElEbRItIES

V

RJ Books, the new publishing label of VIVA Communications, Inc., launched the book Conversations Pa More with Ricky Lo. The book is a collection of classic interviews with over 60 stars including Kris Aquino, Alden Richards, Maine Mendoza, Piolo Pascual, Sam Milby, Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera, Heart Evangelista, Luis Manzano, and Robin Padilla. The interviews were culled from the popular “Conversations” newspaper column in Philippine Star. Behind the interviews is veteran entertainment journalist Ricky Lo, who is well loved and highly regarded by celebrities and highly respected by readers.

Conversations Pa More With Ricky Lo offers colorful, juicy, and revealing time capsules not only of

the public and private lives of the featured celebrities but also of some unforgettable milestones in Philippine showbiz. The book comes with several previously unreleased exclusive photos. It is now available at National Bookstore and Powerbooks stores nationwide.

VRJ Books is one of the newest publishing labels in the country. It will specialize in celebrity-oriented titles anchored on VIVA Communications, Inc.’s vast pool of artists as well as other showbiz personalities.

Scheduled for release as well is a biography of Wenn Deramas, whose last project the blockbuster director completed before his untimely death in late February. Also in the pipeline is the first lifestyleoriented book from young superstars and reel- and real-life couple, James Reid and Nadine Lustre.

“conversation with Ricky lo” offers colorful, juicy, and revealing time capsules of some unforgettable milestones in philippine showbiz

James Reid and nadine lustre, otherwise known as JaDine, endear their fans in the Middle East and Europe

James and nadine’s love journey reach new heights

Much has been written about the real and reel-life romance of James Reid and Nadine Lustre, but no words can capture the phenomenon that their love team, best known as JaDine, has spurred from movie, television, and recently via the concert stage at The Filipino Channel’s (TFC) JaDine Love World Tour in the Middle East and Europe on March 18 and 19 in Qatar and Dubai and March 26 and 27 in London and Milan.

As soon as the lights were switched on, the music started playing and the love team came out one after the other. The walls of the Doha Convention Center, Al Nasr Leisureland, ExCel London and Palasesto Milan reverberated with screams, singalongs and calls for encore from fans, including some who came all the way from Rome, Austria, Germany, Spain, Norway and the U.S. and that also included a few foreign nationals.

The approval from the fans did not come with just the “kilig” factor. James, a singer-musician himself proved that he is definitely more than good looks as he serenaded his love with hits.

Nadine is a singer and a graceful dancer too. She won awards at the Myx Music Awards 2016 proving her worth as a well-rounded artist much to the amazement of fans. In the four-city tour, Nadine sang various hits from her own album and various female artists.

On stage, the two were a delight to watch as they performed their most famous duets such as “Bahala Na,” classics such as “It

Might Be You” and contemporary hits such as “Marvin Gaye”

by Charlie Puth.

The famous couple continued to play beautiful music together figuratively and literally as they did an interpretative dance to Juan Miguel Severo’s poignant poetry, one of the most memorable parts of their teleserye On the Wings of Love or OTWOL to most.

While the couple was not necessarily seeking their parents’ approval at this point, the duo seemed to have earned the veritable yes when James’ mom Maria Aprilyn “Ella” Marquinez came to support Nadine and her son’s concert. For the United Kingdom (UK) leg, it was one for the books.

Highlighting the show was the “On the Wings of Love” segment where Rockoustic Princess Yeng Constantino reached the high notes to deliver one of the famous Filipino remakes of a world hit that has been interpreted over and over again because of its timeless theme.

Constantino shared an interesting story during the tour. Like a big sister, she acted as mentor to Nadine who, like Yeng, is also a singer. Yeng said, “In every tour, there is a new tip that I share with Nadine.” Together, they performed Original Pilipino Music (OPM) hits both Yeng’s and of other OPM artists’ such as “Turete” by Moonstar 88.

Also performing more of the hits from one of the most successful teleseryes of all time is King of R & B JayR. “Ang Probinsyano’s” Tart ‘Doris’ Carlos headlined the pre-show event.

Their Manila concert may have witnessed how the two became real-life partners, but in the four cities, JaDine treated the fans with their own kilig moments.

While thanking James for their years as friends first and then partners later, Nadine quipped, “Thank you for making me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.” The crowd went wild when James replied, “That is because you are.”

James and Nadine did not only entertain and thrill the crowd but also spread the love that’s been overflowing from both from them and the fans.

Sharing the Love

What touched fans in London most was when the breakout love team personally visited the nurses at the Maple wing of the Ashford & St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation to pay tribute to their hard work and devotion to their families.

All these adventures and more will be captured in a travelogue dubbed JaDine Flying High on Love Special airing tomorrow, April 10. Catch the much-anticipated special on TFC’s various platforms worldwide: Internet protocol television (IPTV), satellite (live in the Middle East and Europe), cable, and online via TFC’s official online service TFC.tv For more information, visit emea.kapamilya.com.

For Filipinos in the Asia Pacific, watch out for details to the JaDine Love World Tour in Singapore at facebook.com/TFCSingapore.

kapamilya stars support tFc’s #Vote4ASelfieworthypH campaign Part of TFC’s advocacy to promote overseas voting, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs Overseas Voting Secretariat (DFA OVS) and COMELEC Office for the Overseas Voting, the #Vote4ASelfieWorthyPH campaign aims to make the voice of the overseas Filipino (OF) heard by way of their participation in the coming national elections.

ABS-CBN entertainment and news personalities share TFC’s belief in the importance of the OF vote and have shown this by ‘casting’ their support by way of posting selfies of themselves against a backdrop or scenario they want improved for the country.

#Vote4ASelfieWorthyPH has seen the likes of stars comedienne – actress Marietta “Pokwang” Subong, actress and “TFC Connect” host Dimples Romana; The Voice Finalist Morissette; comedian-hosts Doris “Yaya Tart” Carlos of Ang Probinsyano; comedian-host and Pangako Sa `Yo DJ Jai Ho; indie film actor Nathan Lopez; Star Magic artist Inah Estrada posting on their social networking sites on causes that are close to their hearts, with the hope that they will see answers to these when they choose the right leaders.

Beyond reporting the latest updates on overseas voting, TV Patrol anchor and Sagip Kapamilya advocate Bernadette Sem-

brano and respected broadcast journalist and overseas Filipino advocate Jing Castañeda, showed their support as well by doing their own selfies from the beautiful provinces of the homeland such as Albay and Bohol.

In the final count, there are over 1.23 million registered voters according to the DFA OVS. With the campaign, TFC, DFA OVS and COMELEC OFOV hope to convert them into voters.

Overseas Filipinos can vote from April 9 to May 9 Manila time. Before exercising their right to vote, OFs can check their names at the Certified List of Voters at comelec.gov.ph. Voting will be conducted at the nearest Philippine Embassy, Consulate

General, MISSION or Manila Economic and Cultural office (MECO). In the meantime, deadline of requests for mailing of ballots is on April 22. To vote, OFs just need to bring their valid passport and ID. For more information on the campaign, election-related news and reminders, visit news.abs-cbn.com/Halalan216 or dfaoavs.gov.ph Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krbxos5SR8k&feature =youtu.be Make your voice heard and post your own hash tag using #Vote4ASelfieWorthyPH and see your posts at the same site (if you use a public account).

w ednes day : a pril 20, 2016

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isaH V. red EDITOR niCKie wanG WRITER

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ “expressway” director ato Bautista with the film’s star aljur abrenica

sinag Maynila Film Festival CeO wilson Tieng with Festival director internationally acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Mendoza

“dyamper” director Mes de Guzman (3rd from left) with film cast members Kristofer King, liza dino-seguerra and alchris Galura

“T.p.O” director Jay altejeros with Mara lopez

“lila” director Gino M. santos (4th from left) with stars enchong dee, Janine Gutierrez and sherry lara

“M.r.s.” director adolf alix Jr. with actress lotlot de leon

5 nEW fIlms DEbuT In sInag maynIla ISAH V. RED

F

ans of independently produced Filipino films will feast on five new films that will be screened at the Sinag Maynila, the country’s newest independent film festival.

The five and thought provoking movies from young Filipino filmmakers will be screened beginning on April 21 till the 26th at certain screens of the SM Cinemas, particularly theaters at SM City Manila, SM City North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, and SM Aura Premier where Ginebra san Miguel inc.

(GsMi), maker of the world’s no. 1 selling gin Ginebra san Miguel, was the event’s bar host. with its premium Gin Journey bar set-up, GsM served guests handcrafted cocktails such as Calamansi surprise, sweet lemony Martini, and the classic gin and tonic, among others.

the red carpet opening ceremonies will be held.

A joint project of Solar Entertainment, Centerstage Productions, SM, and Samsung, the festival seeks to inspire, educate, and enlighten the viewing public. Now on its second year of providing independent filmmakers a brand new platform to showcase their stories, Sinag Maynila will feature films that reflect Filipino culture, while presenting social issues deserving of discussion among audiences here and abroad.

Conceptualized and helmed by its founder and CEO Wilson Tieng, together with world-renowned and internationally acclaimed Filipino Filmmaker Brilliante Mendoza, Sinag Maynila’s first batch of world class films were recognized for their

excellence here and abroad. This year, expect more invitations from international film festivals as Sinag Maynila 2016 presents a new batch of compelling feature films created by the some of the country’s brilliant filmmakers.

Five filmmakers closely collaborated with Tieng and Mendoza, resulting in stories that reflect the Filipino culture while illustrating messages that will resonate globally.

Dyamper by Mes De Guzman follows the story of Apeng, Poknat, and Tinoy who are “dyampers” on the lookout to steal from rice trucks as they meander along the treacherous winding roads of Dalton Pass. In one of their encounters, they accidentally discover a pack of illegal substances, which will lead them to the biggest mission of their lives. It stars Carlo Aquino, Alchris Galura, Tim Mabalot, Kristofer King, Liza DinoSeguerra, and Debbie Garcia.

Expressway by Ato Bautista is

an action film where old-timer Ben needs to do one last assign-

ment before the syndicate boss he works for grants him his much delayed retirement. Assigned to be his partner is neophyte Morris, yearning to prove his worth. This last trip will turn out to be a journey of introspection, self-healing, and redemption. The film stars Alvin Anson, Aljur Abrenica, Kiko Matos, Antoinette Reds, Jim Libiran, Japo Parcero, and Judith Javier.

Lila by Gino M. Santos is a psychological-thriller. To escape a past

that threatens to consume her, a young woman decides to move into a house owned by a warmhearted landlady, looking for a fresh start and a chance for atonement. The house, however, has other ideas.

Janine Gutierrez, Enchong Dee, Sherry Lara, and Migs Cuaderno are the main performers in the film.

M.R.S. by Adolf Alix Jr. is the story of 70-year old Virginia who lives in a bungalow house that stands on an earthquake fault area.

When her ever-loyal maid Delia tells her she’d be leaving for good, what follows shows a portrait of a woman and a mother trying to juggle the sad realities of life. Elizabeth Oropesa, Rosanna Roces, and Lotlot de Leon play the central characters in the film.

T.P.O. by Joselito Altarejos follows the life of Teresa, an abused wife who attempts to secure her freedom by filing a temporary protection order against her abusive husband only to be caught in the battered system of bureaucracy filled with neglect and indifference.

This year’s Sinag Maynila also introduces two new categories to the festival - the Short Film Category and the Samsung Cinefone Category. The finalists in these categories were gathered from numerous entries from students, and up and coming filmmakers.

The film entries in the Short Film Category come from independent filmmakers who have not yet released any full-length

films commercially neither entered in any contests or festivals.

The entries are 5 to 15mins long.

Samsung Cinefone Category entries, on the other hand, are 3-5 minutes long, following a theme on the transformative power of technology to inspire.

These are produced and directed by students who are endorsed by their schools.

The Sinag Maynila Gala Night will be held on April 21 while the Awards Night on April 24, both at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura Premier. During the latter, the festival will be recognizing excellence in Film, Direction, Performance, Screenplay, Cinematography, and Production Design.

For those who are planning to watch all of the Sinag Maynila 2016 films, avail the Sinag Maynila ePLUS promo. The ePLUS promo is a Sinag Maynila card that contains One ticket each to the Sinag Maynila 2016 screening at a special discounted price of P100, One FREE ticket to the OPENING FILM, One FREE ticket to the CLOSING FILM and One FREE ticket to the Brillante Mendoza Film Appreciation Course. Get your ePLUS card at all Cinema branches nationwide.

Sinag Maynila is a partnership between Solar Entertainment, Centerstage Productions, SM and Samsung. Event sponsors also include Ginebra San Miguel, McDonald’s Love Ko To, Boysen, 2nd Avenue and JackTV.