The Standard - 2016 May 26 - Thursday by Manila Standard

VOL. XXX NO. 103 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 THURSDAY : MAY 26, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Aguirre: Speed up case of SAF44

CHR FINDS RODY LIABLE FOR ‘JOKE’

Gascon: Duterte violated law on women’s rights By John Paolo Bencito and Rio N. Araja

DAVAO CITY—The Commission on Human Rights said Wednesday that President-in-waiting Rodrigo Duterte violated the Magna Carta of Women with his infamous remark that he should have been first to have sex with an attractive Australian missionary who was raped and killed in a prison riot in 1989.

“The CHR, in the dispositive part of the resolution found the words and actions of Mayor Duterte to be discriminatory of women that is enjoined by the Magna Carta of Women,” the CHR said in a statement. In an April 22 letter by Karen Gomez-Dumpit, commissioner for women and gender concerns, Duterte was informed that a complaint had been filed against him over the remark.

Duterte, however, ignored the request from the CHR to comment on the complaint. Since it doesn’t have policing powers, CHR said the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Interior and Local Government would have to consider appropriate measures based on its findings. “The CHR has the sacred constitutional duty to protect human rights and to call out persons when

these rights are violated no matter what their position in society may be,” CHR Chairman Chito Gascon said in a statement. “The commission believes that this mandate does not exculpate Mayor Duterte from acts committed or words uttered in the course of the electoral campaign when it involves breaches to fundamental rights, in this case, the prohibition of gender-based discrimination and Next page violence,” he added.

Canvass starts. Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives are joined by Comelec officials and lawyers for presidential and vice presidential candidates in inspecting the Certificates of Canvass on the first day of the official counting of votes for the top two positions at the Batasan session hall in Quezon City on Wednesday. MANNY PALMERO

NDF gives Digong list of names for Cabinet

Ex-Comelec chairman raps poll agency By Joel E. Zurbano, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Maricel V. Cruz THE Commission on Elections and its automated election project partner Smartmatic Corp. should be held responsible for the system change in the transparency server on the night of the

May 9 polls, former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod said Wednesday. “It may be just cosmetic change. But it just shows that the system is vulnerable. We have known that for a long time that there is no system that is not vulnerable. The Comelec did not have tight control or safeguarding,” said Monsod in a forum at the Club Fili-

pino in San Juan. He also denounced how Smartmatic has been given so much power in the conduct of the elections, saying it should not have been the case. “The biggest lesson in automation is never let the supplier control the operation. Never give them control Next page

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China’s African allies join ‘PR war’ BEIJING, China—The disputed rocks and reefs of the South China Sea are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger. But that has not stopped the striferidden, largely desert country of 17-million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters. Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include Togo, Afghanistan and Burundi. They are among the latest foot soldiers in “a public relations war” by China aimed at questioning international maritime rules, said Ashley Townshend, a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. The tribunal case, brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague by the Philippines, is highly technical and hinges on such issues as how international law defines “islands.” Niger joined the ranks of “over 40 countries that have officially endorsed China’s position” that the issues should be settled through direct negotiations, not international courts, said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

That, she added, was just the start: “There will be more and more countries and organizations supporting China.” Similar announcements have become an almost daily ritual at China’s foreign ministry media briefings, as it steels itself for what is widely expected to be an unfavorable ruling by the tribunal that could come within weeks. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea, on the basis of a segmented line that first appeared on Chinese maps in the 1940s, pitting it against several neighbors. But it is also a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Manila accuses Beijing of flouting the convention and has called for the tribunal, set up in 1899, to rule on the row. Beijing insists that the court does not have jurisdiction, arguing that any claims to the contrary are politically motivated, and has boycotted the proceedings. “By cobbling together a group of nations that share its views, Beijing’s aim

CHR...

“On average, six to seven people would be found dead each day, often these would be members of the police and the military,” incoming police chief Ronald dela Rosa, who was a junior officer in Davao in the late 1980s, said in an interview. “We were living in fear, not knowing when they would strike when you leave the house or if they will attack you in the comfort of your home.” At a briefing this month, Duterte said he wants to implement the kind of policies he used in Davao—such as curfews for minors and bans on public drinking and late-night karaoke sessions—on a nationwide scale to ensure peace and order. To make good on his campaign promise to fight crime, he said he intends to issue shoot-to-kill orders against criminals, or to execute them by hanging. “Robbery with homicide with rape: double the hanging,” Duterte said. “Hang first then there will be another ceremony for the second time so that the head will be completely severed from the body. I would like that.” Davao still recorded the most murders among the Philippines’ 15-biggest cities from 2010 to 2015, according to police data. There were 1,032 murders in Davao during the period, 10 times more than Makati City. “Doing what he did in Davao to fight crime will be very difficult to do on a national scale,’’ said Prospero de Vera, a professor of public administration at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. “In Davao, he tells criminals to get out of the city. Will he tell criminals to get out of the country?’’ While Duterte’s approach may raise concerns over human rights and police powers, for many in a country that has been held back for years by corruption and crime, his reputation and hardline rhetoric are appealing. Preliminary results show the firebrand politician won 39 percent of the vote in this month’s election, beating four rivals. But not everyone buys the Davao success story. “All this hype about Davao is not borne out of statistics,’’ said De Vera. “If you go to Davao, many problems of urban areas are still there, such as criminality and prostitution.’’ With Bloomberg

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Women’s rights groups who filed a complaint last month said Duterte’s actions placed “in peril the future of many children and young women who are potential victims of violence against women.” “What protection and redress would they expect in a society where men tolerate such a violation?” the complaint letter read. Those who signed the complaint were representatives from Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, World March of WomenPilipinas, Lilak (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights), WomanHealth Philippines, Kasarian-Kalayaan, Sagip-Ilog Pilipinas, Sentro ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas, Labor Education and Research Network, and Pilipina-Ang Kilusan ng Kababaihang Pilipino. The Palace on Wednesday supported the CHR decision and said the commission did its duty in fulfilling its mandate. “In adopting the Resolution, the CHR, as an independent and constitutionally created body, has done its duty in fulfilling its mandate and as an advocate of women’s rights,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., in a statement.. “How the incoming President will address matters pertaining to women’s rights and dignity during his watch will certainly be of paramount interest to the citizenry,” said Coloma. “Unlike during the campaign, when he shrugged off criticisms of such remarks, as president he would be expected to demonstrate strong and faithful adherence to the principles enshrined in the Magna Carta for Women and to all the laws of the land,” Coloma also said. Duterte, who campaigned on his success at suppressing crime in Davao City, may find it much harder to impose his anti-crime measures across the country, not least because Davao was an extreme case. By the 1980s, shootings were a daily occurrence, especially in areas where army-backed militias battled police and communist guerrillas. Robberies and kidnappings were rampant.

is to show that there is a genuine debate over the legality of the Philippines’ legal challenge,” Townshend said. “It is trying to build a counternarrative to push back against the mainstream international consensus on maritime law.” Despite requests by AFP the foreign ministry in Beijing did not provide a full list of China’s backers on the issue. But other than its main diplomatic partner Russia, few heavy hitters have come out in support, with Beijing’s neighbors—many of them unnerved by its increasingly assertive behavior—notably absent. Many of those disclosed so far are poor African countries, and Bonnie Glaser, a senior Asia advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the names as “mostly composed of smaller, inconsequential nations.” In some cases the claimed support has been short-lived. The South Pacific island nation of Fiji and EU member Slovenia both quickly denied Chinese foreign ministry statements that they were backing Beijing, with Ljubljana saying: “We do not take sides on the issue.”

Zhu Feng, an international relations expert at Peking University, said: “I don’t really feel that China’s recent public diplomacy activities have been very successful.” Beijing, he said, “needs to develop its diplomatic activities and fight for more supporting voices.” But China’s options are limited. “While China has built odd coalition partners stretching from Russia to Mauritania and Venezuela to Gambia, the Philippines counts on support from the US, Japan, Australia, Britain and others, including respected global bodies like the EU and G7,” Townshend said. The ruling will be determined by the judges, he pointed out: “Neither side’s supporters have any bearing on the outcome.” Even so Beijing is still turning to countries like uranium-rich Niger, for whom the benefits of taking China’s side probably outweigh the costs. China’s state-owned oil giant CNPC has poured billions of dollars into Niger’s oil industry, which is almost entirely dependent on Chinese enterprises. It is one of many relationships Beijing has cultivated for such situations, said Deborah Brautigam, of the Johns Hopkins School of Ad-

vanced International Studies. “The Chinese provide official development assistance mainly for diplomatic reasons,” she said, adding “when they need diplomatic support for something... the foreign ministry requests it.” “Something like this has little cost to an African country.” The Philippines, meanwhile, is likely to continue to lean on the United States under the terms of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the two countries, even as a new president is sworn in on June 30. President-in-waiting Rodrigo Duterte acknowledges that the Philippines isn’t capable of protecting itself amid the continuing Chinese intrusion into its territories. “I have no problem with Edcasanctioned use of Philippine military bases by US troops, because we don’t have good external defense capabilities,” Duterte said in a recent press conference in Davao City. The Edca, signed by both countries in 2014, allows American troops to build facilities and increase its rotational presence in five Philippine military bases in the face of rising sea row tensions with China. Vito Barcelo, AFP

Ex-Comelec...

Computer Society, told The Standard that cheating happened even before the May 9 polls. “About 30 days before the elections, the Comelec said there would be a change in the source code, even though the code should have been certified 90 days earlier. Why did we bother with a source code review? They’re saying there was something wrong with the configuration or in the list of candidates, which is quite lame,” he said. Casino also believed that the unauthorized change in the server on May 9 affected the votes for vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “The election management system has a master file, if you go there you will see the list of all candidates, their areas and positions. If you get to the master file, you can do anything. The mere fact that the file is there is wrong, but the Comelec let that go,” he added. One of the complainants against Smartmatic and the Comelec, the activist priest Robert Reyes, rejected proposals to proclaim the winner in the vice presidential race before conducting a systems audit of the transparency and central servers of the automated election system. He said these issues would become moot and academic once a winning candidate is proclaimed. Reyes said a system audit should be conducted first to resolve the reported anomalies and clarify all issues. Members of the Mata sa Balota Movement led by Rodolfo Javellana said Wednesday they are set to file an impeachment complaint against Comelec officials in connection with the alleged irregularities during the elections. Election watchdog AES Watch co-convenor Bobby Tuazon earlier described the recently concluded election as “disaster.” “After monopolizing the election technology in three automated elections, it is time for Smartmatic to call it quits,” Tuazon said. He added it was Smartmatic that “practically counted the votes by using a system that is not transparent thus leaving the country’s mil-

lions of voters in the dark whether their votes were properly and accurately counted.” The Comelec earlier said it deferred Marcos’ request that his IT experts be allowed to do a system audit in view of the unauthorized changes in the program used by the transparency server. Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista confirmed that the commission en banc has decided to indefinitely defer Marcos’ request. “It was our unanimous vote to defer action on the request of Senator Marcos,” Bautista said adding that the Commission en banc had a very “comprehensive” discussions last Tuesday’s meeting on Marcos’ request. Bautista said the Comelec had reservations about granting the request, considering the Marcos camp has already filed cases against them, and might use the audit in those pending complaints. “There are these criminal complaints versus Smartmatic and Comelec. What could happen if they find anything during the audit? Will they use it as evidence?” Bautista said. Bautista also said they were wary about the effects of such an audit on the ongoing canvassing at the Congress. “We have reservations since canvassing has already begun in Congress, which also has the mandate to proclaim the winning president and vice president. So, what could be its effect if we allow this audit by a particular candidate?” he said, without elaborating. Bautista said that system audit may not be necessary since the Comelec has already given all political parties, including the camp of Marcos, some enough time to scrutinize the automate election systems (AES) months before the elections on May 9. He did not say, however, how this scrutiny could have foreseen the unauthorized changes in the transparency server code made by a Smartmatic technician on the evening of May 9, after the polls had closed.

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or access to all critical and important points. They do their jobs, they supply the software but ...the supplier must not operate. This must be purely the responsibility of the Comelec and the Filipino experts in technology,” Monsod said. Smartmatic was also the automated election project partner of the poll body in the 2010 presidential elections and 2013 mid-term polls. Monsod called on the government to conduct an investigation on the insertion made by Smartmatic to the transparency server and other election-related irregularities and violent incidents in Mindanao, particularly in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Basilan. Witnesses revealed that no election happened in the areas because the people were prevented by supporters of the ruling Liberal Party, the political party of outgoing President Benigno Aquino III. Bassir Utto, who ran for vice mayor under the United Nationalist Alliance at Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao, said many of his supporters were prevented by people of incumbent LP Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom from entering their precincts. LP supporters, Utto said, also engaged in ballot shading in favor of administration candidate for vice president Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo. He said he has the video to show the wholesale vote shaving in favor of Robredo in his province. Victor Abillo, provincial coordinator of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte in Basilan, also said his watchers in the municipalities in the province reported to them that many voters were prevented from casting their votes by armed men who controlled the precincts. In many of these areas, he pointed out, all the presidential and vice presidential candidates except former Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and Robredo had zero votes. Information technology expert Edmund Casino, of the Philippine

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Aguirre wants case of SAF 44 speeded up THE Department of Justice under the incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will speed up the resolution of the criminal charges against those responsible for the deaths of 44 Special Action Force Commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in January last year, an official said Wednesday. The accused in the deadly encounter are 90 commanders and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and private armed groups. Incoming Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said he was disappointed at the delays in the resolution of the charges that the National Bureau of Investigation filed against the accused. He said he knew the case by heart because he had been a lawyer of former SAF chief director Getulio Napeñas. “Charges were filed against Napeñas but the culprits who killed the SAF [commandos] are still roaming free,” Aguirre said. Napeñas was indicted for neglect of duty along with dismissed Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima. Last week, outgoing Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas said there were “certain sensitivities” being considered in the case. “It is hard to commit [when the case will be resolved],” Caparas said. “There are certain sensitivities that we are trying to protect. We want to do what is best for everybody as much as possible,” he said without elaborating. The Justice Department concluded its preliminary investigation in January but has not released a resolution. Caparas had said the resolution would be released in February, but after a month he said there would be a slight delay and that the resolution would be issued in March. Last month, when asked for an update on the case, Caparas said: “Let’s not talk about that, please.” Rey E. Requejo

Home again. Jonard Langamin, the 32-year-old native of Burias Island in Masbate who was spared the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, arrives at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Wednesday. ERIC APOLONIO

PDP-Laban asked to stop asking Liberals to switch THE once powerful Liberal Party is now pleading with the PDP-Laban to stop the “raid,” treat the Liberals as “equals” and not force them to switch parties if they want to join the so-called Coalition for Change. Ifugao Rep.-elect Teddy Brawner Baguilat made the plea after the PDPLaban made it a condition for the Liberals, mostly third termers who want to bag the major committee chairmanships, to first switch parties. Baguilat made his statement even as the 37-member party-list coalition in the 17th Congress on Wednesday expressed full support to incoming House Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, the top pick of Presidentin-waiting Rodrigo Duterte. The party-list group, led by 1-PACMAN party-list Rep. Mikee Romero, signed a coalition agreement with

Alvarez of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan at a breakfast meeting at The Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati City. Romero said they fully supported the leadership of Alvarez, who has promised to initiate reforms in the next administration by passing vital legislative measures that will benefit the Filipino people. The Liberals have won more than 100 seats, but they were among the first ones to jump ship and defect to the PDP-Laban, abandoning Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the vice chairman of the LP, in his fight to retain the highest post.

Baguilat said the treatment was not fair as the PDP-Laban allowed other major parties and former LP allies, such as the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Nacionalista Party and opposition Lakas-CMD, to coalesce with them while the Liberals were being made to swear allegiance to the party under which Davao del Norte Rep.-elect Pantaleon Alvarez and presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte ran and won. Several third-term Liberals, including Belmonte’s most trusted lieutenants who were lobbying for the major committee chairmanships, had jumped ship ahead of those from the other parties and joined Alvarez in the majority. The PDP-Laban won only three seats, including that of Alvarez, in the recent polls and due to the “exodus” and daily defections is now fast becoming the ruling party in the

House of Representatives. In the first salvo of defections, Alvarez announced some 50 congressmen from the Liberal Party had switched sides and vowed to back his speakership bid. Belmonte confirmed the Liberals would want to remain with the majority but those like him would align themselves with the minority. Belmonte, however, said the Liberals would not take the lead role in either the majority or minority, which would be contested by the opposition United Nationalist Alliance. UNA has yet to decide who among its 17 members would slug it out for the minority leadership. UNA president and Navotas Rep.elect Toby Tiangco and returning former Minority Leader Quezon Rep.-elect Danilo Suarez were both eyeing the position. Christine F. Herrera and Maricel V. Cruz

Barangay elections postponement eyed

Closing event. President Benigno Aquino III graces the National Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Compact Closing Event in Malacañang on Tuesday. With him are Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg and MCC chief executive Dana Hyde. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

THE Commission on Elections said Wednesday it plans to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to a later date to avoid “election fatigue” in the country. Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said it was not practical for the poll body to hold another voting exercise in October given that the national and local elections had just ended. “We have this so-called election fatigue. We don’t want to have too many elections in the country,” Bautista said. Although he had no any idea when it would be best to hold the Barangay and SK elections, Bautista said, they would ask the House of Representatives and the Senate to consider deferring them. “We will suggest that, maybe, it is better that we postpone it,” Bautista said. He also said it would be “costly” for them to conduct a manual election in over 420,000 villages in the country. “Aside from fatigue, holding elections is expensive, and mainly because we have to pay more teachers who will serve as Board of Election Tellers,” Bautista said. The barangay and youth elections are set to take place less than six months after the May 9 national and local elections. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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Digong: Install security managers By Florante S. Solmerin

Nominations submitted. President-apparent Rodrigo Duterte concludes three-hour talks with National Democratic Front chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili (second from right) who was accompanied by his wife Chit and ranking Communist Paty official Vicente Ladlad. JOHN PAOLO BENCITO

Reds submit names for key govt positions By John Paolo Bencito DAVAO CITY—In a three-hour meeting at Matina Enclaves here, the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines submitted its nominees to the incoming administration of President-apparent Rodrigo Duterte, ranking NDF official Fidel Agcaoili said Wednesday. “We submitted three names [nominees] for Cabinet positions and several other names for other lower positions,” Agcaoili told The Standard without identifying their nominees because “we should allow President Duterte to announce his appointees.” Agcaoili said he met with Duterte from 6:45 to 9:45 Tuesday

evening and was accompanied by his wife Chit and ranking Communist Party of the Philippines official Vicente Ladlad, who is believed to have been one of the possible successors of former CPP chairman Benito Tiamzon. Tiamzon was captured along with his wife and CPP secretarygeneral Wilma in Aloguinsan,

Cebu on March 22, 2014 in a security operation that has been called one of the biggest blows against the communist insurgency. “We respect the decision of President Duterte to appoint Secretary [Silvestre] Bello to the Department of Labor and Employment since he is a patriot. He is also a known progressive,” he added, referring to Duterte’s earlier announcement that he would name Bello to the labor portfolio. Bello, a former Justice secretary and congressmen, had served as chief government negotiator in the peace talks with the NDF, which is the umbrella organization of groups identifying itself with the national democratic movement in the country. Duterte had earlier said he would offer the DoLE, Department of Environment and Natural Resources,

Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Agrarian Reform to the Communist Party of the Philippines. Agcaoili did not specify how many people they nominated to be part of the Duterte administration but he said the president-in-waiting “appeared to be receptive” to the names submitted for the Cabinet. Aside from the NDF nominees, Agcaoili said they also discussed the possible resumption of the peace talks shortly after Duterte’s inauguration on June 30. But Agcaoili, chairman of the NDF human rights committee, also expressed concern at the human rights situation in the country. “Of course, the issue of respect for human rights will continue to be of major concern for the NDFP,” he said.

THE camp of President-inwaiting Rodrigo Duterte has urged the Aquino administration to officially install the incoming administration’s top security managers even before the new president’s inauguration on June 30. “The two generals ([the incoming chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and director general of the Philippine National Police] can assume in an acting capacity until President-elect Duterte is sworn into office,” said a retired general who is part of Duterte’s security team. “The change of command is to give the new military and police chiefs time to prepare Duterte’s security during the oathtaking,” said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that the turnover of commands to incoming AFP chief Lieutenant General Ricardo Visaya and designated PNP director general Chief Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa should be done at least a week before Duterte’s inauguration. Visaya is a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Matikas” Class 1983 while Dela Rosa belongs to PMA “Sandiwa” Class ’85. Duterte’s camp has already named Colonel Rolando Bautista to head the Presidential Security Group. Bautista (PMA Class ’85) is current commander of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade and concurrent commander of the Joint Task Group Basilan. Duterte has also named former military chief retired Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. as national security adviser. Esperon served as chief of staff during the administration of detained former president and reelected Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

‘Samboy Lim bill’ pushed By Rio N. Araja AT LEAST 1,600 cardiologists belonging to the Philippine Heart Association are hoping President Benigno Aquino III would sign the so-called “Samboy Lim bill” before he bows out of office on June 30. At a media briefing, Dr. Don Robespierre Reyes, editor-in-chief of “The Heart,” PHA’s official magazine, cited the importance of the enactment of the measure into law in lowering the high incidence of cardiac arrests among many Filipinos. “I hope you can help us convince the President to pass the bill,” he told reporters as he expressed optimism that the Duterte presidency would heed their call “if

Aquino does not sign this.” “Even if the bill is not signed under Aquino’s term, we [at the PHA] are positive and optimistic, in collaboration with [Philippine] Red Cross and American Heart Association, of its passage,” he said. Last December, inspired by Philippine Basketball Association legend Avelino “Samboy” Lim, Congress passed House Bill No. 5891 otherwise known as the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training Act sponsored by Lim’s colleague Rain or Shine head coach and Pampanga Rep. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao. “Just recently, the Senate passed on third and final reading the bill,” said Dr. Francis Lavapie, PHA’s Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Council

co-chairman. “The question is, who is the president that would sign it.” “We fervently hope and pray of its early passage into law by the President,” he added. According to Pag-IBIG president Darlene Berberabe, Lim’s former wife, she visited him at The Medical City to “let him know about the Senate’s approval of the bill.” “Dad, the Samboy Lim bill will be a law,” she said, adding “I am sure he is very happy that he was able to inspire people and make great contribution to the Filipino people.” The bill was called the Samboy Lim bill because no one was around to administer CPR on the former pro basketball star when he suffered a heart attack in November 2014.

Federalist moment. Members of the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte (MRRD) National

Movement for Federalism show support for the federalist proposals during the group’s launching on Wednesday. Among the members are (from left) Maria Lourdes Laurel Avanceña, chairman Guiling ‘Gene’ Mamondiong, former Finance secretary Margarito Teves and Ramon Posadas, among others. MANNY PALMERO

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Alvarez wins party-list support By Maricel V. Cruz The 37-member party-list coalition in the 17th Congress on Wednesday expressed full backing to the leadership of incoming house Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez being the best pick of Presidentelect Rodrigo Duterte to head the house in the next Congress. The party-list group, led by 1-Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, signed a coalition agreement with Alvarez of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) at a breakfast meeting at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City. Romero said they fully support the leadership of Alvarez who has promised to initiate reforms in the next administration by passing vital legislative measures that will benefit the Filipino people to effect a “true change.” “Two days after elections, an intimate party was formed by Tony Boy Floirendo. Just two weeks after that lunch, [Alvarez] now enjoys more than three-fourths or almost 260 of 290 House members who support his bid for speakership,” Romero told before the crowd. The party-list groups include 1Pacman, 1Care, Aangat Tayo, ABS, Agbiag, Amin, A-Teacher, Butil, Kabayan, Manila Teachers, TUCP, Ako Bicol, 1-Sagip, Aasenso, Acts-Ofw, Agri, Ang Kabuhayan, Bagong Henerasyon, Cibac, Kalinga, Mata, Yacap, 1-Ang Edukasyon, Aambis-Owwa, Abang Lingkod, Agap, Akbayan, Angkla, Buhay, Coop-Natco, and PBA. Also during the event, five district representatives-elect took their oath before Alvarez as new members of the PDP-Laban after winning their respective seats: Ricky Sandoval of Malabon-Navotas, Abraham Tolentino of Tagaytay, Roy Loyola of Cavite, Estrelita Suansing of Nueva Ecija, Along Malapitan of Caloocan, and Bingbong Crisologo of Quezon City. In the coalition agreement, the party-list group “manifested its support to the next Speaker, Pantaleon Alvarez, who promised fair and equitable distribution of positions including committee chairpersonships to the coalition.” The agreement also pointed out that the “coalition has expressed its support to the incoming Duterte administration by vowing to constructively cooperate in pushing for its legislative agenda in the House of Representatives.” Alvarez, for his part, vowed to give a “fair and equitable distribution” of committee leadership to members of the coalition.

Visayan bloc. Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo ‘Albee’ Benitez (2nd from left), leader of the Visayan bloc in Congress, joins other former members of the Liberal Party in pledging allegiance to the PDP-Laban of Daval Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (right) who is gunning for the speakership of the House of Representatives.

Comelec, Audit execs get confirmed By Macon Araneta THE Commission on Appointments on Wednesday approved the appointment of two oficials of the Commission on Elections and on Audit but deferred the confirmation of a Civil Service commissioner. During the CA’s plenary session with Senate President Franklin Drilon presiding, the appointments body approved the appointments of Comelec’s Sheriff Abas and CoA’s Isabel Dasalla-Agito but postponed the appointment of CSC’s Nieves Osorio. “The House requested for deferment,” said Drilon. But he did not know their concern. He said they will schedule them for the next session. “At least we confirmed the two commissioners of the said constitutional bodies,” Drilon said . During the next session, the Senate

leader said they will work on the confirmation of the Armed Forces and the career ministers and counsellors of the Department of Foreign Affairs, before Congress adjourns sine die. Before the CA agreed to Abas’ appointment, lawmakers from the CA’s committee on constitutional commissions and offices, questioned the Comelec official about the controversial introduction of a new script change in the transparency server on the night of the elections. The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting was conducting a quick count when an IT expert Marlon Garcia of Smartmatic introduced a new program that changed the hash code of the server. But Abas stressed that the script change, which corrected the “?” character into “ñ” that appeared in the names of some candidates, was made by Smartmatic without

clearance from the Comelec en banc. He also reiterated Garcia’s claim the alteration was just “cosmetic” and did not affect the results of the elections. He said Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista had already ordered an investigation into the matter. He likewise echoed the stance of Bautista that the new script that resulted in the change in hash code did not in anyway affect the results of the elections. On who gave Garcia the authority to change the script, Abas said: “As far as the en banc is concerned, there is none. Again, this is without prejudice to the investigation being conducted by our office.” Abas said he was only informed about the change two days after the incident. Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara asked Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, who was present in the plenary, about his views on the change script.

Palace: Nothing irregular about DAP use

Super flags. Lu Tan Gatue, owner of the Atlas Super Flags along Rizal Avenue in Sta Cruz Manila on Wednesday May 25 prepares a flag that will be unfurled during the commemoration rites for the Battle of Alapan on Saturday, May 28. Atlas is a fourthgeneration flag-making company. DANNY PATA

PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III followed the law on the implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program, Malacañang said on Wednesday. “As chief executive, President Aquino faithfully followed the Constitution and the laws of the land,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.. “If we may recall, the Supreme Court upheld the motion for reconsideration filed through the Office of the Solicitor General, particularly on the operative fact doctrine,” Coloma said. “In that decision, the Supreme Court categorically

ruled and upheld the presumption of regularity in the implementation of the DAP,” Coloma said. The incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will investigate the liabilities of government officials over unconstitutional acts committed under the DAP, according to Vitaliano Aguirre II, whom Duterte would tap for the post of Justice secretary. “We are going to investigate the DAP. If the evidence warrants, we are going to file cases,” Aguirre said, in a television interview. “He [Duterte] told me that charges should be filed no

matter who gets hurt. There should be no selective justice,” said Aguirre, who was Duterte’s law school classmate and fraternity brother in San Beda College. Aguirre did not elaborate on who would be covered by the investigation, but the Supreme Court had already set the grounds when it voided the DAP with finality in February last year. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and Associate Justice Arturo Brion have pointed to Aquino and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad as “authors” of DAP who could be held liable over the illegal acts. Sandy Araneta

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Flood control project hits snag By Vito Barcelo

Impeachment threat. Members of the ‘Mata sa Balota’ led by running priest Fr. Robert Reyes (2nd from left) discuss the filing of impeachment

complaint against Comelec officials who are responsible for alleged massive fraud and other election-related irregularities that took place during the May 9 elections. Former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod said the Comelec should be held responsible while losing candidates narrated how they were cheated in their areas during the elections. JOEL ZURBANO

Justice to consolidate three laundering cases By Rey E. Requejo

ALL three complaints filed by the AntiMoney Laundering Council arising from the $80.9 million stolen by hackers from the Bangladesh Bank and laundered to the country will be consolidated, a Justice official said on Wednesday. Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, head of the Department of Justice’s National Prosecution Service, stressed that the latest charges of money laundering against PhilRem Service Corp. would be consolidated with the first two similar charges filed by AMLC against former RCBC branch manager Maia Santos-Deguito and businessmen Kam Sin Wong alias Kim Wong and

Weikang Xu. “Yes, the latest AMLC complaint will also undergo preliminary investigation and will be consolidated to the first two related cases [against Deguito and Wong],” Arellano said in a text message to reporters. The Justice official said the complaint against PhilRem president Salud Bautista, chairman of the board and treasurer

Michael “Concon” Bautista and anti-money laundering compliance officer Anthony Pelejo filed last month would be referred to Asst. State Prosecutor Gilmarie Fe Pacamarra for hearing and resolution. Arellano said a separate subpoena would be issued in the next few days requiring the PhilRem officers to appear before the prosecutor and answer the charges of money laundering under Section 4 of the AntiMoney Laundering Act. In its 17-page complaint filed last April 27, the AMLC alleged that PhilRem officers were part of the conspiracy to launder the stolen money after investigation showed that $61 million was eventually converted and transferred to

PhilRem’s peso account at the RCBC-Unimart Greenhills branch. Pacamarra is already hearing the earlier complaints against Deguito and Wong filed last March and has set the next hearing on June 7. Deguito denied the charges and filed with the prosecutor her counteraffidavit last May 3. She asked the DoJ to dismiss the charges for lack of probable cause. She denied the allegation that she facilitated the laundering of the stolen money, insisting that it was former RCBC president Lorenzo Tan who ordered her to open the four fictitious accounts where the $80,884,641.63 stolen by hackers from the

Bangladesh Bank went. The former manager of the bank’s branch in Jupiter Street in Makati City stressed all the transactions in her branch had the approval of Tan, claiming that she is only being used as scapegoat by the bank officials to avoid criminal liabilities. Wong, for his part, has yet to answer the AMLC complaint, which alleged that $21.6 million of the laundered money went to him. The businessman has already returned the money to the government. Xu, on the other hand, has not appeared in the DoJ hearing, nor did he send a lawyer. A total of $59.2 million from the laundered money allegedly went to him.

FROM gutter to knee-deep floods are expected to occur in Metro Manila during the rainy season as a result of the unfinished flood interceptor in Blumentritt, Manila, one of the government’s major flood control projects which is supposed to mitigate floodings in the National Capital Region. The P560-million Blumentritt flood interceptor project, which began construction in 2013, was to be completed in June, according to Department of Public Works and HighwaysNCR director Melvin Navarro. The flood interceptor project was designed to direct floodwaters from the northern part of Metro Manila to the Tondo area and then out to Manila Bay. The DPWH declared last month that the flood control project was 90 percent complete, but encountered delays due to right-of-way issues. The five-phase project, which started in July 2013 has been delayed by ROWs, changes in the design due to the presence of underground facilities belonging to utility firms like Maynilad Water Services and inclement weather conditions, among others, the DPWH said. The DPWH’s water catchment facility is 3.3 kilometers long, 6 meters wide and 3 meters deep. In an interview, Navarro said the DPWH has already settled the right-of-way problems along the Philippine National Railways crossing in Blumentritt, and construction is now ongoing. “We expect to complete the project before the end of June,” he said, adding that they are rushing for the completion of unfinished portion as the rainy season has officially started. Phase 1 of the project, which covers the construction of a 440-meter box culvert from Laong Laan Street to the area between Dapitan and Piy Margal Streets, is 100 percent complete.

OFW comes home from Saudi after 7 years of incarceration By Eric B. Apolonio

Kasambahay Award. Palawan Pawnshop president Bobby Castro explains the mechanics of the special awards for domestic helpers during the launching. He is joined by officers of Junior Chamber International Senate Philippines Inc. at the launching of the JCI Senate-Palawan Express’ ‘Kasambahay Kasambuhay’ Pilipinas Awards at Club Filipino in San Juan City. EY ACASIO

JONARD Langamin, a 32-year-old native of Burias Island in Masbate who was spared from death in Saudi Arabia, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 on board PAL flight PR683 from Mammam at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday. Jonard was welcomed at the airport by his parents Editha Langamin, a corn vendor; former Labor undersecretary Susan V. Ople and a representative from the Office of the Vice President. Ople, president and founder of the Blas F. Ople

Policy Center—the NGO that is at the forefront of efforts to save Jonard’s life—said that Jonard was meted the death penalty by Saudi Arabia in 2008 after being found guilty of the murder of another Filipino Robertson Mendoza. Jonard was spared from beheading in 2012 after the family of Mendoza signed a “tanazul” or affidavit of forgiveness through the intercession of the Ople Center, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of Vice President Jejomar Binay, and Filcom leaders in Saudi Arabia. He told airport reporters that he was seeking forgive-

ness from the family of the deceased and admitted that being hot tempered had cause him years of incarcerations. A remorseful Jonard said that he had to endure seven years in Saudi Arabia’s death row but thankful that the Philippine government and the Ople Foundation had secured his release. OFW advocate Susan Ople said that she is thankful to the family of the victim (Mendoza) and will facilitate a meeting between the victim’s father and Jonard Langamin Thursday at 3 p.m. in Taguig City where the Mendoza family resides.

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Four minors die in Tacloban fire By Mel Caspe

Tacloban ciTy—Four siblings died from a fire that gutted their house at dawn Wednesday in barangay 78, Marasbaras, this city. Tacloban City Fire Marshall F/CInsp. Charlie Gerson identified the victims as Dan Jade Morales, 16; Glenn Mark Morales, 14; Glen Marie Morales, 11; and Gwyneth Morales, 9. Gerzon said that their office, after receiving the fire call at 4:58 in the morning, immediately dispatched firefighters to the area. Fire was put out at 5:20 a.m. However, the house made of light materials was completely burned when the firefighters arrived. Gerzon said their theory is that the fire was caused by a rice cooker left unattended. The parents of the children, Glenn and Maribel Morales, operated a canteen and usually went to the market in the early morning. They rented the house and occupied the upper floor with their children. The canteen and a vulcanizing shop were on the ground floor. Gerzon said that the victims were trapped inside their house because fire started at the lower floor. The eldest child, Dan Jade, was able to descend from the second floor but could not go out of the house because it was locked. “In fact, we had to make a forced entry inside the house because of the padlock,” Gerzon said.

Razed. Four children were trapped in this house which was gutted by fire Wednesday morning. MEL CASPE

Cagayan ecozone turns over P234.2m to Treasury By Brenda Jocson TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan—The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority has remitted more than P234.2 million to the National Treasury for its 2015 dividends share. Joyce Marie Calimag, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority public relations chief, said the amount remitted constitutes a total of 60 percent of its annual income as a government-owned and -controlled corporation. “We have formal-

ly remitted a total of P187,180,927.65 to complete CEZA’s 2015 dividends in addition to the amount of P47,027,013 which was initially remitted in 2014,” Calimag said. As a GOCC created under Republic Act 7922, the economic zone has to remit at least 50 percent of its annual net earnings as cash, stock or property dividends to the national government which is on top of the 30- percent corporate income tax Ceza remits to the Bureau of

Internal Revenue. “Ceza’s dividends share has noticeably increased over the years since its first remittance with its 2015 dividends share showing an increase by 53 percent from its 2014 dividends share,” Calimag said. With this, Ceza is ranked as the 16th GOCC with the highest dividends share, based on its remittance of over P187 million. This is out of the 54 GOCCs that remitted to the National Treasury this year. “The past couple of

years have been a challenging time for Ceza as it faced major challenges that brought a dramatic decrease to its income,” Jose Mari B. Ponce, Ceza administrator and chief executive officer, said. However, Ponce said that because the organization’s resilience, flexibility, and the management’s responsive rebranding strategy have collectively contributed to Ceza’s positive performance. Since its first remittance, Ceza’s contribution has increased drastically over the

years and, with its P152million remittance for its 2014 dividend’s share, it is now posing a significant 53-percent increase from the previous year. RA 7922 or the Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 was signed by President Fidel V. Ramos to manage and supervise the development of the 54,118-hectare Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport in this town. The zone includes the islands of Fuga, Barit and Mabbag in Aparri town.

Hydropower plant breaks ground in Benguet By Dexter A. See

Southern coffee. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries-ARMM displays

Kahawa Kubing, civet coffee from Sulu, at a trade exhibit in Cotabato City. It costs P1,500 per 500 grams. OMAR MANGORSI

KAPANGAN, Benguet— The Cordillera Hydroelectric Power Corp. has started initial ground works that will pave the way for the construction of a 60-megawatt renewable energy plant here within the year. Lawyer Jingboy Atonen, Coheco head for legal, government and community relations, said the initial preparations involve the conduct of indigenous rituals among the tribes for good luck and to allow the smooth implementation of the renewable energy project which was viewed to spur economic growth in the remote villages of Kapangan and Kibungan towns. “We just have to iron out the

pending matters to allow our contractors to come in and up the facilities,” Atonen said. Earlier, the 15 barangays of Kapangan and the seven barangays of Kibungan issued their free and prior informed consent for the project that resulted to the endorsements from the concerned municipalities and the provincial board. Atonen cited the construction of the two 30-megawatt turbines, the 8.9-kilometer tunnel from Cuba here to Badeo in Kibungan among other important components of the project will be four and a half years courtesy of their Chinese contractors and their local partners. Among the benefits that will accrue to the host local

governments are the payment of real property and business taxes, their share from the national wealth taxes, their share from the 1-percent gross production and other development projects while indigenous peoples organizations from both municipalities stand to receive a total of 19 million in terms of social projects annually for the duration of the 25-year contract. The company will also build a 27-kilometer fully paved road linking Cuba, Kapangan and Badeo, Kibungan amounting to at least P1 billion which is part of the developer’s corporate social responsibility project that will help spur economic activity in the villages.

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DUTY CALLS FLORENCIO FIANZA

GENERATIONAL CHANGE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

INCONVENIENT TRUTHS

IT HAS been 10 years since the release of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the Academy Award-winning documentary narrated by former US Vice President Al Gore. The message was unequivocal: the planet was in great danger due to the effects of global warming, in turn fueled by centuries of unfettered emission on greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The consequences were, even then, apparent. Between 2006 and today, much has happened to convince the world that something needed to be done to arrest, slow down, if not altogether stop the worsening climate crisis. Extreme and erratic weather patterns have taken place even in areas not previously known to be vulnerable to these. The Philippines can speak, perhaps most authoritatively, on how it is to be vulnerable to disaster. The past several years have given us episodes of typhoons, flooding and drought that have affected lives and livelihood. Entire communities have been wiped out or have been set back economically by decades. Funds that should have been put into building infrastructure for growth have been instead used to repair structures and restore order in the affected communities’ lives. In the global stage, the Paris Agreement of 2015 showed that countries of the world finally recognized their common responsibility of scaling down their emission of greenhouse gases so that the warming would not hit runaway levels. Here at home, though, the current shortage of power, the looming energy crisis and the targeted economic growth highlight the dilemma between continuing to use coal-fired power plants and shifting to renewable energy sources like hydro, wind and solar. In fact, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of “An Inconvenient Truth,” various groups held a people’s forum in Cebu province where several barangays have been adversely affected by coal-fired power plants near them. It is said coal is so much cheaper than the renewable alternatives. This may be true, nominally, but there are hidden—and bigger costs—such as the toll on health of citizens and the damage to the environment, compounding the climate problem regardless of whether the Philippines is a historical emitter or not. We are hoping that President-elect Rodrigo Duterte was just playing to the gallery when he branded the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change “hypocrites.” True, it is impossible to completely turn away from coal-fired power plants now. There have been agreements inked and projects ongoing and halting them could have legal and practical consequences. Moving forward, however, it would be wrong to think that making no changes to the way we generate energy would have no impact on the way we live. The incoming president will be, by virtue of his office, become the chairman of the Climate Change Commission. Such a role would be meaningless if he is as unenlightened and dismissive of the need to do something about the climate issue in our own sphere—even if this means abandoning the “cheap,” the familiar and the convenient.

THE WORM TURNS LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES THE worm, as Shakespeare sagely observed, has turned. And if DAP is going to be reinvestigated, can Mamasapano be far behind? If there is anything that President Noynoy Aquino must be deathly scared of, it’s an impartial revisiting of his unconstitutional and illegal Disbursement Acceleration

Program. The program released P144.38 billion in government funds to various agencies, including Congress, from 2011 to 2013. It was slapped down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court soon after it was discovered to have been used to bribe members of the Senate in order to secure the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012. Aquino, in television addresses, defended his “cross-border” transfer of DAP funds, which the high

court shot down anyway. Of course, the Supreme Court, in a subsequent ruling on Malacañang’s motion for reconsideration, gave Aquino and his co-author of DAP, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, a fig leaf to cover their behinds with. The tribunal mitigated its earlier decision by giving Aquino and Abad the benefit of the doubt through the so-called operative fact doctrine, saying that the disbursement program may have been implemented “in good faith.”

If Aquino is finally made to account for DAP and Mamasapano, that would be more than enough for me.

But the ruling will provide scant protection for Aquino when the new secretary of justice, Vitaliano Aguirre, goes back on the matter. After all, the first ruling was perfectly clear on DAP —huge sums were illegally disbursed and were never, ever returned. Aquino deployed all of his propaganda artillery, in and out of the Palace press office, to control the damage of DAP. There was also the fact that, because he enjoyed immunity from suit, Aquino could not be charged for misusing the fund during his term.

The operative term, of course, is “during his term.” And it is to the credit of Aguirre and his principal, President-in-waiting Rodrigo Duterte, that they are willing to consider reopening the DAP case even before Aquino has removed his ashtrays and chicharon wrappers from the presidential Palace. (The irony of Aguirre’s involvement as a private prosecutor in the Corona impeachment trial, where he became famous for

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drawing the ire of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago when he covered his ears during one of the feisty senator’s tirades, should not be lost on Aquino, Abad and all the others who conceived, implemented and ultimately benefited from DAP. From pursuing Corona at the behest of Aquino, Aguirre has now been given the job of filing charges on the misuse of the fund “no matter who gets hurt,” according to him.)

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And if there is any scandal that took place during Aquino’s vengeful and thankfully ending term that has the potential of sending the president behind bars, it’s DAP. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to run to the supermarket to stock up on popcorn. The worm has truly turned. And the tradition of throwing expresidents in jail seems certain to continue.

Continued on A11

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THE appointment of the next Philippine National Police chief to replace retiring Police Director General Ric Marquez will necessitate generational changes in the PNP. Mayor Duterte had to dig deep into over four Philippine Military Academy classes, in fact, to choose Chief Superintendent Ronald M. Dela Rosa, a member of PMA class of 1986 to be his next PNP chief. Like the other presidents before him, he selected someone he is familiar with. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa served as Chief of Police of Davao where be blended very well with the style of Mayor Duterte. This process of bypassing seniors in order to promote a junior is what is called in the service as the process of deep selection. To be fair, this has happened before. The first time was the appointment of the late General Cesar P. Nazareno as PNP chief. He bypassed PMA classes of 1959 and 1960 when President Cory Aquino appointed him. The other time that this happened was when Recaredo A. Sarmiento II, a member of PMA class of 196, was appointed PNP chief by former President Fidel V. Ramos, also bypassing four PMA classes. As I have written before, being chosen as the chief of the PNP does not necessarily mean that the one chosen is the best of the lot. The appointment is basically political and is therefore a position of trust and confidence. Until the rule of the game is changed to put more emphasis on merit rather than closeness to the appointing authority, we will be seeing this process repeated in the future. In the two instances where the process of deep selection was done, the administration of the PNP by the two officers concerned did not turn out so well. General Nazareno was removed from office before retirement and had to face graft charges. In the case of General Sarmiento, his term was basically characterized by his failure to overcome the deeply ingrained upper class tradition of the PMA. He was handicapped by the presence of strong-willed upper classmen belonging to the classes of 1962, 63, 64 and 65. It would be interesting to see how Ronald De la Rosa will navigate his way and manage the PNP with the presence of all those upperclassmen. Some members of Class 1982 will still

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If Aquino is finally made to account for DAP and Mamasapano, that would be more than enough for me.

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PROS AND CONS TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

THE nation must know now that while President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte won the presidency by over six million votes over his nearest rival, the incoming Du30 administration will have its pros and cons. In fact, as a concerned citizen and a journalist, I have drawn the line on some of Du30’s advocacies: Restoring the death penalty, conducting executions by hanging, giving communist insurgents sensitive cabinet positions, releasing political prisoners to entice Joma Sison and Luis Jalandoni to come home, and attacking the Catholic Church. I am not sure if it is true that Du30 really wants the three most graft-ridden and corrupt agencies—like the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs and the Land Transportation Office —abolished. My gulay, how then will the government collect taxes, clear imports and also collect duties? And how in the world will motor vehicles, now numbering about 6 million nationwide, be registered? How will drivers be given licenses? Du30 must think twice before uttering statements like these. Yes, we all agree that these three agencies are corrupt. But abolition is another matter. Another thing: It seems that most, if not all, members of media, are not comfortable with the appointment of lawyer Salvador Panelo as Du30’s press secretary and spokesman. If that’s the case, Du30 still has time to change his mind. The incoming president must realize that his press secretary/ spokesman would interact with members of media on a daily basis.

If media do not like this official, then their relationship with the president would also be adversely affected. *** Still, I would give credit to Duterte for other matters. For example, there is the burial of the Marcos remains at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The remains are now at an air-conditioned mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte. The burial at the Libingan would be in accordance with the law which says that veteran soldiers, former presidents, commanders-inchief and defense chiefs could be interred there. The late Ferdinand E. Marcos was all of these. It’s about time we buried the past and healed political wounds. We have been divided for too long.

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of a Duterte presidency.

Another part of history that Du30 wants corrected is the continued hospital detention of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for plunder in connection with the P336-million intelligence fund she transferred from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Mrs. Arroyo did not gain a single centavo from this transaction. The charge is so flimsy that all her coaccused have been granted bail. Only she remains detained— obviously upon the orders of Malacañang because she is the poster child of this administration’s “Daang Matuwid” mantra. Du30 had wanted to pardon Gloria, but

TOWARDS A CONSTRUCTIVE MINORITY IT LOOKS like the House of Representatives, under the administration of Presidentelect Rodrigo Duterte, is slowly shaping up to be an interesting coalition. As of Tuesday, Digong’s PDPLaban increased its size with some big and powerful names from different parties joining its roster. Reps. Ronaldo Zamora and Alfredo Benitez, and incoming Reps. Amado Espino Jr. and Khalid Dimaporo are just a few notable new names in what appears to be the new ruling party. Others include new PDP-Laban members who were sworn in last Tuesday such as Reps. Ruby Sahali, Peter Unabia, Horacio Suansing of Sultan Kudarat, Jorge Almonte of Misamis Occidental, Mayo Almario of Davao Oriental, Wilter Palma II of Zamboanga Sibugay, Maximo Rodriguez Jr., Rogelio Pacquiao, Jesus Celeste, Mylene Garcia-Albanao, Rodolfo Fariñas, and Rolando Andaya. Reports noted that while most of these new members came from the Liberal Party, some remaining members are declaring their support for the incoming administration while remaining members of LP. Among them is Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. What remains unclear as of writing, though, is whether Belmonte would join the majority bloc alongside other LP members in a coalition with PDPLaban, or challenge Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez for the speakership. she declined because a pardon by the incoming president would mean Gloria would accept guilt. She wants the case against her dismissed, which is the right thing to do. I also commend some of the Cabinet appointments as welladvised, especially that of businessman Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez as finance secretary. I also praised the designation of Jess Dureza as adviser on the peace process, Perfecto Yasay as acting foreign secretary, and former Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo as chief of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. In fact, the business community welcomed Du30’s eight-point economic agenda which is perceived to be all about economic progress and

MINORITY REPORT DANILO SUAREZ Belmonte’s imminent loss will translate into a minority leadership. If Belmonte himself concedes that there are still other LP members either joining the majority bloc or completely jumping ship to PDP-Laban, we are about to see a majority-minority dynamic in the House of Representatives that have members with allegiances on both sides of the fence. Without the defections, the LP has 116 out of 290 members in the 17th Congress, or 40 percent of the Lower Chamber. As the vote of one-thirds of the House of Representatives is needed to impeach a president, the LP would pose a constant threat against Duterte, as well as a viable voting bloc for or against any administration-initiated legislation. Given the possible numbers, the LP in the House then could significantly block Duterte’s platforms. This is not what the Duterte administration needs. What Duterte’s allies in the House should aim for is a constructive minority that would serve as a loyal opposition, one that poses challenges to the legislative agenda and yet cooperative in seeking out passage to law those measures deemed crucial for the administration.

development. *** While there are divisions and disagreements in the selection of canvassers and on the rules of canvassing by the joint Board of Canvassers of both Houses of Congress, I believe that the constitutionally mandated canvassing of votes for the president and the vice president has started. Yes, there are lingering questions, not on the canvassing of votes for President-elect Du30, but on who really won as vice president— Bongbong Marcos or Leni Robredo. I think it is logical that the announcement of the winner for vice president be put off until the people become convinced that the May 9 poll was truly fair, honest and clean. But, with the tamper-

What the House minority should do is not concern itself too much with its losses in the sought-after committee seats, but serve as a counterbalance in making administration-initiated bills into hardworking laws. The minority should ground, in terms of fiscal responsibility, every welfare-oriented proposal. Thus, there is a need for a minority leader that has clear sights in how to deliver public service within the government means, and with the knowhow to expand such means. Most importantly, the PDP-Laban should ensure that the minority leader is not interested in any power grab through the impeachment route. The Duterte administration’s priority in transforming our government, not just in spirit but in form, would also push through with the cooperation of a loyal minority. As federalism is poised to be the centerpiece of the incoming administration’s legislative agenda, a contrarian minority would tend to bog down the initiative anchored by adherence to status quo rather than progressive development. The same goes for his other proposals such as the reimposition of the death penalty for drug traffickers, the three-child policy, and so on. Despite the name, the House minority bloc of the 17th Congress has huge roles and responsibilities—none of which is being the official naysayer of the Duterte administration.

ing of the transparency server of Smartmatic and the loss of over a million votes for Bongbong overnight, Robredo’s anticipated proclamation is clouded with suspicion. Santa Banana, can we afford to have a vice president who cheated? I think this issue may eventually have to go to the Supreme Court to be decided by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. If Robredo becomes vice president, what would come next? Will Plan B to unseat Du30 be launched? *** An issue that the incoming president will have to face once he gives amnesty to all political prisoners is the homecoming of Joma Sison and Luis Jalandoni to talk peace with government. This cannot be taken

lightly by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Hundreds of soldiers have already died in encounters with the New People’s Army. The words of these communist leaders cannot be taken at face value. How can they be sincere when they have so many conditions and when they come to the negotiating table with blood on their hands? Du30 is a self-confessed leftist-socialist. There is only a thin line between this and being a communist. Since he’s now the incoming president of a country that’s against communism as an ideology, whatever he says will not be taken lightly by a restive military and the people in general. My gulay, if Du30 gives the communists the Department of Continued on A11

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A11

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE

PASS THE DIVORCE BILL ALREADY

IT’S 2016 and the only two countries on the planet without a divorce law are the Vatican City and the Philippines. It’s no surprise about the Vatican—their refusal to countenance divorce stems from the religious beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s also more of a gesture to save face despite all the logical arguments in favor of divorce—after all, they have to practice what they preach, and such a monolithical global organization takes decades, even centuries, to slowly grind a volte face to accept societal change and adapt their ways. Government, however, especially one such as ours that has a “separation of church and state” policy enshrined in its Constitution, should be logical and reasonable. It is supposed to take into account what is good for all citizens, no matter their religious affiliation or lack thereof. It is not supposed to be held hostage by the beliefs nor ideology of a group or groups.

A Social Weather Stations survey conducted in the fourth quarter of 2014 revealed that 60 percent of Filipinos support the passage of a divorce law, with only 29 percent not in favor and 11 percent undecided. The support for divorce was spread almost equally across the demographic: 57 percent from classes A, B, and C; 60 percent from D, and 58 percent from E. The SWS data also showed support was increasing over the past few years. There have been various versions of the divorce law filed in Congress, but none have been passed so far. Among the arguments in favor of such a law is the reality of being human. People make mistakes, deceive, lie, and change over the course of years and the circumstances of life. The arguments against fail to be as compelling: religious reasons, and the need to keep the family together. How is it logical or beneficial for two

angry and often hostile individuals with irreconcilable differences to remain chained to each other? Their conflicts affect all the members of the family, and in most cases, it is better for a clean break so that peace may be regained and the parties receive a fresh start to their lives. This is especially necessary in cases of abandonment and marital and domestic abuse, where the common victims are wives and children. Presently the law only provides for legal separation, which does not allow the individuals to remarry. All too often, they cohabit with other partners. This puts the partners and any children they may have at a legal disadvantage. In order to cope with the constraints of not having divorce, our society has evolved mechanisms that address the need to have something with more closure than legal separation. A marriage annulment may be granted by the court if pre-existing psy-

chological reasons are found that make one or both of the parties ineligible to contract marriage. This has given rise to a cottage industry of lawyers who work on annulments often as a sideline to their regular jobs, in coordination with psychologists who can provide the appropriate grounds for the annulment of the marriage. A common question among my peers is, “Do you know any lawyers who do annulments?” The asking price for an annulment package is several hundred thousand pesos. This remedy, therefore, is available only to those with the financial capacity. What about those who can’t afford it? Now, is that fair and just? An annulment also invalidates the marriage from the start, on grounds that it should not have been celebrated in the first place because of psychological incapacity on the part of one or both of the partners. This is patently a workaround of the law, and does not recognize

that in many cases, the marriage was fine to begin with, but broke down over time. A divorce recognizes that there was a marriage, but that it is necessary to end it for whatever reason. This way, the original reasons for the marriage are honored and respected. It also assuages the fears of the children of the marriage, who ask: “If my parents’ marriage is annulled, am I legitimate?” Many are looking to president-elect Rodrigo Duterte, a symbol for much-needed changes in society, to push for a divorce bill. His own personal life story is a textbook case for divorce as a necessary means for moving on. Maybe under this administration, logic and reason will prevail and a divorce bill will be passed, to put an end to the hypocrisy of these societal norms and practices related to marriage.

Generational... From A9

should be stopped if we want our police organization to be truly professional. The number of PMA graduates in the PNP are also dwindling fast. There are now roughly less than 200 of them left. By the end of the term of President Duterte, there will probably just a handful left. When that happens, another era in the history of the police service would have been gone. *** The plan of Mayor Duterte to allow the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the military cemetery in Fort Bonifacio is once again generating controversy. Former President Joseph Estrada tried to do the same during his time but had to abandon it due to strong opposition coming mainly from the yellow army. Maybe Mayor Duterte is in a much stronger position politically to implement his plan. If there is anyone to blame why it became difficult for the late President to be buried at the military cemetery, it is probably him. It was he who changed the name of the military cemetery to Libingan ng mga Bayani. This was

what was used by his political enemies to deny him burial there since only heroes are supposed to be buried there. But the Libingan ng mga Bayani is simply a military cemetery where people who served in the Armed Forces of the Philippines for a certain period may in fact be buried. The late President Marcos served in the Armed Forces during the Second World War and is therefore considered a veteran. For that and that alone, he has earned the right to be buried there regardless of what his political enemies are saying. Mayor Duterte is right in saying that he is allowing the burial, not because Marcos was a hero, but because he served in the Armed Forces. Besides, perhaps it is time the nation moved beyond Edsa. I am not particularly a fan of President Marcos. I was at the opposite side in 1986 but that was 30 years ago and it’s time to move on with the nation’s life instead of dwelling on the past. If Mayor Duterte is the leader that can get this done, this will be another feather on his cap.

The worm... From A9 *** The details of another scandal—there is no other way to describe it—that Aquino is scared will come to light involves the killing by his administration’s “peace partners,” the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, of 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force in January last year in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. If and when the incoming Duterte administration takes a look into that monumental crime perpetrated by Aquino, it’s safe to assume that the new ex-president will stay in jail even longer than Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has. Aquino proclaimed loud and long that he was not involved in the Mamasapano massacre, that he was gypped by his own people, particularly Generals Alan Purisima, his suspended, graft-prone PNP chief, and Getulio Napeñas, chief of the SAF at the time and the designated scapegoat. But despite so many investigations

and cover-ups, the fact remains that Aquino sent 44 commandos on a mission to capture a terrorist but failed —perhaps even refused—to get them out when they were set upon by his bloodthirsty peace partners. Aquino famously declared that he would bring with him to his grave the killing of 44 commandos in Mamasapano. But that vow is not nearly good enough for the families of the troopers who were left without artillery or air support as they were butchered for an entire day in that godforsaken cornfield. Aquino will have to answer for his sins of omission and commission, since he had command responsibility and knew exactly what went down that fateful January day. And if he is finally made to account for what he did and did not do as far as DAP and Mamasapano are concerned, that would be more than enough for me. Let’s see how brave Aquino really is once he is shorn of his immunity from suit a little over a month from now. I can hardly wait.

I am not saying here that Du30 will just hand over the government to the communists, but he’s walking on thin ice by waltzing with the Reds. I’m not radically anticommunist, but rather a centrist. Considering the fact that communism is an outdated

ideology (look at Russia and China), Du30 will have to perform a balancing act to get the military’s support. *** There’s a new attraction in town where your family and your loved ones can spend a nice evening. It’s Megaworld’s

Venice Grand Canal Mall at Mckinley Hill in Taguig. People are already crowding the place enjoying Italian cuisine and that 15-minute gondola ride with singing Filipino gondoliers clad in Italian costume. People can enjoy a clear

sky when it’s not raining. It’s good respite from the maddening crowd and traffic Metro Manilans have to endure. The gondola ride may be pricey at P500 per person, but at least you don’t have to go abroad.

be around until early next year. For the people belonging to the Class of 1983, about five officers will also remain until next year. It is the class of 1984 that will be hit the hardest. Some of them still have two to three years of service left. But since they backed the losing horse, they know very well what kind of fate awaits them. Most of these officers will most certainly be removed from all the sensitive positions they are holding and be assigned to non-sensitive assignments. The class of 1985 will be the principal beneficiary of this shift in fortunes. They will now find themselves available for assignments as Regional Directors or members of the alltoo-powerful Directorial Staff. As we can see, even as the leadership keeps on assuring the public of the non-partisanship of the PNP, it is really still a political organization. The fortunes of those who lead and govern it are tied to the political fate of the candidate they support. This is something that

Pros... From A10 Social Welfare and Development which handles the dole program to the poor, that would mean that the communists will have a P62.3-billion budget to indoctrinate the poor.

Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram @jensdecember

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Eagles edge Jets

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun during their men’s first round match at the Roland Garros 2016 French Tennis Open in Paris. AFP

Euro 2016 to be secured by 60k cops PARIS—France said Wednesday it will deploy more than 60,000 police to provide security for Euro 2016 as it vowed to do “everything possible to avoid a terrorist attack” during the tournament that starts next month. The comments from Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve came after the Stade de France in Paris, which will host the event’s opening match and final, descended into chaos Saturday before the national cup final after smoke bombs were set off inside the stadium, sparking panic among crowds that clustered at the stadium’s exits. Cazeneuve told the sports daily l’Equipe that the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille “did not serve as a test” for Euro 2016. “It was not the same public, not the same organiser, nor the same security deployment,” he said. “However, what happened will be taken into account” ahead of the month-long football tournament, which kicks of June 10. AFP

CLARK Jets Rugby Club gave Alabang Eagles a scare at last weekend’s SPI 15s League, but the Eagles held strong to overcome the challenge. A try from Philippine Volcano and Jets club captain, Jovan Masalunga, rocked the Alabang Eagles in the first half and the Jets led the home side, 5-12. But the Eagles equalized just before half time with a converted try from their own Philippine Volcano, Timothy Bweheni. Both Masalunga and Bweheni returned to club duties this week after competing for the SPI Philippine Volcanoes at the Division 1 Asia Rugby Championship held just two weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, where the national team finished third. In the second half, ill discipline proved costly for the Jets, forcing penalties away to the Eagles. The Alabang Eagles capitalized on this advantage and took the game, 2212, in a well-contested game.

In the Women’s division the Alabang Lady Eagles and CBRE Lady Mavericks battled it out in a fierce contest. The Lady Eagles clinched the game from the Lady Mavericks, 12-10, showing a preview of what to expect in the final to be held in a couple of weeks. The Albay Vulcans unfortunately bowed out of the competition, having lost to CBRE Mavericks, 30-10. The Mavericks play the Alabang Ibons this weekend, which will also be a preview for the plate final. In the bowl competition Alabang Loros won by a converted try against Subic Sharks 29-22. The Loros go into the finals’ weekend with a 4-game winning streak and will be the favorites to take the bowl title. Round 6 of the SPI 15s League takes place this Saturday, 1 p.m., at Nomads Sports Club, Parañaque City.

Novak in routine win; Williams rips Slovakian PARIS—Top seed Novak Djokovic launched his bid for a first French Open title with a routine victory while Serena Williams began the defence of her crown, but Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber crashed out on Tuesday. Djokovic, a three-time Roland Garros finalist, faced little resistance from Taiwan’s world number 95 Lu Yen-Hsun as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory. The Serb, bidding to become just the eighth man to secure a career Grand Slam, needed only 90 minutes on Court Phillipe Chatrier to book a second-round encounter with Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis. “Well, second and third set were really good. I thought I found my rhythm. First set was up and down. But I’ll take the positives out of it, and I’m hoping I can progress as the tournament

goes on,” said Djokovic. Serena Williams needed just 42 minutes to dispatch Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-0 as the American aims for another title that would see her equal Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 Grand Slam wins. “Today was great for me. I hope I continue to play like today, it’s only the first round. I hope I win six more matches,” said Williams, showcasing her French to an appreciate crowd. Andy Murray was forced to recover from a two-set deficit to overcome 37-year-old Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 in

a match lasting three hours 41 minutes in total. The second seed had been trailing by two sets to one but up a break in the fourth when play was suspended on Monday due to darkness. The Scot duly returned to complete the job after making the crucial breakthrough at 5-all in the decider to set up a second-round encounter with 164th-ranked French wildcard Mathias Bourgue. “He’s always been extremely difficult to play,” said Murray after a ninth career comeback from two sets down. “He was playing drop shots, hitting the ball very flat, it was very difficult to get into a rhythm. That’s credit to him and the way he played.” While Murray toiled, there were no such problems for nine-time champion Rafael Nadal who extended his record at Roland Garros to 71 wins against just two losses.

The fourth-seeded Spaniard made quick work of 100th-ranked Sam Groth, taming the Australian’s powerful serve with eight breaks in a resounding 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win. “It’s obvious that was a good start for me,” said Nadal. “I managed to break him very quickly. It was important because against such an opponent it’s not easy to take his serve.” - Kerber dumped out Kerber became the tournament’s first major casualty as Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens consigned the German third seed to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 defeat. “The first rounds are always tough in the tournament, especially for me, but, yeah, what can I say? It happens,” lamented Kerber, who was hampered by an ongoing shoulder problem. “She’s a tough opponent. I was ready. But, yeah, at the end she made the important points.” AFP

Mourinho starts Man U campaign LONDON—Jose Mourinho will be faced with a litany of problems once the polarising Portuguese manager finally starts his Manchester United reign later this week. Mourinho could be confirmed as United’s new boss as early as Wednesday after his agent Jorge Mendes met the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward for talks in London on Tuesday. The former Chelsea boss is reported to have been offered a three-year deal worth £15 million ($21 million, 19 million euros) per season and would be given a transfer war-chest of around £200 million to revive the troubled Premier League club following Louis van Gaal’s sacking on Monday. Mourinho has long dreamed of managing United, but the fulfil-

ment of that ambition will come with strings attached. The 53-year-old’s arrival at Old Trafford will be greeted with relief by large sections of the United fanbase and squad in the aftermath of two turbulent years under the drab management of arch pragmatist van Gaal. However, Ronald De Boer, who played under van Gaal at Ajax before joining him at Barcelona where Mourinho was working as an assistant, says Mourinho can be just as conservative and acerbic as van Gaal. “People run away with the impression of Mourinho and it’s the same with van Gaal. You hate him or you love him,” De Boer said. “There will always be players who are not playing who will dislike him.

“Mourinho is like Van Gaal, a workaholic. Sometimes it’s not pretty but he knows how to grind out wins. That’s what you get.” Before he even has time to settle into his new office at United’s Carrington training ground, Mourinho must solve the thorny problem of Ryan Giggs’ status. Mourinho is expected to bring long-time assistant Rui Faria and goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro with him, meaning van Gaal’s assistant coaches Albert Stuivenberg and Frans Hoek are likely to be dismissed. - Risky move That would leave Giggs as the last member of van Gaal’s staff and his future is now uncertain after he was reportedly offered a less senior coaching position by Mourinho. AFP

Thai workers play a game of sepak takraw in a fresh produce market

in Bangkok. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Arellano U bet shines

Russia’s Anna Chicherova competes in the qualifying round of the women’s high jump athletics event at the 2015 IAAF World Championships at the “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium in Beijing. Chicherova vowed to clear her name after testing positive for doping at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, casting doubt on her participation in Rio. AFP

FORMER Arellano University star CJ Rosario shone the brightest when the 1st Philippine Superliga Rookie Camp was held Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan. Rosario, a former NCAA Most Valuable Player and consensus top overall pick, showed her potential to become a team leader in the fourhour workout that served as the hopefuls’ litmus test before the PSL Annual Rookie Draft on Friday at the 3rd floor lobby of SM Aura. She led the 19 other rookie hopefuls in a round of drills, anthropometric measurements and scrimmages with the PSL All-Stars led by Cha Cruz and Aby Marano of F2 Logistics, Maika Ortiz and Rhea Dimaculangan of Foton and Jen Reyes and Mina Aganon of Petron. Another big name in former UAAP MVP Ara Galang also showed up, but she remains doubtful in joining the draft as she’s still iron-

14 Russians in Beijing ‘08 games positive for doping MOSCOW—Russia’s Olympic Committee (ROC) said Tuesday that 14 of its athletes in the 2008 Beijing Olympics had been found positive for doping in new tests of their samples given during the Games. “Fourteen Russian athletes in three disciplines gave a positive result,” the ROC said in a statement, a week after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that 31 athletes from 12 countries had failed doping tests after new analysis of samples taken from the Beijing Games. ROC said that the names of the athletes, according to the disciplinary rules, would not be made public until a second set of control samples had also been tested. Russia’s Match TV channel reported the names of the athletes as including 10 Olympic medallists. One, Yulia Chermoshanskaya, won gold as part of the 4x100 metre relay team, while four won silver. Belgian sprinter Kim Gevaert, part of the Belgian squad that

claimed silver behind the Russians in the relay, said: “At the time, we already had some doubts about this girl (Chermoshanskaya) who we didn’t know and who we didn’t hear of afterwards. It was a bit strange.” Among those also listed was bronze medallist high jumper Anna Chicherova, who is likely to compete in the Rio Olympics in August if Russia takes part. Chicherova told Match TV: “I can’t explain how the sample tested positive,” adding she had taken hundreds of doping tests over that period. Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told R-Sport news agency that the names of the athletes should not have been released because a second control sample still needs to be tested.

“It’s a sensitive topic, why someone does this, I don’t know,” Mutko said, while not denying the leaked list was genuine. “It’s wrong to name names if a person could be found not guilty,” he said. The president of Russia’s athletics federation, Dmitry Shlyakhtin, told Interfax news agency that “we also do not have official information” on the names of the athletes. The head of the ROC’s legal department, Anna Brilliantova, was quoted on its website as saying that the second “B” samples of all the athletes under suspicion will be checked in Switzerland on May 31 and June 1. - Olympic participation The Russian athletics federation said in a statement on Tuesday that it would bar any athlete

found to have used doping in previous years from competing at Rio. “Any potential participant in the Olympic games caught using doping in previous years cannot be a member of Russia’s national team at Rio,” the federation said. It said it had submitted this amendment to its selection criteria on May 20 “so that clean athletes can take part in the 2016 Olympic Games.” Mutko, speaking shortly before the announcement, said Russia was working on changing its selection criteria for the Olympic team to bar “athletes who committed gross violations of antidoping rules”. “I hope that the international (athletics) federation will take Russia’s efforts into consideration,” Mutko said. He stressed: “The punishment for doping should be individual. An athlete who violated anti-doping regulations must be punished.” AFP

ing some details on her eligibility. Other notable names were Mary Grace Berte of Holy Cross of Davao, Shirley Salamagos, Danna Henson and Angel Legacion of Arellano, Asi Soliven of National University and Marlyn Llagoso and Jerra Mae Pacino of Southwestern University in Cebu. But still, the spotlight belonged to Rosario. “I think she’s ready for the big league,” said camp director Sammy Acaylar of Cignal referring to the 6-foot-1 Rosario, whose older brother, Troy, was drafted second in the recent Philippine Basketball Association Rookie Draft. “She’s the consensus top overall pick. Everybody wants to draft her. Personally, I also want her for my team. But I will be picking sixth pa so medyo malabo. Whoever drafts her will be very lucky. She’s the middle blocker of the future.”

SMB, Meralco clash for PBA junior crown Games Today

(Phil. Science High gym) 9:30 a.m. – Phoenix vs Ginebra (3rd place) 11 a.m. – San Miguel vs Meralco (final)

SAN Miguel Beer and Meralco emerged victorious from uphill semifinal battles to arrange a titular showdown today for the 2016 CloudfoneBatang PBA 16-Under basketball championship at the Philippine Science High School gym in Quezon City. Game time is at 11 a.m., with Batang Phoenix and Batang Barangay Ginebra San Miguel disputing third place at 9:30 a.m. In two thrilling semifinal matches Monday, the Batang Beermen rallied from a 36-27 halftime deficit to edge Barangay Ginebra, 73-70, while the Batang Bolts fought from start to finish before putting down Phoenix, 74-72. Charles Jaipeeson led Batang SMB with 18 points, Etienne Evangelio came through with 14, Clark Santa Cruz 12 and Emmanuel John dela Rosa 10 points as the Beermen fell behind, 17-9, in the first quarter and needed a scorching third period to pull even and steal the game in the end against Ginebra.

Scandal-hit Tokyo seeks IOC crumbs TOKYO—Beleaguered Tokyo 2020 Olympic organisers will be hoping for some warm words of comfort from the International Olympic Committee when senior officials arrive for talks on Wednesday. Controversy has once again cast a shadow over Japan’s preparations for the 2020 Games after French prosecutors launched an investigation into $2 million in payments allegedly paid to help Tokyo secure the Olympics. John Coates, chairman of the IOC’s Tokyo 2020 coordination commission, attempted to deflect attention away from potentially sticky issues on previous visits, such as last year’s row over the cost of the main stadium. As scandal-hit Tokyo organis-

ers sweat over the French probe into cash funnelled into a Singapore bank account, said to have been paid to the son of disgraced former athletics chief Lamine Diack, Japanese officials will be more grateful than ever for the usual IOC platitudes. However, Coates and his team are likely to face tough questions over the alleged bribery suspicions despite strong denials of any wrongdoing by Tokyo 2020 bid leaders, who acknowledge the money was paid but stress it was a legitimate consultancy fee. Allegations the payments were improper, first reported by Britain’s Guardian newspaper two weeks ago, sent shockwaves through Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

ordered full cooperation with French authorities after being grilled by opposition leaders in Japan’s parliament. “For Japan, as a democratic country, the use of bribes and dirty money brings dishonour to the country,” said Katsuya Okada, president of Japan’s Democratic Party. “We need to clarify all the facts.” The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC)—headed by Tsunekazu Takeda, the same man who fronted the Tokyo bid team—has ordered its own probe. JOC officials said Wednesday its probe team, comprising two lawyers and a certified accountant, will hold its first meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the IOC visit. AFP

Wet celebration. Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros and ROOTS side-

line reporter Julia Clark are doused with Powerade after he knocked in the winning run in the thirteenth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Caluag shoots for Olympic seat am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

SCN FORM NO. 1 001353

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF AMRIT PAL SINGH to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139. SCN CASE NO. 000618 x-------------------------- x PETITION Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares: 1. My full name is AMRIT PAL SINGH, but I have also been known since childhood as AMRIT or I have been judicially authorized to use the alias name(s) . 2. My present place of residence is 9-R APO STREET BRGY. STA. TERESITA City/Municipality of QUEZON CITY, Province of METRO MANILA and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence) 1915 C-LUZON AVE., SAMPALOC MANILA 1734 G. TUAZON ST., SAMPALOC 3. I was born on JULY 4, 1983, in QUEZON CITY Philippines. I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of INDIA. 4. My father's name is BALJIT SINGH and he was born on JUNE 5, 1962 , in INDIA. He is a citizen or subject of INDIA. My mother's name is KAUR SHINDER PAL and she was born on AUGUST 20, 1962, in INDIA. She is a citizen or subject of INDIA. 5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is BUSINESSMAN. and from which I derive an average annual income of P 14.270.00, inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances. My wife's/husband's trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is __________ and from which she derives an average annual income of P____________. (Where the above does not apply): I am exempt from the requirement of lucrative trade or occupation and from submitting income tax returns for the past three (3) years because I am a college degree holder [please state (1) degree obtained: _____, (2) name of school: _____ and (3) years graduated: _____] who cannot practice my profession (the practice of which requires a government licensure examination) by reason of my citizenship. 6. My civil status is MARRIED , I was married on DECEMBER 30, 2005 in INDIA. My wife's/husband's name is SUKHPREET KAUR BRAR and she/he was born on SEPT 9, 1987 in DODA, INDIA. She/he is a citizen or subject of INDIA and presently resides 9-R APO STREET BRGY. STA TERESITA. 7. I am legally separated from my spouse; my marriage was annulled, per decree of legal separation/annulment dated ____ granted by ____ (please indicate the particular court which granted the same). I am a widower/widow and my spouse died on ____ in ____ 8. I have TWO (2) child/children, whose names, dates and places of birth and residences are as follows: Name Date of Birth Place of Birth Residence JASLYN KAUR BRAR AUG. 3, 2007 Q U E Z O N 9 - R A P O CITY, M.M. STREET BRGY. STA TERESITA QUEZON CITY A P O AVNEET KAUR BRAR OCT. 1, 2012 Q U E Z O N 9 - R CITY, M.M STREET BRGY. STA TERESITA QUEZON CITY

9. I received my primary and secondary education from the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality: Name of School

Place of Dates of School Study NAZARETH SCHOOL SAMPALOC, 1996 MANILA NAZARETH SCHOOL SAMPALOC, 2000 MANILA UNIVERSITY OF THE MANILA 2004 EAST

Highest Grade Completed 1 TO 6 YEARS (PRIMARY) 1 TO 4 YEARS (SECONDARY) 1 TO 4 YEARS (TERTIARY)

10. I am able to read, write and speak Filipino and/or any of the following dialects of the Philippines: ENGLISH (READ & WRITE) TAGALOG (READ & WRITE) 11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality: Name of Child JASLYN KAUR BRAR

Name and Place of School

Date of Enrollment

13. It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and, particularly, to INDIA of which at this time I am a citizen or subject. I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of my admission to Philippine citizenship. 14. My character witnesses are ERWIN CHITO L. OLIVA and KRISTIANNE C. LLORIN both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 725 OLD TORRES, 4TH ST. TONDO, MANILA and 181 MARZAN ST., SAMPALOC, MANILA respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization. 15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box): [ ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate [ ] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR) [ ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR) [ ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married [ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed [ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact [ ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children [ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties [ ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence [ ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease. [ ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines [ ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality [ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years [ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past three years

AFTER months of lying low, BMX rider Daniel Caluag finally made a visible effort to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as he sees action in 2016 UCI BMX World Championships in Medellin, Colombia from May 25 to 29. A podium finish, which is a remote chance, will land him a place in the Top 32 of the Olympic ranking in the elite category. “Hopefully, pasok siya sa Top 32. We got to register him there,” said PhilCycling deputy secretary general Kamille Sumagui following Wednesday’s general assembly of the Philippine Olympic Committee at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong. Not much was heard of from Caluag after he claimed the country’s only gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games. His campaign for the Olympics started last January in two events in the United States. The 29-year-old Caluag is expected to be in Medellin this week with many BMX riders from all

over the world to check out the UCI World Championships’ track. Caluag’s category is set on Sunday, with Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands and Stefany Hernandez of Venezuela defending their titles in the Elite classes. Many top racers have been dealing with injuries the past few months, including Americans Brooke Crain and Connor Fields. A podium finish will give the winners a qualification spot for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in August, adding to the importance of this year’s UCI BMX Worlds. Philippine Olympic Committee spokesman Joey Romasanta, however, said Caluag’s chances of making it to Rio is difficult at this point, with their May 31 deadline to submit a list of Filipino qualifiers to the Olympics just around the corner.

16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition: AMRIT PAL SINGH-PASSPORT #H8571986 SUKHPREET BRAR KAUR-PASSPORT #L1509952 JASLYN BRAR KAUR-PASSPORT #L1507217 AVNEET KAUR BRAR-PASSPORT #L1509795 CLASS PICTURE OFAMRIT PAL SINGH, KRISTIANNE LLORIN,AND ERWIN OLIVANAZARETHA.Y. 1996 CLASS PICTURE OF AMRIT PAL SINGH, KRISTIANNE LLORIN, AND ERWIN OLIVA -NAZARETH A.Y. 2000 CERTIFICATE ST. THERESAS COLLEGE PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139. Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this 20 .

day of

AMRIT PAL SINGH Name and Signature of Petitioner Address: 9-R APO STREET BRGY. STA TERESITA QUEZON CITY Telephone Number:

Filipino-American BMX rider Daniel Patrick Caluag, shown here presenting his gold medal to Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Ricardo Garcia after winning the Men’s Elite Race at the 8th BMX Asian Continental Championships in Singapore, is seeing action in the 2016 UCI BMX World Championships in Medellin, Colombia, from May 25 to 29. With Caluag here are PhilCycling President Bambol Tolentino, and PSC Commissioners Salvador Andrada, Akiko Guevara and Wigberto Clavecilla.

Thai, Casimero overweight but fight allowed to continue By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Right Thumbmark of Petitioner

Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF CITY OF MAKATI) S.S. I, AMRIT PAL SINGH, of legal age and a resident of 9-R APO STREET BRGY. STA TERESITA QUEZON CITY, after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

ST. THERESA’S COLLEGE JUNE 2015 D. TUAZON QUEZON CITY

AVNEET KAUR BRAR

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character. I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution. I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines in my relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which I am living. I mingled socially with Filipinos and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people. I have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under Republic Act No. 9139.

By Peter Atencio

AMRIT PAL SINGH Name and Signature of Petitioner SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at CITY OF MAKATI this 7th day of APRIL, 2016.

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I (TS-MAY 19/26, JUNE 2, 2016)

IN WHAT the Bangkok Post described as “a farcical” weigh-in, where both International Boxing Federation flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng of Thailand and Filipino challenger and former light flyweight champion John Reil Casimero were overweight, the IBF reportedly made a turnaround on the request of the Chinese promoter and allowed the title fight to continue. The promoter claimed that the fighters were again weighed in their hotel and made the 112-pound limit, while ordering another weigh-in hours before the title fight in Beijing. Bangkok Post reporter Kittipong Thongsombat reported that Ruenrong even apologized to his Thai fans, saying this may be his last fight. The 36-year-old Thai initially lost his title on the scales after he weighed in at 117.34 pounds at the first attempt and 116.1 pounds on his second, while Casimero also failed to make the limit, weighing in at 113.32 on his

first trip to the scales and 113.10 on his second try. Casimero was some four pounds over the 112-pound limit when he left Manila for Beijing early Sunday after a final workout on Saturday. “The weather was cold today and made it difficult for me to make the weight,” Ruenrong said, the same excuse Casimero used during his final two days in Manila when the rains prevented him from doing his roadwork. The Thai, however, promised: “I will do my best later today.” Boxing Scene quoted OPBF spokesperson Jeanette Salazar who explained that the weight issue arose after “ a mock weigh-in with the back drop of the Great Wall.. Unfortunately, that wasn’t properly communicated. It’s not the most level ground or truly ideal for a real weigh-in. They were weighed at 4:30 p.m. (local time) back at the hotel and both made weight.” Regrettably, the media was not informed so they were not present at the hotel weigh-in to verify what took place.

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

A15 LOTTO RESULTS

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M+ 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

Del Rosario, Superal make 4-ball semis

Philippine boxing icon and newly elected Senator Manny Pacquiao waves to reporters during a press conference after being proclaimed as senator by the Commission on Elections in Manila. Pacquiao, 37, whose rise from desperate street kid to boxing superstar has made him one of the nation’s biggest heroes, retired from boxing last month to become a full-time politician. AFP

Boxing body still waiting for Pacquiao’s Rio decision THE Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines will respect whatever decision Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao will arrive at as the deadline looms for the submission of entries to the last Olympic qualifier in Baku, Azerbaijan. “Sen. Pacquiao has already given so much pride to the Filipino and our country,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas. “We, as a people, are grateful. Just his presence watching our boxers fight in the Rio Olympics is already a great honor and an inspiration to our boxers.” ABAP’s esteem for Pacquiao, the ABAP head said, is transcendent.

“Not fighting in the Olympics will not tarnish in any way our respect and admiration for Sen. Pacquiao, although he is so much welcome, of course, if he decides to compete,” said Vargas. “We await his decision.” Vargas issued the clarification three days before ABAP forwards its officials lineup to the Baku organizers, stressing that either inside the ring or out,

Pacquiao will be a prized guest in Rio de Janeiro this August. “He is most welcome if he does decide,” said Vargas. “If not, we invite him to watch our boxers fight in Rio to inspire and cheer them on.” All these talks of the eight-division world champion joining the Philippine team in Rio as a junior welterweight started after AIBA president Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu invited Pacquiao to gun for the country’s first Olympic gold medal during a visit in Doha for the World Championship last October. Pacquiao expressed interest but did not commit as he set his sights on winning a senate seat in the May polls.

The proposal was shelved for more than six months until it was dusted off and revived after Pacquiao announced his retirement from pro boxing following the Timothy Bradley fight, became a senator of the republic and kept the door slightly open for a possible Olympic swan song. ABAP executive director Ed Picson said that although a wildcard pass to Rio isn’t totally discounted, it is most likely Pacquiao, if he decides to compete, will have to go through the Azerbaijan Olympic qualifying tournament. “But it’s all up to Manny,” said Picson. “He has until Friday and then we’ll proceed from there.”

Remembering our departed bridge colleagues THIS is the first t i m e SYLVIA LOPEZ since the ALEJANDRO start of my column in 1992 that I had to write an obituary on the demise of our beloved and esteemed bridge prayers--three bridge players who died on April and May, 2016. Dear brothers and sisters we commend the souls of: ISING MADRIGAL VASQUEZ FLORENCIA “NENA” BELO MARGARET LIM KWOK I quote from the players of Pope John Paul 11 “Today we are called to live a particular communication with our deceased… Meditate on our own future lot, as each of us thinks of his and her dear ones who have gone before in the sign of faith and sleep the of peace. The important

is for us not to grow weary, above all not to lose sight of the ultimate goal. Our departed are there where we too shall be.” When my Alejandro Duplicate Games were being held at the Manila Polo Club, Ising, Nena and Margaret were the players. Aside from playing, Ising hosted competitive tournaments where the national players joined. Ike and Nena Belo were enthusiastic bridge players who could be found at every tournament. The Philippine Tournament Bridge Association when I was the president thanked them profusely for the many games which they sponsored. Nena continued playing even after the demise of Ike. Chris Lerma in his summary of the 2014 Games at the Pen, wrote that partnership of Nena Belo-Fusako Breckner were among the top players. Nena was also fondly called the “the Chocolate Lady” for the chocolates distrib-

uted to us after each meal. Last year when I made the obituary for Cash Pineda, my regular bridge partner and supporter of my Alejandro Duplicate Games, which had transferred to the Cameron Room, FPA Administration Building, I thought we would have respite a while from writing these obituaries. Now in swift succession, we were faced with grappling the deaths of Ising Vazquez and Nena Belo. And now, our dear Margaret Kwok died peacefully in her sleep. Over the last years, Margaret and I partnered at my Tuesday games. In fact we played the last Tuesday and then we played on Wednesday at the Pen. Margaret and I had topped the Pen games several times; last Wednesday, she cautioned me that we had to play well because our next opponents coming to face us was Chuchay Tuason and Lars

Manneteg. Little did I dream that Margaret would not be able to meet her commitment with me to play on May 24, 2016. Next Tuesday, I will make a Special Championship Games in honor of my dear partner, Margaret Lim Kwok. Between tears and our toasting with wine, we toast you Margaret as might bid SEVEN NOTRUMP with our heavenly bridge players. As our bridge ranks continue to diminish, let me echo one advice recently given to me: Hang in there. I promise all of you my readers, even though some of you who read my column albeit not understanding bridge, I shall continue meeting my deadlines with my Editor, Mr. Rey Mallari until such time when I am called to bid SEVEN NOTRUMP up there. Comments to: sylvia.alejandro@ yahoo

TOP seed Princess Superal and Pauline del Rosario pulled off two victories in varying fashions, including a thrilling, bounce-back 1-up triumph over Madelein Herr and Brynn Walker of Pennsylvania to crash into the semifinal round US Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship Match Play at the Streamsong Blue at Streamsong Resort in Florida Tuesday. The Country Club bets blew a 2-up lead after 10 holes then fought back from onehole down after 15 by birdying two of the last three holes to stay in the hunt for the crown in the second staging of one of the 13 national championships conducted by the US Golf Association. Del Rosario, 17, birdied the par-3 16th as the Filipinas, who held up a 2-up lead through 10 holes but lost three holes in a five-hole stretch from No. 11 to trail for the first time in three matches, forced an all square match in their quarterfinal duel. Then after both teams parred the 17th, the 19-year-old Superal did what she does best, knocking down a superb iron shot to within nine feet on the 18th then dripping in the putt for the coveted berth in the Final Four. “I just told myself to make that putt,” said Superal, the former US Girls’ Junior champion. Del Rosario, an incoming freshman at University of Kansas, helped anchor the crucial win by birdying No. 16, the most difficult hole of the championship with a 3.6 stroke average.

South China ousts Ceres XI By Peter Atencio BRAZILIAN midfielder Luis Carlos scored the lone goal in extra time, lifting South China of Hong Kong to a 1-0 win over Ceres-La Salle on Tuesday night at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod. This allowed South China to advance from the Round of 16 knockout stage into the quarterfinals of the 2016 Asian Football Confederation Cup. The Busmen held the Hong Kong booters scoreless in regulation and conceded a goal in the 107th minute of play. Carlos’ volley shot stunned Visayan fans and put South China in the quarterfinals for the second straight year. Ceres kept Hong Kong from scoring in the second half and tried to hit goal for the themselves. They had a clear attempt when Manny Ott brought the ball back to Bienvenido Maranon, who then shot wide off Tsang Man Fai’s right side in the 56th minute. Meanwhile, Kaya FC was playing against defending champion Johor Darul Ta’zim Football Club in Malaysia. If Kaya FC wins, they will make it to the quarterfinals.

A16

T H U R S DAY : M AY 2 6 , 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

Draymond Green (right) of the Golden State Warriors looks for an open teammate to pass the ball to as he ﬁnds himself hounded by Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. AFP

Thunder push mighty Warriors to the brink LOS ANGELES—Russell Westbrook tallied a triple double and Kevin Durant finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds as Oklahoma City routed Golden State 118-94 to put the Warriors on the brink of elimination Tuesday. Westbrook had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for the Thunder who can advance to the NBA finals with a victory in Thursday’s game five on the road. “I am proud of the way the guys hung in there,” said Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan. “We kept battling and fighting. We defended as hard as we could for 48 minutes.” Westbrook, who led the league with 18 triple dou-

Novak in routine French Open win TURN TO A12

bles during the regular season, posted his first triple double of the playoffs for the Thunder who have a 3-1 series lead. “I try to use my size and ability to create some havoc,” Westbrook said. “We did a great job of defending home court.” The Warriors lost backto-back games for the first time this season after winning a league record 73 games in the regular season.

Thunder forward Durant scored his points on eight-of-24 shooting from the field while Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson each scored 17 points and Steven Adams tallied 11 points and seven rebounds. “I try to play with passion each chance I get,” Durant said. League MVP Stephen Curry was held to 19 points while Klay Thompson led the defending champion Warriors with 26 points. Curry shot a disappointing six-of-20 from the field, and he and Thompson combined to make just six-of-21 shots from beyond the arc. Harrison Barnes posted 11 points in the loss for the Warriors, who attempted

just 17 free throws in the first half. Golden State has lost by a combined 52 points over the two games in Chesapeake Energy Arena. “We had 21 turnovers many of them unforced,” said Warrior coach Steve Kerr. “They are getting just way too many possessions compared to us. “They are taking care of business on the boards. We are forcing stops but we are not going and getting the ball. We have to chase down loose balls.” Durant and Westbrook were a combined 12-for-12 from the free throw line in the first half. Thompson broke loose for 19 points in the third

14 Russians positive for doping TURN TO A13

quarter and helped cut Oklahoma City’s lead down to seven. But the Thunder weren’t done. Oklahoma City ended the quarter strong to take 12-point lead and that would be as close as the Warriors would come. For the second game in a row, the Thunder didn’t let up in the fourth. The Warriors surrendered early and pulled their starters with just over three minutes left. Kerr said the Thunder’s strong defense is a problem for them. “This is the longest team in the league. We continue to try to put passes over their outstretched arms and that is not a good idea,” Kerr said. AFP

Tigers to select from 5 coaches By Peter Atencio A NEW head coach could take over the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers men’s basketball team next week. UST Institute of Physical Education and Athletics chief Gilda Camus, who is the incoming secretary/ treasurer of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, said this as coach Segundo “Bong” de la Cruz III’s contract with the Growling Tigers will end on May 31. “Most of the coaches will end their term by May 31. Let’s just wait and see na lang for whatever announcement,” said Camus during Saturday’s turnover ceremonies of 78th UAAP season host University of the Philippines with 79th season host UST. Camus was mum on the school’s choice as their next coach. But, there are five who are in their short list, namely Chris Cantonjos, Ernesto “Estong” Ballesteros, Jino Manansala, Bal David Jr. and Rodil “Boy” Sablan. Eyed as an interim coach, Sablan is reportedly favored to assume the post next week. There are also talks on the possible return of former mentor Pido Jarencio next year. He is now an assistant for BlackWater Elite in the PBA and academic adviser to the UST men’s basketball team.

THURSDAY: MAY 26, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

Best electronic bank. Security Bank wins as ‘Best Electronic Bank for the Philippines’ at The Asset’s Digital Enterprise Awards at Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong. Shown receiving the award are (from left) Security Bank ichannel systems head Amiel De Guia, transaction banking group head Daniel Yu and cash management division head Dennis Joy Ejercito.

Jollibee, Cargill teaming up By Jenniffer B. Austria

FASTFOOD chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. said Wednesday it teamed up with US-based commodities giant Cargill Inc. to operate and build a poultry processing plant in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Cargill and Jollibee will have 70-percent and 30-percent stakes, respectively, in the joint venture Cargill Joy Poultry Meats Production Inc., which is expected to employ 1,000 people. Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would invest P244.9 million for a 30-percent stake in CJPMPI, while

Cargill would contribute P571.5 million for the majority 70-percent interest. JFC will also invest P15.2 million for a 30-percent stake in Cargill Joy Poultry Realty Inc., from which CJPMPI will lease the land where the plant will rise. Cargill will oversee the setting up, management and operations of the facility, which would provide Jollibee with dressed and marinated chicken for various brands. “We partnered with Cargill to deliver high-quality chicken products through Cargill’s technology and quality standards. This partnership will meaningfully benefit our customers, our operations as well as the overall Philippine food industry, ” Jollibee chief executive Ernesto Tanmantiong said. Tanmantiong said while Jollibee decided to invest in a chicken processing facility, the company would continue to maintain

a strong relationship with key chicken suppliers in the country. The partnership will create an estimated 1,000 new full time jobs and develop new opportunities in the farming community in Batangas and nearby provinces, as local poultry farmers are contracted to grow chicken to supply the requirements of the processing plant. Cargill said the company was making additional investments in the Philippines to participate in the robust growth of the consumer sector, “Cargill can contribute in further enhancing the quality of products of JFC brands for its customers at very competitive costs and raise the assurance of its chicken supply,” CJPMPI managing director Paul Fullbright said. “As in many other parts of the world where we do

Imports rebounded 12% to $6.3b in March By Gabrielle H. Binaday IMPORTS rebounded 11.7 percent in March from a 5.6-percent decline in February, on higher demand for consumer and capital goods, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday. Data from PSA showed merchandise imports climbed to $6.35 billion in March from $5.69 billion a year ago. “The continued strength of merchandise imports and the fact that it is fueled by spending on capital goods bodes well for the economy. This growth also mirrors the positive prospects of the economy that are expected to be sustained for the rest of the year,” said Economic Planning Secretary Emmanuel Esguerra. Total imports in the first quarter increased 8.8 percent to $18.6 billion from $17.1 billion posted in the same period in 2015. PSA said earlier exports fell 8.4 percent in the quarter to $13.1 billion

from $14.3 billion. The strong imports and sluggish exports resulted in a trade deficit of $1.7 billion in March and $5.5 billion in the first quarter. The National Economic and Development Authority said the recovery in March imports was due to significant increases in orders for capital and consumer goods, which posted 24.1 percent and 39.4 percent growth, respectively. Data showed that among 11 selected Asian countries, only the Philippines posted positive growth in imports during the month. South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan showed the steepest declines. “Given the general sluggishness of import activities in the region, government support for higher spending on infrastructure is critical not only because it supports domestic demand but more importantly, because it increases the country’s attractiveness to investors,” Esguerra said.

Esguerra said the continued expansion of public and private construction, along with investments in durable equipment would continue to drive fuel imports growth in the near term. “Meanwhile, increased employment opportunities with increased government spending for personnel services and maintenance and operating expenditures will contribute to the growth of consumer goods imports,” said Esguerra. Iron and steel imports climbed 66.3 percent to $214.35 million, followed by industrial machinery and equipment which jumped 50.4 percent to $446.18 million. Purchases of raw materials and intermediate goods as well as mineral fuels and lubricants declined during the period owing to the waning demand for wheat, inedible crude materials and lower import payments for other mineral fuels and lubricants and petroleum.

business, Cargill can also contribute in improving the system of hygiene, food safety and quality by operating a world class facility and by setting high level of partnership with the poultry growers and farmers. We look forward to a very productive poultry processing venture in the Philippines and with JFC,” Fullbright said. Jollibee had more than 2,500 restaurants in the Philippines as of end-April.

THURSDAY: MAY 26, 2016

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Wednesday, May 25, 2016

52 Weeks

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 2.6 1.01 100 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 1.02 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 89 148 20.6 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 79 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5.25 12.98 6.75 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 1450 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 1.3 2.17

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 40.3 32 15.32 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 1.06 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 34.1 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.87 8.45 3 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 801 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 0.640 1.2

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 6.5 5.29 6.66 9.25 0.85 17.3 5.53 9.66 0.0670 2.31 1.61 2.99 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 2.26 0.152 837 5.3 49.55 3.43 3 3.52 4.84 0.59 12 4.2 3 0.030 1.23 0.550 2.26 59.3 1.5 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

10.5 1.99 1.75 0.375 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.97

6.74 0.65 1.2 0.192 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 1.1

STOCKS

High

Low

FINANCIAL 9 3.8 46.25 45.3 104.30 103.00 94.00 92.10 38.2 38 2.95 2.95 1.50 1.40 14.28 14.28 17.48 17 1.86 1.78 0.580 0.560 86.8 86 15.00 14.90 24.00 23.70 51.40 50.60 102.3 98 270 265 31.65 31.35 199.4 192 1405.00 1400.00 65.00 64.45 1.59 1.59 INDUSTRIAL Aboitiz Power Corp. 45.75 46.3 45.2 Agrinurture Inc. 3.58 3.55 3.2 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.88 0.89 0.88 Alsons Cons. 2 2.08 2 Asiabest Group 13.5 13.5 12 Bogo Medelin 57.05 57.05 55 C. Azuc De Tarlac 200.00 200.00 200.00 Century Food 21.95 22 21.5 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 195 194.2 183 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 17.8 17.54 17.4 Concepcion 46 46 46 Crown Asia 2.2 2.21 2.17 Da Vinci Capital 4.62 4.82 4.68 Del Monte 10.86 10.88 10.64 DNL Industries Inc. 9.690 9.700 9.480 Emperador 7.25 7.38 7.20 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.65 5.79 5.62 EEI 7.30 7.35 7.25 Euro-Med Lab 1.67 1.7 1.67 First Gen Corp. 21.7 21.9 21.2 First Holdings ‘A’ 67.6 68.1 67.5 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.20 13.00 12.50 Holcim Philippines Inc. 15.06 15.10 15.02 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.69 5.99 5.7 Ionics Inc 2.300 2.350 2.280 Jollibee Foods Corp. 236.20 237.20 235.40 Liberty Flour 39.95 45.00 40.95 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.2 3.45 3.2 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.95 27.65 27.1 Maxs Group 24.9 25.25 24.35 Megawide 6.89 6.88 6.72 Mla. Elect. Co À’ 320.00 322.00 316.00 MG Holdings 0.290 0.285 0.270 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.4 3.45 3.39 Petron Corporation 11.20 11.50 11.22 Phil H2O 3.27 3.07 3.07 Phinma Corporation 11.60 11.64 11.62 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 5.26 5.40 5.10 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.65 1.71 1.61 Pryce Corp. À’ 2.74 2.74 2.68 RFM Corporation 4.21 4.30 4.20 Roxas Holdings 4.42 4.42 4.42 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods À’ 218.8 219 213.2 Splash Corporation 2.52 2.52 2.5 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.154 0.154 0.151 TKC Steel Corp. 1.82 1.81 1.66 Trans-Asia Oil 2.48 2.56 2.49 Universal Robina 201 205.8 201 Vitarich Corp. 0.89 0.93 0.9 Vulcan Ind’l. 1.28 1.30 1.25 HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. À’ 0.430 0.430 0.385 Aboitiz Equity 73.50 75.45 73.50 Alliance Global Inc. 14.58 14.78 14.52 Anglo Holdings A 1.18 1.19 1.12 Anscor À’ 6.00 6.00 5.97 ATN Holdings A 0.345 0.365 0.335 ATN Holdings B 0.350 0.380 0.340 Ayala Corp À’ 820 850.5 825 Cosco Capital 7.64 7.79 7.64 DMCI Holdings 12.56 12.72 12.58 F&J Prince ‘A’ 5 5.01 4.82 Filinvest Dev. Corp. 6.20 6.20 6.18 Forum Pacific 0.240 0.246 0.230 GT Capital 1395 1427 1400 House of Inv. 6.20 6.46 6.46 JG Summit Holdings 90.10 91.90 90.75 Jolliville Holdings 4.25 4.35 4 Keppel Holdings À’ 5.2 5.2 5.2 Keppel Holdings `B’ 5.35 5.6 5.6 Lopez Holdings Corp. 7.64 7.7 7.55 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.7 0.71 0.7 LT Group 14 14.5 14 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 6.02 6.18 6.05 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.39 4.07 3.4 Pacifica À’ 0.0320 0.0320 0.0320 Prime Media Hldg 1.330 1.330 1.330 Prime Orion 1.810 1.830 1.810 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.7 2.66 2.65 San Miguel Corp À’ 72.25 73.45 72.00 Seafront À’ 2.22 2.21 2.21 SM Investments Inc. 979.00 983.00 973.50 Solid Group Inc. 1.18 1.20 1.16 South China Res. Inc. 0.84 0.91 0.83 Top Frontier 154.000 159.000 150.800 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3150 0.3200 0.3150 Wellex Industries 0.2030 0.2200 0.2020 Zeus Holdings 0.335 0.340 0.300 PROPERTY 8990 HLDG 7.700 7.700 7.600 A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.15 1.20 1.15 Araneta Prop À’ 2.130 2.480 2.130 Arthaland Corp. 0.260 0.260 0.260 Ayala Land `B’ 35.800 37.200 36.050 Belle Corp. À’ 3.24 3.35 3.25 Cebu Holdings 5.2 5.12 5.12 Century Property 0.520 0.52 0.510 City & Land Dev. 0.98 0.98 0.95 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 I-Remit Inc. MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC À’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

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

SHARES 9,864,883 68,908,355 144,364,073 156,314,737 200,136,053 947,562,825 1,537,898,716

3.9 46.1 103.00 91.40 38 2.94 1.41 14.2 17 1.82 0.570 85.25 15.00 23.70 50.70 102.4 265 31.5 197 1400.00 65.00 1.53

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

4.01 46.25 103.90 94.00 38.15 2.95 1.40 14.28 17.4 1.8 0.560 86.5 14.90 24.00 50.85 102.3 265 31.4 196.3 1400.00 64.90 1.59

2.82 0.33 0.87 2.84 0.39 0.34 -0.71 0.56 2.35 -1.10 -1.75 1.47 -0.67 1.27 0.30 -0.10 0.00 -0.32 -0.36 0.00 -0.15 3.92

391,000 24,200 1,966,120 1,007,710 205,900 14,000 305,000 800 593,700 120,000 865,000 2,117,580 56,100 1,200 193,370 7,550 3,660 45,600 1,580,290 210 59,460 6,000

45.85 3.36 0.89 2.05 12.48 55.55 200.00 21.9 183 17.5 46 2.2 4.75 10.72 9.590 7.36 5.74 7.26 1.7 21.2 67.5 13.00 15.04 5.82 2.300 236.00 44.00 3.4 27.65 25.25 6.72 316.00 0.275 3.41 11.46 3.07 11.62 5.18 1.64 2.7 4.30 4.42 213.2 2.52 0.151 1.74 2.50 205 0.91 1.30

0.22 -6.15 1.14 2.50 -7.56 -2.63 0.00 -0.23 -6.15 -1.69 0.00 0.00 2.81 -1.29 -1.03 1.52 1.59 -0.55 1.80 -2.30 -0.15 6.56 -0.13 2.28 0.00 -0.08 10.14 6.25 -1.07 1.41 -2.47 -1.25 -5.17 0.29 2.32 -6.12 0.17 -1.52 -0.61 -1.46 2.14 0.00 -2.56 0.00 -1.95 -4.40 0.81 1.99 2.25 1.56

3,318,900 1,136,000 299,000 16,857,000 36,400 2,110 30 2,462,000 4,190 396,300 1,222,700 299,000 428,000 28,000 3,079,400 925,700 5,022,100 88,000 3,000 2,796,000 40,340 10,200 338,300 1,510,000 946,000 679,360 2,100 80,000 1,222,200 771,300 180,500 471,920 690,000 171,000 5,093,200 1,000 10,100 705,300 648,000 181,000 107,000 2,000 4,470 275,000 4,320,000 3,766,000 1,181,000 1,730,260 4,628,000 469,000

0.390 74.80 14.76 1.19 6.00 0.360 0.360 833 7.68 12.64 5 6.20 0.246 1427 6.46 91.20 4 5.2 5.6 7.65 0.7 14.4 6.18 3.8 0.0320 1.330 1.830 2.65 73.40 2.21 978.00 1.19 0.83 159.000 0.3200 0.2200 0.300

-9.30 1.77 1.23 0.85 0.00 4.35 2.86 1.59 0.52 0.64 0.00 0.00 2.50 2.29 4.19 1.22 -5.88 0.00 4.67 0.13 0.00 2.86 2.66 12.09 0.00 0.00 1.10 -1.85 1.59 -0.45 -0.10 0.85 -1.19 3.25 1.59 8.37 -10.45

8,930,000 3,564,710 9,222,300 76,000 57,800 11,980,000 3,190,000 610,580 466,000 3,387,700 36,000 705,400 340,000 109,395 100 3,141,890 25,000 2,500 15,000 1,639,300 5,000 8,158,100 47,941,300 13,000 14,100,000 1,000 347,000 10,000 272,580 1,000 242,040 95,000 25,000 8,570 2,860,000 1,360,000 20,860,000

7.700 1.17 2.440 0.260 37.200 3.3 5.12 0.510 0.95

0.00 1.74 14.55 0.00 3.91 1.85 -1.54 -1.92 -3.06

48,300 1,618,000 5,195,000 1,110,000 20,330,100 6,394,000 12,500 1,435,000 40,000

7,750.00 1,031,605.00 20,152,168 5,853,915.00 -1,713,135.00

-3,588,444.00 33,856,040.50 -9,273,439.50 -621,125.00 -466,255 -33,282,855.00 1,817,933.50 -994,650.00 6,873,180.00

33,789,360.00 -69,920.00 0 345,300.00 -145,320.00 -3,519,212.00 815,800.00 3,333,703.00 -4,380.00 -17,062,915.00 -596,841.00 -427,884.00 2,391,363.00 4,560.00 -3,156,190.00 -4,187,680.00 -1,194,385.00 105,078.00 -15,772,490.00 412,400.00 -4,569,966.00 -762,600.00 -120,840.00 125,500.00 -1,930.00 -18,432,166.00 -18,500.00 -195,000.00 122,216,700.00 -51,313,372.00

522,900.00 40,222,065.00 175,365.00 -5,011,118.00 4,079,034.00 47,018,215.00 51,645,375.50

-3,609,791.00 30,519,480.00 183,383,563.00 288,000.00

-3,819,261.00 -22,703,060.00

15,750.00

52 Weeks

High Low

STOCKS

285,363,350.00 11,074,080.00

High

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

Cityland Dev. À’ 1.000 Crown Equities Inc. 0.131 Cyber Bay Corp. 0.550 Double Dragon 54.45 Empire East Land 0.780 Ever Gotesco 0.152 Global-Estate 0.97 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.94 Interport À’ 1.27 Megaworld 4.22 MRC Allied Ind. 0.094 Phil. Estates Corp. 0.2850 Phil. Realty À’ 0.470 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 38.69 Primex Corp. 8.51 Robinson’s Land `B’ 28.60 Rockwell 1.53 Shang Properties Inc. 3.13 SM Prime Holdings 24.25 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.91 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.040 Vista Land & Lifescapes 4.990

1.00 1.53 -3.64 -0.83 0.00 0.66 0.00 1.55 -1.57 3.08 -2.13 1.75 -2.13 50.81 -0.12 1.40 3.27 -2.56 1.44 -1.10 -0.96 -0.80

1,000 1,240,000 2,946,000 3,024,740 287,000 70,000 3,731,000 18,029,000 137,000 64,113,000 7,910,000 70,000 180,000 44,400 133,000 3,025,500 163,000 19,000 5,057,800 1,580,000 1,034,000 6,638,000

10.5 66 1.09 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 1700 2720 8.41 70.5 1.97 119.5 7 12.5 0.017

1.97 35.2 0.63 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 830 1600 5.95 17.02 1.23 102.6 3.01 8.72 0.011

0.8200 2.2800 5.93

0.041 1.200 2.34

12.28 3.32 2.53 3.2 1 2.46 15.2

6.5 1.91 1.01 1.95 0.650 1.8 6

1.040 22.8 6.41 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.37 14.54 3 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN APC Group, Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp. Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ. Discovery World DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp. Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp. Pacific Online Sys. Corp. PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Seven Corp. Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp. SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils. Yehey

-0.68 -0.19 -1.56 1.43 -3.70 2.65 2.65 4.37 0.00 -1.14 -6.13 -0.19 -0.76 0.00 -0.84 0.16 0.13 0.00 0.00 -1.77 -4.29 -4.57 6.77 1.87 2.37 1.37 -5.88 4.53 -3.51 1.00 4.24 2.31 9.39 1.41 3.88 2.59 0.21 1.91 3.75 4.55 0.84 0.45 0.32 -3.94 -1.69 0.60 0.00 1.92

121,700 40,460 2,130,000 12,033,000 27,350,000 2,805,000 2,178,810 7,600 3,000 32,600 400 46,225 116,100 104,300 4,000 2,856,520 37,200 1,100 500,000 732,000 16,410,000 6,989,000 24,000 98,300 53,300 609,000 7,000 1,000 503,000 83,000 30,156,000 3,014,000 45,284,000 19,100 2,000 370 68,600 130,290 1,850,000 20,923,000 4,391,400 867,070 369,500 9,995,000 1,125,000 360,000 90,000 26,700

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 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 0.020 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 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 0.012 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

Abra Mining Apex À’ Atlas Cons. À’ Atok-Big Wedge À’ Basic Energy Corp. Benguet Corp À’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto À’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining À’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. À’ Philex À’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. À’ Semirara Corp. TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.00 0.00 4.41 -2.08 -3.67 -1.03 1.49 0.00 2.33 0.00 -1.64 -7.27 -5.36 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.42 1.17 3.33 0.76 -10.91 -4.17 6.32 0.00 0.55 5.87 -8.33

310,000,000 461,000 -628,300.00 39,000 5,300 240,000 6,700 1,402,000 839,000 90,400 41,800.00 15,484,000 2,172,720.00 550,000 130,040,000 10,580,000 412,900.00 207,400,000 5,200,000 59,000 3,520,000 650,630.00 136,000 2,000 600.00 334,000 39,300,000 1,858,100 -142,853.00 7,516,000 -2,278,710.00 100,000,000 928,600 38,099,937.00 1,599,000 3,850.00 109,900,000

70 553 515 1060 1047

33 490 480 997 1011

78.95 84.8

74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ GLOBE PREF P PCOR-Preferred A PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

-0.68 0.00 0.00 -2.33 0.00 0.94 5.16 0.00 0.00 0.26 -1.14 0.13 0.40 0.66

1,238,030 1,740 110 11,810 17,950 31,050 580 1,000 24,110 1,000 5,850 45,500 99,620 30,710

0.00

325,000

-21,350.00

-1.73 -3.85 -0.34 0.89

8,751,000 10,000 48,000 1,916,900

562,350.00

1.24

7,000

6.98 15

0.8900 LR Warrant 3.5

Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp. Italpinas Xurpas

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,691.79 (UP) 20.07 INDUSTRIAL 11,795.43 (UP) 59.83 HOLDING FIRMS 7,542.19 (UP) 89.08 PROPERTY 3,209.59 (UP) 72.99 SERVICES 1,441.84 (UP) 13.91 MINING & OIL 11,086.94 (DOWN) 106.33 PSEI 7,463.95 (UP) 107.23 All Shares Index 4,457.31 (UP) 45.20 Gainers: 112; Losers: 84; Unchanged: 39; Total: 235

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

1.010 1.010 1.010 0.133 0.131 0.133 0.550 0.520 0.530 55.5 52.25 54 0.780 0.770 0.780 0.153 0.152 0.153 0.97 0.96 0.97 1.99 1.91 1.97 1.27 1.25 1.25 4.42 4.26 4.35 0.098 0.092 0.092 0.2900 0.2800 0.2900 0.465 0.460 0.460 58.35 36.90 58.35 8.59 8.5 8.5 30.10 28.30 29.00 1.6 1.54 1.58 3.06 3.05 3.05 24.90 24.35 24.60 0.92 0.89 0.9 1.060 1.020 1.030 5.010 4.890 4.950 SERVICES 7.4 7.39 7.3 7.35 51.9 52.2 51.8 51.8 0.640 0.660 0.630 0.630 4.19 4.36 4.16 4.25 0.0540 0.0540 0.0510 0.0520 3.02 3.12 3 3.1 94.5 97.65 94.5 97 9.15 9.55 9.15 9.55 1.81 1.81 1.81 1.81 7.00 7.00 6.92 6.92 970 910.5 910.5 910.5 2162 2174 2152 2158 6.60 6.60 6.50 6.55 21.20 21.20 21.10 21.20 1.19 1.19 1.18 1.18 61 63 60.85 61.1 15.48 15.96 15.00 15.50 11.54 11.54 11.5 11.54 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 9.62 9.63 9.45 9.45 0.350 0.350 0.335 0.335 1.7500 1.7800 1.6700 1.6700 2.51 2.7 2.68 2.68 10.7 10.9 10.6 10.9 7.61 7.80 7.59 7.79 4.38 4.50 4.38 4.44 1.19 1.12 1.11 1.12 2.65 2.77 2.77 2.77 0.570 0.570 0.550 0.550 2 2.02 2 2.02 2.36 2.58 2.36 2.46 3.90 4.02 3.90 3.99 3.300 3.780 3.380 3.610 17 17.4 17.24 17.24 4.90 5.09 5.09 5.09 116.00 119.00 118.50 119.00 23.85 23.90 23.65 23.90 1624.00 1688.00 1635.00 1655.00 0.400 0.420 0.390 0.415 0.880 0.920 0.870 0.920 41.55 42.00 41.55 41.90 77.05 78.00 77.30 77.40 6.33 6.40 6.30 6.35 2.79 2.79 2.68 2.68 0.590 0.590 0.570 0.580 3.34 3.4 3.32 3.36 0.340 0.340 0.340 0.340 6.760 6.900 6.050 6.890 MINING & OIL 0.0042 0.0042 0.0041 0.0042 2.26 2.32 2.23 2.26 4.31 4.50 4.21 4.50 13.48 13.84 12.30 13.20 0.245 0.240 0.235 0.236 7.7800 7.85 7.7 7.7000 0.67 0.7 0.65 0.68 0.510 0.510 0.500 0.510 8.60 9.25 7.97 8.80 0.870 0.900 0.870 0.870 0.305 0.310 0.295 0.300 0.275 0.270 0.250 0.255 0.280 0.275 0.265 0.265 0.0150 0.0150 0.0140 0.0150 0.0160 0.0160 0.0150 0.0160 1.94 1.94 1.92 1.94 4.72 4.74 4.66 4.7 2.57 2.67 2.51 2.6 0.6000 0.6200 0.6000 0.6200 1.3100 1.3200 1.3000 1.3200 0.0110 0.0110 0.0098 0.0098 7.20 7.10 6.88 6.90 3.80 4.19 3.90 4.04 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 126.50 127.50 126.60 127.20 3.58 3.96 3.63 3.79 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 0.0110 PREFERRED 51.85 51.65 51.5 51.5 525 525 518 525 518 518 518 518 1075 1077 1028 1050 1024 1025 1024 1024 106 107 106 107 106.5 112 112 112 79 79 79 79 81 81 81 81 78.3 78.5 78.5 78.5 78.9 78 78 78 78 78.1 78 78.1 75.7 76.5 75.9 76 75.8 76.3 75.8 76.3 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.000 3.170 2.930 3.000 SME 4.04 4.29 3.8 3.97 3.9 3.75 3.56 3.75 2.95 3 2.94 2.94 17.9 18.18 17.94 18.06 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 120.9 122.4 122 122.4

T op g ainerS VALUE 857,734,558.90 1,331,912,915.60 2,155,683,391.726 1,560,159,039.712 1,433,307,717.25 246,301,859.14 7,655,702,539.908

Low

1.48 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 0.305 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

32,500.00 161,190.00 -11,900.00 -1,154,450.00

3,885,294.00 113,280.00 -2,261,690.00 36,057,550.00 110,700.00

1,215,110.00 98,860.00 7,120,750.00 -21,000.00 -11,102,780.00 -459,191.00 -6,500.00 -17,206,620.00 510.00 31,100.00 112,282,853.50 81,130.00 -47,379,030.00

-79,435,437.00

5,670,000.00 -45,850.00 52,660.00 47,519.00

-40,000.00 -13,338,690.00 1,007,300.00 -3,072,330.00

-61,820,230.00 -8,400.00 594,320.00 116,857,345.00 2,625,243.00 -2,113,770.00 89,820.00 20,400.00

40,534,866.50 -10,023,000.00 -7,738,750.00

-1,518,000.00 -1,518,000.00

8,735,184.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

58.35

50.81

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0098

-10.91

Araneta Prop `A'

2.440

14.55

Zeus Holdings

0.300

-10.45

MJCI Investments Inc.

3.8

12.09

Abacus Cons. `A'

0.390

-9.30

Liberty Flour

44.00

10.14

United Paragon

0.0110

-8.33

NOW Corp.

3.610

9.39

Asiabest Group

12.48

-7.56

Wellex Industries

0.2200

8.37

Lepanto `A'

0.255

-7.27

Jackstones

2.68

6.77

Conc. Aggr. 'A'

183

-6.15

Ginebra San Miguel Inc.

13.00

6.56

Agrinurture Inc.

3.36

-6.15

PhilexPetroleum

4.04

6.32

FEUI

910.5

-6.13

Mabuhay Vinyl

3.4

6.25

Phil H2O

3.07

-6.12

THURSDAY: MAY 26, 2016

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

4-month investments up 64% By Othel V. Campos

ERC orders Meralco THE Energy Regulatory Commission ordered Manila Electric Co. not to disconnect Millennium Energy Inc. from its system pending the resolution of their distribution wheeling charge dispute. ERC chairman Jose Vicente Salazar told reporters the commission acted on Millennium Energy’s application for interim relief by allowing the power generator’s 100-megawatt gas fired power plant to export its output pending resolution of the dispute. “Moreover, for purposes of the distribution wheeling charges, the Commission decided that Meralco shall not impose a guaranteed minimum billing demand on MEI, in the interim, but shall only bill based on the actual use or dispatch of the MEI plant subject to ERC-approved distribution wheeling charges,” Salazar said. Millennium and Meralco earlier asked the ERC to allow the dispatch of power from the Navotas gas turbine power plant pending the resolution of their dispute. Alena Mae S. Flores

DM Wenceslao IPO DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc. is reviving its P12.3-billion initial public offering plan. DM Wencelsao chief executive Delfin Wenceslao said in an interview at the sidelines of a real estate forum held at Marriott GrandBallroom in Pasay City the company was updating all information on in its earlier IPO application with the Philippine Stock Exchange. “Our listing approval lapsed early part of May. So we are now in consultations with the Philippine Stock Exchange on what information we need to update,” Wenceslao said. Wenceslao said the company might push through with the IPO within the year, depending on market conditions. DM Wenceslao earlier planned to conduct its IPO in December. But the company decided to defer the offering as markets turned volatile. DM Wenceslao had planned to offer up to 429 million in primary common shares while selling shareholder Wendel Holdings Inc. granted the underwriters an option to sell another 64.375 million in secondary shares to cover overallotment. Jenniffer B. Austria

THE Trade Department said Wednesday investment pledges in the first four months of 2016 rose 64 percent to P117.3 billion from P71.6 billion year-on-year. Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. attributed the increase in investment commitments to more power and infrastructure projects seeking fiscal incentives. “We see continuing increase [of projects] compared to first quarter figures. BoI [Board of Investments]-approved projects reflect the same investor confidence in the economy,” he said in a briefing Wednesday at the Board of Investments in Makati City. Domestic investments accounted for 86 percent of the total pledges while foreign investment comprised 14 percent.

Approved investments in April amounted to P55.3 billion, up 225 percent from P17 billion on year. Two infrastructure projects that registered with the BoI in April were the P16.7-billion airport of Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. and the P15.2-billion rail expansion of Light Rail Manila Corp. “These projects will help address logistical challenges,” said Cristobal. Two other notable approvals were the renewable energy projects of Bayog Windpower project in Ilocos Norte and South Negros Biopower in Negros Oc-

cidental. Bayog Windpower proposes to build a 150-megawatt energy facility using wind power that will cost about P14.7 billion, while South Negros plans to construct a 25-MW station using biomass fuel at a cost of P4.9 billion. The BoI noted that renewable energy projects had been increasing in the greater Manila area and Cebu as well as in the Cordillera and Benguet areas. The BoI also received proposals in the first four months to build hydro-electric power projects in Benguet and another P162.8-billion plant in the Cordillera region. Total foreign direct investments in the first two months of the 2016 rose 51 percent to $196 million wth manufacturing accounting for 6.3 percent or about $59.33 million. Net inflows of foreign di-

rect investments, meanwhile, jumped 51 percent in the first two months to $936 million from $622 million a year ago, as investors’ confidence was buoyed by economic growth prospects and sound macroeconomic fundamentals, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said. Equity capital placements contributed largely to the inflows in the two-month period, up 119 percent to $449 million from $205 million a year earlier. “This was due to the increase in equity capital placements by 92.2 percent to $471 million that emanated largely from Hong Kong, Spain, Bahamas, Taiwan and Japan,” Bangko Sentral said. These inflows were channeled mainly to agriculture, forestry and fishing; financial and insurance activities; construction; manufacturing; and real estate activities.

Tiger Resort bullish TIGER Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. of Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada is on track to open a $2.7-billion integrated entertainment and gaining facility within the government-sponsored Entertainment City by the end of 2016. Tiger Resort president Steve Wolstenholme said in an interview at the sidelines of a real estate forum held at Marriot GrandBallroom in Pasay City the company remained confident about the opportunities in the Philippines despite being the third player to open a gaming facility within Entertainment City. “The investment is on time. We will open our first phase which is $2.7 billion at the end of this year. It will be something that is quite spectacular and the most significant investment that is happening in the Philippines. We will change the face in the way how tourism is perceived here but also will change how the face of entertainment is perceived here,” he added. Jenniffer B. Austria

Roosevelt takeover. officials of Far Eastern University and Roosevelt College Inc. shake hands to signify the formal turnover of 80

percent of RCI to FEU. Far Eastern University completed the acquisition of 80 percent of Roosevelt College Inc. for P808.48 million. The acquisition is expected to pave the way for RCI to become a prep school for FEU. The two academic institutions may align its programs to prepare Roosevelt students for FEU college programs. RCI is an 83-year old institution with approximately 5,000 students.

Trans-Asia’s net income in Q1 jumped to P265m

Insular Life revenues By Alena Mae S. Flores INSULAR Life Assurance Company Ltd., the largest Filipino-owned life insurance company, booked revenues of P19.93 billion in 2015 amid the strong performance of its core life insurance business. Insurance revenues grew 6 percent to P13.59 billion, on the back of higher sales of single pay and multiple-pay variable unit-linked products. The company said in a statement Wednesday after its annual members’ meeting that consolidated assets rose 5 percent to P106.15 billion from P101.35 billion in 2014. Networth expanded four percent to P23.72 billion from P22.85 billion in the previous year. Despite the market volatility in 2015, the Insular Life group ended the year with a consolidated net income of P1.77 billion from P2.95 billion in 2014. “The decline in net income was primarily due to reduced profit from the sale of property and equities, and lower equity in net earnings of associates. Insular Life landed at number four in the industry ranking based on net income,” Insular Life said. Gabrielle Binaday

TRANS-ASIA Oil and Energy Development Corp., the energy unit of Philippine Investment Management Inc., or Phinma, said consolidated net income in the first quarter of 2016 rose more than four times to P265 million from P65 million year-on-year. Trans-Asia said in a statement revenue from the sale of electricity increased 7 percent to P3.131 billion from P2.914 billion on year. The company attributed the improvement in revenues largely from the successful operations of the company’s 54-megawatt wind farm in San Lorenzo, Guimaras, through wholly-owned subsidiary Trans-

Asia Renewable Energy Corp. The plant, which was completed last December 2014, delivered 45 gigawatthours of wind-powered electricity in the first quarterr. The Energy Regulatory Commission granted Trans-Asia Renewables a feed-in tariff certificate of compliance in December, which guarantees a FIT of P7.40 per kilowatthour for 20 years. The company operates power generation subsidiaries, namely Trans-Asia Power Generation Corp. (52MW), CIPP Power Corp. (21MW), One Subic Power Generation Corp. (116MW) and Guimaras Power Plant (3.4 MW), which sell their output to the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and provide ancillary power

to National Grid Corp. of the Philippines. Trans-Asia said the commercial operations of Power Barges 101 & 102 began in February, contributing additional revenue for the company, while PB 103 was undergoing rehabilitation and set to resume generation within the second half of the year. It said first-quarter income was further enhanced by contributions from joint ventures Maibarara Geothermal Inc. and South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. South Luzon Thermal, a joint venture of Trans-Asia with AC Energy Holdings, started commercial operations of its Line 2 135-MW CFB coal-powered plant in February, following com-

mercial operations of Line 1 in April 2015. Both units have a combined capacity of 270 MW, with South Luzon Thermal expected to provide reliable base load power to contribute to the country’s supply requirements. The company has a stake in Maibarara Geothermal in joint venture with Petrogreen Energy Corp and PNOC Renewables Corp. Maibarara Geothermal is operating at a high level of capacity, except for a mandatory maintenance in February. Trans-Asia president Francisco Viray earlier said the company was aggressively looking at other power generation opportunities.

PH-India trade.

The Philippines, through the Embassy of the Philippines New Delhi commercial counsellor Michael Alfred Ignacio, meets with India’s Field Fresh Inc. chief executive Yogesh Billani to discuss positive developments involving India-Philippines relations and the Asean-India Free Trade Agreement. Field Fresh Inc. is a joint-venture between Del Monte Philippines Inc. and Bharti, an Indian conglomerate which serves the markets of India, South Asia and South East Asia. Shown are (from left) Ignacio, Billani and Field Fresh vice president Sandeep Tewari.

Aquino signs new PDIC law By Julito G. Rada

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10846, amending the charter of state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., or the Deposit Insurance Law. PDIC said in a statement the 50-million strong deposit account holders would benefit from the amendments which further enhanced PDIC’s authority to provide depositor protection. The law gives PDIC fiscal and administrative autonomy and authority to resolve problem banks while still open. RA 10846 will take effect 15 days following the

publication in the official gazette or in two newspapers of general circulation. RA 10846 was co-authored by Senator Sergio Osmeña III, the chairman of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies and Rep. Nelson Collantes, chairman of the House committee on banks and other financial intermediaries.

PDIC president Cristina Que Orbeta welcomed the passage of the law. “The amendments to the deposit insurance law will ultimately redound to the benefit of the depositing public. The enhanced authorities will afford depositors better protection as PDIC may now address risks posed by problem banks early on,” she said. Orbeta said this would also enable PDIC to perform its role in maintaining financial stability and managing the Deposit Insurance Fund. Under the law, depositors will have quicker access to their insured deposits in the event of bank closure since PDIC now has the authority to pay insured

deposits without netting out depositors’ loan obligations with the closed bank, and based on evidence of deposits and not on the closed bank’s records alone. The law also restored PDIC’s authority to terminate the insured status of banks that engage in unsafe and unsound banking practices. PDIC will also be able to more effectively promote financial inclusion through early intervention in problem banks or open bank resolution. PDIC said in cases where bank closure became inevitable, R.A. 10846 enhanced the chances of recovery by creditors of their claims against the assets of the closed bank by preventing the

further dissipation of these assets through seamless transition from bank closure to liquidation. The law does away with the 90-day receivership period and allows PDIC to proceed directly to liquidation. The immediate assignment of encumbered assets to closed bank creditors, adoption of purchase of assets and assumption of liabilities as a mode of liquidation and express prohibition on reopening of banks ordered closed by the Monetary Board will help enhance recovery rate for creditors of closed banks. RA 10846 also strengthened PDIC’s institutional and governance framework to align it with international best practices.

Strong growth expected in 2nd quarter PH construction industry Economists expect a sus- spending especially with the a plan to dramatically raise seen hitting $47b by 2020 tained economic expansion additional boost provided by the salaries of policemen and in the second quarter, on increased spending related to elections and infrastructure projects. “While the bright outlook for the first quarter appears to be a given, second-quarter performance may not be far behind,” economists of University of Asia and the Pacific and First Metro Investment Corp. said in a joint report. The economists said in a publication titled Market Call inflation would be likely slightly faster in the second quarter at 1.4 percent, still below the 2-percent to 4-percent target of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Inflation averaged 1.1 percent in the first quarter. “This would allow consumers greater leeway to increase

election spending in April and May. And while crude oil prices have bounced back from their lows in January, few really think any major breakaway from the $40/barrel level,” the report said. It said government spending would likely accelerate in the second quarter, centered on the elections, even as more infrastructure projects continued, while big-ticket PPP projects were beginning to take off. “Nonetheless, the slow start of the deficit in January means that national government has much room to ratchet up expenditures in the succeeding months,” it said. Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte earlier disclosed

military personnel. The economists said if this materialized, government spending would experience a sudden jump upon implementation, and result in higher budget deficit. The economy expanded 6.9 percent in the first quarter, faster than 5 percent a year ago. It was also higher than the revised 6.5-percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2015. GDP grew 5.9 percent last year, slower than 6.1 percent in 2014. The government expects GDP to grow between 6.8 and 7.8 percent this year, anchored mainly on robust domestic demand and increased fiscal expenditures. Julito G. Rada

THE Philippine construction industry is expected to grow 9.2 percent annually to reach $47 billion by 2020, a London-based advisory company said. Timetric, a provider of online data, analysis and advisory services on key financial and industry sectors, said the rate of construction growth in the Philippines would remain relatively high until 2020, bolstered by greater focus on infrastructure improvement and the continued expansion of residential and commercial buildings. “Favorable government policies with regards to public-private partnership will also play an important role,” Timetric’s Construction Intelligence Center said in a report. Danny Richards, lead economist at Timetric’s CIC, said “the change in government in the Philippines, with the presumptive presidentelect Rodrigo Duterte coming to office later this year, is not expected to derail the economic growth agenda, and the large-scale infrastructure development program, funded through PPPs, will continue to be promoted.” Timetric said from $30.2 billion in 2015, the country’s construction sector would have a compounded annual growth rate of 9.22 percent over the next five years to reach $47 billion by 2020. “The residential market is expected to remain the largest in the Philippine construction industry over the next five years, to account for 33.9 percent of the industry’s total value in 2020. It will be supported by the expansion of the middle-class population, government efforts to urbanize underprivileged rural areas, and housing projects for low-and middle-income groups,” it said.

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

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

BSP to auction P30-b deposits By Julito G. Rada

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas will offer P30 billion worth of term deposits during the maiden auction on June 8 as a part of the shift to interest rate corridor system. Bangko Sentral said in a notice posted on its website the volume would include P10 billion worth of seven-day term deposits and P20 billion worth of 28-day term deposits. Bangko Sentral scheduled every Wednesday the auction day for the term deposit facility, which is designed to boost the influence of the main overnight borrowing rate and guide market rates closer to the benchmark.

Bangko Sentral announced the formal shift of its monetary operations to an interest rate corridor starting June 3. Under the interest rate corridor, the rate on the current overnight lending facility of 6 percent was reduced to 3.5 percent, while the reverse repurchase facility or overnight borrowing rate of 4 percent was adjusted to 3 percent. The special deposit account rate

of 2.5 percent was kept steady. The term deposit auction facility is seen to have a rate between that of the overnight borrowing facility and overnight deposit facility such that the weighted rate for monetary operations will remain broadly the same. The rate at the floor of the corridor, where bulk of Bangko Sentral’s liquidity absorption with the market currently takes place, was kept steady at the launch of the system. Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. earlier said the interest rates for term deposit auction would be more or less between the policy rate and deposit rate. “But we are not going to determine that. The market will deter-

mine that,” Tetangco said. He said the IRC system did not represent a change in stance of monetary policy. The IRC reforms are operational in nature and will not affect materially prevailing policy settings upon implementation, he said. Bangko Sentral said to prepare for the start of IRC operations, placement in the special deposit account facility underwent a winding down process. Outstanding term placements in the SDA window were allowed to mature without rollover in a phased manner to enable all existing term placements to be converted to overnight placements prior to the start of the auction-based operations. Bangko Sentral Deputy Gov-

ernor Diwa Guinigundo said the bank would initially start with seven-day and 28-day tenors for the term deposit auction. Guinigundo said the auctions would likely be small in the beginning in line with planned gradual implementation of system’s related reforms. He said the volume would be scaled up later to enable convergence of market interest rates to policy and target rates. He said the tenor would depend on market conditions but the decision to go higher (in mopping up liquidity) might be driven by actual monetary conditions. Guinigundo said the impact of term deposit facility on market rates would increase as volume of offerings rose.

Coconut oil exports fell 4% in 2 months By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

Century Pacific’s donation. The Century Pacific Group-RSPo Foundation Inc. supports the Kariton Klasrum Project of the Education Department, which is meant to address the needs of hard-to-reach learners as well as out-of-school children and youth. Shown are program participants who attend four-hour learning sessions with teachers and their karitons. CPG-RSP, named after Ricardo Po Sr., the company’s founder and chairman emeritus, started providing food products for the project, which aims to establish 106 Kariton Klasrum sites around Metro Manila, Cavite and Tacloban City.

Concepcion group diversifies into security systems By Othel V. Campos THE Concepcion Group is diversifying into security systems to expand the company’s product portfolio. Concepcion Building and Industrial Solutions, a unit of Concepcion Industrial Corp., said security systems would enhance the company’s portfolio expansion program. Concepcion BIS director Rajan Komarasu said security systems would be introduced by partner United Technologies Corp., a top US security solutions provider. “The ongoing construction boom renders the installation of security systems mandatory. Fire security system is a requisite among building owners and developers. We see this as a new

growth area for our business,” Komarasu said in a news briefing Wednesday. Concepcion BIS is beefing up its industrial solutions to keep up with new innovations in building concepts that include mandatory and optional security solutions on top of existing product portfolio such as commercial airconditioning and refrigeration systems, elevators and escalators, retrofitting and aftermarket business. The expanding construction works for hotels, offices, casinos and national accounts helped BIS increase revenues by 33 percent to P2.7 billion in 2015, contributing 25 percent to CIC’s total revenue in the past year. First-quarter revenues in 2016 hit P700 million, or 19 percent

higher than in the same period last year. Concepcion BIS recorded improved sales for Midea and Otis brands. Equipment orders for Otis rose 92 percent, while Midea airconditioner sales jumped 300 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year. “There is also higher confidence to work with Concepcion-Otis Philippines Inc. as evidenced by 2015 revenues [at P700 million], 81 percent increase from the past year. Moreover, we have focused on building the Midea brand and introducing new products in 2015, which have resulted in better traction and acceptance of Midea in the marketplace,” Komarasu said. Concepcion BIS has a backlog

of orders worth P1.7 billion to be delivered throughout the rest of the year. One of its biggest projects in 2015 was supplying air-conditioning units for a major casino development and collaborating with major developers on different projects ranging from commercial, high-rise residential, retail malls and industrial buildings. “Working with several big players in the industry all over the country has earned us deep local market expertise,”said Komarasu. The group continues to receive a healthy number of queries from the high-demand segments, putting them on track to reach their projected growth rate of 20 percent for 2016.

COCONUT oil exports dropped 4.2 percent in the first two months from a year ago, on low supply of raw materials, the United Coconut Association of the Philippines said Wednesday. UCAP executive director Yvonne Agustin said CNO exports in the two-month period reached 114,783 metric tons. Agustin, however, said coconut oil exports increased 10 percent in February to 65,105 metric tons from 59,179 metric tons on year. “For February, there was a slight improvement in the delivery of coconut oil, but the volume was still below the 80,000 metric tons monthly shipment average,” Agustin said. The average price of coconut oil was at $1,216 per metric ton in February, still higher than competitor palm kernel oil at $985 per metric ton. Agustin earlier said exports of coconut oil were expected to drop 11 percent to 750,000 metric tons this year from 840,000 metric tons last year, owing to the effects of El Niño dry spell. “Despite the slight recovery in the exports last February, we are maintaining the target for this year because it’s still early to tell wether supply of raw materials will improve,” Agustin said. Coconut oil, which is used in food, cosmetics and energy-related products, is one the Philippines’ top dollar earners. The Philippines exports over 70 percent of its coconut oil produce. About 80 percent of the shipments go to Europe and the United States.

THURSDAY: MAY 26, 2016

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

PAL calls for bigger and modern airport By Darwin G. Amojelar

PHILIPPINE Airlines wants president-inwaiting Rodrigo Duterte to decongest the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by building a new one in Pasay City or nearby area and further develop the Clark International Airport. “We hope there would be a better airport and aviation-related infrastructure so that we can continue to grow because the open skies will be implemented and for us to be able to enjoy the benefit of the Asean open skies, we should have the facilities that we need,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters Tuesday night.

He said the Naia was congested with over 40 movements per hour, “so we cannot grow the market.” The Transportation Department earlier proposed the construction of an international airport in Sangley, Cavite province, while conglomerate San Miguel Corp. was looking at a reclamation area in Manila Bay. Bautista said PAL was taking

delivery of more airplanes that would require additional aviation infrastructure. “If there would be no infrastructure and if there are no support infrastructure, our airplanes would just be parked. Our investment would be a waste,” he added. PAL earlier signed a $1.8-billion aircraft purchase agreement with Airbus for six A350-900 jets, with six purchase options, worth another $1.8 billion. The first A350 is scheduled to be delivered in 2018, which will be used on new routes to North America and Europe. PAL is also expecting the delivery of five A32s and two Boeing 777-300 ER this year. The PAL executive said the new government should further de-

velop the Clark airport. “It’s ready but it lacks some infrastructure like fueling facilities should be improved. There should be more support industries. For example, airline catering, airline ground handling, maintenance and engineering. There should be more of those industries or companies in Clark,” Bautista said. Airlines operating in Clark include Qatar Airways, Cebu Pacific, Emirates Airlines, TigerAir, Jin Air, Asiana Airlines, Dragon Air and AirAsia Berhad. PAL parent firm PAL Holdings Inc. earlier reported a net profit of P2.71 billon in the January-toMarch period, down 28 percent from P3.78 billion registered in the same period last year.

Home Health seminar. Home Health Care, a pioneer in assisted living facility for seniors in the country, holds a seminar at the Century

Park Hotel in Manila on how to set up a nursing home and proper care for the elderly. Dubbed Health Care@Home, the whole day event was attended by physicians, nurses and entrepreneurs. HHC president Mary Jean Guno is shown sharing Home Health’s more than a decade experience in the field.

PLDT ahead in fixed line business PLDT Inc. said on Thursday it remains the leader in fixed broadband in the country after acquiring more subscribers six times than rival Globe Telecom Inc. in the first quarter of the year. PLDT HOME commands a market share of around 70 percent in the first quarter as it continues to offer digital services to its nearly 1.3 million wired broadband customers. Rival Globe had 650,064 wired broadband subscribers at endMarch. Broadband and data revenues now account for 53 percent of total PLDT HOME revenues at P4.23 billion as of end-March. “PLDT has posted strong gains in data, broadband and digital services,” PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said. “Our experience in the fixed line business shows how growth can be restored by progressively building up our data and broadband revenues to critical mass,” he added. PLDT executive vice president and head of consumer business Ariel Fermin added “PLDT HOME had a good head start, having been growing in revenues for five consecutive years now with its unmatched digital services and compelling content.” “We provide customers with the most number of home entertainment services running on broadband led by PLDT HOME DSL and PLDT HOME Fibr that serve as the foundation for value-added services such as linear IPTV with Cignal TV, catch up TV with Fox, and video on demand as offered by iflix. These services are available at home and on mobile devices,” he said. Darwin G. Amojelar

Grace chose the wrong islands DURING the course of the recent political campaign Grace Poe made some statements that either were inaccurate or did not reflect reality. One of Amazing Grace’s unrealistic statements was made by her on the occasion of her sortie in Iloilo. It related to the connection—particularly economic—between Iloilo and its island neighbor, Guimaras. “When I am elected President,” candidate Poe declared, “I will order the construction of a bridge between Iloilo and Guimaras. The bridge would be very beneficial, she said, for the growth of trade between Guimaras and Panay Island and the development of the area’s tourism. It would be one of her administration’s infrastructure priorities. There can be no denying the value derived from integrating the economy of Guimaras— the source of some of the most delicious mangoes in this country—into the prosperous Panay economy, which is made up of the economies of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique. The tourism and mango industries of Guimaras can definitely benefit from a bridge link to the much larger island to the northwest. But that is the view from Guimaras. Unfortunately, no one seems to have told

Fernando Poe Jr.’s daughter about costbenefit ratios, which adjudges the value of an investment to an investing institution—a government or a corporation—by measuring the benefit generated by a project against the amount to be spent. Being a structure over water, an Iloilo-Guimaras bridge would be very costly. Would the benefit to the Philippine economy be likely to be at least commensurate? Almost certainly not. The benefit to be derived by the Panay provinces from a structural link to Guimaras would at this stage be minimal. I spoke earlier of realism. Again, no one appears to have told Grace Poe of the unrealism of an Iloilo-Guimaras bridge from the engineering—let alone the financial— standpoint. I don’t know the exact nautical distance between Iloilo and Guimaras; all I know is that it is a large distance. A sufficiently long look at a map will confirm this. Clearly, a bridge link between Panay Island and Guimaras is a no-no from both the economic and engineering standpoints. If she believed—as she apparently did—in the value of installing bridge links between the major islands of this archipelagic country, Amazing Grace was looking at the wrong pair of islands. She should have been looking, instead, at the islands of Negros and Cebu.

The fact of the matter is that a bridge across the Tanon Strait, to link Negros and Cebu, is long overdue. Cebu and Negros are two of the most progressive and most populous of this country’s twenty-or-so major islands. Cebu contains the Philippines’ second most important metropolis and is to the southern half of the Philippines what the National Capital Region is to its northern half. Negros, composed of the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental (recently designated as the Negros Island Region), is the center of this country’s sugar industry and is a supplier of energy to the Central Visayas region. Linkage of the two islands would create an economic powerhouse outside Luzon. With the existing efficient ferry service between Iloilo City and Bacolod, Cebu would become effectively linked to Panay, and with the regular shipping service between Dumaguete and the parts of Dipolog and Cagayan de Oro, Panay would become linked to Northern Mindanao via a land-sea transport corridor. Clearly, from the standpoint of cost-benefit analysis, a bridge linking the islands of Cebu and Negros would be an eminently sound proposition. From the engineering standpoint, a bridge link between Cebu and Negros would

likewise be a sound proposition. Two of the longest maritime bridges in the world—those spanning the Douro River in Portugal and the Delaware River in eastern US—are longer than 20 kilometers, whereas the distance between Cebu and Negros at their closest points—Amlan in Negros Oriental and Bato in Cebu—are, to the best of my knowledge, only around eight kilometers. Tanon Strait is not said to be very deep. In any event, in this age of engineering marvels, an eightkilometer bridge over not particularly deep water is a highly doable project. Would financing be available for a CebuNegros bridge project? Very definitely. If the project is not added to the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) program, it can be put out to international tender or it can be undertaken by a consortium of Philippine and foreign contractors. A bridge linking Cebu and Negos is long overdue. One knows it, when, with binoculars, people at the narrowest points of the two islands can watch one another’s activities. Going back to Grace Poe, she said the right thing when she suggested that our islands should be linked by bridges wherever possible. But she chose the wrong islands. E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Venezuelans vow more rallies CARACAS—Protesters seeking to drive Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro from office have vowed fresh street rallies on Wednesday and Thursday, a test of their strength in a tense political crisis.

Blockade. Riot police prepare to intervene to disperse refinery workers blockading the oil depot of Douchy-Les-Mines to protest

against the government’s proposed labor reforms on May 25, 2016. Refinery workers stepped up the strikes that threatened to paralyze France weeks ahead of the Euro 2016 tournament as the government moved to break their blockades, escalating a threemonth tug-of-war over labor reforms. AFP

Evacuation of migrant camp stepped up IDOMENI, Greece—Greek police on Wednesday restarted an operation to move migrants out of Idomeni, the squalid tent city where thousands fleeing war and poverty have lived for months. A police source told AFP they hoped to transfer “roughly the same number” of migrants as on Tuesday, when they bussed more than 2,000 to newly opened camps near Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, about 80 kilometers to the south. Some 8,400 people are living in the muddy and dirty camp on the Macedonian border, which has become a potent symbol of human suffering

and chaos as Europe struggles with its worst migrant crisis since World War II. The dawn operation, involving some 700 police backed by helicopter, “is continuing normally and calmly, like yesterday,” said the police officer, who declined to be named. Most of those at the camp are fleeing war and misery in the Middle East and Asia and the group transferred Tuesday included 662 Syrians, 1,273 Kurds and 96 Yazidis. “We try to separate nationalities to avoid friction between them,” said another police source. Around 100 migrants re-

fused to enter the new center on Tuesday and headed off by foot to downtown Thessaloniki. Non state-run media were again kept at a distance during Wednesday’s operation. On Tuesday, ERT state television and state news agency ANA showed migrants patiently lining up to board buses and being driven away, some waving at the camera. Many carried their belongings in huge bin bags, while others piled possessions into pushchairs. It will take a week to complete the operation to clear all 8,400 people living there, the government said.

“It is all going well, perhaps better than we expected. The migrants are tired and no longer expect the borders to be reopened,” a police source said Tuesday. Oxfam urged Athens to guarantee migrants have “full access” to information and medical treatment. “Vulnerable people, the majority of whom are women and children, are being treated like pawns in a chess game,” the NGO added. The Greece-Macedonia border is one of several in the Balkans closed since mid-February as countries on the migrant route have sought to halt the influx. AFP

Taliban appoint new leader after drone strike KABUL—The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new chief, elevating a low-profile religious figure in a swift power transition after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike. The surprise announcement coincided with a Taliban suicide bombing near Kabul that killed at least 10 court employees in what was termed a revenge, illustrating the potency of the insurgency despite the change of leadership. Akhundzada is seen as a unifying figure in an increasingly frag-

mented militant movement, though it remains unclear whether he will follow Mansour in shunning peace negotiations with the Afghan government. “Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him,” the insurgents said in a statement. It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies. AFP

NOTICE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC BOARD RESOLUTIONS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF MIDMAC MANPOWER SERVICES & PLACEMENT CORPORATION Suite 410, 4th Floor Ermita Center Bldg., 1350 Roxas Boulevard Corner Sta. Monica Street, Ermita, Manila, Philippines Resolution No. 001 – A , Series of 2016 “WHEREAS, the Corporation has a Board of Directors composed of Four (4) members and the following are the duly elected members of the Board of Directors for the current year 2016-2017: ABDUL Y. HADJISALAM SAHARA D. ABDULSALAM RAIHANAH D. ABDULSALAM RAIZA-ALIA D. ABDULSALAM

- Chairman of the Board - Board of Director - Board of Director - Board of Director

Certified Correct:

(TS-MAY 26, 2016)

(SGD.) SAHARA D. ABDULSALAM Corporate Secretary

A week after braving tear gas in their last march against Maduro and the state of emergency he has imposed, his opponents plan to demonstrate starting around 1400 GMT Wednesday. Last week’s disturbances raised fears of wider unrest in the South American country, where anti-government rallies in 2014 led to riots that killed 43 people. The center-right opposition is pushing for a referendum on removing the socialist leader from office, blaming him for the country’s economic crisis. It accuses electoral authorities of dragging their feet in processing their petition for a referendum, which it wants to hold by the end of the year to get rid of Maduro. “The only option the opposition now has to press for a referendum is peaceful demonstrations, along with international pressure,” said political scientist Hector Briceno. When opposition supporters tried to protest outside the offices of the electoral board last week, riot police barred their way and sent then running by firing tear gas. In Wednesday’s protest, the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable coalition (MUD) has urged its supporters to march to the Supreme Court, which has banned demonstrations near the headquarters of the National Electoral Board (CNE). The MUD’s congressional leader Julio Borges said in a statement on the coalition’s website that a further protest was also planned near the CNE’s headquarters on Thursday. The opposition has handed the CNE the first of two petitions it is obliged to file in order to call a referendum and is waiting for the signatures to be counted. It complains the authorities are dragging out the process to avoid a referendum this year. If that happens, under constitutional rules Maduro could hand over power to his allies instead of new elections being held. But senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles said a referendum “will be possible if citizens keep up the pressure.” There is a risk that “along the way there is a social explosion and, as we have repeated, a coup d’etat,” Capriles said in a recent interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais. “The solution for Venezuela isn’t a military uprising. That would be worse than what we have today.” AFP AUCTION SALE

ACME PAWNSHOP

1st Level Glorietta 3 Ayala, Makati and its branches in Mejalco Bldg., Buenavidez St., Legaspi Village, Makati and L & R Bldg., Pasay Road, Makati auction sale on June 05, 2016, 2:00 pm Alabang Town Center, Alabang Zapote Road, MJ Holding Bldg., Almanza Las Piñas, Circle C G14, #17 Congressional Ave., Bahay Toro D1, Quezon City at 2:30 pm. All items pawned January 31, 2016. Notary Public

(TS-MAY 26, 2016)

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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.

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION Please be advised that at separate meetings held on 7 April 2016, the Stockholders and Board of Directors of SUMMIT TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (the “Corporation”) with office address at Business Solutions Center, Meralco Compound, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, approved to dissolve the Corporation through the shortening of its corporate life to 30 June 2017. (SGD.) ARSENIO C. CABRERA, JR. Corporate Secretary (TS-MAY 26,JUNE 2/9, 2016)

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B8 Atomic legacy binds US, Japan TOKYO—Japan and the United States have forged one of the world’s most enduring—some would say improbable—relationships in the seven decades since American atomic bombs laid waste to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing 200,000 people. The two nations fought four years of a searing, brutal conflict across the Pacific during World War II, culminating in the catastrophic destruction of the two cities in August 1945. But despite the unprecedented carnage, the fiercest of enemies somehow became the best of friends. Barack Obama is set to become the first sitting US president to visit one of the bomb sites when he journeys on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Hiroshima, hallowed ground to Japanese but, for more than 70 years, a no-go zone for 11 of his Oval Office predecessors. There will be no shortage of sensitivities, symbolism and emotion on display, including difficult and contentious questions that have long eluded precise answers: Were the bombings war crimes because they targeted civilians? Or did they save lives by bringing the conflict to a speedy conclusion? But Japanese rancor toward Americans will be hard to find. “I have no feeling of hate,” said Hiroshima survivor Toshiki Fujimori, who blames then-president Harry Truman for ordering the use of the weapons and says he has no ill will for “America as a whole”. The road to the current relationship started not just in the violent culmination of World War II—the “cruel bomb” described by Japanese Emperor Hirohito in his surrender speech—but in what came after. Seven years of occupation spearheaded by General Douglas MacArthur followed defeat, including the imposition of a US-penned constitution that famously stripped Japan of its right to wage war. But it also ushered in monumental social changes, including the nascent empowerment and liberation of women through the granting of suffrage. “I think this occupation could be said to be both tolerant and peculiar,” said Fumio Matsuo, a veteran journalist who survived an American air raid as a child. AFP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD Leaders fly to Japan ahead of G7 meeting ISE-SHIMA—World leaders began gathering in Japan Wednesday ahead of a Group of Seven summit set to be dominated by the lackluster global economy.

Onstage. Actress Andrea Navedo speaks onstage during the 41st Annual Gracie Awards at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel on May 24, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. AFP

The leaders were to make their way to Ise Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls. Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted in to patrol train stations and ferry terminals, and to direct traffic on the usually quiet roads during the two-day meeting. Tokyo said it was taking no chances in the wake of the terror attacks that struck Paris and Brussels in recent months. Dustbins have been removed or sealed and coinoperated lockers blocked at train and subway stations in the capital and areas around the venue site. Authorities said they will be keeping a close eye on the so-called “soft targets” such as theaters and stadiums. However, unlike in many other rich democracies, protests were unlikely to cause much of a security headache. One demonstration organized for Wednesday morning attracted just a handful of largely elderly protesters. Among the arrivals expected later Wednesday was Britain’s David Cameron, whose country’s referendum next month on continued membership of the European Union was likely to figure prominently on the summit agenda. Cameron was set for a one-on-one meeting later in the day with summit host, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe was also due Wednesday to meet US President Barack Obama, whose visit to the atomicbombed city of Hiroshima on Friday threatened to overshadow the summit. Obama will become the first sitting US leader to travel to the city, the site of the world’s first nuclear attack on August 6, 1945. Obama has spent the last few days in Vietnam, where on Tuesday he urged the communist authorities to embrace human rights and abandon authoritarianism. France’s Francois Hollande and Germany’s Angela Merkel were expected to arrive on Thursday morning. The meeting will also be joined by Italy’s Matteo Renzi and Canada’s Justin Trudeau. AFP

Indonesian birds face extinction due to pet trade JAKARTA—Thirteen species of Indonesian birds, including the country’s symbolic Javan Hawkeagle, are at serious risk of extinction mainly due to the pet trade, a wildlife watchdog warned Wednesday. The vast Indonesian archipelago is home to a dizzying array of birds and keeping them as pets has long been part of the national culture, with birdcages a common sight outside homes and

shops across the country. However, the increasing demand for some species as pets has led to dramatic population declines, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC warned in a new study. “This is a multi-million-dollar industry, there’s a huge criminal element and many people are profiting illegally from this business,” Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC’s director for Southeast Asia

and a co-author of the study, told AFP. The huge demand for songbirds in Indonesia has also put bird species in other countries such as Malaysia and Thailand in danger, Shepherd said. The Javan Hawk-eagle is Indonesia’s national bird and the inspiration for the Garuda, the mythical winged creature that adorns the country’s coat of arms. Other species at risk of extinc-

tion include the Silvery Woodpigeon, Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Scarlet-breasted Lorikeet, Javan Green Magpie, Black-winged Myna, Bali Myna, Straw-headed Bulbul, Javan White-eye, Rufousfronted Laughingthrush, Sumatran Laughingthrush and Java Sparrow. The Helmeted Hornbill is also at risk but unlike the others, is not kept as a pet. Thousands are being illegally killed and traded for

their unique “casques”—a solid lump of fibrous protein that runs along the top of the bill and onto the skull. It is used as a substitute for elephant ivory to meet the demand in China, according to TRAFFIC. It is illegal to hunt birds in the wild in Indonesia and sell them as pets, but critics say the law is often flouted, and the major bird markets in cities still operate freely. 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

w EL L BEING

LIFE TuRn yOuR WORlD

upSIDE DOWn

Why you should practice your headstand everyday

FINE FEttlE

By BuBBlES pARAISO

lso known as the “king of all asanas,” the headstand, or Sirsasana in Sanskrit, is not just awesome to look at when rightfully done and posted on your social media page, it also provides immense benefits for the practitioner’s body. Be reminded though, that if you are a beginner, don’t try to practice this pose without the guidance of a teacher, lest you injure yourself. People who also have back or neck issues must avoid this pose. There are several variations of a headstand – from the traditional variation to bound headstand, modified ones and even tripod. Since this pose makes you stand on your head, you are reversing the flow of gravity and therefore stimulating a sort of facelift as your skin hangs in the opposite direction. This inversion also flushes fresh nutrients and oxygen to your eyes, which can help prevent eye issues like macular degeneration; and also to your face, and thus gives you that post-yoga glow. Other effects that come with that reversed flow of gravity are improved digestion, circulation and detoxification. Since even your digestive organs are upside down, you help move stuck material, release trapped gasses and improve the flow of blood to the rest of the digestive organs, which increases your nutrient absorption, among other things. This pose also stimulates and provides refreshed blood to the pituitary and hypothalamus glands which are vital to our well being. When our adrenal glands are flushed and detoxified by this asana, more positive thoughts are created, thus the happy yogi you see all the time. And, since your heart usually pumps blood upwards to your brain, doing this pose gives your heart a break and even lets de-oxygenated blood be able to flow more easily from the extremities of your heart. Sounds awesome, right?

Doing a headstand also strengthens your shoulders, arms and deep core muscles. Since you are utilizing the strength of your arms, shoulders, hips and back to hold you up and keep off the pressure from your neck, this pose immensely improves your muscle endurance and upper body strength. The core muscles are strengthened furthermore as you engage your obliques, rectus abdominus and transverse abdominus to hold the pose for an extended period of time. Since your legs are up, it also helps drain any fluid retained on your feet and helps reduce the onset of varicose veins. Headstands are not easy. It may seem so, if you watch the experts do it, but when you are just beginning, it is quite difficult. There are so many cues you have to remember when practicing a headstand. You have to constantly remind yourself of these cues and keep yourself in check so you don’t fall on your face, or injure your back as you crash. Always remember to pull your hips up, push your elbows down, squeeze your thighs, hug your triceps in, relax your shoulders, engage your core but keep the ribcage in. It may seem complicated on paper but once you start practicing, it all makes sense. If you are a beginner, you don’t have to force yourself into a headstand right away. You may strengthen your shoulders first by constantly doing the dolphin pose, and simultaneously lifting one leg after the other to get the feel of it. (The dolphin pose looks similar to the downward facing dog, but with your forearms flat on the mat as you lift your hips up and walk your feet as close to your arms as possible). Other people find tripod headstands easier, and you can practice that first also. If you can’t lift your legs straight up in the tripod yet, halfway up with knees bent is fine – you still get to reap most benefits of the headstand anyway. If there’s one thing you should remember when practicing a headstand, it is that you shouldn’t be afraid to fall. Conquer your fear and know that all the best yogis have fallen flat on their faces more than once as well. Trust your body – sometimes you don’t know what you can do until you push yourself hard enough.

The headstand looks really good on your social media page but if you are a beginner, don’t try to practice this pose without the guidance of a teacher to avoid injuries

You may find me on Twitter and Instagram @bubblesparaiso.

Race to wellness with Robinsons Supermarket’s 9th Fit & Fun Buddy Run Get your best buddy and together, race to wellness with Robinsons Supermarket’s (RSC) 9th Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run. True to its commitment and continuing effort to empower Filipinos to achieve a healthier lifestyle, the run is part of RSC’s long-running Wellness campaign. The Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run will commence on July 3 at Bonifacio Global City. Participants can sign up for the 5K race at P1,400 per pair, or the 10K race at P1,700 per pair. For a more enjoyable

experience, get the entire family and friends to join in the fun. This year the Fit & Fun Wellness Buddy Run partners with Nestle Philippines, Johnson & Johnson, Nivea and Fonterra, so participants can expect a lot of exciting booths and finisher freebies after the race. Registration is open until June 20 and may be done at RSC branches in Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Magnolia, Robinsons Pioneer, Robinsons Place Manila and Robinsons Supermarket

Eastwood. Race kits this year come with a free Healthy You Trail Mix, a good sample of a prerace snack that participants can bring during the run. Take on a health and wellness journey with Robinsons Supermarket. Like it on Facebook Robinsons Supermarket Official or visit its official website at www.robinsons-supermarket.com.ph to stay updated on the activities it has in store and learn more about the #ILoveWellness campaign.

Running pairs can sign up for either the 5K or 10K race

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mAkATI mEDIcAL cEnTER gETS PRc AccREDITATIon

Premier medical insitution is recognized for continuing to empower nurses through educational excellence

akati Medical Center is raising the bar in professional nursing education to provide high quality, internationally accepted standards of education, and prepare and sustain its high reliability as an organization. Just recently, the premier healthcare facility obtained accreditation for its Nursing and Patient Care Services Division as a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) provider by the Philippine Regulatory Commission (PRC – the first nursing education accreditation received by the MakatiMed nursing division. The accreditation recognizes MakatiMed as a provider of continuing education for nurses. All registered and licensed professionals – nurses included – are required to take CPD programs to enhance their knowledge and stay abreast of developments in their chosen professions. “This PRC accreditation is a huge accomplishment. If you are awarded this type of certification, you can provide quality continuing education programs any nurse can have in the Philippines. My goal is to have a center for continuing education for nurses, providing more classes and

introducing topics never before taught in the country,” says Christine Donnelly, vice president of MakatiMed’s Nursing and Patient Care Services Division. With the accreditation, MakatiMed will now be able to offer programs that will help dedicated nurses acquire excellent professional education by honing their skills in different nursing specialties such as critical care nursing, surgical nursing, renal (kidney) nursing, oncology (cancer) nursing and others. “We’re also preparing for the implementation of the Comprehensive Nursing Law (Senate Bill No. 2720) which will mandate all nurses to undertake continuing professional development, which I believe is very important. Improving all aspects of clinical practice drives improvement in patient satisfaction,” Donnelly adds. Donnelly, who joined the organization in May 2014 following a 14-year stint at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, revamped MakatiMed’s nursing education program from the ground up. Under her leadership, MakatiMed launched a number of programs to enhance the competencies of the nursing personnel, among them the Competency Assessment

Makati Medical Center has consistently acquired a Joint Commission International accreditation, the world’s gold standard in patient safety and healthcare. Its Nursing and Patient Care Services Division was recently accredited by the Philippine Regulatory Commission as a Continuing Professional Development provider

and Relational Enhancement (CARE) nursing residency program, the first of its kind in the Philippines which provides nurses with intensive education, inclusive of clinical learning-discussion, research capability sessions and actual clinical immersions. The interactive workshops, robust programs and strong academic partnerships promote clinical advancement and excellent patient care outcomes. In conjunction with the CARE program, the nursing group also began offering CARE Extend, a program aimed at empowering nurses working and practicing outside MakatiMed to have bigger roles in patient care by sharing the decision-making with doctors. “Healthcare facilities need to look into all aspects of the organization to continuously move forward. Nursing care plays a significant role, since it is the nurses who spend the most time with patients for about

80 percent of the entire hospital journey. If we do not pay attention to nursing indicators, we’ll most likely put our reputation in jeopardy,” Donnelly points out. The era of nurses as mere followers and order-takers has long gone, as they are professionals and patient advocates allowed to give recommendations and are simultaneously evaluating patients with physicians. Collaboration and shared governance allow nurses to have a voice, to be leaders and partners in patient-centered care. Donnelly credits MakatiMed president and CEO Rosalie Montenegro as a driving force in the changed attitude in the hospital when it comes to nurses. “Rose’s vision and support made all the difference. She ensures that employees, clinical and corporate, are taken care of and are happy working at MakatiMed. Happy employees drive overall patient satisfaction,” Donnelly shares.

HEALTHY FUn AT Sm SPoRTSFEST 2016 SM officials and employees took a break from their corporate responsibilities to engage in some healthy fun during the recent annual SM Sportsfest that also celebrated the spirit of sportsmanship, camaraderie and healthy competition. Graced by officials led by no less than SM Prime Holdings, Inc. president Hans Sy; SM Retail, Inc. president Jorge Mendiola; SM Mart, Inc. president Chelo Monasterio; and SVP for Engineering & Security Affairs and Sportsfest Committee Chair Antolin Paule, the annual activity promoted physical fitness through two exciting and fun-filled events – the SM Marathon and the Mini Olympics. Held at the SM Mall of Asia Complex, the SM Marathon pitted the best runners from The SM Store’s 19 branches in Metro Manila including the head office in Pasay. More than 2,000 employees participated in the Men’s 5K and the Women’s 3K races, sprinting from the business park’s Simbahan Drive to the Seaside Boulevard near the bay area. While the runners competed, other SM employees had fun at the body jam session where they danced to this summer’s best beats. For the very first time ever, the SM MiniOlympics was held at the Marikina Sports Center, with Marathon first placers Miriam Fortunato of SM San Lazaro and Marlon Bolivar of SM Southmall doing the honors of symbolically lighting the Sportsfest torch to signal the start of the event, all 20

SM North EDSA Blue Hawks, the SM Mini Olympics 2016 overall champions

teams proudly waving their respective team colors, made more vibrant by the Masskara theme and costumes showcased during the opening ceremony. The Mini-Olympics turned employees into track stars as they competed in events such as the men and women’s 100-meter dash. Fortunato bagged the gold medal once again for her team while Nomer Carpio of SM Bicutan won in his category. Another highlight was the fun games like the sack race with the Megamall Stallions literally leaping to win first place.

Strong, mighty Blue Hawks: SM North EDSA wins the tug-of-war for the second year in a row

A close race for the Men’s 100-meter dash

The North EDSA Blue Hawks, on the other hand, won team events like the 8x50 relay, obstacle course and tug-o-war – getting enough points to bag the overall championship for the second year in a row since the Sportsfest returned to the one branch-one team format last year. The Manila King Cobras meantime took second place while the San Lazaro Mustangs came in third. Adding to the fun was a hip-hop dance competition that showcased the creativity and talent of SM employees. D’ Next Level group of SM North EDSA, SM Fairview,

SM Marikina and SM Novaliches got the judges nod for best choreography and use of exercise gear as props during their dance routine. Among the much-awaited portions of the annual Sportsfest is the special performance by the National University Pep Squad, ranked 3rd best in the world at the 2015 International Cheer Union (ICU) World Cheerleading Championships for the Coed Elite Division – leaving no one in doubt why the NU Pep Squad is among the world’s best.

Hip-hop dance competition champions D’ Next Level group of SM North EDSA, SM Fairview, SM Marikina and SM Novaliches

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Most adults fail to get the recommended daily amount of protein that the body needs for it to function well

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Every serving of Nutrilite Protein Drink Mix contains 10g of high-quality protein, 140mg calcium and nine essential amino acids

NUTRILITE INTRoDUcES cHocoLATE-FLAvoRED pRoTEIN DRINk mIx

rotein is an important component of the human body, the simple yet critical reason being that this macronutrient is used for our body’s growth and maintenance. Protein is used to make enzymes and hormones, and it is an important building block of skin, bones, muscles and blood. Sources of protein include red meats, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans and dairy. It also comes from grains in moderate amount as well as fruits and vegetable in small quantities. While protein is considerably easy to obtain, many however fail to get the recommended daily amount our body

needs for it to function well which is 10 to 11 ounces for adults. It is for these reasons that we need to supplement. Vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements provider Nutrilite has long been offering its protein drink mix for people who are not getting enough of this macronutrient. This year, Amway Philippines, the exclusive distributor of Nutrilite, brings the brand’s new Protein Drink Mix in chocolate flavor to the country. Nutrilite has always advocated total health, which is achieved through exercise, proper diet and living a healthy lifestyle. And with every serving of this easy to prepare beverage, one can get 10g of high-

quality protein, 140mg calcium and nine essential amino acids all of which help in cellular regeneration, tissue repair and keeping the body healthy. The plant-based protein in Nutrilite Protein Drink Mix is of high quality and went through exhaustive testing to ensure that it is truly easy to prepare and ideal to consume on a daily basis. The new flavor helps in achieving the latter as the delicious chocolate taste appeals even to kids.

Nutrilite’s brand’s new Protein Drink Mix in chocolate flavour

Visit www.amway.com to know more about Nutrilite products and to find out how to get this new Protein Drink Mix.

Blacklight Run highlights the colors of Davao city The grounds of SM Lanang in nighttime Davao City shone bright and colorful as about 700 runners participated in the first ever black light edition of Color Manila Run. Before runners traversed the trail, they were first treated to a rousing Zumba session. They were then given LED headlamps along with Color Manila Run’s signature color powder packs to help them navigate through the race routes in bright and vibrant fashion. Davao favorites Tribu K’ Mindanawan and DJ Torch Gacuma pumped up the crowd by providing riveting entertainment, which culminated in a lively dance party with the runners glowing with different splashes of color. Aside from music and color, the breathtaking views of Davao City made the event more fun and memorable to the enthusiastic crowd. “Color Manila Run offers tourists a chance to experience how a unique athletic activity can be more fun and memorable with the help of Filipino creativity,” shared Tourism Promotions Board’s chief operating officer Domingo Ramon C. Enerio III. Color Manila Run is part of the Visit the Philippines Again 2016 campaign of the Department of Tourism as one of several activities lined up throughout the year to entice travelers to come to the country and participate in their favorite sports while enjoying the natural wonders found throughout the archipelago. “The Tourism Promotions Board is happy and proud to support these kinds of events as they highlight both our people’s innate love to share happiness and our goal of creating the Philippines as a top

About 700 runners participated in the bright and colorful Color Manila Blacklight Run in Davao City

choice for sporting and wellness events,” added Enerio. Southern Mindanao regional director of the DOT Roberto P. Alabado III welcomed the runners, saying, “Color Manila Run is important for us in Davao because we need to be reminded of the

region’s rich biodiversity. DOT and TPB invite you to plan trips to experience the wealth of natural wonders our country has to offer.” Athletes can look forward to other adrenaline-filled activities happening in the Philippines such as the Ironman 70.3

Asia-Pacific Championship on August 7 in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu. Visit www.tpb.gov.ph and www.itsmorefuninthephilippines.com to know more upcoming sports-related events in the country.

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Cacao tablea are roasted, ground and molded tablets of pure fermented cacao beans used to make hot chocolate beverage Coconut sugar is a low glycemic natural sweetener

EnjoY PHILIPPInES' oRgAnIc HARvEST AT cEnTRAL SqUARE

utritionists say that it’s best to know where your food comes from before you put it in your mouth. But more often than not, people use the excuse that scarcity makes it hard to eat healthier because of the lack of resources, and sometimes it’s just really hard to find good organic product suppliers. The Philippines has one of the most diverse agricultural selections, and the products that come from our farmers are safer than the exported food we get abroad because they have less pesticide and are non-GMO, which makes the produce perfect for farm-to-table dining. The Department of Agriculture (DA) together with Central Square and SSI Group, Inc. have partnered to promote the country’s rich agriculture through an organic, artisanal, natural and indigenous agri food fair – the Philippine Harvest.

From May 27 to 29, gourmands, food connoisseurs and homemakers should head to Central Square and feast on the variety of healthy food supplies from more than 30 exhibitors. The three-day agri food fair will showcase products harvested from different provinces and regions of the country which include coconut and its derivatives, adlai, heirloom rice, organic colored rice, artisanal chocolates, dairy products, honey, cacao, coffee, tabontabon, sua and organic meat. According to DA Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Undersecretary for Special Concerns and chair of the National Organic Agricultural Board (NOAB), the event is a good opportunity to meet suppliers, retailers, and farmers who produce good quality products that reflect our culinary culture which is at par with international standards. “I encourage everyone to be co-producers; grow some of

The sua (suwa) is a small native lime found in Mindanao, it is used to remove the “fishy” taste for seafood and as a souring agent for a local dish called kinilaw

Heirloom rice varieties are flavorful, aromatic, and have exceptional nutritional value when cooked

In the Philippines, adlai is cultivated by the indigenous people living in Mindanao (Subanen, Bagobo, Manobo, and Talaandig) as a substitute to corn and rice flour

your own food, eat real food, visit a farm, shake the hand that feeds you, know the story behind the food that you eat, meet your farmers and fisherfolk, learn more about your local or regional food history and cultural dishes. If that’s too much for you, just buy food that supports our local farmers and fisherfolk,” she says. “We at SSI are proud to partner with the Department of Agriculture to promote the best of what the Philippines has to offer,” says Anthony Huang, president of SSI Group, Inc. “This is yet another way of enriching the lives of our customers – by

offering them the opportunity to experience and appreciate the different varieties of Philippine food products as well as meet the men and women behind them,” he adds. The three-day fair will be located at the lower and upper ground floors of Central Square located at 5th Avenue cor. 30th St., Bonifacio High Street Central, BGC Taguig, and will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call (02) 958 5660 or follow Central Square PH on Facebook and @centralsquareph on Instagram.

Innovative technology makes treatment for snoring painless and convenient Luminisce Skin & Laser Clinic introduces the Fotona NightLase machine It may sound funny if it were not true, but we have heard of so many stories about couples breaking up – not because there is a third party but due to that loud, disturbing noise we all know as snoring. Just imagine: You’re so tired after a stressful day at work, and all you want is to get some precious zzzs to recharge and resume your role as corporate warrior the next day. And just when you are about to drift off to La La Land – you get jolted upright by the sound that makes you think of an old steam engine. While this has been the subject of jokes, there’s really nothing funny about snoring – a serious condition that not only affects the health of the individual suffering from it, but worse, could negatively impact relationships.

One misconception Filipinos have about snoring is that it is a sign of good sleep. On the contrary, snoring can be caused by different factors, among them throat weakness, a misaligned jaw, accumulation of fat in and around the throat, touching tissues on top of the throat airways, and wrong sleeping position. But a more disturbing possibility is that snoring could be a sign of sleep apnea – a serious medical condition that results in the deprivation of oxygen to the body because breathing involuntarily stops while a person is sleeping – which could result in sudden cardiac death. A lot of hardworking professionals suffer from snoring – and while there have been

prescribed treatments that are both surgical and mechanical (such as face masks or dental appliance), these are not comfortable and easy options for many. The good news, however, is that there is a nonsurgical, painless treatment now available in the Philippines: the Fotona NightLase machine. Brought into the country by Luminisce Holistic Innovations, a boutique skin and laser clinic located in Bonifacio Global City, this innovative treatment is non-invasive and patientfriendly, reduces the effects of sleep apnea and decreases the amplitude of snoring by means of a gentle, laser-induced tightening effect caused by the contraction of collagen in the oral mucosa tissue.

The Fotona NightLase treatment does not require surgery, injections, or devices to be worn during sleep and does not involve chemicals

Unlike traditional treatments, the Fotona NightLase treatment from Luminisce does not require surgery, injections, or devices to be worn during sleep and does not involve chemical treatments. On the average, the procedure will only require 15 minutes – after which a 50 percent reduction in snoring is achieved after a single session. According to London-trained doctor Kristina Cuevas-Reyes of Luminisce Skin & Laser Clinic, three 15-minute sessions done in the course of two months

can provide optimum results – as seen not only in improved quality of sleep for the patient but more importantly, a better and healthier relationship. Luminisce Skin & Laser Clinic is located at 2/F Mercury Drug Building, across St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City, 32nd Street corner 4th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. You can also book your Fotona NightLase treatment through www.luminisce.com or call 5118500/ 09778044601/09159794661.

T H U R S D AY : m AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

A scene from the American superhero film featuring Scottish actor James mcAvoy as the young Professor X

Blockbuster. “X-men: Apocalypse” makes an impressive debut topping local box-office on its first week

0th Century Fox’s X-Men: Apocalypse reigns supreme at the boxoffice with its P230 million opening weekend gross (first five days) in the Philippines in 476 screens. It also dominated and opened at no.1 on its first day of release (May 18) in the country with P45 million box-office receipts. In the Philippines, X-Men: Apocalypse has taken the franchise to new heights with its strong box-office results. It now holds the record of the Biggest Fox Opening Weekend of All-Time, tracking 131 percent higher than X-Men: Days of Future Past. It is also now the Biggest Non-Holiday May Opening Weekend All-Time. Ultimately, X-Men: Apocalypse records show that it is now the Biggest Opening Weekend in the X-Men franchise. In addition to its opening weekend boxoffice results, it has become the Biggest Fox Opening Day All-Time, Biggest Non-

‘X-MEn: ApOcAlypsE’ pOsTs p230 MIllIOn On OpEnIng wEEkEnD

Holiday May Opening All-Time and the Biggest Opening Day in the X-Men franchise. X-Men: Apocalypse also cemented its apocalyptic power on Philippine soil as it now stands as the second Biggest Opening Weekend for the year, after Captain America: Civil War. X-Men: Apocalypse’s powerful presence recorded strong box-office receipts in the following cinemas: SM Megamall (11 million), SM Mall Of Asia (10.1M); Trinoma (8.1M); SM North Edsa/The Block (8M); Glorietta (6.2M); Powerplant (4.3M); SM Cebu (4.3M); Greenbelt 3 (4.1M); Gateway Cineplex (3.99M); Alabang Town Center (3.95M); Bonifacio Highstreet (3.8M); Ayala Cebu (3.6M); Theatremall (3.6M); Shang Cineplex (3.38M); Market!Market! (3.31M); Eastwood (3.25M); Robinson’s Magnolia (3.15M); SM Aura (3.13M); Uptown (3.03M); Newport (2.7M). Indeed record-breaking, X-Men: Apoca-

lypse’s Phil. box-office feat is also cited in major news organizations as one of the top performing markets in international territories. As reported in www.Variety.com “The launch featured the biggest Fox opening weekend ever in half a dozen markets including Philippines ($4.9 million), India ($3.5 million), Indonesia ($3.1 million), Singapore ($3 million), Thailand ($2.7 million) and Colombia ($1.9 million).” Bryan Singer’s return at the helm of the franchise in X-Men: Apocalypse along with beloved mutant characters pitted against the most powerful of their kind has generated coherent rave buzz among its fan base round the globe despite polarizing reviews from some critics. X-Men: Apocalypse brings returning and new characters on the big screen led by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters and Rose Byrne with young and

equally powerful mutants played by Sophie Turner, Ben Hardy, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Oscar Isaac. In the movie, the invincible and immortal Apocalypse is set free after being entombed for several millennia. Enraged that his kind are no longer treated as gods, Apocalypse assembles a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto, to destroy humankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. To end Apocalypse’s path of global destruction, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Professor X (James McAvoy) lead a team of young X-Men in an epic showdown with a seemingly unstoppable enemy. X-Men: Apocalypse is now showing in cinemas across the Philippines from 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros. Available in 2D, 3D, 4D and IMAX screens nationwide.

Live in summer forever GUESS recently launched its Spring Summer 2016 Collection with on-trend yet timeless must-haves perfect for this season. Guess Girl Katarina Rodriguez hosted the launch and welcomed everyone, followed by a brief introduction to the collection by Guess Marketing Supervisor Mirella Cruz. This summer, Guess focuses on wearable

fashion for men. “We are proud to introduce the key prints for the men’s tops this season – geometric, camouflage, abstract, blurred edges and modern palm prints. We also featured a mixture of light to dark colors to create variations,” shared by Guess Assistant Merchandising Manager Nicole Alcaide regarding the men’s collection. For women, it’s all about distinct prints

Guess Girls Chie Filomeno and Janina manipol with Guess market Supervisor mirella Cruz (center)

Beauty Queen and Guess ambassador Bianca Guidotti

and designs. “The collection shows a lot of indigo denim and colorful combinations of florals and unique prints. For the florals, we have three key prints for the season – botanic beauty, Asian influence of sakura floral, and Bengal tiger and snake prints. Lastly, to complete the look, we introduced ‘athleisure’ which features the sporty chic leggings and seamless yoga jeans to name a few,” Guess Assistant Merchandising Manager Clarish Barundia mentioned. Celebrities and social personalities

such as Guess Girls Sanya Lopez, Bianca Guidotti, Stefany Stefanowitz, Chie Filomeno, Arianne Bautista, Princess Legaspi, Sofia Romero, Janina Manipol and Guess Men Anton del Rosario, Brent Javier, John James Uy, DJ David Callum, AJ Dee, Luke Jickain and Vince Ferraren attended the launch. DJ Katsy Lee kept everyone in good mood with upbeat summer music. For more information, visit www. GUESS.com

T H U R S D AY : m AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

“Warcraft: The beginning” is based on the video game series and novels set in the world of Azeroth, a fictional world that serves as birthplace of many races, most notable being the elves

LEnoVo, UnITED InTERnATIonAL PIcTURES coLLAboRATE foR ‘WARcRAfT’

lobal technology leader Lenovo announced it is partnering with United International Pictures (UIP) for the premiere of the upcoming movie, Warcraft: The Beginning. Lenovo is thrilled to be part of this partnership to ensure that Lenovo customers everywhere are first to watch the Warcraft movie. Enthusiasts will also get to enjoy, a range of exclusive premiums as well as opportunities to get up close at cinemas, to Lenovo devices optimized for high-fidelity sound, arresting graphics and a satisfying media experience.

As part of Lenovo’s overall strategy to ‘Never Stand Still’, the world’s no. 1 PC maker saw the opportunity to continue developing their customer communities’ range and quality of experiences, on top of innovating devices that meet the latter’s diverse and evolving computing needs. The partnership with UIP will help extend Lenovo’s gaming customers’ experience on PCs and portable screens to the big screen, in line with Lenovo’s brand commitment to offer seamless access to content. The partnership with UIP aligns with two of the three passion points created for

Lenovo’s consumer business, namely Gaming and Movies (the third passion point is Music). Lenovo sees strong potential in each of these passion points, and will continue to develop partnerships and devices that deliver immersive and enriching experiences - such as in this case, by combining passion for Games with passion for Movies. Lenovo’s brand is known around the world for consistently enlarging the area in which device engineering and human requirement meet to spark innovation. This has placed Lenovo in the position of being the world’s

leading technology company, offering a broad spectrum of products to suit any need or desire, in any contemporary situation. Now through this landmark partnership with UIP, gaming communities and anyone who enjoys a cinematic ride will go further into the high stakes, engrossing world of Warcraft than ever before. Under the Lenovo-UIP partnership, there will be activations and roadshows around the Philippines. Warcraft: The Beginning will be showing in cinemas in the Philippines from May 25.

find 5 countries that love #bTS

The Twitter-born Korea Wave Idol group, BTS, is honored with the firstever Twitter emoji for a K-Pop band. Twitter is providing this special emoji for the fans of BTS, who are communicating with fans all over the globe through Twitter. Embeddable Tweet: https:// t w itte r. c om / bt s _ bi g h it / s t a tus/730923497925410816 K-pop is one of the hottest music conversations on Twitter with millions of fans worldwide. In fact, four of the top 10 music keywords in the 2015 #YearOnTwitter were related to K-pop boybands: #BigBang, #GOT7, #BTS, and #EXO. Among them, BTS (@BTS_twt) is the hottest and most discussed K-pop band on Twitter

right now. Now, here’s the surprise for #BTS fans all over the world. The BTS emoji is offered for one month until 5 p.m. of June 10 on all Tweets using the official hashtag ‘#BTS’. The emoji is developed for BTS fans in each country, so that they may send their cheers for BTS Asia Tour, which is scheduled for next month, and communicate more actively. The design of the emoji shows a bulletproof jacket because the Korean name of BTS means bulletproof boys. Twitter and BTS will select five countries that use the special emoji most frequently, and share with them a special video including a thank-you message from BTS. We look forward

cROsswORD puzzlE

answer PreVIOUs PUZZLe

ACROSS 1 Stir-fry pans 5 Baked-potato garnish 10 “Sparkling wine” town 14 Pursue game 15 Less polite 16 Chess piece 17 Huron neighbor 18 Mind’s-eye view 19 Goody-goody

20 Regards highly 22 Land 24 “Antiques Roadshow” network 25 Crumpet go-with 26 Tennis gofer (2 wds.) 30 Sparkling 34 Queens stadium 35 Tent dweller 37 Natural crystals

38 Masseuse employer 39 Thicken 40 Move to and — 41 Hardy heroine 43 Dish with saffron 45 Take a gander 46 Manicurist’s cache 48 California mountains 50 Down Under bird 51 FICA funds it 52 Dead-end 56 Ahab and crew 60 Much-loved 61 Red Sea peninsula 63 Get poison ivy 64 Eye amorously 65 Blow away 66 Where hackles rise 67 — -back (mellow) 68 Storm drain 69 R&B singer James DOWN 1 Playground cry 2 Mine and thine 3 Clingy fabric 4 Bell tower 5 Embarrassed 6 Whirs 7 NW state 8 First-magnitude star 9 Put up 10 Is attractive

to the competition among fans in each country regarding their support for BTS. BTS made their official Twitter account (@BTS_twt) at the end of the year in 2012, which was before their formal debut, and have been communicating actively with their fans ever since. As a result, they have built a large fan base, and now they are a global K-POP group on Twitter. A selfie taken at ‘2015 Melon Music Awards’ got more than 2.9 million views, and was selected as Twitter’s 2015 ‘Golden Tweet’ in South Korea. Embeddable Tweet: https:// t w i t t e r. c o m / B T S _ t w t / s t a tus/662994883867611136.

THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2016

11 Paretsky of whodunits 12 Nesting need 13 “Picnic” author 21 Wane 23 Dream phenom 26 Tack 27 Quaking tree 28 Lofty capital 29 Hindu mystics 30 Festivities 31 Deduce 32 1950s war site 33 Furry Jedi allies 36 Gibson of “Braveheart” 42 Smudged 43 Advantages 44 More suspicious 45 Nutty confection 47 911 responder 49 NASA counterpart 52 Goddess’s statue 53 Huge, in combos 54 Sanskrit dialect 55 Gael republic 56 Use hip boots 57 Coup d’— 58 Sales slip (abbr.) 59 Mets’ former stadium 62 This moment

bTS is taking the international scene by storm when members are honored with the first-ever Twitter emoji for a K-Pop band

T H U R S D AY : m AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

ImElDA PAPIn VowS To fIgHT, fIlES ElEcToRAl PRoTEST

inger Imelda Papin on Monday told members of the entertainment press along with her lawyer Howard Calleja that she has filed an electoral protest against former Speaker Arnulfo “Noli” Funtebella who was declared winner in the May 9 elections as representative of the fourth district of Camarines Sur. Papin said that was robbed of votes after the counting was stopped while she was leading. “The following morning, the results were reversed and Fuentebella was leading by 740 votes,” she said Papin filed her protest before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and asked for a manual recount, including the manual revision and even the count of the rejected ballots. Papin asked the tribunal for a recount to annul and set aside Fuentebella’s proclamation and declare her as the duly elected representative of Camarines Sur Papin also asked the tribunal to secure the ballot boxes, the list of voters and voting records, the books of voters, and other documents and paraphernalia, as well as

the automated election equipment and records, such as data storage devices. She also asked the tribunal to direct the ballot boxes containing the ballots and keys, copies of election returns, list of voters with voting records and other documents or paraphernalia to be brought to the tribunal. Papin said that she is doing this for the people of the district of Partido, known as the Fuentebella’s fiefdom in the Bicol province. Last year, actor Aga Muhlach ran against Fuentebella. The actor also lost. During the press conference at Kamayan West Avenue, Papin was accompanied by Congressman-elect L-Ray Villafuerte who said that he is supporting Papin’s electoral protest as he also wants the district to become progressive. Partido, according to Villafuerte who was once governor of Camarines Sur is the poorest town, Papin explained why she had to file the protest. “A great deal of people are aware of the many scandalous instances where counting was stopped. During the

counting in Tinambac where I was leading, the CCS suddenly became inaccessible. Not only that, the SD cards could not be read, so it was sent to the main office of Smartmatic in Laguna, which provoked suspicions. The counting only resumed on May 12, where one SD card was even found to be blank by a member of our legal team. A frightful incident also happened when members of the Philippine Army and the police force from different municipalities descended on the Tinambac muncipal building and reportedly on orders of my opponent, told off the poll watchers to get out and padlocked the Comelec office, while a helicopter purportedly owned by the Fuentebellas was hovering over.” Papin continued, “It is with conviction that I am pursuing this case and lodging a protest before the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. Indeed, it is a crusade that we are spearheading and with God’s help and guidance as well as everyone’s prayers and support, we can overcome all obstacles and pave the way towards change and progress. With this development, I will now be in the fore-

Jukebox singer Imelda Papin vows to block the proclamation of her rival Arnulfo “noli” fuentebella

front of electoral reforms and spearhead the Crusade where the true will and voice of the people will be reflected through clean, honest and credible elections.”

Pokwang meets her in-laws-to-be

Bffs again. “we will Survive” lead stars Pokwang and melai cantiveros

Edwin (Jeric Raval) and Wilma (Pokwang) take their love story up a notch as she meets her future in-laws in the Kapamilya afternoon series We Will Survive. Before their wedding day, Wilma is set to face Edwin’s parents and will use her wit and charm to win their hearts. And despite being compared to her fiance’s late wife, she will do her best to prove that she is deserving of their son’s love and also worthy to be part of their family.

Meanwhile, Maricel (Melai Cantiveros), though with hesitations, will give Pocholo (Carlo Aquino) a chance to be with their son Jude (Josh De Guzman). And despite the single mother’s anger towards her former beau, Pocholo will keep on asking for forgiveness from Maricel and will continue to get her trust. What will Wilma do to prove she is the right woman for Edwin? Will she be able to win her future in-laws’ hearts? Will Pocholo and

Maricel start to mend their broken relationship? More exciting scenes are set to surprise the viewers in We Will Survive, the teleserye that shows however ugly the world gets, there is beauty in life as long as we are together, weekdays after Tubig at Langis on ABS-CBN or on ABS-CBN HD (SkyCable ch 167). Viewers may also catch up on the program’s past episodes on iWanTV.com and onskyondemand.com.ph for Sky subscribers.

‘Jersey Boys’ in manila The Tony, Olivier, and Grammy Award-winning musical is a biographical musical based on the story of the legendary American doo-wop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Considered America’s most popular singing group before The Beatles, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, alongside the Beach Boys, Motown, and Memphis soul, fought their way to the top of the music charts even during the phenomenal “Beatlemania,” The Rolling Stones, and British Invasion in the mid-60s. In 1990, the Four Seasons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for selling over 100 million records worldwide. Turned into a musical, Jersey Boys, is a biographical story of the 40-year-friendship of four sons of Italian immigrants in New Jersey. They went from singing on street corners in the various housing projects to singing on national television as their songs, featuring Frankie Valli’s trademark threeoctave range and falsetto and a distinctive doo-wop sound, charted 24 Top-30 hits from 1962 to 1968. Their most popular songs such as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Working My Way

“Jersey Boys,” the international touring production and Broadway’s longest jukebox musical, is coming to town

Back to You,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “My Eyes Adored You,” and “December 1963 (Oh What a Night),” defined the boomer generation who took illegal drugs, sex, rebellion, and rock and roll to a whole new level. The musical features the music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, the Four Seasons’ record producer, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who creatively present the story of the Four Seasons’ formation, meteoric rise and descent via four symbolic seasons told from different points of view.

Jersey Boys officially opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre on Nov. 6, 2005. In 2006, the show won the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (John Lloyd Young, who also played the role of Frankie Valli in the movie adaptation in 2014), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Christian Hoff), and Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Howell Binkley). It also won Best New Musical at the 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards in Lon-

don and Best Musical Show Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards. As of Sept. 22, 2015, after setting a record of at least 4,093 performances, Jersey Boys has surpassed Miss Saigon as the 12th longest-running show in Broadway history. To date, the show has been seen by more than 23 million people worldwide and is currently playing in New York, Las Vegas, London, and in numerous cities across North America and the U.K. In Asia, an international touring production, starring an all-

South African cast, played Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia from Nov. 2012 to April 2014. This year, Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group (ATEG), which recently presented the first international production of The Bridges of Madison County and the newly reimagined production of Saturday Night Fever, is set to premiere one of the longest-running shows on Broadway in Manila. Tickets to Jersey Boys are now available at www.ticketword.com. ph or call Ten Bridges at 650 -5144.

T H U R S D AY : m AY 2 6 , 2 0 1 6

ISAH V. RED EDITOR NICKIE WANG WRITER

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ BRITaIn’s LOach WIns cannEs gOLD

ritish director Ken Loach won the Palme d’Or top prize at Cannes for the second time in a decade with his moving drama I, Daniel Blake about the shame of poverty in austerity-hit Europe. The award marked a major upset at the world’s top film festival in favor of the left-wing director, who turns 80 next month and is known for shining a light on the downtrodden. He beat runaway favorites including the rapturously received German comedy Toni Erdmann by Maren Ade, one of three female directors in competition, and US indie legend Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson starring Adam Driver as a poetry-writing bus driver. Both left empty-handed. Loach now joins an elite club of twotime victors at the French Riviera festival including Francis Ford Coppola and Emir Kusturica. Loach slammed swingeing welfare cuts across Europe as he accepted the prize. “We are in the grip of a project of austerity driven by ideas that we call neo-liberalism that brought us to near catastrophe,” he said. “It has led to billions of people in serious hardship and many millions struggling from Greece in the east to Spain in the west... while this has brought a tiny few immense wealth.” The runner-up Grand Prix award went to Canada’s Xavier Dolan, 27, for his hottempered family drama It’s Only the End of the World featuring a cast of A-list French stars widely panned by critics. Fighting back tears, Dolan said he now felt vindicated. “The fight continues. I will keep making films all my life whether they are loved or not,” he said. Britain also claimed the third-place Jury

prize, for Andrea Arnold’s high-energy American Honey starring Shia LaBeouf in a tale of disadvantaged US youths selling magazines door-to-door. All three top winners surprised critics. “The jury managed to blindside virtually every punter with their choice of winner,” wrote US trade magazine Variety. French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema tweeted that it had been a “lovely competition ruined by a blind jury.” The best director prize was shared by Romania’s Cristian Mungiu for his drama Graduation about the moral rot of corruption in a post-communist society, and France’s Olivier Assayas for his supernatural thriller Personal Shopper with Hollywood phenomenon Kristen Stewart. Philippine star Jaclyn Jose won best actress in Brillante Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa as a mother selling drugs to survive who falls prey to corrupt police. “She broke my heart,” one of the jury members, French director Arnaud Desplechin, said, justifying the choice in what was widely seen as a vintage year for female performances. Iran’s Shahab Hosseini clinched best actor for Asghar Farhadi’s taut moral drama The Salesman, about a married couple thrown into turmoil after the wife is attacked in their home. Farhadi, whose 2011’s A Separation won the best foreign language film Oscar, also scooped the screenplay honors. Houda Benyamina’s Divines about a young French teenage girl from a tough immigrant suburb got the nod for best first film, the Camera d’Or. The nine-member jury was chaired by Mad Max director George Miller, who called the 12-day festival “one of the most intense experiences of my life.” –AFP

On the red carpet. Jaclyn Jose with daughter Andi Eigenmann and director Brillante mendoza (center)

British film and television director Ken Loach has triumphed at the Cannes film festival for the second time with his welfare state drama, “I, Daniel Blake “

L’actrice. Jaclyn Jose wins Best Actress prize at Cannes Film Festival over the weekend for her performance in Brillante mendoza’s “ma’ Rosa”