The Standard - 2016 June 01 - Wednesday

VOL. XXX NO. 109 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDAY : JUNE 1, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Bounty set for top drug dealers

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DUTERTE FILLS UP MORE TOP POSTS

Digong appoints heads of DILG, DND, BIR, Customs

By John Paolo Bencito

DAVAO CITY—More friends and province mates joined the incoming Cabinet of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

In a press conference Tuesday night, Duterte confirmed that the former South Cotabato governor and PDP-Laban chairman Ismael

Sueno, his close friend, would head the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which has the control over all local police.

Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1973, and former special presidential representative of the Office of Philippine Veterans Affairs in the United States will head the Department of National Defense (DND).

Lorenzana was a high school classmate of Duterte patron and friend Pastor Apollo Quiboloy,

and was the 601st brigade commander in Malungon, Sarangani in 2000.

Former Maj. Gen. Isidro Lapena, the former Philippine National Police director for operations will head the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency while former Army 5th Infantry Division head Brig.

Gen. Ricardo Jalad will lead the National Disaster Risk Reduction

and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Catalino Cuy, the former Davao City police chief who later became the chief of the Special Action Force before the Mamasapano will be tapped to be undersecretary for police concerns under the DILG, and former Dangerous Drugs Board will be the head of the Bureau of InNext page ternal Revenue.

Davao Cabinet. President-elect Rodrigo Duterte meets the members of his new Cabinet, whom he presented during a press conference in Davao City on Tuesday night.

Duterte: Corruption also media problem

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China’s Xi hopes for better ties with Rody

By Vito Barcelo CHINESE President Xi Jinping is hopeful that rocky relations between China and the Philippines—strained by a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea—will improve during the administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

“The friendly, stable and healthy

development of Sino-Philippine relations accords with the basic interest of both countries and both peoples,” Xi said in a statement released after Congress proclaimed Duterte president on Monday. “(I) hope both sides can work hard to push Sino-Philippine relations back onto a healthy development track.”

Incoming Foreign Affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay said bilateral talks could help untangle the territorial dispute between the two countries.

“The Duterte administration is bent on dealing with China through peaceful dialogue,” he said. “There’s no other way but to go bilateral. “We have been pursuing this. I don’t see why we Next page should stop.”

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Bautista questions poll fraud raps Natural Resources, Labor and Employment and Social Welfare and Development.

Asked about the unfilled Cabinet posts, Duterte said that the DENR post will remain his “concession to the left” while he is reviewing his nominees still for the Department of Tourism and Department of Health.

Duterte had earlier named Carlos Dominguez III, former Agriculture secretary, to head the Finance Department; former Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno to his old post; Ernesto Pernia of the UP School of Economics, to head the National Economic and Development Authority; former Justice secretary Silvestre Bello III to the Department of Labor and Employment and chief negotiator to the National Democratic Front.

Former Press secretary Jesus Dureza will head the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process; former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. will be acting Foreign Affairs secretary; Duterte’s law school fraternity brother, Vitaliano Aguirre II, will be Justice secretary; former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol, Agriculture secretary; Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, Public Works and High-

ways secretary; former Clark Development Corp. president Arthur Tugade, Department of Transportation; and former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon will be National Security Adviser.

Ronald Dela Rosa will be taking over the position as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) while Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya will head the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The incoming president said he will also appoint former Immigration chief Andrea Domingo as head of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation and Jose Calida as solicitor-general.

Duterte said it was not a simple job to put a Cabinet together.

“When I am not in the public eye, I am reviewing recommendees. I can assure you they are all men of honesty and integrity,” Duterte said.

“There will never be a time when I will ask my colleagues in government to do the wrong thing. I assure the country, our businessmen, our people: I will level, really level the playing field. I don’t want people to complain,” he said.

In the same press conference, he said he was still ambivalent about giving a post to Vice President-elect Leni Robredo, because of his friendship with her

rival, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “I know Bongbong Marcos. I do not want to hurt him. Leni should understand that she belongs to the opposite side,” he said.

There is also no law that compels him to make her a member of his Cabinet, he added.

Robredo edged out Marcos for the vice presidency by a slim margin. His camp has not yet decided to file an election protest.

Duterte said his bond with Marcos was formed when his father became a member of the Cabinet of the senator’s father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

He described his father as a true “Marcos boy.”

“When Marcos first ran for president, all Mindanao governors that time jumped to the Liberal Party except two—(former Zamboanga del Sur) Governor (Bienvenido) Ebarle and my father (Vicente Duterte) who stood

by Marcos all the way,” Duterte said.

“Speaking of loyalty and friendship, I am proud to say that my father was a close ally of President Marcos until his death,” he added.

The Palace said Tuesday the public should respect Duterte’s choice of Cabinet members. With Sandy Araneta and Rio N. Araja

month said China has added more than 1,300 hectares of land to the seven From A1 features it occupies in the This was in sharp con- Spratly Islands archipelatrast to the Aquino ad- go. ministration’s multi-lateral The so-called Shangriapproach, which sought to La Dialogue, an annual bring other claimants in the meeting in Singapore, South China Sea together, will see defense minisand which has sought to ters, military chiefs and shape international public defense experts from the opinion against Beijing.

Asia-Pacific region and Aquino has also beyond discuss regional strengthened the country’s security issues. military ties with the UnitYasay said the incomed States in a move that has ing administration would angered China. await the ruling by a UN US Defense Secretary tribunal on a case filed by Ashton Carter will depart the Philippines, questionTuesday for an Asian secu- ing China’s nine-dash-line rity summit in Singapore, claim over almost the enwhere Beijing’s military tire South China Sea. expansion across the South China has refused to China Sea likely will once take part in the proceedagain dominate discus- ings at the Permanent sions.

Court of Arbitration, sayRegional neighbors are ing it had no jurisdiction fretting over what they see over the case. A decision is as China’s expansionism as expected this year. it rushes to exert sovereignSince his election, Duty over the waterway, a ma- terte has adopted a more jor global shipping route conciliatory tone on the believed to be home to country’s sea dispute large oil and gas reserves. with China, in contrast to China is using dredgers Aquino’s sharp statements and other tools to convert against Beijing. low-lying ocean features For weeks now, Filipino and sandy blips into mili- fishermen in the Scartary bases. borough Shoal have been A Pentagon report this plying their trade without

being harassed by the Chinese Coast Guard, in what could be an early sign of thawing tensions.

This was a far cry from 2012, when China seized the shoal and made it virtually off-limits to Filipino fishermen.

In pushing bilateral talks, Yasay questioned the effectiveness of the Aquino administration’s multilateral approach.

“This is necessary. I don’t think there is any other way to resolve these disputes except talking to each other,” Yasay said.

On Saturday, Duterte said that Beijing must abide by the ruling of the United Nations tribunal on its arbitration case.

While China has snubbed the UN proceeding, Duterte said it must respect the decision of the tribunal, which is expected to be handed out soon.

“If there’s arbitration, I expect China to follow,” he said.

Duterte said he will be working closely with China, in particular in building railways to ease commuters’ woes, but this does not mean his administration will abandon its maritime claims.

“Just because you are building me a railway doesn’t mean I’m abandoning Scarborough Shoal,” he said.

“I told you, that is ours, you have no right to be there in our EEZ [Exclusive Economic Zone.] Whether you believe it or not, [that’s] fine by me, but that will be the predicate of any further discussions about those territories of ours,” he added.

The outgoing administration said bilateral relations between the Philippines and China are not limited to the South China Sea issue.

“When President Aquino met President Xi at a tree planting ceremony during the Apec summit in China in 2014, they exchanged pleasantries on the long history of friendship and cooperation between [the two countries],” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

“Our position has always been that the [dispute] does not represent the totality of our bilateral relations and we continue to foster people to people ties,” Coloma also said. With Bloomberg, AFP

Duterte...

From A1 Lawyer Martin Delgra, a senior partner of the Suelto Barba Delgra Claudio Lorejo Law Firm here in Davao City, will head the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board while NBI Davao Regional Director Dante Gierran will head the National Bureau of Investigation.

Cesar Dulay will head the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Edgar Galvante the Land Transportation Office, while Alex Monteagudo will head the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.

Mike Diño, brother of PDP-Laban member Martin Diño who filled in for Duterte when he had not yet decided to run as president, will be the presidential assistant for the Visayas.

Duterte also confirmed the appointments of former UP Professor Judy Taguiwalo to head the Department of Social Welfare and Development and former lawmaker and peasant leader Rafael Mariano to the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Duterte earlier offered four Cabinet positions to the Communist Party of the Philippines—Agrarian Reform, Environment and

China’s...

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

COMMISSION on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista on Tuesday questioned the timing of three whistleblowers who claimed they participated in vote manipulating and cheating during the May 9 elections.

“The first thing that came into my mind was, too late the hero,” Bautista said in an interview with radio dzMM, noting that their revelations came three weeks after the elections.

Bautista questioned that why they come out just only now when it is more than three weeks after the May 9 elections.

“Why only now? If there was really evidence and proof of cheating, why expose it just now?” he said in Filipino. “We are already on the last week of May. If there was actual cheating, they should have exposed that right away.”

Bautista was referring to three whistleblowers who held a press conference at the Senate, their faces hidden, to announce that they participated directly in the rigging of election results in Quezon province, which has over one million registered voters.

“We decided to show up because we witnessed and were used in this incident [poll cheating],” said one whistle blower who said he was a logistic supervisor.

He said the manipulation of votes was done in a privately owned building where computers and counting machines were used. He said Smartmatic personnel were also there to help in the operations.

“The counted votes from the municipalities were transmitted to us so we could manipulate the numbers and put them in their favored candidates.

After receiving the votes, we transmitted them to our accomplices on the second and third floors who control the Smartmatic machines which transmit votes to corresponding servers. They manipulated the numbers and put them in favored candidates,” the logistic supervisor said.

Bautista said the Comelec was open to examining any evidence or proof, but said that since the first automated election in 2010, no allegations of cheating have ever been proved.

On Monday, Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia said the poll body will welcome any complaints and is willing to audit reported irregularities, as long as there is a basis for such reports.

The opposition United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday said persons in-

volved in manipulating the elections must be punished, even if they belong to a losing party.

In a statement, UNA spokesperson Mon Ilagan said that UNA was deeply disturbed by the revelations of electronic poll tampering made last Monday at the Senate.

“If we are to bolster faith in democracy and elections, election cheats must be punished even if they belong to the losing party,” Ilagan said.

At the Senate on Monday, three IT experts claimed to have manipulated the results of the automated elections to favor the candidates of the Liberal Party.

One of the whistleblowers claimed that in Quezon province alone, at least 400,000 votes were added to Roxas.

“What’s unraveling are incidents of tampering with the people’s mandate by a political party hell bent on keeping power at all costs.

These incidents must be exposed, investigated fully by the proper authorities and charges filed against the perpetrators,” Ilagan said.

“While it did not affect the votes for President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, it has an undeniable impact on the actual rankings and the actual votes for the other presidential candidates. And it clearly undermines the people’s faith in elections and the democratic process,” Ilagan said.

A lawyer for the administration’s winning vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo, on the other hand, questioned the figures cited by the whistle blowers, saying their claims were higher than the actual number of people who voted.

Also on Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied the petition filed by losing senatorial candidate Francis Tolentino to stop the proclamation of winners in the 10th to 12th slots in the senatorial race last month.

During its en banc session, the SC also junked the appeal of Tolentino to compel Comelec to conduct a forensic audit of the Automated Election System.

Court spokesman Theodore Te said the magistrates junked Tolentino’s petition as being moot and academic, since the Comelec had already proclaimed all 12 winning senatorial candidates.

With Vito Barcelo and Rey E. Requejo

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Villar backs Cayetano for Senate president

Operation. Soldiers using sniper rifles scan the horizon during an operation against Islamic militants at a remote village in Butig town, Lanao del Sur

province, on the southern island of Mindanao on May 30, 2016. Two soldiers were killed during clashes with Islamic militants trying to regain their base in a remote, mountainous region of Mindanao, the military said on May 30. AFP

Belmonte says he’s ready to lead the minority bloc HOUSE Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Tuesday he was all set to take the functions and responsibilities as leader of the minority bloc in the House of Representatives in the 17th Congress.

Belmonte, vice chairman of the ruling Liberal Party, acknowledged the importance of having a “strong minority” in the House to ensure the checks and balances in the government.

“My inclination is to be the leader of the minority because,

to be very frank, there must be a presence of the minority and that is a part of democracy,” Belmonte told reporters.

He said he was committed to be a “vocal and responsible fiscalizer” of the opposition under the Duterte administration.

He said he would fully support the new administration for as long as its policies do not violate the laws and the Constitution.

“I will be very cooperative.

We will give the new president all the chances to make good,” Belmonte said.

“For as long as it is within the Constitution and legal limits, I will l give my onehundred-percent backing [to the Duterte administration] because he was elected by the people and their expectations

are high.”

Belmonte said President Benigno Aquino III wanted his party mates in the LP to join the “super majority” in the House to be established by the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.

He said he was negotiating with Davao del Norte Representative-elect Pantaleon Alvarez, the incoming speaker, to allow the LP members who would join the majority to stay in their party instead of joining the PDP-Laban. Maricel V. Cruz

SENATOR Cynthia Villar said Tuesday she is supporting Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano who is vying for the Senate presidency under the 17th Congress.

She and Cayetano are both members of the Nacionalista Party, and she said she had information that Cayetano was the choice of newly proclaimed President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I asked whom he [Duterte] wanted indirectly,” Villar said, adding he hoped Cayetano would emerged victorious in the four-way fight for the Senate presidency.

Duterte had said it was up to Cayetano and Senator Aquilino Pimentel III to talk who of them would be Senate president.

Cayetano is the defeated running mate of Duterte while Pimentel is PDP-Laban president and Duterte is its chairman.

Cayetano says he has the support of 15 senators in his bid to wrest the Senate presidency from reelected Senator Franklin Drilon.

A senator needs 13 votes from his colleagues to unseat Drilon, who will likely keep his position if Cayetano and Pimentel will contest the Senate leadership.

Since both of them are staunch allies of Duterte, their votes would be divided, which would pave the way for the Liberal Party to remain in control of the Senate.

Villar said she was the first to sign a resolution being circulated electing Cayetano for the position.

Senator-elect Manny Pacquiao also signed the resolution.

Cayetano, Pimentel and Drilon aside, the other aspirant for the leadership of the Senate is Senator Tito Sotto who claims 18 senators have committed to vote for him.

Meanwhile, Villar also said the other NP member in the Senate, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, had indicated he might just join the minority bloc if Cayetano became the next Senate president.

She said she also hoped to remain chairman of the Senate committees on agriculture, government corporations and public enterprises. Macon Ramos-Araneta

Bautista reiterates call to delay Barangay polls COMMISSION on Elections Chairman Juan Andres Bautista reiterated Tuesday his call to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections because of election fatigue.

He suggested holding those elections simultaneously with the selection of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention being proposed by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

“If we will also have an election to select ConCon members, and we have this barangay and SK elections, maybe it would be better if they would just be held together at the same time,” Bautista said in a radio interview.

He said his suggestion, if allowed, would be beneficial as it will save money.

“Holding elections is costly. For the Barangay and SK elections

alone, it will cost us three billion to four billion pesos to hold it,” he said.

Bautista is pushing for the postponement of the Barangay and SK elections, which are set for October this year, because of “election fatigue” since the country had just concluded the May national and local elections.

Duterte, on the other hand, wants a Constitutional Convention to start his administration’s plan to shift to a federal system of government.

But he does not support the Comelec’s bid to postpone the Oct. 31 Barangay and SK elections because he does not want to extend the terms of incumbent barangay officials.

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon is also not in favor of rescheduling the barangay elections. PNA

Demand. Government employees from various agencies troop to the Philippine Coconut Authority to

demand immediate action by newly proclaimed President Rodrigo Duterte on the minimum wage and to stop contractualization and abolish the governance commission for government-owned corporations. MANNY PALMERO

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Duterte assails corrupt media

By John Paolo Bencito

Drug bust. Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operation of the PNP and PNP Angeles City police show the P1-billion liquid shabu and machines they seized at an abandoned house in 27 Villa Dolores Subdivision, Brgy Sto. Domingo on Tuesday. No one was arrested during the raid. DANNY PATA

Digong offers P3-m bounty for drug lords

By John Paolo Bencito DAVAO CITY—President-elect Rodrigo Roa Duterte offered a bounty of P3 million for every drug lord that will be killed by authorities and said he will even spend monies donated for his campaign to fund the operation.

“The order is dead or alive. The police know when it is legal to kill and when it is not,” Duterte told journalists in a press conference at the Malacañang of the South in Panacan after he announced the designation of lawyer Dante Gierran as director of the National Bureau of Investigation.

“I told NBI Director Dante Gierran I want you to personally do the killing. I will give him the

P3 million [per drug lord] and P1 million for [lower ranking drug dealers],” he said, adding that he expected about 100 drug lords killed.

“Do not destroy my country because I will destroy you. Do not destroy the youth of the land because I will kill you,” said Duterte who is set to assume office on June 30.

When asked where he will get the P300 million for the bounty,

he said: “I already have it. The excess of campaign contributions.”

At the same time, he said he will also ask Congress to remove the lesser criminal penalty of probation for those convicted of drug offenses.

He also warned that he will not spare law enforcers who use drugs and announced that he will task the military to take care of lawmen found violating drug laws. “I will call a private and ask him to shoot the offender,” he said.

It was the second time Duterte publicly discussed his looming anti-drugs campaign after he summoned a midnight press conference on May 27 to scold authorities over the drug-related deaths of five young people in a Pasay City concert party.

Saying the deaths were caused by a failure of police intelligence, Duterte announced he would implement a massive reshuffle in the Philippine National Police and threatened to assign Metro Manila law enforcers to far-flung stations to instill duty and discipline among them.

Duterte, who ran on a platform of curbing criminality and the use of drugs, slammed the authorities for their negligence and question the funds allotted to them. He said the police failure to notice the drug dealers during the event was unacceptable.

“The problem is that law enforcement failed,” he said, adding that he will scrutinize where the funds for intelligence and operations go when he assumed office.

DAVAO CITY—After assailing media as “prostitutes of oligarchs,” President-elect Rodrigo Duterte blamed the corruption of journalists for the killings of media men that has made the country one of the most dangerous places in the world for the profession.

Asked about his stand on media killings in the country, Duterte said many of the killings are due to the corruption of journalists.

If you will be killed, you will be killed. There is no way to know the next victim will be a journalist,” Duterte told journalists during his first press conference after being proclaimed president.

“Most of the time, you did something wrong,” Duterte said in Filipino. “You received money but you continued to criticize, that’s why you were kiled. There is corruption in the media.”

Duterte cited as an example the 2003 killing of radio broadcaster Juan Pala, whom he described as a “rotten son of a bitch.”

“Just because you are a journalist, you are not exempted from assassination if you are a son of a bitch,” Duterte said. “The Constitution can no longer help you when you humiliate a person.

“There are journalists who overdo their attacks. Do not expect all journalists are clean.

Many of them are paid hacks,” he said.

Duterte made the remarks even as the spokesperson of his transition team quoted the presidentelect as saying he will create a task force that will investigate the killings of journalists.

Duterte transition team spokesperson Peter Laviña said Tuesday Duterte sent him to the wake of police reporter Alex Balcoba, who was shot dead in Quiapo, Manila on on Saturday, to announce that he will create a task force and appoint a special prosecutor who will focus on the killings of journalists.

Kidapawan slays recalled

By Sandy Araneta THE Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas on Tuesday urged President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to give justice to the victims of the Kidapawan carnage, two months after the violent dispersal of protesting farmers in North Cotabato.

On April 1, police and military forces opened fire at thousands of droughtstricken farmers demanding food and production aid.

The severe El Niño that has struck the country has wrought more than P13-billion damage to agriculture and left milllions of farming families hungry.

“Up until today, not a single perpetrator of the Kidapawan Massacre was brought to justice. We urge President-elect Duterte to pursue justice for farmers oppressed by the haciendero Aquino administration,” said KMP secretary-general Antonio Flores.

“Landlessness and rural poverty wors-

ened in the past six years under the Aquino administration. Nine out of 10 farmers have no land to till. Vast lands are still under the control of haciendas and landlords. It is up to Duterte to live up to the challenge of reversing this situation,” Flores said.

“Duterte’s policy on land reform will also be crucial in giving justice to farmers,” said Flores.

Flores said that “a genuine land reform program that entails free distribution of land to farmers and dismantling of land monopolies will be significant in achieving the change that Duterte promised.”

Duterte had said the government has been “impervious to the suffering of the people.”

Duterte said the blood of the victims was on President Benigno Aquino III’s hands and that he cannot escape blame and responsibility for the “barbaric” incident— alluding to other infamous events like the Mamasapano encounter, Hacienda Luisita clash and the so-called Mendiola massacre.

Special plate. A car with a commemorative plate bearing the image and abbreviated

name of President -elect Rodrigo Duterte passes by San Marcelino Street in Manila on May 31. Duterte plans to eliminate single-digit plates for government officials and discourages the use of commemorative plates. DANNY PATA

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SC clears way for Napoles trial

By Rio Araja

The Supreme Court has paved the way for the Sandiganbayan to proceed with the trial of the criminal cases filed against suspected pork barrel scam architect Janet Lim-Napoles in connection with the alleged anomaly in the utilization of the lawmakers’ multi-billion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund.

No laughing matter. Senator Vicente Sotto (left) hands to Senator Aquilino Pimentel III a sample of the pain killer billed as ‘laughing gas’ that is blamed for the death of an American and four Filipinos during the May 21 concert ‘CloseUp Forever Summer’ in Pasay City. Sotto in a privilege speech called on the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Food and Drug Agency to determine the need for a protocol on the use, sale and distribution of the pain killer called ‘WariActive’. LINO SANTOS

Speaker renews push for Cha-Cha with a twist Change, he said.

Belmonte lamented the inability of the hOUSe Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. house, under the 16th Congress, to pass the on Tuesday said that he would push for proposed economic Charter Change on third Charter Change with a focus on economic and final reading due to lack of quorum.

The house had already passed Resolution provisions once the 17th Congress has begun working on the proposed federalism of Both houses No. 1 of Belmonte on second reading last year. The chamber needs the vote measure of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“If I am asked one big thing that I wish I of at least two-thirds of its membership, or 217 would have done [during the 16th Congress] affirmative votes, to pass the measure.

The voting has also been affected by that was it [passing of the economic Charter change]. Definitely, if they will push the President Benigno Aquino III’s strong opCha-cha through Constitutional Convention position to Charter Change.

“I hope this new administration will [ConCon] they should also consider other provisions including the economic amendments collate all of them [proposals changing the Constitution],” he added. that we are proposing,” Belmonte said.

PDP-Laban Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez of Congress may convene through a Constitutional Convention once it has started Davao del Norte, the imminent house to change the form of government from Speaker in the 17th Congress said the republican to federalism via Charter house, under his leadership, will priori-

By Maricel V. Cruz

tize a measure changing the 1987 Constitution, particularly on federalism. he said they will do the Cha-cha through a Con-Con. “Let’s take advantage of it. Given the strong moral demand, particularly in the initial years of his [Duterte] presidency, there is a chance that they will be swayed [to amend the Charter to push for federalism and also review cetain economic provisions] [and not the Cha-Cha for the purpose of lifting the term limits of public officials],” Belmonte added.

Belmonte had vowed to refile his resolution, or the so-called economic Cha-Cha, which seeks to amend the 60-40 rule that limits foreign ownership of certain activities in the Philippines. Several local and foreign business groups backed the passage of the measure in the 16th Congress.

In an en banc session on Tuesday, the SC resolved to dismiss the petitions filed by Napoles assailing the separate resolutions issued by the Office of the Ombudsman on June last year ordering the filing of criminal charges against her.

“The power to determine whether a complaint is sufficient in form and substance is lodged with the Ombudsman, who may continue with the inquiry or dismiss it outright,” the SC ruled.

“The Courts are not empowered to substitute their judgment for that of the executive Branch or the Ombudsman on this matter except only where the Ombudsman acts without jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion, neither of which is present in this case,” the tribunal stressed.

In her petition, Napoles argued that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales committed grave abuse of discretion and violated her right to due process when she ordered the filing of a total of six counts of violation of the Anti-Graft Law and another six counts of malversation of public funds.

She asserted that the complaint against her was insufficient in form and substance. however, the tribunal stressed that as a matter of general principle, it would not interfere with the prosecutor’s or Ombudsman’s determination of the existence of probable cause.

It said if there are defect in the complaint or charge sheet, the SC said it should have been addressed by filing a motion to quash instead of a petition before them.

The SC added that assuming there were defects, it does not always mean a dismissal of the case but the court may order an amendment to the complaint.

In determining probable cause, the SC said “absolute certainty regarding the existence of the elements of the crime is not required but only those facts sufficient to support a prima facie case against [Napoles].”

Espionage raps vs Comelec junked

By Rey E. Requejo

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Automated election System Watch against the alleged spying by the Commission on elections on its critics like AeS using a P30-million intelligence fund.

At the resumption of its en banc session after a month-long break, the SC resolved to deny the writ of habeas data petition filed by former Comelec Commissioner Augusto “Gus” Lagman, UP law professor harry Roque Jr. and whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. in July 2013 seeking to stop the poll body’s alleged surveillance operations against them.

The high court affirmed a decision of the Court of Appeals in September last year and last February, which did not find basis for the issuance of the writ. habeas data is an extraordinary relief issued to protect the image, privacy and freedom of information of a person, which can be used to find out what information is being

held about a citizen.

In rejecting the relief sought by the petitioners, the SC disagreed with their assertion that threat alone would suffice for the writ even in the absence of specific overt acts.

“The writ of habeas data is an independent and summary remedy to protect a person’s right to control information regarding oneself, particularly in instances in which such information is being collected through unlawful means in order to achieve unlawful ends. In the case at bench, however, there has been no showing that respondents collected information through unlawful means for an unlawful purpose,” the SC ruled.

The tribunal also sustained the Comelec’s use of intelligence funds, which was also questioned by petitioners.

“The Comelec was given intelligence funds for the purpose of gathering information on suspected election saboteurs, with the objective of filing the necessary cases should the Newsman’s killer. Manila Police’s public information chief Marissa Bruno shows an facts warrant the same,” the SC stressed. artist’s sketch of the man who shot and killed journalist Alex Balcoba. DANNY PATA

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A6 Samar pol may regain House seat

By Maricel V. Cruz hoUSe Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Tuesday said that ousted Northern Samar Rep. harlin Abayon could regain his congressional seat once the Supreme Court furnish them a copy of the temporary restraining order stopping Abayon’s political rival from assuming the post.

Belmonte said Abayon could still be a congressman up to June 30, 2016 as soon as he is able to take his oath of office with the SC ruling.

“Yes, [he can still regain his congressional seat] once we are able to receive the SC [TRo],” Belmonte told reporters at a news conference. outgoing house Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. echoed Belmonte’s statement that Abayon’s rival, Rep. Raul Daza, will be dropped from the roster of house members in the 16th Congress, and reinstate Abayon.

Abayon was replaced

by Daza, a former deputy speaker, last March 2016, in the wake of an electoral protest before the house of Representatives electoral Tribunal.

But Abayon elevated the matter before the SC, and the high tribunal had issued a TRo and ordered the hReT to explain.

“When we officially receive the SC decision, Daza will be dropped and Abayon will be reinstated even if the sine die adjournment of Congress ends on June 6,” Gonzales said.

If, for instance, that the house receives the SC order after the sine die adjournment, Abayon can still take his oath and be the duly elected representative of Northern Samar again until June 30, Gonzales added.

Belmonte said he sees nothing wrong with Abayon having reclaimed his congressional seat.

“This is just to correct [the fact] that he is the duly elected representative [of his district],” Belmonte stressed.

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Ex-mayor files poll protest Former Caloocan mayor recom echiverri has filed an election protest before the Commission on elections that detailed the rampant anomalies committed by the camp of his rival before, during and after the may 9 elections that cast doubt on the integrity of the results proclaiming the latter as the winner.

“I was truly appalled by the way incumbent Mayor oca Malapitan conducted his campaign,” echiverri said in a statement.

“From the onset, he made use of unfair means and his influence as the sitting mayor to his advantage. But he did not rest there. he blatantly and illegally used his connec-

tions with the administration to launch a deplorable and dishonorable bid for the seat. I shall not allow this to simply slide because it was the mandate of the people of Caloocan that was compromised in this election,” echiverri said.

The election, he said, underscored instances of election-related violence

perpetrated by Malapitan —rampant vote buying, glaring irregularities in the ballots, the detailing of DPSTM personnel of city hall as Comelec “deputies,” as well as violations to the protocol set by Comelec to favor Malapitan.

In the complaint, echiverri brought up the issue of the early delivery of election paraphernalia upon the request of the City Treasurer without the knowledge of the candidates.

There was also a discrepancy on the voters’ names that appeared in the PCVL and the eDCVL and the official list in the Comelec website, echiverri said. he also questioned why

the ballots in all the precincts made use of a single serial number, even if the ballots reached 800 ballots. There was also a discrepancy in the ballots and the actual number of registered voters. echiverri’s protest also called attention to the suspicious numbers of “overvoting” and “undervoting” in some precincts that severely affected the election results. All of these, he said, were perpetrated to the advantage of Malapitan.

“The VCMs were also delivered on the actual day of the elections, leaving no opportunity for it to go on a testing and sealing three days before the election as

protocol dictates,” echiverri lamented.

“I have been in public service for a long time and seriously, I have never encountered this level of abuse of authority and massive cheating just to stay in power. I am appalled. I am disappointed that my opponent chose this way of doing things. My election protest is merely a summary of all the violations that have happened throughout this campaign but if I were to detail every little detail, I would need to write a novel.

It is my hope that the Comelec acts on this swiftly, to prove their commitment to safeguard the people’s mandate,” echiverri said.

Their classroom. Children study and read books inside a concrete pipe on a slum area inside the Baseco Compound in Tondo on Tuesday, May 31, weeks before the opening of a new school year on June 13, 2016. DANNY PATA

MMDA gets tough on tow truckers

By Joel E. Zurbano The Metro Manila Development Authority will impose a stricter policy against towtruck operators in a bid to stop extortion and other illegal practices involving towing firms victimizing motorists along major thoroughfares.

The move came on the heels of the alleged extortion attempt of two towing personnel in Quezon City last week.

Apart from the usual documentary requirements, tow truck operators are now required to have their personnel undergo mandatory drug test, seminar, and diagnostic examination. A smoke emission test would likewise be conducted on all tow trucks.

MMDA chairman emerson Carlos said these procedures are prerequisites for accredi-

tation and would ensure that only qualified and decent people will be allowed to operate tow trucks in the metropolis.

“We need to cleanse the ranks of tow truck operators. Those isolated unscrupulous incidents are hurting the image of MMDA, since we are the one issuing the accreditations,” he said.

In June last year, 54 towing personnel had tested positive for drugs, while 24 were also found out to be using drugs last January.

Carlos said those towing personnel found to be using illegal drugs were immediately terminated by their respective companies and were put on blacklist and are now banned from entering the MMDA impounding area. he urged motorists to bring up to MMDA any illegal acts committed on the road either by agency personnel or employees

of private towing companies.

“The public can call our hotline 136 for any complaints or clarifications concerning these towing companies. Just provide us the necessary information and we will deal with them accordingly,” Carlos stressed. “Vehicles should only be towed if they are left unattended for five minutes.”

Carlos said motorists should also list down the details of the towing personnel such as the plate number of the truck, the place, and date they were towed or take pictures as evidence if they want to contest.

Last week, the MMDA suspended the accreditation of Arcson Towing Services following the complaint of Kristen Ann Uy Baron who claimed that two men took the keys of her car because it was illegally parked at Savemore Broadway in Quezon City last Tuesday.

Rush job. Workers from the Department of Public Works and Highways build a drainage along Del Monte Street in Barangay Potrero, Malabon City in a bid to beat the rainy season. ANDREW RABULAN

W E D N E S D AY : J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

2 Cebu villages reimpose curfew for minors

By Junex Doronio

Ducks by the dozen. A man tends to his ricefield where he also raises ducks in Barangay Matica-a in Ormoc City. MEL CASPE

Indonesian govt frees 93 Filipino fishermen GENERAL SANTOS CITY—The Indonesian government has repatriated 93 more fishermen from this city and other parts of Mindanao who were earlier jailed due to illegal fishing and immigration violations.

Petty Officer 2 Aldwin Aguila, acting operations officer of the Philippine Coast Guard station here, said Tuesday the fishermen were released from detention and sent home after getting reprieve from their prison terms.

He said the repatriates arrived at the Makar port here around midnight on Sunday from Bitung,

Indonesia aboard the Philippine Navy’s BRP Pangasinan or PS-31.

“Most of them were crew members of fishing boats that were caught fishing illegally within Indonesia’s territorial waters,” he told PNA. According to Aguila, some of the repatriates were arrested and jailed by Indonesian naval per-

sonnel after their fishing boats broke down and eventually drifted into its waters.

A number of these fishermen, who spent one to three months in detention, did not carry passports and related documents, he said.

He said the repatriation of the fishermen came after interventions made by the Philippine Consulate in Manado in North Sulawesi and the office of City Mayor Ronnel Rivera.

A report released by PCG here said 45 of the repatriates were from this city, 43 from Sarangani province,

three from Davao Oriental and two from Surigao del Sur. Upon their arrival here, Aguila said the repatriates immediately underwent standard documentation processes and given food assistance.

He said the office of Mayor Rivera sent vehicles to ferry the fishermen to their homes and preferred destinations.

In March, some 154 fishermen were also sent home by Indonesia following interventions made by the city government and the Philippine Consulate. PNA

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—At least two of the 30 barangays here have starting reimposing curfew for minors apparently anticipating the enforcement of a nationwide curfew by incoming President Rodrigo Duterte.

Mayor Paz Radaza said the officials of Barangays Pajo and Basak have started reimposing the curfew ordinance for minors which had been passed in March 2009.

“We have an existing ordinance. Barangay Pajo and Basak keep implementing the city’s ordinance,” Radaza said.

She said the ordinance prohibits all residents aged 18 and below from wandering, loitering or sauntering in public places such as beach, disco pubs, karaoke bars as well as in wharfs and in the public market from 11 p.m. to 5 in the morning.

If the minors are caught by the roving police or barangay peacekeeping officers within the curfew hours, they will be taken into custody by the nearest police station or barangay hall or will be sent home.

Basak barangay captain Isabelito Darnayla said they have been rescuing children on the streets since 2010 in coordination with the Children’s Legal Bureau.

EU, UNDP turn over evacuation centers to Biliran communities

By Mel Caspe TACLOBAN CITY—The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme on Tuesday turned over two newly built evacuation centers to Typhoon “Yolanda”-affected communities in Biliran province.

EU Ambassador Franz Jessen and UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra today led the turnover ceremony of the community evacuation centers to local government units of the municipalities of Cabucgayan and Biliran in Biliran province.

The construction of the evacuation centers is part of the EU’s package of assis-

tance, through the UNDPimplemented Project Recovery consisting of 11 community evacuation centers, six of which have been completed, in the provinces of Biliran, Leyte and Eastern Samar.

With funding support of 9.7 million euro (approximately P508 million) from the EU and to be implemented until July 2017, Project Recovery complements the efforts of national and local governments in enabling the timely and sustainable recovery of Yolandaaffected communities and also builds their resilience to future natural disasters.

Project Recovery focuses on rebuilding disaster-resilient infrastructure, restoring live-

lihoods and jobs in farming and fishing communities, addressing land management issues and shelter construction models to ensure relocation of displaced populations, and strengthening capacities for and linkage of national and local governance disaster response and preparedness.

Guided by the principle of building back better and safer, the CECs are designed and constructed to withstand a 300 kilometers per hour wind velocity, integrates water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and fitted with solar panels and generator set. These will also function as a multipurpose community center during non-disaster events.

Road block. Two backhoes in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato help a cargo truck which has skidded off the road while carrying 40 tons of cement. OMAR MANGORSI

W E D N E S D AY: J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

FIGHT FOR THE SENATE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

UNFINISHED BUSINESS IT WILL be a busy time for the incoming administration as the new president, Rodrigo Duterte, learns the ropes while trying to make good on his campaign promise to wipe out criminality in six months.

To be sure, there is much work to be done, as the Aquino administration leaves behind a hefty backlog of unfinished business in the area of crime and punishment.

High on the list is the Maguindanao massacre, in which 58 people—including more than 30 journalists—were slaughtered and buried in mass graves in November 2009. In its six years in office, the Aquino administration has failed to bring the perpetuators to justice, as the case crawls its way through the court system.

Inauspiciously, Duterte has picked as his press secretary Salvador Panelo, once a lawyer for the members of the Ampatuan clan who are on trial for the massacre.

The irony of naming a man who once lawyered for those accused of killing so many journalists to the position of Press secretary has not been lost on the media—nor the families of the victims. This unfortunate circumstance makes it all the more urgent that Duterte administration make more progress than its predecessor in bringing the state’s case to fruition.

Another case that has not moved forward is the case against those accused in the Mamasapano massacre of 44 police commandos during a covert operation approved by President Benigno Aquino III and run illegally by his suspended police chief. After promising that the case would be resolved in “three to four weeks” last January, the acting Justice secretary Emmanuel Caparas had a change of heart in May, saying there were “sensitivities” to be considered. He did not say what these sensitivities were—but we expect the Duterte administration will fulfill its obligation to render justice more seriously.

Various plunder cases against Cabinet secretaries under the Aquino administration will also need to be resolved, after these officials lose their cloak of protection from the President.

President Aquino’s departure from office in 30 days could also add to the amount of unfinished business, as he loses his presidential immunity from suit.

This means Aquino can finally be held liable for his role in the Mamasapano debacle, as well as the illegal shuffling of public funds through the Disbursement Acceleration Program, his failure to address human rights violations against the lumad of Mindanao and the use of pork barrel to bribe Congress into convicting an intractable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Aquino may also most likely be taken to court for violating the rights of his predecessor, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. Arrested in 2011 on plunder charges, Arroyo has languished under hospital arrest even though state prosecutors have not been able to make a case against her. Her continued detention has been deemed by the UN High Commission on Human Rights as a violation of her rights and international law.

Mrs. Arroyo, meanwhile, has turned down the offer of a pardon from the incoming president because doing so would require that she first plead guilty— something the Aquino administration has failed to prove since her arrest five years ago. Her case, too, needs to be resolved with dispatch, finally, minus the Aquino administration’s political motives.

THE NEW ROXAS LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES THE new Chief Executive hasn’t even been sworn in yet, but the backstabbing, the jockeying for position and the faction-building in the administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has already started in earnest. And Duterte must know what’s going on—if he’s read any of the seven letters attacking his choice for chairman of the Philippine

Amusement and Gaming Corp., Andrea Domingo.

Domingo, the former congresswoman from Pampanga and ex-immigration commissioner, has allegedly been marked for removal by no less than Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. Cayetano, according to sources in the Duterte camp, wants his own personal choice to head up Pagcor.

The senator reportedly decided to take down Domingo first because he cannot stand people securing positions in the new government who did not support his vice presi-

dential bid. And Domingo is a prominent campaigner for “AlDub” combination, the split ticket of Duterte and Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Cayetano is hell-bent on building his own power base in the new administration and takes any appointment that does not have his imprimatur as a personal affront. The senator’s most prominent victory so far is securing the position of public works secretary for Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, whose appointment is part of Cayetano’s plan to take over the Senate presidency.

A9

Cayetano is hell-bent on building his own power base in the new administration.

(Elsewhere in this newspaper is an item on how Villar’s mother, Senator Cynthia Villar, is backing Cayetano’s bid for the top Senate post. I’m pretty sure that Cayetano is also striking similar deals with other senators who he believes can advance his personal ambition.)

Of course, the key here is how long Duterte will allow Cayetano to have his way.

Digong is no stooge like Noynoy Aquino, who was so clueless that he let Mar Roxas build a government within Aquino’s own government.

Duterte must tell Cayetano

to stop, S-T-O-P, soon. *** At the end of the day, the only valid question that can be asked about the sale of the 700 megahertz frequency spectrum owned by diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. to telco players Globe Telecommunications and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. is this: Will the longsuffering Filipino consumer benefit from the deal?

Globe and PLDT have come out

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

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

with similar announcements to the effect that their customers will surely benefit from the P70-billion acquisition of the frequency band owned by a San Miguel subsidiary. This is the right message, especially because the sale sounds, on the surface, like another victory for the status quo and the duopoly.

As for San Miguel, the company seems to have realized that the answer to the question is forsaking its plan to become a third player in the

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

telco business. Faced with the prospect of protracted legal wrangling that would be too costly and take too much time before it can even roll out its telco outfit to challenge Globe and PLDT, it basically gave up the ghost.

San Miguel, after all, is a publicly listed company just like its would-be rivals. SMC president Ramon Ang understands that he has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders, who will not look kindly on a manager Continued on A11

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

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

THE big guy won’t budge unless he sees the numbers. Senate President Franklin Drilon said he’s not about to yield the Senate leadership to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano until his rival produces the signatures of 15 senators. That should not be an unrealistic prospect considering how our politicians cross over to the winning president even before he could take his oath of office. Traffic in turncoats sucking up to Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s chosen one, has been heavy, prompting House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to concede even before the votes are counted.

Not so Drilon, the Liberal Party leader who’s banking on his peers to remain loyal to him and the LP. Loyalty in this country, known for 50 shades of gray as a result of coalitions of convenience and opportunism, isn’t going to work for Drilon.

Among those who might not stick it out with Drilon is Senator Cynthia Villar, who together with husband and former Senate President Manny Villar, were the early birds in Davao to commit their Nacionalista Party into a coalition with Duterte’s PDPLaban. Another one is neophyte Senator Manny Pacquiao who now says he’s always been an admirer of Digong. Why then did he not run under Duterte’s banner instead of defeated presidential candidate Jojo Binay?

The Senate presidency race is still a three-cornered fight with Senator Tito Sotto of the Nationalist People’s Coalition who claims he has 15 senators to Cayetano’s 13.

Expected to support Drilon are Senator Paulo “Bam” Aquino, new LP newcomers Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros. Other LP senators could switch sides depending on the committees they are asking for and which are given to them.

Returning Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson, as well as senatorial second placer Joel Villanueva, are independent-minded. There is no telling whose side they are on.

For appointing their son, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar to the Department of Public Works and Highways despite a conflict of interest in their real estate and land development empire, Cynthia for sure will pay back the favor by casting her vote for Cayetano, Continued on A11

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

W E D N E S D AY: J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

FIGHT FOR THE SENATE

[ EDI TORI A L ]

UNFINISHED BUSINESS IT WILL be a busy time for the incoming administration as the new president, Rodrigo Duterte, learns the ropes while trying to make good on his campaign promise to wipe out criminality in six months.

To be sure, there is much work to be done, as the Aquino administration leaves behind a hefty backlog of unfinished business in the area of crime and punishment.

High on the list is the Maguindanao massacre, in which 58 people—including more than 30 journalists—were slaughtered and buried in mass graves in November 2009. In its six years in office, the Aquino administration has failed to bring the perpetuators to justice, as the case crawls its way through the court system.

Inauspiciously, Duterte has picked as his press secretary Salvador Panelo, once a lawyer for the members of the Ampatuan clan who are on trial for the massacre.

The irony of naming a man who once lawyered for those accused of killing so many journalists to the position of Press secretary has not been lost on the media—nor the families of the victims. This unfortunate circumstance makes it all the more urgent that Duterte administration make more progress than its predecessor in bringing the state’s case to fruition.

Another case that has not moved forward is the case against those accused in the Mamasapano massacre of 44 police commandos during a covert operation approved by President Benigno Aquino III and run illegally by his suspended police chief. After promising that the case would be resolved in “three to four weeks” last January, the acting Justice secretary Emmanuel Caparas had a change of heart in May, saying there were “sensitivities” to be considered. He did not say what these sensitivities were—but we expect the Duterte administration will fulfill its obligation to render justice more seriously.

Various plunder cases against Cabinet secretaries under the Aquino administration will also need to be resolved, after these officials lose their cloak of protection from the President.

President Aquino’s departure from office in 30 days could also add to the amount of unfinished business, as he loses his presidential immunity from suit.

This means Aquino can finally be held liable for his role in the Mamasapano debacle, as well as the illegal shuffling of public funds through the Disbursement Acceleration Program, his failure to address human rights violations against the lumad of Mindanao and the use of pork barrel to bribe Congress into convicting an intractable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Mr. Aquino may also most likely be taken to court for violating the rights of his predecessor, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo. Arrested in 2011 on plunder charges, Arroyo has languished under hospital arrest even though state prosecutors have not been able to make a case against her. Her continued detention has been deemed by the UN High Commission on Human Rights as a violation of her rights and international law.

Mrs. Arroyo, meanwhile, has turned down the offer of a pardon from the incoming president because doing so would require that she first plead guilty— something the Aquino administration has failed to prove since her arrest five years ago. Her case, too, needs to be resolved with dispatch, finally, minus the Aquino administration’s political motives.

THE NEW ROXAS LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES THE new Chief Executive hasn’t even been sworn in yet, but the backstabbing, the jockeying for position and the faction-building in the administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has already started in earnest. And Duterte must know what’s going on—if he’s read any of the seven letters attacking his choice for chairman of the Philippine

Amusement and Gaming Corp., Andrea Domingo.

Domingo, the former congresswoman from Pampanga and ex-immigration commissioner, has allegedly been marked for removal by no less than Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. Cayetano, according to sources in the Duterte camp, wants his own personal choice to head up Pagcor.

The senator reportedly decided to take down Domingo first because he cannot stand people securing positions in the new government who did not support his vice presi-

dential bid. And Domingo is a prominent campaigner for “AlDub” combination, the split ticket of Duterte and Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Cayetano is hell-bent on building his own power base in the new administration and takes any appointment that does not have his imprimatur as a personal affront. The senator’s most prominent victory so far is securing the position of public works secretary for Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar, whose appointment is part of Cayetano’s plan to take over the Senate presidency.

A9

Cayetano is hell-bent on building his own power base in the new administration.

(Elsewhere in this newspaper is an item on how Villar’s mother, Senator Cynthia Villar, is backing Cayetano’s bid for the top Senate post. I’m pretty sure that Cayetano is also striking similar deals with other senators who he believes can advance his personal ambition.)

Of course, the key here is how long Duterte will allow Cayetano to have his way.

Digong is no stooge like Noynoy Aquino, who was so clueless that he let Mar Roxas build a government within Aquino’s own government.

Duterte must tell Cayetano

to stop, S-T-O-P, soon. *** At the end of the day, the only valid question that can be asked about the sale of the 700 megahertz frequency spectrum owned by diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. to telco players Globe Telecommunications and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. is this: Will the longsuffering Filipino consumer benefit from the deal?

Globe and PLDT have come out

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

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

with similar announcements to the effect that their customers will surely benefit from the P70-billion acquisition of the frequency band owned by a San Miguel subsidiary. This is the right message, especially because the sale sounds, on the surface, like another victory for the status quo and the duopoly.

As for San Miguel, the company seems to have realized that the answer to the question is forsaking its plan to become a third player in the

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

telco business. Faced with the prospect of protracted legal wrangling that would be too costly and take too much time before it can even roll out its telco outfit to challenge Globe and PLDT, it basically gave up the ghost.

San Miguel, after all, is a publicly listed company just like its would-be rivals. SMC president Ramon Ang understands that he has a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders, who will not look kindly on a manager Continued on A11

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

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

THE big guy won’t budge unless he sees the numbers. Senate President Franklin Drilon said he’s not about to yield the Senate leadership to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano until his rival produces the signatures of 15 senators. That should not be an unrealistic prospect considering how our politicians cross over to the winning president even before he could take his oath of office. Traffic in turncoats sucking up to Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s chosen one, has been heavy, prompting House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to concede even before the votes are counted.

Not so Drilon, the Liberal Party leader who’s banking on his peers to remain loyal to him and the LP. Loyalty in this country, known for 50 shades of gray as a result of coalitions of convenience and opportunism, isn’t going to work for Drilon.

Among those who might not stick it out with Drilon is Senator Cynthia Villar, who together with husband and former Senate President Manny Villar, were the early birds in Davao to commit their Nacionalista Party into a coalition with Duterte’s PDPLaban. Another one is neophyte Senator Manny Pacquiao who now says he’s always been an admirer of Digong. Why then did he not run under Duterte’s banner instead of defeated presidential candidate Jojo Binay?

The Senate presidency race is still a three-cornered fight with Senator Tito Sotto of the Nationalist People’s Coalition who claims he has 15 senators to Cayetano’s 13.

Expected to support Drilon are Senator Paulo “Bam” Aquino, new LP newcomers Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros. Other LP senators could switch sides depending on the committees they are asking for and which are given to them.

Returning Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson, as well as senatorial second placer Joel Villanueva, are independent-minded. There is no telling whose side they are on.

For appointing their son, Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar to the Department of Public Works and Highways despite a conflict of interest in their real estate and land development empire, Cynthia for sure will pay back the favor by casting her vote for Cayetano, Continued on A11

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

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

W E D N E S D AY: J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

A10

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

BEING PRESS SECRETARY TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO P R E S I D E N T- E L E C T Rodrigo Roa Duterte may have to rethink his schedule once he assumes office in Malacañang. Du30 said that he’d be commuting between Malacañang and Davao City, where he claims to be comfortable. His official schedule would begin at one o’clock in the afternoon until about midnight, when he would probably take the last flight to Davao or travel by jet, thanks to his good friend Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

I find this arrangement impractical. As president, he would have state visits.

Santa Banana, will Du30 make them wait until one in afternoon when he arrives from Davao City?

Aside from these inconveniences, Du30 would be testing the law of averages and putting himself at great risk. Even if I didn’t vote for him, I would not want Duterte to face risks.

Somebody should tell Du30 to stop thinking like a Davao City mayor and begin acting like the president of the republic. *** Duterte has thus far named just half of the 30 members of his Cabinet. I can understand why he is having difficulty. Like he admitted, he doesn’t have many friends whom he could trust. He’s not a social person.

That’s the reason he has to rely much on the people he knew as mayor of Davao City, on his classmates and on the people who had been around him for long.

The only exceptions, I surmise, with Du30 looking beyond his own sphere of influence, are former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, who was named secretary of education, and former Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno who was appointed to head the same department.

All these remind me so much of BS Aquino and his KKK—kapartido, kaklase at kabarilan.

Is this the change Duterte has been talking about? *** In yesterday’s column, I advised Du30 to rethink the appointment of lawyer Salvador Panelo as press

secretary and spokesman.

A spokesman is critical to media, because they interact with him on a daily basis. This is why it has been the practice of past presidents to have press secretaries from the ranks of media.

Recall that this was where the Aquino administration failed—by having a three-member communication team.

I have known in my over 66 years as a journalist, many press secretaries and spokesmen: Luciano Millian, Tony Arrizabal, Ignacio Santos, Tony Sison, JV Cruz, Leo Parungao, Jose Aspiras and later on Kit Tatad, Teddy Boy Locsin, Rod Reyes, Jess Dureza, Mike Toledo and Chito Sison.

They were all from media and they all did well for their presidents.

I was offered the position three times under different administrations.

Thrice, too, I said no.

Thus, to have Panelo who is known only as the lawyer of the Ampatuans would be Du30’s first mistake. The President-elect must realize that media’s reservations about Panelo is a warning he must take seriously.

Media people, especially opinion writers, are a peculiar breed. They think they are always right. I should know, since I am one of them. I’m talking here of columnists who earned the privilege of writing on the opinion pages of newspapers, not those who write entertainment, business or gossip columns. There are many non-journalist columnists now who write about anything under the sun.

Believe it or not, in my years as a journalist, I have been offered to be press secretary thrice, but I demurred.

First, way back during Martial Law days, then Press Secretary “Sunshine Joe” Aspiras and the

ROBREDO VS. DUTERTE THE next big fight has just begun.

Vice President-elect Leni Robredo doesn’t get it. Or refuses to get it.

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte doesn’t want Robredo and doesn’t want her in his Cabinet. The reason is simple: She is more bother, if not bane, than boon to the Duterte administration.

Why? Well, one has to look at history for guidance. The circumstances surrounding Leni’s stunning political success story combine the elements of the political narratives of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. These two women separately deposed two powerful and popular sitting presidents and changed the course of Philippine history—for worse and for better.

Leni is a widow. She was the wife of a Liberal Party honcho. She was a plain-housewife lawyer. Then suddenly her politician-husband died in a plane crash, the cause of which has never been fully explained until now. After that tragedy, Leni decided politics was more fun than boring. Last May, she upset the scion of the owner of the one of the most venerable names in Philippine politics. It is not clear today how a totally new brand in politics, unknown four months ago, could defeat a political brand that has been around for 50 years. The gnawing feeling is that she cheated or somebody cheated on her behalf.

Leni is now vice president. She won as the Liberal Party candidate for vice president. She wants to join the administration of the winning president who belongs to another— an opposing—political party.

Cory Aquino was a plain housewife. She was the wife of a top Liberal Party honcho, the opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Suddenly, Ninoy died in a noonday assassination, the circumstances for which have never been fully explained until now. Then Cory decided politics was more fun than boring. She ran for president and upset the owner of one of the most venerable names in Philippine politics—Ferdinand E. Marcos. It is not clear until today, 33 years after Ninoy’s assassination, and 30 years after the 1986 snap election, whether Cory really won the election. The official Comelec and Batasan canvassing records showed the strongman Marcos won fairly late press icon Ka Doroy Valencia came to my house at Philamlife Homes, Quezon City. They wanted me to succeed Joe, who was running for Congress.

They said that Marcos wanted an Ilocano (that’s me) to succeed Aspiras, also an Ilocano.

When I asked Joe and Ka Doroy how much salary I would get, they told me P19,000 a month, and when I hesitated, they told me they could fix it so that I would get more. I looked at my wife, and she looked like she didn’t want me to

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ and squarely. Yet, it was Marcos who was made to appear by history as the one who cheated. Thus, he and his family had to suffer ignominy forever.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was also the winning vice president of the Liberal Party in the 1998 presidential elections which was won by Partido ng Masang Pilipino’s Joseph Ejercito Estrada with the highest number of votes (over 10 million), the biggest winning vote margin (over six million votes) , and the biggest share (38 percent) of the votes (cast for president).

Without her asking for the job, Gloria or GMA was named by Estrada as his secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. At that time, DSWD was simply an innocuous typhoon and disaster relief organization— unlike today when the department spends as much as P80 billion a year in so-called Conditional Cash Transfer program under which the so-called poor receive about P1,500 a month in cash provided the family commits to send their children to school and the parents submit to periodic health checkup (apparently a ploy to force contraceptives on them).

Having chalked up awesome political capital with his election, Estrada created enemies. He was pro-poor. He was anti-Big Business.

He refused rate increases for mass rail, electricity, water and telephones (businesses controlled by Big Business, just like now). He was anti-Catholic Church (which denounced him during the campaign as “Anybody But Erap”). He was anti-American but was pro-Japan and pro-China. President Clinton sent his defense secretary to handcarry a personal letter pleading with Estrada to please, please stop the all-out war against the Muslim separatists. Erap would not listen and refused to take a call from the US President proffered by the latter’s emissary, Defense Secretary William Cohen.

Erap had a number of leftists in his Cabinet and core of advisers led

accept it. Thus, I told Joe and Ka Doroy that I would make up my mind in a week. Later, I told them my wife was against the idea so I was turning them down.

I distinctly recall Ka Doroy telling my wife, “you are a foolish woman.”

The second time was during the time of President Fidel Ramos.

He had just spoken at the Manila Hotel when he told me I would be his press secretary. I hesitated and told him Rod Reyes, then senior vice president of

by the legendary Boy Morales. He waged an all-out war against the Muslim separatists. He was rough on criminals and so-called hoodlums in robes. He had his idiosyncrasies and perks. Women. Late nights out and dinner parties. And a so-called Midnight Cabinet.

It was only a matter of time before Estrada’s powerful enemies would join forces and plot his ouster. So in January 2001, the most popular president and with the largest number of votes at that time was out of power—thanks to a combination of the United States, Big Business, the Catholic Church, the powerless opposition, the anti-Estrada military, the Muslim separatists, and all other anti-Estrada elements. His successor: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Comes now President Digong Duterte. He has plenty of capital, having won the presidency with the most number of votes ever (16.6million votes or 39 percent of the votes cast for president) and with the biggest margin of victory (6.6million votes) over the second placer, a Liberal Party lord.

Duterte is using up that capital to wage war on many fronts—beating crime and drugs, burying Marcos, freeing GMA, curbing predatory Big Business practices and monopolies (he hates slow internet), combatting corruption and red tape in government, making a bilateral deal with China on the West Philippine Sea, sharing power with the Communist Party, upsetting imperial Manila, and of course, criticizing the Catholic bishops and their vaunted reproductive health advocacy.

Duterte wants Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani “because he was a Filipino soldier.” (Correct). He wants to free detained Gloria Macapagal Arroyo because all her other co-accused are out. (Correct). He wants to curb criminality. He wants to kill as many as 100,000 drug lords. And he has unconventional working habits— like having also a Midnight Cabinet and conducting office work from 1 p.m. to 12 midnight.

In that scenario, Leni Robredo wants to play a role so she can help alleviate poverty. She promises 100 percent support. Being pro-poor has always been a Duterte brand.

Make your own conclusions. biznewsasia@gmail.com

ABS-CBN, would make a better press secretary.

“Do you think Rod accept?” FVR asked. I said that if he talked to the Lopezes, Rod will.

The post was offered to me a third time when my former Ateneo High School student Joseph Estrada became president.

I was present at a round table at Erap’s San Juan home when he, along with Edong Angara, Ronnie Zamora and others, were choosing Cabinet members.

Erap looked at me when

it was time to choose the press secretary. He said: “Sir prof, you are it.”

Without any hesitation, I pointed to the late Rod Reyes again. Rod said he had a bad heart, but I told him I’d help him. Thus, Rod accepted the challenge.

I never regretted passing up these opportunities to be in government.

I knew deep in my heart that I would not be good material for any Cabinet position. I am contrarian and I could not be dictated upon. I would never Continued on A11

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

CEREMONY

SO I SEE LITO BANAYO “DUTERTE Snubs proclamation,” cried the banner story of a daily. Its editorial, entitled “No-show,” stated: “The proclamation of a president and vice president is thus a moment of great significance in this democratic space…the ceremony, for ceremony it is—is not merely a swearing in of political lemmings bellying up to the banquet table of a new ruling party, or a proclamation of a city mayor beloved by his constituents and embarking on yet another term.”

Duterte remains an enigma to many. His fellow Davaoeños understand; they have seen him, lived with him in their seminal lives for three decades. And they know that he has always disdained pomp and pageantry.

Ceremony, for that matter.

The guy does not celebrate his birthday. Even when he was running for president, on March 28 this year when he was already considered a “serious” contender by the usual disbelievers in Manila, he cocooned himself within the confines of home. Others would have made a big splash; birthdays, after all, are annual events in one’s life.

Last year he turned 70, and he was already making waves by his “listening tour.” One would have expected some social bash to mark a significant milestone.

He did not have any.

Fight... From A9 Duterte’s defeated VP running mate. The Villars’ Vistaland is doing so well they really do not need the DPWH Cabinet post for son Mark.

Manny Pacquiao’s political acumen, on the other hand, appears as sharp as his ring savvy. He knows he has approached his sunset years in the world of boxing and he’s now looking at the presidency in 2022. By then, he would no longer be underaged for the highest post in the land. Filipino voters have elected a housewife, a movie actor and a local mayor as president. Why not a world famous ring icon? This is not an endorsement of Pacquiao as president. God help us if this happens.

Manny should just retire both from the ring and politics.

A word of caution to LP deserters. It might be too early to jump ship.Vice President Leni Robredo , a Liberal Party member, could suddenly be president if Duterte unravels midway into his presidency or is stricken ill.

This is not wishful thinking but an observation of Duterte’s frequent outbursts like his threat to abolish Congress and close down the Bureaus of Customs and Internal Revenue. Customs may be a den of corruption and

I recall that at the height of martial law, Ferdinand Marcos gathered most everyone in his Ilocos Norte hometown for a bash of the century, his 60th birthday. Was it nearly as ostentatious as the 40th wedding anniversary before martial law, of his economic and political arch enemy, Eugenio Lopez Sr., who had a magnificent party in his sprawling Parañaque mansion by the sea, complete with a champagne fountain and deposed European royalty flown in as special guests?

I cannot say; I was neither in one nor the other.

At about this time, the young Rodrigo Duterte, though scion of a self-effacing governor of the undivided Davao, and Marcos’ pre-martial law secretary for General Services, was at the Lyceum, the plebeian college where nationalists like Lansang and Lapuz along with Joma Sison taught and decried the inequalities that pervaded a Filipino society presided over by oligarchs. Nothing much has changed since then, despite authoritarian rule and the “rebirth” of what many now call “democracy.”

And so, when the demise of martial law opened for prosecutor Duterte the opportunity to lead came, he simply poured his heart, his mind and all his waking hours to transform his Davao from social wilderness into a peaceful haven for his constituents, minus ceremony. the BIR may not be achieving its revenue target but there’s no need to burn the house down to clean it. If these key government agencies fail to shape up, then it’s a reflection of the president’s leadership.

What role can Leni Robredo play under a Duterte administration? While the President is not under obligation to appoint her, it would be a grand gesture for him to give her a Cabinet post. The DSWD or National Housing Agency would be an appropriate appointment for the human rights lawyer and poverty alleviation advocate. In the US, the vice president is not appointed to any Cabinet position but he’s automatically the presiding officer of the Senate.

In the Philippines, the vice president by tradition is given the foreign affairs portfolio (like the appointment of then VPs Carlos Garcia and Emmanuel Pelaez), housing and overseas Filipinos concerns given Binay and the DSWD post Estrada accorded Arroyo.

The raison d’etre for this is to keep the VP busy and not use the six years of his/her time to campaign for the next presidential elections. Or worse, start bickering with the president to gain political mileage.

Just hard work, never mind the accolades, never mind the pomp and pageantry.

The guy lives simply and disdains the trappings of wealth and high office. On the night of May 16, a week after his historic victory, he had a late supper of fastfood fare with just his partner, Honeylet Avancena, the faithful Christopher “Bong” Go, his newly-minted spokesman Atty. Sal Panelo and this writer inside his small temporary office at the Matina Enclaves.

Grilled pork chops in a paper plate, some Korean fried chicken fillets in a paper carton, some pancit, and him eating with bare hands. I have seen this scene several times—the mayor of the largest city in the country eating with gusto the ordinary Filipino way, “kinamot” as the Bisaya call it, whether his favorite “inun-unan” or “paksiw na isda” to Tagalogs, or grilled fish, or even a hearty tinolang manok. Now the president-elect of the twelfth-largest population in the world, the guy still eats with bare hands. Nothing has changed.

Sometime in early December last year, when he had already filed his CoC through attorney-in-fact Salvador Medialdea (now named his executive secretary), we were guests at a birthday luncheon in Bonifacio Global City. The other guests were the crème de la crème of Philippine business, and the

venue was a French restaurant.

The menu consisted of Coquille Saint Jacques on a bed of greens, a lime-laced spume to wash the taste buds before an entrée of beef cheeks on a puree of cauliflower, among others, and a variety of wines to choose from.

Duterte stood up from the table where he sat with business titans, went to the washroom, and then sat beside us ordinary mortals in another table. He hardly touched the food. “Wala ko kasabot anang menu” (I don’t understand the menu), and then asked the ubiquitous Bong Go if there was a chicken sandwich in his car, so he could eat before proceeding to a speaking engagement somewhere. No belle vie; no haute cuisine, just “inato.”

Neither is the man awed by the pomp and pageantry of Roman Catholic rituals; the smell of incense, the goldthreaded robes, the soaring hallelujahs. He prefers the quietude of solitary prayer, his daily communion with the Supreme Being, and demonstrated in action by service to fellowmen. Though not a very religious man myself, I still get goosebumps when religious ceremony evokes memories of a childhood where Latin phrases had to be memorized and the whole church is enveloped by the scent and smoke of “holy” incense while a soaring choir sang in the background.

But not Duterte—no longer.

The new... From A9 who intends to invest billions on a business that is not a sure thing, return-wise or even time-wise.

Keeping the bottom line of his company healthy is Ang’s responsibility, just like the head honchos of Globe and PLDT have the same job in their own companies. Which leaves us still asking if the mega-sale actually benefits the public, which got its hopes up when San Miguel declared that it would enter the industry—hopes that were dashed by the announcement of the sale this week.

No one can demand from the stewards of these companies that they have a higher priority than keeping their investors happy. But don’t you sometimes wish that keeping the customers happy was also important, even if the supply side has been controlled by just two players and remains that way, now that San Migel has left the playing field?

Ang is obviously hoping that his former rivals in the telco game would keep the cus-

Being... From A10 compromise on my convictions.

I know that a press secretary should be a “yes man”—always trying to defend the indefensible, even telling lies to make the president look good before the nation.

I think Jess Dureza, who is now Du30’s adviser on the peace process, would be a perfect press secretary and spokesman.

The PDI editorial concluded, “inexplicably, he let the moment pass, allowing the leaders and members of Congress to go through the motions, to call out his name and proclaim…an invisible man.”

Judge not the man based on the mores and traditions of a “democracy” in form. Judge him when he begins to institute the meaningful changes that will make our democracy one of substance and not mere form.

For the “democracy” we claim to cherish has become virtually meaningless to the ordinary Filipino. The ultimate “ceremony,” that of having the privilege to “vote” for his choice of a president every six years, has become more and more an exercise in the futility of change.

As the French would say, “Plus ca change, plus ca reste la meme chose” ¡(The more there is change, the more things remain the same).

Democracy should mean equal voice and equal opportunity, not the rent-seeking privileges of the politico-economic elite, not the hypocrisy of a class divide where elected and appointed servants have ceased to serve the “bosses” they proclaim. Not mere institutional form, but substance felt in daily lives.

Let Rodrigo Duterte in the next six years begin to give substance to democratic form. And fulfill his promise of “tunay na pagbabago,” sans ceremony.

tomers’ benefit in mind, even if he can’t really guarantee that they will. “This is a sacrifice we have to make to finally unlock the full potential of our high-quality, mobile broadband spectrum faster and allow consumers access to its benefits through the combined resources, network and expertise of the two carriers,” Ang said.

Now the burden of proving that claim— that the sale is not actually a victory for slow Internet speed and high rates—lies with Globe and PLDT. If the two players, which worked hard and long to stop San Miguel from using its frequency, still cannot improve their services now that they have that piece of coveted “real estate,” the people will keep complaining.

The customers of the telcos, who have waited for so long for better service at a lower cost, will have to wait some more for the generosity of the existing providers, who have made so much money off their backs for so long. Let’s hope that the consumers also emerge as winners in the aftermath of this deal.

He has held this post before and was good at it. *** The three witnesses, who said they were part of the manipulation of votes in Quezon province for Vice President-elect Leni Robredo, presidential candidate Mar Roxas and Senator Frank Drilon, is already an indication that BS Aquino and the Liberal Party were the ones that made Leni win as VP.

The very fact that these three witnesses accepted the fact that they participated in the poll scam, pointing to a high official of the LP as the culprit, should compel Congress, especially the Senate, to investigate the matter.

Any hesitation can only point to the conclusion that, indeed, Robredo’s victory was product of a massive election fraud.

Can she honestly live with that?

A12

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

1-armed wildcard surfer stuns field SUVA, Fiji—One-armed American surfer Bethany Hamilton sealed third place in the Fiji Women’s Pro on Tuesday after beating some of the world’s best to make the semi-finals.

Hamilton, whose left arm was bitten off in a shark attack in 2003, entered the event at Tavarua as a wildcard rated little chance of making an impact.

But the 26-year-old from Hawaii reached the final four with an incredible giant-killing run.

She defeated Australia’s world number one Tyler Wright in the second round, then beat six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in the third.

Another Aussie, the highly rated Nikki Van

Dijk, succumbed in the quarter-finals before Hamilton finally fell to the competition’s eventual winner, France’s Johanne Defay, in the semis.

“Beyond stoked to finish 3rd... as the wildcard! LOVED competing & looking forward to more adventures,” she tweeted after the event.

It is the sixth time Hamilton, who had a child last year, has competed on the elite tour, with her previous best a ninth place in 2010.

But the simple fact she is competing has already inspired a Hollywood movie, 2011’s “Soul Surfer” featuring Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt.

Hamilton was a promising junior aged 13 when a huge tiger shark mauled her, losing 60 percent of her blood after it ripped off her arm.

But she refused to give up her dream of be-

coming a pro surfer and was back on a board less than a month after the near-fatal attack.

She embarked on intensive physical therapy and strengthening exercises to adjust her balance and movements to compensate for the missing arm.

The only concession made to her handicap is a handle on the surfboard, which allows her to duck-dive under approaching waves when she paddles out.

She spoke after making the quarter-finals in Fiji about what it meant for her to compete among the best.

“I know I’m in a unique position to hopefully encourage young girls... to chase their dreams,” she said.

“Even after losing my arm I’m still doing everything I hoped I could do. I’m a reminder for young girls that you can do it if you set your mind to it.” AFP

One-armed US surfer Bethany Hamilton tames the waves at the Fiji Womens Pro at Tavarua.

Alyssa...From A13 PLDT HOME Ultera family as she shares the same values of promoting sports excellence and also maintaining strong connections with her family, which she is able to perfectly balance with her volleyball career.”

“The past few weeks have been challenging but completely rewarding,” Valdez shared. “I was able to see how much the volleyball community has grown and how much talent Filipinos have. I was thrilled to help some of them on their path to volleyball success. I am very grateful to brands like PLDT HOME Ultera for sharing a love for volleyball and helping make activities like this possible.”

The culminating event brought together the season’s top campers to play alongside the Volley Friends and mentors such as John Vic De Guzman, Mylene Paat, Shaya Adorador, EJ Laure, May Luna, and Valdez herself in an ultra-fun all-star game, which had the participants’ families cheering on them.

“Sobrang nagpapasalamat ako na nakilala ko si Alyssa sa Skills Camp,” shared one of the Skills Camp participants. “Madami siyang naturong skills sa akin at siya talaga ang nag-inspire sa akin na galingan pa sa volleyball.

Ipinakita niya sa amin ang tamang ugali sa paglalaro at itinuro niya na dapat mahalin talaga namin ito. Sana maging kasing-galing din niya ako!”

The Alyssa Valdez Skills Camp ran from May 5 to May 22 in Laguna, Cubao, Batangas and Cainta and was supported by PLDT HOME Ultera as part of its ongoing mission to promote volleyball to young athletes at the grassroots level. More than supporting sports development, Ultera continues its main goal to make broadband connection accessible to more Filipinos. Now that the Skills Camp is over, Valdez will be joining PLDT HOME Ultera Install Patrol, a nationwide tour which brings ultra-fast LTE connection to more homes with its new Plan 699, the most affordable home broadband plan.

PLDT HOME Ultera offers PLDT HOME’s most affordable LTE broadband with the all-new Plan 699! Log on to pldthome.com/ultera for more ultra-fun offers.

Euro ‘16 key to France’s 2024 bid PARIS (AFP)-France’s hosting of the Euro 2016, which is threatened with disruption by strikes, could impact the country’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, the vicepresident of the Paris bid committee said Monday.

With less than two weeks to to Euro 2016, looming air and train strikes threaten travel chaos as unions continue to press for the withdrawal of controversial labour reforms.

“We’re concerned about that,” Tony Estanguet said on the sidelines of a Paris 2024 partners’ dinner that was attended by President Francois Hollande.

“We’re not here to clash with the French people.

It’s a free country and it’s good that people express themselves. At the same time we continue to defend the major sporting events, because for us they’re outside of politics and useful to society,” the former triple Olympic canoeing champion said.

“Even if it is tense (and) if the social climate is complicated, we believe that sport should be separate from all that.”

Paris faces competition from Los Angeles, Rome and Budapest to host the 2024 Olympics. The winner will be named by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 13, 2017, in Lima. AFP

French Open suffers 1st washout in 16 years PARIA—The French Open suffered its first rain washout in 16 years Monday, leaving tournament chiefs venting their frustration at Roland Garros’s isolation as the only Grand Slam without a covered stadium.

There could be more problems on Tuesday with further heavy rain forecast throughout the day in Paris before conditions brighten on Wednesday.

Monday’s washout left the French tennis federation having to refund around 30,000 ticket holders.

It also prompted tournament director Guy Forget, a former player and Davis Cup winner, to warn that France is getting left further behind the sport’s three other majors—Wimbledon, the Australian and US Opens.

All three tournaments have stadiums with roofs.

But Roland Garros will not see a roof built over its showpiece Philippe Chatrier Court until 2020 at the earliest.

“It is very frustrating but it is proof that the roof is a necessity and that we have to do it,” said Forget.

“We cannot be like this for many

France’s Richard Gasquet returns the ball to Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their men’s fourth round match at the Roland Garros 2016 French Tennis Open in Paris. AFP

more years. We hope to have the roof by 2020. People have to realise that nobody can stop the process.

“The world is moving fast —we were talking about the roof 15 years ago.”

Eight last-16 matches

planned for Monday plus two more which had been held over from Sunday will now be played on Tuesday. AFP

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Alyssa Valdez: Truly an MVP

Alyssa Valdez, together with her Volley Friends, inspired more young athletes to become excellent at their sport and bring more pride to Philippine volleyball.

Nietes fight with Estrada possible

By Ronnie Nathanielsz ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer is waiting for World Boxing Organization light flyweight champion Donnie Nietes, the longest-reigning Filipino world champion to return from a brief vacation with his family in Murcia following his scintillating sixth-round stoppage of Raul “Rayito” Garcia last Saturday at the St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City.

Aldeguer told The Standard he’d like to know what Nietes “feels about his weight” and the prospect of moving up to the flyweight limit to face WBO/World Boxing Association champion Juan Francisco Estrada, or stay at 108 lbs and fight at that weight for one more year before going after the bigger fights.

The ALA Promotions president said he had

spoken to Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions when they met recently in Las Vegas, since Beltran handles both Estrada and Moises Fuentes, whom Nietes has been directed to face in a mandatory by WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel on Sept. 24 at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California.

When The Standard checked with WBO Asia Pacific vice president Leon Panoncillo about the possibility of Valcarcel approving a Nietes-Estrada title fight, Panoncillo replied: “Wow. Really?

That’s the first time I have heard (about it). It’s a big fight if that happens.”

Panoncillo promised to get back to The Standard after he checks with the WBO president.

“Nietes will have to prepare hard if he goes after Estrada,” said Aldeguer, pointing out that at 34 years of age, Nietes “is not getting any younger.”

The tough Mexican has beaten several Filipinos, including Brian Viloria from whom he won the WBO and WBA titles via a split decision on April 6, 2013 in the plush Cotai Arena in the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Macau, Milan Melindo in a slam-bang battle in July that same year, before easily disposing of Richie Mepranum and Rommel Asenjo.

SHE is the unstoppable force who has hailed the most lauded volleyball performances for herself, her Ateneo Lady Eagles team and even her teammates from around the country. With a combination of winning serves, hits and spikes under her belt, multi-award-winning athlete and PLDT HOME Ultera ambassador Alyssa Valdez never fails to unleash her “Phenom” side on court. But what makes her the real MVP is how eager she is to share her talent and passion with the rest of the Philippine volleyball community.

She kicked off her post-collegiate volleyball career with the Alyssa Valdez Skills Camp dedicated to young athletes who are looking to

improve their skills and dedication to the sport.

After four cities and two weeks of intense volleyball training and exhibition games, her exciting project drew to a close recently through an allstar game at De La Salle, Dasmariñas.

“What an impressive list of feats Alyssa carries! We are so proud of her commitment to the sport she loves, not only for herself, but also for those who look up to her,” PLDT VP and HOME Marketing Director Gary Dujali said.

“With the Alyssa Valdez Skills Camp, she was able to inspire more young athletes to be like her—really go all out on court. We are happy to have her as part of the Continued on A12

Manila hosts Palawan Pawnshop net tourney THE country’s leading players brace for a fierce showdown with a slew of rising stars and a host of young netters raring to prove their worth when the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age-group tennis tournament hosts the Manila leg on June 6-12 at the Olivarez Sports Center indoor courts in Sucat, Paranaque.

Three hundred fifty participants have confirmed participation in the biggest gathering of age-groupers in years with Al Francis Andrade, Joseph Apilado Jr., Finney Apilado and Joel Atienza heading the boys’ 18-and-under cast and Gabriel Tiamson, Marcus del Rosario, Mar Raphael Teng and Tim Gumban leading the 16-U side of the Group 2 tournament sponsored by Palawan Pawnshop and presented by Slazenger.

Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP regional age group tennis event organizer and Sports Program Development director, said they have extended the tournament, originally set for five days, to a

seven-day affair to accommodate the big number of entries.

Listup ends today (June 1) at 12 noon with the schedule and draws available at www. palawanpawnshoptennis.com/ draws. For details, call Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

“We are overwhelmed by the big number of participants which only inspires us to put more and more tournaments for these young players to showcase their talent and skills and at the same time help in the development of the sport,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/CEO Bobby Castro.

Angelo Aparte, Jose Martin Buenaventura, Jenard Gonzales Karl Carasus banner the boys’ 14-U category while Edgardo Angara, JT Bernardo, Joaquin de Leon and Magnus Gnilo are the players to watch in the 12-U section of the tournament backed by Asiatraders Corp., exclusive distributor of Slazenger, and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association headed by president and Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Penguins take Stanley Cup opener WASHINGTON—Nick Bonino scored the game winner in the waning minutes Monday as the Penguins edged the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in Pittsburgh in the first game of the NHL Stanley Cup finals.

The Penguins, seeking their first NHL championship since 2009, will try to stretch their lead in the best-of-seven series when they host game two on Wednesday, before the series shifts to San Jose.

The Penguins let a 2-0 lead in the contest get away from them, as San Jose, playing in the championship series for the first time, scored twice in the

second period.

But Bonino scored from the inner edge of the left circle, after a feed from defenseman Kris Letang, firing past San Jose goaltender Martin Jones to make it 3-2 at 17:27 of the third.

“He put it right on my stick —it was a great play by Tanger —and it wasn’t the hardest shot I’ve had, but I was able to flip it over (Jones),” Bonino said.

Bryan Rust, who later left the contest with an undisclosed injury, and fellow rookie Conor Sheary scored little more than a minute apart in the first period for the Penguins, who had 24 saves from

rookie goalie Matt Murray.

Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau responded with goals for the Sharks in the second, but after Bonino’s goal Murray made the lead stand up even as the Sharks played most of the last two minutes on the power play.

“He made a couple of big saves on (Sharks center) Joe Thornton coming down the wing at the end,” Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz said of Murray. “He’s always rising to the occasion for the team.”

Jones was under pressure in the Sharks net throughout the first and third periods, finishing with 38 saves. AFP

New Foton tossers. Foton grabbed two new players at the recent

Philippine Super Liga Draft Day--Dana Henson and Shirley Salamagos, both starters from Arellano University. They are shown here with team manager Alvin Lu, head coach Vilet Ponce de Leon, and Foton’s mainstays Jaja Saniago and Angeline Araneta. Foton drafted last by virtue of its last performance, winning the Open Conference last year. Lu, however, described the two new players as capable of helping the team.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Fajardo returns to practice with Gilas

By Jeric Lopez

WITH June Mar Fajardo widely regarded as the best player in the country today, Smart Gilas Pilipinas knows it can’t afford to miss his services this time around for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Fortunately for the Nationals, the concerns and doubts about Fajardo’s

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 226, QUEZON CITY IN THE MATTER OF CANCELLATION OF LEGITIMATION IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF JAMINA ROJOTTE as REPRESENTED BY HER FATHER JULIUS R. VELUZ Petitioner, -versusNo. R- Q ZN-15 - 07289 - SP RODELIA S. ROJOTTE, THE CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL, THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF QUEZON CITY, NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, and all interested persons, Respondents. x-------------------------------------------------------x IN THE MATTER OF CANCELLATION OF LEGITIMATION IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF JANELA ROJOTTE as REPRESENTED BY HER FATHER, JULIUS R. VELUZ Petitioner, -versusNo. R- Q ZN-15 - 07290 - SP

availability has been erased as the two-time reigning Most Valuable Player of the

of Live Birth. However, records at the National Statistics Office revealed that Rodelia S. Rojotte, mother of the petitioners has a previous valid marriage to a certain Narlito Berroya thus making the marriage of Rodelia S. Rojette and Julius Veluz void ab initio. To rectify the error concerning the status of as legitimated child, petitioners filed these petitions in order to cancel the annotation of legitimation and to correct their birth records.

Petitioners pray that after due notice, publication and hearing judgment be rendered ordering the Office of the Civil Registrar of Quezon City and the Civil Registrar General, the National Statistics Office to Cancel the Legitimation of petitioners Jamina Rojotte with Legitimation No. 2004-173 under Registry Number 2003-20474 and Janela Rojette with Legitimation No. 2004-245 under Registry Number 2003-20474 annotated respectively in their Certificates of Live Birth.

Furthermore, petitioners pray for such other reliefs as my be just and equitable under the premises.

Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance the same is given due course and is hereby set for hearing for the presentation of the jurisdictional requirements on June 24, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. sharp, at the Hall of Justice Annex Building, Quezon City, at which date, time and place, any interested person may appear and show cause if any, why the petition should not be granted.

RODELIA S. ROJOTTE, THE CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL, THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF QUEZON CITY, NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, and all interested persons, Respondents. x------------------------------------------------------x

Let a copy of this Order be published at petitioner’s expense in The Standard, a newspaper of general circulation in Metro Manila and Quezon City selected by raffle pursuant to PD No. 1079, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks.

ORDER

Notify the Solicitor General, the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City, the Civil Registrar General, NSO and the City Prosecutor, Quezon City, who may, if they so desire, file within fifteen (15) days from the receipt hereof from the last date of publication their opposition thereto. Likewise, notify petitioner’s biological mother, Rodelia S. Rojotte.

These are consolidated verified petitions for the cancellation of legitimation annotated in the Certificate of Live Birth of Jamina Rojotte and Janela Rojotte both minor, filed by their father, Julius R. Veluz, thru counsel. The petitions alleges that the minors Jamina Rojotte was born on January 19, 1999 while Janella Rojotte was born on May 30, 2003 both at Our Lady of Biglang-Awa Medical Maternity and Children’s Clinic in Novaliches, Quezon City to Julius Ricaplaza Veluz and Rodelia Salita Rojotte who were not yet married at that time. On July 12, 2003, petitioner’s parents got married and they caused the legitimation of both petitioner and this was annotated in their Certificate

SO ORDERED. April 18, 2016, Quezon City, Philipines.

(Sgd.) MANUEL B. STA. CRUZ, JR. Presiding Judge (TS - June 1, 8 & 15, 2016)

Philippine Basketball Association returned to practice Monday night at the Meralco Gym after shrugging off his latest injury.

After taking several practice sessions off over the weekend with a bruised right knee, Fajardo returned to training in full force, showing that he is fine and the injury that he attained last

Extra Judicial Settlement

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late Felipe V. Verceles has been extrajudicially settled with Deed of Sale with transfer of rights among his heirs as per Doc. No. 145, Page No. 30; Book No. 05; Series of 2015 before Atty. Juan S. Sandingan.

Notary Public PTR No: 4192226/Jan. 5, 2016. ( T S - M AY 18 , 2 5 & J U N . 1, 2 016)

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

week isn’t serious.

Still, Fajardo continues to have therapy sessions for his right knee to heal fully.

He’ll get the privilege of buying his knee more time to rest as Gilas took a rest Tuesday but will be right back to training again Wednesday.

The excitement about the front-court duo of Fajardo and naturalized import An-

dray Blatche intensifies as the country is hoping that the their combination and their broad shoulders can carry the entire team to the Rio Olympics.

For the first time since the FIBA World Cup in 2014, the upcoming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be the first team-up of Fajardo and

Blatche, an agile and huge combination up front.

Meanwhile, the entire delegation of the PBA is bound for Japan today to conduct its scheduled board meeting.

Various topics will be discussed, including the future of the National team, the schedule of next season as well as the upcoming Governors’ Cup.

Romero pushes for creation of Department of Sports

By Peter Atencio AN opportunity to further push for the creation of the Department of Sports is now at hand.

Newly elected 1Pacman partylist solon Mikee Romero said this Tuesday at the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum in Shakey’s Malate.

1Pacman stands for One Patriotic Coalition of Marginalized Nationals.

Now that Romero is a member of the House of Representatives, he said that finding ways to give direct financial assistance to athletes and programs alike will help solve a lot

of problems in Philippine sports.

“With the Department of Sports having a cabinet position, you can have budget for training.

If it’s the Philippine Sports Commission, which is an agency, you have a problem, because it relies on the 5% remittance from PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.),” said Romero.

“Mamamalimos na lang ba palagi ang mga atleta? Kapag may Department of Sports na, ‘di na mamamalimos,” added Romero.

Romero feels that with DOS, they will be able to address the need for sports infrastructure, which will solve perennial prob-

lems like the lack of training, the lack of a grassroots program and inadequate sports facilities.

He is also pushing for the need to purchase 100 hectares of land in Clark Field, Pampanga, where a training center for athletes could be built.

He learned from PSC Chairman Richie Garcia that the two agencies, the PAGCOR and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, need to remit close to P4 billion between 2010 and 2015.

The PSC Act of 1990 clearly mandates that 5% of PAGCOR’s gross income should automatically be remitted to the PSC.

Republic of the Philippines c o l s . x 10 c m s .

Mariano Marcos State University

2

Batac City 2906, Ilocos Norte BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE INVITATION TO BID:GOODS/SERVICES 16-012 Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), with offices at Quiling Sur, City of Batac, Ilocos Norte, invites suppliers/ manufacturers/distributors to apply for eligibility and/ or to bid for the hereunder projects: Pre-bid Conference

Opening of Bids

BID DOCS FEE

1. Laboratory equipment P2,346,900.00 for Various Colleges of the University

June 9, 2016; 2:00 PM

June 24, 2016; 2:00 PM

P2,400.00

2. IT Equipment for Various P5,672,848.00 Colleges and Offices of the University

June 9, 2016; 2:00 PM

June 24, 2016; 2:00 PM

P5,700.00

3. Appliances for Various P1,316,495.00 Colleges and Offices of the University

June 9, 2016; 2:00 PM

June 24, 2016; 2:00 PM

P1,300.00

PROJECT

ABC

Bidding will be conducted via open and public competitive bidding using nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion in accordance with Republic Act 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act,” and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), particularly, but not limited to the following: a)

A bidder must be a Filipino citizen; for corporations, partnerships, or organizations, at least seventy five percent (75%) interest, or outstanding capital stock, must be owned by Filipino citizens. b) All bids must be accompanied by a valid bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the prescribed amount. c) A bidder must have been awarded a contract similar to the Project, the cost of which is at least fifty percent (50%) of thereof, completed and accepted within the last two (2) years, reckoned from the date of the opening of bidsas herein above indicated, d) Bids must be delivered/submitted to the Conference Room, FEM Hall, Mariano Marcos State University, Quiling Sur, City of Batac, Ilocos Norte on or before. e) Bids received in excess of the ABC will be automatically rejected.

Public bidding is an invitation to make an offer. It is therefore understood that any bid may be accepted or rejected orthe bid process invalidated, at any time prior to contract award, without liability to anyone.

Complete set of bid documents may be secured from the MMSU BAC Secretariat at the address below or downloaded from the MMSU website or from the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) website. A bidder must pay a non-refundable fee as above indicated, due and payable upon issuance of the set of bid document or if secured via any of the websites, prior to submission of the bid documents.

For further information please contact the MMSU BAC Secretariat at the address indicated below, Monday thru Friday between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM: AGNES L. GABRIEL Office of the MMSU BAC Secretariat FEM Hall, Mariano Marcos State University Quiling Sur, Batac City 077-600-0461 aslgabriel@yahoo.com

(TS-JUNE 1, 2016)

(SGD) RAMON A LEAÑO BAC Chairman

Rep. Mikee Romero tells sportswriters the necessity to establish a Department of Sports during his appearance at the PSA Forum, where he is joined by GlobalPort team manager Eric Arejola. LINO SANTOS

Slasher 2 grand finals at Big Dome THE Smart Araneta Coliseum will jolt as 2016 World Slasher Cup-2 8-Cock Invitational Derby grand finalists pound the dome with explosive world-class fights as they battle for the title.

Joey Sy, World Slasher Cup-2 defending solo champion, is pushing a very strong campaign with partners Noel Jarin and Antonio Bautista (Pit Viper Hyper B12) as he clutches a perfect score of 4 points to the grand finals.

However, fellow contenders with 4 perfect points and former World Slasher Cup champions, who seek to regain the title, like Gov. Eddie Bong Plaza and Gov. Claude Bautista (CPB AAO), threaten to sabotage Sy’s campaign.

Plaza rams his campaign with at least 2 undefeated partnership entries, namely EP RJM PTM with RJ Mea and ESJ EP Tarlac with Elwin Javelosa.

Other contenders with 4 perfect points who challenge Sy’s claim to the title include Greg Atienza (Rooster Camp/One Capiz); Itoy Sison/Willart Ty/ Ricky Magtuto (JVS Ahluck CamSur); J. Mendoza/J. delos Santos/RJ Mea/Gov. Plaza (JM EP JDLS RJM); VG Lacson/Coun. Juris Sucro (Manila Teachers Partylist by VG Lacson/Juris Sucro); Ricky Magtuto (Ahluck CamSur); Engr. Nerio B. Frani/Jun David (Goldwin 585 & Crystal Water); and D. Hinlo/RJ Mea (DVH RJM Excellence).

Former World Slasher Cup champion Rep. Patrick Antonio (Sagupaan Mite-Free) and other contenders with 3.5 points, like Ka Ador Pleyto (Cela’s Rice Mill); Magno Lim/Gary Tesorero (ML G63); Mayor Egay Capuchino (Deong Arc Farm Oliver-1); and Leo Bernardino/Arif Dembong (Toraja Bustos-333) threaten to foil Sy’s campaign to capture the title anew.

W E D N E S D AY : J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Martinez gets to showcase his skills in SEAG nizers approved the inclusion of figure skating in next year’s edition, along with four other sports disciplines, namely bridge, cricket, ice hockey and tarung derajat.

“If I make it through, it would be an honor to represent the Philippines in the 2017 SEA Games, in hopes to win the gold medal for our country,” said Martinez, who also plans to join more international competitions in the run-up to the KL SEA Games.

By Peter Atencio FILIPINO figure skating ace Michael Christian Martinez is back, looking forward to represent the country in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games to be held in Kuala Lumpur.

Martinez, the only skater from Southeast Asia to qualify and compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, will get to showcase his skills in the regional biennial meet after SEA Games orga-

His participation in the biennial meet will also allow him to earn more points that he needs to qualify for the next Winter Olympics set to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.

But when asked about the possibility of Martinez getting injured as he set his sights on the next Winter games, his mother Teresa said getting injured is part of a skater’s life as he tries to improve his skills and advance to higher levels.

“He’s eyeing the next Olympics.

‘Yung injuries nandiyan na iyan.

Every skater suffers repetitive injuries. It’s really difficult. They have to jump high, land on one foot on a very thin blade on very slippery ice,” said Teresa.

Martinez, however, remains upbeat on his chances of winning the country’s first gold medal in figure skating in the SEA Games due to the experiences he has gained from past international meets.

LOTTO RESULTS

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

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

Lascuna, 2 others share PGT lead GEN. TRIAS, Cavite—Tony Lascuna came out of a rain delay in shaky form, fumbling with a bogey on the 18th and enabling Jerson Balasabas and Zanieboy Gialon to gain a share of the lead at 66 at the start of the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Invitational at the Aoki course here Tuesday.

POC to help Tabal make Rio games WITH time running out, the Philippine Olympic Committee will most likely step in and help marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal make it to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Richie Garcia said this after he informed POC President Jose “Peping” Cojuangco on the status of Tabal.

Representing Cebu City, Tabal clocked two hours, 43 minutes and 31 seconds, to finish eighth overall in the women’s division of the 2016 Scotia Bank Marathon in Ottawa last Sunday and became the second Filipino trackster to hit the Olympic qualifying standard.

The 26-year-old Tabal, who is training on her own and left the national team last December, surpassed the national record, which Jhoann Banayag set in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games at 2:44.2, and the Olympic standard of 2:45.

Her efforts surprised the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, saying Tabal will need to seek reinstatement with the national team to be able to make it the Olympiad.

“Mr. Juico is reluctant in accepting Tabal. So I asked asked Mr. Cojuangco if we are ready to make her represent the country.

He said the POC can recognize her if the PATAFA can’t,” said Garcia. Peter Atencio

The veteran shotmaker actually looked headed to capping an explosive start with a fiery windup after heavy downpour halted play for over an hour, birdying the par-3 17th from close range to go seven-under. But the three-time Order of Merit winner missed the green on the last hole and failed to get up-and-down from eight feet, settling for a sixunder card.

“I misread my putt on No. 18 but overall I had a good game, good putting,” said Lascuña, eyeing a follow-up to his Luisita Championship romp last April. “But we’re closely bunched together so it’s going to be exciting in the next three days.”

Balasabas, still in search of a breakthrough win on the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour, anchored his 66 on a scorching finish at the front that saw him birdie four of the last five, including three straight from No. 5 to spike a bogey-free round and find himself in a spot ahead of the elite roster chasing the top P360,000 purse in the event sponsored by International Container Terminal Services Inc. “Everything worked

Tony Lascuna hits a bunker shot on No. 15.

perfectly well for me, especially my driving,” said Balasabas, who also cited his gym and cardio workouts as keys to his solid start in the P2 million tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. Gialon, who seemed to thrive in rainy days, winning a couple of tournaments in such condition, also turned in his own version of a 34-32, a flawless card highlighted by back-to-back birdies from No. 16 as the troika took a one-stroke lead over Marvin Dumandan.

The long-hitting Dumandan outplayed fancied rookie pro Jobim Carlos and former Asian Development Tour leg champion Rufino Bayron, blasting four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 12 then closed out with another birdie on No. 9 to shoot a 67.

Clyde Mondilla, chasing a rare three-straight romp after winning the ICTSI Manila Masters at Eastridge and Calatagan Invitational the last three weeks, didn’t stray too far from the leaders although he needed to unleash a strong finishing kick at the front to put himself in early contention.

Philracom firms up drug test implementing rules THE HOARSE WHISPERER JENNY ORTUOSTE

THE Philippine Racing Commission is set on re-implementing drug testing rules for horses that will further increase transparency, safeguard the health and welfare of horses, and maintain the sport’s integrity.

In a letter dated May 18 this year, the Commission furnished the three horseowners’ organizations—MARHO, Philtobo, and Klub Don Juan de Manila—with a copy of the proposed drug testing implementing rules and regulations

for consultative purposes.

The rules set standards for laboratory equipment, blood and urine collection protocols, and sampling and positiveresult-challenge procedures.

Each racing club is mandated to have a drug-testing lab with the required facilities.

The procedures will test for the presence of certain substances.

The regulated and monitored drugs are analgesics (pain relievers): acetaminophen, alfentanil, anileridine, calecoxib, fentanyl, flunixin, ketoprofen, mepivacaine, oxymorphine, pentazocine, phenylbutazone, procaine, salicylate, tramadol, and zomepirac.

Prohibited are downers (depressants and performance

inhibitors): azaperone, benzodizapine group, detomidine, etorphine, flunittrazepam, promazine group, and propranolol.

The response of the horseowners’ groups is being awaited for further development and coordination of the drug testing program prior to implementation. *** The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will be holding the 2016 Silver Cup on June 26 at Santa Ana Park, with the following entries: Tan Goal (with jockey JB Guce), Gentle Strength (JB Hernandez), Low Profile (MA Alvarez), Dixie Gold (RG Fernandez), Messi (JA Guce), Superv (JB Bacaycay), Kanlaon (VR Dilema).

The 2,000-meter race is one of the two main races on PCSO’s racing program, with the other being the Presidential Gold Cup held every December. The Silver Cup is held in honor of the sitting president’s first lady, or, as in the present case, the first family. *** As expected, trial race winner Pinay Pharoah won the PCSO 3YO special maiden race at San Lazaro Leisure Park last May 7.

Pinay Pharoah took the lead in the 1,400-meter race, with Son Also Rises running off the pace in second, Batang Annala and the rest of the pack eight lengths behind.

At the backstretch, Batang An-

nala and Catsbarawana began rallying, but Pinoy Pharaoh with jockey Fernando Raquel Jr. maintained her lead to win wire-towire by a length and a half.

Pinay Pharoah is owned

by Herminio S. Esguerra and was also bred by him on his Herma Farm and Stud ranch in Batangas, thus he won both the first prize of P600,000 and the breeder’s purse of P50,000.

Catsbarawana 2nd. Batang Annala 3rd, Son Also Rises 4th, Polo Queen 5th and last.

Time 1:29 (12.6-23.4-25-28). *** After Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes loser Nyquist spiked a fever after the Preakness last May 21, his con-

nections decided not to take him to Belmont, making Preakness winner Exaggerator the Belmont Stakes favorite at 1110, almost even odds.

Exaggerator is expected to encounter Suddenbreakingnews (who turned out to be a ridgling, not a gelding as was first thought), Cherry Wine (second placer in the Preakness), Stradivari (third in the Preakness), Lani (ninth in the KY Derby and fifth in the Preakness), and Creator (Tapit scion), among others, in the 1-1/2 mile Belmost Stakes on June 11. *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecember

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W E D N E S DAY : J U N E 1 , 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

Warriors extend record season Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors celebrates after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-88 in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. AFP

LOS ANGELES—Stephen Curry scored 36 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 96-88 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday and into an NBA title rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Warriors, trying to cap a sensational season that included a record 73 regular-season victories with a second straight title, sealed the 4-3 series victory in the

Western Conference finals on their home floor in Oakland, California—clawing back after trailing 3-1 in the series.

The Warriors, who

became the 10th team to rally from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series, host LeBron James and the Cavaliers in game one of the finals on Thursday.

“You’ve got to be appreciative of this accomplishment —and look forward to getting four more wins,” Curry said.

The Cavaliers won the Eastern Conference title, defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games to book a return trip to the finals, where they will try to avenge their six-game loss to the Warriors in last year’s championship series.

The Warriors will be trying to become the league’s first repeat winners since the Miami Heat—then featuring James— in 2012 and 2013.

Golden State had to dig deep to get the chance. After twice fending off elimination the Warriors trailed by as many as 13 in the first half on Monday and by eight early in the third quarter.

Curry, who earned Most Valuable Player honors for the

1-armed lady surfer stuns field TURN TO A12

second straight season, hit five of the Warriors’ 10 second-half three-pointers as the reigning champions rallied again to oust the third-seeded Thunder.

“I knew we were ready for the moment,” Curry said. “We were a mature basketball team that tried our best not to listen to the noise when we were down 3-1. ... In that locker room, the talk was positive.”

Moving on Down by six points at halftime, the Warriors out-scored the Thunder 29-12 in the third quarter to power into the lead Back-to-back three-pointers by Klay Thompson and Draymond Green gave the Warriors an 88-77 lead with 4:44 to play in the contest.

The Thunder wouldn’t go quietly, with a scoring drive from Russell Westbrook and seven straight points from Kevin Durant pulling the Thunder within 90-86 with 1:40 remaining.

“We survived by the skin of our teeth,” Golden State

coach Steve Kerr said. “We were able to pull it out, and we’re moving on.”

Curry, fouled on a threepoint attempt, made all three free-throws, then produced a three-pointer that put the Warriors up by 10 with 26.8 seconds to play.

Thompson’s six three-pointers made up most of his 21 points. Green finished with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds for Golden State.

“No one had any doubts that we could get this done,” Green said. ‘it took a great, tremendous effort and fight to overcome (the 3-1 deficit).”

Curry, who has dealt with ankle, knee and elbow injuries in the post-season, echoed his team-mate.

“We never lost confidence, and every game just played with fearlessness and that confidence we could get back to the finals however we had to get it done,” he said.

Durant admitted that surrendering that 3-1 series lead

Lascuna, 2 others share lead TURN TO A15

was painful.

“You’ve got to give credit to them,” said Durant, who led the Thunder with 27 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

“They came out and played well the last three games of the series and won three in a row.”

Westbrook had 19 points and 13 assists, but connected on just seven of 21 shots from the field.

Overall the Thunder shot just 38.2 percent from the field —which helped doomed their bid to become the first team in NBA history to beat two 65win teams in the same postseason.

The Thunder had eliminated Western Conference second seeds San Antonio in the second round.

“This could have played out entirely differently,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “There was opportunity for us to close the series out in [games] five and six and seven, and we came up a little short.” AFP

B1

WEDNESDAY: JUNE 1, 2016

BUSINESS

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

PSe comPoSite index Closing May 31, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,401.60 62.74

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing May 31, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P46.755

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P46.650 LOW P46.785 AVERAGE P46.724 VOLUME 572.500M

P427.00-P620.00 LPG/11-kg tank

West Philippine Sea talks. International think tanks led by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Philippine Trade

Foundation Eminent Persons Group and Stratbase ADR Institute discuss the ongoing territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea and the scenarios facing the government of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. Shown (from left) are CSIS research associate Conor Cronin, Stratbase ADRi trustee Renato de Castro, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry treasurer Jeffrey Ng, Stratbase ADRi president Dindo Manhit, CSIS director of Southeast Asian Studies Murray Hiebert, foundation executive vice president Babe Romualdez, Brig. Gen. Suzanne Vares-Lum of the US Pacific Command, KGLi chief executive Mark Williams, former MAP Trustee Elizabeth Lee, foundation chairman Tony Antonio Cojuangco, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Philip Romualdez, Dr. John Wood, director, J9 US Pacific Command, AFP Capt. Rey dela Cruz, and foundation executive director Rupert Paul Manhit.

Aquino signs law reforming Customs

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

OUTGOING President Benigno Aquino III on Monday signed into law a measure that aims to modernize the Bureau of Customs, curb smuggling and grant tax-free privileges to most “balikbayan” boxes.

Republic Act No. 10863, or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, will update the Tariff and Customs Code which was last amended in 1978 and enhance the operations of the Customs Bureau, the government’s second largest revenue-collecting agency in charge of collecting import duties.

The law has a provision raising the amount of tax exemption for a “balikbayan” box to P150,000 from the previous P10,000. The same amount of exemption will be granted

to returning overseas Filipino workers.

The Finance Department said in a statement the law would also improve the agency’s goal to curb smuggling as this would discourage person-to-person transactions between Customs employees and importers.

“President Aquino signing CMTA into law has set the Bureau of Customs on an even faster pace of reform. Embracing technology and updating regulatory frameworks reduces opportunities for corruption and streamlines client experience with the BOC,” Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said.

“Better institutions deliver better outcomes. We look forward to a stronger, more efficient BOC aiding our bid for trade liberalization and competitiveness,” Purisima said.

Customs commissioner Alberto Lina said the law was another “milestone” for their call to institutionalize reforms in the agency.

“Emphasizing the ease of trade through streamlined processes, the CMTA will es-

tablish the requisite foundation for a cashless, faceless and paperless environment in Customs, reducing corruption and technical smuggling that will result in enhanced revenues,” Lina said.

“Efforts are already underway to attune current BOC systems to the new provisions in the CMTA focused on business process re-engineering, computer-based systems development, organizational development, capacity building, and external communication and education,” Lina said.

Among the reforms prescribed by the new law are electronic processing of shipment of documents, streamlining of export and import procedures, simplified processes for seizure and disposition of illegal goods and steeper penalties for violations.

Global deal to expand Meralco’s business

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE majority investment of Beacon PowerGen Holdings Inc. in Global Business Power Corp. will provide the springboard for the generation unit of Manila Electric Co., Meralco PowerGen Corp., to expand to Mindanao and Visayas.

Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters following the stockholders’ meeting of the company that taking a majority stake in Global Business Power would ensure the long-term growth of the power generation business. “[Long-term vision] is to focus on Visayas and hopefully make our entry into Mindanao in the power sector because the incoming president is from that par-

ticular area,” Pangilinan said, referring to President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

“We hope we could expand our presence in the Visayas and Mindanao as well,” Pangilinan said.

First Pacific Co. Ltd.’s associate, Beacon Electric Asset Holdings Inc., through wholly-owned subsidiary Beacon PowerGen, last week signed an agreement with GT Capital Holdings Inc. of the Metrobank Group to acquire 56 percent of Global Business Power for P22.6 billion.

Beacon Electric, meanwhile, owns a 35 percent stake in Meralco.

Pangilinan said the recent transaction would not have an impact on market cap limitations imposed under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

“For now because the plants of MGen have really not been built, so there may be still space, maybe once we approach that we will revise our shareholder interest,” Pangilinan said.

Meralco PowerGen owns 22 percent of Global Business Power while another 22 percent is held by Japan’s Orix Corp.

Pangilinan, however, said Meralco PowerGen might take a stake in the 670-megawatt power plant being built by Global Business Power in Luzon.

“Most likely, it will be joint venture with Meralco [through Meralco PowerGen] because it has a PSA [power supply agreement] with Meralco so there will not be much comment,” the official said.

P36.35-P43.45 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P24.75-P29.60 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, May 31, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.7750

Japan

Yen

0.009000

0.4210

UK

Pound

1.464000

68.4786

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128718

6.0208

Switzerland

Franc

1.008369

47.1665

Canada

Dollar

0.766460

35.8512

Singapore

Dollar

0.723851

33.8581

Australia

Dollar

0.717900

33.5798

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652872

124.0881

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266652

12.4726

Brunei

Dollar

0.721241

33.7360

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000073

0.0034

Baht

0.027993

1.3094

Thailand UAE

Dirham

0.272272

12.7355

Euro

Euro

1.114900

52.1494

Korea

Won

0.000835

0.0391

China

Yuan

0.151941

7.1070

India

Rupee

0.014890

0.6965

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.243013

11.3669

New Zealand

Dollar

0.669300

31.3065

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030656

1.4339 Source: PDS Bridge

WEDNESDAY: JUNE 1, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Tuesday, May 31, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 4 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 890 1.01 100 30.5 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 8.7 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 625 0.225 78 17.8 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 148 20.6 125 85 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 31.8 109 20.75 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 79 3.95 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 1450 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 26 2.17

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 32 15.32 62.5 20.2 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 20.2 71.5 13.86 13.24 5.34 0.395 173 34.1 2.3 1.63 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.87 8.45 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 801 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 10.02 1.2

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 6.5 5.29 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 9.66 0.0670 2.31 1.61 2.99 84.9 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.26 0.152 837 5.3 49.55 3.43 3 4.84 0.59 12 0.580 4.2 3 0.030 1.23 0.550 2.26 59.3 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 41.4 5.6 5.59 5.6 1.44 1.97 0.201 0.69

6.74 12 0.65 1.2 30.05 3.36 4.96 2.8 0.79 1.1 0.083 0.415

STOCKS

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.75 3.65 45.5 44.8 104.40 100.00 94.90 92.25 38.2 38 2.92 2.92 1.43 1.30 10.16 10.16 14.26 14.14 17.5 17.1 7.18 7.18 1.78 1.7 610.00 610.00 0.560 0.540 88.95 84.2 15.00 14.90 49.50 46.45 102.2 98.05 261.8 260 31.95 30.1 203 193.5 1400.00 1355.00 64.45 64.30 1.54 1.53 INDUSTRIAL Aboitiz Power Corp.

46.5 46.95 45.5 Agrinurture Inc. 3.38 3.45 3.35 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.89 0.89 0.88 Alsons Cons.

1.99 2 1.95 Asiabest Group 12.1 12.32 11.5 C. Azuc De Tarlac 200.00 200.00 170.00 Century Food 21.35 22.1 21 Chemphil 120 115 115 Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ 198.9 205 190.1 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 16.9 16.9 16 Concepcion 46.5 46.5 46.5 Crown Asia 2.16 2.16 2.08 Da Vinci Capital 4.76 5.45 4.62 Del Monte 10.82 11.38 10.8 DNL Industries Inc. 9.750 9.740 9.610 Emperador 7.45 7.52 7.11 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.65 5.69 5.60 EEI 7.32 7.32 7.28 First Gen Corp.

23 23.5 22.3 First Holdings ‘A’ 68 68.5 65.3 Ginebra San Miguel Inc. 12.50 13.00 13.00 15.20 15.10 Holcim Philippines Inc. 15.10 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.75 5.75 5.65 Ionics Inc 2.190 2.250 2.160 Jollibee Foods Corp.

237.60 237.80 235.40 Liberty Flour 43.90 43.00 43.00 LMG Chemicals 2.16 1.85 1.85 Mabuhay Vinyl 3.38 3.33 3.15 Manila Water Co. Inc. 27.15 27.5 26.7 Maxs Group 26.5 28.5 26.3 Megawide 6.65 6.72 6.57 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 301.00 309.40 301.40 MG Holdings 0.275 0.280 0.270 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 3.39 3.48 3.39 Petron Corporation 11.50 11.80 11.40 Phinma Corporation 11.64 11.58 11.52 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 5.20 5.21 5.00 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.69 1.68 1.62 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.68 2.74 2.67 RFM Corporation 4.20 4.24 4.20 Roxas Holdings 4.42 4.41 4.3 San Miguel ‘Pure Foods `A’ 217 220 214 Splash Corporation 2.5 2.59 2.5 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.152 0.151 0.151 TKC Steel Corp.

1.88 1.88 1.67 Trans-Asia Oil 2.52 2.50 2.46 Universal Robina 198.5 198.5 192.6 Victorias Milling 4.78 4.83 4.6 Vitarich Corp.

0.9 0.9 0.88 Vivant Corp.

31.50 31.50 31.50 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.25 1.26 1.25 HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.420 0.425 0.395 Aboitiz Equity 78.00 79.00 75.85 Alliance Global Inc. 15.50 15.70 15.22 Anglo Holdings A 1.18 1.17 1.17 ATN Holdings A 0.380 0.385 0.380 ATN Holdings B 0.380 0.385 0.380 Ayala Corp `A’ 830.5 858 833 Cosco Capital 7.7 7.71 7.63 DMCI Holdings 12.66 12.70 12.36 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

6.40 6.39 6.04 Forum Pacific 0.245 0.240 0.220 GT Capital 1450 1440 1395 House of Inv. 6.20 6.20 6.20 JG Summit Holdings 83.15 83.65 80.50 Jolliville Holdings 4.45 4.38 4.38 Keppel Holdings `A’ 5.2 5.99 5.8 Lopez Holdings Corp.

7.89 7.87 7.5 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.69 0.71 0.7 LT Group 14.2 14.42 14.26 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.480 0.490 0.490 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 6.05 6.16 6.01 2.86 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.4 2.96 Pacifica `A’ 0.0320 0.0320 0.0320 Prime Media Hldg 1.280 1.280 1.270 Prime Orion 1.800 1.850 1.800 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.66 2.65 2.65 San Miguel Corp `A’ 80.30 82.80 80.85 SM Investments Inc. 950.00 960.00 922.00 Solid Group Inc. 1.19 1.19 1.16 South China Res. Inc. 0.83 0.81 0.81 Top Frontier 180.000 185.000 171.300 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3150 0.3150 0.3050 Wellex Industries 0.2120 0.2120 0.2020 Zeus Holdings 0.330 0.325 0.310 PROPERTY 8990 HLDG 7.930 7.980 7.800 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 6.70 7.00 7.00 A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.16 1.17 1.15 Araneta Prop `A’ 2.520 2.630 2.390 Ayala Land `B’ 36.800 37.050 35.700 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.2 3.25 3.04 Cebu Holdings 5.15 5.11 5.11 Cebu Prop. `A’ 5.61 5.73 5.73 Century Property 0.520 0.52 0.500 City & Land Dev. 0.98 0.98 0.98 Crown Equities Inc. 0.134 0.133 0.130 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.540 0.540 0.520 AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

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

Close

SHARES 96,388,859 108,557,770 536,305,533 207,319,289 331,801,556 2,118,527,771 3,410,038,760

3.66 45 102.70 94.90 38.2 2.92 1.48 9.11 14.26 17.14 7.18 1.83 607.00 0.550 86 14.90 49.85 102 260.6 31.8 196 1400.00 64.30 1.54

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.73 45 101.00 92.25 38 2.92 1.33 10.16 14.26 17.12 7.18 1.77 610.00 0.550 87.1 15.00 46.45 102.2 261.8 30.1 203 1356.00 64.30 1.54

1.91 0.00 -1.66 -2.79 -0.52 0.00 -10.14 11.53 0.00 -0.12 0.00 -3.28 0.49 0.00 1.28 0.67 -6.82 0.20 0.46 -5.35 3.57 -3.14 0.00 0.00

78,000 48,200 8,204,910 12,074,350 40,500 2,000 2,609,000 500 1,500 53,700 12,000 101,000 90 606,000 23,031,890 25,500 2,706,000 3,030 3,940 7,472,600 37,362,930 165 97,270 114,000

46 3.43 0.89 2 11.5 170.00 22.1 115 197 16.12 46.5 2.09 5.32 11.2 9.740 7.11 5.65 7.29 22.3 65.3 13.00 15.10 5.75 2.220 235.40 43.00 1.85 3.18 26.7 27.55 6.6 303.40 0.270 3.48 11.70 11.52 5.00 1.62 2.68 4.24 4.3 214 2.58 0.151 1.71 2.50 195 4.83 0.89 31.50 1.26

-1.08 1.48 0.00 0.50 -4.96 -15.00 3.51 -4.17 -0.96 -4.62 0.00 -3.24 11.76 3.51 -0.10 -4.56 0.00 -0.41 -3.04 -3.97 4.00 0.00 0.00 1.37 -0.93 -2.05 -14.35 -5.92 -1.66 3.96 -0.75 0.80 -1.82 2.65 1.74 -1.03 -3.85 -4.14 0.00 0.95 -2.71 -1.38 3.20 -0.66 -9.04 -0.79 -1.76 1.05 -1.11 0.00 0.80

6,404,800 293,000 161,000 9,562,000 97,900 140 5,312,100 60 610 853,500 143,700 1,037,000 2,082,000 63,900 5,506,300 439,400 29,226,400 229,000 4,115,000 603,570 2,800 34,400 1,238,300 2,505,000 2,820,800 200 20,000 19,000 1,711,300 1,986,900 251,700 493,400 290,000 3,546,000 14,628,700 10,000 1,051,000 126,000 106,000 73,000 12,000 410 155,000 660,000 3,031,000 909,000 5,481,290 4,000 1,064,000 9,300 146,000

0.400 79.00 15.22 1.17 0.380 0.380 846.5 7.67 12.70 6.20 0.240 1395 6.20 82.60 4.38 5.99 7.5 0.7 14.36 0.490 6.03 2.95 0.0320 1.270 1.810 2.65 82.00 940.00 1.19 0.81 181.000 0.3100 0.2110 0.320

-4.76 1.28 -1.81 -0.85 0.00 0.00 1.93 -0.39 0.32 -3.13 -2.04 -3.79 0.00 -0.66 -1.57 15.19 -4.94 1.45 1.13 2.08 -0.33 -13.24 0.00 -0.78 0.56 -0.38 2.12 -1.05 0.00 -2.41 0.56 -1.59 -0.47 -3.03

1,520,000 24,814,590 246,645,090.00 13,497,500 11,050,716.00 64,000 5,530,000 780,000 2,477,670 328,986,875.00 1,904,100 2,112,625.00 12,941,100 -34,129,934.00 157,100 402,448.00 50,000 368,630 -21,442,835.00 1,000 28,807,450 -192,206,500.00 10,000 3,500 4,353,800 -14,940,634.00 2,000 1,270,500 8,806,328.00 20,000 101,439,900 -238,100,735.00 5,000 9,000,000 128,000.00 64,000 452,000 -363,830.00 3,000 2,201,540 37,995,828.50 633,200 -35,481,345.00 109,000 1,000 21,310 -305,900.00 6,830,000 -15,750.00 990,000 1,990,000 35,100.00

7.950 7.00 1.17 2.500 35.700 3.02 5.11 5.73 0.510 0.98 0.132 0.540

0.25 4.48 0.86 -0.79 -2.99 -5.63 -0.78 2.14 -1.92 0.00 -1.49 0.00

593,800 1,000 780,000 4,051,000 31,437,700 2,156,000 1,500 57,000 2,371,000 8,000 1,720,000 2,260,000

526,940.00 215,491,649 -146,249,960.50

-185,092.00

254,791,359.00 -86,522,555.00 -149,262.00 148,766,935 1,733,161,451.00

4,931,200.00 -6,700.00 10,347,630.00 23,656,155.00 -833,830.00 0 535,070.00 26,580,383.00 61,545.00 5,033.00 1,038,016.00 -12,591,030.00 -22,178,113.00 -533,982.00 651,000.00 12,665,312.00

-20,668,750.00 4,125,125.00 -337,609.00 57,163,002.00 -842,810.00 66,009,730.00 -104.00 220,480.00 -30,650.00

120,600.00 29,640.00 -118,821,887.00 4,600.00

1,927,235.00 -740,270.00 -40,149,885.00 -997,460.00

52 Weeks

STOCKS

Close

High

10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 23 2.69 22.15 1.6 15.08 0.69 3.38 0.83 5.73

Double Dragon 52.45 Empire East Land 0.800 Global-Estate 0.99 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.95 Interport `A’ 1.28 Megaworld 4.34 MRC Allied Ind. 0.094 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2900 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.465 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 47.50 Primex Corp.

8.59 Robinson’s Land `B’ 28.90 Rockwell 1.54 SM Prime Holdings 24.60 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.93 Starmalls 6.4 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.010 Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.050

10.5 66 1.09 14.88 28.5 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 4 2720 8.41 70.5 1.97 119.5 7 5.8

1.97 35.2 0.63 10.5 18.2 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 2.58 1600 5.95 17.02 1.23 102.6 3.01 4

0.8200 2.2800 5.93

0.041 1.200 2.34

12.28 3.32 1 2.46 15.2

6.5 1.91 0.650 1.8 6

1.040 22.8 6.41 4 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.37 14.54 3 2.28 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. Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

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

Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ Imperial Res. `B’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

7.31 50.95 0.630 11 28.5 4.23 0.0530 3.03 94 9.55 1.8 6.95 4.42 2310 6.54 21.20 1.13 60.25 15.30 198 9.64 0.325 1.6600 2.43 12.3 7.70 3.62 0.590 2 2.39 3.96 3.180 17.5 5.00 2.41 124.00 23.90 1901.00 0.400 0.890 42.20 79.25 6.25 2.80 0.590 3.32 0.340 6.700

Abra Mining

0.0043

Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Basic Energy Corp.

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

2.30 4.40 0.234 7.8000 0.66 0.510 9.12 0.890 0.300 0.249 0.275 0.0140 0.0140 1.88 4.5 2.57 0.6200 1.3000 0.0110 3.92 6.99 3.95 0.0140 129.40 4 0.0120

70 553 525 118 120 515 8.21 12.28 1060 1047 78.95 84.8

1.34 6.98

12.88 130.7

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.76 -1.25 -2.02 0.00 0.78 3.69 -2.13 -13.79 0.00 -6.32 0.12 0.35 3.90 -2.44 -1.08 -0.47 0.00 -0.79

1,996,210 240,000 2,050,000 8,484,000 4,000 104,227,000 2,520,000 300,000 880,000 26,100 180,000 5,673,200 116,000 23,633,400 423,000 14,300 373,000 10,731,900

7.31 50.8 0.600 11 28.4 4.20 0.0580 3.03 96 9.18 1.88 6.99 4.45 2410 6.50 21.20 1.14 56.55 14.50 180 9.62 0.335 1.5400 2.45 12.1 7.50 3.00 0.560 1.99 2.22 3.96 2.800 17.5 4.81 2.42 124.50 23.90 1900.00 0.400 0.920 42.00 80.50 6.18 2.65 0.580 3.33 0.360 6.500

0.00 -0.29 -4.76 0.00 -0.35 -0.71 9.43 0.00 2.13 -3.87 4.44 0.58 0.68 4.33 -0.61 0.00 0.88 -6.14 -5.23 -9.09 -0.21 3.08 -7.23 0.82 -1.63 -2.60 -17.13 -5.08 -0.50 -7.11 0.00 -11.95 0.00 -3.80 0.41 0.40 0.00 -0.05 0.00 3.37 -0.47 1.58 -1.12 -5.36 -1.69 0.30 5.88 -2.99

29,900 260,570 4,234,000 560,600 100 40,070,000 113,570,000 355,000 532,500 300 167,000 274,600 35,000 295,570 113,400 28,600 277,000 11,365,980 43,400 310 722,600 19,240,000 9,521,000 12,000 39,000 40,100 14,266,000 5,000 120,000 10,446,000 979,000 64,162,000 88,900 53,900 51,000 7,460 82,700 1,817,040 210,000 12,394,000 329,400 806,570 437,100 19,649,000 1,816,000 243,000 630,000 84,400

0.0045

4.65

1,832,000,000

2.26 2.12 2.15 4.50 4.36 4.38 0.240 0.240 0.240 8 7.7 7.9000 0.67 0.66 0.66 0.510 0.480 0.480 9.20 8.76 9.00 0.890 0.860 0.890 0.300 0.295 0.300 0.255 0.247 0.248 0.280 0.275 0.280 0.0140 0.0130 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 0.0140 1.95 1.88 1.9 4.6 4.22 4.22 2.59 2.52 2.59 0.6000 0.5900 0.6000 1.3000 1.2600 1.2800 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 4.09 3.98 4.00 7.21 6.99 7.01 4.04 3.81 3.86 0.0140 0.0130 0.0130 129.80 117.00 129.00 4.1 3.95 4.02 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 PREFERRED 33 ABS-CBN Holdings Corp. 50.5 50.5 50 50.5 490 Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ 530 530 525 525 500 Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ 535 535 535 535 101 First Gen F 115 115 115 115 101.5 First Gen G 119.4 117.5 117.5 117.5 480 GLOBE PREF P 519 520 520 520 5.88 GMA Holdings Inc. 6.13 6.5 6.48 6.48 6.5 Leisure and Resort 1.1 1.11 1.11 1.11 997 PCOR-Preferred A 1032 1032 1032 1032 1011 PF Pref 2 1026 1028 1028 1028 PNX PREF 3B 112 113 112.9 113 74.5 SMC Preferred B 78.5 79 78.9 78.9 75 SMC Preferred C 81 81.7 81 81 SMC Preferred F 76.75 77.05 76.6 76.6 SMC Preferred G 77.2 78 77.5 78 SMC Preferred H 76.1 77 76.1 76.9 SMC Preferred I 76 77 76.5 76.5 1 Swift Pref 2.45 2.45 2.45 2.45 WARRANTS & BONDS 0.8900 LR Warrant 2.900 2.930 2.750 2.900 SME Alterra Capital 4.18 4.16 3.9 4.08 3.5 Makati Fin. Corp.

3.75 3.56 3.55 3.55 Italpinas 2.92 2.96 2.84 2.87 5.95 Xurpas 18 18 17.66 17.9 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 105.6 First Metro ETF 122.6 123 122 122

-6.52 -0.45 2.56 1.28 0.00 -5.88 -1.32 0.00 0.00 -0.40 1.82 0.00 0.00 1.06 -6.22 0.78 -3.23 -1.54 -9.09 2.04 0.29 -2.28 -7.14 -0.31 0.50 0.00

557,000 219,000 80,000 1,200 301,000 2,487,000 753,200 1,357,100 220,000 32,370,000 40,000 56,900,000 47,000,000 290,000 8,809,000 175,000 115,000 71,000 13,500,000 31,000 690,100 3,771,000 62,200,000 1,802,200 413,000 40,100,000

0.00 -0.94 0.00 0.00 -1.59 0.19 5.71 0.91 0.00 0.19 0.89 0.51 0.00 -0.20 1.04 1.05 0.66 0.00

510,210 8,770 2,000 210 800 210 102,100 500,000 100 1,950 27,000 250 13,330 8,000 27,200 43,120 207,490 1,000

0.00

208,000

-2.39 -5.33 -1.71 -0.56

2,288,000 4,000 297,000 8,460,400

-0.49

81,370

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,677.83 (DOWN) 9.64 INDUSTRIAL 11,577.74 (DOWN) 113.54 HOLDING FIRMS 7,421.49 (DOWN) 21.70 PROPERTY 3,136.49 (DOWN) 54.95 SERVICES 1,527.98 (DOWN) 2.55 MINING & OIL 11,049.56 (DOWN) 70.89 PSEI 7,401.60 (DOWN) 62.74 All Shares Index 4,432.82 (DOWN) 26.99 Gainers: 76; Losers: 118; Unchanged: 44; Total: 238

Close

54 52.25 0.810 0.790 1.00 0.97 1.95 1.93 1.29 1.25 4.5 4.25 0.094 0.091 0.2550 0.2500 0.465 0.440 48.50 42.00 8.6 8.49 29.95 28.70 1.6 1.53 25.00 24.00 0.92 0.89 6.39 6 1.030 1.000 5.050 4.990 SERVICES 7.45 7.31 51 50 0.630 0.600 11 11 28.4 28.4 4.23 4.01 0.0590 0.0520 3.04 3 96 92.8 9.18 9.18 2 1.8 7.00 6.80 4.45 3.50 2460 2350 6.54 6.48 21.20 21.20 1.18 1.12 60.95 56.55 15.30 14.10 209 175 9.64 9.50 0.335 0.325 1.6700 1.5200 2.45 2.43 12.5 12.1 7.69 7.50 3.68 2.85 0.590 0.560 2 1.99 2.38 2.22 3.96 3.93 3.000 2.500 17.6 17.44 4.90 4.81 2.42 2.42 124.50 123.00 23.90 23.40 2090.00 1900.00 0.400 0.390 0.920 0.870 42.20 41.50 80.50 78.00 6.30 6.18 2.90 2.65 0.600 0.580 3.39 3.31 0.365 0.335 6.690 6.400 MINING & OIL 0.0045 0.0042

T op g ainerS VALUE 12,115,474,760.828 3,026,339,486.09 8,970,137,835.713 2,540,615,217.25 5,645,646,374.49 334,934,740.554 32,804,076,457.221

Low

53.9 0.790 0.97 1.95 1.29 4.5 0.092 0.2500 0.465 44.50 8.6 29.00 1.6 24.00 0.92 6.37 1.010 5.010

0.0098 0.0043 -36,200.00 5.45 1.72 17.24 6.47 0.330 0.236 12.7 6.5 1.19 0.85 1.62 0.77 9.5 5.99 4.2 1.17 0.48 0.305 0.420 0.2130 0.440 0.2160 0.022 0.013 0.023 0.014 8.2 3.240 49.2 18.96 4.27 2.11 1.030 0.365 3.06 1.54 0.020 0.012 7.67 5.4 12.88 7.26 10.42 2.27 0.040 0.015 420 115.9 9 3.67 0.016 0.0100

15 -36,210.00

Previous

High Low

44,286,607.00 -245,000.00 -5,849,960.00 0.00 -59,404,830.00

-429,500.00 13,828,800.00 166,310.00 -110,250,465.00 62,420.00 -18,456,930.00

0.00 -2,840.00 -2,556,800.00 75,400.00 22,571,251.50 958,800.00 8,000.00 126,221,370.00

-75,740,136.50 4,809,140.00 4,000.00 172,000.00 769.00 -1,455,040.00 -200,000.00 -5,997,260.00 600,520.00 -4,799,940.00 49,000.00 -42,535.00 -73,915.00 197,146,740.00 8,708,020.00 -1,765,805.00 -3,559,395.00 -34,172.00 -34,225,740.00 212,570.00 76,400.00

-48,420.00

1,805,100.00

-21,658,760.00

291,579.00 -23,370.00 -65,592,002.00

-2,776,489.50

-61,100.00 -411,200.00

3,895.00 -2,804,340.00 -3,850,000.00

172,210.00 -327,360.00 70,602,304.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Keppel Holdings `A'

5.99

15.19

Liberty Telecom

3.00

-17.13

Da Vinci Capital

5.32

11.76

C. Azuc De Tarlac

170.00

-15.00

Citystate Savings

10.16

11.53

LMG Chemicals

1.85

-14.35

Boulevard Holdings

0.0580

9.43

Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2500

-13.79

Waterfront Phils.

0.360

5.88

MJCI Investments Inc.

2.95

-13.24

GMA Holdings Inc.

6.48

5.71

NOW Corp.

2.800

-11.95

Abra Mining

0.0045

4.65

Bright Kindle Resources

1.33

-10.14

Anchor Land Holdings Inc.

7.00

4.48

Imperial Res. `B'

180

-9.09

Discovery World

1.88

4.44

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0100

-9.09

Globe Telecom

2410

4.33

TKC Steel Corp.

1.71

-9.04

WEDNESDAY: JUNE 1, 2016

B3

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

Eton spending P30b in 5 years

By Jenniffer B. Austria

ETON Properties Philippines Inc. said Tuesday it will spend P30 billion over the next five years to build more office and commercial developments in a bid to boost recurring income.

Eton Properties chief finance officer Wilfredo Pineda said in an interview following the annual stockholders’ meeting it budgeted P7 billion for 2016 capital expenditures.

The company will start construction of a fifth business process outsourcing facility in Eton

Centris, Quezon City. It will also start developing three BPO buildings in Ortigas.

Eton Properties also plans to have 250,000 square meters of office and retail spaces over the next five years. The group currently has 150,000 square meters of leasable space.

Eton Properties said to capitalize on the tourism growth outside Metro Manila, it would pursue plans to expand its footprint beyond Luzon and add leisure and hospitality developments in its portfolio.

Eton Properties chief operating officer Josefino Lucas said the company was also studying the possibility of transforming a 35-hectare property in Mactan, Cebu into a hospitality and leisure development.

The company acquired the Cebu property from Philippine National Bank early this year.

“Planning for the property will

take a year to complete. Groundbreaking will mostly likely happen next year,” Lucasa said.

Plans are also underway to develop mixed-use developments in the peripheries of key business districts.

The company is set to launch Eton WestEnd Square in the Chino RocesMalugay area in Makati. It is a mixed-use development which includes a boutique mall, an office tower and a high-rise residential condominium.

Eton Properties will also make its first foray into the fast-growing tourism sector via The Mini Suites, a serviced residences proj-

ect at Eton Tower Makati.

Meanwhile, Lucas disclosed the company’s intention to re-list with the Philippine Stock Exchange within the next five years.

Lucas said the company would look into its revenue stream and its pipeline of projects before deciding on the best time to have its shares publicly listed.

Eton Properties filed for voluntary delisting in 2013 because of its inability to comply with the 10-percent minimum public ownership requirement of the PSE. Prior to delisting, Eton Properties’ public float stood at 5.65 percent.

Market retreats; Globe, SCB rise

Eton Properties Philippines Inc., the property development arm of tycoon Lucio Tan, breaks ground on a one-hectare mixed use project called Eton WestEnd Square at the corner of Malugay and Yakal streets in Makati City. Shown during the groundbreaking ceremony are (from left) Architect Sam Santos of Arknet, Aidea chief executive Abelardo Tolentino, Eton deputy chief operating officer Josefino Lucas, chief operating officer Joseph Chua, chief finance officer Wilfredo Pineda, group head Karlu Say, first vice president Marie Angeli Samala, Engineer Cecille Torres of BK Asia, officerin-charge for business development Julie May Abalos and vice president Carlos Carlos.

Tax effort declined to 13% of GDP in first quarter

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE government’s tax effort dropped 0.29 percentage point to 13 percent of the gross domestic product in the first quarter on lower oil revenues, the Finance Department said Tuesday.

Tax effort, which represents the ratio between the state’s collection and the whole economy, declined from 13.29 percent of GDP registered in the same period last year.

Finance undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said in an internal economic bulletin the tax effort declined due to the continued downtrend in oil revenues.

Beltran said if the effects of the oil and rice taxes were to be excluded, tax effort would likely rise by 0.02 percentage point.

Beltran said the pale revenue collection also pulled downward the revenue effort to 14.66 percent of GDP in the first quarter

from 15.49 percent of GDP a year ago.

“Revenue effort slid 0.83 percentage point. Excluding oil and rice taxes, revenue effort would have risen by 0.04 percentage points,” Beltran said.

Data from the Finance Department showed govern-

ment revenues in the first quarter grew 1.8 percent year-on-year to P479 billion and fell 17 percent short of the P573.7-billion target for the period. GDP grew faster at 6.9 percent in the JanuaryMarch period.

Beltran said expenditure effort inched up by 1.5 percentage point to 18.1 percent of GDP in the quarter from 16.6 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

“The expenditure effort rose by 1.5 percentage points to 18.1 percent, boosting GDP growth by that magnitude,” Beltran said.

“A large bulk of the expenditure growth went to capital outlays which rose 39.9 percent in real terms in the first quarter,” Beltran said.

Weak revenues and robust expenditures resulted in a budget deficit representing 3.44 percent of GDP in the first quarter, exceeding the target.

“NG deficit exceeded the

benchmark 2-percent of the economy,” Beltran said.

Government spending rose 17.3 percent to P591.5 billion in the first quarter from P504 billion in the same period in 2015.

“Expenditures grew by 17.3 percent, also exceeding GDP growth. The more robust expenditure growth with improved project implementation led to the rise in the NG deficit to P112.5 billion from the P33.5 billion in the previous year,” Beltran said.

The national government plans to raise the tax effort as a percentage of the economy to 16.6 percent this year.

Meanwhile, debt-to-GDP ratio improved to 44.3 percent as end-March from 44.7 percent recorded in the same period last year.

“Debt management measures led to the continuing drop in the debt-to-GDP ratio as of March 2016,” Beltran said.

STOCKS retreated Tuesday, as mounting signs the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in June or July diminished the allure of higher-yielding assets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 62 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 7,401.60 Tuesday.

Despite the loss, the bellwether was still up 6.5 percent since the start of the year.

The broader all-share index also lost 26 points, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 4,432.82, on value turnover of P32.8 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 118 to 76, while 44 issues were unchanged.

Six of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Globe Telecom Inc. which advanced 4.3 percent to P2,410. Property developer Megaworld Corp. rose 3.7 percent to P4.50, while Security Bank Corp. gained 3.6 percent to P203.

Meanwhile, shares in Shanghai surged, while Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rose in opening deals, but trade was muted after Wall Street and London equity markets were closed for public holidays.

The greenback was boosted by remarks from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen that the US could raise interest rates “in the coming months” if data from the world’s top economy continues to improve.

Traders saw this as a vote of confidence in the US economy, which has remained resilient even after the Fed raised rates for the first time in almost a decade in December.

Investors will now be watching out for key US job figures due this week for any clues on when the next rate rise might come.

“US policy normalization and its likely impact has remained a key theme for markets,” Mark Smith, a senior economist with ANZ Bank New Zealand, told Bloomberg News.

“The dilemma facing the datadependent Fed is that some US data does not look as strong as it once did, with manufacturing under the pump.” With AFP, Blooomberg

B4 Stricter ECC rules on mining firms up

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales THE Environment Department imposed a new regulation on the processing and issuance of environmental compliance certificate on new mining operations to ensure transparency and accountability in the sector.

The department said in a recent memorandum circular only the ECC application of a company whose name appears on the government-issued Mineral Production Sharing Agreement, or the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement, would be processed by the agency.

“No new application for an ECC shall be processed and issued in the name of any applicant unless the same applicant shall be the entity or corporation as reflected in an MPSA and/or FTAA,” said the circular Environment said the new requirement would “apply to all new applications for ECC for the operation of sand and gravel or industrial sand and gravel duly approved by the provincial mining regulatory board or the MGB [Mines and Geosciences Bureau] regional office, respectively.”

An ECC issued by the Environmental Management Bureau is a guarantee that a project will not harm the environment.

“There are instances that the MPSA holder enters into an operating contract with an entity so the one who holds the MPSA is not the one who applies for the ECC,” said EMB director Jonas Leones.

“The problem is we cannot hold them accountable for destruction so to avoid problems, whoever applies for the ECC should be the MPSA holder,” Leones added.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new regulation aimed to ensure the consistency in the implementation of the country’s Environmental Impact Statement System and Republic Act No. 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

“It should be established that the ECC applicant is the same as that designated in the MPSA or FTAA,” Paje said.

The EIS System aims to safeguard the country’s environment and natural resources against growing industrialization and urbanization.

Manila Water’s award. Manila Water Co. Inc. and units Boracay Island Water Co. and Manila Water Foundation receive the top

communication management award from the Philippine Quill Awards for its ‘Lingap Para sa Katutubo Program,’ which has provided access to clean, reliable and potable piped water to the indigenous Ati community of Boracay. Shown during the awarding rites are (from left) Manila Water communication planning and tactical development managers Dittie Galang and Leah Flor, IABC Philippines vice president Joe Zaldarriaga, Metrobank Foundation Inc. president Ancieto Sobrepeña, Boracay Water general manager Joseph Michael Santos, Manila Water corporate operations group director GeodinoCarpio, Manila Water communication planning and tactical development manager Faye Alexis Marcelino, Boracay Water business operations head Acs Aldaba, Manila Water Foundation program manager Xavier Cruz and Manila Water regulatory affairs head Christopher Ilagan.

Meralco sales rose 12% in four months

By Alena Mae S. Flores

SALES volume of Manila Electric Co. rose 12 percent in the first four months this year from a year ago on higher temperatures during the dry months.

“The first four months are very strong, we’re going to end first four months 12.1 percent [up] year to date. But we expect the next few months to be a bit lower,” Meralco senior vice president and head of customer retail services and corporate communications Al Panlilio told reporters following the stockholders’ meeting.

He said the onset of the rainy season would impact on the company’s sales but other factors could still provide positive influence on the sales volume.

“I think customer growth also continues to be strong, at

3.9 percent, so there might be an impact on sales because of temperature, but it’s too early to say what it will end up by yearend,” Panlilio said.

He said the Philippine economy was expected to expand further due to a strong anticipated growth in the commercial and industrial sectors.

“For commercial, there are new hotels coming up, new cement plant of Eagle Cement that has been put into stream.

There are new businesses coming up. Tiger Resorts is coming in the last quarter,” Panlilio said.

“There are a lot of new customers coming in, big and small, that might still push growth. Temperature will definitely impact, especially in the residential point of view,” he said.

Meralco president and chief executive Oscar Lopez said the power retail company recorded good sales in the first four months, although this could change due to the entry of the cooler months.

“We would expect we will not see the same growth in terms of peak demand, in terms of energy sales as we’ve seen in the first four months. It’s too early to say how much the impact of weather would be,” he said.

He noted other drivers of the company’s financial position, such as the country’s “very good economic conditions, positive consumer and business confidence, low inflation, low interest rates and businesses have more

money in pockets.”

Meralco posted a consolidated reported net income of P4.54 billion in the first quarter, up 3 percent from P4.42 billion yearon-year.

Meralco’s core net income also rose 4 percent during the period to P4.6 billion from P4.41 billion in 2015.

Reported net income is adjusted to exclude the effect of foreign exchange gains or losses, markto-market adjustments and other one-time, exceptional transactions.

“The sustained upward momentum of the Philippine economy, coupled with very warm temperatures throughout the quarter contributed to driving electricity usage to higher trajectory providing growth opportunities for electricity demand across all industry sectors,” Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said earlier.

San Miguel-PLDT-Globe deal covered by anti-trust regulation

By Othel V. Campos THE Philippine Competition Commission will take time to decide if the recent telecommunications deal among Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom Inc. and San Miguel Corp. is anti-competitive pending the release of the implementing rules and regulations.

Commission chairman Arsenio Balisacan told reporters during the

Management Association of the Philippines’ general membership meeting the body would assess the transaction after formal notification from the concerned parties.

“The transaction is deemed approved if this is completed, [or] executed before the implementing rules and regulations becomes effective. Pending the release of the IRR and as we are yet to see the transaction, it is difficult to say anything, we have to wait for more

information,” he said at the sidelines of the meeting.

The IRR, which is undergoing revisions, is expected to be released and promulgated by the commission this month;.

The body declined to comment on the telecommunications deal, which could be the first case after the creation of the commission.

Parties to a merger or acquisition agreement with a value of more than P1 billion, according

to a directive approved in February, should notify the commission of the details of the transaction, including the key terms and the timing of the execution or implementation of the deal.

Agreements consummated without notifying the commission may nullify the transaction and penalize the parties equivalent to 1 percent and 5 percent of the total value of the transaction.

PLDT, Globe and San Miguel

as of press time has not notified the commission.

The companies have 30 days to notify the commission and have the transaction approved.

The telecommunications deal enabled PDLT and Globe to jointly acquire 100-percent equity interest in San Miguel’s Vega Telecom Inc. for P52.08 billion and the assumption of P17.02 billion of liabilities as well as other telecommunications assets.

W E D N E S D AY : J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

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

B5

LRT 1 extension delayed again

By Darwin G. Amojelar

No more flip-flops?

MANAGEMENT Association of the Philippines president Perry Pe reflected the general sentiment of businessmen now that it has become apparent that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is the next president of the Philippines: “Everybody is welcoming him and the business community is expecting much from our new president especially because he is in favor of lifting the economic provisions, the restrictions in our Constitution, so that’s very welcome. And he also said he would fight criminality and leave business to businessmen. That’s fantastic.”

For sure, there are a lot of positive vibes going around at the thought that Malacañang will soon be vacated by its current occupant, and there are high hopes that the incoming government will put an end to flip-flopping, erratic business policies and will honor contracts with private partners that have invested billions of pesos, if not dollars, in big-ticket projects.

According to experts, the country has failed to cash in its status as one of the region’s best-performing economies mainly because of Malacañang’s failure to truly sell it as a reliable investment destination.

No wonder investors would rather pour their money into our Southeast Asian neighbors, including Vietnam, because of so many turn-offs, among them the tendency of this government to whimsically renege on agreements and change rules midstream, plus poor public infrastructure. And did we mention the overly protective provisions of the 1987 Constitution?

Many are happy that UP economics professor Benjamin Diokno is going to be the next Budget Secretary. Diokno had correctly said that country could attract more foreign direct investments by addressing restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution and our laws, and enhancing competitiveness of the economy. According to the Estradaera budget secretary generating FDIs is crucial because, unlike footloose capital or “hot” money, direct investments “create decent jobs and introduce into the country modern technologies which, in turn, would improve the competitiveness of the economy.”

From 2011-2015, we only managed to attract $20.4-billion FDIs— peanuts compared to Singapore’s $305.6 billion, Indonesia’s $107.6 billion, Malaysia’s $56.6 billion and Thailand’s $42 billion.

As for the much ballyhooed Public-Private Partnership program of BS Aquino, only 12 projects out of the 50 or so in the pipeline have been started in the six years that this government has been in power, no thanks to protracted delays in the review processes and the failure of government to meet contract commitments. Imagine, they didn’t have the foresight to fix right-of-way issues first for road infrastructure projects?

But a more sore point is this outgoing government’s failure to honor contractual obligations, for instance with water delivery providers and toll road operators because it is more populist to do so. This has prompted several concessionaires/contractors to file cases before arbitration tribunals abroad to seek compensation for losses or foregone revenues because of inaction by the government, which has also refused to comply with arbitral decisions—sending wrong signals to foreign and local investors who think it’s no fun doing business in the Philippines because the government does not respect the sanctity of contracts or the rule of law.

MVP Group honcho Manny Pangilinan, however, has sent a conciliatory message to the president-elect, saying the government and private sector can start over again with a clean slate and put an end to the arbitration cases. Pangilinan’s Maynilad Water Services Inc. filed an arbitration case in October 2013 before the ICC court in Singapore for a rate hike. This was granted by the ICC in a December 2014 decision—which the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System continues to ignore. In March 2015, Maynilad filed a second arbitration case seeking compensation from the government for P3.44 billion in foregone revenues—but this figure has likely risen to P7 billion.

Manila North Tollways Corp. also filed an arbitration case last April before the UN Commission on International Trade Law in Geneva to recover about P3 billion in foregone revenues, arising from the Toll Regulatory Board’s failure to grant MNTC’s proposed toll fee adjustments at the North Luzon Expressway in 2012 and 2013, as stipulated in the operation and maintenance agreement.

Much later, the Cavite Infrastructure Corp. also filed an arbitration case in New York to recover P877 million in foregone revenues, again because of TRB’s similar inaction on the contract-mandated ratehike petitions since 2011. If these arbitration cases are not resolved, the Duterte government stands to inherit an estimated P12 billion in compensation claims, an official of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp. pointed out.

Here’s hoping the upbeat sentiment and the renewed hope and confidence felt by businessmen and investors is not misplaced, one of our buddies expressed.

••• For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ happyhourmanilastandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you.

Cheers!

LIGHT Rail Manila Consortium said it expects to start the construction of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 Cavite extension project by September from the original target of June because of the delay in the delivery of right-of-way.

“This year we want to start, actually our target was moved from June to September. We are also mindful that that there is a new government taking over. So, we want just to make sure that they [RoW] are in place when we start construction,” LRMC president and chief executive Jesus Francisco told reporters.

“That’s the main obstacle, but there are also some utilities that

have to be moved out of the way,” he added.

LRMC of Ayala Corp. and MPIC won the bidding for the 11.7-kilometer Cavite extension project and took over the operation of LRT Line 1 on Sept.12, 2015.

Franciso said based on the extensive safety audit conducted prior to the takeover, there were only 77 light rail vehicles in safe

working order and the need to limit track speed to 40 kilometres per hour. The consortium also noted the tracks were in poor condition, the signaling system was malfunctioning and the conditions of the stations were poor.

“The inherent nature of these difficulties was expected but the system had deteriorated materially from the bidding stage and did not meet the baseline standards set in the concession agreement,” he said.

LRMC as a result was seeking P1.9 billion in compensation claims for additional capital expenditure for the system.

The company earlier secured P24 billion in financing for the construction of the LRT Line 1 Cavie extension project.

Organic products. Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (second from right), Rustan’s

Store Specialists Inc. group president Anton Huang (left) and wife Nina Huang lead the recent Philippine Harvest Agri-Food Fair at the Central Square at 5th Avenue corner 30th St. in BGC Taguig. Philippine Harvest, sponsored

by Department of Agriculture in collaboration with SSI, served as a free venue for Filipino farmers to showcase their organically grown and artisanal products.

Sale of telco units a hard decision—Ang

By Jenniffer B. Austria SAN Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang on Tuesday said the company’s decision to sell telecommunication assets to the duopoly of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc. was a hard decision for the conglomerate.

“I was also disappointed. It was a very hard decision for the company and when we discussed this with the management of telco, everybody was very, very sad,” Ang said in an interview at the sidelines of the annual stockholders’ meeting of San Miguel Brewery Inc. “The reason we decided to go that was is because we think it will be a long drag battle, court cases etc., and it will be a disservice to our people and consumers by holding on to that frequency and wait for foreign technical partners to come in, which most of them are so scared to come in because of the legal challenges that are in place” Ang added.

PLDT and Globe earlier urged the National Telecommunication Commission to reallocate the 700-megahertz frequency band assigned to San Miguel.

Ang said San Miguel would focus on expanding its core businesses, namely tollways, oil refinery, petrochemicals, food and power generation.

Ang, however, said the company did not make money from the divestment.

“It was just cost recovery, we hardly made anything from our divestment in the telecommunications business,” Ang said.

He said talks between San Miguel, PLDT and Globe started two months ago after negotiations with San Miguel and Australia’s Telstra collapsed.

WEDNESDAY: JUNE 1, 2016

B6

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

Megaworld adding two towers in Davao

Credit rose 15% in March —BSP

By Jenniffer B. Austria

By Julito G. Rada

PROPERTY developer Megaworld Corp. said Tuesday it will build two new office towers in the 11-hectare Davao Park District in Lanang, Davao City amid rising demand for office space in the area over the next three years.

Megaworld said in a statement the two office towers, called ‘One Republic Plaza’ and ‘Emperador House’, would provide 30,000 square meters of office space.

This will bring the group’s total office inventory in Davao Park District to 50,000 square meters.

Megaworld is currently building the P1.5-billion, 10- story Davao Finance Center offering 20,000 square meters of leasable

space.

“This is just the start of our expansion of office offerings. Being one of the top BPO destinations in the country, we see an upward tick in the demand for office spaces in Davao City in the next three years. Megaworld is committed to respond to this demand so companies will not think twice of locating here,” Megaworld senior vice president Jericho Go said.

“We will certainly bring firsttime, new locators to Davao City. That’s the same thing that we are doing to other cities like Iloilo and Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu. There are so many skilled talents for the BPO sector here, and we are sure about Davao City being a ‘hot’ pick for location,” Go said.

Aside from the expansion of its office portfolio, Megaworld is also building a retail row and shophouses around the township. It also plans to put up a hospital and a school in Davao District Park.

Three towers of the residential condominium cluster, One Lakeshore Drive, are almost sold out while two towers are scheduled for launching by subsidiary Suntrust Properties Inc. within the

year.

“Megaworld’s commitment to nation building and spreading the economic prosperity to the provinces remains. In the next five years, we hope to see more and more people coming home to the provinces because they find more opportunities here. This way, we also help decongest Metro Manila,” Go said.

Davao Park District is Megaworld’s first township development in Mindanao.

Davao Park District, located in an 11.2‐hectare property along S.P. Dakudao Loop in Lanang, is envisioned to be Davao City’s central business district and a major center for information technology and business process outsourcing in Mindanao.

GOCC Day. Social Housing Finance Corp. president Ma. Ana Oliveros (right) joins the annual GOCC Day at the Malacañang Palace and remits dividends worth P68.66 million to President Benigno Aquino III. The amount is 15-percent higher than last year’s remittance amounting to P54.72 million.

Dooc elected head of Asian group of insurance regulators

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE Philippines will head the newly-created Mutual Exchange Forum on Inclusive Insurance or Mefin Network in Asia which aims to promote inclusive insurance in the region.

Insurance commissioner Emmanuel Dooc was elected as the first chairman of the Mefin Network which is composed of insurance regulators and private sectors from six Asian countries. The member-countries are the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Pakistan and Nepal.

Dooc said the network aimed to share views and pick out specific lessons relevant for the development of inclusive insurance in the country context.

He said the Philippines surpassed its insurance penetration rate target for 2016 as early as the third quarter of 2015, with the help of

microinsurance.

“Through our initiatives in fostering inclusive insurance markets, we have again emerged as a model for microinsurance promotion in Asia with 29.03 million Filipinos covered with microinsurance as of the third quarter of 2015, surpassing our own commitment to cover 27 million Filipinos by 2016,” Dooc said.

Data from IC showed that as of the third quarter of 2015, the microinsurance penetration rate hit 28.52 percent. This means that 28.52 percent or 29.03 million individuals of the 101.80 population were covered by insurance.

“As the Philippines continues to take pride for being at the forefront of promoting microinsurance as an effective vehicle for financial inclusion and as a benchmark for other Asian countries in terms of microinsurance market development, we are fueled to keeping our

markets strong, stable and sustainable,” Dooc said.

He also revealed the new microinsurance frameworks for agriculture, health and preneed.

Adopted in October 2015, the Micro-Agri Framework formally introduced a parametricbased or index-based microinsurance where benefits shall be facilitated by microinsurance providers when predefined parameters or indices are breached.

The framework aims to provide the lowincome sector access to pre-need products, including memorial, education and pension plans.

“The Philippines remains aggressive in its campaign for inclusive economic growth as greater efforts and genuine programs should be delivered to those who have not yet risen from poverty,” Dooc said.

MONEY supply increased 12.7 percent in April from a year ago, on sustained demand for credit, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday.

Data from Bangko Sentral showed money supply or domestic liquidity reached P8.6 trillion as of end-April.

Domestic claims grew 18.4 percent as credits to the private sector increased at a faster pace, Bangko Sentral said.

“The sustained expansion of M3 during the month indicates that money supply remains sufficient to support economic growth,” Bangko Sentral said.

Net foreign assets in peso terms grew 8 percent in April.

Bangko Sentral’s net foreign assets position continued to expand on the back of robust foreign exchange inflows which were mainly overseas Filipinos remittances and business process outsourcing receipts.

The net foreign assets of banks decreased, as banks’ foreign assets expanded at a slower pace relative to that of foreign liabilities.

Meanwhile, outstanding loans, net of reverse repurchase placements with BSP, expanded 15.6 percent in April, faster than the 14.8-percent growth in March.

Loans for production activities, representing more than 80 percent of banks’ aggregate loan portfolio, increased 15.6 percent in April, up from 15 percent in March.

The expansion in production loans was driven primarily by increased lending to real estate activities, 20.5 percent; electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, 30.6 percent; wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, 15.5 percent; financial and insurance activities, 18.5 percent; and information and communication, 31.2 percent.

Bank lending to other sectors also expanded during the month, except for professional, scientific and technical activities (-0.5 percent); water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities (-1.3 percent); and public administration and defense, compulsory social security (-7.3 percent).

Loans for household consumption expanded 16.8 percent in April, faster than the 15.9-percent rise in March due to higher motor vehicle loans and sustained growth in credit card loans and salary-based general purpose loans.

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

Seoul: North’s launching failed SEOUL—North Korea apparently failed with an attempted missile launch Tuesday, the latest in a series of setbacks for a ballistic weapons program that aspires to threaten the US mainland.

South Korea’s defense ministry detected the dawn launch effort, which Japan condemned as an unacceptable and “provocative” act.

The ministry declined to speculate on the missile type, but military sources cited by local media said it was a powerful, medium-range “Musudan” that has already undergone three failed launches this year.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the

sea off its east coast.

Tuesday’s effort came with the tensions still running high on the divided Korean peninsula following the North’s fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch a month later.

“We believe that it was a failure,” said Jeon Ha-Gyu, spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff “As to why and how it failed, we are in the process of analyzing that,” Jeon told a press briefing.

“We are maintaining a strong defense posture with potential further provocations by the North in mind,” he added.

In April the North failed three times to test-fire a Musudan, which has an estimated range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers.

The lower range covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.

“North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches are serious, provocative acts against the international community, including Japan,” Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a regular press briefing.

“We absolutely cannot accept

this,” Kishida said.

First unveiled as an indigenous missile at a military parade in Pyongyang in October 2010, the Musudan has never been successfully flight-tested.

The three failures in April were seen as an embarrassment for the Pyongyang leadership, coming ahead of a rare ruling party congress in May that was meant to celebrate the country’s achievements.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted official sources as saying Tuesday’s missile may have exploded on its mobile launcher.

“The explosion is presumed to have inflicted serious injuries on personnel in the immediate vicinity,” Yonhap said.

During the party congress, AUCTION SALE

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Meeting. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo shakes hands with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during their meeting on May 31, 2016, in Warsaw. In a few weeks Poland will hosts a Nato summit. AFP

‘Catastrophe unfolding in Fallujah’ BAGHDAD—The siege of the jihadist-held Iraqi city of Fallujah and the 50,000 civilians believed trapped inside it is a catastrophe in the making, the Norwegian Refugee Council warned on Tuesday.

Its secretary general Jan Egeland renewed a call for safe corridors to be opened to prevent massive civilian loss of life.

“A human catastrophe is unfolding in Fallujah. Families are caught in the crossfire with no safe way out,” he said in a statement.

“For nine days we have heard of only one single family managing to escape from inside the town. Warring parties must guarantee the civilians’ safe exit now before it’s too late and more lives are lost,” he

said.

Iraqi forces launched an operation on May 22-23 to retake the Islamic State group bastion, which lies only 50 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Since then, only one of the more than 550 families who have managed to flee IS rule in the area were from the center of Fallujah.

Besieged by pro-government forces numbering in the tens of thousands, the jihadists are preparing for a bloody last stand and are suspected of using civilians as human shields to slow the government advance.

NRC runs camps in Amriyat al-Fallujah, a governmentcontrolled town south of Fallujah, where fleeing civilians are given shelter and as-

sistance.

With elite Iraqi forces now attempting to push towards the city center, the fighting is expected to intensify.

The aid effort across Iraq and Syria is massively underfunded but Egeland appealed for emergency funding to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable people from Fallujah.

“There isn’t enough safe drinking water and the situation will quickly worsen with summer around the corner, and temperatures likely to hit over 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit),” he said.

“The international community must urgently provide funding so that we can help the most vulnerable people.”

AFP

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North Korean leader Kim JongUn personally extended an offer of military dialogue with the South aimed at easing tensions.

The proposal was repeated several times by the North’s military, but Seoul dismissed all the overtures as insincere “posturing” given Kim’s vow at the same congress to push ahead with the country’s nuclear weapons program.

Following Tuesday’s attempted missile test, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said Pyongyang was willfully defying the warnings of the international community.

“North Korea will face even stronger sanctions and isolation if it doesn’t end its provocations,” spokesman Cho June-Hyuck told reporters. AFP

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B8 Two more back plain packets for cigarettes OSLO—New Zealand and Norway became the latest countries Tuesday to announce they will remove branding from cigarette packets, in a move hailed by the WHO as an effective way to cut smoking rates.

The announcements, which coincide with World No Tobacco Day, mean cigarettes must be sold in drab boxes plastered with health warnings and gruesome pictures of smoking-related diseases.

“Plans by New Zealand and Norway to introduce plain packaging to reduce demand for tobacco send a powerful signal that this initiative works,” Oleg Chestnov, the World Health Organization Assistant DirectorGeneral for noncommunicable diseases, told AFP in an email.

Plain packaging, which removes what is seen as a powerful tool used to get young people hooked on tobacco, “will save lives,” he insisted.

According to WHO, one person dies from tobacco-caused disease every six seconds, amounting to nearly six million people each year—a number expected to rise to more than eight million by 2030.

In New Zealand, associate Health Minister Sam LotuIiga pointed out that “12 New Zealanders die prematurely every day from smoking-related illnesses.

“Each of these deaths is preventable,” he stressed.

In a new report, the WHO said data from Australia, the first country to introduce the socalled plain packaging four years ago, showed the measure had a clear impact on the number of habitual smokers in the country.

With similar laws taking effect earlier this month in Britain and France, and a range of other countries discussing following suit, WHO voiced hope the push to remove logos and distinctive colors from cigarette packs is “going global”, despite strong opposition from the tobacco industry.

“Plain packaging reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products,” WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement.

Imposing neutral cigarette packs, she said, “kills the glamor, which is appropriate for a product that kills people.” AFOP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD Users are ‘guinea pigs’ for new wave of drugs PARIS—Young drug users risk ending up as “human guinea pigs” for a new wave of sometimes highly-toxic recreational drugs, the EU’s drug monitoring body warned in a report released Tuesday.

Europe faces a growing drugs problem fed by new, more powerful products, different production techniques and online sales, said the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addiction.

The agency said it had identified more than 560 new psychoactive substances, most of them synthetic versions of cannabis or of stimulants such as amphetamines or cocaine.

“Young consumers may unwittingly be acting as human guinea pigs for substances for which the potential health risks are largely unknown,” said the report.

One synthetic stimulant had been linked to nearly 200 serious

cases of intoxication and more than 100 deaths since 2011.

Some synthetic cannabinoids, sold as legal alternatives to cannabis, had proved highly toxic, with one such drug linked to 13 deaths and 23 non-fatal overdoses across Europe since 2014.

The report also noted a revival in the use of MDMA, better known as ecstasy.

Over the last year, 2.1 million young adults aged between 15 and 24—1.7 percent of that age group— had reported using ecstasy, it said.

“There are also signs that MDMA is no longer a niche or sub-cultural drug used in dance clubs, but is now being used by a wider range of

young people in more mainstream nightlife settings, such as bars and parties,” it added.

New production lines and online sales were feeding the ecstasy boom. Police raids in recent years have shut down major factories in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The agency also reported 6,800 deaths by overdose in 2014, mainly due to heroin or other opioids.

Although that figure was only slightly up on the previous year, it included sharp rises in countries including Britain, Ireland, Lithuania and Sweden.

The reason for the rise in overdoses was unclear, but the increased availability of heroin, high purity and ageing users might have contributed, the report said.

An estimated 1.2 million people were treated for illicit drug use in the European Union in 2014—1.5 million including Norway and Turkey.

An analysis of drugs seizures, surveys and wastewater in major cities indicated that cocaine use was higher in western and southern European countries, reflecting ports of entries and trafficking routes.

Amphetamine use was more prominent in northern and eastern Europe, the report added.

While levels of drug injection were falling, the increased injection of stimulants, known as “slamming”, was worrying—particularly among homosexual men, it said.

“These so-called ‘slamming’ practices are associated with high levels of sexual risk-taking behaviors, pointing to the need for increased cooperation and a joinedup response from drug treatment and sexual health services,” said the report.

Cannabis remained the main drug of choice, with 16.6 million young Europeans (aged 15 to 34) using it in the last 12 months. AFP

Sunset scene. In this photograph taken on May 30, 2016, an Afghan motorcyclist rides as the sun sets on the outskirts of Herat. AFP

Amnesty: Number of Afghans fleeing war doubled to 1.2m KABUL—The number of people internally displaced by war in Afghanistan has doubled since 2012 to 1.2 million, Amnesty International said Tuesday, citing government neglect and a lack of international attention.

In its report entitled “My children will die this winter: Afghanistan’s broken promise to the displaced”, the rights group warned that a lack of basic services had pushed

many of those uprooted from their homes to the brink of survival.

“While the world’s attention seems to have moved on from Afghanistan, we risk forgetting the plight of those left behind by the conflict,” Champa Patel, Amnesty’s South Asia director, said in a statement.

“Even after fleeing their homes to seek safety, increasing numbers of Afghans are languishing in ap-

palling conditions in their own country, and fighting for their survival with no end in sight.”

Civilians are increasingly caught in the cross-hairs of Afghanistan’s worsening conflict as the Taliban step up their annual spring offensive, launched last month against the Western-backed Kabul government.

As of April 2016 a “staggering” 1.2 million people had been displaced internally, the report said. In

2012 the number stood at almost 500,000.

Amnesty reported deplorable conditions in Afghan camps for the internally displaced people, with a lack of food, water and health care.

“Even an animal would not live in this hut, but we have to,” the group quoted Mastan, a 50-yearold woman living in a camp in Herat, as saying.

“I would prefer to be in prison

rather than in this place: at least in prison I would not have to worry about food and shelter.”

Farzana, another woman in a camp in Kabul, said: “When you can’t put food on the table for your children, it is worse than being hit with a gun.”

Amnesty implored the international community and the Afghan government to do more to address the desperate situation. AFP

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TATuM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

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

BERNADETTE LuNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

H oME & L I v ING

LIFE The 20-hectare waterfront development is located along the Mactan Channel in Mandaue City

MAnDAnI BAy OpEnS WORlD-ClASS ShOW GAllERy

T

First township project to stand in 20-hectare property in Mandaue city

aft Property Venture Development Corp., the real estate arm of the Metro Gaisano Group, together with international property investment, management and development group Hongkong Land will transform Cebu into a global waterfront destination with the opening of the 1,500-square-meter show gallery for Mandani Bay, the multi-billion peso 20-hectare waterfront township property that will rise in Mandaue City.

The Mandani Bay Show Gallery located at F.E. Zuellig Avenue marks the first completed structure in the entire waterfront township. The developer’s first residential property, Mandani Bay Suites, is slated to finish by 2020 and the fullscale exhibition area is already open for interested buyers. The gallery showcases an experiential display of the scale models of the entire waterfront property as well as the

showroom for the studios and units that are available for buyers.

The projected completion for the whole township project is in 15 years in anticipation that all factors of the development will go as planned. Eight phases will be implemented towards completion and 80 percent of the entire property will be for residential use. A total of 25 towers are expected to rise around it, with expansive podium blocks interconnected by footbridges that will connect residents to all the amenities within the property as well as the retail and activity spaces.

During the launch of the Show Gallery last May 19, the Gaisano family celebrated with the partner developers and all the people involved in the project together with Cebuanos who gathered at the exclusive event to witness the festivity auguring the rise of Mandani Bay. “We strongly feel that the residential demand in Cebu will remain robust,”

Mandani Bay project director Gilber Ang

Hongkong Land chief representative for the Philippines Finn Carew and Taft Properties chief operating officer Christopher Narciso

says Taft Properties chief operating officer Christopher Narciso. According to Narciso, the current developments and lifestyle advancements in Cebu and the development of the property is promising for the Cebuanos and the local economy.

“In the last couple of years, Cebu has been able to achieve higher GDP growth than the national average,” he explains.

“Taft Properties, being the local developer here in the last five years, has experienced very strong demand in terms of residential development.” He adds that given the fundamentals of the Cebu economics, the country, the potential tourism boom

Manadani Bay Suites scale model can be seen in the newly opene Show Gallery

The entire property is expected to finish within 15 years

Artist's rendition of Mandani Bay Suites

and all the infrastructure that’s being put up in Cebu province including the rise of Mandani Bay show a lot of promise.

The joint development venture of Hongkong Land with Taft Properties is by far the biggest property project of the international firm in the Philippines. In Manila, the developer currently has an existing partnership with Ayala Land Inc. for the development of Roxas Land Corp., soon to rise at the former location of Mandarin Hotel in Makati.

For more information about the property, visit www.mandanibay.com.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

LEt’S GEt REAL (DEALING WIth thE RAvE PARtY tRAGEDY) Liv.e SimpLy

By LIv esteBan

W

hen I received the news via a Viber message from a dear friend and co-mother last week, I tried to pretend I hadn’t read it. I wanted to believe it was one of those many hoaxes that are passed around, and desperately searched the net for proof to proclaim the news as false.

To paraphrase a saying about wishes: Be careful what you look for, because you just might find it. And find it, I did. In a search that took just 0.3 seconds.

The news was real. And devastating.

A rave party attended by 14,000, mostly youths and yuppies. Five deaths – not even 24 hours after. Horrifying details emerged in the news, passed along feverishly on social media: Pathologist findings of exploded organs and blackened hearts, positive testing on drug abuse in minors as young as 12-15. Suddenly we found ourselves face to face with a terrible monster: Rampant use of recreational and party drugs.

Behind the scenes on private phones, Viber thread discussions grew in direct proportion. On my phone, I had numerous Viber threads discussing the disturbing event, and if all the conversations on those threads were mixed and shaken together, they’d come out as one unified compound, its elemental properties a seamless blend of shock, disbelief, calls for prayer, terrible sadness… and a very real and present parental fear.

Suddenly we parents were sitting up, thrown out of the inertia of our everyday routines. In the midst of trying to answer the hows and whys, we struggled to deal with our broken hearts, mothers grieving over other mothers’ losses and then inevitably wondering, “Could that have been my child?” Because, much as we’d like to think it’s something that happens to others but not ours, let’s get real here: It could very well have been our own child. And that’s where the greatest fear stems from.

We go back in history as we try to understand. Young once ourselves, we know that every teenager goes through a stage of experimenting with the forbidden.

Back in high school, a group of my friends and I got into deep trouble after we took a puff from a cigarette. A cigarette! But somewhere along the way, the Forbidden morphed from Naughty Small Stuff to Dangerous Don’t-Go-There Evil. Today, some kids start smoking earlier than we did. By the time they reach our age back then, many of them have smoked not just cigs but weed. Back then, we knew the few kids who were doing drugs, and we felt sorry for them as they hid their clandestine activities. We tried to help them get help. Today, these kids don’t hide their activities from each other; these things have become commonplace. Now Coke and Shabs and Ecstasy are known to our kids, and they’re affordable and available in ways that weren’t to us. They may not use it, but they know of it. That’s the world our kids live in now.

Our kids today are exposed to drugs, whether we like it or not. There is rampant drug use among their peers. The parties they go to have people already high, in the process of getting high, or about to get high. They KNOW about this. They see it around them. This is not a shocking thing for them. Our kids and their friends know

our kids are when they’re zero to seven. But it doesn’t stop there. The teenage years are highly important years for us to be visible, present, and available, precisely because our kids need us to help them navigate the treacherous tides of teenage angst and insecurity, even if they push us away.

So how exactly do we achieve that?

What can we do to ensure that our kids not only survive this tempestuous stage of their life but come out of it victorious and unscathed?

1. Let’s teach our kids to be responsible.

Let them know the world does not revolve around them. Giving them chores to do in the house, even when you have household help, lets them know that they have something valuable that they must contribute for the good of the family.

We need to be present and available if we want to guide our kids along the right paths

things that they may or may not share with us. The “prudest” girl may not be as prude as you think. Double lives exist.

Let’s wake up and smell reality. It hurts terribly to take a hard look at the desolation that night left in its wake. But we parents need to move beyond the shocked “Diyos ko, ang kabataan ngayon!” stance and meet our children on a stable, nonjudgmental but firm and moral ground if we want to help them maneuver that path to adult maturity without falling prey to the many dangers and temptations dancing in front of them.

They’re not going to open up to us if we act scandalized. They need to know that they can tell us their stories about their parties and their friends, and they need to know that we will listen to them without freaking out.

Only when we can discuss reality with our kids in a calm, straightforward manner will we be able to help them discard the curiosity that leads to dangerous experimentation.

Opening the channels of communication lets them know that they can run to us anytime for advice and we will be there to answer their questions, to listen, and to guide them. Without judgment.

And then somewhere in between their sharing their lives with us, we will find a way to gently but very firmly impress on them what is right and what is wrong. What is acceptable and what is definitely not.

We need to educate our kids not only on the medically-proven dangers of dabbling with drugs, but even more, we need to form their values. Yes, our kids need to

know that drugs burn brain cells and alter personality, that they change their appearance from beautiful to horrific, that drugs will kill them and the people they love. But it’s just as important for them to know that drug abuse really is doing harm to their own body, and whatever the reason for it – to escape, to fit in, to have pleasure, to relieve stress, whatever – does not change the fact that it goes against the Fifth Commandment. Thou shalt not kill – not others, not yourself, not your body, not others’ bodies. Harsh? Maybe. But they need to know this is the truth.

We need to be able to tell them: Honey, this is the reality – someone will probably offer you drugs at one point or another. And this is also reality – using drugs is evil. It is a big lie: It might make you feel good for a minute but it will make you feel like crap for the rest of your life… or until you get your next fix. It’s a tie that presents itself like a merry maypole ribbon but then wrings itself around your neck till it becomes your noose.

Just say no. Run fast and far away. Because you only live once, really, so make sure you live a good, long, healthy, wonderful once.

But we won’t be able to just tell them that, because our children’s ears at this stage in their life have a natural allergy to stern lectures that fly at them out of the blue. If we want to withdraw a positive, well-adjusted, fortified adult, we need to deposit the proper values and formation early and consistently. Many of us think the most important years for us to form

2. Let’s teach our kids to be accountable.

Train them to always think of the consequences before they do anything. Let them know that there is always a choice, and that choice is one they and only they can make. They can think of excuses and they might try to pin the blame on other things, but let’s not let them get away with it. Let’s teach them to own their actions.

They have the power of choice; let’s teach them to use it properly.

3. Let’s teach our children good values and principles. Let’s not leave it up to the school and religion classes to do that. We are our children’s first and primary teachers, and we have the duty to bring them up to be the best people they can be. That vocation and call to duty does not end when they don their uniforms, and neither can we pass the baton to the school. Our kids’ schools are our supportive partners but we hold the reins, and it is we who will be answerable to God for how our children turn out. And that immense responsibility we have is an enormous gift and honor bestowed on us by a Loving Father who trusts us enough to put His precious children in our care.

4. Let’s not overprotect them. Let’s not wrap them in a plastic bubble. Let’s not shield them from the realities of life, and let’s not turn them into soft marshmallows. When they’re of proper age, let’s not shield them from the ugly realities of drug use. Let’s tell them the horrifying stories. Let’s show them photos of people who have deteriorated into skeletal Continued on C4

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

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@LIFEatStandard

ONLINE VLOggEr MOMMY StAr IS NEWESt EDEN chEESE ENDOrSEr

t’s always a struggle for moms to make dishes that their kids will like, so they have to be a little bit more creative to stimulate the kids’ appetite. Eden cheese has risen to the challenge by introducing vlogger Mommy Star as its new ambassador for the campaign “This Is How You Nanay.” Aiming to help moms prepare delicious and appetizing food, Mommy Star shares her own recipes that are not only easy-to-make but are also healthy and tasty, making every nanay moment fun and exciting.

“There’s no such thing as too much cheese!” says Mommy Star who always tries to “spice things up” and creates simple melt-in-your-mouth goodness through Eden cheese. Known for her bubbly and fun approach to all things related to cooking, the YouTube mom has a following from many mothers for her cooking recipes as well as her know-how in making the delicious extra delicious.

During the launch, Mommy Star prepared the simple but scrumptious fried tilapia made extraordinary with Eden cheese. This very simple dish is sure to be a hit among kids as the usual fried fish gets a new twist with Eden cheese.

Mommy Star says that simple dishes need not be costly, and that moms

Mommy Star’s fried tilapia made extraordinary with Eden cheese

should spice things up and present food in a way that would get kids excited. She observed that kids nowadays tend to gravitate more to junk food than home cooked healthy meals, and it’s up to mom to kick it up a notch and create solutions for kitchen blues.

Eden cheese is not only tasty, it is also packed with nutrients like Vitamin A and B2 as well as calcium that aids in answering kids’ dietary needs. Moms can prepare innovative dishes at home with

Mommy Star, the newest Eden nanay smiling for the camera

the help of Eden and can even add it as a regular snack for school.

According to assistant brand manager for Eden Cheese Philippines Nikki Paras, the "This Is How You Nanay" campaign aims to honor moms who cook for their family. “We want to finally give them the spotlight that they really deserve and we want to teach them and help them transform their everyday cooking into something extraordinary for their family,” Paras explains.

The brand chanced upon Mommy Star on Facebook and she was chosen because she embodies a true Eden mom. “We saw how her vlogs and recipe posts created so much conversation within the mommy community,” Paras says.

Mommy Star will be traveling to key cities around the Philippines to continuously inspire mommies to be their own kitchen superstar and teach them how they can start from simple ingredients into something extraordinary. – Eunice Cabuang

Wholesome family fun with Paw Patrol Kids and parents had a great day of family fun and bonding during the meetand-greet activity at the SM Mall of Asia with the characters of Paw Patrol, that popular Nickelodeon show starring a tech-savvy boy named Ryder who, along with six pups he rescued, engage in heroic exploits to save residents in their community – kittens included.

Making the event even more special is the fact that it is the adventure characters’ first visit to Southeast Asia. Chase, a German Shepherd police pup is a natural leader – athletic, smart, and “by the book” organized, while Marshall, the team’s brave firedog, is an excitable, all action six-yearold dalmatian pup. Other Paw Patrollers are Zuma, a playful water-loving Labrador pup and the team’s Water Rescue Dog; Rubble, a tough construction bulldog with a heart of gold; Rocky, a creative mixed breed pup who’s an expert at recycling; and Skye, a cute cockapoo puppy who’s a fearless daredevil, trying on anything (even flying) with a smile on her cute puppy face.

The show has become very popular with kids and parents alike because it features exciting adventures that involve a unique

Amazing Paw Patrol Pups and their vehicles

blend of problem solving skills and cool vehicles to protect Adventure Bay community – teaching values such as teamwork and cooperation. High tech gadgets feature in the exciting rescue of preschoolers while transforming vehicles translate into amazing consumer products opportunities.

Mall goers had a blast with the Paw Patrol pup activity stations like the Rubble Building Station, the Rocky Recycling Station, Zuma Pup Pup Boogie Dance Station, Skye Face Painting Salon, and the Marshall and Chase Rescue Station. Kids also took part in the fun stage, much to the delight of the mommies present.

Kids experienced what it was like to become a Paw Patroller, taking selfies at the Paw Patrol pups’ amazing vehicles like Chase’s police truck, Marshall’s fire truck, Zuma’s hovercraft, Rubble’s digger, Rocky’s recycling truck and Skye’s helicopter.

Paw Patrol toys and accessories are available at all Toy Kingdom Express outlets in SM Stores and Toy Kingdom Stores in most SM Supermalls. Visit www.toykingdom.ph; ToyKingdomPH on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates on the latest releases.

The Paw Patrol team: Nickelodeon’s senior director for Licensing Consumer Products Southeast Asia Cindy Loh, Licensing executive, Consumer Products Southeast Asia Janice Sou; Bates Licensing and Entertainment president Ito Feliciano and and Toy Kingdom AVP for Marketing Pearl Datiles. Also in photo are Bates Group managing director Toni Bautista with team members Reeze La Paz, Karl Michael Domingo, Eric Bordeos, Nini Pacolor and Marlin Lucero

Martina and Lukas Horn with Paw Patrol-inspired outfits and pup heroes Chase and Marshall

Christian Rhomel Mariano from Alpha Fire Brigade Brotherhood Association shares tips on fire prevention

W E D N E S D AY : j u N E 1 , 2 0 1 6

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Josiah Go

Dr. Tim Denison

With trophies designed by Ayala Corp. chairman emeritus Jaime Zobel de Ayala Sr., Ayala Malls bestowed special distinctions to merchants who best exemplified the rewarding and revolutionizing experience in their stores

Gary Valenciano at the the 18th Ayala Malls Merchant Awards Night

18th AYALA MERChANt REwARds

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RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE AND BUILDING THE RETAIL FUTURE

he country’s premier shopping destination Ayala Malls recently honored its partner merchants for the latter’s efforts and contributions to the retail industry through the 12th Ayala Malls Merchant Forum, and capped off the celebrations with the Ayala Malls Merchant Rewards awards night.

Held at the Fairmont Hotel in Makati recently with the theme “Designing for Retail Tomorrow, Today,” Ayala Malls brought together respected speakers and experts in the fields of strategy planning, marketing, digital strategy and architecture to talk about the future of retail and to encourage the merchant partners to think out of the box and create ideas that would make a positive impact on their businesses while engaging consumers.

CBRE Global Investors’ head of strategy and research for Asia Pacific Shane Taylor presented important retail market and customer trends across Southeast Asian economies. These trends are something that the Philippine market could take advantage of. President and principal for Ecotektonical, Architect Rowena Ramos focused on the environment and how sustainability practices can improve the staff performance and encourage more buyer spending.

Renowned best-selling author and speaker Josiah Go meantime tackled “Marketing to the Consumers Today.” He offered great insights in the area of marketdriving strategy, business model innovation, profit strategy and entrepreneurship.

Executive strategic planning director of JWalter Thompson Philippines Pamela Pacete Garcia discussed how today’s merchants can innovate and create

powerful campaigns that would better resonate with their customers. Closing the forum was Dr. Tim Denison, the director of Retail Intelligence for Ipsos Retail Performance in the UK and co-founder of the UK Retail Think Tank, with talks about the future of retail in the digital age.

Ayala Malls recognized all their merchants who have done an exemplary job in raising new levels of retail excellence during the awards night, with trophies designed by Ayala Corp. chairman emeritus Jaime Zobel de Ayala.

This year’s Visual Merchandising Hall of Fame Award went to General for Ayala Center Cebu and Team Manila for Market!

Market!, while the Overall Marketing Excellence award went to R.O.X. for its creative strategies to drive sales and awareness for the brand.

Recognized for Store Operations Excellence were Fitflop, Spruce, and ResToeRun (Centrio Mall); Nike Athletic Club, Mango, and Sneaker Club (Abreeza Mall); Nike Park, Watson’s, and Bo’s Coffee (Ayala Center Cebu); Krispy Kreme, 158 Designers Boulevard, and TGIFriday’s (Harbor Point); An Original Penguin, Lacoste Footwear, and Fitflop (Marquee Mall); Mama Lou’s, Casa Verde and Shrimp Bucket (UP Town Center); Genki Sushi, Abe, and La Lola (Bonifacio High Street/ Serendra); Ineng’s Barbeque, J.Co Donuts & Coffee, and Birkenstock (Market! Market!); Starbucks, Max’s, and Nike Park (Fairview Terraces); Sole Academy, G Stuff, and Healthy Options (Alabang Town Center); Lacoste, Healthy Options, and Shoe Salon (TriNoma); Rimowa, Chili’s, and Ramen Nagi (Greenbelt); and Birkenstock, Filbar’s and Shoe Salon (Glorietta).

LET’S GET...

5. Let’s make sure they hang around good friends. Because birds of a feather flock together, remember? Let’s get to know their friends and the places they like to go to and the things they like to do. Let’s have the strength to say no when they ask to go to places that are risky, when they ask to hang out with people who aren’t going to be good for them. It’s our responsibility as parents to do so and let’s not be afraid to exercise it.

Let’s give them curfews and hold them to it. And let’s wait up for them till they come home. Because we care. It’s as simple as that.

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versions of themselves, decaying teeth and all, because of substances that promise false and fleeting pleasure. In fact, let’s not get them too used to the pleasures and comforts of life. Let them fix their clothes and tidy up their rooms, even if there’s a yaya who can do it. Let them carry their own bags on their backs. Let them fall and dust themselves off and stand again. Then they’ll learn from an early age that not everything good is pleasurable, and not everything pleasurable is good.

6. Let’s get into their world and make the effort to know what they’re into. Let’s get

Eugenia Billones of Abe; Sofia Zobel Elizalde; Jaime Zobel de Ayala, chairman emeritus of Ayala Corporation; Lorna Ambas of Abe; Bobby Dy, Ayala Land president and CEO; and Junie Jalandoni, Ayala Land senior vice president and group head of Commercial Malls, Commercial Offices, and Hotels & Resorts, and ALI Capital

This year’s Most Promising Retailers were Mango Mania (Centrio Mall); Furn One (Abreeza Mall); The Social (Ayala Center Cebu); Sakura (Harbor Point); Chemworld Fragrance Factory (Marquee Mall); Silantro (UP Town Center); Single Origin (Bonifacio High Street/Serendra); N.Cat! (Market! Market!); Nike Young Athletes (Fairview Terraces); Milkbox (Alabang Town Center); Sole Academy (TriNoma); Jo Malone (Greenbelt); and Happy Skin (Glorietta).

The prestigious Store of the Year awards were given to merchants that produced outstanding work and upheld the highest standards of business management and operations. This year’s awardees were ResToeRun (Centrio Mall); J.Co Donuts & Coffee (Abreeza Mall); Bo’s Coffee

(Ayala Center Cebu); Bench (Harbor Point); Marks & Spencer (Marquee Mall); Mama Lou’s (UP Town Center); Sole Academy (Bonifacio High Street/ Serendra); Olympic Village (Market!

Market!); Nike Park (Fairview Terraces); Healthy Options (Alabang Town Center); Lacoste (TriNoma); Rimowa (Greenbelt); and Sunnies Studio (Glorietta).

Abe copped the Special Award for Promoting Philippine Arts and Culture for reinforcing Filipino values and promoting awareness for Philippine ingenuity through food. The store also nabbed the Ayala Malls Grand Store of the Year award. Ayala Malls also acknowledged the exemplary performance of top retailers in Ayala Malls across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

our own phones installed with Snapchat, Twitter, and all the other apps that our kids are into these days, even if learning the ropes may seem daunting at first. The more present we are in their real and virtual worlds, the more our kids will know that we can meet them on the same playing field. We bridge that generation gap just a little bit more and make it easier for them to come to us when they need us.

decisions. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to help them to choose wisely. Let’s ask our Loving Father and our Blessed Mother to keep them safe in their embrace, no matter where they wander. Because at the end of the day, even if the world has terrible temptations and dangers in every corner, it is still a beautiful, wonderful world created by our Loving Father, and there is no evil force and no bad influence that we and our children cannot defeat when we have divine help on our side.

7. Let’s get down on our knees and pray.

Every day and every night. Let’s ask their guardian angels to guide them along the right paths, make them strong against temptations, and help them make the right

Follow me on Twitter @ LivE_LiveSimply Like my page, follow all my articles, and send me feedback at Facebook/liv.esimplywithLiv

wEDnES DAy : j unE 1, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

Musician Mark Abaya (center) and his alternative rock band Kjwan

F

ashion has always been heavily influenced by music, and the same can be said of music. Street style provides evidence: music festivals are as celebrated for fashion as much as its musical acts, so much so that festival dressing has evolved to be a style genre of its own.

Milking this charmed connection between fashion and music is the Manila X Festival, where the metro’s hottest musical acts perform in the midst of a full-blown fashion showcase. Festival goers are in for a treat: four fashion shows will have models walk the runway in four different fashion themes: grunge, Coachella, sleek and active wear. Each show, scored by live musical acts, will be styled by one of Manila’s most sought-after celebrity stylists: Bang Pineda, John Paul Dizon, Myrrh Lao To, and duo Rain Dagala and Em Millan. Hip fashion retail website Zalora will also hold its own fashion show featuring its in-house brands. During this segment, the audience will be encouraged to purchase pieces worn by the models on the spot, entitling the live buyer to exciting discounts.

Now on to the music, Manila X Festival has an exciting line-up of live OPM performers and DJ acts. New boy band The Juans will be taking the stage, as well as real-life couple and songwriter duo Thyro and Yumi. Alternative rock band Kjwan lead by vocalist Marc Abaya will be performing alongside celebrated indie rock band Up Dharma Down. Under hip-hop, award-winning rapper Gloc 9 will definitely keep the audience tongue-tied in excitement. Fashion blogger and versatile singer Kiana Valenciano is a fresh inclusion to the line-up, while pop-rock singer-songwriter Yeng Constantino is sure to perform her hits. Manila’s most-followed DJs will also be on rotation. To make sure everyone gets to have even more fun, DJs Badkiss, duo Curse & Bless, Jessica Milner, Tom Taus, Marc Marasigan, Mars Miranda, and Ace Ramos will be spinning the night away.

Sponsored by make-up label BYS and online shopping site Zalora.com.ph, and

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up-and-coming boy band The juans

X maRks ThE spOT

Music jock Tom Taus

Rapper Gloc-9

Music duo Curse & Bless

Female jock jessica Milner

Mars Miranda

Kiana Valenciano

Thyro and yumi

Music jock Badkiss

Marc Marasigan

yeng Constantino

powered by TaskUs Philippines, the fastest growing startup firm in the country, Manila X Festival is the first of its kind in the Philippines—an event where music and fashion are both front and center. The festival hap-

Indie act up Dharma Down

pens on June 4, 7 p.m. at Globe Circuit Event Grounds, Carmona, Makati City.

Tickets are available at www.ticketworld.com. ph or on site at the day of the festival at P800 for VIP and P500 for general admission.

To know more, visit the Manila X Festival website at manilaxfestival.com, follow them on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (@ManilaXFestival) and check the hashtag #ManilaX.

‘I Heart you Doc’ opens rainy season on GMA This rainy season, warm up your weekday mornings with GMA Heart of Asia’s latest offering, I Heart You Doc, which stars Kwon Sang Woo as Thomas Park, a handsome, charming, and compassionate doctor of Gwanghye University Hospital. He will be joined by Joo Ji Hoon as Jordan, the aloof doctor who can charm anyone with his intelligence and sense of authority; as well as Choi Minho who plays the role of Theo, the youngest and most adorable doctor in the hospital.

Thomas believes that everybody has an equal right to the best medical services and he dreams for the hospital to be wellknown for its sincerity for its patients. He will inspire his team towards this vision and it will surely be an exciting journey.

Kwon Sang woo

joo ji Hoon

Choi Minho

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wEDnES DAy : j unE 1, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

‘ASobImASHou SupER GAmE’ wEbSHow foR fAnS

E

xperience the zany Japanese-inspired game show, Asobimashou Super Game Show, a four-part online show from PaperbugTV, in partnership with noodle brand, Nissin Souper Meal.

This game webshow promises a whole lot of fun and laughter with its larger than life obstacle courses and wacky challenges.

The exciting webshow aired its pilot episode on May 13, and will release three more episodes on PaperbugTV’s official YouTube channel and Bogart the Explorer’s Facebook page, week after week.

Asobimashou, which translates to “Let’s Play”, aims to bring the similar energy and quirky vibe that Japanese game shows are known for. Asobimashou Super Game Show is our way of paying tribute to all those Jap-

anese game shows we enjoyed, but with a very Pinoy twist,” said PaperbugTV executive producer, Jako de Leon.

The webshow featured celebrities and online sensations battling out on four levels of traditional Pinoy games with a Japanese twist. These include large-scale versions of classic Pinoy games, such as the Sungka obstacle course, as seen in the first episode. The challenges apply the original game mechanics with a Japanese twist. To amplify the Japanese vibe, Marco Ho, better known as Bogart the Explorer, played the role of a Japanesespeaking host, Hajime Santos.

PaperBugTV also partnered with Nissin, a true Japanese brand, to stay as close as possible to Japanese variety shows.

“Asobimashou Super Game Show” pays ribute to all those japanese game shows fans enjoyed

This partnership brings in the X factor that legitimizes the attempt for a real Japanese game show.

Get your weekly dose of the wacky Japanese-inspired webshow, Asobi-

mashou Super Game Show by visiting Paperbug’s YouTube channel, www. youtube.com/PaperbugTV and Bogart the Explorer’s Facebook page, www. facebook.com/bogarttheexplorer.

‘X-men’ fans experience the power of X with Caltex Caltex, through its partnership with 20th Century Fox for the latest installment of the most-anticipated blockbuster movie X-Men: Apocalypse, gave X-Men fans the chance to experience the Power of X at the

SM Mall of Asia Atrium.

The venue was transformed into the XMen School for Gifted Youngsters where mall-goers can enjoy fun, enjoyable and exciting activities, plus a chance to win ex-

participants at the X-men fan experience event staged by Caltex

cROsswORD puzzlE

answer PreVIOUs PUZZLe

ACROSS 1 Junk email 5 Kind of hog 9 Like bad gravy 14 Strauss of blue jeans 15 Farm measure 16 It may be right 17 Between ports 18 Cook in a wok 19 Food wrap

20 Upscale wheels 22 Holds firm 24 Vitamin lead-in 26 Jar’s need 27 Honey factory 30 Gave a bear hug 35 Animal with a large muzzle 36 Ear piercing?

37 Letter opener 38 Labor org.

39 Old-fashioned napkins 42 Good buddy 43 Within reach 45 Beowulf’s drink 46 Reasons to sue 48 Deck the halls 50 Feathered talkers 51 Zig opposite 52 “J’Accuse” author — Zola 54 Well-educated person 58 Outside time 62 Hobson or Dern 63 Domed dwelling 65 Molokai neighbor 66 Gawked at 67 Della Street’s penner 68 Mir launcher 69 Like a chipmunk’s eyes 70 You ain’t — nothin’ yet!

71 Many a loafer DOWN 1 Whack 2 Tijuana coin 3 Confirm 4 Swamp gases 5 Without thought 6 Sonnet stanza 7 Christina’s pop 8 Earl — Biggers

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2016

9 10 11 12 13 21 23 25 27 28 29 31 32 33 34 36 40 41 44 47 49 50 53 54 55 56 57 59 60 61 64

Dog star Without help Bosses, briefly Survey chart Itches Like bacon Lose a tail Pinpoint PABA part Kind of struggle Dubuque denizen Tobacco chew Gridiron ref Astronaut’s base Smelting waste product Mortgage, e.g.

Alpha opposite Do, as hair Without a beard No fun at all Complaint Winter warmer — Oberon of films Neatnik opposite Hamster’s digs Luau number Blended whiskeys “Candy is dandy” poet Mr. Moto’s reply (2 wds.)

Bait Suffix for press

clusive X-Men gift bags.

Participants brought out the mutants in them in the Race to The Power of X arcade challenge. They also released their strength in the Release the Power of X hammer

game and tested their minds in the Match the Power of X challenge. They also had their selfies with your favorite X-Men characters taken at the photo booth.

The event also served as the launch pad for Delo® Sports with ISOSYN® Technology where motorists learned how to protect and maximize the power of their car engines at the Caltex Delo Sports product demo area.

“At Caltex, our customers are the cornerstone of our business. Every bottle of Caltex Havoline and Delo engine oil is imbued with the power to protect their engines and deliver optimized performance. To help our customers ‘Enjoy the Journey’ even more, we’ve tailored exclusive offers and activities to make every journey with Caltex an exciting one,” says Joseph Bronfman, CPI Area Business Manager for Lubricants, Philippines and Vietnam. “This is also a very opportune event as we introduce Delo Sports, the latest from the Caltex diesel engine oil product family, which will allow motorists to experience the full power and performance of their diesel engines in their everyday drive.”

It was indeed an exciting, power-packed event with no less than the Caltex and XMen releasing the Power of X for everyone to experience.

wEDnES DAy : j unE 1, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

Get ready for supremely cheesy summer Summer is here and with it comes a whole bunch of fun activities under the sun with friends.

The secret to a memorable season is having one that’s packed with moments shared with people you like spending time with. Whether it’s taking a quick road trip to the beach, hanging out around a campfire, trekking a tall mountain on daybreak, the experiences we have with our best buddies always make for great stories for everyone. These stories sometimes become a bit cheesy but just the same, summer memories will always last a lifetime.

Greenwich also offers a cheesy pasta dish that can take you on a fun adventure. The Greenwich Lasagna Supreme has a medley of surprises waiting for your taste buds in every layer: perfectly cooked al dente noodles smothered in a generous coating of tasty meat sauce and mounds of rich cheese in each layer, topped with creamy white sauce with mozzarella cheese baked to perfection.

The cheesy Lasagna Supreme is now made even cheesier and every forkful is sure to get you saying “#OMCheese”.

Starting at only PBQ (snack size ala carte), the extra-cheesy Greenwich Lasagna Supreme is the barkada’s new favorite goto treat this summer. The extra cheesy Greenwich Lasagna Supreme starts at P80 for a snack size ala carte order.

A

Run for a cause. Karylle is among the celebrities who lead this year’s edition of DZMM takbo

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CElEbRItIES lEAD Run foR SCHolARS

BS-CBN anchors and talents gave their full support to help raise funds for the education of calamity victims at DZMM’s “Takbo Para sa Pamilyang Pilipino 2016,” at the Quirino Grandstand last Sunday.

It’s Showtime host Karylle Yuzon, with rocker husband Yael Yuzon, and Nikki Valdez led the celebrities at the 17th edition of the DZMM Takbo, that also had ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs head Ging Reyes and broadcast journalist Niña Corpuz running in one of the race categories, which included 3k, 5k, 10k, and 21k.

Co-organized by RunRio, the run was for the benefit of young Filipinos who were affected by typhoons that hit the nation such as Ondoy, Habagat, and Sendong. DZMM believes that every member of the Filipino family is a winner through education.

With celebrities joining the fun run for a cause, the leading AM radio station in Mega Manila hoped this would inspire more health enthusiasts, professional runners, and families all over the nation to participate in runs in the future.

This was the 17th year that DZMM held a

Host and fitness enthusiast Kim Atienza

fun run to raise funds for a special beneficiary, making it one of the oldest fun runs.

For more information on “DZMM Takbo Para sa Pamilyang Pilipino 2016,” visit http://dzmm.abs-cbnnews.com/takbo.

DZMM is the AM radio station of ABS-CBN, the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines. DZMM (DZMM TeleRadyo) is also available on cable and digital television via SKYcable and ABS-CBN TVplus, and online via audio streaming at www. dzmm.com.ph.

tfC’s ‘touristas Global trip’ in Saipan The Filipino Channel (TFC) made history anew as it kicked off the “Touristas Global Trip” series with the Saipan leg of the widely followed teleserye The Story Of Us. Dubbed “Tsouristas” featuring Kim Chiu and Xian Lim, the kick off was held on May 29 at the Royal Taga Convention Center World Resort Saipan.

ABS-CBN Asia Pacific Managing Director Ailene Averion said that “TSOUristas” Saipan was the first of a series of TFC events that share the entertainment value of

ABS-CBN’s most watched shows across the world.

“Bringing The Story Of Us first to Saipan marks another first in our efforts to bring a total content experience to new markets.

We continue to expand our audience in new areas as we hear the needs of our mga Kapamilya for world-class Filipino entertainment, guaranteed by a brand that is TFC,” Averion said. Averion added, “Kim and Xian, two of this generation’s brightest stars delivered an unforgettable experience that made our Kapamilya fans feel that

we always try to deliver a piece of home.”

Labeled as one of the hottest and most enduring Filipino love teams of their time, Chiu and Lim dubbed KimXi, got closer to their fans as they performed songs from the teleserye.

Chiu, also called the “Chinita Princess,” is not only an awardwinning actress but also a topselling performer as well.

The Story Of Us Saipan, the concert or TSOUristas, was the first major event in Saipan after a long time.

Screen pair Xian lim and Kim Chiu headline tfC’s “touristas Global trip”

tom Hanks in the face of recession Award-winning actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks stars in A Hologram for the King set in recession-ravaged 2010 as an American businessman named Alan Clay. The film is adapted from the book of the same title by acclaimed author Dave Eggers.

Hanks’ role in the movie is a broke, depressed and freshly divorced man who arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to close what he hopes will be the deal of a lifetime.

His mission: sell a state-of-the-art holographic teleconferencing system to the Saudi government.

Adrift and alone in an unfamiliar land, Alan befriends taxi driver Yousef (Alexander Black), who chauffeurs him through the desert to the “King’s Metropolis of Economy and Trade,” a surreal ghost town of vacant skyscrapers and half-completed construction projects. Baffled by the bureaucratic reception he gets at the so-called “Welcome Center,” Alan struggles to figure out why his small IT support team is being forced to spend its days in a sweltering tent as it preps for the big presentation. Worse, because of the Saudi way of doing business, he’s unclear if the king will ever show up for the long-scheduled meeting.

Clay arrives in Saudi Arabia

tom Hanks and Sarita Choudhury in a scene from the American comedy-drama “A “Hologram for the King”

without any prior knowledge of the place, other than his own cartoonish, stereotypical concept, according to Hanks. “Though he’s not a happy guy, when Alan tries to sell the upbeat nature of the 3-D hologram and rally his team, he becomes this other guy, the former Alan Clay, a man with energy and vibrancy. That’s where the comedy comes from.”

In addition to emphasizing the book’s humor, director Tom Tykwer bolstered the romantic

elements as he translated Eggers’ story from page to screen. “The longer I worked on the script, the more profound the love story became because it connects to this whole third-act decision where the movie becomes a more optimistic tale,” Tykwer says. Alan is coaxed out of his funk by Zahra Hakem, an alluring, talented surgeon portrayed by Londonborn Sarita Choudhury. In her role as CIA Division Chief Saul Berenson’s long-suffering wife

Mira on the Emmy-winning series “Homeland,” the half-Indian, half-English actress developed an avid following that included Hanks himself. “I remember seeing Sarita for the first time on ‘Homeland’ and thinking, ‘Alright, I don’t know who she is, but that woman is riveting. I don’t know where she comes from but I can’t take my eyes off her.”

In Hollywood’s finest blackcomedy tradition, A Hologram for the King delivers laughs spiked with bittersweet undertones. “We’ve made a crisis comedy that points the finger at the fact that our economic structure is falling apart and the apocalypse seems to be looming just around the corner,” Tykwer says.

“We use comedy as a tool to embrace tragedy like a balloon you stick with a needle so it explodes and the energy that comes out is cheerful. Despite all of Alan’s problems, I hope this movie cheers people up.”

For Hanks, who’s earned iconic status and five Academy Award® nominations by playing regular, good-hearted Americans who triumph overhard luck circumstances, A Hologram for the King is the story of a man who stum-

bles upon an emotional and spiritual oasis after wandering in the desert. “Why make a movie about a guy where nothing ever works out for him? That might work fantastically as a piece of literature but as far as the cinema goes, the story requires this other thing — for want of a better word, let’s just call it hope.”

A Hologram for the King opens today in cinemas from OctoArts Films International.

Alan Clay (played by tom Hanks) as a wandering tourist in jeddah, Saudi Arabia

w ednes day : j une 1, 2016

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SHOWBITZ

British-Zimbabwean actor Regé-jean Page revives the iconic character previously played by Ben Vereen in the original version of the multi-awarede miniseries

A mODERn-DAy RETEllIng Of A lAnDmARk sERIEs WIThOuT WAng2 nIckIE WAng

R

oots is a historical portrait of American slavery, recounting the journey of one family and their will to survive and ultimately carry on their legacy despite hardship.

This award-winning miniseries that first aired in 1977 is based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The story is so powerful it got the attention of the whole world. When the book hit the market, it went to the top of bestseller lists for 22 weeks. When a miniseries was produced a year later, Americans watched it for eight straight days.

“It tells the story about how people overcome incredible injustice, how people live from the system of exploit. I think the battle is incredibly powerful and Roots tells a story that never gets old as it is still relevant in many parts of the world,” Regé-Jean Page, star of Roots reboot, told The Standard in a phone interview.

The British-Zimbabwean actor plays the iconic “Chicken George” Moore, a cockfighter previously played by Ben Vereen in the original series. Asked how he got the role, Page shared, “I went to audition when I read the material. I was in London and the production was in America. When they got my tape, they got me on Skype

The art of More lead cast Kate Bosworth, Christian Cooke, dennis Quaid and Cary elwes

with the director. It was a terrifying and uncomfortable experience but I’m glad I got the role.”

According to Page, Chicken George is an incredibly charming young man. It’s an iconic character whose main endeavor is to fight for and maintain his ambition in a world that is very oppressive.

“And that’s why I relate to most about him. I think he’s inspiring in that way and he refuses to have limitations,” the 26-year-old actor said.

Using modern production values and improved historical accuracy, Roots follows a saga of African-American life. The story starts with Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) being abducted from his African village, sold into slavery, and taken to America. He makes several escape attempts until he is finally caught and maimed. He

marries Belle (Emayatzy Corinealdi), his plantation’s cook, and they have a daughter, Kizzy (Anika Noni Rose), who is eventually sold away from them. Kizzy has a son by her new master, and the boy grows up to become Chicken George (Page), a legendary cock fighter who leads his family into freedom. Throughout the series, the family observes notable events in U.S. history, such as the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings, and emancipation.

“We are re-telling a story that is already owned by the audience. We don’t own the characters we play.

There are people who already know and have a great connection with the story. Hence, the challenge here is to live up to their expectations,” Page said when asked how different the reboot is going to be.

History is airing the landmark miniseries over four consecutive nights, at 9 p.m. from until June 3. History is available on SKYCable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch. 43; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 125.

Exploring auction houses

On May 24, members of the media met at the Salcedo Auctions, the only internationally recognized auction house in the country. Organized by Sony Channel, the event gave members of the press a glimpse into the exciting and progressive world of buying and selling rare collectors’ items, art pieces, jewelry and other valuable properties.

Though auction houses are relatively unpopular in the country, it’s good to note that there are a few

number of people, mostly elite, who flock to auction houses to sell and buy items at incredibly absurd prices. Hence, Salcedo Auctions was a logical setting for Sony Channel to also introduce its original production, The Art of More, which talks about, well, big money.

The Art of More premiered on Sony Channel on May 24. The one-hour drama explores the foible and surprisingly ruthless world of premium auction houses, filled with smugglers, hustlers, power mongers and collectors of the beautiful and the bizarre. It follows a blue-collar young man, Graham Connor (Christian Cooke), who leverages his way into this exclusive existence by utilizing his connections to the antiquities black market he was exposed to as a soldier in Iraq.

Dennis Quaid, also as the executive producer, stars as the charismatic real estate shark Samuel Brukner who has a penchant for ill-gotten art. Brukner is the life of the party, but when it comes to his money, he can be ruthless, shrewd and corrupt. Kate Bosworth plays Roxanna Whitney, daughter of the CEO of one of the two warring auction houses — and a leading account executive. Although she was born into this exclusive world and thrives in it, she is riddled with insecurities that drive her to be a formidable executive in her own right.

The Art of More airs weekly on Sony Channel seen on SKYCable Ch 35; Cable Link Ch. 39; Destiny Cable Ch 62; and Cignal Ch 60.