The Standard - 2016 July 6 - Wednesday

VOL. XXX NO. 144 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 WEDNESDAY : JULY 6, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

AFP pounds Sayyaf camp

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DUTERTE NAMES 5 ‘NARCO-GENERALS’ Warns of bloody fight in anti-drug drive

By John Paolo Bencito

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday named five police generals that he said were protecting drug lords, relieved three of them and ordered them to report to Philippine National Police chief Director-General Ronald dela Rosa.

RETIRED GEN. MARCELO GARBO

RETIRED GEN. VICENTE LOOT

“I would like to name publicly: Gen. Marcelo Garbo, he is protector of syndicates in the country; [former] Gen. Vicente Loot, a municipal mayor of Cebu; Gen. Bernardo Diaz, former regional director of Region 11; Gen. [Joel] Pagdilao, director of NCRPO (the National Capital Region Police Office); and Gen. [Edgardo] Tinio, former district director of the Quezon City Police District,” Duterte said.

The police generals denied Duterte’s accusations, and one of them decried the lack of due process.

But Dela Rosa said he would give them the opportunity to clear their names.

“I will talk to them and I will listen to their ex- GEN. EDGARDO TINIO planation. Those who are already retired I cannot compel them to talk with me because they are no longer under my jurisdiction. They are no longer under my command,” he said.

He also revealed that the three generals who are still in active service—Diaz, Pagdilao and Tinio—were already relieved on July 1.

Discarding a prepared speech during the celebration of the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force at Clark Air Base, Pampanga, the President spoke extemporaneously on the worsening drug problem.

“I am compelled by my sense of duty to say to all of you those who are involved in the illegal drug trade one way or another that contributed to deterioration of law and order of this country,” he said.

“It has deteriorated with advent of drugs because of the corrosive effects of money,” he added.

Two of the five police generals that were named are already retiredMarcelo Garbo Jr. and Vicente Loot.

Garbo, a former PNP deputy director-general and a graduate from the Philippine Military Academy batch 1981 is a close ally of losing presidential candidate and former Interior secretary Next page GEN. JOEL PAGDILAO

Reds told: Lay down arms and get amnesty

GEN. BERNARDO DIAZ

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he is willing to issue safe conduct passes and grant political amnesty to four top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines who are in jail, as long as the rebels lay down their arms and give way to the peace process initiated by the government.

“Good thing that we’re talking to the Communist Party of the Philippines and we hope to have a firm agreement by the end of the year if [Jose Maria Sison] would come home,” Duterte said during the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga.

“I am ready to give him safe con-

duct passes, including the Tiamzon couple and [Luis] Jalandoni,” he said.

Government peace negotiator Hernani Braganza had earlier said that up to 21 consultants are currently on the list of those being considered to be given safety conduct passes from the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Next page

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Manuel Roxas II. He was one of the so-called Novotel Generals seen meeting at the Novotel Araneta Center owned by Roxas’ family.

Loot is the newly elected mayor of Daanbantayan town in Cebu province.

Duterte said the involvement of the five police generals in the drug trade had been validated many times.

“Even when I was mayor of Davao, their names were being mentioned,” he said in Filipino.

He also said he was disappointed that police officers who trained and studied at the people’s expense later turned to the illicit drug trade.

“It’s saddening because the state funded their education, you gave them uniform, socks, and spent [money]. By any language it is really treason,” he added.

Duterte acknowledged that it would take longer than his promised six months to wipe out crime, but said the campaign against drugs would continue.

“Many more will die.... It’s going to be a dirty fight, it’s going to be a bloody fight. I’m not apologizing for it… I have been warning everybody. At the end of my speeches, when I was campaigning for the presidency, I always end by saying “Do not destroy my country because I will kill you. Do not destroy the young people of this country because I will kill you,” he said.

In the same speech, Duterte defended his plan to reintroduce the death penalty, saying that this will not deter criminality but was a form of retribution.

Duterte also vowed to protect law enforcement officers who are dedicated to their duty.

The President also said he would reveal the names of other government officials who were involved in the illegal drug trade, but said he was still validating the information he received.

Tinio, one of the retired police generals named by Duterte, said he would use his remaining months in service by proving that he was not “a plague on society.”

“I still have one year and six months in service. I plan to clear my name,” he told radio dzBB. In a separate interview with GMA News, he said being named a protector of the drug trade was unfair because he was not given due process.

“I was caught unaware, flatfooted. “It’s sad that the President has been given the wrong information,” he added.

Diaz told radio dzMM that he might have been the victim of mistaken identity.

He said he hated illegal drugs because a close relative of his was once lured into the drug trade.

Loot said he was “a victim of propaganda” because of his family’s involvement in politics.

Also on Tuesday, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Investigation said all agents and employees would be subject to surprise random drug testing.

Ferdinand Lavin, director 1 of Negros Island Region and newlydesignated NBI spokesman, said he could offer no further details of the testing at the moment. With Sandy Araneta, AFP

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PH-China backchannel talks, special envoy eyed

By John Paolo Bencito and Vito Barcelo

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday urged Beijing to talk even if Manila wins the arbitration case that it filed before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, saying that the Philippines is not prepared to go to war.

The President’s statement came as China began a week of naval exercises in disputed waters around the Paracel Islands.

Beijing has boycotted the arbitration hearings and is engaged in a major diplomatic and publicity drive to try to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the process.

In an editorial, the Global Times, a newspaper owned by the People’s Daily group, said China should accelerate the build-up of its defense capabilities and “must be prepared for any military confrontation.”

“Even though China cannot keep up with the US militarily in the short term, it should be able

to let the US pay a cost it cannot stand if it intervenes in the South China Sea dispute by force,” it added.

The newspaper, which is published by the government, added: “It is naive to expect China to swallow the bitter pill of humiliation.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, meanwhile, said they are considering backchannel talks with Beijing and said they were considering a special envoy tasked to resolve the controversies surrounding the maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Speaking extemporaneously

at a ceremony marking the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, Duterte emphasized that the Philippines is not ready to go to war.

“As for the West Philippine Sea, we remain optimistic that the judgement will be in our favor. If not, we will accept it as a country which honors international agreements… we will talk to China as we are not ready to go to war.”

In his first Cabinet meeting Thursday, Duterte said the government would await the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration before making any other moves on the West Philippine Sea. “After the arbitral tribunal rules on Philippine maritime dispute with China on July 12, we can decide on next steps,” Duterte said.

In a television interview, Yasay said Duterte wants better relations with China, unlike his predecessor, the former President Benigno Aquino III, who had an adversarial relationship with Beijing.

“It is my understanding that the President would like to maintain stronger, better relationships with everybody, including China, including the United States, including Japan and all. The Constitution mandates amity, close friendships with all nations and this is what we should pursue,” Yasay said.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said that the Philippines is committed to a peaceful settlement of the issue, dismissing China’s threat to use its military force to assert its sovereignty over almost all the resource-rich strategic waterway in the South China Sea, which is claimed by other Asian countries.

“We don’t see any need for that because Philippines has always been firmly committed to pursuing a peaceful resolution to the SCS dispute and a rules-based regime in the region,” Jose said in response to Chinese statements on the possibility of war. With AFP

PAF turns 69. President Duterte leads the celebration to mark the Philippine Air Force’s 69th anniversary on July 5, 2016 at Haribon Hangar, Clark Air Base in Pampanga. REY S. BANIQUET

Reds...

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Guarantees were mostly CPP and NDF officials who were previously part of the initial stalled talks between the government and the communist rebels, all of whom are incarcerated in different parts of the country of criminal charges.

Leading the list are spouses Benito Tiamzon and Wilma AustriaTiamzon, who both held senior ranks within the armed communist movement and were arrested on murder charges in Carcar,

Cebu last March 2014.

Sison, CPP founder and Jalandoni, NDF chief peace negotiator, are currently seeking asylum in Utretch.

Duterte, however, said that he’s not ready to release everyone unless the talks between the government and the reds were “successful.”

He added that granting a general amnesty might be possible for all political prisoners, but only if there are successful talks and the CPP’s armed wing, the New People’s Army would surrender.

Braganza said that a general amnesty can be possible through leg-

islation or amnesty can be granted by the President of the Philippines.

In both cases, however, Congress would have to approve the amnesty grant.

Braganza said that the progressive bloc in the Lower House may sponsor a measure in seeking to grant amnesty to all political prisoners.

President also reiterated that he will talk to both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front.

Government negotiators earlier went to The Netherlands to ink a five-point agenda with the communist upon resumption of the talks,

which includes an affirmation of previously signed agreements; an accelerated negotiation process, reconstitution of the previously signed Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees; an amnesty proclamation with the concurrence of Congress; and the mode for an interim ceasefire.

Earlier, incoming Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said that simultaneous peace talks will be pursued to accelerate the already 40-year peace efforts with the CPP to come up with a final peace agreement in 9 to 12 months. John Paolo Bencito

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Synchronized elections eyed INCOMING Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday said he will file a bill that will allow the holding of elections for delegates to the Constitutional Convention synchronized with the barangay elections scheduled in October.

Alvarez, after filing his House Concurrent Resolution 1, said synchronizing the two elections would allow the government to save money.

“We can have a few months of extension to prepare for the election of Concon delegates, so we can save money,” Alvarez told a radio interview.

He made his statement even as Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said he didn’t know if Charter change was inevitable, “but certainly it will get a big push because of the support of President Rodrigo Duterte.”

Angara also cited the fact that Cha-Cha would be done in the first half of the Duterte administration.

As a result, there would be no suspicion of any type of term extension which, historically, had been the obstacle to pushing any kind of Charter change.

Alvarez’s HCR No. 1 seeks a Constitutional Convention to propose revisions to the 1987 Constitution.

Alvarez stressed that under a federal system, “there won’t be any need for too many laws because each federal state will have its own laws.”

“The parliament will concentrate on managing the affairs of the federal government,” Alvarez said.

Duterte is pushing for Charter change to pave the way for a federal form of government with a unicameral legislature.

In his concurrent resolution, Alvarez proposes that the Con-Con be composed of elected and appointed delegates: one delegate per legislative district and 20 delegates to be appointed by the President.

Alvarez also proposed that no congressman or senator—at the time of the adoption of the resolution—may run as a candidate for or be appointed as delegate to the Con-Con. He also says in the resolution that “the ConCon shall be deemed functus officio, or an agency or office whose mandate has expired, upon approval of its proposals in a plebiscite called for such purpose, or after two years from its opening, whichever comes first.”

Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

Getting ready. Two Muslim women decorate a stage at the Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila, with colorful curtains that will be used in a program for Eid’l Fitr on Wednesday. DANNY PATA

Belmonte wants raise in campaign expenditures FORMER Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Tuesday he is seeking to increase the allowed campaign expenditures of candidates and political parties to realistic amounts “to accurately reflect” the cost of goods and services.

Belmonte, vice chairman of the Liberal Party, filed House Bill 15 following the failure of the LP and presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II to submit on time their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures in the last national elections.

“With these amendments in place, the law will accurately reflect the current economic landscape and allow candidates to pay the full and fair price of the goods and services they wish to

engage,” Belmonte said, adding that his proposal seeks to amend Section 13 of Republic Act 7166.

Belmonte said the amendments would also allow candidates to maximize their resources to effectively communicate their platforms and ideas to a greater number of their constituents, which could translate into a voting public that was more active, intelligent, and aware.

Belmonte noted in his bill that the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines allows candidates to spend an aggregate amount not exceeding P1.50 for every voter registered in the constituency where he filed his candidacy.

He said RA 7166 was enacted

in 1991, amending the provisions of the Omnibus Election Code and increased the allowed expenditures for candidates and political parties.

“Candidates are allowed to spend P3.00 for every voter currently registered in the constituency where he filed his Certificate of Candidacy, and candidates without any political party, and without support from any political party, are allowed to spend P5.00 for every such voter,” Belmonte said.

The candidates for president and vice president are allowed a larger sum of P10.00, while political parties are allowed P5.00 for every voter currently registered in the constitu-

ency or constituencies where they have official candidates.

“Twenty-five years later, these figures have yet to be updated to reflect inflation and the eroded purchasing power of the Philippine peso,” Belmonte said.

“The limitations also hinder candidates from launching campaigns that could reach even the most remote of places in the country for fear of running afoul of the law.”

Under the measure, all candidates would be authorized to spend P50.00 and P30.00 for political parties for every voter currently registered in the constituency or constituencies where they have official candidates.

Maricel V. Cruz

Commissioners again oppose Bautista’s postponement plan

Conference. From left, Civil Service Commission Chairwoman Alicia Bala, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, and Consuelo Foundation CEO Jon Matsuoka are shown during the opening of the International Conference on Social Work at the Manila Hotel on Tuesday. LINO SANTOS

THE six commissioners of the Commission on Elections on Tuesday again opposed Chairman Andres Bautista’s suggestion to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in October.

Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said her five other colleagues ignored Bautista when he raised his proposal during their weekly commission meeting on Tuesday.

“He mentioned it but nobody said anything,” Guanzon told the reporters minutes after their meeting.

“Nobody commented on it. Nobody said a thing after he mentioned it. We did not discuss it.”

Guanzon also rejected Bautista’s “financial” reason, saying the Comelec had enough funds to conduct a manual barangay and youth elections.

“Money is not a problem. Congress gave us enough money for conducting

elections. It’s not about savings,” Guanzon said.

The cold shoulder given to Bautista’s proposal came after he insisted Monday that the government could save P5 billion to P6 billion if they postponed and synchronized the town and youth elections with the proposed elections for the Constitutional Convention in January.

Bautista recently said that the Philippines might encounter “election fatigue” if the Barangay and SK elections pushed through on Oct. 31.

But Guanzon said Bautista had no basis for making that statement.

“I think people got excited by the last elections. I think they’ll be excited to vote again in the barangay, where they know all the candidates. Why not push through with it? Why not take advantage of the momentum of the last elections?,” she said. Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

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AFP pounds Sayyaf camp

By Florante S. Solmerin

THE military pounded Abu Sayyaf encampments in Basilan island in a bid to crush some 150 extremists believed to be led by Furuji Indama and Isnilon Hapilon, the military said Wednesday.

Duterte pizza. Chief Bong Soriano of Ristorante d’Amore at the Citystate Hotel on Mabini Street in Ermita, Manila shows off the Duterte pizza he developed in honor of the new president. DANNY PATA

Ubial outlines new family planning tack THE Department of Health is expecting to be able to lay down within a six-month period its family planning program that will anchor on the strict implementation of the Reproductive Health (RH) law.

According to Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial, they are looking at that period to provide the family planning needs of couples in a bid to help them achieve the desired average number of children and the proper spacing of births.

“Women in this country have more children than they want. So in terms of implementing that, we

will ensure that the unmet need for family planning becomes zero,” Dr. Ubial said.

She noted that the statement made by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on couples having only three children is not a hard target but is rather based on the statistics.

“That [three-child] is the desired number of children, the average number of children that women of reproductive age want. It is actually 2.7, so 3 is the round-off number.

So that is actually their desire,” she explained.

She added that they want to make sure that the spacing of births of chil-

dren will be in accordance to what they (parents) can really afford.

The new DoH chief said that the health of mothers and children is optimized or ideal if the spacing of births is three to five years.

President Duterte had earlier announced he intended to strictly implement the family planning program in the Philippines, while advocating the three-child policy.

When asked how the DoH intends to achieve such a target, given the temporary restraining order of the Supreme Court against contraceptives, Dr. Ubial said she intends to meet with other health stakeholders.

She said that aside from health workers, they will also seek advice from faith-based organizations, including the Catholic Church, which is known to reject the reproductive health law.

The SC issued twin TROs in June last year, the first of which stops the DoH from distributing, selling, and administering contraceptive implants; and the other prevents the Food and Drug Administration from acting on all applications for reproductive products and supplies, including contraceptive drugs and devices, such as implanon. PNA

‘Butchoy’ now a typhoon TROPICAL Storm “Butchoy” [international name: Nepartak] intensified into a typhoon on Tuesday as it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility around 2 p.m., according to the state weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Pagasa said Butchoy, packing sustained winds of 140 kph near the center, was located 1,325 kms east of Casiguran, Aurora and moving northwest at 30 kph.

The movement track the weather bureau released at 4 p.m. predicted that the typhoon will not make landfall in Philippine territory but has begun to enhance the southwest monsoon which is already affecting Southern Luzon and the Visayas.

It may stay with the PAR until Friday.

By Wednesday morning, it is expected to be 1,010 km east of Aparri, Cagayan. On Thursday morning, it is expected to be around 495 km east

northeast of Itbayat, Batanes.

By Friday morning, Butchoy is forecast to be 435 km north northeast of Itbayat, Batanesa and outside the PAR

by Saturday.

Pagasa predicted cloudy skies with light to moderate rains and thunderstorms in the Visayas and the regions of Bicol, Mimaropa, Davao and Caraga while partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms will prevail over Metro Manila and the rest of the country.

Moderate to strong winds blowing from the southwest will prevail over Southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the eastern section of Northern and Central Luzon.

The coastal waters along this areas will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate coming from the southwest to south with slight to moderate seas.

Butchoy cometh. Weather forecaster Banison Estareja points to a satellite image of Typhoon ‘Butchoy’ which entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility Tuesday. MANNY PALMERO

“We haven’t had a battle damage assessment but the pounding continuous there up to now,” Major Felimon Tan Jr. of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) said Tuesday.

He said the groups of Isnilon and Indama initially tried to enter the village Magkawa of Al-barka, Basilan but the residents resisted and called for military resistance.

“They tried to get near one area but the people resisted.

They tried to defend themselves. You already know that even small villages in Basilan are armed. So there was a gunfight there,” Tan said.

“From there, the enemies begun to make bunkers and they tried to build that up until we located them. That is what we’re pounding now,” said Tan. “At first, only the group of Indama was there but before long the group of Hapilon joined in. Actually, that’s also good so they will die together,” he said.

From time to time, Tan said the military would inset more troops in certain positions around the Abu Sayyaf and this was followed again by heavy artillery fire.

The military offensive started on Sunday with a series of airstrikes and artillery fire while troops of the 18th Infantry Battalion engaged them in a series of battles.

Focused military operations are currently being intensified in all efforts of the military to neutralize the ASG based in the province of Basilan.

In Sulu, troops continue to operate in an area where kidnap victim Kjartan Sekkingstand is known to be located.

“As to the report that the kidnap victim will be beheaded anytime, we cannot confirm or deny that. The troops of the Joint Task Force Sulu continue to conduct focused military operations where intelligence reports point operations should be conducted,” Tan said.

Tan said they have no new report so far except from a newspaper report regarding negotiations being done reportedly by Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza and a certain ASG spokesman to save the life of Norwegian hostage Kjartan Sekkingstad.

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Alvarez: Budget ‘pork-free’ SC defers action on Bongbong poll protest vs Leni

By Rey E. Requejo

THe Supreme Court has reset its deliberation on the election protest filed by former senator Ferdinand “Bong bong” Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo since two of the justices were on leave.

The Marcos case filed with the Presidential electoral Tribunal was included in the SC’s regular en banc session on Tuesday. PeT is composed of 15 justices of the high court.

However, PeT members agreed to defer to next Tuesday, July 12, their discussions on Marcos’ protest.

A court insider said that two magistrates were on leave yesterday—Associate Justice Jose Mendoza and Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, who is also chair of the tribunal.

The case was raffled to Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, appointee and known buddy of former President Benigno Aquino III, who is tasked to study the protest and submit recommendations for actions of the PeT. Caguioa and Aquino were classmates from elementary to college at the Ateneo de Manila University. Prior to his appointment to the SC last January, Caguioa was Aquino’s chief presidential legal counsel and then secretary of justice.

Aquino’s sister, actress Kris Aquino was the top campaign contributor of Robredo in the polls.

In his protest, Marcos assailed the election results in 39,221 clustered precincts in 25 provinces and five cities all over the country involving some nine million votes.

Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes in the final and official tally of votes. He garnered 14,155,344 votes, while Robredo got 14,418, 817 votes.

He sought the nullification of about a million votes cast in three provinces—Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao because of alleged massive cheating.

Marcos also asked the electoral tribunal to order the reopening of ballots and manual recount of about eight million votes in 23 provinces and five cities.

By Maricel V. Cruz

IncomIng House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Tuesday promised to make the 2017 national budget ‘pork-free.’

Alvarez, representative of Davao del Norte, made the statement in response to The Standard’s story that each congressman will be allocated P 80 million in pork barrel funds under the next year’s budget.

“There is no pork barrel, it has been declared illegal by the Supreme Court. I do not intend to violate it and [Budget] Secretary Diokno will not allow it,” Alvarez, secretary-general of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), said.

Alvarez dismissed as “preposterous” the allegation that the pork barrel funds will be

revived under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“How can there be pork barrel funds in the [2017] national budget when it had been declared illegal by the Supreme Court,” Alvarez stressed.

Alvarez said that he himself would see to it that pork barrel funds which had been the source of corruption among legislators will not be revived in any way, or in any form.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate also doubted that there will be pork funds under the Duterte administration.

“Pangulong Digong Duterte already said

before that he will no longer allow ‘pork’ to be inserted in the national budget, knowing fully well that it was, is and will still be a source of graft and corruption. Duterte’s avowed stand of zero tolerance on corruption campaign will be put to nothing if ‘pork’ is allowed to grease the hands of legislators as a form of patronage.

Zarate also stressed: “If this budget is the one still prepared by the Abad-DBM that is littered with pork allocations for the members of congress, then the same should not be allowed at all and should be scrapped at once from the proposed 2017 budget,” Zarate added, referring to former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, who is said to be the architect of the illegal Disbursement Acceleration Program that was conceived during the Aquino administration.

Drug den. Probers check a compound where two suspected drug dealers were killed during a shootout with the police after a buy-bust operation in Malibay, Pasay City on Tuesday July 5. Police recovered firearms, drugs and paraphernalia from the suspects.

DANNY PATA

Anti-laundering law gets extra boost

By Maricel V. Cruz

Drug test. Manila policemen go through another round

of drug testing at Police Station 8 in Sta. Mesa Manila on Tuesday, July 5. Last week, several policemen tested positive of drug use. DANNY PATA

SeeKINg to boost President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-corruption campaign, a bill has been filed at the House of Representatives seeking to include casino operators in the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.

House Bill 14, authored by former Speaker and Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said the proposed measure will help ensure the integrity of financial and banking institutions and transactions in the country.

It is also a crucial step towards

making the Philippines’ anti-money laundering laws fully compliant with the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“We cannot afford a repeat of the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist which saw $81-million stolen from the bank’s account that entered the Philippine banking system and made its way to local casinos and junket operators before being transferred overseas,” Belmonte said.

“Attempts to trace and recover the money encountered several setbacks, as casinos are excluded from the coverage of the country’s present anti-

money laundering laws,” Belmonte pointed out.

The importance of including the casino sector under the coverage of the Amla has been pointed out by the Bangladesh Bank heist where tens of millions of dollars were stolen from the bank’s accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Belmonte recalled that RA 9160 of the anti-Money Laundering Act was enacted on Oct. 17, 2001 to address the growing concerns over money laundering. Years later, in order to strengthen the law, the Amla was amended by RA 9194, and RA.10365.

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Binay orders audit of Makati personnel

By Joel E. Zurbano

MAKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay on Tuesday ordered an immediate audit of city government personnel to determine if spouses, relatives, in-laws and friends of people identified with former mayor Romulo Peña Jr. were hired mostly under the Office of the Mayor.

“There is an urgent need for the rationalization of the city government’s organizational structure to promote a higher level of professionalism and competence in the workforce.

The end-goal is to make the city government more responsive, more efficient and more effective in providing public service,” Binay said in a statement.

Binay reaquired all departments, offices and institutions under the city government to submit a complete list of personnel, including their respective positions, duties and functions. The mayor also ordered the immediate recall of all detailed personnel to their mother units to facilitate the rationalization process.

Binay reminded the gen-

eral services department to act promptly to avoid delays in acquiring medical supplies and other needs.

Residents have complained about the lack of medicine, supplies and poor maintenance of facilities at the Ospital ng Makati during the previous administration.

On solid waste management and sanitation, Binay ordered environmental services to ensure regular garbage collection and at the same time make aggressive efforts to enforce waste segregation at source among households and establishments. She cited the need for tie-ups with nongovernment organizations for more materials recovery facilities and waste markets

to promote recycling and waste reduction.

“Garbage is a parochial concern. Aside from better waste management, we will be very aggressive in clearing sidewalks of all kinds of obstruction to give them back to pedestrians. We will instill discipline in Makati and make our streets safe and walkable,” Binay said.

Binay also directed the city social welfare department to prioritize the relocation of informal settler families that have taken over certain streets in the barangays, posing serious concerns on sanitation, order and security.

Meanwhile, following an inspection of City Hall offices last week, Binay said she has plans to relocate all

offices with high foot traffic to the first five floors. Offices that have little interaction with the public will be relocated to higher floors.

“We will do everything possible to make our frontline services more accessible and convenient for our constituents and stakeholders, including the business sector,” Binay said.

On June 30, the mayor formally appointed key city officials, including lawyers Claro Certeza and Michael Arthur Camina, as city administrator and legal officer, respectively.

Binay also appointed Arnold Magpantay as city general services officer, engineer Elmer Acuesta as city engineer, and Rhoderick Torres as city budget officer.

Lifetime leadership award. San Beda College Rector-President Very Rev. Fr. Aloysius Ma. A. Maranan, OSB (center) receives the ‘Lifetime Leadership Award’ during the commencement exercises of the San Beda College Graduate School of Business for his many years of dedicated service, for his exemplary, discerning and inspiring leadership, and for bringing to even greater heights of excellence to the San Beda College. With Maranan are (from left) San Beda College Alumni Association president Dominador D. Buhain Jr. , Graduate School of Business Dean Ramon Ricardo A. Roque, Diplomate, PGA Group of Companies CEO and Chairman Robert G. Coyiuto Jr., Prior-Chancellor Very Rev. Fr. Rafaelito V. Alaras, OSB, and vice president for services Dr. Josefina M. Manabat.

INC-NHA land deal paves way for more classrooms THE Iglesia ni Cristo and the National Housing Authority finalized a “land swapping” agreement on June 29 covering properties in Quezon City that would enable the Department of Education to build additional classrooms on a 2,000-square meter parcel of land next to the Holy Spirit National High School.

INC originally owned the said parcel of land in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City that was intended for its Republic and Riverside worship locales, but the property was considered inadequate for the Filipino Church’s ever-increasing number of members in the area.

The land swap addresses the growing needs of Holy Spirit National High School, which needed to build more classrooms for its senior high school students. A non-contiguous area comprising approximately 2,000 square meters, coupled with a lack of funds, prevented the national government from expanding facilities that would benefit local residents in need of access to free secondary education.

Glicerio P. Santos IV, who represented the INC in the negotiations and the signing of the agreement, expressed the Church’s sentiments regarding the land swap.

“We are thankful that the NHA and the DepEd approached the INC to propose this agreement, which we believe addresses the needs of our Church and especially the needs of the students of Holy Spirit National High School,” said Santos.

Santos added that these were the kinds of “public-private partnerships” that could benefit all the stakeholders involved.

250 drug suspects give up as Munti launches ‘double barrel’ AT LEAST 250 suspected drug pushers and dependents in Muntinlupa City surrendered to the police, the city public information office said on Tuesday.

This developed after the city’s Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Operations Task Group conducted the “Oplan Double Barrel,” in support of the National Police’s nationwide campaign dubbed as Barangay Drug Clearing Strategy and neutralization of illegal drug personalities.

Muntinlupa City chief information officer said the authorities also began house-tohouse visitations and interviews of personalities who opt to surrender. She added the group visited 264 households of suspected illegal drug personalities and continued to double check individuals listed on the police intelligence report.

The local task force holds a list of suspected

individuals who might be involved in the use and trade of illegal drugs in Muntinlupa.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi earlier ordered the Muntinlupa Police to augment drug clearing strategies in the communities and encouraged locals to report cases of illegal drugs in their area.

In Makati City, 26 individuals believed to be involved in drug dealing also surrendered to the police.

The government’s continuing crackdown on suspected drug traffickers also resulted in the arrest of more than 500 individuals in the National Capital Region from January to May this year.

Newly designated Metro Manila Police director Oscar David Albayalde, in his speech during the turnover ceremony last Monday, promised to intensify the campaign against criminality and illegal drugs. Joel E. Zurbano

Caloocan survivors. At least 42 families who survived the fire in Barangay 144, Caloocan City receives financial aid from Mayor Oscar Malapitan and Congressman Along Malapitan during ceremonies held at the Caloocan City Hall on Tuesday. ANDREW RABULAN

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

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Ombudsman clears way for graft case vs Cebu ex-gov

Formation. The Philippine Air Force celebrates its 69th anniversary at Haribon Hangar, Clark Air Base. REY S. BANIQUET/PPD

Police chief injured in scuffle with suspected drug pushers

By Romeo E. Dizon

THE chief of police of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga was rushed to a nearby hospital after she sustained a gunshot wound during a scuffle that killed two suspected drug pushers in a resettlement area in Barangay Calulut on Tuesday.

Police Supt. Jean Fajardo was rushed to a nearby hospital for

treatment after injuring her lower right arm.

The casualties were identified as Jaime Untad and Mulong Biliwang, both residing at the resettlement area of Northville in Calulut.

Northville is a resettlement area for those displaced by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991.

Initial investigation showed that Fajardo and her team served a warrant of arrest issued by Ex-

ecutive Judge Divina Luz D. Aquino-Sumbulan of Regional Trial Court against the suspects.

However, upon seeing the policemen, one of the suspects grabbed the service firearm of Fajardo forcing her to grab it back until it went off.

Another policemen shot the suspects including Biliwang, police report said.

OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by former Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia, paving the way for the filing of graft charges against Garcia and 11 others over the allegedly anomalous construction of the Cebu International Convention Center.

Charged with Garcia are bids and awards committee members Eduardo Habin, Roy Salubre, Cristina Gianco, Adolfo Quiroga, Necias Vicoy Jr., Emme Gingoyon, Glenn Baricuatro, Bernard Calderon, Marino Martinquilla and Eulogio Pelayre, and W.T. Construction Inc. vice president Willy Te. In her order, Morales said the alternative methods in the awarding of the P830 million worth of contracts for the engineering, architectural and civil works on the CICC in 2006 were unjustifiable and violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. She also said Garcia gave WTI “unwarranted benefits and caused undue injury to the government” to the tune of at least P257,413,911.73 by allowing the contractor to perform additional work without any appropriation, contract or public bidding.

Morales also dismissed Garcia’s claim the charges are “politically motivated,” saying: “This Office, as a dispenser of justice, ensures that justice is meted out objectively, without fear or favor, and that the cases are decided based on the evidence, not on motives, personalities or political affiliation.”

Benguet to host 1st coffee lab in PH

By Dexter A. See LA TRINIDAD, Benguet— The Department of Trade and Industry will open on Thursday the first ever Shared Service Facility Project for Arabica Coffee Post-harvest Processing and Cupping Laboratory in the country at the Benguet State University.

The Coffee Post-harvest Processing and Cupping Laboratory is expected to continue research and extension services of the University to coffee farmers in the Cordillera region, improve the quality of Arabica coffee products in the Cordillera Region, enhance income generation of Arabica coffee farmers and processors from quality Arabica Coffee products, which will also eventually create alter-

native job opportunities to coffee farmers and their families.

The facility is also expected to improve post-harvest processing methods of Arabica coffee in the production of quality coffee products; provide excellent service to coffee producers and processors; establish quality protocol in the production, post-harvest processing, packaging and marketing of coffee products; and disseminate developed technologies on quality production, post-harvest processing; and packaging to coffee farmers, processors and other stakeholders.

DTI-Regional Operations Group Supervising Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said that the facility will be a big boost not only to the coffee industry but to coffee farmers as well.

“We have partnered with the Benguet State University to lift the coffee industry, especially the Arabica coffee. As we all know, Arabica coffee is one of the 10 high value crops in the Cordillera Administrative Region and is recognized to be of excellent quality by the Coffee Foundation Institute of the Philippines,” Maglaya said.

Under the agreement with DTI-CAR, the Benguet State University will manage the facility and provide technical assistance.

The DTI-CAR Regional Office will regularly conduct monitoring and evaluation on site to ensure efficiency of service.

The DTI identified BSU as cooperator for its active research, extension, instruction and production of organically grown Arabica coffee.

It just makes sense. A worker cleans the solar board of a solar jeepney in Imus, Cavite. This solar-powered vehicle has a maximum speed of 45 kph. DANNY PATA

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

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

ENOUGH OF ELECTIONS

[ EDI TORI A L ]

THE HUNGER GAMES SUPPORTERS of former President Benigno Aquino III who carried placards expressing their thanks around his Times Street residence or who posted messages of gratitude for “a job well done” the day he left office should consider the poll released this week that showed more Filipinos went hungry as his administration came to a close.

The Social Weather Stations survey, which questioned 1,500 adults nationwide from March 30 to April 2, said more Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the preceding three months, with their numbers growing to 3.1 million families from the 2.6 million families in the December survey, and bringing the hunger rate to 13.7 percent of the population, up from 11.7 percent.

Of the 3.1 million families, some 2.6 million said they experienced “moderate hunger” (going hungry only once or a few times in the last three months) while some 481,000 families said they suffered “severe hunger” (“often” or “always” hungry in the last three months).

The latest hunger statistics fly in the face of Mr. Aquino’s claims that his administration had managed to cut back poverty or that his 4Ps dole program had truly benefited millions of poor families.

That more people are going hungry is hardly surprising, given the previous administration’s dismal performance in supporting agricultural development.

Official data show that the 5.8-percent growth in gross domestic product for the full year of 2015 was unmatched by any improvement in agricultural output, despite early boasts that the country would attain self-sufficiency in rice during Mr. Aquino’s term. In fact, the sector actually shrank 0.2 percent in the absence of meaningful support from a government that opened fire on hungry farmers in Kidapawan, North Cotabato, who were demanding food aid in the face of a months-long drought.

The situation was so bad that the socio-economic planning secretary at the time described the agricultural sector as “the biggest roadblock” to the country’s goal of attaining higher and more inclusive growth.

The failure to address declining agricultural production was matched only by the previous administration’s half-hearted implementation of agrarian reforms, as exemplified by the circumvention of a Supreme Court order for the vast sugar estate belonging to the former President’s family to distribute land to tenant farmers.

As the Duterte administration takes over on the promise of change, it will need to address the pressing needs of the growing number of hungry Filipinos. The solution could well lie in a reversal of Mr. Aquino’s years of neglect of agriculture, and the adoption of genuine agrarian reform that improves farm incomes while boosting food production.

IMELDA, NOT CORY LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES LENI Robredo is not turning out to be the new Cory Aquino, like her Yellow boosters wanted her to become. Now, what she really wants to be—and some people have seriously proposed this—is Digong Duterte’s Imelda Marcos.

But hear the woman out.

“Six years,” Vice President

Robredo told a forum last Monday, “is a long time.”

I agree. Especially if you don’t have a real job or any real influence for that long a period.

As defined by the Constitution, Robredo’s job description is that of a spare tire in a car, a benchwarmer in basketball or an understudy in theater. She sits around doing nothing except wait for her big opportunity to come; otherwise, she stays where she is, in a high-profile but limbo-like political state,

getting ready for a break that may never come.

Because Filipinos can vote for a split ticket, they usually pick presidents and vice presidents who don’t belong to the same party. In fact, in the past three decades, only Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Noli de Castro have been elected to the top two posts that they sought in tandem, in 2004.

Past presidents have sought to win over their vice presidents, especially if they ran on differing

A9

Leni looked at the vastly thinned crowd of Yellows behind her and decided she wanted ‘unity’ with Duterte instead.

tickets, by giving them jobs in the Cabinet. Traditional political thinking dictated this strategy, because it is supposedly better to coopt a popular vice president than to allow him to become a full-time critic who will campaign for six years to a captive audience who elected him in the first place.

But President Rodrigo Duterte, we now know, doesn’t really care for tradition—or even subscribe to orthodox political thought. And so he has refused to give a job to Robredo, as if daring her to become his highest-ranking

political foe and critic.

Robredo looked at the vastly thinned crowd of Yellows behind her and decided she wanted “unity” with Duterte instead. Leni, who was being cast by the Yellows as the new Cory leading the opposition like Joan of Arc against the Dictator from Davao, felt that the better offensive was an Imeldific charm offensive.

Leni did not let Duterte’s refusal to make her a part of his official family get her down. Fresh from a

grueling campaign, she decided to wage a new one—to win over the vote of one man, who just happens to be the president.

I give Leni credit for refusing to engage in a protracted political struggle with Duterte that she knows she can never win. But I think Duterte knows that Robredo needs him more than he needs her, because he can give her the position, the influence and the funding to stay relevant in the next years and beyond.

The Standard 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, 8325556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.thestandard.com.ph; E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

ONLINE

can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Robredo understood that while the LP may have funded her campaign (and, many say, engineered her victory), it cannot support a sixyear battle against a powerful and popular president. Ultimately, even the orphaned Yellowists who have made Leni’s new digs in Quezon City their clubhouse saw the wisdom of winning over Duterte—perhaps because they, too, needed jobs, as Teddy Boy Locsin has trenchantly Continued on A11 alleged.

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

THE dust has not even cleared on the May 9 presidential and national elections, and yet we are again headed into another one.

At least P6 billion would be needed to hold the Oct. 31 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, according to the Commission on Elections.

The people are suffering from election fatigue. It does not, after all, really do much to change their lives.

If at all, the change can sometimes be for the worse. Yet local officials are again in a frenzy to keep their posts while the newcomers are raring to dislodge them. This is divisive politics at the grassroots level. These young men and women going into politics will be the next generation of politicians we will see later on as councilors, mayors, provincial board members and ultimately as members of Congress.

The sad part of this process is that the next breed of politicians do not have the best role models for their careers. This early, they see how the game is played. Winning is the paramount consideration.

In view of the fact that we just had an election, can we not postpone, reset the next barangay and SK polls or synchronize it with the proposed election for the Constitutional Convention to amend the Charter?

We will be saving much-needed funds that can well be spent on social amelioration projects if these elections are synchronized.

This, even as the Comelec is rocked by its own internecine warfare between Chairman Andres Baurista and other commissioners. And we all thought anybody or anyone after Boy Brilliant would make a better Comelec chairman.

Duterte names five general in drugs President Rodrigo Duterte, in a bombshell delivered yesterday, named five Philippine National Police generals involved in the illegal drugs trade. In a speech at the anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, Duterte named publicly PNP Generals Marcelo Garbo, Vicente Loot, Bernardo Diaz, Joel Pagdilao and Edgardo Tinio.

General Loot denied his involvement in the illegal drug trade.

The 37-year PNP veteran said the demolition job against him started Continued on A11

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Maan Ilustre Advertising and Marketing Head Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

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

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

ENOUGH OF ELECTIONS

[ EDI TORI A L ]

THE HUNGER GAMES SUPPORTERS of former President Benigno Aquino III who carried placards expressing their thanks around his Times Street residence or who posted messages of gratitude for “a job well done” the day he left office should consider the poll released this week that showed more Filipinos went hungry as his administration came to a close.

The Social Weather Stations survey, which questioned 1,500 adults nationwide from March 30 to April 2, said more Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the preceding three months, with their numbers growing to 3.1 million families from the 2.6 million families in the December survey, and bringing the hunger rate to 13.7 percent of the population, up from 11.7 percent.

Of the 3.1 million families, some 2.6 million said they experienced “moderate hunger” (going hungry only once or a few times in the last three months) while some 481,000 families said they suffered “severe hunger” (“often” or “always” hungry in the last three months).

The latest hunger statistics fly in the face of Mr. Aquino’s claims that his administration had managed to cut back poverty or that his 4Ps dole program had truly benefited millions of poor families.

That more people are going hungry is hardly surprising, given the previous administration’s dismal performance in supporting agricultural development.

Official data show that the 5.8-percent growth in gross domestic product for the full year of 2015 was unmatched by any improvement in agricultural output, despite early boasts that the country would attain self-sufficiency in rice during Mr. Aquino’s term. In fact, the sector actually shrank 0.2 percent in the absence of meaningful support from a government that opened fire on hungry farmers in Kidapawan, North Cotabato, who were demanding food aid in the face of a months-long drought.

The situation was so bad that the socio-economic planning secretary at the time described the agricultural sector as “the biggest roadblock” to the country’s goal of attaining higher and more inclusive growth.

The failure to address declining agricultural production was matched only by the previous administration’s half-hearted implementation of agrarian reforms, as exemplified by the circumvention of a Supreme Court order for the vast sugar estate belonging to the former President’s family to distribute land to tenant farmers.

As the Duterte administration takes over on the promise of change, it will need to address the pressing needs of the growing number of hungry Filipinos. The solution could well lie in a reversal of Mr. Aquino’s years of neglect of agriculture, and the adoption of genuine agrarian reform that improves farm incomes while boosting food production.

IMELDA, NOT CORY LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES LENI Robredo is not turning out to be the new Cory Aquino, like her Yellow boosters wanted her to become. Now, what she really wants to be—and some people have seriously proposed this—is Digong Duterte’s Imelda Marcos.

But hear the woman out.

“Six years,” Vice President

Robredo told a forum last Monday, “is a long time.”

I agree. Especially if you don’t have a real job or any real influence for that long a period.

As defined by the Constitution, Robredo’s job description is that of a spare tire in a car, a benchwarmer in basketball or an understudy in theater. She sits around doing nothing except wait for her big opportunity to come; otherwise, she stays where she is, in a high-profile but limbo-like political state,

getting ready for a break that may never come.

Because Filipinos can vote for a split ticket, they usually pick presidents and vice presidents who don’t belong to the same party. In fact, in the past three decades, only Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Noli de Castro have been elected to the top two posts that they sought in tandem, in 2004.

Past presidents have sought to win over their vice presidents, especially if they ran on differing

A9

Leni looked at the vastly thinned crowd of Yellows behind her and decided she wanted ‘unity’ with Duterte instead.

tickets, by giving them jobs in the Cabinet. Traditional political thinking dictated this strategy, because it is supposedly better to coopt a popular vice president than to allow him to become a full-time critic who will campaign for six years to a captive audience who elected him in the first place.

But President Rodrigo Duterte, we now know, doesn’t really care for tradition—or even subscribe to orthodox political thought. And so he has refused to give a job to Robredo, as if daring her to become his highest-ranking

political foe and critic.

Robredo looked at the vastly thinned crowd of Yellows behind her and decided she wanted “unity” with Duterte instead. Leni, who was being cast by the Yellows as the new Cory leading the opposition like Joan of Arc against the Dictator from Davao, felt that the better offensive was an Imeldific charm offensive.

Leni did not let Duterte’s refusal to make her a part of his official family get her down. Fresh from a

grueling campaign, she decided to wage a new one—to win over the vote of one man, who just happens to be the president.

I give Leni credit for refusing to engage in a protracted political struggle with Duterte that she knows she can never win. But I think Duterte knows that Robredo needs him more than he needs her, because he can give her the position, the influence and the funding to stay relevant in the next years and beyond.

The Standard 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, 8325556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www.thestandard.com.ph; E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

ONLINE

can be accessed at: thestandard.com.ph

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

Robredo understood that while the LP may have funded her campaign (and, many say, engineered her victory), it cannot support a sixyear battle against a powerful and popular president. Ultimately, even the orphaned Yellowists who have made Leni’s new digs in Quezon City their clubhouse saw the wisdom of winning over Duterte—perhaps because they, too, needed jobs, as Teddy Boy Locsin has trenchantly Continued on A11 alleged.

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

THE dust has not even cleared on the May 9 presidential and national elections, and yet we are again headed into another one.

At least P6 billion would be needed to hold the Oct. 31 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, according to the Commission on Elections.

The people are suffering from election fatigue. It does not, after all, really do much to change their lives.

If at all, the change can sometimes be for the worse. Yet local officials are again in a frenzy to keep their posts while the newcomers are raring to dislodge them. This is divisive politics at the grassroots level. These young men and women going into politics will be the next generation of politicians we will see later on as councilors, mayors, provincial board members and ultimately as members of Congress.

The sad part of this process is that the next breed of politicians do not have the best role models for their careers. This early, they see how the game is played. Winning is the paramount consideration.

In view of the fact that we just had an election, can we not postpone, reset the next barangay and SK polls or synchronize it with the proposed election for the Constitutional Convention to amend the Charter?

We will be saving much-needed funds that can well be spent on social amelioration projects if these elections are synchronized.

This, even as the Comelec is rocked by its own internecine warfare between Chairman Andres Baurista and other commissioners. And we all thought anybody or anyone after Boy Brilliant would make a better Comelec chairman.

Duterte names five general in drugs President Rodrigo Duterte, in a bombshell delivered yesterday, named five Philippine National Police generals involved in the illegal drugs trade. In a speech at the anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, Duterte named publicly PNP Generals Marcelo Garbo, Vicente Loot, Bernardo Diaz, Joel Pagdilao and Edgardo Tinio.

General Loot denied his involvement in the illegal drug trade.

The 37-year PNP veteran said the demolition job against him started Continued on A11

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Maan Ilustre Advertising and Marketing Head Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

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

A10

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

KILLING POVERTY

EXPECTATIONS TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has spoken about his administration’s fulfillment of its promise of real change.

The Philippine National Police, now under Chief Rolando dela Rosa, has vowed to cleanse the police ranks of scalawags, who are either in cahoots with drug lords or who themselves are in the trade. PNP officials with pending criminal cases will be sent to Basilan or Sulu to fight the Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

President Duterte himself has given encouraging signs that better days are ahead for business and industry. He has committed to uplift the status of the poor, eliminate red tape and improve the way government transacts with the people.

These are positive signals. This was shown by President Duterte’s twoday dialog with business heads in Davao.

He listened as business groups presented their plans; that he listens at all is, I think, a positive sign. A good leader always listens.

With regard to peace and order, there will be a ceasefire next month between the government and the communists. The government panel will be led

by Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, who will negotiate an agreement with exiled National Democratic Front leaders Jose Ma. Sison and Luis Jalandoni. The two are asking that political prisoners identified with the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army be released.

On China’s claims on some islands in the West Philippine Sea, we still have to wait for the result of the arbitration case we filed before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

China says it will not not be bound by the arbitration tribunal’s

decision, but it will be open to bilateral talks— only if the Philippines also does not abide by the decision.

It could be an uncomfortable situation, but it could decrease tension between China and the Philippines. *** The Duterte administration should bear in mind that it should never negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf Group, especially now that the ISIS has infiltrated Abu lairs in Basilan and Sulu.

And as for the push for a federal form of government, it’s now up to Congress to achieve this through their preferred mode. Congress must also decide on the actual amendments to be made in the law of the land.

President Duterte must be realizing it is so much easier to win the presidency than actually running a country.

On death by hanging, I think Duterte will soon come to a realization that it is easier said than done. Imagine the opposition that would come from the Catholic Church and the pro-life segments of society.

By now, President Duterte must be realizing that winning the presidential race is so much easier than actually being president.

This is why we must, first and foremost, heal political wounds. If we cannot be unified, our country cannot move forward. *** In yesterday’s column, I stressed the need for rehabilitating drug addicts. I believe that while Duterte is focused on eliminating drug lords and dealers, the drug menace

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has taken a direct hand in poverty alleviation. He has, in effect, commandeered the offices and functions of 12 major agencies having to do with the marginalized sectors and the basic needs of the poor and wage earners— food, shelter, and jobs.

Duterte’s direct takeover of the poverty reduction functions of the government is contained in his first Executive Order. EO 01 designates the Cabinet Secretary, Leoncio Evasco, as having supervision of 12 major government agencies—the Philippine Coconut Authority, the National Food Authority, Technical Education Skills Development Authority, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, National AntiPoverty Commission, Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, National Youth Commission, Presidential Action Center, Philippine Commission on Women, and the Cooperative Development Authority.

These agencies cover people who are very poor and marginalized— the jobless (four million Filipinos are utterly jobless; another 12 million are underemployed. The government claims unemployment rate of 6.1 percent, which is a lie); the young (unemployment is highest among the young); women (22 million housewives do unpaid work); the urban poor or squatters (there are about five million squatter families); coconut farmers (four million coconut farmers are among the poorest Filipinos); indigenous peoples (aside from being marginalized and powerless, they are among the poorest, too); and Muslims (the highest poverty incidence and illiteracy rates are in Muslim areas).

These people need three things— food (the poor spend 55 percent of their income on food); jobs (a genuinely robust economy must generate two million new jobs a year—one million because the economy by itself creates a million jobs even if the President of the Philippines were dog, and another one million because the President of the Philippines, it turns out, is not a dog but a decent, honest and hardworking human being); and housing (four million houses were needed yesterday; only 200,000 units are produced every year).

Aside from food, the government should also look into reducing the cost of utilities to help the poor.

cannot be eradicated so long as there is demand for it.

But here lies the problem. While there are some rehabilitation centers put up by the national government, like in Bicutan and Tagaytay, or by local government units, the most these centers can do is separate the addicts from the pushers.

Rehabilitation is not

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ Utilities—fuel, transport, electricity, water—now are about 20 percent of household consumption.

The Philippines has among the highest-priced electricity in the world. Electricity is now 20 percent of the cost of producing goods which means goods are high-priced and because they are high-priced they reduce consumer’s purchasing power. And because the biggest consumers are the poor, high-cost goods make the poor even poorer and more miserable.

The Philippines has also among the most expensive telephone and cellular rates and among the poorest quality telephone services.

Why is there so much poverty in this otherwise rich country?

Because we don’t produce enough food which is 55 percent of consumption. Because the rates on our utilities are astronomically high and utilities are 20 percent of consumption. So 75 percent of our poverty problem is all about food (55 percent) and utilities (20 percent).

Evasco was a rebel priest and a former New People’s Army commander. As Davao’s fiscal, Duterte captured and prosecuted him. Jobless, Evasco went to Duterte when he became mayor and applied for a job.

Duterte took him in as a trusted personal assistant. Today, Evasco will run the government’s biggest economic and social transformation program—poverty reduction.

In the whole of Asia, the Philippines is unique for being the only country to fail to halve poverty in 25 years, from 1990 to 2015, the last full year of the six-year presidency of BS Aquino III. In 1990, 34 percent of Filipinos were poor. In 2015, 26 percent (26 million Filipinos were poor. The 2015 ratio should have been 17 percent, not 26 percent. Since in 1990 the population of the Philippines was 62 million, 34 percent was 21 million—the number of Filipinos who were poor then.

Today, poor Filipinos number 26 million, an increase of 5 million people. The increase happened during the reign of BS Aquino. So all this talk about Daang Matuwid making the Philippines a rising

just isolation. An addict, in the first place, becomes dependent on drugs for various reasons. In these cases, a psychologist or psychiatrist is needed.

I spent years as vice president at DARE Foundation. I have seen many encounters between drug dependents and their families.

There are deeper reasons why they become

economic star is just BS—bullshit.

More Filipinos became poor under the Aquino III presidency than in any presidency before him. Adding insult to injury, Aquino has the gall to claim he is one of the country’s best presidents. E di wow!

Under EO No. 1, Evasco is given the task of supervising the 12 agencies as they “evaluate existing poverty reduction programs and, if deemed necessary, formulate a more responsive set of programs complementing existing ones, channeling resources as necessary to reduce both the incidence and magnitude of poverty.”

Under Evasco, the agencies will also develop “specific programs and projects that seek to reduce poverty, improve the lives of the most vulnerable sectors of society.”

These agencies must improve their “responsiveness”—meaning, do their job.

They are to “conduct consultations with LGUs [local government units] for the proper allocation of resources and program implementation” and “recommend courses of action for the government.”

One of EO 01’s premises is that the attainment of national development goals requires the “efficient, responsive, and just allocation of resources by eliminating duplication or overlapping of common functions, maximizing resource utilization with minimum disruption to operations, coordinating efforts more closely, sharing information, and consistently working in a collaborative manner.”

Duterte’s economic team has said it wants to cut the country’s poverty rate by 30-35 percent during his sixyear term, focusing on projects to lift the rural poor.

This means poverty incidence will be 17 percent by June of 2022—the goal that was missed in 2015.

Between now and 2012, the population will increase at the rate of 1.8 percent per year so that by mid-2022, the number of Filipinos would be 113 million. And 17 percent of that would be 19.2 million.

Deduct that 19.2 million from the 26 million poor today, the number of Filipinos Duterte will rescue from poverty will be 6.79 million.

Compare that to the three million who became poor under Aquino.

Saving almost 7 million poor Filipinos from poverty would have been a milestone achievement. biznewsasia@gmail.com

addicts. It can take more than a year to rehabilitate them.

This is why I think the Duterte administration must establish rehabilitation centers as part of the fight against illegal drugs. This has been adopted in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

The campaign against illegal drugs must be holistic.

*** So will there be pork barrel under the Du30 administration?

The answer is yes, if Congress had its way, by allocating P80 million to neophyte members of the House of Representatives and P150 million to some members of the Senate.

This P80 million is broken down as P30 Continued on A11

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

A11

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

MAKE HOSPITALS COME CLEAN ABOUT ERRORS Bloomberg editorial MEDICAL errors, by one count, are the third-leading cause of death for Americans.

Surgery mistakes, misuse of drugs or equipment, delays in treatment and the like kill at least 100,000 a year, possibly as many as half a million.

No one knows the exact number, and that points up an underlying problem: Hospitals almost universally resist confessing when a medical error hurts or kills a patient, because admitting

Imelda... From A9 *** Duterte and Robredo finally met late last week, during the turnover rites for the National Police. And after they met last Monday in Malacañang, where Leni paid Digong a visit, the Yellows seem to have convinced themselves that change is indeed coming—Robredo is no longer the political outcast that everyone thought she would become.

And what’s a cool new pairing without a mashed-up hashtag of the couple’s names? They have one now: #Dubredo.

But I’m really not so sure about that. After all, like her entire party before, from Noynoy Aquino on down, Robredo may once again be guilty of misreading and underestimating Duterte.

My own suspicion is that Duterte is such an old-school gentleman that he cannot really bear to be rude to a woman. And because Robredo’s only real sin against Digong is to be in the company of the Liberals, Leni is betting that if she doesn’t sound like the new Abigail Valte, she will be able to wear his resistance down.

That is certainly what Robredo, the new, concilia-

fault can expose them to lawsuits. Getting them to overcome this reluctance is essential—to let patients and their families know the truth, and to ensure that hospitals become safer by learning from their mistakes.

The federal government has made only a token, indirect effort to push for greater truthfulness. It demands that hospitals be accredited to qualify for Medicare funds, and the largest accrediting organization, a private group called the Joint Commission, requires hospitals to tell

patients or families when something goes seriously wrong. But this rule isn’t enforced; hospitals don’t lose their accreditation when they conceal errors.

So this year, the Department of Health and Human Services is trying anew strategy: It’s recommending that hospitals quickly admit fault for their errors and offer compensation, by following a detailed set of steps. The model has been adopted by the University of Michigan Health System,

tory Yellows and their media sympathizers want to happen.

“We cannot afford wars,” as Robredo herself said, because “there’s a lot that still needs to be done.”

I never thought I’d see the day when the Yellows, who have always believed that they have a monopoly of righteousness, would embrace somebody like Duterte, even if only for six years. I actually expected that Robredo would follow in Cory’s footsteps, instead of becoming just another practical, conniving and unprincipled politician.

Oh, well. I guess if the Yellows who said they would immigrate if Duterte wins still haven’t even packed overnight bags and are now #Dubredo fans, I can’t really be more righteous than they are.

After all, even the sainted Cory wholeheartedly supported Gloria Arroyo against the supposedly corrupt and immoral Erap Estrada. Until Arroyo made a move to distribute Hacienda Luisita, of course, prompting Cory and her brood to accuse Arroyo of being immoral and corrupt, too, as they reprised the role of “principled” opposition leaders.

Hypocrites.

#FAILOCRACY

MedStar Health and other hospitals, and research has demonstrated why it works: When patients and families are given the truth, they become less likely to sue.

It’s not a fail-safe solution.

After all, hospitals face an inherent conflict in determining when to call something an error and whether to offer money (and how much). The best programs acknowledge this by requiring hospital staff to recommend that patients or families get legal representation, and by

Enough... From A9 when his wife entered Cebu politics, adding he was already cleared when he retired two years ago.

Cebu politics, as anyone knows, is a rough-andtumble thing. Mudslinging is pervasive even within the province’s political dynasties.

Initially, Duterte hinted that there were only three PNP generals who were protectors of drug lords and criminal syndicates. The five generals implicated by Duterte were ordered to report to the PNP higherups. That is, if some of them have not yet left the country after Duterte put the heat on illegal drug criminals with the

PNP’s all-out war against drugs and other forms of criminality.

This is a move Duterte would gain points for.

Illegal drugs have ruined many lives particularly among the youth. It used to be the Philippines was a mere transshipment point for illegal drugs but in the last few years the country developed into a source with many illegal drug laboratories being run by Chinese criminal syndicates.

In fairness to the accused police generals, they must be given the chance to clear their names from these serious allegations made no less by the President of the Republic.

Also yesterday, Duterte

Expectations... From A10 million for “soft projects” like hospitalization, scholarships, training and livelihood, and another P50 million for so-called “hard projects” or infrastructure.

Under the BS Aquino administration, each congressman got P70 million as pork barrel.

In fact, even before the opening of Congress later this month, these so-called “hard” and “soft” projects for neophyte

submitting to outside audits to ensure compensation offers are fair. The HHS program ought to include those steps.

More important, HHS should make its plan more than just a recommendation.

Hospitals should face federal penalties for failing to report errors, including, at a minimum, the loss of some Medicare funding. The come-clean approach can save lives, and hospitals should be not just encouraged, but required, to follow it. met with Vice President Leni Robredo who called on him at Malacañang, VP Robredo said the meeting was very cordial and that she did not call on him to ask for a Cabinet post.

Since she expressed her support for the President, why not give her a post where she can contribute to the success of the administration? Perhaps she can head a center for the rehabilitation of drug abuse victims without necessarily being the Secretary of Social Work and Development. It’s such a waste of human resources for one elected by the people not being able to serve them to the fullest extent of her capability and competence.

congressmen have already been submitted. This also goes for new senators.

Thus, the pork barrel system is still alive and kicking. Santa Banana, why do you think people run for Congress? For the pork barrel system, of course, if only to recover their expenses during the campaign period.

As always, it’s payback time for members of Congress. Happy days are here again for them. The name of the game, as always, is political patronage at the people’s expense.

CHONG ARDIVILLA

A12

we dn e s day : J uly 6 , 2 0 1 6

sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Murray-Federer showdown looms LONDON, United Kingdom—Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Serena Williams cruised into the Wimbledon last eight on ‘Manic Monday’ as Dominika Cibulkova pondered cancelling her wedding following her shock run to the quarterfinals.

Cycling cheats hard to detect BUDAPEST, Hungary—There is no perfect method to detect hidden motors in bicycles, the Hungarian who pioneered the system claimed on Monday, as Tour de France organizers vowed to stamp out technological fraud.

Cycling authorities are taking the issue of tech fraud seriously with a thermal camera and magnetic resonance detectors being used at the Tour de France for the first time this year to try to trip up the cheats.

But Hungarian Istvan Varjas, who claims to have developed the system some 15 years ago, insisted there was “no perfect method” of detecting hidden motors.

“The thermal cameras don’t always work especially if the motor is switched off at the time of testing,” Varjas told Index.hu. “And the cyclists are not cheating alone as sometimes the motors are in the wheels and activated from a distance.”

Tour organizers however have considered this and will be using motorcycle mounted equipment to take secret checks.

Varjas himself suggested however what he felt to be a valid method of testing without looking for motors at all.

“Simply test riders on a mountain and check their maximum performance, if a rider then surpasses this by five percent it would clearly indicate (cheating),” he said.

The first case of motor fraud was detected in January on the bike to a young Belgian competitor at the cyclo-cross World Championships.

The 19-year-old was banned for six years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,000/18,180 euros). AFP

Britain’s Andy Murray raises his hand after winning his match against Australia’s Nick Kyrgios at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships on July 4. AFP

Montano blasts ‘corrupt’ IAAF after Olympic agony

Alysia Montano cries in frustration after falling down the track in the Women’s 800 Meter Final during the 2016 US Olympic Track and Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on July 4 in Eugene, Oregon. AFP

EUGENE, United States—Alysia Montano launched a blistering attack on track and field’s world governing body here Monday as her dream of Olympic redemption after being denied a series of medals by dope cheats ended in tears.

The 30-year-old Montano—an outspoken voice in the fight against doping—was left distraught after an apparent collision with Brenda Martinez sent her crashing to the track on the final bend of the 800m at the US Olympic trials.

Montano picked herself up but staggered across the finishing line in last place sobbing as the realization that her hopes of earning a place on the US team for Rio de Janeiro had evaporated.

It was an agonizing climax to what has been a tumultuous year for Montano, whose world has been upended by the revelations that emerged in the doping scandal that has led to Russia being barred from the Olympics.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigation found evidence of a state-sponsored doping program in Russian athletics that Montano believes robbed her of medals at the world championships in 2011 and 2013 as well as the London Olympics in 2012.

One of her main rivals, Mariya Savinova, is facing a lifetime ban from the sport following the revelations.

“I’m missing three medals. In my eight years of life as a professional runner, my entire professional life has been a farce,” Montano told reporters tearfully at Hayward Field here Monday.

“Everyone’s coming out and talking about the Russians not running in the Olympics—but they’re missing the whole point that the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) is a corrupt institution which is still running the game for us professional athletes.” AFP

Murray racked-up his 50th Wimbledon match win while Federer reached the quarterfinals for the 14th time as the top two remaining seeds edged closer to a dream title match.

Second seeded Murray, the 2013 champion, eased to a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios and will next face French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Federer equaled Jimmy Connors’ mark of 14 quarterfinals at Wimbledon and tied Martina Navratilova’s all-time Slam record of 306 match wins by seeing off Steve Johnson of the United States 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

Serena Williams powered into her 12th Wimbledon quarterfinal as the defending champion clinched a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

World number one Williams hit 43 winners and served 14 aces as she won the last nine games on Centre Court to remain on course for a record-equalling 22nd major title and a seventh Wimbledon crown.

“She has played really well against me in the past and she beat me earlier this year so I know that I had to play really well to win this,” Williams said of the Kuznetsova clash.

The 34-year-old, an eighttime Wimbledon finalist, will next play Russian 21st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Coco Vandeweghe of the United States.

Kyrgios, the 15th seed who defeated Rafael Nadal at the tournament in 2014, did not force a break point on Murray’s serve as he slipped to his fifth loss in five meetings against the world number two.

“The first set was very tight. I managed to get the break at 6-5 but it was very tight up to that point,” explained Murray.

Kyrgios condemned his own performance.

“The first set was OK but after that it was pathetic,” said the 21-year-old.

Seven-time champion Federer, the third seed, next takes on Croatia’s Marin Cilic for a place in the semifinals. AFP

we dn e s day : J uly 6 , 2 0 1 6

A13

sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

SEAOIL backs Tayao’s F4 training SEAOIL Philippines recently sent its youngest brand ambassador, Gabe Tayao to the famed Formula 1 circuit in Malaysia to test Formula 4 single-seater cars as an initial preparation for the F4 Southeast Asia Championships to be held later this year at the Sepang International Circuit.

“We are happy to have been there for Gabe since his early years, from a novice to becoming the country’s reigning Karter of the Year as well as an Asian Karting Champion. We are excited to see him soar higher as he now moves up to cars and formula single-seaters,” said Seaoil CFO Mark Yu. Debuting this year worldwide as the official entry level to Formula 1, F4 race series are held simultaneously in several countries. The F4 SEA in particular, has 30 races held across six rounds in Malaysia and Thailand.

“It’s a harder climb up the motorsports ladder but nevertheless, I am proud to represent the Philippines as one of the pioneers in the F4 grid comprising Asian champions who have likewise moved up from karting,” said Tayao.

Headed by Meritus GP, the F4 SEA is a single-team motorsport championship with highly experienced international engineers, providing young drivers with technical and circuit training. It also provides a platform to create successful international motorsport heroes.

Backed by Victoria Court, DC and Gold’s Gym, the 16 year old Tayao is likewise training under the tutelage of Car Porn Racing for GT races in between his F4 race schedules and school obligations where he is a graduating student of Makati Hope Christian School.

PH’s Oliva fights Waseem for title

By Ronnie Nathanielsz DANGEROUS former world title contender Jether “The General” Oliva (23-5-2, with 11 KOs) battles Pakistani star, Muhammad Waseem, who has a record of 3 knockouts in 3 wins, for the World Boxing Council Silver Flyweight title at the Millennium Hilton Hotel, in Seoul, Korea.

The WBC reported the fight has undergone several important changes and amendments. It was moved from Singapore to the luxury Millennium Seoul Hilton.

The winner will rise in the WBC rankings, on the way to WBC flyweight King, Roman ”Chocoaltito “ Gonzalez.

“This fight is very important for Waseem and his promoter, Andy Kim (Promotions AK), who are aware of the significant responsibility,” the WBC said.

Kim indicated: “I am very thankful to the WBC for this great opportunity. I have no doubts that Waseem will prove he is ready for great things. I am sure he will conquer the WBC silver belt. ” Waseem is preparing in Las Vegas with popular and accomplished trainer Jeff Mayweather, the uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Oliva lost two fights against vaunted opponents. On Feb. 20 this year, he lost by a 10-round shutout, 100-91, to former world champion Pedro Guevara and previously dropped a unanimous 12-round decision to Zolani Tete in a vacant WBO Africa super flyweight title bout.

“Oliva proved to be a tougher opponent than expected as he absorbed damaging blows throughout the fight and only went down once in round four,” said Tete added. “I give Jether props for hanging in there despite the beating I dished out. He is made of sterner stuff.”

Gabriel Tayao: It’s a harder climb up the motorsports ladder but nevertheless, I am proud to represent the Philippines as one of the pioneers in the F4 grid comprising Asian champions who have likewise moved up from karting.

RP Blu Girls open bid against United States THE CEBUANA Lhuillier-backed RP Blu Girls get its World Cup campaign going as the team takes on the United States in today’s game in Oklahoma City, USA. The team, which is eyeing to eventually make the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has undergone rigorous training in the past months in a bid to make a good showing in this tournament.

“I am very confident that our girls will give other teams a run for their money in this tournament.

I have been challenging

them to not just be competitive but to win games here. I‘ve always believed in the Filipino talent and softball is one team sport where we can be at par with the world’s best,” said newly re-elected Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines President Jean Henri Lhuillier.

The RP Blu Girls will

compete against two teams from the USA, world no. 1 Japan, China, Mexico, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Venezuela in the World Cup, which will be on July 5 to 10.

“This is just the first step towards our goal of making the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Our girls need as much international exposure as they can get to use to the high standards of competition. Our goal is not just to make the 2020 Olympics, but to contend for a medal

when that time comes,” added Lhuillier.

The team will also be playing in the World Women’s Softball Championships on July 15 to 24 and will be pitted against powerhouse teams such as USA, Canada, France, Italy, Puerto Rico, Czech Republic, India, Chinese Taipei and Mexico, among others.

The RP Blu Girls are a perennial champion of Southeast Asia and are one of the top teams in Asia. Their international stints are made possible thru the sponsorship of Cebuana Lhuillier.

La Salle, Arellano jins shine in taekwondo opener POWERHOUSE De la Salle and surprising Arellano swept their men’s and women’s senior division matches at the start of the MVPSFMeralco Philippine Taekwondo League at the SM Bicutan Mall activity center in Paranaque last Sunday.

The reigning PTL men’s champions, the La Salle jins whipped Lyceum, 3817, while their female counterparts polished off Rizal Technological University, 29-11, in the event organized by the Philippine Taekwondo Association and sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and Meralco.

Sharing the spotlight was Arellano, which got off to shaky start in nipping University of the East, 26-25, in the men’s division before Intense senior men’s division action between La Salle (left) and its women’s squad sent noLyceum in the MVPSF-Meralco Philippine Taekwondo League at tice that it would be a team the SM Bicutan Mall activity center last Sunday. to reckon with by humbling

College of St. Benilde, 20-6, in a battle of NCAA teams.

Lyceum also wielded the upset axe in the women’s division in routing defending champion University of the East, 30-10, in the competition also backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission.

Tournament director Stephen Fernandez welcomed strong turnout in the 2016 edition of the competition meant to identify future athletes who could make it to the national pool and compete in international meets.

“This is one of the showpiece tournaments of the PTA as the Philippine Taekwondo League is a proving ground for our future national athletes for overseas competition,” Fernandez, himself a former national team mainstay, said.

WEDNESDAY : JULY 6, 2016

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Department of Finance Department of Trade and Industry JOINT ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 1-2016 RULES AND REGULATIONS TO IMPLEMENT REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10708 Pursuant to Section 10 of Republic Act No. 10708, entitled “An Act Enhancing Transparency in the Management and Accounting of Tax Incentives Administered by Investment Promotion Agencies, otherwise known as the Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (TIMTA)”, the Secretaries of the Department of Finance and the Department of Trade and Industry, in coordination with the Director-General of the National Economic Development Authority, Commissioners of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs, and Heads of concerned Investment Promotions Agencies, hereby promulgate the following Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR):

RULE V PROMOTION AND REGULATION OF INVESTMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION OF INCENTIVES BY THE IPAs SECTION 1. Non-diminution of Incentives. – Nothing in this IRR shall be construed to diminish or limit, in whatever manner, the amount of incentives that IPAs may grant pursuant to their charters and existing laws; or to prevent, deter, or delay the promotion and regulation of investments, processing of applications for registrations, and evaluation of entitlement of incentives by IPAs. RBEs availing of incentives shall comply with the incentives validation requirements of their respective IPAs. For avoidance of doubt, the IPAs shall not be precluded from exercising their authority to evaluate or validate any application for availment of ITH and/or other income-based tax incentives and from endorsing the result of the same to other agencies: Provided, That, such evaluation or validation by the concerned IPA is required under its applicable laws, rules and guidelines.

RULE VI

RULE I

NON-COMPLIANCE WITH FILING AND REPORTORIAL REQUIREMENTS

GENERAL PROVISIONS SECTION 1. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to promote fiscal accountability and transparency in the grant and management of tax incentives by developing means to promptly measure the government’s fiscal exposure on these grants and to enable the government to monitor, review and analyze the economic impact thereof and thereby optimize the social benefit of such incentives.

SECTION 1. Penalty for Non-compliance with Filing and Reportorial Requirements. — Any RBE which fails to comply with the filing and reportorial requirements with the appropriate IPAs and/or fails to show proof of filing of tax returns to IPAs using the electronic system for filing and payment of taxes of the BIR shall be imposed with the following penalties:

SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. — As used in this IRR, the following definitions shall apply: a.

b.

“Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs)” shall refer to government entities created by law, executive order, decree or other issuance, in charge of promoting investments, administering tax and non-tax incentives, and/or overseeing the operations of the different economic zones and freeports in accordance with their respective charters. These include the Board of Investments (BOI), Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Clark Development Corporation (CDC), John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC), Poro Point Management Corporation (PPMC), Bataan Technology Park, Inc. (BTPI), Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone Authority (ZCSEZA), Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA), Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO), Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB), Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and all other similar authorities that may be created by law in the future;

a.

First (1st) violation — payment of a fine amounting to one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00);

b.

Second (2nd) violation — payment of a fine amounting to five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00); and

c.

Third (3rd) violation — cancellation of the registration of the registered business entity.

Provided, That, the failure to show such proof shall not be a ground for the suspension of the ITH and/or other incomebased tax incentives availment where such failure is not due to the fault of the RBE. SECTION 2. Penalty for Government Official or Employee. — Any government official or employee who fails without justifiable reason to provide or furnish the required tax incentives report or other data or information as required under this IRR shall be penalized, after due process, by a fine equivalent to the official’s or employee’s basic salary for a period of one (1) month to six (6) months or by suspension from government service for not more than one (1) year, or both, in addition to any criminal and administrative penalties imposable under existing laws.

RULE VII

“Registered Business Entity (RBE)” shall refer to any individual, partnership, corporation, Philippine branch of a foreign corporation or other entity incorporated and/or organized and existing under Philippine laws and registered with an IPA;

FUNDING

c.

“Tax incentives” shall refer to fiscal incentives such as those which come in the form of income tax holidays (ITH), exemptions, deductions, credits or exclusions from the tax base, as provided by law, to RBEs;

Such amount necessary to carry out the implementation of these Rules shall be sourced from the current General Appropriations Act.

d.

“Annual Tax Incentives Report of Registered Business Entity” shall refer to the report to be submitted

by RBEs to its respective IPA containing complete information on income-based tax incentives, valueadded tax (VAT) incentives, duty exemptions, deductions, credits, exclusions from the tax base and other information required under these rules.

The report shall be in matrix format as presented in “Annex A.1” for ITH and other income-based tax incentives and “Annex A.2” for VAT incentives and duty exemptions.

e.

The IPAs, NEDA Secretariat, BIR, BOC and DOF shall endeavor within a period of three (3) years to automate their systems with a view to generating data and reports electronically. For this purpose, the said agencies shall be granted their budgetary requirements to meet the objectives of these Rules.

RULE VIII

“Consolidated Annual Tax Incentives Report” shall refer to the report to be submitted by the IPAs to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) based on the Annual Tax Incentives Report of RBEs. The reports shall be in matrix format as presented in “Annex B.1” for ITH and other income-based tax incentives and “Annex B.2” for VAT incentives and duty exemptions; and

f.

For this purpose, the DOF, NEDA Secretariat and IPAs shall be granted supplemental budget, subject to DBM Rules and Regulations, for the development and/or enhancement of systems and database with a view to generating data and reports electronically.

“Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report” shall refer to the tax incentives report to be submitted by the IPAs to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretariat containing the aggregate tax incentives and investment-related data, on a sectoral or per industry basis using the Philippine Standard for Industrial Classification (PSIC), including, but not limited to, investment projects, investment cost, actual employment, export earnings and all other benefits derived from the registered projects. In cases wherein the sector or industry is not classified under the PSIC, the NEDA Secretariat shall refer such matters to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA); and, in the interim, adopt a proxy classification for the purpose of completing the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) on investment incentives within the period provided in this IRR.

REVIEW The DOF, DTI, and NEDA Secretariat in coordination with the IPAs shall, if necessary, conduct a general review of their rules, policies and programs in relation with this IRR within five (5) years from the effectivity thereof.

RULE IX FINAL PROVISIONS SECTION 1. Transitory Provisions. – The first submission of all the reports required under this IRR shall be as follows: a.

For income-based tax incentives covering taxable year 2015:

The NEDA Secretariat shall provide the definition of investment projects, investment cost, actual employment and export earnings.

RULE II

Submission by RBE to IPA

Submission by IPA to BIR of Consolidated Annual Tax Incentives Report and to NEDA Secretariat of Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report

Submission of BIR to DOF

Submission by IPA to NEDA Secretariat of other relevant data or information

September 15, 2016

November 15, 2016

January 15, 2017

March 15, 2017

COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTERED BUSINESS ENTITIES Section 1. Filing of Tax Returns and Payment of Tax Liabilities. – All RBEs shall file their tax returns and pay their tax liabilities, on or before the deadline as provided under the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), as amended, using the electronic system for filing and payment of taxes of the BIR. The IPAs, where required under applicable laws, rules and guidelines, shall consider only electronically filed tax returns for purposes of availing income-based tax incentives.

In the event the electronic system for filing and payment of taxes of BIR is unavailable, as evidenced by a written advice issued by the BIR, the RBEs shall file and/or pay the taxes due on or before the statutory deadline manually, in which case the BIR duly stamped tax returns shall be accepted by the IPAs. However, upon written advice of the availability of the electronic system for filing issued by the BIR, the RBEs shall within fifteen (15) days from the date of said written advice, electronically file their tax returns which was initially filed manually.

SECTION. 2. Submission of Annual Tax Incentives Report. – RBEs, availing of incentives administered by the IPAs, shall file with their respective IPAs an Annual Tax Incentives Report within thirty (30) days from the statutory deadline for filing of the Final Adjustment Return for Income Tax and payment of tax due thereon, if any.

RULE III INCENTIVES MONITORING MECHANISM SECTION 1. Role of Incentives Promotion Agencies. – The heads of the IPAs shall: a.

Submit to the BIR a master list (“Annex C”) of all RBEs, whether granted incentives or not, within thirty (30) days after the approval of this IRR. The master list shall be updated within thirty (30) days after the close of each calendar year.

b.

Submit to the BIR the Consolidated Annual Tax Incentives Report on income-based tax incentives (Annex B.1) and the Consolidated Annual Tax Incentives Report on VAT incentives and duty exemptions (Annex B.2) within sixty (60) days from the statutory deadline for filing of Final Adjustment Return and payment of taxes due thereon, if any, of those employing the Calendar Year accounting period. The IPAs shall include in the said report the Annual Tax Incentives Report on income tax and Annual Tax Incentive Report on VAT incentives and duty exemptions of RBEs employing the Fiscal Year accounting period with fiscal years ending within the subject year. Thus:

Accounting Period

Year Ending On

For VAT and duty exemptions covering calendar year 2015:

Submission by RBE to IPA

Submission by IPA to BIR of Consolidated Annual Tax Incentives Report and to NEDA Secretariat of Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report

Submission of BOC to DOF

Submission by IPA to NEDA Secretariat of other relevant data or information

September 15, 2016

November 15, 2016

January 15, 2017

March 15, 2017

SECTION 2. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this IRR is subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional, other provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 3. Repealing Clause. – All other rules and regulations or parts thereof, inconsistent with the foregoing rules and regulations are repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 4. Effectivity. – This IRR shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its publication in a newspaper of general circulation and filing of three (3) copies hereof with the Office of the National Administrative Register (ONAR) University of the Philippines (UP) Law Center, Diliman, Quezon City pursuant to Presidential Memorandum Circular No. 11 dated 09 October 1992.

APPROVED, this 23 June 2016.

CESAR V. PURISIMA Secretary Department of Finance

ADRIAN S. CRISTOBAL JR. Secretary Department of Trade and Industry

IPAs shall submit on:

Calendar Year

December 31

June 14 of the following year

Fiscal Year

January – November

June 14 of the following year

c.

b.

Submit to the NEDA Secretariat an Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report within four (4) months from the statutory deadline for filing of Final Adjustment Return and payment of taxes due thereon, if any, of those employing the Calendar Year accounting period. The IPAs shall include in the said report the Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report of RBEs employing the Fiscal Year accounting period with fiscal years ending within the subject year. Thus:

Accounting Period

Year Ending On

IPAs shall submit on:

Calendar Year

December 31

August 14 of the following year

Fiscal Year

January – November

August 14 of the following year

d.

Submit to the NEDA Secretariat other relevant data or information, such as, but not limited to, aggregate incentives claimed as validated by the IPAs, where required under applicable laws, rules and guidelines, within nine (9) months after the statutory deadline for filing of tax returns and payment of taxes due thereon, for the conduct of a CBA.

e.

Disseminate information for the RBEs to provide proper information in their reports.

SECTION 2. Role of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. – The BIR shall: a.

On or before September 15 of every year, submit to the Department of Finance (DOF), notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the tax incentives of RBEs as reflected in their filed annual tax returns: Provided, That, pursuant to Section 270 of the NIRC, as amended, such submission of BIR to the DOF shall not contain specific names of the RBEs or other identifiers.

b.

Within ninety (90) days after the lapse of the said period to assess provided under the NIRC, as amended, update the foregoing report with income-based tax incentives, deductions, credits or exclusions from the gross income as assessed under the NIRC, and submit the same to the DOF and NEDA Secretariat.

SECTION 3. Role of the Bureau of Customs (BOC). – The BOC shall, on or before September 15 of every year, submit to the DOF, notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the VAT and duty incentives availed by RBEs as reflected in their filed import entries.

SECTION 4. Role of the Department of Finance. – For purposes of monitoring and transparency, the DOF shall have the following responsibilities: a.

Maintain a single database for monitoring and analysis of tax incentives granted; and

b.

On or before June 30 of the subsequent year, submit to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee created under Section 9 of RA 10708, and upon request, to the NEDA Secretariat the aggregate data categorized by sector, by IPA and by type of tax: (1)

the amount of tax incentives availed by RBEs;

(2)

the estimated claims of tax incentives immediately preceding the current year;

(3)

the programmed tax incentives for the current year; and

(4)

the projected tax incentives for the following year.

SECTION 5. Role of Department of Budget and Management. – The aforesaid data shall be reflected by the DBM in the annual Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF), which shall be known as the Tax Incentives Information (TII) section: Provided, That the TII shall be limited to the aggregate data related to incentives availed of by RBEs based on the submissions of the DOF and the concerned IPAs, categorized by sector, by IPA and type of incentive.

RULE IV CONDUCT OF COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS ON INVESTMENT INCENTIVES SECTION 1. Role of the National Economic and Development Authority Secretariat. – The NEDA Secretariat shall: a.

Conduct a CBA on the investment incentives to determine the impact of tax incentives on the Philippine economy.

b.

Conduct a CBA of the Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report yearly, within six (6) months from the acceptance of the required submissions from all IPAs as specified in Rule III Section 1 (c) and (d). In the event that IPAs are unable to submit the required submission as specified in Rule III, the NEDA Secretariat shall conduct a CBA and indicate in the CBA report the limitations, as necessary.

c.

Provide to the DOF, DTI, IPAs, DBM and Joint Congressional Oversight Committee the results of the CBA.

SECTION 2. Inputs to the Cost-Benefit Analysis. – The NEDA Secretariat shall utilize the following information: a.

Aggregate Annual Tax Incentives Report as submitted by the IPAs pursuant to Rule III Section 1 (c) and (d) and the aggregate incentives claimed as validated by the relevant IPAs, where applicable;

b.

Information from the DOF database for monitoring and analysis tax incentives granted pursuant to Rule III Section 4 (b);

c.

Other information and reports, as endorsed by DOF and DTI; and

d.

All other material information to be identified by the NEDA Secretariat.

All reports submitted must be accepted by the NEDA Secretariat and should be in electronic and hard copy.

(TS-JULY 6, 2016)

Lascuña eyes 3rd straight triumph TONY Lascuña hopes to buck fatigue and the expected charge of a slew of rivals as he kicks off his bid for a third straight victory on the Philippine Golf Tour in the ICTSI Bacolod Golf Challenge unfolding Wednesday at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club in Binitin.

“I’m a little bit tired but I still feel good,” said Lascuña, playing on his third straight week, including a stint in the Asian PGA Tour in Taiwan last week.

Though he wound up way below at joint 69th in the Yeanger Tournament Players’ Championship, the veteran campaigner remains upbeat of his chances, ready to add another title to his victories at Eagle Ridge and Forest Hills last month.

To prepare himself for another grueling campaign, the 46-yearold Lascuña skipped yesterday’s pro-am and will start at 7:40 a.m. today on No. 10 with Charles Hong and Rene Menor.

“I just need a good start and let’s see what happens from there. But this will be anybody’s race with so many others raring to score a win on this short but challenging course,” said Lascuna.

Premium will be on accuracy with the tight par-70 layout expected to punish wayward shots and its unpredictable putting surface tipped to spell the difference between victory and defeat.

“I like my chances here,” said Cassius Casas, also out to snap a long title spell in the circuit sponsored by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. Overnight rain actually softened the narrow fairways a bit with rookie pro Justin Quiban also putting emphasis on course management.

“The course is tight and short and the long hitters will have to make a lot of adjustments to score here,” said Quiban, who made a strong showing of joint third with Angelo Que at Luisita Championship won

by Lascuña last April but has struggled the last few tournaments.

Quiban drew veteran Elmer Salvador and former leg winner Joenard Rates in the 7:30 a.m. flight on No. 1 while Casas will tee off at 7:20 at the back with Rufino Bayron and Jun Bernis.

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

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Athletics hoping to send 4 PH bets to Rio Olympics

By Peter Atencio

WITH long jumper Marestella Torres-Sunang hitting the qualifying mark to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, hopes are high that there will be more legitimate qualifiers.

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association secretary-general Nonoy Unso said this after Torres-Sunang became the third outright qualifier in athletics.

“Sana may mag-qualify pa para maging apat,” said Unso after receiving a copy of TorresSunang’s performance in the 2016 Kazakhstan Open.

Unso said they are awaiting official confirmation on TorresSunang’s status from the International Association of Athletics Federations.

On the other hand, Filipino pole vaulter EJ Obiena is still hopeful that he will make it to Rio Games.

He is currently competing in Europe under the guidance

of famed pole vault coach Vitaly Petrov. Obiena will enter in three competitions before July 11, the day the International Association of Athletics Federations announces the finals list of qualifiers to the games.

On Monday (Manila time), Sunang-Torres cleared 6.72 meters under not so windy conditions on her sixth and final attempt.

Torres-Sunang, who clinched three gold medals during her stint in tournaments in Kazakhstan, won the gold after beating Kyrgystan rival Anna Bylanova, who settled for the silver with her feat of 5.97 meters.

A wind condition of 0.8 meters was present during TorresSunang’s attempt. But it was below the legal limit of 2.0 meters/ second.

“It’s a legal jump. She surpassed the Olympic entry mark of 6.7 meters.

Dzolba Oksana of Almaty took the bronze in 5.75 meters.

This is the second time that Torres-Sunang has legitimately made it to the Olympiad since 2012.

She made it to the London Games when she cleared 6.71 meters in the Palembang Southeast Asian Games back in 2011.

Blockbuster weekend at the race track

By Peter Paul Duran THE Manila Jockey Club is set to host the third and final leg of the Philippine Racing Commission’s Triple Crown, as well as the 2nd Erap Cup on Sunday, dubbed as a blockbuster weekend at the San Lazaro Park in Cavite.

The joint event could even go down in history as the highest-paying horse-racing competition with a total purse of over P10 million.

“For the first time in history, we will be surpassing the Ten Million Peso mark in total prize money for the day,” said Albert Dichavez, director of the Public Recreation Bureau of Manila in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum in Shakey’s Malate.

The competition, which is the culminating event in the celebration of Araw ng Maynila, will also help raise funds for the Erap Para sa Mahirap and the Oasis of Love Foundations.

“It’s definitely going to be a blockbuster weekend, not only for the City of Manila, but for the entire fandom of horse racing in the Philippines,” said Jose Ramon Magboo, racing manager of Manila Jockey Club.

The third leg of the Triple Crown will see a face-off between 1st leg winner Radioactive of SC Stockfarm and Hermie Eguerra’s second-leg champ Dewey Boulevard.

“Third fight nila ito kaya expect a thrilling race,” said Philracom commissioner Atty. Dondon Bagatsing.

“Siyempre hindi rin naman natin puwedeng ipagkaila ‘yung tatlo pang kasali,” said the racing official of the three other Triple Crown entries in Underwood (Stony Road Horse Farm), Guatemala (Engr. Jun Sevilla), and Homonhon Island (Wilbert Tan).

Proponents of Sunday’s blockbuster racing are shown during their guesting at the PSA Forum in Shakey’s Malate. They are (from left) Manny Santos, President of Philtobo; Albert Dichavez, Director Public Recreations Bureau, Manila; Atty. Dondon Bagatsing, Philracom Commissioner; and Jose Ramon Magboo, Manager, Manila Jockey Club. LINO SANTOS

Dela Torre spars with The Jackal UNBEATEN Filipino Harmonito “Hammer”‘ Dela Torre is now the sparring mate of reigning world super bantamweight champion Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux, who is prepared to defend one of his three world titles—the World Boxing Association super bantamweight crown against James Dickens in the Ice Arena in Cardiff, Wales on July 16.

The manager of Dela Torre, Jim Claude “JC” Manangquil, informed The Standard that according to Dela Torre’s coach Osmin “More” Fernandez,

the promising Filipino boxer did well in sparring against the former Cuban Olympian, who had an impressive victory over Nonito Donaire.

“This type of top-caliber fighter is a good learning experience,” Manangquil said.

Rigondeaux is undefeated with a record of 16-0 with 10 knockouts, while Dela Torre has an unblemished record of 18-0, with 12 knockouts.

Dela Torre is scheduled to spar again on Thursday at Moro’s Gym in Miami.

Ronnie Nathanielsz

LOTTO RESULTS

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

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

National U gains League of Champ semifinals TITLE favorite National University and Central Philippine University came away with a pair of straight-set romps with the former formalizing its stint in the Final Four and the latter assuring itself of a playoff in the Shakey’s Girls’ Volleyball League of Champions Season 14 at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig late Monday.

The Lady Bullpups, seeking to atone for their final setback to the De La Salle-Lipa side last year, ousted Southwestern U with a 25-15, 25-15 victory to join the defending champions in the Pool A lead with identical 3-0 cards.

SWU took its second loss against a win and bowed out of the semis race in the two-division competition among regional winners of the league backed by MyPhone, Asics and Mikasa.

CPU, on the other hand, ripped Holy Rosary College, 25-16, 25-19, to close out its elims campaign with a 3-1 mark in Pool B. King’s Montessori, toting a 2-1 card, remains in the semis hunt but must win over unbeaten UST to force a three-way tie for first in Pool B. The top two after the tiebreak will advance to the semis.

In other results, the Espana-based squad toppled Iligan City National HS, 25-17, 25-16, to move within a win from sweeping the elims. UST and KMS were playing at presstime.

DLS-Lipa, meanwhile, sustained its top form and disposed of Holy Family Academy, 25-21, 25-14, to match NU’s threegame win run in the longest-running talent search organized by Metro Sports.

In other final prelims matches, ICN clashes with HRC, Ateneo de Davao collides with SWU while DLS-Lipa tangles with NU for the top spot and in what could be a preview of the championship.

The top two teams from each side slug it out in the crossover semifinal today (Wednesday) starting at 5 p.m. with the winners disputing the crown at 4 p.m. tomorrow, according to tournament director Johanz Buenvenida of the organizing Metro Sports. For details, visit www.facebook.com/shakeysgirlsvleague.

3rd leg Triple Crown on Sunday THE HOARSE WHISPERER JENNY ORTUOSTE

IT’S going to be an actionpacked Sunday (July 10) at the Manila Jockey Club’s San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite, with the staging of three 2,000-meter stakes races for 3YO backed by the Philippine Racing Commission and the Erap Cup Racing Festival.

The most prestigious of the three Philracom con-

tests is the third leg of the Triple Crown series, which looks like an even-steven race given the lineup: Dewey Boulevard, Guatemala, Homonhon Island, Radioactive, and Underwood. No jockeys were named as of presstime.

The drawing of post positions is on July 7.

The first leg was won

by Radioactive, who was a longshot, with Underwood 2nd and Space Needle 3rd.

Dewey Boulevard, sent off as a longshot in the first leg, avenged that loss by winning the second leg of the

series, with Radioactive 2nd, Underwood 3rd, and Space Needle 4th. Given those outcomes, I’ll say Dewey Boulevard can repeat, but Radioactive and Underwood will try their best to score an upset.

The Philracom Hopeful Stakes will feature Indianpana, Mount Iglit, Pinagtipunan, Real Flame, Secret Kingdom, Space Needle, Tagapagmana, and Pinay Pharoah. Space Needle, who placed 3rd and 4th respectively in the first and second legs of the Triple Crown, might do better here, but will

have to contend with stalwart Indianpana and Pinay Pharaoh who recently won a Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office race.

The Philracom 3YO Locally-Bred Stakes attracted three participants: Leave It To Me, Piskante, and Play It Safe. In line with PR 58E, “…For stakes races, the minimum allowable number of declared entries is three horses. In case wherein the number of entries falls below this number on the actual day [because of scratches], the race shall still be run.”

However, there will be no betting on this race. Just cheer for your favorite horse!

Also on July 10, MJC will host the 2nd Erap Cup Racing Festival in celebration of Araw ng Maynila (June 24). The highlight race, the 2,000-meter 2nd Erap Cup Open Championship has a purse of P2.5 million and will feature the horses Our Angel’s Dream, Kanlaon, Gentle Strength, Dixie Gold, Hayley’s Rainbow, Spinning Ridge, Up and Away, Penrith, Messi, and Don Albertini.

To be held as part of the festival are the Imported Championship mile with a P1 million purse, the 1,500-meter Araw ng Maynila 3YO Challenge Cup with P500,00 in prize money, and seven other races with guaranteed prize money of P300,000.

Racing fans, mark Sunday on your racing calendar as a can’t-miss day of speed and action! *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter:@gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecember

A16

W E D N E S DAY : J U LY 6 , 2 0 16 RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Durant couldn’t beat Dubs; so he joined them Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant confirmed he is joining the Golden State Warriors, adding another potent weapon to an already formidable offense spearheaded by Stephen Curry. AFP

LOS ANGELES—Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant confirmed Monday he is joining the Golden State Warriors in a stunning move that sent shockwaves rippling through the NBA. Durant, the most coveted NBA free agent, announced his move on the Players’ Tribune website after what he described as the “most challenging few weeks in my professional life.”

The 27-year-old forward said he was joining the Warriors to enhance his growth as a player and a person.

“With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors,” Durant wrote.

Reports said Durant is expected to sign a two-year, $54.3 million (48.7 million euros) contract with a player option after the second year.

The capture of Durant, a seven-time NBA All Star and the NBA’s MVP in 2014, is a huge boost for Golden State as they build towards next season.

The Warriors are still licking their wounds after slumping to a 4-3 NBA finals defeat to LeBron James and

Murray, Federer showdown looms TURN TO A13

the Cleveland Cavaliers last month.

The 6ft 9in (2.06-meter) Durant took the Thunder to the brink of victory against Golden State in the Western Conference finals last season, inspiring his team to a 3-1 series lead before the Warriors fought back to win 4-3.

Durant had held talks with no fewer than six teams over the past week, including his current club Oklahoma City, the Warriors, the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Clippers, the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat.

Record-breaking roster However the prospect of joining up with the Warriors and their record-breaking roster proved irresistible for Durant, who has career averages of 27.4 points and seven rebounds per game.

On Friday, Durant met with NBA MVP Stephen Curry, shooting guard Klay Thompson and coach

Steve Kerr as the Warriors, who compiled the best regular season record in history this year at 73-9, sought to tempt him to Oakland.

News of Durant’s eagerly anticipated move sent social media into meltdown as fans and commentators digested a deal that makes Golden State an even more fearsome outfit.

“Fans of the other 29 teams that aren’t Golden State—let’s have a scared group hug,” broadcaster Bill Simmons wrote on Twitter.

Other Twitter users meanwhile retweeted a six-year-old posting

by Durant in 2010 when he apparently took aim at star players joining stronger teams in the pursuit of NBA titles.

“Now everybody wanna play for the heat and the Lakers? Let’s go back to being competitive and going at these peoples!,” Durant wrote shortly after LeBron James had joined Miami.

Durant meanwhile acknowledged his decision would likely dismay Thunder fans.

“It really pains me to know that I will disappoint so many people

Tayao’s F4 training backed TURN TO A15

with this choice, but I believe I am doing what I feel is the right thing at this point in my life and my playing career,” he said.

“I will miss Oklahoma City, and the role I have had in building this remarkable team. I will forever cherish the relationships within the organization—the friends and teammates that I went to war with on the court for nine years, and all the fans and people of the community.”

However Oklahoma City chief general manager Sam Presti urged Thunder fans to respect Durant’s decision, hailing the star suggesting that it was always likely he would leave eventually.

“None of us are under the illusion that Kevin Durant would be here forever,” Presti said.

“Kevin has earned the right to make a decision that’s best for him. We have to be truly grateful for what he represented for the Thunder and also for the city and the community.

“He gave back with his time. He gave back with his dollars. And we need to recognize that. We need to honor that.” AFP

PH Gilas battles Tall Blacks

By Jeric Lopez THE action continues for Gilas Pilipinas as it plays another pivotal game, this time against the New Zealand Tall Blacks for its second outing in the elimination round of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The Filipinos and the Kiwis are set to go at it at 9 p.m. today at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City in a vital encounter, which could determine who moves forward from Group B to the crossover semifinals this weekend.

Canada and Senegal clash in the first game at 6:30 p.m. in an equally important affair in Group A action.

The top two teams in each group moves on to the final four.

Against New Zealand, Gilas Pilipinas, with its core of Andray Blatche, Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood, Terrence Romeo, Jeff Chan and June Mar Fajardo will go up against the likes of Michael Karena, brothers Corey and Tai Webster, Isaac Fotu and Jordan Ngatai.

What’s interesting about this tussle is that Philippine coach Tab Baldwin used to handle New Zealand and is a Kiwi himself.

He might be familiar with the Kiwis’ style of play and vice versa.

In various pre-tournament interviews, New Zealand coach Paul Henare and players said that they’ve been preparing hard for this encounter with the Philippines, knowing how important this game is for both teams’ chances.

B1

WEDNESDAY: JULY 6, 2016

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

PH to privatize UCPB, casinos

By Gabrielle Binaday

THE Finance Department said Tuesday it plans to privatize more assets in three years, including United Coconut Planters Bank and casinos run by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“Yes, there will be more assets to be unloaded,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told reporters.

Dominguez said the Duterte administration also planned to privatize casinos and the Philippine Postal Bank.

“I am sure those will be under consideration. Also the banks that we still have,” Dominguez said.

The UCPB was placed under the supervision of the Governance Commission for Govern-

ment-Owned and Controlled Corporation in March.

The GCG said pending the effectivity of the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order against the privatization of the UCPB, the GCG will begin regulating the bank as a GOCC under the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.

The SC issued the TRO on June 30 last year, setting aside Executive Orders 179 and 180 signed by President Benigno Aquino III on March 2015.

The Aquino directives ordered the UCPB privatization and the reconveyance to the government of about P74.3 billion in coco levy funds.

The SC issued the TRO after a petition filed by the Confederation of Coconut Farmers’ Organizations of the Philippines Inc., which alleged the privatization would deny the coconut farmers of their right over the coco levy funds.

UCPB was originally under the supervision of the Presidential Commission on Good Government when the agency was still litigating cases involving the bank.

Former president Aquino approved the privatization of UCPB following the Supreme Court’s Jan 24, 2012 ruling that effectively made the bank a GOCC. Proceeds from the UCPB sale

under Executive Order No. 179 would be used by the government for the benefit of the coco farmers.

GCG said until the privatization is implemented, UCPB remains a GOCC that must comply with the corporate governance requirements.

Compensation of UCPB personnel will also be regulated under the Compensation and Position Classification System for GOCCs. The bank will also have to comply with the Government Procurement Reform Act and will be subjected to examination by the Commission on Audit like all other GOCCs. Dominguez, meanwhile, said the government would speed up the disposal process of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp.

PSe comPoSite index Closing July 5, 2016

8300 7840 7380 6920 6460 6000

7,808.13 38.41

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing July 5, 2016 48.00 46.00 45.00

P47.020

44.00

CLOSE

43.00

HIGH P46.770 LOW P47.020 AVERAGE P46.900 VOLUME 591.100M

P427.00-P620.00 LPG/11-kg tank 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, July 5, 2016

F oreign e xchange r ate

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi (right) meets with Manila Electric Co. officials at the Department of Energy compound in Bonifacio Global City to discuss the July electricity rate change and on how to address the problem of ‘flying connections’ within the power retailer’s franchise area. At the meeting are (from left) Meralco senior corporate communications Associate Michael Garcia, National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. president Pete Ilagan, Energy chief of staff Jesus Posadas, Meralco public information office head Joe Zaldarriaga and Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez.

Currency

Unit

US Dollar Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.8330

Japan

Yen

0.009751

0.4567

UK

Pound

1.329100

62.2457

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128903

6.0369

Switzerland

Franc

1.030078

48.2416

Canada

Dollar

0.778634

36.4658

Singapore

Dollar

0.743329

34.8123

Australia

Dollar

0.753400

35.2840

Bahrain

Dinar

2.653224

124.2584

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266645

12.4878

Brunei

Dollar

0.740576

34.6834

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000076

0.0036

Thailand

Baht

0.028539

1.3366

UAE

Dirham

0.272264

12.7509

Euro

Euro

1.115800

52.2563

Korea

Won

0.000869

0.0407

China

Yuan

0.150033

7.0265

India

Rupee

0.014869

0.6964

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.250438

11.7288

New Zealand

Dollar

0.722600

33.8415

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031064

1.4548 Source: PDS Bridge

Meralco customers to see higher electricity bills in July

By Alena Mae S. Flores MANILA Electric Co. said Tuesday power rates will increase by an average of P0.29 per kilowatthour this month, because of plant outages in June that led to higher generation cost.

Meralco said the higher rates in July followed two consecutive reductions in May and June totaling P0.54 per kWh. Meralco said a typical household consuming 200 kWh a month would experience an increase of around P58 in their elec-

tricity bill in July.

The power retailer said the increase in electricity rates was led by higher generation charges, which increased by P0.34 per kWh to P4.06 per kWh from last month’s level of P3.72 per kWh. It said power cost at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the country’s trading floor of electricity, increased to P4.49 per kWh from P3.97 per kWh last month.

Meralco said this was caused by tight power supply compounded by the outage of several power plants during the June supply month.

Meralco noted five instances of ‘yellow alerts’ in June, specifically on June 13, 14, 17, 21 and 22.

Several power plants were shut down in June due to scheduled and unscheduled outages. Those plants included Pagbilao-2, San Lorenzo Mod 50 and 60, Sta. Rita Mod 40 and iPower.

Power plants that went on forced outage included Sual-1, San Gabriel, Calaca 1 and 2, GN Power1 and 2, Limay A and B, Sta. Rita Mod 10 and 30, SLPGC 1, SLTEC 1 and 2, San Roque 2, Pagbilao 1 and Ambuklao 2.

Meralco said that in contrast, the Luzon Grid did not experience any yellow or red alert in May, when peak demand reached a record9,727 MW. “Due to the increased incidence of plant outages, too, Malaya 2 was dispatched for around half of the June supply month, when peak demand in Luzon dropped to 9,260 MW,” Meralco said.

The Malaya diesel plant owned by the government through the Power Sector and Liabilities Management Corp. are considered “must-run units” and are typi-

cally instructed by system operator National Grid Corporation of the Philippines to be dispatched when reserve levels in the grid are very low.

Meralco said costs of energy sourced from independent power producers also registered a slight increase of P0.03 per kWh, mainly due to the lower dispatch of Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. Cost of power from plants under the power supply agreements with Meralco decreased by P0.02 per kWh on higher dispatch of the Ilijan natural gas plant.

WEDNESDAY: JULY 6, 2016

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Tuesday, July 5, 2016

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

7.88 2.5 75.3 66 124.4 88.05 -28,371,172 107 88.1 56.5 45.45 2.49 1.97 4.2 1.68 4 8.7 17 12.02 30.45 19.6 10.4 6.12 2.6 1.02 890 625 1.01 0.225 100 78 30.5 17.8 75 58 91.5 62 137 88.35 361.2 276 57 41 180 118.2 1700 1200 124 59 3.26 2.65

AG Finance 3.66 Asia United Bank 47.55 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 Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 89 20.6 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 4 74 33.9 90 13.26 293 0.62 5 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 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 40.3 15.32 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 1.63 33 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 0.335 3.37 3.87 8.45 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 4.28 0.640 10.02 1.2

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Bogo Medelin Century Food Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Liberty Flour Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ MG Holdings Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas Holdings Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 1455 76 5.29 6.66 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 9.66 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.23 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 1.15 2.26 837 49.55 3 3.52 4.84 0.59 12 0.580 4.2 3 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 1.5 751 1.13 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ F&J Prince ‘B’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

GT Capital JG Summit Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Keppel Holdings `B’ Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

MJCI Investments Inc. Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

10.5 1.99 1.75 41.4 5.6 5.59 1.44 1.48 0.201 0.69

6.74 0.65 1.2 30.05 3.36 4.96 0.79 0.97 0.083 0.415

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings Century Property Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

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

SHARES 10,130,136 145,938,606 105,065,097 204,405,780 293,881,101 822,384,933 1,587,471,617

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 3.68 3.62 47.6 47 114.50 115.00

99.20 38.25 4.07 1.34 9.05 14.2 18.62 6.54 2.03 600.00 0.540 89 14.92 22.00 57.80 106 269 31.7 191.8 1340.00 65.20 1.52

99.60 99.10 38.35 38.15 4.10 4.07 1.37 1.31 9.04 9.04 14.4 14.3 19.12 18.44 6.54 6.54 2.05 1.91 628.00 628.00 0.540 0.530 90 88 15 14.92 22.50 22.00 57.85 57.05 105.8 100.1 269 259 32.05 31.55 191.5 192.5 1390.00 1390.00 65.15 65.00 1.52 1.52 INDUSTRIAL 45 45.25 44.8 3.65 3.69 3.59 0.81 0.82 0.8 1.98 1.99 1.94 11.5 12.38 11.18 55.05 57 55 23.5 24.8 23.5 170 170 165.1 16.38 17.2 15.7 47 47 46.5 2.02 2.1 2 5.51 5.58 5.48 12.4 12.6 12.32 9.600 9.600 9.460 7.30 7.41 7.29 5.60 5.66 5.57 7.66 7.71 7.60 24.85 25.15 24.75 68.75 69.8 68.75 12.10 12.40 12.02 15.30 15.40 15.06 5.68 5.68 5.56 2.380 2.540 2.390 244.00 245.80 243.80 32.20 38.45 32.30 3.26 3.29 3.15 37.50 37.30 35.20 27.2 27.3 27.1 29.9 30.3 29.8 6.74 7.08 6.74 315.00 315.00 311.40 0.265 0.270 0.265 4.21 4.25 4.25 3.42 3.45 3.4 10.78 10.96 10.64 11.64 11.26 11.26 6.23 6.20 6.11 1.64 1.67 1.62 2.81 2.87 2.8 4.19 4.20 4.05 4 4 4 2.57 2.59 2.55 0.151 0.157 0.151 1.97 2.09 1.88 2.48 2.48 2.43 205.6 207 201 4.69 4.54 4.54 0.95 1.02 0.96 35.00 30.55 30.50 1.27 1.24 1.22 HOLDING FIRMS 0.365 0.370 0.365 79.10 80.20 76.00 15.20 15.40 15.16 1.14 1.14 1.14 6.11 6.25 6.10 0.365 0.365 0.360 0.360 0.370 0.360 850 868 850 7.76 7.84 7.72 12.86 12.96 12.64 5.32 5.45 5.31 6.2 5.7 5.7 6.45 6.60 6.45 1473 1484 1455 84.00 85.50 83.80 5.36 5.36 5.35 6.55 5.51 5.51 7.76 7.77 7.66 0.7 0.7 0.69 15.86 15.96 15.76 0.490 0.510 0.490 6.79 6.88 7 3.1 3.6 3.39 0.0340 0.0340 0.0330 1.240 1.230 1.230 1.830 1.840 1.820 79.05 79.05 77.60 2.15 2.26 2.20 990.00 1000.00 988.00 1.19 1.20 1.19 0.90 0.90 0.88 192.000 192.000 186.600 0.3050 0.3050 0.3000 0.2040 0.2020 0.1990 0.295 0.295 0.280 PROPERTY 7.650 7.640 7.550 1.24 1.26 1.23 2.160 2.380 2.130 38.950 39.350 38.950 3.24 3.28 3.23 5 5.17 5.1 0.520 0.52 0.510 1.040 1.030 1.010 0.130 0.132 0.129 0.660 0.670 0.650

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.62 47.55 111.90

-1.09 0.00 112.00

187,000 10,500 -2.18

99.15 38.15 4.09 1.37 9.04 14.4 18.8 6.54 1.91 628.00 0.540 88.8 15 22.00 57.05 105 259 32 191.8 1390.00 65.05 1.52

-0.05 -0.26 0.49 2.24 -0.11 1.41 0.97 0.00 -5.91 4.67 0.00 -0.22 0.54 0.00 -1.30 -0.94 -3.72 0.95 0.00 3.73 -0.23 0.00

711,250 28,100 12,000 99,000 100 22,100 1,466,600 100 447,000 120 59,000 2,599,730 205,100 470,700 115,520 670 2,770 426,300 1,286,380 40 49,040 2,000

45 3.69 0.82 1.99 12.1 55 24.3 165.1 17.2 47 2.04 5.5 12.48 9.470 7.41 5.60 7.60 25 69.1 12.20 15.20 5.6 2.450 244.80 36.00 3.25 35.20 27.15 29.8 7.08 313.00 0.270 4.25 3.42 10.66 11.26 6.20 1.64 2.87 4.20 4 2.57 0.154 1.88 2.48 201.8 4.54 0.97 30.50 1.24

0.00 1.10 1.23 0.51 5.22 -0.09 3.40 -2.88 5.01 0.00 0.99 -0.18 0.65 -1.35 1.51 0.00 -0.78 0.60 0.51 0.83 -0.65 -1.41 2.94 0.33 11.80 -0.31 -6.13 -0.18 -0.33 5.04 -0.63 1.89 0.95 0.00 -1.11 -3.26 -0.48 0.00 2.14 0.24 0.00 0.00 1.99 -4.57 0.00 -1.85 -3.20 2.11 -12.86 -2.36

2,362,400 586,000 373,000 2,564,000 6,400 610 4,852,000 1,140 6,709,000 34,900 4,764,000 1,165,800 163,300 2,376,800 1,530,800 15,974,600 616,600 2,751,500 316,380 8,200 41,100 107,000 12,477,000 629,320 7,800 15,000 9,000 652,200 523,300 1,598,300 511,000 170,000 10,000 13,705,000 15,204,900 400 941,400 341,000 165,000 423,000 43,000 93,000 5,640,000 5,161,000 867,000 2,162,440 1,000 37,118,000 4,000 142,000

0.370 76.50 15.30 1.14 6.10 0.360 0.360 860 7.73 12.74 5.39 5.7 6.50 1460 84.00 5.35 5.51 7.72 0.69 15.96 0.510 6.79 3.39 0.0330 1.230 1.820 78.45 2.26 990.00 1.19 0.90 191.500 0.3050 0.2010 0.290

1.37 -3.29 0.66 0.00 -0.16 -1.37 0.00 1.18 -0.39 -0.93 1.32 -8.06 0.78 -0.88 0.00 -0.19 -15.88 -0.52 -1.43 0.63 4.08 -1.31 9.35 -2.94 -0.81 -0.55 -0.76 5.12 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.26 0.00 -1.47 -1.69

450,000 1,873,140 2,804,300 13,000 13,700 2,140,000 510,000 250,540 3,186,300 3,302,200 14,000 4,000 36,700 132,340 3,080,470 5,200 1,700 1,415,800 353,000 5,197,000 110,000 37,771,700 18,000 35,800,000 21,000 148,000 130,240 19,000 234,180 76,000 18,000 38,880 940,000 350,000 3,990,000

7.600 1.24 2.240 39.000 3.27 5.11 0.520 1.030 0.131 0.650

-0.65 0.00 3.70 0.13 0.93 2.20 0.00 -0.96 0.77 -1.52

58,800 1,722,000 2,774,000 5,956,900 1,888,000 52,400 3,645,000 51,000 2,470,000 950,800

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

High

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

10.96 0.97 0.305 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 7.56 1.62 8.59

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

Double Dragon 61.9 Empire East Land 0.790 Ever Gotesco 0.159 Global-Estate 0.98 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.98 Interport `A’ 1.22 Megaworld 4.65 MRC Allied Ind. 0.100 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.2750 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.430 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 40.00 Primex Corp.

11 Robinson’s Land `B’ 30.20 Rockwell 1.77 Shang Properties Inc. 3.33 SM Prime Holdings 28.10 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.92 Starmalls 6.97 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 1.000 Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.350

-1.13 0.00 -7.55 0.00 1.01 1.64 1.94 2.00 -3.64 0.00 0.00 0.91 0.17 -1.13 -1.20 -1.96 2.17 -0.43 0.00 1.87

607,090 527,000 490,000 3,312,000 11,599,000 139,000 94,116,000 1,730,000 30,000 800,000 2,400 448,700 2,124,300 230,000 158,000 17,136,200 23,367,000 4,400 1,179,000 17,350,900

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 28.5 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 7.67 2720 8.41

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 18.2 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 4.8 1600 5.95

70.5 1.97 119.5 7 5.8 12.5 0.017

17.02 1.23 102.6 3.01 4 8.72 0.011

0.8200 2.2800 5.93

0.041 1.200 2.34

12.28 3.32 3.2 95.5 2.46 15.2

6.5 1.91 1.95 3.1 1.8 6

1.040 22.8 6.41 185 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.37 14.54 3 79 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 Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) DFNN Inc. Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ Imperial Res. `B’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.83 -2.68 0.00 -3.33 -1.94 -1.36 -1.69 -0.35 -0.15 -0.20 -0.08 1.11 5.08 13.18 0.00 0.87 0.76 1.92 0.17 1.10 0.11 1.54 0.00 -0.89 3.51 -7.01 -0.31 0.00 -0.10 -2.44 -4.36 3.37 -5.96 0.34 0.58 0.40 -0.19 2.38 0.00 0.35 -1.69 -0.79 2.64 -1.69 0.00 -1.52 -0.16

22,500 201,700 13,000 1,481,000 43,000 3,937,600 22,830,000 1,499,000 642,760 204,700 43,090 64,100 5,385,700 100,300 67,000 2,861,570 36,900 60 51,100 36,000,000 340,000 16,600,000 1,961,000 127,000 31,700 3,195,900 740,000 6,000 700 44,000 12,140,000 67,057,000 71,683,000 26,700 50,800 203,440 141,080 2,740,000 6,689,000 707,900 3,392,570 328,900 19,703,000 1,540,000 869,000 150,000 4,100

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `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’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.00 -0.86 -3.74 0.00 -1.71 -5.33 0.00 4.17 1.84 -2.22 0.00 -0.40 -1.92 8.33 0.00 0.00 -0.18 3.32 1.85 -2.42 0.00 8.33 0.00 -2.47 -4.26 -7.69 1.63 -1.98 0.00

398,000,000 1,948,000 -106,890.00 511,000 -139,140.00 3,200 1,120,000 10,400 1 144,000.00 10,690,000 65,000.00 33,800 18,677,000 1,819,160.00 40,000 26,920,000 1,140,000 66,900,000 228,000,000 -130,000.00 1,602,000 -45,960.00 9,906,600 -4,225,352.00 1,002,000 4,000 39,000 7,900,000 100,000 10,000 6,308,900 8,521,575.00 12,141,000 -2,501,930.00 8,300,000 65,000.00 744,220 31,905,309.00 738,000 19,850.00 19,100,000

282,347.00

70 553 525 515 8.21 12.28 111

33 490 500 480 5.88 6.5 101

-53,747,980.00

84.8

75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H SMC Preferred I

-1.26 -0.37 0.09 -0.28 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.00 -0.06 0.00 0.53 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.46

233,700 50 1,110 2,000 21,000 101,000 10,000 110 164,980 6,500 161,570 760 76,700 4,000 27,750

-1.96

1,419,000

3.53 0.57 9.22 -1.10

1,466,000 18,000 3,729,000 437,500

-0.39

9,640

456,030.00 1,928,610 9,708,787.00 -320,460.00 -16,400.00

-5,153,052.00 -50,240.00 2,120.00 102,211,367.00 -900,486.50 9,896,825 -82,215,695.00

-10,095,755.00 206,760.00 38,627,790.00 10,957,350.00 1,502,000 -108,010.00 -8,250.00 -517,912.00 -3,751,924.00 6,244,451.00 27,986,560.00 3,950,890.00 30,278,990.00 6,990,626.50 -1,700.00 -217,050.00 -13,453,034.00

-547,445.00 -690,115.00 1,436,982.00 29,150,198.00 2,335,270.00 75,031,696.00 -89,900.00 8,150.00 -1,290,470.00

351,950.00 731,500.00 27,901,958.00 440,240.00 112,850.00

-3,573,875.00 -7,594,806.00

46,800.00 -3,710,170.00 376,971.00 -98,732.00 -3,300.00 -7,506,145.00 -25,176,827.00 3,966,732.00 55,146,346.00 -17,222,852.00

-8,900.00

179,348.00 117,500.00 115,016,280.00 467,250.00 -153,450.00 530,400.00 8,080.00 266,000.00

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant Alterra Capital Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Xurpas

15

3.5

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

62 60.8 61.2 0.790 0.790 0.790 0.147 0.147 0.147 0.99 0.98 0.98 2.00 1.98 2.00 1.24 1.21 1.24 4.84 4.69 4.74 0.102 0.098 0.102 0.2750 0.2650 0.2650 0.440 0.425 0.430 40.00 36.00 40.00 11.28 11.06 11.1 31.20 30.00 30.25 1.79 1.75 1.75 3.33 3.2 3.29 28.50 26.90 27.55 0.97 0.92 0.94 6.94 6.46 6.94 1.020 0.990 1.000 5.500 5.360 5.450 SERVICES 7.22 7.29 7.2 7.28 48.5 49.5 47.2 47.2 1.29 1.29 1.29 1.29 0.600 0.600 0.580 0.580 7.2 7.2 7.01 7.06 6.60 6.72 6.40 6.51 0.0590 0.0590 0.0570 0.0580 2.88 2.89 2.82 2.87 98.75 99 98.6 98.6 5.00 5.15 4.90 4.99 2358 2414 2354 2356 6.30 6.37 6.35 6.37 17.72 18.90 16.20 18.62 21.25 24.35 21.25 24.05 1.15 1.15 1.15 1.15 63 63.7 63 63.55 13.10 13.20 12.86 13.20 156 159 145 159 11.68 11.7 10.8 11.7 0.0091 0.0093 0.0091 0.0092 9.38 9.39 9.30 9.39 0.325 0.335 0.325 0.330 1.6100 1.6600 1.5700 1.6100 2.24 2.5 2.21 2.22 13.1 13.88 13 13.56 6.56 6.94 6.10 6.10 3.21 3.23 3.20 3.20 2.78 2.78 2.60 2.78 20.00 19.98 19.02 19.98 2.05 2 2 2 3.9 3.98 3.72 3.73 4.45 4.70 4.46 4.60 3.860 4.100 3.600 3.630 11.94 12.5 11.94 11.98 5.17 5.35 5.17 5.20 124.50 125.00 124.50 125.00 2140.00 2170.00 2128.00 2136.00 0.420 0.435 0.420 0.430 1.170 1.170 1.140 1.170 42.65 43.00 42.10 42.80 85.95 86.15 83.00 84.50 6.36 6.40 6.30 6.31 3.41 3.59 3.43 3.50 0.590 0.590 0.580 0.580 3.4 3.46 3.38 3.4 0.330 0.345 0.325 0.325 6.080 6.280 6.000 6.070 MINING & OIL 0.0041 0.0042 0.0040 0.0041 3.50 3.58 3.40 3.47 4.55 4.58 4.29 4.38 11.80 11.80 11.20 11.80 0.234 0.242 0.230 0.230 7.5000 7.6 7.02 7.1000 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.480 0.510 0.480 0.500 8.70 9.00 8.73 8.86 0.900 0.920 0.880 0.880 0.295 0.300 0.290 0.295 0.248 0.250 0.246 0.247 0.260 0.260 0.255 0.255 0.0120 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 0.0140 0.0150 0.0130 0.0140 1.82 1.95 1.81 1.82 5.51 5.59 5.34 5.5 2.71 2.83 2.71 2.8 0.5400 0.5500 0.5400 0.5500 1.2400 1.2500 1.2100 1.2100 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 0.0120 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 8.92 9.14 8.63 8.70 4.70 5.00 4.45 4.50 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0120 123.00 125.00 119.50 125.00 4.05 4.17 3.91 3.97 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 PREFERRED 47.8 48.4 47.2 47.2 545 543 543 543 549 549.5 542.5 549.5 542 542 540.5 540.5 6.35 6.35 6.35 6.35 1.06 1.06 1.06 1.06 111.9 112 112 112 1160 1160 1160 1160 80 80 78 79.95 76 76 76 76 76.1 76.5 76.5 76.5 78.4 78.4 78.4 78.4 78 78 78 78 76.9 76.9 76.9 76.9 76.6 76.95 76.95 76.95 WARRANTS & BONDS 2.550 2.650 2.500 2.500 SME 3.68 3.92 3.69 3.81 3.48 3.53 3.26 3.5 4.12 4.7 4.02 4.5 16.4 16.5 16.16 16.22 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 128.9 129.4 128.4 128.4

T op g ainerS VALUE 834,627,700.30 1,680,896,120.24 1,566,566,895.79 1,464,935,241.42 2,272,961,802.7282 311,888,780.584 8,162,590,490.9622

Low

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,75647 (down) 11.93 INDUSTRIAL 11,864.96 (down) 49.76 HOLDING FIRMS 7,629.57 (down) 34.47 PROPERTY 3,453.32 (down) 14.75 SERVICES 1,653.84 (down) 5.62 MINING & OIL 11,424.91 (down) 17.57 PSEI 7,808.13 (down) 38.41 All Shares Index 4,726.86 (down) 19.47 Gainers: 85; Losers: 102; Unchanged: 50; Total: 237

2,523,540.50

1,053,500.00 1,240.00 182,773,130.00

281,126.00 11,201,820.00 -91,000.00 3,340.00 -17,690,125.00

-20,754,775.00

16,770.00 1,017,677.00 144,240.00 10,929,341.00 2,457,980.00 -162,880.00 -87,734,266.00

-11,410.00 -11,390,880

7,273,540.00 56,899,630.00 5,106,170.00 598,800.00 88,417,570.00 -2,861,540.00 14,204,810.00 56,852,634.50 1,823,520.00 29,000.00 -857,930.00

-5,320,510.00 -542,500

-11,010,625

-1,789,087.50

-57,850.00 -881,520.00 118,314.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Grand Plaza Hotel

24.05

13.18

Keppel Holdings `B'

5.51

-15.88

Liberty Flour

36.00

11.80

Vivant Corp.

30.50

-12.86

MJCI Investments Inc.

3.39

9.35

F&J Prince 'B'

5.7

-8.06

Italpinas

4.5

9.22

Philodrill Corp. `A'

0.0120

-7.69

Manila Mining `A'

0.0130

8.33

Ever Gotesco

0.147

-7.55

Oriental Pet. `B'

0.0130

8.33

Leisure & Resorts

6.10

-7.01

Asiabest Group

12.1

5.22

Macay Holdings

35.20

-6.13

Seafront `A'

2.26

5.12

NOW Corp.

3.630

-5.96

Golden Haven

18.62

5.08

I-Remit Inc.

1.91

-5.91

Megawide

7.08

5.04

Benguet Corp `A'

7.1000

-5.33

WEDNESDAY: JULY 6, 2016

B3

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

Aboitiz consolidates power unit

By Alena Mae S. Flores

ABOITIZ Renewables Inc., the renewable energy arm of Aboitiz Power Corp., said Tuesday it completed the acquisition of an 8.8-megawatt biomass energy facility being built by Aseagas Corp. in Lian, Batangas.

Aboitiz Power said its renewable unit acquired Aseagas from parent company Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. for P605 million.

“The addition of Aseagas and biomass technology intensifies

Aboitiz Power’s efforts in expanding our renewable energy portfolio. We are excited about biomass and we hope to build more capacity through this technology,” said Aboitiz Power president and chief

operating officer Antonio Moraza.

“We have always expressed that Aboitiz Power will continue pursuing renewable energy as long as it is available and viable; this project is a testament to that commitment,” Moraza said.

The biomass power plant is expected to become fully operational and deliver power to the Luzon grid before the fourth quarter of 2016.

This is the first foray of Aboitiz Power into biomass technology, and is set to boost the company’s

New millionaire.

Smart Communications retailer Amador Lotino Jr. is presented the mock check for the P1 million he won under the Smart Ka-Partner Rewards Program, the telco’s loyalty incentive program. With him on stage is and Gia Palafox, department head for distributor sales at Smart.

Stock market retreats; Metro Retail advances STOCKS retreated Tuesday, as traders cashed in profits while keeping a nervous eye on a brewing crisis in Italy’s banking industry.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 38 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 7,808.13. Despite Tuesday’s loss, the bellwether was still up 12.3 percent this year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also dropped 19 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,726.86, on value turnover of P8.2 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 102 to 85, while 50 issues were unchanged.

Six of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by retailer Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. which climbed 3.4 percent to P4.60 and property developer Megaworld Corp. which rose 1.9 percent to P4.74.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets traded lower Tuesday, on profit-taking. Shares worldwide have pushed higher since last week after a string of major central banks promised they would shore up financial markets to protect them against any negative effects from Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

There were also hopes one of the EU’s biggest economies breaking away might not be as painful for global markets as initially assumed.

However, analysts said that with so many uncertainties surrounding the future of the coun-

try as well as ongoing weaknesses around the world, the rally had run out of steam.

“The market’s love affair with yield and all-things-not-Europe remains supportive,” said David Croy, a senior rates strategist in Wellington at ANZ Bank New Zealand.

“But it doesn’t alter the fact that caution on behalf of central banks, the forthcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU and the wave of elections in Europe next year have raised political risk in Europe.”

Tokyo finished 0.7 percent lower, while Seoul dipped 0.3 percent and Hong Kong fell one percent in the afternoon, although Shanghai rose 0.6 percent.

Sydney sank one percent with Australia looking set for a hung parliament after weekend elections threw up no clear winner.

Standard & Poor’s has warned the country’s top-notch AAA rating could be in danger if whoever wins office is prevented from continuing to improve budget balances.

Tuesday’s sell-off follows losses in European markets, where financial companies were hurt by a warning from the European Central Bank that Italy’s number-three lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, reported to be the world’s oldest bank, had dangerously high levels of bad debt. with AFP

renewable energy capacity under the Cleanergy brand, he said.

The sale involved 72.71 million common shares and 654.3 million redeemable preferred shares priced at P0.832175 and P0.832175, respectively.

The board of Aboitiz Equity approved the sale of all of its equity interests in Aseagas to Aboitiz Renewables in April.

“The acquisition of the shares in Aseagas is in line with Aboitiz Power’s target to increase its attributable net sellable capacity to 4,000 megawatts by 2020,”

Aboitiz Power said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Aboitiz Power also ventured for the first time into solar power, with the inauguration of the San Carlos Sun Power, Inc.’s 59-MWp solar power plant in Negros Occidental in April.

The first Aseagas biomass facility will utilize and convert the organic effluent of its partner Absolut Distillery Inc. into clean and renewable energy, which will help power around 22,000 households.

It will also produce 33 tons per day of liquid carbon dioxide for the industrial and beverage industries.

Aboitiz Power now has an extensive renewable energy footprint nationwide with its large hydro, run-of-river hydro, geothermal, solar and now biomass power plants.

Aboitiz Power and its partners produce 3,350 MW of total net sellable capacity, 38-percent of which comes from its renewable power plants all over the country.

Aseagas chief operating officer Juan Alfonso said the strong partnership of Aseagas and Absolut would ensure the sustainability and continued operations of the biomass facility in Lian.

“During the 24-month construction period, the team was able to reach the safety milestone of 1 million hours without lost time incident. We look forward to full operations of the plant within this year,” said Alfonso.

B4 Inflation in June up slightly to 1.9%—NSA THE inflation rate rose to a 14-month high of 1.9 percent in June following higher prices in food and non-food items, data from Philippine Statistics Authority show Tuesday.

The June inflation was higher than 1.2 percent recorded in the same month last year and 1.6 percent in May this year. It was also the highest since 2.2 percent in April 2015.

“The hike in inflation can be attributed to the residual effects of the weakening El Niño and the slight recovery of oil prices,” said Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

“But the inflation trend in the first six months of 2016 was manageable. This is expected to continue for the rest of the year against a backdrop of expanding productive capacity of the domestic economy and persistently low oil prices,” Pernia added.

The June inflation was within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ forecast of 1.5 percent to 2.4 percent for June 2016 and the median market expectation of 1.9 percent.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., meanwhile, said the current monetary policy stance remained appropriate at the moment despite the 3-basis-point increase in inflation in June. “... This turnout is consistent with our assessment that over the policy horizon, monthly inflation will move to within target, although for 2016 we still see fullyear average to be just... around the low end of the national government target range,” Tetangco said in a text message.

“Therefore, we see no need to change the stance of monetary policy for now,” he said. Tetangco predicted last week June inflation likely settled within the 1.5-percent to 2.4-percent range, as upside pressures could come from the increase in tuition as well as in rice and vegetable prices.

The National Economic and Development Authority said the rising prices in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels drove inflation in the nonfood group to 0.9 percent. Inflation in June also adjusted to the rise of oil prices for 2016.

Gabrielle Binaday, Julito G. Rada

LG unit in PH. The world’s leading heating, ventilation and air conditioning service and maintenance company, Hi-M Solutek—a unit of LG

Electronics—arrives in the Philippines as the subsidiary of global technology innovator. Shown at the introduction of Hi-M Solutek are (from left) LGE Philippines vice president Steve Kim, LG PH managing director Sung Woo Nam, Hi-M Solutek Philippines director James Park and LG Asia regional headquarters director Yong Kim. Hi-M Solutek, which operates in 30 offices and 5,000 maintenance sites in LG Korea, will soon start its operations in the Philippines.

Duterte govt reduces 2-year growth targets

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

THE economic team of newly-installed President Rodrigo Duterte reduced the economic growth targets and projected a wider budget deficit this year and next.

Growth will probably reach 6 percent to 7 percent this year, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno told reporters in Manila following a meeting of the interagency Development Budget Coordination Committee.

That’s down from a projection of 6.8 percent to 7.8 percent made by the previous administration.

Diokno said the effects of electionrelated spending was tapering while the impact of El Niño dry spell continued to hurt agriculture output.

“Effect of election related spending is tapering. [There

would be] slow agriculture output due to El Niño, weak infrastructure due to seasonality and weak external trade,” Diokno said, in explaining the reduced growth forecasts.

Duterte’s economic managers also revised downward the growth target for 2017 to a range of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent from the previous estimate of 6.6 percent to 7.6 percent. DBCC kept the 7 percent to 8 percent targets for 2018 up to 2022.

“This is consistent with the strategy of the government to

boost infrastructure spending,” Diokno said. The Philippine economy expanded 5.9 percent in 2015 and 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2016.

Diokno said the government would submit a P3.35-trillion budget proposal for 2017. “It’s the same level [with the P3.35 trillion proposed by the Aquino administration]. The composition of the budget will be different,” Diokno said in a text message.

He said infrastructure spending would account for about 5.2 percent of gross domestic product next year.

Diokno said budget deficit would probably reach 2.5 percent of GDP this year and 3 percent in 2017 mainly because of revenue shortfalls. The government will continue to meet 80 percent of its borrowing needs from the domestic market and fund the remaining

20 percent abroad, he said.

DBCC also revised downward the export growth targets to 3 percent for 2016 and 6 percent for 2017 from the previous assumptions of 5 percent and 8 percent, respectively. It maintained the 10-percent exports growth target for the rest of Duterte’s term.

Imports growth target was revised downward to 7 percent for 2016 from the previous target of 10 percent. The targets were reduced to 10 percent for 2017 and 11 percent for 2018 from the earlier assumptions of 12 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

DBCC maintained a foreign exchange target of P45 to P48 per US dollar from 2016 to 2018.

“The country’s firm macroeconomic fundamentals and strong external position could support the broad stability of the peso over the medium-term,” DBCC said.

Higher expressway toll unlikely in two years, says Tugade

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Transportation Department said an increase in road toll is unlikely in the next two years.

“I hope and I’m praying that there would be no toll increase in the next two years,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade told reporters.

The operators of North Luzon Expressway, Cavite Expressway, South Luzon Expressway and Skyway earlier filed separate pe-

titions to increase toll, but the previous administration did not act on their requests.

Manila North Tollways Corp. as a result filed an arbitration case against the government in Geneva after the Toll Regulatory Board froze toll along North Luzon Expressway, despite an existing agreement that provided for periodic adjustments.

MNTC on April 4 issued a notice of arbitration and statement of claim to the government

through TRB, consistent with the dispute resolution procedures under the existing supplemental toll operation agreement.

The operator of NLEx is seeking a P3-billion compensation as of end-2015 for TRB’s alleged inaction on lawful toll adjustments, which were due since Jan. 1, 2013.

MNTC filed a petition with TRB in September 2014 for bi-annual toll adjustment that was supposed to start on Jan. 1, 2015, as stipulated under the concession.

The new petition is on top of the previous one filed by the company in 2012 for a toll increase scheduled in January 2013.

This would bring the cumulative toll adjustment to 15 percent, of which 12 percent was long overdue.

Toll at NLEx from Mindanao Avenue to Sta. Ines currently amounts to P218 for Class 1 vehicles (cars, jeepneys, pickup trucks and vans), P544 for Class 2 vehicles (two-axle trucks, buses

and vans) and P652 for Class 3 vehicles (trucks and trailers with three or more axles).

Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., operator of Manila-Cavite Expressway, also filed an arbitration case against the government, requesting an P800-million compensation for failure to increase toll.

Cavitex also proposed a toll hike for Class 1 vehicles to P27 from P22; Class 2 vehicles to P54 from P44; and Class 3 vehicles to P81 from P66.

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

B5

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

SMC acquires MRT 7 in full

By Jenniffer B. Austria

CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. has consolidated its ownership in the $1.6-billion Mass Rail Transit Line 7 by acquiring the remaining 49-percent stake of businessman Salvador Zamora.

The deal, worth $100 million, resulted in San Miguel owning 100 percent of the rail company that holds the exclusive right to design, construct and complete the MRT Line 7.

San Miguel said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its whollyowned subsidiary San Miguel

Holdings Corp. signed on June 16 an amended share sale agreement with Universal LRT Corp.

Ltd. and the Zamora Group to purchase an additional 49 percent equity interest in Universal LRT Corp BVI Ltd. and 100 percent equity interest in ULCOM

Company Inc. “The total consideration for the acquisitions of ULC BVI and ULCOM is $100 million which amount consists of payment for the sales as well as the outstanding shareholder advances made by each of ULC HK and Mr. Zamora to ULC BVI an ULCOM, respectively,” San Miguel said.

ULC BVI holds the exclusive right, obligation and privilege to finance, design, construct, supply, complete and commission the Metro rail Transit Line 7 project by virtue of the concession agreement dated June 18 2008 with the government through the

Department of Transportation and Communications.

ULCOM, meanwhile, is the designated facility operator of MRT 7 project.

The acquisition of ULC BVI and ULCOM by San Miguel Holdings was completed July 1.

“With the completion of such acquisition, SMHC now owns 100 percent interest in ULC BVI and ULCOM,” San Miguel said.

San Miguel in November 2010 acquired a 51-percent equity interest in Universal LRT. After achieving financial close, San Miguel in April broke ground for the MRT 7 project,

which involves the construction of a 23-kilometer elevated train line from San Jose del Monte in Bulacan to the corner of North Avenue in Quezon City.

MRT 7 covers the construction of a 22.8-kilometer rail system from North Ave. in Quezon City, passing through Commonwealth Ave., Regalado Ave. and Quirino Highway up to the proposed intermodal transportation terminal in San Jose del Monte. The project will cover 14 stations.

It also includes the construction of a 22-kilometer road that will connect to North Luzon Expressway near the Bocaue exit.

Scam emails A FEW days ago, we received an email from US Air Force General Lori Robinson, asking us to reply at once because she has something important that she “will like to discuss.” It’s a fake email of course, easy to tell what with the wrong grammar, though credit should be given to whoever sent it for even taking pains to register the email address as lori_robinson59@outlook.com to make it look authentic.

Lori Robinson just happens to be the highest-ranking female general (four star) in the history of the United States, Commander of the US Northern Command, and yes, she was born in 1959. While Robinson is not the first female to achieve a four-star rank, she is the first to lead a unified combatant command like NorthCom, a key cog in the defense and security of the US. She also heads the North American Aerospace Defense Command or Norad—that agency that almost always figured in thrillers and espionage novels about the Cold War era.

For sure, Robinson’s ascension has encouraged more female officers in the US military. Here in the Philippines, the first female general in the Armed Forces of the Philippines is BGen Ramona Palabrica Go, whom we wrote about in March 2013 when she was campaigning for mayor of San Enrique, a third-class municipality in Iloilo. Go, finished B.S. Chemistry at Central Philippine University and took her military schooling at the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps School under the Officer Candidate Program. Go won in 2013 in her mayoralty bid, but unfortunately did not make it in the last May elections.

We really don’t know what the purpose of the fake “Lori Robinson” email sender is, but he really got us thinking because it’s a deviation from the standard scams we have been getting, like the supposed suspension of our email account or our non-existent bank deposit from RCBC. More often than not, these fake emails would include a link asking the recipient to click on it and supply certain details, plus of course a field where you have to provide your password for security purposes.

Among the most prevalent of these scams is the Nigerian email (also known as the 419 scam) asking for help to unlock a dollar account containing millions, or the one announcing that recipient just won millions of dollars in a grand lottery. Why people still fall for these obvious fakes really beats us—after all, don’t they even wonder why they would win in a lottery they have never even entered? Most likely, it’s the same mentality that drives people to wish they would also be as lucky as that laundrywoman who won the PCSO Lotto jackpot—and yet they never get around to placing a bet.

Many Filipinos also admitted falling prey to the Diversity Visa program Visa Lottery scam where fraudulent emails supposedly from the US government are sent, claiming that a DV applicant had been selected and to please send the payment to—yup—a fraudulent account. There are a lot of lessons here, among them that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And that it never pays to do things on the quick. Otherwise, you’d find yourself in a fix.

(Those who want to be amused at the numerous scam emails can check out http://fakeletters.org/, which is a repository of every kind of fake email that has ever been sent.)

••• 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!

Ayala Land partner. Makati Development Corp. and the Department of Labor and Employment sign an agreement to formalize a partnership that aims to provide job opportunities for returning migrant Filipino workers. Sealing the agreement are (from left) MDC president Dan Abando, Labor Secretary Rosalinda DimapilisBaldoz and MDC human resources head Ferdie Mangali. MDC, the construction arm of property developer Ayala Land Inc., specializes in engineering and construction services. The partnership lists MDC’s job openings in the government website PhilJobNet.

Partners Group sets up Manila office

By Othel V. Campos PRIVATE equity fund Partners Group of Switzerland is opening an office in Manila to serve clients across the globe and create a climate for private equity investment in the Philippines.

Partners Group director Grace del Rosario-Castano said the company was banking on the pronouncements of President Rodrigo Duterte to reduce if not eliminate the legislations that hinder foreign investments.

“Private equity investment and management in the Philippines is still in its infancy stage. We have the assurance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that measures are stepping up to accommodate foreign investments like the law on equity ownership,” she said.

Partners Group plans to invest in medium-scale projects in infrastructure, such as bridges and airports, hospitals, retail and accounting.

The company invests in privately-held companies to manage their direction.

“We want to have the controlling share and for now it is not allowed in the Philippines, in some sectors. If we buy publicly-listed firms, our hold of the management is weak. Financials will be superficial and we will not get the entire picture. It will be difficult for us to grow the company and sell it for a healthy return,” co-CEO Christoph Rubeli said.

The company is interested in buying medium to big companies worth between $200 million and $2 billion in favor of weak and start-up companies.

Partners Group is is big player in private equity management. Its assets under management or total market value of assets are estimated $50 billion. Acquisition costs in 2015 reached $9.7 billion that may increase to $10 billion to 12 billion in 2016.

Emerging economies have at least a 23 percent share of total AUM with Asia having the biggest portion.

Partners Group has more than 850 investors worldwide and hopes to bring some of them to the Philippines.

While it is cultivating the climate for investing in the Philippines, it will offer services to clients ranging from information technology to treasury, marketing, finance, accounting and real estate support.

The company ploans to expand the Manila office and make be one of the five biggest globally.

Manila is the 20th office the company established since 1996.

It has offices in San Francisco, Denver, Houston, New York, São Paulo, London, Guernsey, Paris, Luxembourg, Milan, Munich, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo and Sydney, on top of the Zug office in Switzerland.

WEDNESDAY: JULY 6, 2016

B6

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

HSBC expects 2016 growth to hit 6.3%

By Julito G. Rada

BRITISH lender Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. on Tuesday upgraded its growth forecasts for the Philippines over the next two years on the Duterte administration’s plan to boost infrastructure spending.

HSBC raised its 2016 growth outlook to 6.3 percent from an earlier estimate of 5.9 percent and the 2017 growth forecast to 6.3 percent from 5.8 percent.

“The fiscal plans of the incoming government have important implications for growth. A budget deficit near 3 percent [of gross domestic product] in 2017 [the first budget to be released by the incoming government, likely in end-July], will further support the Philippines’ already-robust

growth trend,” HSBC said in a report Tuesday.

The bank said an increase in the longer-term growth outlook would be predicated on sustained infrastructure spending.

“The short-term impact on investment and employment leads us to upgrade our 2016 and 2017 GDP forecasts to 6.3 percent for both years, from 5.9 percent and 5.8 percent previously, assuming the [budget deficit] target is reached,” it said.

The Development Budget Coordination Committee raised the budget deficit ceiling in 2017 to 3 percent of GDP from less than 2 percent over the past several years under the Aquino administration.

HSBC said the 3-percent deficit would be reached by a further increase in infrastructure spending and tackling underspending.

It said the target would also likely be achieved through income and corporate tax cuts, which would be partly offset by plans for increased tax enforcement.

The bank said the infrastructure push would also likely lead to a continued rise in imports, which would place pressure on the current account. HSBC said the current account surplus was expected to moderate to 1.3 percent of GDP in 2016 and 0.9 percent in 2017.

Banks remain strong –BSP

“Fortunately, incoming President Duterte’s economic team is intent on sustaining the infrastructure drive, which is reassuring. The Philippines has made great strides in improving fiscal transparency and increasing the quality of spending,” HSBC said.

The bank, however, warned that some longer-term issues should be resolved to ensure that economic growth would be sustained.

It said aside from structural trade deficit, the growth of the manufacturing sector needed to pick up substantially outside of electronics, despite policy efforts to encourage other exports.

Diokno on Tuesday said the government expected the economy to grow between 6 percent and 7 percent this year, slower than the previous administration’s target of 6.8 to 7.8 percent.

Bello meets workers. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (left) meets the workers of Tinig ng Manggagawa sa C&F Manufacturing

Philippines Corp., headed by Esmeraldo Ison, to discuss the union busting issues of the workers. Joining Bello are undersecretary for labor relations Joel Maglungsod and regional office No. 4-A director Zeny Angara.

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas said Tuesday universal and commercial banks remain well capitalized.

Bangko Sentral said in a statement the capital adequacy ratio— a measure of financial strength of big banks—stood at 14.91 percent on solo basis and 15.78 percent on consolidated basis in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“The latest numbers remain well above Bangko Sentral’s regulatory threshold of 10 percent and the international minimum of 8 percent for CAR,” Bangko Sentral said.

Bangko Sentral, however, said the capital adequacy ratios in the fourth quarter were lower than 15.55 percent on solo basis and 16.40 percent on consolidated basis registered in the third quarter, as risk-weighted assets grew at a faster pace than their qualifying capital amid the banks’ increased lending activities.

“The banks’ capitalization remains mainly composed of common equity Tier 1, the highest quality among instruments eligible as bank capital,” Bangko Sentral said.

The CET1 ratio represented 12.37 percent and 13.33 percent of risk-weighted assets on solo and consolidated bases in the fourth quarter. The latest CET1 ratios are more than twice the regulatory minimum of 6 percent.

The industry’s Tier 1 ratio, meanwhile, stood at 12.55 percent and 13.48 percent on solo and consolidated bases in the October-December period.

The ratios for the banks’ Tier 1, which is comprised of common equity and qualified capital instruments, remained higher than the regulatory requirement of at least 7.5 percent.

Bangko Sentral said the recent figures indicated that the banks continued to set aside adequate buffers for risk-taking activities.

A robust capital position supports financial stability, which is a key policy of the BSP, it said.

There are currently 40 universal and universal banks in the country.

Latest report from Bangko Sentral showed that the Philippine banking system remained strong as balance sheets were marked by a sustained growth in assets and deposits.

Julito G. Rada

Piñol unveils agriculture strategy to achieve food sufficiency

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales AGRICULTURE Secretary Emmanuel Piñol on Tuesday unveiled a strategy to boost rice and corn production and achieve food sufficiency. “ There is now a paradigm shift in many of the DA’s programs and priorities,” Piñol said.

Piñol said for rice, he designed a program called Rice Productivity Enhancement which would involve a thorough review of the country’s water management and irrigation policies.

The program aims to conduct a nationwide soil analysis, improve rice farming

technology, introduce high-yielding rice varieties, implement effective soil rehabilitation and fertilizer program and provide modern harvest and post-harvest facilities to minimize losses.

Piñol said the department would also focus on producing more white corn for corn-eating provinces.

“There must be a viable program to produce more white corn to supply the grains requirements of the corn-eating provinces like Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Bohol, Cebu, Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, the three provinces of Samar and Northern Mind-

anao,” Piñol said.

He said for the livestock and poultry sectors, the country should develop feed components supplies and lessen dependence on imported materials such as soya.

“For our fish and marine products sufficiency, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is now tasked to implement a nationwide program against illegal fishing and a three-month closed season during the spawning period of the distinct fish species in the different parts of the country,” Piñol said.

Piñol said the Agriculture Department would also intensify funding and support

for the production of high-value fish species such as lapu-lapu and maya-maya.

He said for irrigation, the agency would focus more on small and community-based irrigation projects. “There will be a shift in the irrigation mindset,” he said.

“The DA will also be introducing solarpowered irrigation facilities, especially in remote villages which are not connected to the grid to provide water not only for the rice fields but also for vegetable gardens and for drinking purposes and most of all, to provide electric power to the community,” Piñol said.

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

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Jailed for torturing toddler to death SINGAPORE—A Singaporean mother who tortured her two-year-old son to death for not eating his breakfast and disobeying her was jailed along with her boyfriend on Tuesday for what the court described as the couple’s “senseless brutality”.

District Judge Bala Reddy cited the “ruthless and unrelenting” violence in the case and the couple’s lack of remorse before handing down an 11-year term for 41-year-old mother Zaidah, who goes by one name.

nappy, kicking and slapping him whenever he got tired.

“For more than a month, the two of you in a ruthless and unrelenting manner inflicted severe torture on your two-year-old child who was unable to retaliate or defend himself,” Reddy said.

The worst of the abuse happened on November 22 when the couple hit and kicked the boy after he refused to eat breakfast, stomping on his chest and force-feeding him dried chili pepper.

The same punish-

Her boyfriend, Zaini Jamari, 46, was jailed for 10 years and sentenced to 12 lashes of the cane.

The court heard how over a five-week period last year, the couple punished the boy by making him stand for hours wearing only a

Republic of the Philippines CITY OF SAN PEDRO Province of Laguna

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2. The City Government of San Pedro, Laguna now invites bids forthe following: QTY

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DESCRIPTION JLAEH Medical Supplies (Central Supply Room) Alcohol Betadine Hydrogen Peroxide Soluset Cotton Roll Big Gauze Roll Big Sterile water for injection 100cc Oxygen Mask (adult) Oxygen Mask (pedia) Nebulizer kit Digital Thermometer Oxygen Cannula (adult) Oxygen Cannula (pedia) Micropore 1” Clean Gloves (small) Clean Gloves (medium) Clean Gloves (large) 1cc Syringe 10cc Syringe 3cc Syringe 5cc Syringe IV Catheter 20g IV Catheter 24g IV Catheter 22g IV Catheter 26g Arm Sling (small) Arm Sling (medium) Arm Sling (large) Silk 2/0 Silk 3/0 Chromic 2.0 Chromic 3.0 Elastic Bandage 5cmx4.5m Elastic Bandage 7.5cmx4.5m Elastic Bandage 10cmx4.5m Elastic Bandage 15cmx4.5m Tongue depressor (wooden) Face Mask Leukoplast 1/2” Lubricating Jelly 150g IV Tube SetMacro IV Tube Set Micro Heplock Torniquet Tissue forcep toothed Blade Holder No. 3 Needle Holder (small) Iris Scissor Stetoscope (Littman) Bed Pan Stainless Steel Urinal Stainless Steel BP Bulb BP Bulb (adult) BP Cuff (child) Rubber Tubing BP Apparatus Aneroid Type Oxygen Humidifier

Ambubag (adult) Ambubag (pedia) Disposable Needle G23 Disposable Needle G26 Asepto Syringe Sterile Gloves size 7.5 Feeding Tube Fr. 5 Rubber Catheter Fr. 16 Foly Catheter Fr. 14 Foly Catheter Fr. 16 Foly Catheter Fr. 18 Suction Catheter Fr. 15 Suction Catheter Fr. 16 Suction Tube/Extension Tube Surgical Blade #10 Surgical Blade #11 Surgical Blade #15 Surgical Blade #20 Yankeur Suction Tip Cidex N 95 Face Mask

Hand Soap Sanitizer (bactigel) Lidocaine 50ml Fetal Doppler Otoscope BP Latex Bag (adult) BP Coil Tube Scrub Suit for Doctor (large) Scrub Suit for Doctor (medium) Cacha for instrument wrapper OR Slipper (any color not white) small OR Slipper (any color not white) medium OR Slipper (any color not white) large for Delivery Room Methylergonorvine Maleate Oxytocin Vit K IV Tube Set Adult Safety Razor Underpad Headcaps IV Catheter - gauge 20 IV Catheter - gauge 22 Sanitex Maternity Pad Chromic 2.0 IV Catheter - gauge 24 IV Catheter - gauge 26 for Central Supply Room Epinephrine 1ml/amp Hydrocortisone 250mg/vial Hydrocortisone 100mg/vial Dopamine 200g Diphenhydramine 50mg Ketorolac Tramadol amp 50mg Paracetamol amp 300mg Salbutamol 2mg (nebules) Ephedrine SO4 Digoxin 0.5mg

amps pcs amps amps amps amps amps amps tubes boxes boxes boxes boxes pcs amps amps amps amps vials amps amps amps amps amps vials vials vials vials vials vials

Diazepam 10mg/2ml Diclofenac NA Furosemide Hydralazine Haloperidol 50mg Tranexamic acid Dexamethasone Ranitidine Silver Sulfadiazine Clonidine 75mcg Bromide Salbutamol+Ipratropiem Amiodarone 150mg Paracetamol Tab 500mg Erythromycin Eye Ointment Dobutamine 250mg Hyoscine 20mg Methylergonorvine Maleate Oxytocin Sodium Bicarbonate Atropine Sulfate Aminophylline Norepinephrine Terbutaline Bricanyl Citicoline Cefuroxime 750mg Ceftriaxone 1g Omeprazole 40mg Pantoprazole 40mg Cefutaxime 1g Ciprofloxacin 1g

42 10 15 20 10 42 10 10 10 15 15 15 25 25 15 15

boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes

IV FLUIDS D5LR 1L D50.3% NaCl 500cc D50.3% NaCl 1L D5LR 500cc D5NSS 1L PNSS 1L D5NM 1L D5 IMB 1L D5 IMB 500cc Plain LR 1L Plain LR 500cc 0.9 Sodium Chloride for Irrigation for Delivery Room D5LR 1L PNSS 1L D5 LR 500cc 0.9 Sodium Chloride for Irrigation 1L

boxes boxes bots gal rolls pcs reams reams pcs

DENTAL SUPPLIES Lidocaine 50ml Gloves Alcohol Cidex Cotton (big) Tissue roll Bond Paper (long) Bond Paper (short) Record Book (300 pages)

16 13 10 1 3 10 2 2 2

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID PR NO. 2016-1825 1.

The City Government of San Pedro, Laguna through the 2016 Budget Approved by the Sangguniang Panglungsodintends to apply the sum of Php 2,028,497.40 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for Supply and Delivery of Various Medicines for the Indigent Constituents of City of San Pedro, Laguna 3rd Qrt 2016. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.The City Government of San Pedro, Laguna now invites bids forthe following:

ment was repeated that evening before the boy went to bed, where he was found dead the next morning.

An autopsy showed the boy had 41 external injuries, including bruises on his chest and legs, and a large welt on his forehead.

Zaidah claimed the boy fell in the toilet and hit his head.

The couple faced a combined total of 32 charges including causing grievous hurt and physical abuse of the child, who died a month short of his third birthday. AFP

30 20 30 30 10 30 10 50 10 3 10 2 2 10 10 50 30 30 10 50 30 30 10 10 30 30 30 30 30 50

Republic of the Philippines CITY OF SAN PEDRO Province of Laguna BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

QTY 25 10 288 30 30 25 288 25 144 288 25 20 25 144 25 288 10 10 20 25 144 288 144 78 25 10 78 20 25 10 144 10 25 10 25 30 25 6 30 10 25 144 20 5 5 5 25 25 10 25 288 25 10 30 288 20 25 20 25 25 144 25 288 25 25 20 144 144 288 25 144 288 288 20 5 5 5 25 4 25 144 20 20 20 30 10 3 6 3 3 3 5 110 2 2 2 2

UNIT boxes boxes bots boxes boxes boxes bots boxes bots bots boxes boxes boxes bots boxes bots boxes boxes boxes boxes bots bots bots bots boxes boxes bots boxes boxes boxes bots boxes boxes boxes boxes bots boxes boxes bots boxes boxes bots boxes pcs pcs pcs boxes boxes boxes boxes bots boxes boxes bots bots boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes bots boxes bots boxes boxes boxes bots bots bots boxes bots bots bots boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes bots boxes boxes boxes boxes bots boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes boxes pcs boxes boxes boxes boxes

DESCRIPTION Amoxicillin 500mg. Cap 100’s Amoxicilling 250mg Cap 100’s Amoxicillin Suspension 250mg Amlodipine 5mg Tab Amlodipine 10mg Tab Ambroxol Tab Ambroxol Syrup Aspirin Ascorbic Acid Drops Ascorbic Acid Syrup Ascorbic Acid Tab 500mg 100’s Atorvastatin 20mg Tab Allopurinol 300mg Carbocisteine Drops Carbocisteine 500mg cap Carbocisteine Syrup 250mg Clonidine 75mg Tab Captopril 75mg Cefalexin Cap 250mg 100’s Cefalexin Cap 500mg 100’s Cefalexin Drops 10ml Cefalexin Suspension 250ml Cefalexin Suspension 125ml Cefuroxime Suspension 125 mg 60ml Cefuroxime Cap 500mg Celecoxib Cetrizine Syrup Cetrizine Cap Ciprofloxacin Tab 500mg Cinnarizine 25mg Tab Cloxacillin 250mg. Syrup Cloxacilling 250mg Cap Cloxacillin 500mg. Cap Clopidogrel 75mg Tab Cotrimoxazole 400mg Cap Co-Amoxiclav 250mg syrup Co-Amoxiclav 625mg Cefixime Cap Cefixime Syrup Clindamycin 300mg Cap Cefaclor Cap Cefaclor Syrup Diclofenac Tab 50mg Chloramphenicol 0.5% eye drops Tobramycin eye drops Dexamethasone 0.5mg eye drops Ferrous Sulfate Tab Folic Acid Tab Gliclazide 80mg Tab Glibenclamide 5mg Guaifenesin syrup 60ml Losartan 50mg Tab Loratadine 10mg Tab Loratadine Syrup Mefenamic Acid Suspension Mefenamic Acid Cap 250mg Mefenamic Acid Cap 500mg.

Meloxicam tab 50mg Metoprolol 50mg Tab Metformin 500mg Multivitamin Drops 60ml Multivitamins Cap 100’s Multivitamins Syrup Phenylpropanolamine Tab Omeprazole Cap 20mg 30’s ORS Paracetamol Drops 60mg.

Paracetamol Syrup 125mg Paracetamol Syrup 250mg Paracetamol tab 500mg Phenyl+Brompheniramine Drops Phenyl+Brompheniramine Syrup Salbutamol + Guaifenesin Syrup Salbutamol Nebules Budesonide Nebules Combivent Nebules Salbutamol + Ipratropium Nebule Simvastatin 20mg Tab Tranexamic Acid 500mg Tab Salbutamol/Guafenesin Cap Cotrimoxazole 200mg/5ml susp.

Cotrimoxazole tab 800mg Cotrimoxazole tab 400mg Hyoscine N Butylbromide 10mg Tab Vitamin B12 Tab Tobramycin eye drops Telmisartan 5mg Esomeprazole 40mg Sitagliptin/Metformin HCL 100mg Telmisartan/Amlodipine 40mg/10mg SG-Glutergen Amlodipine/Besylate 5mg Flunarizine 5mg Cap Ploglitazone 5mg Tab Doxoflylline 200mg Tab Spiriva 5mcg Cap Budosonid/Formoterol

Delivery of the Goods is required within thirty (30) days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within two (2) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Delivery of the Goods is required within thirty (30) days upon receipt of Notice Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within two (2) years from the date submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section Instructions to Bidders.

to of of II.

3. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

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

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/ fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

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

4.

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

Office of the BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm. City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna

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

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders on thedate, time and address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 5,000.00.

ISSUANCE OF ELIGIBILITY AND BIDDING DOCUMENTS:

Office of the BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm. City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders on thedate, time and address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Php 5,000.00.

ISSUANCE OF ELIGIBILITY AND BIDDING DOCUMENTS:

PRE-BID:

July 7 - 22, 2016 8:30AM – 9:30AM BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm. City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna July 8, 2016 10:00 AM BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm. City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna

PRE-BID:

5. Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before the specified date and time.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

DEADLINE OF SUBMISSION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND OPENING OF BIDS:

July 22, 2016 10:00 AM BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm. City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna

Bid opening shall be on the same date and time for deadline of submission of eligibility requirements and submission of bids and shall be conducted at the Office of the BAC Secretariat. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address given above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

For further information, please refer to:

6.

(sgd.) ENGR. FILEMON I. SIBULO Chairman Bids and Awards Committee (TS-JULY 6, 2016)

The City Government of San Pedro, Lagunaassumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bid.

Further, City Government of San Pedro, Laguna, reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

7.

Mr. Merlin B. Paala Office of the BAC Secretariat San Pedro City Hall San Pedro, Laguna Telefax No. 847.1722

July 8, 2016 10:00 AM BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm.

City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before the specified date and time. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

DEADLINE OF SUBMISSION OF ELIGIBILITY July 22, 2016 REQUIREMENTS AND OPENING OF BIDS: 10:00 AM BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm.

City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna Bid opening shall be on the same date and time for deadline of submission of eligibility requirements and submission of bids and shall be conducted at the Office of the BAC Secretariat. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address given above. Late bids shall not be accepted.

The City Government of San Pedro, Lagunaassumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bid.

Further, City Government of San Pedro, Laguna, reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

July 7 - 22, 2016 8:30AM – 9:30AM BAC Secretariat 4/f Conference Rm. City Administrator’s Office City Hall Bldg., San Pedro, Laguna

For further information, please refer to: Mr. Merlin B. Paala Office of the BAC Secretariat San Pedro City Hall San Pedro, Laguna Telefax No. 847.1722

(sgd.) ENGR. FILEMON I. SIBULO Chairman Bids and Awards Committee

(TS-JULY 6, 2016)

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

B8 China floods leave over 100 dead or missing BEIJING—Flooding in China’s Yangtze river basin has left 112 people dead or missing in recent days, media said Tuesday, with more damage feared from a typhoon expected to land within days.

Some 16 million people have been affected by heavy rain that has left vast areas under water near the Yangtze, China’s longest river, the Beijing News cited the civil affairs ministry as saying.

Water levels in Taihu Lake, close to Shanghai, are at their highest level since 1954, it said, adding the area faced a “serious” risk of flooding if a typhoon hit nearby on Friday.

Pictures of a farmer in eastern China breaking down in tears as waters mounted around his 6,000 pigs were posted by state media.

Other images showed a sports stadium in the central province of Hubei turned into a “giant bathtub” by the rainfall.

Flooding is common during the summer monsoon season in southern China, but rainfall has been particularly heavy this year and many areas have been lashed by torrential rains this week.

Rain is expected to move north this week towards the Huai river, the Beijing News added.

China’s Vice Premier Wang Yang warned last month that a strong El Niño effect this year would increase the risk of floods in the Yangtze and Huai river basins.

An El Niño effect was linked to China’s worst floods of recent years when more than 4,000 people died in 1998, mostly around the Yangtze.

The paper quoted a meteorologist as saying that rain patterns this year were more disparate than in 1998, diminishing the risk of a similar toll.

China’s national observatory issued an orange alert for storms across the country’s south and east last week -- the second highest warning in a four-tiered system.

Whole villages were leveled and at least 98 killed in the eastern province of Jiangsu last month after the region was hit by a storm with hurricane-force winds and the worst tornado in half a century.

Floods have also hit South Asia this week, with 33 killed in Pakistan and 25 left dead in India after unusually heavy rains. AFP

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

WORLD 3 suicide bombings strike Saudi, including holy site RIYADH—Three suicide bombings struck Saudi Arabia in a single day, including a shocking attack at Islam’s second holiest site, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, where four security guards were killed.

Concert. Classical crossover star Jackie Evancho performs at A Capitol Fourth concert at the US Capitol West Lawn on July 4, 2016, in Washington, DC. AFP

Monday’s attacks on Islam’s spiritual home came as Muslims prepared for the feast this week marking the end of the holy fasting month Ramadan.

There were no claims of responsibility, but the Islamic State group had urged its supporters to carry out attacks during the holy month and has claimed or been blamed for a wave of Ramadan shootings and bombings including in Orlando, Bangladesh, Istanbul and Baghdad.

The suicide bombing in Medina came during sunset prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque—where Islam’s Prophet Mohammed is buried and which attracts millions of pilgrims each year.

The Saudi interior ministry said in a statement that security forces became suspicious of a man who was heading for the Prophet’s Mosque through a parking lot.

“As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death and the death of four security personnel,” the statement said, adding that five others were injured.

The targeting of Medina caused widespread outrage.

Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, condemned the attacks and stressed “the sanctity of the houses of God, especially the Prophet’s Mosque.”

Saudi Arabia’s supreme council of clerics said the attacks “prove that those renegades... have violated everything that is sacred.”

The head of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, the kingdom’s main advisory body, said the attack was “unprecedented”.

“This crime, which causes goosebumps, could not have been perpetrated by someone who had an atom of belief in his heart,” Abdullah al-Sheikh said.

Iran, the main Shiite power, also condemned the bombings and called for Muslim unity against extremists.

“There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross. Sunnis, Shiites will both remain victims unless we stand united as one,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter.

At the same time as the Medina attack, across the country in the Shiite-populated Gulf city of Qatif another suicide bombing took place near a Shiite mosque, residents and the interior ministry said.

The ministry said “the body parts of three people were found” at the site but had not yet been identified. AFP

Abbas Kiarostami, giant of Iran cinema, dies in France at 76

TEHRAN—Tributes poured in on Tuesday for Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, acclaimed as a “towering figure” in world cinema, following his death in France at the age of 76.

Kiarostami, who won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for “Taste of Cherry”, emerged from the Iranian New Wave of the late 1960s to become one of the world’s most re-

vered directors.

Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese praised his “extraordinary body of work”.

“He was a true gentleman, and, truly, one of our great artists,” Scorsese told The Hollywood Reporter.

Kiarostami’s poetic parables of ordinary lives won him international acclaim, with French director Jean-Luc Godard once

declaring that “film begins with D.W. Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami.”

News of his death broke late on Monday, with Iranian media reporting that he died from a blood clot in the brain following months of treatment for intestinal problems.

The ISNA news agency said he had returned to Iran from his home in Paris to undergo several operations between February and April,

before traveling back to France last week for further treatment.

“Kiarostami’s different and deep outlook on life, and his invitation to peace and friendship, will be an everlasting achievement,” tweeted President Hassan Rouhani.

Foreign Minister Javad Zarif added: “Iran has lost a towering figure in international cinema”.

Just last week, Kiarostami had been invited to join the Academy in

Hollywood as part of its efforts to increase the diversity of its Oscar judges.

“He wasn’t just a filmmaker.

He was a modern mystic, both in his cinema and his private life,” Asghar Farhadi, another of Iran’s renowned directors, told Britain’s The Guardian.

Iranian cinemas were due to pause showings on Tuesday evening for a prayer in Kiarostami’s memory, ISNA reported. AFP

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

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

BING PAREL

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

BERNADETTE LUNAS

isahred @ gmail.com

WRITER

FAS HION & BE AU T Y

LIFE

TWEETIE DE LEON

IN LOVE WITH

W

DEBENHAMS

ith over three decades under her belt as one of the country’s first supermodels, the ageless and effortlessly beautiful Tweetie De Leon continues to reshape the industry with her influence today.

The style icon proudly embraces her new role as Debenhams’ newest brand believer.

For decades, Debenhams has helped style the ordinary individual in extraordinary ways with its wide and varied selections. It stands out as one of the premier brands for go-to everyday fashion. From chic casuals to trendy dresses and even formalwear, Debenhams gives every customer the opportunity to look stylishly on-pointe.

“Debenhams has everything you’re looking for. They run the gamut of all types of fashion and so they’re able to address all your needs,” the style and beauty icon shares. “Debenhams remains to be a favorite because it is very wearable, it’s classic. It caters to everyone – from men, women and children.”

“Shopping is also made easier for mothers like me, because Debenhams doesn’t just carry pieces for me, but the rest of the family as well.” For whatever need or lifestyle, Debenhams helps you to dress up for the occasion.

Like Tweetie, Debenhams has remained a stalwart in the fashion industry because it has remained true to itself, even though it has evolved and paved new paths over the years.

“There are so many brands that have come and gone, but there’s a reason why Debenhams has been able to stick it out.

They understand the likes, wants and needs of their consumer,” shares Tweetie. For a global brand, this is easier said than done as the modern shopper is very complex and ever changing. As consumers evolve, priorities shift, their wants change, and their lifestyles become more demanding.

But Debenhams has been able to keep up with the challenges as a retail giant. “For Debenhams, it’s not just about selling, it is about being able to service their customer.

It’s building loyalty and belief in the brand among customers. They understand what each person wants,” Tweetie ends. Your styles and their retail expertise - it’s a match made in Debenhams.

Rustan Specialty Concepts, Inc. (RSCI) is the official franchise holder of Debenhams in the Philippines.

Debenhams is located at Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Glorietta 4–Rustan’s Makati, TriNoma, Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons and Abreeza Mall in Davao.

‘Debenhams has everything you’re looking for. They run the gamut of all types of fashion and so they’re able to address all your needs’ – Tweetie de Leon, model and brand believer

British retailer Debenhams offers a wide range of clothing options for women – from chic casuals to trendy dresses to stylish formal wear

C1 Tweetie De Leon-Gonzalez looks stylishly on-point as she proudly embraces her new role as Debenhams’ newest brand believer.

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

C2

LIFE isahred @ gmail.com

BEAUTY CORNER Lighten’ up

The panel of judges screens the applicants for Professional Models Association of the Philippines' Modéle Philippines

PMAP LAUNCHES REALITY SEARCH MODÈLE PHILIPPINES

G

earing up to its grand 30th anniversary in 2017, the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP) launched its “the next go-see for” Modèle Philippines a reality search for the “New Model of Influence!”

Aspiring female and male models as young as 12 years old tried their luck for a chance to win a modeling contract and become a member of PMAP during the open casting held Saturday at F1 Hotel Manila, Bonifacio, Global City.

The applicants went through a two-step screening process.

They were judged in groups (for comparative judging) on body, face and Modèle Look, and a one-onone, three-minute panel interview.

Girls were at least 5’8” tall and at least 5’11” for the boys. Fashion designer and beauty expert Renee Salud led the judge’s table with, PMAP past president Angel Agustin-Co and officers Hye Won Jang, Natasha Bautista, Jairus Ferrer, Raffa Kiefer, Patty Betita, and Angel Agustin.

For almost three decades, PMAP, a non-profit organization managed by the member-models themselves, has continued to work to uplift, protect

Male models vie for a modeling contract and membership with PMAP

and professionalize the modeling industry in the Philippines, and to develop and stabilize, national and international awareness, participation, involvement and competition in the field of modeling.

PMAP has proven to be a major force in the development and success of the local fashion industry. PMAPs has discovered international models the likes of Tweetie de Leon-Gonzales, Apples Aberin, Marina Benipayo, Rissa Mananquil-Trillo, Lala FloresMagpantay, Izza Gonzales-Agana, Lou Bunyi-Pareja, Malou GonzalezHafner, Ornussa Cadness, Patricia dela Cruz, Lucia Santiago, Tina Maristela-Ocampo and Rissa Samson.

PMAP has remained an association for glamour, beauty and fashion, stronger in its goal to improve the overall image of models—to be more than just pretty faces, working for unity among models and serving as training ground for the models’ progress and success. PMAP has earned a reputation for instilling the virtues of patience, discipline and professionalism to its members. Despite the many challenges faced by the PMAP through the years, it has managed to survive, firmly united to fight those who sought to undermine the rights of its members.

– Eton B. Concepcion

Dare to Go Nude We’re going nude… on our lips, that is.

When sultry, smoky eyes or luscious, long lashes are the main focus of a woman’s makeup, nudehued lips were originally worn to downplay a beauty look. But today, nudes have evolved into becoming a style staple and statement perfect for that clean and sexy everyday look.

From the power lip franchise, Color Sensational, that brought us the hottestselling Creamy Matte and the most vivacious lip colors with Vivid Matte – the World’s No. 1 Makeup Brand, Maybelline New York, unveils a universally flattering rosy nude lip collection for the Filipina skin tone with Rosy Matte.

“Most Filipinas shy away from nude lipsticks because they believe nudes, more often than not, don’t match against

the Filipina skin.” shares Kat Diaz, Product Manager of Maybelline New York. “Maybelline New York, being the World’s No. 1 makeup brand that offers Filipinas the trendiest lipsticks, understands this specific need of Filipinas and with this, we proudly launch Rosy Mattes in the Philippines. Never look dull, never look washed out with our five sensational Rosy Matte shades!”

Maybelline New York’s ever-popular lip franchise, Color Sensational, has always delivered the best of lipsticks with amazing colors, finishing it with superior formula – and Rosy Matte is no exception to this. Get fully sensational lips with Rosy Matte’s high pigmentation, lasting power, hydrating, and lightweight features in just one swipe. With five lustful and obsession-worthy shades

To help Filipinos coveting fair and radiant skin, the makers of Kojiesan Skin Lightening Soap launches a complete range of lightening products that harnesses the power of Kojic Acid.

Filipino company Beauty Elements Ventures, Inc. (BEVI) introduces its formulation of Kojic Acid—a powerful and all-natural combination of Kojic Acid extracted as a byproduct of Japanese rice wine fermentation and high-grade virgin coconut oil—in its three new Kojiesan products.

Kojiesan Cleanser + Toner, which is made with ginseng extract and rosehip oil, revives tired skin by ridding it of excessive oils and repairing skin damage. The natural extracts and high-grade Kojic Acid in Kojiesan Lightening Cream, meanwhile, lightens, nourishes and restores skin’s suppleness for a healthy, rosy look. Finally, Kojiesan Body Lightening Lotion is armed with advanced formula of Kojic Acid, rosehip oil, collagen and vitamin E that whitens skin and promotes youthfulness and skin health.

The Kojiesan products are available in beauty stores, drugstores and supermarkets nationwide.

Silky straight secret

One indication of a great hair day is having silky straight locks pleasurable to stroke from roots to tips. To give more women the power to be comfortable with how she looks, Palmolive rolled out its new and improved conditioner.

Palmolive Naturals Silky Straight Conditioner range sports a fresh new look with the same formula that’s infused with micro-moisturizers that penetrate deep into hair making it eight times straighter when used with Palmolive’s shampoo products.

Palmolive’s new cream conditioners are available in beauty stores, drugstores and supermarkets nationwide.

Multitasking sunscreens

Putting on sunscreen religiously is one of the most important components of skin care, yet many still skip this step because of the additional time and effort required to do it. This is the situation where products that do more than UV protection come in handy.

Japanese brand Bioré UV offers water-based multitasking sunscreen—each has its own specialty. Bioré Aqua Rich Watery Essence has a weightless and transparent finish that makes for a perfect base for makeup. Bioré Aqua Rich BB Essence, on the other hand, gives a 3D brightening effect that works well as primer for facial contouring.

Bioré Sara Sara Perfect Bright Face Milk gives users a light pink gleam that brightens dull skin while offering oil and shine control. The water-based formula of Bioré Sara Sara Perfect Milk, meanwhile, offers long-lasting protection sans the sticky feel. Lastly, Bioré Aqua Rich Whitening Essence whitens skin even if the wearer is under the sun.

Bioré UV is available online at www.beautymnl.com and in beauty stores, drugstores and supermarkets nationwide.

Power in a crystal

Maybelline New York's Rosy Matte lipstick range

to choose from: Natural Beige, Soft Pink, Rosy Peach, Apricot Beige, and Salmon Pink – get the right shade for your skin tone and get ready to embrace the nude lip trend you’ve always wanted to try!

With Color Sensational Rosy Matte

by Maybelline New York, dare to go nude for only P299. Products are available at all Maybelline counters nationwide.

Direct-selling company Avon harnesses the power of the mild and natural tawas in its new deodorant line.

Aluminum Potassium Sulfate or tawas is a widely-trusted Filipino favorite because of its deodorizing properties and whitening power. It is gentle and it is reliable, but is often difficult to use. Avon Feelin Fresh with Crystal Tawas makes it more convenient to use this home remedy through its two products that combine Whitening Crystal Complex to make underarm skin look whiter and 24-hour Dry Pore Protection to help stop sweat and odor.

Feelin Fresh with Crystal Tawas Quelch AntiPerspirant Deodorant Cream promises complete underarm protection and whiter skin in one week, while Feelin Fresh with Crystal Tawas Anti-Perspirant Rollon Deodorant features a quick-drying and non-sticky formula that makes skin look and smell clean.

These tawas-powered deodorants are available online at www.avonshop.com.ph or via Avon Representatives.

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

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LIFE

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Veteran actress Marita Zobel (left) joins the Doggficher fashion show

Giovanni 'Manu' Respall's Doggficher label celebrates a new kind of face and nature of fashion in the Philippines

HUNDREDS WITNESS DESIGN REVOLUTION

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lmost 1,000 fashion people witnessed the birth of a design revolution as newold brand, Doggficher, was launched in “Ekorbuohlis: Broken Silhouettes,” June 22, at Whitespace Manila.

“Thank you so much for allowing me to interrupt your lives to witness the re-birth of my Doggficher Empire. I hope I moved you in any way possible,” said fashion visionary Giovanni “Manu” Respall.

BY ROBBIE PANGILINAN

DLSU student and blogger Trisha Duncan joined the fashion show. Also, VIPs Director Gorio Vicuna and wife Peejay, Fides Cuyugan, John Herrera, Marita Zobel, Jane de Leon of Star Magic, members of the Makati Tourism Board, Bloggers United, Megaworld, Etonline Manila and people from Craig Lines (BAFTA Director) joined the 976 people who came to see a “broken night of fashionable and design revolution” which, according to Respall, did not

feature a collection, but a birth of a new kind of face and nature of fashion in the Philippines.

In his own words, “ (it is) a burst of madness and a measure of my range in style.”

The show intertwined with theatrical and narrative treatments to push the boundaries of what fashion Respall believes truly is.

The Doggficher brand was actually established in 1994 by Respall, a costume, graphic and interior designer, script and

playwright, singer, model, creative consultant, comic and book illustrator. Since then, Doggficher has been in fashion shows, magazines and TV shows. But the brand remained on the side as Respall pursued a showbiz career and until Doggficher reached the catwalk of the Philippine Fashion Week and noticed by big names in the industry. Three more features in collaboration with other designers, Respall decided to give birth to “an empire” he said was long overdue.

“I want to let the world know of my madness and let me show how beautiful it is to freely live, love and create for the people of this club called Earth. I challenge them to join me in this battle to prove we Filipinos are indeed world class. I dare everyone to upset the nature of design in this country,” ends Respall, who is also a theatre actor, host, TV commercial model, dancer, choreographer, director, voice talent, and lighting and production designer.

What to wear on rainy days The wet season is upon us again, and this means having to adjust your daily wardrobe. While it’s no brainer to wear thicker and water-repellent clothes, some forget how important it is to wear the right shoes and opt to put on bulky rain boots when they think footwear choices are limited.

When the road is slippery and the terrain is muddy, wearing the right footwear is necessary to get you smoothly from point A to point B. Walk safely and brave the elements with this season’s shoe must-haves suitable for different kinds of rainy situations.

Wash and wear. Keds Chillax shoes are made of washable, lightweight materials that make them easy to clean multiple times

sole made for wet, slick and unpredictable terrain.

Quick-drying shoes When your shoes get wet, it’s best to have a pair that dries

immediately, which will happen if it is made of breathable materials.

Try: Paul Sperry Flex Deck CVO Sneaker is designed with lightweight and breathable quick-dry mesh upper for incredible comfort. Its Molded Hydro Grip rubber outsole with Adaptive Wave-Siping disperses water underfoot to reduce slippage on wet or dry surfaces.

Or go for Merrell Capra Rapid, which has highly ventilated hydro-hiker with drainage channels for water evacuation. It also features M Select Wet Grip and Capra hoof-inspired siped

Paul Sperry Flex Deck CVO

Skechers GOwalk Sandals

Sandals Choose the durable type that allows your feet dry fast while keeping them in place on wet ground.

Try: Skechers GOwalk 3 Sandals which come in strappy and flipflop designs for men and women.

The sandals feature Skechers’ Goga Mat Technology that cushions feet for all-day comfort.

Jelly flats This type of shoes will keep feet dry in light rain and add a burst of sunshine to your outfit.

Try: Keds Teacup which comes with a removable footbed for the ultimate comfort and practicality, and a pretty jelly upper that lets you wipe off water easily.

Try: Keds Chillax that has relaxed washed twill upper, a comfy removable insole, a laceless snug fit and a super flexible rubber outsole that makes it easy to walk with or to stash inside your bag.

protection and traction on rough or muddy terrain.

Washable sneakers Look for shoes that are made to be washed multiple times so there’s no need to feel bad when they get dirty.

Slip-proof kicks Whether you’re going off-trail or treading the road to work in the rainy season, it’s vital to wear shoes that guarantee you won’t slip.

Try: Saucony Excursion TR9 which has a trail-specific outsole that provides excellent

Water-resistant lace-ups Scaling a mountain or grabbing a cup of coffee across the street while raining? Either way, it’s best to wear shoes that work for both wet and dry environments and uneven terrain.

Try: Merrell Capra Bolt (for women) and Capra Bolt GoreTex (for men) are designed for adrenaline-packed adventures.

The shoe’s UniFly midsole offers stability, agility and more efficient stride on trails.

Keds Teacup

Merrell Capra Bolt

Saucony Excursion TR9

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

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LIFE

isahred @ gmail.com

A

DENIM DISCUSSIONS

pair of denim jeans can take a person to different places. This fashion staple is versatile enough to be paired with basic t-shirt for a casual day of meeting friends or running errands, or with basic crisp button down and blazer for more formal events.

With such versatility and ability to transcend seasons and trends, it certainly doesn’t hurt to own denim trousers in various cuts and styles. Here are some choices that feature different functionalities but offer the same classic style.

Hideo Muraoka wears SM Men's latest Denim collection that marries simple style and ontrend details

Bobson’s Coolmax Denim Japanese denim brand Bobson combines minimalist style with breathable fabric in its new Kuuru Makkusu Coolmax Denim.

The Coolmax Denim is an innovative jeans made of breathable fabric and features quick-dry technology that gets rids of that icky, sweaty feeling that usually happens when wearing full-length pants during warmer days.

Each piece in the collection features a classic cut that makes it easy to be paired with anything, and the universally flattering shade of blue that makes it a great match for basically any outfit.

Freego’s Hyperflex Jeans Tight and constricting pants will be a thing in the past, thanks to Freego’s Hyperflex Jeans for men.

The new line of denim pants is made of a special material that performs ‘reflex,’ whipping the jeans back into its original shape after wear.

Hyperflex Jeans boasts of super elasticity with 98 percent fabric recovery.

The pants are also lightweight, making them comfortable to wear.

The collection is composed of slim straight cut jeans in three shades: Hyper Clean is a dark shade, Hyper Wave is a medium shade, and Hyper Sand is a light shade—these color choices make it easier to pick a pants to wear for work, play or other special occasions.

SM Men’s Denim Collection The men’s department of The SM Store offers a lineup of basic denim pieces that exudes simplicity and style with hints of on-trend details.

The collection is not limited to denim pants in classic blue hue, in fact, a part of the collection features the masculine shades of saddle brown and olive. The denim hue also veers from vibrant blue and is instead on the more subdued side of almost-gray sheen.

Pieces in solid grays are also present to complete the neutral tone of the lineup.

Denim jackets come with gray cotton hood, button downs feature a faux-distressed quality, and crewneck raglans come in dark colors with marbled buttons.

Bobson’s Coolmax Denim is available for both men and women. The pants are now available in leading department stores nationwide.

Freego’s Hyperflex Jeans is available in all leading department stores nationwide.

SM Men’s Denim collection is now available at all The SM Store in SM Malls nationwide.

Innovative luxury

With the arrival of the new BMW i3 version with significantly increased battery capacity, the BMW Group demonstrates yet again how highest demands in quality and design on the one hand and sustainability on the other can complement each other to optimum effect. This understanding of premium, which is strongly defined by sustainability, is also a hallmark of the new BMW i Collection. High-fashion outfits featuring an innovative mix of materials and chic designs as well as intricately crafted leather goods and accessories all take a unique route to blending a sense of responsibility with premium quality.

Sustainability meets high fashion Besides a variety of several styles for a sporting look, such as the Men’s and Women’s Sweatshirt Jackets made from organic cotton, the new BMW i Collection, also for the first time, includes luxury high-fashion clothing, whose innovative material combinations and cuts guarantee effortlessly stylish looks.

The BMW i Top can be easily combined with different looks thanks to adjustable asymmetrical zips on the sides and a relaxed cut. The beautifully flowing material that produces a silky, elegant appearance is made of cupro and lyocell. These regenerated fibres are produced from natural renewable raw materials by means of chemical processes.

The same mix of cuttingedge textiles has been used for one of the highlights of the collection – the BMW i Jumpsuit. Serving a look that is sporty yet also has an air of timeless elegance, the Carbon Grey jumpsuit will always create a remarkable impression. In addition to being made from a soft material with a slight sheen, the jumpsuit also offers an ingeniously practical styling concept: The concealed

BMW raises the bar in the lifestyle segment with high-fashion clothing and premium accessories waistline zip allows the one-piece outfit to be quickly split into a jacket and a pair of trousers – allowing additional styling possibilities, thereby further reinforcing its sustainability credentials.

The BMW i Cardigan is also far more than its name suggests: the cascade lapel collar with its asymmetric cut and the carefully hemmed blue border seam on the inside turn the cardigan into a stylish alternative to a classical blazer, with a casual elegance.

Ideal for cooler weather, the BMW i Jacket makes a clear statement of premium sustainability.

Smooth and coarse fabric, produced from organic cotton, and recycled polyester are effortlessly combined into a sophisticated design. The lining of both the fitted women’s version and the men’s short jacket features fine color accents of bright Electric Blue for the piped band.

‘Carry-on’ sustainability The BMW i Collection further comprises a series of luxurious luggage items, whose design and manufacture follow a sustainable approach. The fine nappa leather used for the new BMW i Weekend Bag, for instance, undergoes a high-quality tanning process – in line with the latest sustainability standards – at a tannery in Germany that specializes in sustainable production. These items of luggage are subsequently

BMW launches BMW i Collection that is composed of high-fashion apparel that feature innovative and sustainable materials

handcrafted by master craftsmen at an Italian leather atelier.

Apart from exclusive materials and precision workmanship, the Weekend Bag in Carbon Grey with hand-painted seam edges in Electric Blue comes with several practical features, e.g. an integrated organizer pocket for pens, mobile phones and other small items, or a leather-trimmed inner zip pocket. If you just require enough space to store a laptop, but also wish for a unique aesthetic, look no further than the matching BMW i Leather Bagmade of finest nappa leather.

The BMW i Backpack and BMW i Bag are made from recycled PET and sustainably produced leather and have a more functional design that makes them ideal for daily use. Whereas the BMW i Bag can be used

as either a tote bag or a shoulder bag, the Rucksack easily converts into a holdall with handy inner compartments offering plenty of storage space. Its quilted back section takes its cues from the design of the BMW i3 seats.

Sustainability for the next generation Even the younger ones can discover the fun of sustainability with BMW i, thanks to the BMW i Interactive Kids’ T-Shirt. The organic cotton T-shirt comes with a set of textile pens – so it can be given an individual color scheme – plus small cardboard cut-outs of the BMW i3 and BMW i8 to play with.

The above and other products from the BMW i Collection are now available at shop.bmw. com, as well as in selected BMW dealers.

W EDNES DAY : J ULY 6, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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FILIPINO FILMMAKER IN TAIWAN

he South East Asian Migrant Inspired (SEAMi) and Association of South East Asia Art, Cultural Education and Innovation Research in Taiwan recently invited award-winning Filipino filmmaker and UNESCO Laureate artist Richard Soriano Legaspi to screen his films in Taoyuan City, Northern Taiwan as part of a series of weeklong cultural exchange events in different venues.

Legaspi, the first Filipino artist to be featured in the event, accepted the invitation to share his films including Pipo, which stars Lou Veloso, Chanel “Boom” Latorre, and Maliksi Morales.

Pipo tells the story of a young boy who dreams to have his family picture taken.

It is the second installment from Legaspi’s Collective Memoirs short film trilogy. The film was made through a production grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts with support funding from Università delle Idee (UNIDEE) in Italy.

Pipo was shown at the Taoyuan Arts Cinema, a multi- functional community cultural hub that offers art exhibitions and cultural activities for local and foreign artists, on June 3. According to SEAMi art manager Winona Wang, the Taiwanese and migrant audiences loved Pipo as part of the panorama screening last year so the group decided to invite it for a second time for its relatively inspiring theme about family. It is part of a retrospective of Monsoon Asia x SeeMe Mobile Film Festival 2016.

Legaspi’s full-length documentary Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta (The Untiring Journey of the Red Suitcase), co-produced by GMA News TV - CineTotoo and UNIDEE with Red Room Media Productions, was also shown at the SEAMi library in Taoyuan on June 4.

Among the audience were local labor rights lawyers, activists, cultural activators, filmmakers and university professors. The director warmly shared his experiences and journey in shooting the film in Biella, Italy.

The Taoyuan city government also invited Legaspi to be one of the speakers at the film colloquium “Wind from the South Film Festival” at the MaTsu New Village, Zhongli District on June 5. Other filmmakers invited were Kek Huart Lau of Malaysia and Susan Chen of Taiwan. The forum sought to examine the social narratives of Asia. Chen Yijun and SEAmi founder ZhouXi Lin were the moderators.

Since Legaspi was continuously documenting different migration sto-

Child actor Maliksi Morales in “Pipo,” a short film about a boy’s dream to have his family picture taken

Educator and filmmaker Richard Legaspi

Richard Legaspi in a press conference in Taiwan where the short film was well received

ries since 2013, he also visited a shelter of Filipino migrant workers in the Northern Taiwan city to share Pipo and another short film, Pamatid-Gutom (Hunger Pangs), starring Mercedes Ca-

bral and co-produced by Focus on the Global South with Red Room, in an afternoon screening and film talk.

After its Taiwan screenings, Pipo will be in Europe to compete at the International

Short Film Festival “IndieCrete” in the famous and historic movie theatre “Paradiso” in Archanes, Greece from Aug.18 to 21 and at the Venice Film Week, La Casa del Cinema Venice, Italy on Aug. 29.

Patriotic songs in ‘Ryan Ryan Musikahan’ special on SKY PPV At a time when our nation braces for a fresh start with its new set of leaders, composer and music teacher Ryan Cayabyab and the country’s seasoned artists rouse nationalistic fervor through inspiring and heart-rending songs in Para sa Bayan: A Ryan Ryan Musikahan.

Guest performers for the much-anticipated original Jeepney TV special were

John Arcilla, acclaimed lead star of Heneral Luna and an accomplished stage actor, power-belter Bituin Escalante, rising diva Morisette Amon, and young singing sensation Darren Espanto.

Joining them were former band front man and now solo artist Ebe Dancel, master guitarist LJ Manzano Te, the Ryan Cayabyan Singers, and actor-poet Juan

Miguel Severo who created an original spoken word work performed alongside Cayabyab just for this special.

The special is the fourth in a series of revival specials of Ryan Ryan Musikahan, one of Philippine TV’s most awarded and most revered programs.

It will be under the helm of iconic TV director, Johnny Manahan.

On piano. Maestro Ryan Cayabyab with performers Morisette Amon, Ebe Dancel, the Ryan Cayabyab singers and Darren Espanto

Para sa Bayan: A Ryan Ryan Musikahan premiered exclusively on Sky Pay-Per-View on June 11 and ran until June 30, in time for the 118th year commemoration of Philippine Independence.

The special was an original production of Jeepney TV, the no. 1 local variety cable channel and home of timeless TV programs that bridge generations of Filipino viewers.

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W EDNES DAY : J ULY 6, 2016

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

THE GIRL WHO DUBSMASHED HER WAY TO STARDOM

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ith over 3.8 million Twitter followers (and counting), 2.4 Instagram followers and almost a million Facebook fans, Maine Mendoza has really come a long way.

It wasn’t that long ago that the simple girl from Bulacan, whose hobby was to upload her Dubsmash video on Facebook imitating Kris Aquino, skyrocketed from relative obscurity to stardom – thanks to Eat Bulaga and her unexpected pairing with Alden Richards.

“I can still remember how nervous and timid I was as I stand in the middle of the stage, facing the camera. It’s been a year but I still wonder how I was able to survive that audition unprepared,” Maine said in her social media post looking back on the launch of her career exactly a year ago.

The 21-year-old star is now considered as one of the trusted celebrity endorsers, the most Googled female celebrity in the Philippines (2015), a television and movie star, an influential personality and a celebrity who has an army of rabid fans who are ready to go to any war when their idol is bashed or criticized.

While her fans play a big role in catapulting her to where she is now today, it is also safe to say that without Maine, Alden’s showbiz career would have been stagnant. Similarly, had Alden didn’t drop by the Eat Bulaga studio on July 16 last year, AlDub would not have been and Maine’s TV career would just end up like any other social media rockstars who crossed over to TV then went back to social media when things did not work out.

But as you can see, Maine’s case is obviously an exception.

Now it can be said, Maine’s astronomical rise to stardom is similar to a Cinderella story. But like a fairy tale, will her journey in show business have a happy ending? Will AlDub still be around after a few years? Well, popularity and fame have their upside but they also come with the near certainty that they will end. And no matter how big a celebrity someone is, the person will definitely have a precipitous fall from grace.

Maine Mendoza is now a social media star with millions of fans and followers online, she first appeared on TV as Yaya Dub (left photo) on June 19, 2015

Is ‘Big Brother’ still relevant?

Big Brother used to be very popular it became visible in 55 countries and territories.

And it was phenomenal it gave other reality shows a run for their money.

But like any other shows that reached its peak, Big Brother is becoming obsolete and currently in crisis. In fact, as of 2016, 26 television networks have decided not to renew the franchise of the show.

While nearly half of Big Brother franchises has reached their natural end point, Pinoy Big Brother has a different story -- producers are still fighting to save the show (so they can still milk whatever is left).

Amid declining TV ratings, ABS-CBN still decided to come up with another season with new sets of housemates already been introduced prior to its July 11 premiere.

On Sunday, The Voice Kids finalist Juan Karlos Labajo was announced as the third person to enter “Bahay ni Kuya.” JK joins McCoy de Leon and Nikko Natividad, members of the boy band Hashtags, who were revealed as the first two-in-one

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ANSWER PREVIOUS PUZZLE

ACROSS 1 Enthusiasm 6 Doctrines 10 Cuff-link hole 14 Ryan or Tatum 15 Bronco “brake” 16 Neap, for one 17 Blame deflector 18 Light tan 19 Maintain 20 Designer — Claiborne

21 Winery triumph (2 wds.)

24 Germ-free 26 Pine product 27 Caddie’s offering 28 Run up bills 30 Lobby 33 Domineering 34 Prefix for “recent” 37 Disposes of 38 Jaywalk 39 Predicament

40 Capp and Jolson 41 Singer Bonnie — 42 Memory glitch 43 Tattered 44 Startled cry 45 Pilfer 48 Uses a compass 52 Misleading leads (2 wds.)

55 Response on deck 56 Mexican pot 57 Long time periods 58 Good for something 60 Bullring shouts 61 Pilaf base 62 Knocked about 63 Lavish 64 Wooden strip 65 Abrasive mineral DOWN 1 Hockey scores 2 Pitch-black 3 Confiscate 4 Actor —Hunter 5 Noted Hamlet portrayer 6 Sherlock’s lady friend 7 Splinter group 8 Oscar-winner — Sorvino 9 Warmth 10 Hung around 11 Dwelt

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016

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Without a flaw — Haute Seine vista Counting-rhyme start AAA suggestions Like Santa’s laundry?

Hey you!

Monk’s title Fossil fuel NFL gains Liverpool chap Bite USN officer “— to the West Wind” (Shelley) Wedding hirees Harden, as clay Pan’s opposite R and R Go over old ground Joule fraction Crowd in Phone response Keeps the motor going First sign Easily conned Mary — Moore Like melons Splash through a puddle Cuzco founder Turkey or cat

Two-in-one: McCoy de Leon and Nikko Natividad, members of the boy band Hashtags, join PBB

housemates on Saturday. Meanwhile, VJ Yassi Pressman and DJ-model Junri Park were announced to join PBB on Monday.

Though the network has not confirmed whether or not the new season of PBB will be a special edition, considering they had conducted national and international auditions

in 11 different locations, the reality show will be a mix of celebrity housemates and virtually unknown personalities supposedly from different walks of life.

Called Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7, the new season is the 13th Edition overall since it first aired in August 2005. Changes have been presented, too. The logo now features a human eye instead of a graphical one that was seen in earlier seasons and Mariel Rodriguez is joining Toni Gonzaga, Bianca Gonzales, and Robbie Domingo as hosts after her absence since the show’s Teen Edition in 2010.

With a new look, a new batch of housemates, and a promise of mind-blowing twists and surprises, will PBB be able to renew the viewers’ interest on the show?

Perhaps the historical ratings performance of the “teleserye ng totoo ng buhay” can answer that. Although many are still optimistic that PBB will still serve something delish to the table, we cannot discount the numbers the show had produced in recent seasons. PBB viewers are turning in droves, obviously.

W EDNES DAY : J ULY 6, 2016

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Actors Epi Quizon (left) and Iza Calzado (right) at the official launch of Metro Manila Film Festival’s new season

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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From left: Wilson Tieng, Iza Calzado, MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos, Boots Anson Roa Rodrigo and Epi Quizon

FROM TRADITIONAL TO #REELVOLUTION

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hange. That is what the Executive Committee of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is aiming for when they officially launched this year’s festival on June 28 at the SMX Convention Center.

For 42 years, the MMFF has been a part of the Filipino Christmas tradition. Now, with the theme #ReelVolution, MMFF has declared 2016 as a revolutionary era in Philippine Cinema.

“This cinematic revolution will celebrate the Filipino’s artistic excellence, and will champion the sustainability of the Philippine Film Industry with a new and improved film festival,” the MMFF executive committee said in a statement.

In the first quarter of the year, the MMFF created a new executive committee for 2016. Headed by Atty. Emerson S. Carlos, chairman of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) together with various representatives from public and private sectors namely PNP – NCRPO Police Director Joel Pagdilao, Edward Cabagnot, Jessie Ejercito, FDCP Executive Director Teodoro Granados, Moira Lang, Senator Sonny Angara, MMTA Vice President Marcus Ng, MOWELFUND President Boots Anson-Rodrigo, Jun Romana from Bureau of Broadcast Services, Edgar Tejerero, president of SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc., Wilson Tieng, president of MPDAP, Quezon City Representative Alfred Var-

BY ENNA HERMOSO

gas and Atty. Eugenio Villareal, chairman of MTRCB. The new executive committee has brought about a whole lot of changes with this year’s festival beginning with a logo design and theme song contest. The winning logo will be the Festival’s emblem and its artist will also design the key visual arts during the six month-long campaign of the festival. The theme song must be written in Filipino and composers Jimmy Bondoc, Jerrold Tarog, and Robert Rivera will select the winning piece. Open to all Filipinos, submission will start –July 15 –and end on Aug. 15. Winners will then be announced on Sept. 15.

The MMFF has recently been swarmed with controversies regarding its new requirement for movie entry submission.

Instead of the conventional requirement of submitting the script, the producers are now required to submit the finished movie.

One of the issues that this change is facing is the shortened production period of the movies. There have been changes in the submission date prior to the launch of MMFF. From September, the deadline has been moved towards the end of October.

The executive committee said that one of the reasons that they are requiring the finished movies is for the MMFF Marketing and Promotions Committee to have ample time to promote all of the movies.

At the festival’s press conference, Boots Anson – Rodrigo said that since the pro-

ducers have been in the industry for long, it is still possible for them to produce films even in a short span of time.

Additional competitions and recognitions guidelines are also introduced during the launch. The New Wave category will be replaced by the Short Film category together with the Full – Length Feature Film. The deadline for the finished film entry for the short films and full – length films will be on Oct. 19 and Oct. 31, respectively.

According to Atty. Emerson Carlos, this year’s committee will be stricter in terms of the deadline of the entries.

This year, the MMFF aims to bridge the gap between the Independent films and Mainstream films by removing the distinction between new wave films and feature films.

The MMFF Selection Committee will choose among the submissions eight entries from each category and will be shown alongside with each other. The Selection Committee is different from the committee that will select the winners of awards in the festival.

As for the criteria for selecting the film entries, the executive committee also came up with a different set for this year’s festival.

They have removed the 50 percent commercial viability and replaced it with 40 percent story, audience appeal and overall impact, 40 percent cinematic attributes and technical excellence, 10 percent global appeal, and 10 percent Filipino sensibility.

While they are vying for movies that are artistically excellent, the executive committee said that commercially viable films could also be award – winning.

Among the other changes that #ReelVolution is implementing is the scrapping of Best Child Actor Award to give way to the MMFF Children’s Choice Award.

This new award’s purpose is to encourage filmmakers to create movies intended for younger audiences. Children ages nine to 12 years will be choosing the winners of this category.

Also added to the prestigious awards to be given out is the People’s Choice Award.

This year’s winners will not be receiving any cash prizes.

Doing away with its traditional practice, the MMFF has moved its awards night to the end of the festival in order to avoid influencing the movie preference of the audience. It is now scheduled on Jan. 8, 2017, the day after the film festival period.

In accordance with its mission to develop audiences and encourage the production of quality Filipino films, the MMFF has introduced its first interactive gallery featuring the country’s most glorious films called MMFF Corner and a FanCon where movie enthusiasts can meet directors, producers, and artists.

Concurrently, MMFF will also hold the “Best of the Best” fest in select cinemas for fans to recall movies that gave color to the Philippine Cinema Industry.

Angel Locsin wants you to send money via Smart Padala

Actress Angel Locsin at the Smart Padala media launch

Smart Padala launched its new campaign along with Angel Locsin as its newest brand ambassador on June 29.

Known as a family-oriented celebrity, Angel has advocated various well-meaning causes. She was chosen by the remittance company for the brand to intensify its campaign for financial inclusion, which aims to deliver financial services at an affordable cost.

“Angel Locsin represents the family and service – oriented values of Smart Padala. Aside from being a devoted daughter, she also supports advocacies such as the Philippine Red Cross and awareness on women’s rights. We’re happy to welcome her to the Smart Padala family,” said Lawrence Ferrer, vice president and head of Domestic

Business at PayMaya Philippines.

Having been in show business for more than a decade now, Angel has represented big brands including Smart Telecommunications.

“I’m proud to be the new ambassador of Smart Padala. Naniniwala ako sa brand dahil malaki ang naitutulong ng Smart Padala sa mga manggagawa at pamilyang Pilipino. By representing the brand, I hope that I can help in Smart Padala’s mission to uplift more lives and communities,” Locsin shared during the press launch.

PadaLapit Lang with Smart Padala

Smart Padala has been made simple sending money to loved ones anywhere in the Philippines with 15,000 centers

nationwide.

“Since the brand was launched over 10 years ago, Smart Padala has been enabling our countrymen to send and receive money anywhere in the county in a fast, easy, secure, and affordable manner. With this campaign, we reaffirm and strengthen this ‘PadaLapit’ brand that has made us a fixture of Filipino life,” said Benjie Fernandez, co-COO of PayMaya Philippines and COO of Voyager Innovations.

PayMaya is the digital financial services of PLDT and Smart Communications, under the Voyager Group. To know more about Smart Padala, visit www.smartpadala.ph and like its official Facebook page, www.facebook. com/SmartPadalaPH. – Enna Hermoso

W EDNES DAY : J ULY 6, 2016

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR NICKIE WANG WRITER

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ THE LONG WAIT IS OVER¼

The phenomenal onscreen couple with “Imagine You & Me” director Mike Tuviera

ALDUB’S FIRST MAJOR FILM NOW IN THE CAN

In celebration of their first anniversary as an onscreen couple, Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards, otherwise known as AlDud, are treating their fans with a rom-com entitled “Imagine You & Me“

ISAH V. RED

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uch-awaited and highlyanticipated launching movie of the phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza, Imagine You & Me, will finally hit the screens on July 13.

The creative team tediously worked on the project from conceptualization to film production and the sensational love team had to shoot a big part of the movie in the picturesque Como and Verona in Italy.

Its teaser, followed by its full trailer shown in Eat Bulaga, displayed so much love, romance and bittersweet moments in each and every scene. In addition, today’s hottest love team was beautifully photographed and the movie viewers can’t help but feel the real emotions Alden and Maine have for each other.

From the simple young lady from Santa Maria, Bulacan, Maine auditioned in Eat Bulaga armed with nothing but her talent in the dubsmash department.

She rose to popularity by playing the character of Yaya Dub (Divina Ursula Bokbokova Smash), Lola Nidora’s (Wally Bayola) devoted nanny in the noontime show’s Kalyeserye.

Alden was already part of the EB Dabarkads when Maine joined the noontime show. He was an ordinary host a year ago until his and Maine’s paths crossed in an episode of the now-famous Kalyeserye.

The rest, as they say, is AlDub history, a phenomenal success the world over.

The AlDub tandem also broke the Twitter record worldwide registering the highest 42 plus million tweets during its “Tamang Panahon” episode on Oct. 24, 2015 at the Philippine Arena.

The special episode also posted another record in terms of attendance, proceeds of which were used to finance AlDub libraries.

The country’s biggest advertisers banked on the AlDub phenomenon as well. Com-

panies, one after the other, took turns at getting the multi-media love team’s service for product endorsements.

From the small screen, Alden and Maine made their big screen debut via the Metro Manila Film Festival 2015 movie, My Bebe Love which headlined the comic pair of Vic Sotto and Ai Ai de las Alas. Expectedly, the said MMFF entry generated the highest opening day gross in the annual movie fest history and earned for Maine her first best supporting actress award.

Now the sensational pair is undoubtedly ripe for a launching movie. And so, APT Entertainment, GMA Films and M-Zet Television, Inc. have joined forces to bankroll Imagine You & Me under the direction of Mike Tuviera.

In the film, Alden is Andrew, a heartbroken guy based in Italy. Maine, meanwhile, is Gara, a hopeless romantic overseas foreign worker in search for her Romeo to be her forever Mr. Right. It was not smooth sailing though, when Gara found her true love.

Andrew and Gara belong to different worlds and have opposing views on love.

In short, they are incompatible.

Is there a chance for the two people like Andrew and Gara to fall in love with each other?

Feel the electrifying chemistry between Alden and Maine in Imagine You & Me. Reminisce, fall in love all over again and share the pain a young romance brings while watching the film.

“It’s worth the wait,” direk Mike promises.

Fans will definitely admire the AlDub love team even more after watching Imagine You & Me. And while Alden, and Maine’s showbiz life may experience ups and downs, the Dubsmash Queen assures everyone that her and Pambansang Bae’s friendship is getting stronger by the day.

As a bonus, Maine wrote and sang the movie’s theme song, solo and in a duet with Alden.

Needless to say, IYM is Alden and Maine’s gift for their followers and supporters in celebration of their first year as loveteam this July.

Feel and spread the love from Alden and Maine in Imagine You & Me opening in cinemas on July 13.