Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #43

CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER $0.50

VOL. 12 NO. 43

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

WHAT’S INSIDE Hit and Run (On page 19)

New foreign investment rules (On page 20) Christmas Train sponsored by PCI (On page 20)

MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Gypsies seek asylum in Canada (On page 21) Expansion of nominee programs halted (On page 22)

New immigration program targeted at skilled trades

DANGEROUS CROSSING. Several men cross a river to transfer a body recovered from floodwaters after Typhoon “Pablo” ravaged New Bataan in Compostela Valley. Some 500 have been reported dead and hundreds more remain missing in the wake of the storm. Please see the fundraising initiative of the Asian Heroes Canada Foundation and Global Canada Global Pinoy Diaspora with the Philippine Consulate General of Vancouver on page 47.

(On page 22)

Lorie Corcuera: FilipinoCanadian in Focus

Dynamite punch stuns PH

(On page 23)

Growing world conflict over water, food by 2030

Marquez kayoes Pacquiao in sixth

BY ROY LUARCA Philippine Daily Inquirer LAS VEGAS—The unthinkable happened as Manny Pacquiao got knocked out by Juan Manuel “El Dinamita” Marquez on Saturday night (Sunday afternoon in Manila), sending shock waves back home.

As he unleashed a left jab, the favored Pacquiao ran smack into a thunderous Marquez right that sent the Filipino flat, face down, to the canvas, motionless for more than a minute.

The decisive punch came with barely a second left in the sixth of the 12-round fight before a full-house crowd of 16,348 at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The scene was so frightening that Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee turned hysterical on the front row. Wanting to get near her husband, she was restrained and consoled by promoter Bob Arum.

“I got hit with a punch I didn’t see,” the 33-year-old Pacquiao said before being taken to the nearby University

Medical Center for a checkup. “I thought I was getting him in the last couple of rounds but I got hit by a strong punch. I did not expect that punch.”

Marquez’s own face was a bloody mess from a barrage of lefts by Pacquiao.

“I am very, very happy,” said Marquez, who fought with a bruised nose for the last few rounds. “How do you tyink I feel? This is a result of all the hard work I did.”

Pacquiao was promised more than $20 million for the fight while Marquez was expected to take home $6 million.

More on page 4

(On page 26)

Serval Cats (On page 27)

Jose Mari Chan in BC (On page 31)

Alpine Touring (On page 37)

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 2

Ombudsman sacks 13 DBP execs over behest loans to Ongpin firm

BY CYNTHIA D. BALANA Philippine Daily Inquirer OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the dismissal from service of 13 officials of stateowned Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) for granting a total of P660 million in behest loans three years ago to Deltaventures Resources Inc. (DVRI), a company owned by businessman Roberto Ongpin.

DVRI used the loan to acquire Philex Mining Corp. shares owned by the DBP and sold these to businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan months later, allowing him to gain control of the country’s biggest gold producer.

A review decision, signed on Nov. 21 by Morales, found the officials administratively liable for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service punishable by removal from the service.

The decision said the misconduct was also punishable by the cancellation of their eligibility, the forfeiture of retirement benefits, perpetual disqualification from holding public office and barring them from taking civil service examinations.

The dismissed officials were former DBP directors Benedicto Ernesto Bitonio Jr., Alexander Magno, Renato Velasco and Franklin Velarde; former senior executive vice president (SEVP) and chief operating officer Edgardo Garcia; former SEVP and marketing head of the Branch Banking Sector (BBS) Jesus Guevarra II; former vice president and head of Regional Marketing Center-Metro Manila (RMC-MM) Crescencia Bundoc; BBS manager for RMC-Western Luzon Arturo Baliton; RMC-WL chief accounts management specialist Nelson Macatlang; RMC-MM assistant manager Marissa Cayetano; former assistant vice president Teresita Tolentino; RMC-MM assistant manager Rodolfo Cerezo; and RMC-MM assistant Manager Warren de Guzman.

Loans were behest The decision said the DBP extended to DVRI two loans amounting to P150 million and P510 million in April 2009 and November 2009, respectively.

The Ombudsman ruled that these were behest loans based on the criteria laid down in Memorandum No. 61 dated Nov. 9, 1992.

Under the memorandum, a loan is considered behest if it is

undercollateralized; the borrower corporation is undercapitalized; a direct or indirect endorsement by high government officials, like the presence of marginal notes; if stockholders, officers or agents of the borrower corporation are identified as cronies; there was a deviation in the use of the loan from the purpose intended; use of corporate layering; nonfeasibility of the project for which financing is sought, and there was extraordinary speed in which the loan release was made.

“The respondents deliberately participated in the haphazard and hurried processing and granting of DVRI’s loans, though obviously aware of doubts regarding the borrower’s capacity to repay the loans and the significant exposure facing the bank in relation thereto.

“Despite the irregularities surrounding the DBP-DVRI transactions, they insisted that the loans were not objectionable since the bank allegedly made a substantial profit therefrom,” the decision read.

The Ombudsman, likewise, ruled that the administrative charges against former DBP president and vice chair Reynaldo David; former DBP chair Patricia Sto. Tomas; former directors Joseph Donato Pangilinan, Miguel Romero, Floro Oliveros and Ramon Durano; former SEVP and head of marketing sector Armando Samia; former SEVP Rolando Geronimo; and former senior assistant vice president Perla Soleta be dismissed since their separation from service had preceded the filing of the complaint.

Morales earlier ordered the filing of information against the respondents for the violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, or the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act. As to the criminal aspect of the case, the decision found no substantial evidence to support the administrative charges against respondents Josephine Jaurigue, Justice Lady Flores and Benilda Tejada.

The case was filed in August 2011 by the DBP represented by its chair, Jose Nuñez, and its president and chief executive officer, Francisco del Rosario Jr. The new DBP management said the accused allegedly participated in the grant of P660 million in “behest” loans used in the purchase of DBPowned shares in Philex Mining Corp., all orchestrated in a span of less than a year. ■

3 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

News-Phils

Bishops will be watching RH vote

BY JOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer CATHOLIC bishops are expected to troop to Congress on Wednesday to watch how the lawmakers will vote on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill and to show their support for those who stand by the Church’s position.

According to Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the PhilippinesEpiscopal Commission on Family and Life (CBCP-ECFL), the presence of the prelates in the gallery would be an expression of support for lawmakers who would vote against the family planning measure in line with Church dictates.

On the other hand, President Aquino had earlier called on his Congress allies to finally vote on the measure, which he has endorsed.

All the lawmakers are now in the “pressure cooker” because of the interest groups watching and trying to influence the outcome of the measure in the House, said Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, a coauthor of the bill.

These include Catholic Church officials and church groups, as well as Malacañang, Baguilat said, adding that both sides were expected to mount their own pressure tactics to attain victory.

Nonetheless, Baguilat urged his colleagues to take a stand and not shy away from the voting.

He said it would do the lawmakers good to listen to their constituents when they decide on how to vote on the bill.

And as a coauthor of the measure, he believes they are on his side.

The majority of the population, particularly women, are in favor of family planning, surveys have shown.

Listen to the people “It’s best to listen to what the people, the final arbiter in this debate, have to say,” he said. With this, no lawmaker should be afraid to take a stand on the bill, he added.

The RH bill mandates age-appropriate sex education in the schools and the promotion of birth control methods— both natural and artificial—by government health center. The measure is in line with women’s rights to information and access to reproductive technology. It also supports a more vigorous campaign against the spread of HIV-AIDS. The Catholic Church, which is against artificial contraception, launched an all-out campaign against the passage of the bill.

In an interview with reporters, Castro said anti-RH legislators had urged the attendance of the bishops at the House gallery, saying they “need moral, spiritual [support] and the physical presence of the bishops.”

Prayer the main thing “But the main reason the bishops will be there is to pray for the lawmakers,” the priest said.

While he couldn’t say how many bishops were expected to observe the crucial voting, Castro said he was hopeful there would be more of them on Wednesday than at previous deliberations on RH measure.

Before proceeding to Congress on Wednesday, anti-RH supporters, together with the bishops, will attend a noon mass at St. Peter’s Church on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, Castro said.

“After, there will be a procession all the way to the Batasan. If all of us cannot be accommodated inside then we’ll just stay outside to pray,” Castro said.

Many other religious groups in the Philippines, however, are not against the measure.

Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the important thing was to get the lawmakers to attend the session and vote.

The House had been beset by attendance problems since November.

But following the meeting with President Aquino last Monday, a quorum has usually been attained.

Gonzales said he hoped the lawmakers would participate in the actual voting and not stay away to avoid having to take a stand.

“I prefer that all members cast their vote one way or the other, or even abstain if that is their position, rather than not attend sessions or skip the actual voting round,” he said in a text message.

Each side has numbers Supporters and opponents of the controversial bill both say they have the numbers on their side.

The reproductive health bill only got moving again last week with the opening of the period of amendments after a personal call from President Aquino to finally put the measure to a vote.

Since August the bill has not moved forward because of quorum problems and because opponents of the bill had been making lengthy privilege speeches.

The period of amendments has been moving relatively slowly as well because opponents have introduced nearly line by line amendments to the measure. ■

House OKS Magna Carta for the deaf

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer PERSONS with hearing disabilities may soon get a better viewing experience.

The House of Representatives has passed on third and final reading a measure seeking subtitles and signlanguage insets for local newscasts.

Should it become a law, the bill would make television programs more accessible to people with hearing disabilities, said Rep. Teodoro Casiño, one of the authors. “(The) State affirms and mandates the rehabilitation, self-development and integration of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) into mainstream society through Republic Act No. 7277 or the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities,” he said in a news release.

“Through the said law, television stations are encouraged to use subtitles or sign-language interpreters in their newscast programs.”

Under the bill, “all free-to-air television stations will be required

to provide Filipino sign language insets and if possible, closed caption or subtitles in at least two newscast programs a day and special programs covering events of national significance.”

“The measure will also grant the free-toair television stations the option to provide for Filipino sign language insets in other programs such as those pertaining to cultural affairs, livelihood and those catering to children,” according to the news release. ■

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News-Phils ...from page 1 Fulfilling a vow Although he didn’t bring the fight to Pacquiao as promised, Marquez, 39, delivered on his vow to exact revenge on the Filipino hero, who narrowly beat him in the second and third fights of their quadrilogy.

It was the first time in 12 years that Pacquiao had been stopped. Not that he was invincible, but Marquez sent the message that the Filipino ring icon was vulnerable, too.

Marquez’s well-timed right straight that landed squarely on Pacquiao’s jaw was deemed as powerful as the one that Pacquiao unleashed to knock Briton Ricky Hatton out cold in the second round in 2009.

As a routine precaution, Pacquiao was sent to the hospital for examination.

Pacquiao was pressuring Marquez in a corner when the blow came. “It was a good shot. I will take a rest and come back to fight,” the Filipino said.

That will depend, however, on the medical report about him that is expected soon.

‘Perfect punch’ Pacquiao’s fifth loss against 54 wins and two draws added gloom and misery for the Philippines, which is still reeling from the devastation brought by Typhoon “Pablo.”

In contrast, Marquez’s 55th triumph against six losses and one draw sent Mexicans who watched the blockbuster fight card into a frenzied celebration that spilled over to the MGM lobby and even to the Strip.

The victory was so big that people in Mexico reportedly spilled out into the streets to celebrate the downfall of the man

who had dealt beatings to Mexico’s best fighters in the last decade.

“I landed the perfect punch,” Marquez said through an interpreter. “I knew that he will try to finish me off so I stood my ground.”

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 4

Asked whether a fifth fight would be in order, Arum replied: “Why not? Had you seen a more exciting fight in years?” he said.

Later, however, at a postfight conference, Arum said he didn’t operate that way as a promoter.

He got careless Caught by a solid right that put him on the canvas in the third round, a startled Pacquiao got up and gamely traded punches with Marquez.

As the cobwebs cleared in his head during the break, Pacquiao went back on an attack mode in the succeeding rounds, landing a left in the fifth that buckled Marquez, whose gloves touched the canvas and who received a standing count.

Pacquiao seemed bent on finishing Marquez, but he got careless and paid a stiff price.

According to his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, the Filipino’s ring career of Pacquiao now hung in the balance.

“We don’t know how to proceed until we get all the facts on his medical condition,” said Roach, who admitted that Pacquiao got careless in his desire to knock out Marquez.

Marquez nose broken Arum noted that Marquez’s appearance in the press conference was suspect as the Mexican might have suffered a broken nose, having difficulty in breathing, and possibly even a concussion.

Marquez appeared to the chants of his adoring compatriots, who outnumbered and outscreamed the Filipinos.

Officially, it was back-to-back defeats for Pacquiao this year as the judges deprived him of a victory against the American Timothy Bradley in June.

Even the punch statistics showed Pacquiao ahead as he threw a total of 256 punches, connecting on 94, against Marquez’s 246 punches and 52 connections.

Pacquiao also landed 68 power punches against Marquez’s 41.

Ahead on points Arum said the bout lived up to the hype that it would be even better than their previous bouts, the first of which ended in a controversial draw after Marquez recovered from three first round knockdowns.

On Saturday, Pacquiao was ahead after five rounds on the three judges’ scorecards, 47-46, and was dominating the sixth when Marquez detonated the bomb so powerful that the referee, Kenny Bayless, saw no need to count.

‘I got careless’ A huge Marquez right hand put Pacquiao down at 2:59 of the sixth.

It was a stunning end to a thrilling nontitle fight, the fourth one in the last eight years between the two men. Pacquiao said he would like to fight Marquez for a fifth time.

“If you give us a chance, we’ll fight again,” Pacquiao said. “I was just starting to feel confident and then I got careless.”

L L A C

“I thought I was getting him in the last couple of rounds but I got hit by a strong punch,” he said. “I never expected that punch.”

It was actually a triple whammy for Filipinos in the televised bouts as Michael Farenas and Mercito Gesta also failed in their title bids.

Battling with nearly shut eyes, Farenas lost by a unanimous decision to the heralded Yuriorkis Gamboa in their battle for the World Boxing Association (WBA) interim superfeatherweight crown.

Gesta also bowed by a unanimous decision to reigning titlist Miguel Angel Vazquez in their fight for the International Boxing Federation lightweight title.

Nothing compared, however, with Pacquiao’s loss as it was deemed a national tragedy. Coupled with the ravages wrought

by Pablo in Mindanao, the Filipinos seemed to have two reasons less to be jolly this Christmas.

In nontelevised bouts, rising star Dodie Boy Peñalosa Jr. and General Santos City pride Ernie Sanchez debuted with aplomb in the international arena.

Peñalosa decked Jesus Lule-Raya with 1:12 gone in the second round to stretch his perfect record to 10 wins, all by knockout. He need not look far for inspiration—his father and namesake was a two-divison world champion, just like his uncle, Gerry.

The 20-year-old Sanchez downed Philadephian Coy Evans in the third round and went on to win by a unanimous decision. He brought his record to 14-3, with 5 knockouts. ■

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5 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Search on for 380 missing 38 people given up for dead found alive

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer NEW BATAAN, Compostela Valley–– Gomer Opiso thought he would never make it alive as he swam in a raging torrent of mud that swept his village as Typhoon “Pablo” struck with a ferocity never before experienced in its history.

“Every time I bobbed my head out of the water, I was thinking that I was already dead. I lost consciousness.

Then I woke up,” he said.

He was, in fact, one of several dozen miracle survivors of the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.

In its update at midmorning, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it had so far counted 327 dead from Pablo’s predawn rampage.

But as the toll of lives steadily mounted, another tally was rising.

At least 38 of those previously declared missing had been found alive, giving fresh hopes for an estimated 380 unaccounted for as rescuers led by the military’s Eastern Command combed remote villages cut off by damaged roads and bridges.

Maj. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, commander of the 10th Infantry Division, said the chances of finding survivors in the debris were slim, but search and rescue operations were continuing. “It’s been three days already. It’s a race against time,” Bernardo said.

He said an aerial survey showed several areas were “totally wiped out.”

Opiso recalled desperately gasping for breath each time his head dipped under the thick floodwaters that hurtled down the slopes of Barangay San Roque in this sleepy farming and mining town of 45,000 people, now littered with toppled coconut trees and debris from destroyed houses.

At the end of his deathly ride, the 23-year-old charcoal maker found himself 5 kilometers away from home, looking and feeling like a beaten man.

His face and body bore numerous cuts, gashes and bruises. But he was alive.

‘It’s a miracle’ Another survivor who surfaced was Carlos Agang, 54. Slathered in mud and teary-eyed, he recounted to reporters how his small community of banana and coconut farmers was obliterated as a deadly wall of water and monster winds that Pablo—international name: Bopha—generated as it made landfall before dawn.

“It’s a miracle that I survived, but I might as well be dead,” Agang said as aid workers carried him off on a stretcher to be airlifted to the hospital.

He said he survived on coconuts for two days.

Flash floods had carried away Agang’s mountainside home outside New Bataan along with him, his wife and four children. The floodwaters deposited him downstream in a boulderstrewn field, where he lay pinned down for two days by rocks and debris.

“I was shouting for help all the time, but no one came. I don’t know what happened to (my family). Perhaps they are all dead,” said Agang, who was finally rescued by local residents early.

Rescuers were still depositing unidentified corpses at a government yard in the center of town, near a gymnasium packed with scores of homeless typhoon victims lying on mats on the wet, muddy floor.

Most houses and buildings in the town were flattened by boulders and logs that rolled down the mountainside, and the ground was carpeted with sludge.

Stench of death Shell-shocked survivors scrambled through the rubble to find anything that could be recovered, as relatives searched for missing family members among the newly arrived body bags delivered by soldiers.

“We expect to retrieve more bodies today,” said Francisco Macalipay, a Philippine Army soldier who commanded the truck delivering the bodies.

Macalipay said rescuers were struggling to reach villages amid the destroyed roads and wrecked bridges,

but finding corpses was hardly a problem.

“Just let your nose lead you to them,” he told Agence FrancePresse, referring to the overpowering stench of dead bodies everywhere.

The toll of lives from the typhoon was posted on a bulletin board in front of a multipurpose hall at the town center, where dozens of bedraggled residents with mud-caked feet waited for relief goods, or for word about their lost loved ones. The count was 92 as of midday.

It was about 6 a.m. when Opiso and his small family heard the storm roaring outside. Langwan, one of the rivers in the town, had risen to dangerous levels, he said. “It sounded like a ship was coming straight at us,” he said in Cebuano.

“I was holding hands with my wife and our daughter, then the water just slammed into our house. It was so strong, and we were separated. I felt like we were being spun around by the mud,” Opiso said.

The house along with all the occupants in it was swept away in the surge.

Ferocious winds From a different vantage point, Pedro Cabuñas, 38, was warily watching the Mayo River from his small house in Barangay Andap, one of the hardest hit villages here.

“From where I was standing, it was just this wide,” he said, motioning with his hands stretched to about half a foot.

“Then moments later, it was already this wide,” he said spanning his hands by two feet.

Upon seeing the river, he said he and his family quickly fled to the house of a cousin, along with the entire neighborhood of 10 families. “We crammed inside because we knew it was only a matter of time before the river spilled,” he said.

Cabuñas and his family survived but he said scores of others in his village were not as lucky.

“They huddled together in the barangay center thinking they were safe. But the wall of water crashed directly into them,” he said.

The corn grower claimed that as many as 800 had died in Barangay Andap. “It’s not just 200 or 300. Don’t believe a word of it. An entire barangay was lost,” he said.

Unlike New Bataan, in most other sections of the gold-rich Compostela Valley, the enemy was the wind, not the water.

Alfie Ayuban, a miner digging in Camanlangan, said he and his family huddled together inside their roadside home in Compostela Valley town as the storm raged.

December disasters “It was impossible to go outside to even take a look at what was happening.

Galvanized iron roofs were flying around. You would die,” his neighbor, Lady Veloso, 34, said.

After it passed, Ayuban’s house was reduced to rubble. Another of his neighbors, Ricaredo Ligayon, 77, was killed after a coconut fell on his head.

“We’ve been living here all our lives and this is the first time something like this has happened,” Veloso said.

Everywhere in Mindanao, this was a common lament for the second December in a row.

Marciana Cueba, a 67-year-old grandmother of four, wondered aloud why Mindanao was no longer being spared from storms. “We always thought we were safe. But now we know something like this can happen again,” she said.

Last year’s Tropical Storm “Sendong” laid to waste vast sections of Northern Mindanao, particularly the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, an area also previously thought to be away from the path of storms. It killed more than 1,500 people.

The Manila Observatory in January observed that based on data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center, “roughly one typhoon crosses Mindanao every 10 years.”

On its Wikipedia page, New Bataan is described as a first class town in Compostela Valley “surrounded (by) mountain ranges that keep the place away from coming typhoons.”

Clearly, that is no longer the case. ■ With reports from Nikko Dizon in Manila, AFP, and Dennis Jay Santos, Inquirer Mindanao

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 6

Media-shy Ochoa steps out of Palace shadows

BY MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer

Photo by Robert Viñas, Malacañang Photo Bureau

MEDIA-SHY Executive Secretary Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa Jr. promised members of the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) he would make himself more accessible to them next year, at the Christmas party he threw for the MPCWednesday night.

The elusive Ochoa pledged to hold regular press briefings beginning January.

“We will study it, (but) if I could be of help, why not? I’ll try my best to accommodate (press briefings),” he said.

“The (MPC) says I should hold a briefing every week,” he said, drawing approving cheers from the members of the press.

“I said ‘next year.’ That won’t be long … but I hope this would not happen every week because I could run out of things to say, and we have so many talking heads already, isn’t that so?”

Since being named executive secretary by President Aquino, no one in the MPC could recall if Ochoa ever held a news briefing, a practice institutionalized by his predecessor, Eduardo Ermita, in the Arroyo administration.

Ochoa has held the media at bay from day one of the Aquino administration, largely keeping to himself and refusing to face reporters.

He however is indispensable to the media coverage of the Palace since he signs appointments and issues memorandums, and is expected to know

Apparently aware of the nonexistent relationship between Ochoa and the MPC, President Aquino has taken it upon himself to regularly brief the media on goings-on in the administration. Unlike his predecessor, Mr. Aquino has no qualms about sparing a few moments for the media in ambush interviews.

Currently, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte alternately brief the media at noon every day, with Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang popping in from time to time.

the mind of the President on matters reaching the highest office.

Ochoa could also be picky about which Malacañang functions to attend, even if sometimes they are being held a few steps from his office. He is very rarely seen with the President, unlike Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Christmas message Asked what his Christmas message was, Ochoa said he wished Malacañang would be able to translate the achievements of the Aquino administration on the economic and political fronts into concrete programs that would be felt by the people.

“My wish for next year, or this Christmas, is for us to absorb the meaning of the achievements that P-Noy has claimed … and how this could translate into more tangible and a more visible aspect toward (the) progress of this country.”

He inadvertently admitted the Palace had a communication problem, pointing to the difficulty of convincing people to “see in concrete terms what (these gains) really mean (for the country).”

Seeking the help of the media in conveying these gains to the public, he said, “That’s the aspect that I would focus on if, as you say, I should conduct a briefing in the coming new year.” ■

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News-Phils SC clears Ping, 33 others in Kuratong rubout case 7 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer

the gang on May 18, 1995.

The charges arose from the statement

by SP02 Eduardo de los Reyes of the Criminal Investigation Command that there was no gunfight between police and the gang and that the alleged criminals were summarily executed.

In the 24-page decision written

by Associate Justice Roberto Abad, the high court took exception to the prosecution’s move to raise its petition for a review of the case to the highest court. The prosecution had asked the Court of Appeals to review the case but later withdrew the petition and took it to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court said it agreed with Yadao that the new affidavits and reports from witnesses submitted by the prosecution failed to establish probable cause against the respondents.

The case against the respondents, the court said, lay on the testimony of Police Senior Insp. Abelardo Ramos,

THE SUPREME Court has upheld a 2003 ruling of a Quezon City court dismissing murder charges against former police chief, now senator, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and 33 other police officers implicated in the alleged rubout of members of the Kuratong Baleleng criminal gang in May 1995.

The Nov. 13 Supreme Court decision also said that Judge Thelma Yadao of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court did not commit grave abuse of discretion in her actions involving the case, including her dismissal of the charges for absence of probable cause to prosecute the respondents.

On Nov.12, 2003, Yadao cleared Lacson, then a police chief superintendent and head of Task Force Habagat, and the other police officers in the alleged rubout of 11 members of

who testified that he was part of the group during the operation at Superville subdivision that apprehended eight suspects and that he heard Lacson give the order to take the suspects to Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City and kill them in a staged shootout.

Ramos’ testimony was corroborated by three other witnesses—SP01 Wilmor Medes, civilian agent Mario Enad, and SP02 Noel Seno.

Counteraffidavit But the Supreme Court said the prosecution’s evidence, the afteroperation report dated May 31, 1995, showed that “these men took no part in the operations.”

The high court also took note of a counteraffidavit that Ramos had submitted in another case in the Office of the Ombudsman claiming that he was neither in Superville subdivision nor on Commonwealth Avenue during the operations. He said he was in Bulacan on May 17, 1995, and at home the next day.

“Notably, Medes claimed in a joint counteraffidavit that he was on duty at

P-noy to overseas Filipino achievers: Help PRESIDENT Aquino last night expressed concern over reports of the high death toll and heavy damage wrought by Typhoon “Pablo” and exhorted successful Filipino professionals abroad to extend help to the hundreds of families grappling with its aftermath.

“I really had so much bad news today from the effects of Typhoon Pablo,” Mr. Aquino began his speech during the awarding of the Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas at Rizal Hall in Malacañang, adding that “the numbers seemed to be alarming.”

“Hopefully, they were erroneous numbers which will be corrected soon,” he added.

The President praised awardee Allan “Apl.de.Ap” Pineda of the Black Eyed Peas for performing “Bebot” that “lifted us up.”

With the typhoon taking its toll despite the preparations and preemptive evacuation, the President aired this appeal to the awardees: “Lend a helping hand.”

Photo by Robert Viñas, Malacañang Photo Bureau

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer

President Benigno S. Aquino III, aboard a presidential chopper on Friday (December 7) conducts an aerial inspection of the damage in Region XI , devastation by flash floods, landslides and strong winds brought by Typhoon Pablo, the strongest storm to hit Mindanao in two decades.

“I’m happy to say that we have made progress in how we anticipate and respond to natural disasters. Just as the government has become proactive, I’ve seen a greater spirit of cooperation among Filipino citizens,” he said.

Pineda, Hollywood fashion designer Dianne Monique Lhuillier and Miami Heat coach Fil-American Erik Spoelstra led the 29 recipients of the biennial awards.

Of the three, only Pineda turned up. They were recipients of the Pamana ng Pilipino

Awards, which recognizes Filipinos who have brought honor and recognition to the country through their profession.

Their fellow awardees were Mary Jane Al-Mahdi, CEO of the biggest testing laboratory in the Middle East; Dr. Delia Amaya, food technology expert in Brazil; Dr. Samuel Bernal, cancer specialist and lawyer who pioneered in stem cell research; Dr. Antonio Fernando III, an expert in the field of sleep medicine in New Zealand; Almira Astudillo Gilles,

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson

the Traffic Management headquarters at Camp Crame on May 17 and 18,” it said.

“Discounting the affidavits of Ramos, Medes, Enad and Seno, nothing is left on the record that presents some doubtful probability that respondents committed the crime charged,” the court said.

In the absence of probable cause, the court said, the respondents should be “insulated from the tribulations, expenses and anxiety of a public trial,” the court said. ■

award-winning writer of children’s books; Dr. Ruth Elynia Mabanglo, professor of Filipino language and culture in Hawaii; Jorge Ortoll, executive director of Ma-Yi Theater that showcases Asian-American talent; and Dr. Francisca Tolete-Velcek, a pediatric surgeon in New York.

Filipinos or associations who contributed to the promotion and advancement of interests of Filipino communities received the Banaag Awards.

The awardees included engineer Carlito Alpay, lawyer Imelda Argel, Tomas Avendaño Sr., Rafael Castaños, the Filipiniana-Europa V.Z.W., the Filipino Community of Seattle; the Filipino Digerati Association; Luzviminda Micabalo; Al Perez Jr., Lt. Eric Michael Quema, Robert Santos, the Stichting Bayanihan, and Ma. Luzviminda Tsai.

Two foreigners—Israeli medical specialist Dr. Gonen Haba and German reconstructive surgeon Dr. Christian Loehlein—received the Kaanib ng Bayan Award for their significant contribution to Philippine reconstruction, progress and development.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Manuel Cacdac, Dr. Christopher Guerrero and the Aguman Kapampangan UK received the Lingkod sa Kapwa Filipino Awards for their exceptional contribution to the progress and development in the country. ■

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 8

School principals get ‘hands-on’ experience with condoms

BY PHILIP C. TUBEZA Philippine Daily Inquirer TALK about “touchy” subjects.

While the debate on the reproductive health (RH) bill rages, elderly school principals and other Department of Education (DepEd) officials are already getting a “hands-on” experience with condoms—some for the very first time—and interacting with people living with HIV/AIDS. Anne Quizon, DepEd HIV program coordinator, said school officials were getting the chance to meet with people infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) as the department started to train all of its 600,000 teaching and nonteaching personnel across the country under its HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Policy in the Workplace Program.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro implemented the training program in May as part of government efforts to stop the spread of HIV in the country and the stigma associated with the disease.

HIV is the virus that causes the dreaded disease acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. “It’s a real eye-opener. Some (who have undergone the training) are happy, others are sad, angry or are scandalized at first, but in the end they all accept it,” Quizon told a recent forum organized by the Philippine National AIDS Council.

“They internalize it. And with the end of each training, I’m happy to say we have more HIV(-prevention) advocates

and trainers. It’s so heartwarming,” she added.

Under the program, DepEd officials and employees are educated in sexually transmitted infections, HIV, AIDS and how to prevent these from spreading. They are also taught how to prevent discrimination against people with HIV and what to do if they are infected.

So far, the DepEd has been able to train its medical staff and administrative officers, like supervisors and principals in Metropolitan Manila, Davao, Central Visayas, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).

if public school students were to be taught sex education, their teachers should have the correct knowledge of the subject.

“HIV is spreading also because of wrong information,” she said.

Quizon said the most poignant moments came when the school officials met and got to interact with people living with HIV/AIDS. “In one division, they were surprised when one of the [HIVpositive people] came forward and told one of the school principals, ‘Ma’am, I was once your student,’” Quizon said.

“The principal said, ‘What? I didn’t know [son]. How are you?’ And it was heartening because the acceptance was already there,” she said.

Quizon said many of the participants were also surprised that many of those with HIV/AIDS were young people.

“They were expecting that people living with HIV would be older and then they see them and they are young. It hammers down the core message that [the school officials are] supposed to be responsible for young people who are at risk,” she said.

“They can see that these are real people from the positive community and they are working with us and they are there,” she added.

What’s that?

“There are so many stories … We had a [school] supervisor, who’s retiring in four years, and it was her very first time to see a condom. When we opened it, she said: ‘What is that? … I haven’t touched one yet,’” Quizon quoted the supervisor as saying.

“So she touched it and it was really an eye-opener. I mean, you’re retiring already but you haven’t even seen a condom yet, much less touch one. So, at least she was able to touch one, even if it was just the condom,” she added, joking.

Quizon did not say whether the supervisor was married or widowed or an unmarried woman.

Quizon said knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases and their prevention was important because

Positive feedback Quizon said the feedback had been quite positive, with principals offering to send their staff to Red Cross bloodletting operations and others offering financial help to people infected with HIV. “It’s really heartwarming. Some were crying because they had internalized what happened. One participant immediately called up a son who was working abroad and said, ‘Son, have you had yourself tested for HIV? If you’re positive, come and I’ll understand you. Just tell me,’” Quizon said.

“Many of them, at the end of the workshop, realized that we have much responsibility to our own children, to our own students and especially to our own families,” she said. ■

House passes bill expanding Amla

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE HOUSE of Representatives has passed on second reading a bill that strengthens and expands the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Amla) to address concerns that the country is becoming a haven for dirty money.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, one of the authors of the bill, said in a statement the bill would also make the country compliant with updated and revised international antimoney laundering and counterterrorist financing standards.

Proponents of the bill are pushing its timely passage to ensure that the country would not be put on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) blacklist. Being on the FATF blacklist would result in restrictive regulations on the country’s international transactions.

The Philippines has been kept on the FATF’s “gray” list, which includes countries that it is keeping an eye on with regard to international standards against money launderers.

The bill increases the number of institutions and individuals covered by the Amla, as well as the acts prohibited under it. It allows the government to initiate forfeiture proceedings against assets found to be related to any unlawful activity specified in the act.

It expands the definition of money laundering to refer to a crime whereby the proceeds of an unlawful activity are “transacted, converted, transferred, disposed of, moved, acquired, possessed, used, concealed, or disguised, thereby making them appear to have originated from legitimate sources.”

The old definition only refers to proceeds being “transacted.”

The additional institutions to be covered under the proposed amendments include pawnshops, foreign exchange corporations, money changers, remittance and transfer companies, trust and company service providers, and persons who manage client money, and manage bank, savings, or securities accounts. ■

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Church hit for blaming AIDS increase on gays

BY PHILIP C. TUBEZA Philippine Daily Inquirer

HIV, it is unprotected sex,” Bagas said in a statement.

A GAY civil society group scored the Catholic Church for implying that gay sex was to blame for the steep rise in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases in the country.

Jonas Bagas, executive director of the TLF Share Foundation, rebuffed the statement of Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes that the incidence of HIV was high among men who have sex with men partly because they do not follow the Church’s strictures against samesex intercourse.

Reyes is chair of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life.

“Bishop Gabriel Reyes of CBCP is incorrect. It is not gay sex that spreads

Stigmatizing attitude “The gay, bisexual and transgender community is vulnerable to HIV not because they are not following Catholic teachings. On the contrary, it is the stigmatizing attitudes and statements of the Catholic hierarchy that’s exposing them to HIV risk,” he added.

Reyes defended the Catholic Church after former Health Secretary Alberto Romualdez said HIV cases in the country had increased because the Arroyo administration caved in to pressure from the Church and stopped distributing free condoms.

“With all due respect (to the gay community), HIV is increasing among homosexuals or men who have sex with men. I’m sure if they are having

sex with men, they don’t follow the rules of the Church,” Reyes said in a forum in Intramuros, Manila.

“I’m sure they are using condoms. If you follow the Church, you will not be using condoms. This threat is among the highest,” he said.

However, Bagas said the Church hierarchy had “consistently undermined” the HIV response in the Philippines through its “rejection of evidence-based strategies that countries all over the world used to halt their HIV epidemics.”

“CBCP has caused more harm by resorting to homophobia to explain why there’s a growing HIV epidemic in the country. It is causing more injury by using the HIV epidemic to flog one of its favorite whipping boys, the gay, bisexual and transgender community, which is already suffering immeasurable pain and heartbreak due to the growing AIDS-related deaths within the community,” Bagas said.

Climate of ignorance “Church-fueled stigma is contributing to the rise in HIV infection because it is promoting a climate of ignorance and silence. As a community, we do not see ourselves as victims of this epidemic,” he said. ■

Senators hope to keep 60:40 ratio on sin taxes

BY CATHY C. YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer SENATORS on the bicameral committee on the sin tax bill would have to consult with their colleagues in caucus before they would agree to any changes in the ratio of the tax burden to be borne by tobacco and alcohol companies.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson painted this scenario, hours before he and other members of the Senate bicameral panel met with their counterparts from the House of Representatives to reconcile their respective versions of the sin tax bill.

The possibility of tensions rising over a likely maneuver by the House members to alter the 60:40 ratio of burden-sharing in the new taxes between the tobacco and alcohol industries, respectively, was raised by Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after the initial bicameral meeting Wednesday.

Heavier on companies Marcos said the House panel wanted to shift the ratio so the tobacco companies would shoulder a “heavier” portion of the tax burden.

The Senate version of the sin tax measure would raise nearly P40 billion in new revenue from tobacco (P23.5 billion) and alcohol (P16 billion).

The House bill meanwhile would allow for an incremental increase of P31.3 billion, of which only P5 billion would come from alcohol.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, former ways and means chair Sen. Ralph Recto and Marcos agreed to support the upper chamber’s version of the bill after

the other senators vowed to observe the 60:40 tobacco-alcohol ratio of burdensharing on sin taxes.

Told of Marcos’ statement, acting ways and means chair Sen. Franklin Drilon said the chamber’s version does not contain a specific provision on the 60: 40 ratio. This arrangement was only a “guide,” he said.

Caucus before anything Recto said he and the other members of the Senate bicameral panel would have “no choice but to defend” the ratio since it is the Senate’s position on the sin tax issue.

Lacson said that should the House panel insist on changing the ratio, the senators would be forced to “consult the majority” in the Senate before committing to anything.

“We have to go back to our colleagues because the 60: 40 ratio is what we agreed on during a caucus ( before the Senate approved the sin tax bill). It’s only proper that the rest be informed before any action is taken,” he told reporters in Filipino at the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

Lacson added that should another caucus be called in the Senate should its panel fail to agree with the House on the tax rates, the decision would be based on inputs by the chamber’s own research team, the Bureau of Internal Revenue ( BIR) and the Department of Finance ( DOF).

Recto earlier grumbled that while BIR and DOF officials kept quiet when the House approved its version of the sin tax bill, they raised a howl when he sponsored the first sin tax report in October. ■

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 10

P-noy picks Basilio new ambassador to China

BY TJ BURGONIO AND TARRA QUISMUNDO WITH A REPORT FROM AFP Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT Aquino said he would appoint a senior diplomat as new ambassador to China to show Manila was serious about resolving a territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea. Mr. Aquino said Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio was “highly recommended” by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario because of her “wealth of experience,” seniority in the foreign service and “the skills to build bridges to China.”

Basilio, 68, who helped draft national diplomatic policy, will take over a post that has been vacant since the previous ambassador, Sonia Brady, had a stroke in August as the Philippines and China sparred over ownership of Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in South China Sea waters known as the West Philippine Sea. Brady was stricken four months after Chinese and Philippine ships started to face off with each other at the shoal in a neighbors’ quarrel over marine resources. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) brought her home in late September.

Basilio’s appointment comes as China tightens its claim to nearly the entire South China Sea, recently issuing new passports that show the territories it insists it owns and announcing new maritime rules that authorized its border police to board, search and expel foreign vessels that enter what it considers its waters.

Mr. Aquino disclosed his choice of Basilio as a new ambassador to China in a talk with reporters after he spoke at a meeting of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel.

He said his nomination of Basilio should show “how important our relations are with China, and how serious we are of trying to achieve an understanding with them.”

The President said he was waiting for Basilio’s papers from the office of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.

“[We’ll appoint her] as soon as we [can] submit her name to the Commission on Appointments,” Mr. Aquino said.

China optimistic China welcomed Basilio’s nomination, saying it was optimistic about improved relations with the Philippines through a new ambassador.

“We attach importance to our relations with the Philippines,” Zhang Hua, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Manila, said in a statement issued after the announcement of Basilio’s nomination.

“It is our hope that the early appointment of the new ambassador may facilitate the communication between both sides and the development of our bilateral relations,” Zhang said.

A longtime foreign undersecretary for policy, Basilio is well versed on issues pertaining to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and the 10-country bloc’s relations with China, Strategic Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said.

“Ambassador-designate Basilio has the necessary skills to build bridges to China and articulate the policies and positions of our country on important issues. She will play a role in shaping our evolving and increasingly complex relationship with China,” he said.

Longtime diplomat One of the top senior diplomats at the DFA, Basilio has been actively involved in talks concerning the West Philippine Sea dispute with China.

“The DFA welcomes and fully supports her nomination as the next ambassador to China,” Raul

Hernandez, DFA spokesperson, said in a text message.

Basilio has been a diplomat since the 1970s and has served as ambassador to Sweden and at posts in Switzerland, Cuba and Japan.

At the DFA, she served as assistant secretary for Asia and Pacific affairs from 1995 to 1997 and undersecretary for policy from 2006 to 2007.

“She is a seasoned professional in diplomacy and she is up to date and fully informed of various issues in foreign policy. We rely on her to enhance the bilateral relations between the Philippines and our very important neighbor and friend, China,” Hernandez said.

In October, Basilio headed the Philippine side that hosted Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying, a former Chinese ambassador to Manila, in the 18th round of the Foreign Ministry Consultations between the Philippines and China.

Fu, who handles Asia, boundary and ocean affairs, and translation and interpretation for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, has been involved in discussions of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Basilio was part of the Philippine delegation to the Asean ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in July that ended in disarray after Cambodia blocked the Philippines’ and Vietnam’s effort to have their brushes with China in the sea mentioned in the customary joint communiqué.

Asean disarray As a result, Asean failed to issue a joint communiqué, the first time it happened in the bloc’s 45-year history.

In an article published in Manila newspapers, Basilio said Asean members had already agreed on key points of a proposed code of conduct in the disputed waters when Cambodia pushed the issue out of discussions.

Her article prompted a rejoinder from China ally Cambodia, which accused the Philippines and Vietnam of playing “dirty politics” by pressing for a united Asean stand in the sea disputes.

The exchange soured relations between the Philippines and Cambodia and caused the recall of the Cambodian ambassador to Manila, Hos Sereythonh.

Basilio traveled with Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to Nanning, China, in late September for talks with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to ease tensions at Panatag Shoal. Xi will take over from President Hu Jintao as China’s leader next March.

Besides the Philippines and Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as Taiwan, claim parts of the South China Sea, a strategic waterway that is home to sea lanes where more than a third of global trade passes and where proven and estimated oil reserves are placed at 213 billion barrels.

It will now be Basilio’s job to prevent the dispute between the Philippines and China in the sea from erupting into armed confrontations.

Briefing reporters in Malacañang ahead of the Asean summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November last year, Basilio indicated that diplomatic patience might eventually work with Beijing.

“It’s like a [rock]—a constant pour of water will certainly erode [the rock], however hard [it] is,” she said then, expressing hope that a united Asean stand would make China agree to concessions.

The Philippines has been pushing for a “zone of peace, freedom, friendship and cooperation” by setting up a rulesbased regime to govern the area.

Asean and China adopted a nonbinding declaration of conduct in 2002 to discourage hostile acts in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines and the other claimants want the declaration to be strengthened into a binding code of conduct. ■

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Another UP prof takes over as No probation, only jail, for tax evader peace panel head Kintanar faces imprisonment for at

BY RONNEL W. DOMINGO

Photo courtesy of cpcabrisbane.org

Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT Aquino has designated University of the Philippines professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer as chief negotiator for peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), replacing former UP law dean Marvic Leonen.

Leonen, who had headed the government negotiating panel since 2010, has since been appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Ferrer is a current member of the government panel that signed a preliminary agreement on Oct. 15 with Moro rebels as part of a political solution to end the 40-year-old secessionist movement in Mindanao.

The two panels are set to meet again in Kuala Lumpur this month to finalize the comprehensive peace agreement that would create a separate Bangsamoro homeland.

Her appointment was well received by the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process who described Ferrer as “a staunch advocate of human rights and an expert in conflict resolution and justice.”

Well-deserved Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles said Ferrer’s appointment “signifies continuity and harmony in the peace talks, which is crucial for the completion of the comprehensive agreement this December.”

The promotion, she said, was “welldeserved given her competence and credentials as a peace negotiator. She has been with the Panel since 2010 and serves as adviser of the technical

working groups on power-sharing and normalization.”

“Our government remains committed to finish the comprehensive agreement with the MILF before the year ends in our endeavor to achieve just and lasting peace in Mindanao that will benefit all Filipinos,” said Deles, who swore in Ferrer to her post.

The first woman head of the peace panel, Ferrer was among 27 Filipinos nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for being part of the “1000 Women for the Nobel.”

She is a member of the faculty of the UP political science department, teaching comparative politics and political theory, and was director of the UP Third World Studies Center from 2000 to 2003.

Prior to her entry into the peace process, she was convenor of the Program on Peace, Democratization and Human Rights of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies until 2005.

Remains committed She also has extensive involvement in nongovernmental organizations.

She cochaired the Non-State Actors Working Group of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines from 1999-2004; joined fact-finding missions organized by international NGOs investigating violence in Cambodia (1993, 1997), East Timor (1999, 2000), and Nepal (2003).

The professor, a sister of Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism Shiela Coronel, served as visiting professor at Hiroshima University in Japan, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea, and Gadja Madah University in Indonesia. ■

THE COURT of Tax Appeals (CTA) stood by its decision to jail convicted tax evader Benjamin G. Kintanar, saying he was not qualified for probation.

The tax court, in an en banc resolution promulgated last Nov. 21, denied for lack of merit Kintanar’s motion for the court to reconsider its earlier denial of his request for probation.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue, which received a copy of the 10-page resolution last Dec. 3, noted that the tax court stressed that probation is a privilege granted to “pertinent qualified offender.”

The CTA in September 2010 found Kintanar guilty of not filing income tax returns in 2000 and 2001, depriving the government revenues of totaling P8.65 million, excluding penalties and surcharges.

Kintanar is the husband of multilevel marketer Gloria Kintanar, who has also been convicted for not paying P15 million in taxes on her income as a distributor of Forever Living products.

least a year and 10 years at most.

Kintanar had appealed the conviction and raised the issue to the CTA en banc in April 2011 but it was dismissed for lack of merit.

Kintanar again filed a motion for reconsideration last June and applied for probation. He pleaded for the court to modify the sentence, remove the jail term, so that he could work outside of prison and earn money to pay for his tax liabilities.

Kintanar also said that by putting him under probation, he could be considered as a “trimedia example of the government in convincing the general public that it is best to pay taxes.”

But in the November ruling, the CTA said Kintanar “is no longer qualified to apply for nor allowed to avail of the benefits of probation... since his intention to apply was only expressed not only after he had perfected his appeal from the judgment of conviction.” ■

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FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 12

Code of silence hampers search for missing miners

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

Photo by Jay Morales / Malacañang Photo Bureau

MONKAYO, Compostela Valley—By his mother’s account, Alfred Cobol was a stubborn man.

At 21, he spurned all job opportunities in his hometown to try his luck on the slopes of Mt. Diwata, more popularly known as Diwalwal, a 700-hectare gold mining community of 42,000 people.

“He told us that he didn’t want to earn just spare change. He said there was real money to be made by mining in Diwalwal,” said his mother, Luzviminda. “We all tried to convince him not to do it.”

But Alfred, now 24, was determined to strike it rich, caught up in the gold rush that had swept the valley.

On Tuesday, Luzviminda, a resident of Montevista town where she lives with one of her seven children, was too preoccupied with her own troubles to worry about them. Strong winds whipped up by Typhoon “Pablo” had sent the roof of her house flying.

But the next day, as the 54year-old mother listened to the escalating reports of death and destruction spawned by Pablo, she started asking about her six grown children. Five replied, but not Alfred amid rumors that scores of miners had been killed.

“I heard the helicopter could not even land because there were landslides,” she said, her eyes red fromweeping. “I heard there were so many corpses in Diwalwal.”

In her head, Luzviminda said she kept hearing her son’s voice telling her: “What is taking you so long? Come here, find me.”

That voice had been haunting Luzviminda since Wednesday when she failed to contact Alfred or his fellow miners in Diwalwal as the death toll from the typhoon rose steadily.

“I just hear his voice all the time. I can’t relax even for one moment. I can’t eat. I have hardly slept,” she said. “In my head, he is saying, ‘I’m here. Hurry up.’”

“His front teeth are chipped, and his pinky toes are quite long,” Luzviminda said in Cebuano.

The village chair of Mt. Diwata, Rodolfo Boyles, dismissed speculations that hundreds had died in the mine tunnels.

“All the miners are safe. There were no landslides in the tunnels, only on the roads,” he said. He insisted that he himself had spoken to some of the miners, and that they were in good condition.

Desperate search On Thursday, the woman began a frantic, desperate search.

Diwalwal was not accessible due to landslides that destroyed roads. So she visited adjacent towns— hospitals, evacuation centers, and finally, morgues— for any sign of her missing son.

At Montoya Funeral Parlor in Poblacion of Nabunturan town, Luzviminda braved the stench of rotting flesh and the sting of formaldehyde to inspect the corpses in the hope one of them might belong to Alfred.

“The only problem is they have no signal as the tower broke. There’s also no power. We sent 3,000 packs of relief goods,” Boyles said.

Asked if they were trapped on the mountain slopes because of obstructions, he replied: “No, they are in the houses there,” he said.

If the miners were not trapped and could get down the mountain, why weren’t they doing so? If they could not resume working because power was out, why were they not leaving?

Fr. Romeo Castillo, head of San Miguel Mission Area in Mt. Diwalwal, said he had counted at least 20 dead after the storm abated.

But as of Saturday, the village of Mt. Diwata had officially recorded only 13 deaths and nine missing.

Boyles dismissed Luzviminda’s fears. He said he knew Alfred Cobol. He said Alfred’s name was not on the list of fatalities. “If he’s not on the list, then he is safe,” he said.

He said someone who was working with Alfred in the same Australian-owned mining firm had told him that the mine “was not affected.”

“Mining is not the problem here,” Boyles said, a statement he repeated to the INQUIRER two or three times.

He seemed irked when he was told that Luzviminda Cobol was already searching morgues for her son’s body. “Why would they look among the dead when their family is still alive? If we find him, then we will just kill him ourselves,” he said in what was probably intended as a joke.

Code of silence Contacted on Saturday morning, Alfred’s older sister, Melody, said the family had gotten in touch with a fellow miner who had worked with Alfred but was not in the mountain when the typhoon struck on Tuesday.

“He said the tunnel was OK,” she said. But the man refused to tell the Cobol family how they might be able to contact Alfred. “We can’t celebrate because we haven’t seen him or talked to him,” she said.

Melody gave the name and cell phone number of the miner, a team leader in Alfred’s company. The INQUIRER reached him on the phone, but when asked if he knew Cobol, he abruptly cut off the connection.

Mindanao-based journalist Carolyn O. Arguillas, in a report on MindaNews, cited a longstanding code of silence involving accidents in mines in Compostela Valley, where many politicians held mining interests.

“No one can say exactly how many persons were killed in Diwalwal although reports have been circulating that hundreds were killed in the landslides,” she wrote.

“Verifying has been made doubly difficult not only because of the 30-year ‘code of silence’ practiced during accidents in the small-scale mining operations in Diwalwal but also because transportation by habalhabal (motorcycle) is only up to Depot.”

For Luzviminda, it was never about mining or breaking the code of silence among miners. “Whether he’s dead or alive, I just want to see him already. I won’t be able to rest until I do,” she said. ■

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13 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

News-Phils

PH still rates among world’s most corrupt

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES is still perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, getting a score of 34 on a scale of 1 to 100 with 100 being very clean, according to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI).

But the Philippines has outranked its neighbors Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh that all fared better than the country in the previous CPI, said TI, a civil society organization that promotes transparency and accountability.

Indonesia scored 32, Vietnam scored 31 and Bangladesh scored 26.

The top five countries perceived to be very clean were Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden and Singapore, while the five viewed as very corrupt were Somalia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Sudan and Myanmar.

TI-Philippines President Rosalinda Tirona said the 2012 CPI, which covered data gathered between December 2010 and September 2012, showed that the Philippines would

have to take more action to improve how things were done in the country.

One of these actions was the “immediate” passage of the freedom of information (FOI) bill, Tirona said.

“This means we still have to do a lot more. TI-Philippines is here to show the Filipino people we can do many more things to fight corruption,” Tirona said in a briefing.

“We must go beyond this ranking and think of what we can do,” she added.

Ranking 105th in the latest CPI, the Philippines belonged to two-thirds of the 176 countries with scores below 50, according to TI. But TI-Philippines said the results of the 2012 CPI could not be compared with the results of the previous CPI because the latest index used a new methodology that changed the scoring system.

In the previous CPI, countries were scored 1 to 10, but in the latest survey, the scores ranged from 1 to 100. This

has an effect on the ranking, TIPhilippines noted.

The new methodology also used a new formula that would allow a more accurate comparison of the changes in the countries’ scores from year to year, but this would only begin with the 2012 CPI. “Therefore, 2012 CPI cannot be compared with all the previous CPI including that of 2011,” TIPhilippines said.

In 2011, the Philippines was number 129 on the list that ranked 178 countries. In 2010, its was at 134.

TI-Philippines Founder Dolores Español said there were certain actions of the Aquino administration that helped change public perception in the country.

These were the impeachment trial, the declaration of the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth, the transparent process of replacing dismissed Chief Justice Renato Corona, the first year of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, and the general openness of the administration in its quest for a transparent government, Español. ■

News-Phils

P-noy: It’s a sad Christmas for typhoon victims

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer “IT’S SAD to think that some of our countrymen will be spending Christmas not around a table filled with food for noche buena but in evacuation centers with other families who had to flee their homes.”

This was what was on President Aquino’s mind as the death toll from Typhoon “Pablo” climbed.

At the awards ceremonies in Malacañang for the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations, Mr. Aquino expressed alarm at the huge number of missing persons and wondered if the government could have done better to minimize the loss of lives.

The President appealed to youth organizations to make some sacrifice, say a little prayer and share provisions with the victims.

“Christmas is near, and my only request is that we don’t forget the families whose joy will not be complete this Christmas. Let’s include them in our prayers,” he said.

“If you plan to go on a gimmick with your friends this Christmas, your celebration will be more meaningful if instead of spending your money on a movie, you just share clothes, blankets or food with the victims. Let’s light our fellowmen’s lives with hope, and our joy will be doubled,” he said.

Mr. Aquino will fly today to the worst-hit provinces of Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

The President said he had been up all night thinking about the high death toll and the wide swath of devastation inflicted by the 16th typhoon to smack the country this year.

“I apologize for coming in late. Our thoughts are in Mindanao, especially on the number of the missing. We want to be certain that our countrymen who are missing will be found and rescued,” he said. “ When the number of the dead ranged from 30 to 60, we were already wondering: Did we do enough? Is there anything else we could do to save the 30 or 60? As we speak, the estimated number of dead is over 300,” he said.

“Many questions have been bothering us from last night to dawn. Because I want to face every Filipino and be able to say that we did everything possible to save our countrymen. One dead is too many.”

Hours before the landfall, the President appealed to the public on national TV to heed warnings and move to safer grounds.

Mr. Aquino lamented that while the government made the necessary preparations, including preemptive evacuation, and managed to save thousands, more than 300 still ended up dead in the aftermath of the storm.

“We won’t stop in crafting new systems and mechanisms so that in the future, we will not only minimize the number of the victims. Our target is that no life should be sacrificed in times of disasters. Our hope is that Filipino families will always be whole when celebrating Christmas,” he said. ■

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 14

Comelec bans 5 more party-list groups

BY JOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) barred five more party-list groups from participating in the 2013 balloting, two of which were existing groups representing loan associations and itinerant vendors.

Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. identified two of the existing partylist groups whose accreditations were canceled as the Confederation of Non-Stock Savings and Loan Associations Inc. (Consla) and the Itinerant Vendors Alliance of the Philippines (Ivap).

“Consla is not a marginalized group... this is a group of lending institutions,” Brillantes told reporters in an interview.

Another group, the Partido ng Bayan ang Bida, was disallowed to participate in next year’s polls as a party-list group but it retained its standing as a political party.

The applications of aspiring party-list groups 1 Pinoy Para sa Kalikasan (1 Pinoy for Kalikasan) and Empleyadong Nagtataguyod ng Bagong Anyo ng

Kapaligiran (En Bank) were also disapproved by the poll body.

They were initially allowed to join the party-list election system next year in the division level but the ruling was reversed by the Comelec following discussions, noted Brillantes.

So far, the Comelec has disqualified a total of 178 groups out of the more than 260 organizations that filed their application for the upcoming elections.

Earlier, Grace Ibuna, a longtime partner of the late Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, paid Brillantes a visit in his office to appeal the Comelec’s decision to disqualify her group, Movement of Women for Change and Reform (Melchora).

The group, which for the first time sought the Comelec’s nod to vie for a congressional seat through the party-list elections, listed Ibuna as its first nominee. Melchora was among the groups disqualified last week.

“I told her that the decision has already been made and we can no longer reconsider... their only recourse is the Supreme Court,” said Brillantes. ■

Ombudsman probing Malampaya fund misuse

BY CYNTHIA D. BALANA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE CASE of the alleged misuse of some P1.782 billion in Palawan’s share from the Malampaya Fund in 2009 by former Gov. Joel Reyes and local officials is undergoing a preliminary investigation in the Office of the Ombudsman, according to Commission on Audit Chair Grace Pulido-Tan. Tan in an interview said she was pleased to note that the celebrated case was finally moving as a result of the improved coordination between government frontline agencies involved in the anticorruption drive.

The money represented the share of the local government units of Palawan—from the provincial, city and municipal down to the barangay levels—that host the geothermal plants and support facilities of the Philippine National Oil Corp.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC).

The Commission on Audit (COA) recommended the filing of at least 23 criminal charges for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Procurement Act and the Revised Penal Code against the officials.

Tan said she learned the National Bureau of Investigation had also come out with its own report on the case.

Among the irregularities the COA found were the noncompletion or outright nonexistence of projects that had been reported as having been completed; the falsification of documents; the failure to follow procurement processes according to law; violations

of bidding procedures, and the existence of a roster of contractors who turned out to be the officials themselves.

“It’s very difficult to zero in on specifics because the (violations) were scattered all over the place,” Tan said.

The COA chief did not reveal the names of the other officials so as not to preempt the Ombudsman investigation.

Tan said the Malampaya case resulted from closer coordination and mutual assistance between the Ombudsman and the COA. “What happens is we do an audit and if we find that there may be something there that ... should be dealt with under the criminal justice system, we refer the matter to the Ombudsman,” she said.

The audit report failed to establish a link between former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the release of about P495,019,000 of the Malampaya Fund.

The COA stressed that while the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had said that the disbursements were carried out on the “verbal instructions of then President Gloria M. Arroyo,” the audit had failed to produce documentary proof of such a directive.

It said that the DBM, in a Memorandum for the President dated May 14, 2009, had sought confirmation of the instruction. But the COA noticed that the reply of Arroyo, if there was any, was not among the documents submitted to the state auditors. ■

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15 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

P-noy sends Mar to Mindanao to oversee gov’t relief work Storm “Sendong” killed more than 1,300 people in Mindanao.

BY MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer

No blame game He appealed to politicians not to use the calamity fund to earn brownie points even as he veered off from

engaging in a blame game this early.

“If you’re looking for Mar Roxas, he is now in Mindanao. He is checking on typhoon-ravaged areas, and we have a lot of questions that I want to provide answers myself. And that’s what he’s checking out,” Mr. Aquino said.

Lamenting the loss of lives despite the government’s repeated warnings ahead of the onslaught of the typhoon, the President said: “Every time there is loss of lives, we always think, ‘could we have done something to, perhaps, lessen if not

Camsur bill still alive

BY NORMAN BORDADORA Philippine Daily Inquirer ONCE thought to be dead after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV fought over the alleged railroading of the measure, the contoversial Camarines Sur (CamSur) bill is again on the move with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada pushing for its passage before the Christmas break.

Estrada in the last session day of the week asked about the status of the bill creating Nueva Camarines from the fourth district of Camarines Sur before getting Trillanes to commit that he’d continue his interpellation of bill sponsor Sen. Ferdinand Marcos next week.

The Senate Pro Tempore indicated on the floor that Trillanes’ desire

prevent casualties?’ And we will know the answers in a short while,” said Mr. Aquino, who is planning to leave for Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental as soon as possible.

Asked if he was disappointed with the government’s response to Typhoon “Pablo,” the President said: “Compared with Sendong, there is a big difference in terms of the number of casualties here. But any single casualty is a cause for distress. We would always ask if we could lessen the [death toll].”

In December last year, Tropical

P-Noy wants to know “What we want to know [are the] circumstances of, for instance, the Army unit (composed of 66 soldiers).

Why were they on base (66th Infantry Battalion at Barangay Andap in New Bataan in Compostela Valley) ... [when] the flash floods occurred?” Mr. Aquino said.

The President said he also received a report that an evacuation center was damaged by flash floods.

“I have been asking Secretary (Mario) Montejo, for instance, of the DOST (Department of Science and Technology) to assess whether or not this was [part of] the danger areas already identified. We will always try to seek better performances,” said Mr. Aquino.

Told that instead of making landfall in Hinatuan City as predicted by the weather bureau, Pablo proceeded to slam Davao Oriental, he said: “Let’s not forget that this is a typhoon, nobody is driving it. We have hourly advisories because it could change direction [anytime],” he said. ■

“We are in the period of interpellation on that bill but because there were many bills that were being rushed before we break on Dec. 21 we have deferred it ... besides, the truth of the matter is the situation is that the issue is moot,” Marcos said.

“None of the candidates in this coming election will be able to run because they haven’t been able to file for what are today nonexistent positions. That is why we have been comfortable in deferring it and making way for the other very important bills that are pending,” Marcos added.

Estrada insisted that whether or not the matter was moot wasn’t the issue.

He then invoked “the constitutional right to self-determination of the people of Camarines Sur.” Estrada said the creation of the new province was up to the Camarines Sur electorate to decide in a plebiscite.

Marcos then said he’d take up the

matter with Trillanes to continue the stalled interpellation.

Trillanes said he would be ready to proceed with the second of his three-part interpellation next week.

He, nonetheless, mentioned that there were more important bills than the CamSur bill.

“I would like to inform the body that I’ll be ready next week because I assumed also that this bill of local import should not supersede the more important bills that we have before us like the budget the [freedom of information], even the [reproductive health] bill,” Trillanes said.

“But since apparently it’s very much important to the gentleman from San Juan, we can accommodate his request,” Trillanes added.

“Thank you. Hopefully you will be true to your word so we can dispose of the issue, hopefully before we go on Christmas break,” Estrada said. ■

Malacanang Photo Bureau File Photo

PRESIDENT Aquino dispatched Interior Secretary Mar Roxas to check on the extent of the devastation in Mindanao as well as oversee the government’s response on the ground.

The President also made available P8 billion in “standby” calamity fund.

“These are revenues from unexpected sources. This is from the sale of the Food Terminal Inc. government property in Taguig City (worth P24 billion),” the President said.

In a speech at the annual general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines at the Manila Hotel, Mr. Aquino said the money would “take care of all the expenses necessary here and also in the necessary emergency infrastructure—the roads that were closed, etcetera, if there is damage.”

to ask questions as regards the committee report on Senate Bill No. 4820 was the only matter keeping the CamSur bill from passing the Senate.

“We, legislators, do not have any right to decide for the people of Nueva Camarines. It is only the people of Nueva Camarines who will decide if they want to divide their own province. We cannot prevent the people if they want their province to progress or to develop or not,” Estrada said.

Estrada first asked Marcos about the lack of activity in the plenary as regards the CamSur bill. Marcos countered by indicating the bill was no longer as urgent and that the Senate had to contend with other important measures such as the national budget and the sin tax bill.

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Opinion

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 16

THERE’S THE RUB

In the end

BY CONRADO DE QUIROS Philippine Daily Inquirer IN THE end, Manny Pacquiao lay crumpled on the canvas, face down, his left arm twisted crookedly behind him, his right buried underneath his unmoving body. It was an eerily familiar sight.

How could it not be? There were plenty of reminders of it, not least the flashing of highlights of his past fights on a cylindrical screen high above the ring that spun around and around. It was capped by Ricky Hatton throwing a wayward punch at him and him countering with a left jab that landed flush on Hatton’s face and twisted it into a violent grimace. That was the punch that nearly ended Hatton’s life. It wasn’t just that it took Hatton a long time to get up, which worried his corner no end, and he had to be sent to the hospital afterward. It was that Hatton contemplated suicide afterward. That blow had a decisiveness to it, it had a finality to it.

It was history repeating itself, the first as victory, the second as tragedy. At least for us. It was history repeating itself, except that the roles were reversed.

Eager to do to Juan Manuel Marquez what he had done to a string of Mexican fighters before him, Pacquiao had thrown a wayward punch at his head and Marquez had countered with a right that landed flush on his jaw. Pacquiao never knew what hit him. It wasn’t just that he lost the fight, as one text message quipped, it was that he lost consciousness.

That was what made it a bitter pill to swallow, In fact it had become grim reality. Driven home the sublime irony or ironic completeness of it, by the Mexicans in attendance—a multitude being almost a carbon copy of his demolition of them had descended on the arena, as though of Hatton. Of course Hatton wasn’t Mexican, smelling blood, as though smelling redemption— he was Brit, but he might as erupting into thunderous well have stood for the slew “Maybe we can still reclaim rejoicing. Accompanied by of Mexican fighters Pacquiao some moral victory from the taunting chants. Their own text messages flew thick and fast. had sent to a similar state or ashes of defeat.”

“Marquez will be holding a worse, their faces puffed up beyond recognition, their egos trampled upon concert tonight, be there,” said one. “How many beyond repair. And now a Mexican had done to Mexicans does it take to knock out Pacquiao? him exactly the same thing.

One,” said another.

To say that they burst into ecstatic celebration That was what made it a bitter pill to swallow, the decisiveness of it, the finality of and dancing in the streets is to say that Filipinos it. Pacquiao had lost before, but never like this. burst into ecstatic celebration and dancing in He had been outmaneuvered before, he had the streets at Edsa. Well into the night, groups been outpointed before, but he had never been of drunken Mexicans swaying as they crossed knocked out cold before, he had never been streets could be heard shouting “Viva Mejico,” to thoroughly humiliated before, he had never find an echoing shout from passing cars. been obliterated before. His destination after It was a bitter pill to swallow, it is a bitter fights, or so we’ve naturally come to expect, pill to swallow. Made all the more bitter by the thought that if Marquez had not managed to was the concert hall, not the hospital.

It could have been worse, as it was. You saw sneak in that punch, and, tragedy of tragedies, at Jinkee’s face as she stood over her fallen husband, the very last second, Pacquiao might have gone ashen-faced, tearful, and fearful. Pacquiao wasn’t on to win the fight. Indeed, might have gone on moving, and the ring doctor had been summoned to knock out Marquez as he had vowed to, he had to check on him. What flashed in my mind at wrested control of the fight, he was on the way that sight was that she wasn’t thinking about there. But life has a way of throwing a curve ball what had happened and its implications to her at the best of us. You can’t always get what you husband’s career or standing in the community. want, or even what already seems within grasp.

She was just thinking, “Please, God, let him live, But in the end, as in most everything else in please, God, let him be all right.” life, it’s how we respond to adversity rather than What was unthinkable had suddenly, adversity itself that defines us, that makes us nightmarishly, and shockingly become thinkable. win or lose. Nothing can ever take the sting of

Pacquiao’s massive debacle, which is our debacle too—so share my glory, so share my coffin, as Evita puts it—but we can always show class in the face of it. Pacquiao himself has always done so, he has never made excuses. Look at what he did after his fight with Timothy Bradley. Though he believed he had won it, he said, he would bow to the judges’ decision.

Pacquiao himself has always done so, he has been charitable in victory and graceful in defeat. Hard as it is to do, we can always look at it from the other end. Of course the Mexicans would be raucous, of course the Mexicans would be rowdy, of course the Mexicans would be wildly exultant. Which can piss you off no end. But they’ve been in the state we’re now in for a long, long time, seeing one after another of their champions executed by the Mexicutioner, and having had to grin and bear it. Now they’ve found their Avenger, the one person who has laid their nemesis low, the one savior who has brought the mighty Achilles to heel. The fading of one nation’s legend is the rise of another nation’s hero.

I can’t say let’s wish them well, the wound is still too fresh for that. But I can say let’s congratulate them and accept the defeat with a heaviness of honor if not with a lightness of heart. Maybe we can still retrieve some shred of dignity from the wreckage of devastation.

Maybe we can still reclaim some moral victory from the ashes of defeat.

In the end.■

AT LARGE

Not God’s will

BY RINA JIMENEZ-DAVID Philippine Daily Inquirer I DON’T know about you, but I’m not standing anywhere near Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo these days. Recently, reacting to the horrific news reports about hundreds dead in the wake of the “visit” of Typhoon “Pablo” to our shores, the good bishop commented: “Ewan ko lang kung yan ay coincidence lang o dahil nga may pinapasabi ang Diyos sa atin na kapag iyan ay pinag-uusapan nang matindi ay parang may mensahe na nangyayari na maraming kahirapan na nagaganap sa atin (I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or if the Lord is trying to send a message to us that whenever that is being discussed heatedly, it seems that there’s a disaster that causes much suffering among us).”

Bishop Pabillo was referring to the Reproductive Health bill that is now undergoing the final stages of discussion in Congress and is expected to be passed into law in the near future.

Defeated in the halls of Congress and in public opinion, the bishops, in the person of Pabillo, now seem to be grasping at straws, claiming that the death toll and damage done by Pablo is “God’s punishment” on Filipinos for even daring to contemplate passage of the RH bill.

If you believe in such stuff, then I suppose Pabillo should be the target of a divine smiting anytime soon, for the grievous sin of taking God’s name in vain, or for blaming Him for a disaster which is utterly explainable in scientific

terms, and traceable, if at all, to entirely human two days and destroys entire villages is precisely causes, including overpopulation that has driven a form of population reduction? families to live on precarious mountain slopes, Or am I just being specious, quoting Pabillo and deforestation that out of context? created those murderous *** happen whenever THIS to me is the height landslides and floods that “Tragedies of insensitivity. To use the led so many to their deaths. lawmakers push for the RH bill.”

If there is any lesson to deaths of our people in a - Manila Auxiliary Bishop be gleaned from the tragedy disaster as a propaganda Broderick Pabillo point against a piece of of Pablo, it is indeed that legislation that everyone— we need to slow down the save for Catholic bishops growth of our population, for it is human interventions—including global and their conservative allies—says is long warming and the desperate search for livable overdue, necessary and would provide relief for habitats—that have made natural disasters so families struggling to provide their children a life of dignity and value. destructive and tragic.

Let Bishop Pabillo and all those who heed *** A REPORT on Pabillo’s interview aired him and his ilk consider this: If we had adopted over the Catholic Radio Veritas said the bishop not just a sound population policy decades ago, asserted that “tragedies happen whenever as our neighbors have, would we have so many lawmakers push for the RH bill.” The underlying deaths from a typhoon?

The answer is no. For part of a rational message, he said, “should be understood since (we don’t like it when the bill is being rushed population policy is planning for future growth, and secretly pushed among members of Congress which is only possible if authorities can predict to pass).” where population surges will take place, and I never thought that Catholic bishops believe put in place measures to mitigate whatever so fervently in a malicious God who would cause environmental, social and economic impacts we death and destruction for innocent folk in an will face.

If the population push had not led to thousands expression of pique over a piece of legislation that would simply put the Philippines on the of poor families setting up homes and settlements same wavelength as other countries all over the in mountain barangays, then there would not world. have been so many left vulnerable to Pablo’s Is God against reproductive health or, at depredations. And if these economic migrants the very least, the reduction of the numbers of had not laid bare the mountains’ trees and human beings on this planet? Don’t you think a stripped the land for marginal farming, would disaster that kills more than 300 people in one or they have been buried by landslides and mud?

I am not “blaming” the victims, or scolding them in afterthought. But disasters are the results of lack of planning and enforcement, of carelessness with the environment, and even of stubbornness in the face of authorities’ warnings about a coming typhoon and the need to seek shelter on safer ground. *** IN OTHER words, God gave us free will and intelligence to properly prepare for the disasters that global warming has presaged. We had days—days!—to follow Pablo’s track and to mitigate the foreseen damage by strong winds, tidal surge and rushing floodwaters.

I can’t help but sympathize with P-Noy who expressed his frustration that despite so much time afforded us by modern weather forecasting, on the ground, our best efforts were frustrated by inept organization, human hardheadedness, and lack of imagination.

Of course, many of the lost lives, injuries and material losses were also the result of accidents and—let’s face it—bad luck.

But it is bad luck that will hound us in the years to come as our planet undergoes the worsening effects of climate change. What we need to do is to prepare and put in place measures that will ensure fewer lives lost the next time another “supertyphoon” visits us.

Let us pray we will cope with coming disasters better and that we will minimize the loss of lives.

But let us also entreat our legislators to pass the RH bill now, for we need to ease the pressures that bear on our environment and preparedness as soon as we can. ■

17 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Opinion

PUBLIC LIVES

Something fishy from Edsa

BY AMBETH R. OCAMPO Philippine Daily Inquirer MOST OF the Philippine food terms preserved in the early dictionaries and vocabularies compiled by the Spanish friars in the 17th century relate to fish and rice. This suggests that rice has been our staple for centuries. The dictionaries also suggest that our ancestors lived close to bodies of water—on the sea coast or on the riverbanks— making their diet rich in seafood.

The 21st-century Filipino has more food choices, and if we are to go by the CNN list of the 50 foods that define who we are, the dishes are mostly meat rather than fish, suggesting that our habitation patterns, our food tastes and cultures have significantly changed in the past five centuries. Food ways have been changed by modern appliances like refrigerators, freezers, and microwave ovens, and taste buds and memory have been altered by canned food, fast food, instant food, just-add-water food, etc.

Reading Chapter 23 of Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” will give us an idea of a 19th-century picnic lunch made up of fish freshly harvested from river and baklad (fish pen). Maria Clara’s Tia Isabel supervises the chopping of vegetables and the preparation of a sinigang stock where the poor fish goes straight from cool water to boiling broth.

Tia Isabel says: “The ayungin (silver perch) is good for sinigang. Leave the biâ (goby) for the escabeche (fried fish with sweet and sour

He discussed the semilla or kawag-kawag sauce), the dalag (mudfish) and the buan-buan (tarpon) for pesâ (ginger- and onion-based gathered during April and May from the coasts broth). The dalag lives long. Put them in the of Tayabas, Batangas, Mindoro, Marinduque, net to remain alive in the water. Langostas Bataan, Zambales and La Union and transported in clay jars that contained (literally lobsters but since 2,000-5,000 of them to other they are not by the sea, refers to crayfish, probably “Reading Chapter 23 of Rizal’s places. He referred to fish the kind known as ulang) to ‘Noli Me Tangere’ will give us an food called verdin, an algae (Oedogonium) acquired the frying pan. The banak (mullet) is good for broiling, idea of a 19th-century picnic lunch much during the calm or in wrapped in banana leaves made up of fish freshly harvested the months of March, April and May. and stuffed with tomatoes. from river and baklad.”

Since I get most of my Leave the rest as decoys. It’s food from a supermarket, not a good idea to empty the all this obscure information was fascinating for baklad completely.”

If young people today aren’t familiar with me; that it came from the pen of a noted historian Tia Isabel’s fish, what more the obscure fish doubled the pleasure.

Edsa compiled a list of fish that could be enumerated by Epifanio de los Santos in a lecture on the fishing industry that he delivered preserved in salt, like daing, or prepared, like in February 1921 to commemorate the 400th anchovies, into sardinas and arenques that were anniversary of the discovery of the Philippines the daily sustenance of islanders. It was the first

by Ferdinand Magellan? In his lecture, Edsa time I learned the scientific names of local fish: (for whom Epifanio de los Santos Avenue is dilis or boqueron (Anchovia commersoniana, named) said fresh fish and rice formed the basic Lacepede); dumpilas (Anchovia dussumieri, Philippine diet, citing a survey in 1903 where Bleeker); tunsoy (Harengula moluccensis, 90 percent of the Filipinos counted fish as the Bleeker); tamban (H. longiceps, Bleeker); principal part of their diet. Edsa talked about silinyasi (Harengula, sp.); alakaak (Umbrina fish nurseries, the first established by Domingo Russelli, C.V.); aligasin (Mugilidae); talilong Coronel in 1863 in Barrio Concepcion, Malabon, (Mugil sunanensis, Bleeker); sapsap (Leognathus Cuv); salaysalay (Scomber and copied by others such that it spreed to splendens, Caloocan, Navotas, then Bulacan, principally microlepidotus, Ruppell); and malakapas in the towns of Obando, Polo, Malolos, and (Xystaema napas, Bleeker). He also listed some crustaceans: sea crab (Neptunus philippinensis); Hagonoy.

alimasag (Lupea gladiator, Fabr and Thalamita crucifera, Fr.); talangka (Thelphusa indica, Lath); uluhan (Palaemon ornatus, Oliv); hipon (Pendus canalicatus, Oliv); alupihan dagat ( Squilla macularia, Lam). Last but not least: calamares and almejas; balay tikhan, lukan and paros.

Edsa provided a longer list of saltwater fish that cannot be accommodated in this column space, but he compared those with freshwater fish that were not as varied and were easier to harvest. During the typhoon season, fishermen could not go out to sea but fish could still be found in the interior, like hito, dalag, and banak. Edsa said that freshwater or agua dulce (literally, sweet water) fish were lighter and sweeter than their saltwater cousins. He listed: anguila, dalag (Ophiocepahuls striatus Bloch), robalo or hito (Clarias magur, Ham.-Buc.), martinico, freshwater kitang (Setophagus ornatus, C.V.), different from saltwater kitang (Ephippidae), kanduli (Netuma nasata, Bleeker), bagre, iso, banak, gobido de Manila, and gobido de Angat (Glossogobius giuris, Ham. -Buch.), biang itim, bia, buan-buan, and langaray. He also mentioned river crabs and clams ( tulya, sulib, pilipit and kuhol), etc.

So much useless information to remind the urban and land-dwelling 21st-century Pinoy of the influence of geography on Philippine life, history, and culture. ■ *** Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.edu

AS I SEE IT

Free the dolphins!

BY NEAL H. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DOLPHIN is that fish-like creature that performs tricks in oceanariums, such as jumping and turning somersaults in the air, balancing hoops and balls on their noses, or swimming with their bodies out of the water and only their tails submerged. Though it looks like a fish, it is a mammal like whales. It gives birth to babies like all mammals do and does not lay eggs like fish do. Its only difference with land animals is that it lives in the sea. You have seen it—the bottlenose variety, performing tricks in many movies and television shows and in oceanariums. Several of them played supporting roles in the “Free Willy” movies starring the black-and-white Orca.

In fairy tales, it is dolphins that save the heroes from drowning and take them to dry land.

Because of their popularity in oceanarium shows, there is widespread international traffic in dolphins. Like African wild animals, they are hunted, caught and sold live to oceanariums all over the world.

Many of these dolphins are caught in the waters off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific and exported to other countries, including the Philippines. After the dolphins are trained here, the Philippines reexports them to Singapore to perform at the Resorts World Sentosa.

Last Nov. 22, a 10-year-old dolphin named “Wen Wen” died en route to Singapore, igniting a furor among environmental groups and animal activists here. A number of them have filed a

Said PAWS’ Anna Cabrera: “We will not forget petition with the regional trial court of Quezon City. The petitioners, among them the Philippine Wen Wen or the other dolphins and animals who Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), Earth Island died in captivity just to entertain people. We will Institute Philippines (EII), Cara Welfare continue the fight for the release of the remaining Philippines, and a number of individuals, are dolphins.”

The Singapore-based Acres (Animal Concerns seeking the issuance of an Environmental Protection Order and a Research and Education “Wen Wen died because Temporary Protection Order Society) led by Louis Ng led the memorial. “Dolphins are that would ban the import of greed and lack of and reexport of dolphins. The inherently wild animals and environmental justice...” do not fare well in captivity,” defendants are Environment Secretary Proceso Alcala, - Trixie Concepcion of the Earth said Ng. “We urge Resorts Island Institute Philippines Director Asis G. Perez of World Sentosa to now work with Acres, Earth Island and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and Resorts World other groups to release the rest of the dolphins back to the wild. This is a time for Resorts World Sentosa.

Last Dec. 2, animal welfare activists in the Sentosa to show that they truly care about these Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand dolphins and set them free.” held simultaneous memorials for Wen Wen. The Here are the factual antecedents as stated in activists condemned the hasty transfer of the the petition: On Dec. 8, 2008, seven Indo-Pacific dolphin to Singapore despite an ongoing case, a bottlenose dolphins (scientific name: Tursiops violation of the Wildlife Act, or Republic Act 9147. aduncus) were imported into the Philippines “Wen Wen died because of greed and lack of after being caught in the wild in the Solomon environmental justice,” said Trixie Concepcion Islands. The importation was done on the basis of EII. “If she had been left with her family in of a permit issued by then Agriculture Secretary the wild, she would be alive today. But the greed Arthur Yap dated Dec. 3, 2008.

Upon importation into the Philippines, of a corporation, and the lack of environmental justice in the Philippines, allowed her capture the seven captive dolphins were trained as and transfer to Singapore. This is what caused performers by Ocean Adventure Park in Subic, her death.”

Zambales, for eventual reexport to perform PAWS erected a memorial tile at its Animal in dolphin shows at Resorts World Sentosa in Rehabilitation Center on Katipunan Avenue. It Singapore.

Upon learning of the importation, the reads: “Rest in peace, Wen Wen. Swim freely across the Rainbow Bridge.” petitioners immediately objected to the capture

of the dolphins, citing a letter of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) addressed to officials of the Solomon Islands. The letter reiterated a recommendation previously made in 2003 that parties to the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), such as the Philippines, should not issue permits to import dolphins from the Solomon Islands primarily because “without any reliable data on numbers and population structure of bottlenose dolphins in the region, it is impossible to make a credible judgment about this level of exploitation.”

On Jan. 8, 2009, 12 international conservation and marine organizations called on Philippine government agencies to seize the seven dolphins, to deny the issuance of any import permit for additional dolphins from the Solomon Islands, and to immediately notify the government of the Solomon Islands that no additional wild-caught dolphins will be accepted into the Philippines.

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to support a ban on dolphin imports, seven dolphins originally from the Solomon Islands were imported by the Philippines from Langkawi, Malaysia. Two dolphins died in Malaysia before they could be shipped to the Philippines.

These latest additions brought the total wild dolphins captured from the Solomon Islands in the Philippines to 25.

In September 2011, Solomon Islands banned the export of dolphins beginning January 2012. ■

News-Phils

Senators eye P300-M pork to be sourced from savings

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer SENATORS are setting their sights on getting P100 million each in extra pork this year, on top of the P200 million they are already getting in annual pork barrel allocations, or the priority development assistance fund (PDAF).

Sen. Franklin Drilon said a number of senators were looking to get additional fund allocations for their pet projects.

He did not say how much the senators would get in extra pork.

But one senator who asked not to be named said most of his colleagues were looking forward to getting up to P100 million.

Drilon did not see anything wrong with senators getting additional pork as he said the funds would be sourced from the savings of the Senate this year.

Besides, the money would be used to fund “meaningful” projects nationwide which would benefit a wider population, he said.

“Any senator can ask for additional funds on top of their pork barrel but this is subject to the approval of President Aquino,” said Drilon.

Drilon could not say how much savings the Senate had generated this year. Based on the General Appropriations Act of 2012, the Senate has a budget of P2.853 billion of which P1.3 billion was for personnel services and P1.462 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses.

The reported grant of extra pork came after senators voted to oust Chief Justice Renato Corona in March and approved the sin tax bill earlier this week, right in the midst of the crucial vote on the reproductive health bill— to mention three of Malacañang’s most desired outcome from the Senate.

Not an entitlement Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. stressed that the extra pork was not an “entitlement” since the additional funds would not only need a clearance from Malacañang but also would be subject to the availability of funds.

But he said no senator had so far made a request for additional pork.

“As far as I know, no senator has received more than the P200 million each is allocated as PDAF,” Abad said.

As for the unused annual pork allocations of Senators Panfilo Lacson and Joker Arroyo who have consistently declined to touch their P200 million PDAF, Abad said the Senate could not declare these unused PDAF as savings and divide it among the rest of the senators.

That is, unless Lacson and Arroyo give their go-ahead for the other senators to divide their unused PDAF, he said.

But the budget secretary said the government could certainly put the two senators’ unused PDAF to good use.

“If left unused, the unused PDAF will bring down the deficit by the [same] amount. That’s good for our fiscal consolidation program,” he said.

Judiciary practice The senators’ plan to utilize as savings the unused portion of their budget is similar to the judiciary’s practice of using their excess funds arising from money allotted for new job positions that went unfilled that year.

Ironically, Abad’s budget department frowned on this budgetary practice of the judiciary. Its attempt to transfer the allocation for unfilled positions in the judiciary in the 2012 budget triggered protests from judiciary employees last year.

Abad had proposed the establishment of a Miscellaneous Personnel Benefit Fund (MPBF) where all the unused hiring funds not only of the judiciary but also the Congress, the Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit,

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 18

Office of the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission would be collected. The MPBF would be under the control of the President.

The bicameral conference committee vetoed the MPBF mainly because of fears that it would undermine the fiscal autonomy of these institutions.

DBM records showed that eight senators have PDAF releases of at least P200 million this year—Pia Cayetano with P260.185 million (P127.061 million continuing funds from last

year’s allocation); Antonio Trillanes IV with P253.591 million (P53.591 million continuing funds); Teofisto Guingona III with P224.4 million (P37 million continuing funds); Francis Pangilinan with P222.85 million (P33 million continuing funds); Gregorio Honasan; Lito Lapid; Miriam Defensor-Santiago; and Vicente Sotto III (each with P200 million).

If the senators get the P100 million extra pork, they will be able to use the funds into the next year, which is, crucially, an election year. ■

Budget gets House OK, awaits P-noy signature

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE P2.006-trillion national budget for 2013 is only awaiting the President’s signature, after the House of Representatives ratified Wednesday night the bicameral conference report on the general appropriations act.

The budget’s final version was ratified without a hitch in the House, which completed the matter before embarking on the lengthy, contentious period of amendments on the controversial reproductive health bill.

The Senate ratified the bicameral conference report early Wednesday.

The relatively swift approval of the general appropriations act

will allow the President to sign the budget before the year ends, and do away with the previous scenario of having a reenacted budget in the first few weeks or months of the year.

The 2013 budget features increased spending for infrastructure and a bigger budget for the conditional cash transfer program, which will be expanded to cover 3.8 million households.

The Department of Education will get the biggest allocation for 2013, with P293.32 billion.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has been allotted P152.4 billion, and the Department of National Defense, P121.6 billion. ■

News at your fingertips.

www.canadianinquirer.net

For your daily dose of the most current and up-to-date news

19 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Police Appeal for Information in Fatal Hit and Run INSPECTOR LES YEO HIT AND RUN PUBLIC APPEAL I’m asking for the public’s help on a hit and run investigation from five days ago. You will recall some of the details we released: On Sunday, December 2nd, just before 10:00 in the evening, a 43 year old mother took the bus home from where she worked as a cleaner at the Edgewater Casino, like she always does. From the Main and Terminal bus stop, Leonida Jimenez-Tumanda boarded a bus and arrived at Main and 43rd Avenue a few minutes after 10:00.

We believe she crossed Main Street and continued East on 43rd Avenue.

Moments from home, she crossed the intersection at 43rd Ave and Prince Edward Street from west to east on the south side when she was struck.

Leonida was found lying in the roadway at 10:40 p.m. by a passing car. She was able to say that she had been struck by a car, but soon after was unable to speak. She was rushed to hospital by paramedics, where she died a few hours later.

We are asking for any witnesses who may have seen something that might help investigators to please contact the Vancouver Police

Investigation Unit at (604) 717-3012.

And for the driver, I understand you might be scared and worried about coming forward. It’s important that we hear what you have to say. It’s only a matter of time before we find out who you are. You may have made some regrettable decisions at the time, now is the time to come forward.

Do the right thing and contact us.

We hope the driver coming forward will give the family a small measure of comfort as they work through their grief. ■ People can now donate to the family of the late Leonida Tumanda by going to any TD Canada branch and providing the TD staff with the following information: Branch: 9466 and Account number: 6345314.

What Can You Do to Keep Pedestrians Out of Harm’s Way? If You’re a Pedestrian: • make eye contact with approaching drivers and / or cyclists • use designated crossing points • obey the traffic signals - only enter the intersection if the pedestrian signal is being displayed and it is safe for you to do so • don’t presume that drivers see you - wear reflective clothing at night if possible If You’re a Driver: • make eye contact with pedestrians • yield to pedestrians that are on the roadway • watch for pedestrians at intersections, especially when making left and right turns

• •

expect the unexpected – a vehicle stopping in a lane beside you may be yielding to a pedestrian crossing the road. obey traffic signals

If You’re a Cyclist: • make eye contact with pedestrians • yield to pedestrians • follow all rules of the road - bicycles are vehicles, too • don’t ride on sidewalks – stay to the right hand side of the roadway or in designated lanes • have a bicycle bell on you bicycle to warn approaching pedestrians and other road users

Trudeau in Quebec: constitutional changes are a no go THE CANADIAN PRESS ST-JEROME, Que. - Justin Trudeau says he has no intention of getting bogged down in the kind of constitutional squabbling that consumed a generation of Canadian politicians in his father’s day.

The Liberal leadership candidate has been asked by journalists, during a tour of Quebec, about whether he would ever reopen the Constitution to recognize the province as a nation.

Not now, he says.

Trudeau says he doesn’t see any public appetite for such a discussion and, other than some journalists and politicians, he says the people he meets are more concerned with other questions like the economy and foreign policy.

“People are worried about their jobs, people are worried about where we’re

going in the future, how we’re going to engage with the world, how we’re going to make sure that our kids have opportunities,” he told reporters Monday when asked about the topic during a tour north of Montreal.

“These are old, old fights that are still very important to a small fragment of this population that’s outraged that I said, ‘Can we please move to something else?’

Well, I’m going to repeat it: Can we please move on to something else?”

Such replies have prompted a muscular exchange with one interviewer. Trudeau’s musings earned him a scolding from interviewer Jean Lapierre during a weekend show.

An ex-politician, Lapierre belonged to a faction of the Liberal party that longed to update the constitutional deal struck in 1981

by Pierre Trudeau. During an interview on TVA, he asked Trudeau whether he found it acceptable for his province to

feel excluded from the country’s most fundamental document. An incredulous Lapierre told Trudeau that prime ministers have a responsibility beyond discussing what’s popular.

The 1981 constitutional deal earned the endorsement of every provincial government except Quebec’s. Politicians in that province have since sought some form of recognition of its uniqueness which could eventually be used, for instance, to protect language laws in court battles.

But the last attempts to update the constitution failed spectacularly during the Mulroney era - with Trudeau leading the push against them. No politician has since dared to reopen the discussion.

Trudeau isn’t keen for it to start now.

The Liberal leadership front-runner says he isn’t closing the door forever. But he says he isn’t persuaded by the argument of nationalists that it’s a pressing priority.

He was asked Monday what it would take to get the discussion going.

“If a Quebec premier were to come to me and say, ‘I’d really like to officially express that Quebec agrees to the Constitution,’ and I can do it in such a way that isn’t divisive,” Trudeau replied Monday.

“What makes me laugh right now is the number of sovereigntists who are outraged with what I just said. I’m sorry, they never want Quebec to be in the Constitution. Why would they be outraged that I would say that I don’t think that this is a conversation that we have to have right now?

“It’s because their bread and butter is the politics of division and I’m not talking about that - I’m talking about the politics of bringing people together around the values and around the concerns that we’re living every single day.” ■

NEWS BRIEFS from the Canadian Press

Teachers striking over pay: McGuinty

Consumers want protection on roaming fees

Arctic homes need private, public funds

TORONTO - Premier Dalton McGuinty rebuked Ontario’s public elementary school teachers for launching a wave of one-day walkouts Monday that will spread across the province over the next two weeks, forcing parents to scramble for childcare. But the rotating strikes are “a small price to pay” to protect smaller class sizes, teaching jobs and the rollout of full-day kindergarten, he said.

OTTAWA - A new study says Canadian consumers want better protection from international data roaming fees on their cellphones. The study by the Public Interest Advocacy Group says Canadians are insecure about using their wireless device while travelling. The consumer advocacy group wants the CRTC to require Canadian wireless carriers to notify subscribers via text of the applicable international data roaming rates.

Private-sector help and innovative designs are making headway in improving substandard housing in Canada’s North, says a new report from the Conference Board of Canada. But the demand still outstrips supply and the need for government-funded building isn’t going to diminish any time soon, said author Anja Jeffrey.

- Bob Weber

Canada News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 20

New foreign investment rules reach far beyond oilsands, but application unclear

BY HEATHER SCOFFIELD AND STEPHANIE LEVITZ THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have been talking specifically about the oilsands when he shut the door to foreign state-controlled takeovers, but his intentions extend beyond Canada’s energy sector.

By raising the threshold of review for all foreign takeovers except those spearheaded by government-run companies, Harper is in effect telling every area of the economy that corporate control by state-owned firms is not welcome in Canada.

“They’ve sent a signal,” said Paul Boothe, a former deputy minister of industry who is now a professor at the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University in London, Ont. “He’s pretty clear he doesn’t like state-owned enterprises.”

Under the new rules announced Friday in conjunction with Ottawa’s approval of the CNOOC takeover of Calgary-based Nexen Inc., the federal government said it would gradually raise the threshold for scrutinizing takeovers to $1 billion.

But that extra leeway does not apply to state-owned enterprises. Instead, Ottawa will review any SOE transaction over $330 million. And it broadened the definition of what constitutes a state-owned firm.

“What they’re doing is they’re raising the threshold for all but state-owned enterprises,” Boothe said. “That’s a pretty strong message. They’re discouraging acquisitions for control by state-owned enterprises.”

Indeed, Harper has already suggested that his “No” to more state-owned control of the oilsands could also be applied to other sectors of the Canadian economy.

In extensive comments last Friday, he said he only dealt with the oilsands because the CNOOC-Nexen transaction put that sector into play.

Harper made it clear he won’t stop there.

“What I would say is ... we will watch carefully other sectors of the economy to ensure that this situation does not develop in those sectors as well.”

It remains unclear, however, what the threshold would be to trigger a similar ban on SOE investment in other sectors.

The other deal that’s been in play, the $6 billion takeover of Progress Energy by Malaysian company Petronas, also got a green light Friday. The pair is working on plans for a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal on the B.C. coast.

The LNG market has attracted significant state-owned enterprise investment in recent years, noted an analysis of the new rules by business law firm Osler. So why not explicitly limit SOEs in that sector, as well?

“The LNG industry is at a much earlier phase of its development than the oilsands and Canada is competing against other LNG producers, such as Australia, to build an Asian export market,” the report said.

“Further, while the supply of new oilsands properties is fairly limited, there is a view that there continues to be abundant opportunity for further exploration and development in the Canadian non-conventional gas sector.”

The gas industry could in fact benefit from the new rules, suggested Hal Kvisle, the chief executive of oil and gas company Talisman Energy and former CEO of TransCanada.

“There’s all sorts of good stuff going on in the oilsands.

The gas industry in Canada is one that’s really suffering right now and is very much harmed by having access to only the lowest price market in the world, which is the U.S. market,” Kvisle said.

November 30 – December 2 ABBOTSFORD TRADEX

westcoastchristmasshow.com THE PHILIPPINE Canadian Inquirer, Canada's first and only nationwide Filipino-Canadian newspaper, sponsored the Christmas Train Ride at the West Coast Christmas Show & Marketplace held at the Abbotsford Tradex from November 30 - December 2.

The West Coast Christmas Show is Western Canada's leading Holiday Season Show that brought together under one roof Holiday gifts, fancy foods, personal services, decor ideas, festive seminars and culinary presentations.

Free cheese seminars were conducted by the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Talented local chefs also offered great ideas for holiday cooking. On stage, there were demonstrations on how to create dramatic wreaths for the front door and festive table decorations. Sounds of the holidays were played live by local musicians. Santa, of course, was present, giving Christmas cheer to one and all. ■

“I think that if this could provide some clarity that would allow Asian LNG buyers to move ahead with more joint venture deals - and there’s lots of them out there already.”

The new rules were aimed at giving clarity to investors and providing discretion to the government, Harper said during a rare Monday appearance in question period in the House of Commons.

“We need discretion to make sure that when we are dealing with foreign governments this government has the capacity to protect the best interests of this country and its citizens,” he said.

But discretion just leads to confusion and secrecy, the opposition charged.

They called for the terms of the deals signed by both Petronas and CNOOC to be revealed so Canadians can better examine them and decide for themselves why they deemed to be of net benefit of the country.

Earlier Monday, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said that under the new rules, the CNOOC-Nexen deal may not have been approved.

Such approval “would have been difficult because it would had to have been an exceptional situation,” Oliver said following a speech to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

While Ottawa didn’t feel that the Nexen acquisition “was excessive,” new rules are “now in place,” he added.

That makes no sense, complained NDP Leader Tom Mulcair.

“How are foreign companies supposed to know what those rules are?” Mulcair said. “If it was not fair on Friday, how is it fair today?

“How do you keep making up those rules as you go along?” ■ - With files from Lauren Krugel in Calgary

21 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Immigration

Gypsies take complicated route through Europe, Mexico and US to seek asylum in Canada

BY WILSON RING AND ROB GILLIES THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DERBY LINE, Vt. - A Dodge Caravan with California license plates and a dozen passengers zipped across the border between Vermont and Quebec in October, heading north in a southbound lane unblocked by traffic.

Border agents could only watch as the van disappeared into Quebec. But the vehicle and its occupants didn’t try to disappear.

About 22 miles later, they stopped in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Magog, Quebec, and asked someone to call the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

When the Mounties arrived, the Gypsy occupants of the vehicle applied for political asylum.

“It’s as though they had it programmed into their GPS,” said Magog police spokesman Paul Tear.

That may not be far from the truth.

Canadian authorities announced Wednesday that they had broken up a circuitous but ingenious human smuggling ring that shuttled Romanians from Europe to Mexico and across the U.S. to the famously porous border between the twin communities of Derby Line, Vermont, and Stanstead, Quebec.

Interviews and statistics gathered

by The Associated Press in the weeks before the announcement revealed that the Romanians are largely ethnic Roma people, or Gypsies. Canadian officials say many of the immigrants move to Toronto and Montreal, which have large Roma communities.

“Quite frankly, we really haven’t seen anything like this in our immigration system before,” Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said at a news conference Wednesday in Stanstead.

The Roma are descendants of nomads who moved out of what is now India 800 years ago. They speak a distinct language, a variation of Hindi. They have faced centuries of oppression in Europe that many advocates - and some countries, like Canada - say continues today. They have been forcibly resettled through the ages and were imprisoned and executed in concentration camps during World War II.

A 2004 agreement between the U.S. and Canada in how the two countries deal with asylum seekers is driving the latest migration, experts told the AP. If the Romanians were to present themselves at a Canadian border post, they would be refused entry and told to seek asylum in the United States, which has more difficult requirements and where asylum seekers are not eligible for welfare benefits.

Romanians seeking to enter the U.S. or Canada need pre-approved visas. They do not need visas to enter Mexico.

Once in Canada, the asylum seekers are freed in most cases from detention while their asylum claims are pending, a process that can take years. At the same time, they are eligible to receive public assistance benefits.

The appeal of the border crossing between Derby Line and Stanstead, as opposed to other points along the thousands-mile-long border with Canada, is apparent.

The two towns are separate only in name and country - otherwise, they are essentially one community.

The border runs through yards and buildings. Until recently, people could freely walk across quiet residential streets to visit neighbours in another country.

Since Sept. 11, many of those streets have been blocked off and people required to pass through the border posts before visiting the other country. It’s not entirely clear how Derby Line and Stanstead became the focus for Gypsies, but until repeated crossings like the one in October led the Canadians to beef up security on their side, agents didn’t have the resources available to their American counterparts.

In 2010, 85 people crossed the border illegally at Stanstead, according to statistics from the Canada Border Services Agency. In 2011, that number rose to 168, and so far this year, it is 260.

Gina Csanyi-Robah, the executive director of the Roma Community Center in Toronto, said before Wednesday’s announcement that she

was aware of the border crossings between Vermont and Quebec only because of media inquiries. She doubted it was an organized smuggling system.

“This community works by word of mouth. So if you have one family going and finding it safe to claim asylum, you can guarantee there will be 10 families behind them, the relatives, the friends.

And those 10 families are going to tell another 10 families each,” she said.

For the Roma in Canada, life is less oppressive than elsewhere, but she said she believes the Canadian government is changing its immigration policies with the specific intent of excluding Roma.

Aside from the government policies, Roma have been well received in Canada, she said.

Canadian officials said many arrived indebted to a criminal organization and in some cases engaged in crime to pay back the smuggling debts. Twelve have been charged since arriving in Canada.

Thirty of the irregular arrivals have been arrested under newly enacted immigration laws that allow for the mandatory detention of those suspected to have arrived in Canada via smugglers, Kenney said.

Kenney declined to identify their ethnicity but said the groups of Romanian nationals illegally crossed into Canada between February and October.

Kenney noted that Canada has one of the most generous immigration systems in the world but said it won’t tolerate those who abuse it or cheat it

to jump the queue.

“We are sending a strong message to those who are thinking of using the services of criminal human smugglers to sneak their way into Canada: Don’t do it,” Kenney said.

Roma communities are known for their insularity, and authorities did not make any asylum seekers available for comment.

The funnel points along the Mexican border have shifted. In 2010, most Romanians were apprehended in the Tucson, Arizona, sector; in 2011, it was split between Tucson and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. In 2012, the Imperial Valley of Southern California became the favourite crossing site, with 509 Romanian apprehensions there so far this year.

Statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that 384 Romanians were apprehended along the Mexican border in fiscal year 2010, 575 in 2011 and 901 in 2012.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have noticed the spike.

The agents apprehending them know they are dealing with Gypsies, said Lauren Mack, ICE San Diego spokesman. And they are aware the Romanians are headed to Canada.

“We have noticed and are aware of an increase in the number of Roma who are being smuggled into the United States and are concerned about it,” she said.

In the October crossing in Stanstead, Nicholas Dostie, the tow truck driver hired to take the California van back to the border, said the men, women and children were carried back in a caravan of Mountie cruisers.

Once at the border, officials said, the Gypsies began the process of applying for asylum.

Though it seems like a long detour to go from Europe to Mexico and across a continent to reach asylum, CsanyiRobah said she could understand the pull.

“For people that are desperate for something,” she said, “it’s not a long route for a better life.” ■ --Gillies reported from Toronto.

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Immigration

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 22

Ottawa halts expansion of nominee programs after Manitoba report shows problems

BY MIA RABSON, WINNIPEG FREE PRESS THE CANADIAN PRESS WINNIPEG - The federal government will halt expansion of provincial nominee programs until problems with the plans are addressed, a spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Wednesday.

The move comes after a Winnipeg Free Press report that only a fifth of the successful business-stream applicants to the provincial nominee program in Manitoba in the last decade have fulfilled their obligation to invest $150,000 into a Manitoba business.

“Minister Kenney has been consistent in saying that while the provincial nominee program has generally been a success, there are problems with some uses of the program in some provinces,” said Kenney’s press secretary, Alexis Pavlich.

“These problems have to be addressed before increases in the program will be considered for any province. It is the responsibility of the Government of Manitoba to ensure that the individuals they nominate actually fulfil the province’s own requirements for their program.”

Although Ottawa has jurisdiction for immigration, provincial nominee programs first developed in Manitoba in 1996, allowing provinces to seek immigrants that meet specific provincial needs. Each province can develop its own criteria, which must be approved by Ottawa.

Manitoba’s provincial nominee program has often been held up as a beacon of success, attracting the most immigrants of any provincial program.

The business class of the program requires applicants to invest at least

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$150,000 into a Manitoba company within two years. However, an annual report published by the Manitoba Development Corporation recently reported only one in five successful business-class immigrants has invested in Manitoba since the program began in 2000.

The province said 60 per cent of applicants under the business class gain permanent residency but did not explain how only one in five of them were investing in Manitoba businesses.

It also could not say how many of the applicants end up staying in Manitoba.

Peter Bjornson, Manitoba’s entrepreneurship, training and trade minister, said Wednesday the province believes the program is successful.

He said of the 878 applicants who have been in the province for the required time to establish a business, 521 have successfully started a business - a 60 per cent success rate.

“We know it’s a successful program,” Bjornson said. “We know it will continue to be and we know we can find ways to improve it.”

The 20 per cent number, the province said, reflects all applicants to the business stream, including those that have been declined or withdrawn before immigrating to Manitoba.

Manitoba is not the only province with problems in the provincial nominee program. In 2011, the investor class of the provincial nominee programs in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island all were hit with troubles, including police investigations into fraud and bribery allegations.

In 2009, the federal auditor general, Sheila Fraser, called for the government to review the provincial nominee programs after she found the government was doing little to show whether the program was working. ■

New immigration program targeted at skilled trades to start next year Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the new rules will help address labour shortages.

To qualify, applicants will need to already have a job offer or be prequalified by a province or territory.

They’ll also have to meet language requirements and have a minimum of two years of work experience in a skilled trade.

The program will accept a maximum of 3,000 applications in the first year.

The federal government is working with provinces, territories and labour THE CANADIAN PRESS groups to draw up a list of occupations MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - A new that will be eligible.

It’s expected to include electricians, immigration program aimed at getting skilled workers into Canada faster will welders, heavy equipment mechanics and pipefitters. ■ start on Jan. 2.

My Story

23 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Filipino-Canadian in Focus: Lorie Corcuera

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES Philippine Canadian Inquirer SOME CHILDREN born to Filipinos in Canada are more passionate about the Philippines and have a great unexplainable desire to know it, help it, and make life better for its people - than most of us who have just been there.

Extraordinary Indeed, for some reason, they who have never known the Philippines - some have not even seen it - have something in their genetic memories to want to call it home.

Lorie Corcuera, founder of Spark Creations and Enspire Foundation, is one such extraordinary person.

She recalls, “I will always remember my parents sharing stories about growing up with many siblings and living in small spaces. They often would tell my sisters and I to eat everything on our plate as we are so lucky to have food, water and all the benefits in Canada. I was only 2 years old when I first visited the Philippines so all I knew about our country was through these stories, meeting family that immigrated to Canada, and from pictures.”

Growing up, she felt a strong desire to connect, to get to know her Filipino roots, to belong. She explains, “[We] are so proud because this [the Philippines] is the country where our families are from. We grew up with all the stories and in a way, it is fantasy becoming reality. It is also in our blood so it’s something that we were born with and it feels right to be connected to our country.”

Challenges Lorie moved from Winnipeg to Edmonton at 3 - and eventually to Vancouver when she was 6. She found that she loved the outdoors and loved Vancouver and its mountains. She says, “My happy place is always at the top of the mountain. I just love the feeling of accomplishment, the natural environment surrounding me and the view that takes my breath away. Very few have experienced the view on the top of the mountain because it isn’t easy to get to the peak. I guess I like the fact that it does take some work to finish the climb.

Like life, it is not meant to be an easy climb.”

And it was not. Not for Lorie who was bullied throughout her years in elementary, high school and even experienced racism in university - in Vancouver. But she says,

Enspire’s monthly soup kitchens are booked 3 months in advance with local volunteers and companies who want to team build through community work.

Lorie Corcuera

“[T]hose experiences made me stronger in life and gave me the motivation to do well in school, in my professional work, and for our community. I believe things happen for a reason and I always learn from all experiences good and bad.”

Rising above it all Indeed, Lorie is not one to look at a glass as half empty. She has such a positive energy that rubs off on all people she meets. She is the embodiment of Spark, the name of the company that she has formed with friend and Sparkner (a.k.a. partner in Spark terms), Aileen De La Torre.

“When she [Aileen] presented the vision, I was so excited for what this could be and how we could change the world. Our purpose with Spark Creations is igniting one SPARK at a time! We strongly believe that every person was born for a reason and it is our duty as human beings to rediscover our calling and to help others do the same.

Imagine a world where each and every one of us is living from our true authentic self (loud and proud) with no limiting beliefs and serving our life purpose. Our world would be vibrating at a different level and the energy would be amazing!”

Lorie and Aileen’s Spark Creations is a “soul organization” focused on delivering experiential personal growth training and leadership development and is all about helping people realize their gifts so that they can share it with the world. It delivers “unique experiential and transformational programs that allow individuals to open their hearts to new possibilities and help them rediscover their true purpose in life.”

“We are starting to understand that thoughts are things and our mind and hearts are so powerful. I see an opportunity for

Lorie with her family (left to right) - her younger sister Lynn Tuscano, Lola Ninay (who turns 100 years old on May 1, 2013), mother Lita Gregorio and youngest sister Anne Marie Corcuera.

Lorie with the Enspire team at the blessing of the library they built in Norzagaray, Bulacan, Philippines in 2006.

people to live betters lives...if they want to.

It’s really about creating the space for them to realize their potential and supporting them along the way,” Lorie says.

Rediscovering her true purpose When Lorie went back to the Philippines in 2005 (her first after 29 years) for Enspire Foundation, which she co-founded to help disadvantaged children in the Philippines, she was both impressed and saddened with what she saw - poverty and children mired in it.

She knew what she had to do, and did it.

In her speech during the symposium entitled, “Engaging Diaspora in Development: Innovations in Poverty Reduction and Economic Development,” she reported on the work that Enspire has done in the Philippines - which is, to relocate families from Bagong Silang, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the Philippines, to Bulacan. She said that this was made possible through Pag-aalay ng Puso Foundation, their Philippine partner, and some kind-hearted Canadians (via the

Spark’s first women’s retreat at the Baldwin Lake House in Deer Lake, Burnaby, BC. Spark has had seven retreats since its inception in Nov. 2011 and has ignited over 250 hearts through their programs.

Lorie with her Sparkner and Co-Founder Aileen De La Torre at a Spark event.

Shared Experience program), who built for these families their own houses and a library - making possible for them new lives and new futures.

But she knew her work is not yet done.

Spark “When I started to rediscover who I am as a person, what my core values are and what my life purpose or calling is for the world, I felt a sense of knowing, and whole, and I wanted everyone to feel the same way,” she says.

And this is Lorie’s mission - and her wish. Her message, “It all starts with you.

You are the only one responsible for your life. Only you have the power to design the life you have always dreamed of. Today is always a new day so be grateful for what you have and just be.”

Ignite. All it takes is - in Lorie’s terms one spark. ■ To know more about Lorie’s Spark Creations and Enspire Foundation, please visit www.loriecorcuera.com.

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Canada: Seen and Scenes

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 24

Speaking before the board, officers, memb ers and guests of the Canadian Multicultura l Council (CMC) – Asians in Ontario Annual Asian Food and Cultural Festival on Saturday, November 24, 2012 in Scarborough, Ontario, Senator Tobias Enver ga, Jr. urged the organization to be the leade r in promoting Asian heritage and culture within the Cana dian mosaic. - Office of Sen. T. Enverga, Jr.

Filipino and Canadian guests enjoy the ambia nce at Palabok House, 10525 -51 Ave. Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6H 0K5.

Palabok House offers Filipino and Chinese cuisines in Edmonton, Alberta.

da, December Conference at Shangrila Hotel, Toronto, Cana Philippine Airlines Toronto Launching Press Q. Coo, PAL Country Allan ; Team w Revie ess Busin Lead, ting 1. Back: Raymund Acedera, PAL Marke Promotions al Project, Travel Week; Jess Garcia, PAL Manager, Canada; Michael McCreesh, Speci ; Rodel J. Ramos, Phil-Canadian Group ercial Comm rt, Suppo ting Marke VP Coordinator; Felix J. Cruz, PAL Ito. Front: Eddie rate Communications; Mann Nacario, Atin Inquirer; Joey G. de Guzman, PAL VP Corpo u Head; Tessie Burea to Toron er Inquir an Damasco, Phil-Canadi Lee and Marita Lee, Atin Ito Publishers; Joe Travel Week; and Dina May F. ger, Mana nt opme Devel ess Busin cki, Cusipag, Balita Publisher; Sue Winie Flores, PAL Country Manager, Philippines.

e Medal and receives the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubile Print and Broadcast Journalist Ace Alvarez Mark Adler, MP urable Hono and io) Ontar Seth (Conservative, Citations from the Honourable Senator Asha in Toronto. The Queen 2012 30, ber Novem on held ony cerem l (Conservative, York Centre) during forma and Permanent ed to outstanding 60,000 Canadian citizens Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal is award countrymen, their community, or to fellow their to bution contri cant signifi a Residents of Canada who made Canada over the past 60 years.

At the PICPA Christmas Party held at St. Patric k Church on Main Street. PICPA Vancouver Canada is a non-profit association duly registered and governed under the laws of British Columbia, Canada.

It is an affiliated chapter of Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accou ntants (PICPA) based in Manila, Philippines. PICPA Vancouver Canada was established as a professional and social association working together to make a difference in the lives of Filipino Accountants in Canada.

Canada: Seen and Scenes

25 FRIDAY DECEMBER 07, 2012

Photos by Bert Morelos

25 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

At the 2012 General Membership and Christmas Party of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association of British Columbia (UPAABC) held at the Oakridge Center Auditorium.

At the Victoria Filipino-Canadian Caregivers Association (VFCCA) get-together and Christmas Party.

Poblete Home in Scarboroug The St. Barnabas Parishioners went to the singing Christmas Carols.

h and brought joy

World News

Argentine mom rescues hundreds of sex slaves during long, failed hunt for kidnapped daughter

BY EMILY SCHMALL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LA PLATA, Argentina - Susana Trimarco was a housewife who fussed over her family and paid scant attention to the news until her daughter left for a doctor’s appointment and never came back.

After getting little help from police, Trimarco launched her own investigation into a tip that the 23-year-old was abducted and forced into sex slavery. Soon, Trimarco was visiting brothels seeking clues about her daughter and the search took an additional goal: rescuing sex slaves and helping them start new lives.

What began as a one-woman campaign a decade ago developed into a movement and Trimarco today is a hero to hundreds of women she’s rescued from Argentine prostitution rings. She’s been honoured with the “Women of Courage” award by the U.S. State Department and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on Nov. 28. Sunday night, President Cristina Fernandez gave her a human rights award before hundreds of thousands of people in the Plaza de Mayo.

But years of exploring the decadent criminal underground haven’t led Trimarco to her daughter, Maria de los Angeles “Marita” Veron, who was 23 in 2002 when she disappeared from their hometown in provincial Tucuman, leaving behind her own 3-year-old daughter Micaela.

“I live for this,” the 58-year-old Trimarco told The Associated Press of her ongoing quest. “I have no other life, and the truth is, it is a very sad, very grim life that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”

Her painful journey has now reached a milestone.

Publicity over Trimarco’s efforts prompted Argentine authorities to make a high-profile example of her daughter’s case by putting 13 people on trial for allegedly kidnapping Veron and holding her as a sex slave in a family-run operation of illegal brothels.

Prostitution is not illegal in Argentina, but the exploitation of women for sex is.

A verdict is expected Tuesday after a nearly yearlong trial.

The seven men and six women have pleaded innocent and their lawyers have said there’s no physical proof supporting the charges against them. The alleged ringleaders denied knowing Veron and said that women who work in their brothels do so willingly. Prosecutors have asked for up to 25 years imprisonment for those convicted.

Trimarco was the primary witness during the trial, testifying for six straight days about her search for her daughter.

The road to trial was a long one.

Frustrated by seeming indifference to her daughter’s disappearance, Trimarco began her own probe and found a taxi driver who told of delivering Veron to a brothel where she was beaten and forced into prostitution.

The driver is among the defendants.

With her husband and granddaughter in tow, Trimarco disguised herself as

a recruiter of prostitutes and entered brothel after brothel searching for clues.

She soon found herself immersed in the dangerous and grim world of organized crime, gathering evidence against police, politicians and gangsters.

“For the first time, I really understood what was happening to my daughter,” she said. “I was with my husband and with Micaela, asleep in the backseat of the car because she was still very small and I had no one to leave her with.”

The very first woman Trimarco rescued taught her to be strong, she said.

“It stuck with me forever: She told me not to let them see me cry, because these shameless people who had my daughter would laugh at me, and at my pain,” Trimarco said. “Since then I don’t cry anymore. I’ve made myself strong, and when I feel that a tear might drop, I remember these words and I keep my composure.”

Micaela, now 13, has been by her grandmother’s side throughout, contributing to publicity campaigns against human trafficking and keeping her mother’s memory alive.

More than 150 witnesses testified in the trial, including a dozen former sex slaves who described brutal conditions in the brothels.

Veron may have been kidnapped twice, with the complicity of the very authorities who should have protected her, according to Julio Fernandez, who now runs a Tucuman police department devoted to investigating human trafficking. He testified that witnesses reported seeing Veron at a bus station three days after she initially disappeared, and that a police officer from La Rioja, Domingo Pascual Andrada, delivered her to a brothel there.

Andrada, now among the defendants, denied knowing any of the other defendants, let alone Veron.

Other Tucuman police testified that when they sought permission in 2002 to search La Rioja brothels, a judge made them wait for hours, enabling Veron’s captors to move her.

That version was supported by a woman who had been a prostitute at the brothel: She testified that Veron was moved just before police arrived. The judge, Daniel Moreno, is not on trial. He denied delaying the raid or having anything to do with the defendants.

Some of the former prostitutes said they had seen Veron drugged and haggard. One testified Veron felt trapped and missed her daughter. Another said she spotted Veron with dyed-blonde hair and an infant boy she was forced to conceive in a rape by a ringleader. A third thought Veron had been sold to a brothel in Spain - a lead reported to Interpol.

Trimarco’s campaign to find her daughter led the State Department to provide seed money for a foundation in Veron’s name. To date, it has rescued more than 900 women and girls from sex trafficking. The foundation also provides housing, medical and psychological aid, and it helps victims sue former captors.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 26

US intelligence sees growing world conflict over water, food by 2030 but rising middle class

BY KIMBERLY DOZIER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030, with most people middle class, connected by technology, protected by advanced health care and the United States and China perhaps co-operating to lead the way.

That’s the best-case scenario in a report, Global Trends 2030, released Monday by the U.S. government’s National Intelligence Council.

In the worst-case scenario, the rising population leads to conflict over water and food, especially in the Mideast and Africa, and the instability contributes to global economic collapse.

The study is the intelligence community’s analysis of where current trends will take the world in the next 15 to 20 years, intended to help policymakers plan for the best and worst possible futures.

One bright spot for the U.S. is energy independence. “With shale gas, the U.S. will have sufficient natural gas to meet domestic needs and generate potential global exports for decades to come,” the report said.

Among the major trends: the rise of a global middle class that is better educated, connected via technology and healthier due to advances in medicine. Power will no longer reside with one or two key nations but be spread across networks and coalitions of countries.

In countries with declining birth rates and an aging population like the U.S., economic growth may slow. Sixty per cent of the world’s population will live in cities.

Food, water and energy will be more scarce. “Nearly half of the world’s population will live in areas experiencing severe water stress,” the report said. Africa Argentina outlawed human trafficking in 2008, thanks in large part to the foundation’s work. A new force dedicated to combating human trafficking has liberated nearly 3,000 more victims in two years, said Security Minister Nilda Garre, who wrote a newspaper commentary saying the trial’s verdict should set an example.

Whatever the verdict, Trimarco’s lawyer, Carlos Garmendia, says the case has already made a difference.

and the Middle East will be most at risk of food and water shortages, with China and India also vulnerable.

Among the anticipated crises is the worry of global economic collapse, fighting among nations that don’t adapt rapidly enough and the possible spillover of instability in the Mideast and South Asia to the rest of the world.

Technology is seen as a potential saviour to head off some of this conflict, boosting economic productivity to keep pockets filled despite rising population, rapid growth of cities and climate change.

The report outlines several “Potential Worlds” for 2030.

Under the heading “Stalled Engines”, otherwise known as the “most plausible worst-case scenario, the risks of interstate conflict increase,” the report said. “The U.S. draws inward and globalization stalls.”

In the most plausible best-case outcome, called “Fusion,” the report said, “China and the U.S. collaborate on a range of issues, leading to broader global co-operation.”

The report warns of the mostly catastrophic effect of possible “Black Swans,” extraordinary events that can change the course of history. These include a severe pandemic that could kill millions in a matter of months and more rapid climate change that could make it hard to feed the world’s population.

Two positive events are also listed, including “a democratic China or a reformed Iran,” which could bring more global stability. ■ --On the web: www.dni.gov/nic/ globaltrends Dozier can be followed on Twitter (at) kimberlydozier.

“Human trafficking was an invisible problem until the Marita (Veron) case,” Garmendia said. “The case has put it on the national agenda.”

But Trimarco wants more. “I had hoped they would break down and say what they’d done with Marita,” she said.

“I feel here in my breast that she is alive and I’m not going to stop until I find her,” Trimarco said. “If she’s no longer in this world, I want her body.” ■

27 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Rock Star (CAT)titude NOWADAYS, everyone wants to have “them moves like Jagger”, thanks to the very popular and ridiculously catchy popsong written in homage to the quintessential rock star. There is, however, another Jagger in the spotlight of late, and he is definitely the cat’s meow. Literally. And unlike Mick, whose coveted moves are carried out on two leather-clad skinny legs, this star walks on all four fur-lined svelte paws.

Keeping true to his name-sake’s rock star status, Jagger, an African Serval cat belonging to a family in Regina, has had a recent runin with local authorities. Saskatchewan wildlife laws have declared him potentially dangerous to his community (the hazards of being “wild”, you might say; and yes, that pun was very much intended), and are now deciding on whether the family will get to keep their beloved pet for the long-term.

“The (Not So) Wild Life of Jagger” Jagger the cat has a decidedly far-less notorious but perhaps equally remarkable biographic account as the recently released tell-all about his Stones counterpart.

Feline Jagger’s lineage and heritage are definitely something to roar about.

Top US-based Serval breeder, John K. Babb, said that in his opinion, “the Serval is the “top of the line” when it comes to choosing between the exotic cats that are commonly kept in captivity.

They are only a little more than twice the size of a common domestic breed, which makes their keeping a practical matter.

Yet one couldn’t ask for a more unusual and exotic-looking pet. They are much more adaptable to new environments and people than many of the other exotic felines and breed very well in captivity.”

Babb however, also said that potential owners should do their research and “take in as much information as they can on the activities of the African Serval Cat in the wild. This can only help one’s understanding of their instinctual behaviors, thus enhancing the relationship between the cat and human when put in the close relationship we refer to as “Pet” (Serval) and “Owner” (human).

Servals are known to leap up to 12feet in the air, playfully land a 40-pound

pounce on their unsuspecting human’s belly, scratch up or gnaw furniture, and break or knock things down. Very much like rock stars in a hotel suite.

These are facts that Kim Shaheen and his family were well-aware of, having thoroughly done their homework before obtaining Jagger from a breeder in BC about 8 months ago. The cat has since endeared itself greatly to Kim and his wife Pat. Shaheen insists that Jagger is far from wild, further stating that the cat has been de-clawed and neutered, and registered with the City of Regina. He also tried to obtain a permit from the province, but Serval ownership seems to fall in a gray area , with reference to the rules on keeping exotic animals for pets.

Where the wild things are Exotic Serval cats hail from the south of the African Sahara, where they are considered wild but highly tameable animals. Among the largest of the smaller-breed wild cats, Servals measure 23 to 36 inches in headbody length, with a relatively short tail (7.9 to 15 inches), and a shoulder height of about 21 to 26 inches. They weigh anywhere from 25-45 pounds. Their strong, slender long legs and close-set oval ears add to their regal bearing. Patterns of their pelt vary, but the usual chic combination is bold black spots on tawny fur, with two to four stripes running from the top of the head down the neck and back, ending up in more spots.

These cats, like many cat breeds, can meow and purr, but they are also known to make high-pitched chirping noises, and can also hiss, cackle, growl and grunt. They are extremely playful with each other, and with their human friends. When raised from infancy, Servals can be as tame, loving, and manageable as animals which are generally considered “domesticated”.

In fact, historical accounts show that Servals were part of ancient Egyptian households. Narratives and paintings recount that the breed was used as mouse catchers, as well as to ward-off evil spirits in the night until the rising of Raj, the sun god, each day.

Servals have also been kept as pets in many African households, and other regions throughout the world, with a rise in their domestic integration at the turn of the century.

In captivity, Servals have been recorded to live up to nineteen years, with females

Citizens of Maple Ridge with their Serval cats

PCI File Photo

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

remaining fertile up to 14 years. They are very loyal to their humans, and will make true life-long companions.

“HOW-HOW-HOW” Serval breeders, owners, and enthusiasts are all familiar with the cats’ distinctive, chirp-like call, that can best be described as “HOW-HOW-HOW.” Lately, this seems to be Jagger’s number one hit song. How-how-how will the feline member of the Shaheen family stay on with his humans? Although the Environment Ministry of the province has issued a temporary stay order on their initial instructions for the family to get rid of the cat by the end of November, the long-term decision remains uncertain.

“There’s going to be a review about our specific circumstance,” Shaheen told CBC News.

“And I’m hoping the legislation in general (is reviewed) because I think the ministry was terribly surprised to find out how many Servals and Savannahs (a cross between a domestic and a Serval cat) are already in Saskatchewan.”

The Shaheens have expressed, however, that they are prepared to move to BC, where – in most areas - Servals are legally accepted as pets.

Trouble in Fur-radise?

As Jagger awaits his verdict, there seems to be more trouble brewing in Serval and Savannah Fur-radise.

In related developments, the BC district municipality of Maple Ridge has issued a recent dog bylaw (virtually singling out pitbulls and dogs of that lineage) which has deeper repercussions than meets the eye. Although council claims that the bylaw being pushed is not breed specific and it is mainly about dogs, concerned animal lovers say that this is just not true.

Furthermore, it is more than just a fusion of the previous bylaws. There are new pet bans in this restrictive law that are not being publicized.

Council and the SPCA have banned ownership of Savannah cats, Serval cats, stick bugs and centipedes, sparking criticism from animal lovers and activists in the area.

One cool cat Already, concerned parties are speaking up and doing what they they can to raise awareness on the situation of Servals and Savannahs.

As for the Shaheens, they have received great support from people across Western Canada.

Jagger seems to be holding his own, staying cool throughout the frenzy.

When asked how the cat reacted to the controversy surrounding his tenure and status, Shaheen said that Jagger just “yawned and rolled over,” then went to sleep on a bed in an upstairs room. Too many wild nights catching up with him, perhaps. ■

Lifestyle

BY BERT QUIBUYEN Making your home energy efficient is not difficult. It’s just a matter of applying energy saving measures and changes in lifestyle.

And the result is money saved plus a more comfortable living environment.

The biggest user of energy in your home is space heating. The bigger the space, the more energy is used. In Metro Vancouver, most homes are heated with either natural gas or electricity, and some older homes with oil or propane. In the past natural gas was 40% lower than electricity but now natural gas is slightly higher. Electricity is now the fuel of choice for heating.

Homes on natural gas have either forced warm air systems (gas furnace) or hydronic radiant systems. Both are controlled by a device called thermostat. Forced warm air systems have only one thermostat, which ideally should be in the center of the main floor. Central heating has a disadvantage: some areas of the home will be warm and cozy and some areas will be cold.

In a hydronic system the home is divided into zones and each zone has its own thermostat. This allows for each zone to be separately controlled.

Turning down thermostats in areas not occupied will reduce your heating bill. Instead of heating the whole house, you’re only heating specific areas that you’re using. Since thermostats are your heating controls, you can save on heating costs by installing electronic programmable thermostats. The normal comfortable setting is 20-21 C when a home is occupied. At night when sleeping, 18 C is OK, and when you’re off to work setting it back further to 14-16 C is recommended. Programmable thermostats will allow you to program your heating system at specific times of the day and therefore save you money because you don’t heat your home to 21 C the whole day.

Homes that are electrically heated can come in many types: forced warm air system (electric furnace), hydronic radiant system, radiant ceiling panels, radiant wall panels, infra-red heating units, heat pumps, portable box heaters, and simple baseboards. Among all these, the heat pump is the most energy efficient because it does not use electricity to generate heat. Heat is derived either from the ground (geothermal or ground source heat pump), water, or air. The electricity used is only for the pumps. An added benefit to the heat pump is air conditioning. In the reverse cycle, the heat pump becomes an air conditioner. A heat pump can also be added as a retrofit to existing forced air systems. It’s just a matter of removing the old furnace and replacing it with the heat pump, using the same ductwork - a very easy installation. If you are considering a heat pump, check with your contractor for government rebates. For supplementary heating, portable electric box heaters are popular.

These are simple plug in units that can be placed anywhere there’s an electric outlet. They range in wattage from 500 watts to 1500 watts. Do not be deceived by marketing gimmicks like ceramic heaters, oil-filled heaters, etc. that add to the cost of the units. They’re all electric heaters. What’s

The Energy-efficient Home

important is the wattage, not the price. A 1500 watt unit costing $15 will give out the same heat as a 1500 watt unit costing $75. I saved you $60 already. Be careful where you plug the portable heater. A 15 amp circuit will have a maximum usable wattage of 1800 watts. If your heater is rated at 1500 watts, the circuit can only accommodate another 300 watts before tripping the circuit breakers or fuses. Do not overload your circuit.

Your home’s building envelop affects your heating bill significantly. The walls, windows, roof, and foundation make up the building envelop. To save energy you must keep the heat in and insulation is one way of doing that.

Walls have to be properly insulated. Insulation is rated in R value - the higher the R value, the better in keeping heat in. Check your wall insulation and if it has settled or deteriorated, you should add more. You don’t need to tear down walls to check insulation - just unscrew a couple of electrical outlets on outside walls and look inside the hole. Warm air rises and therefore ceiling insulation is very important.

R40 is ideal for ceiling insulation. Check the condition of your insulation by going up into the attic. For older homes it’s recommended to add more insulation. You cannot have too much.

The greatest heat loss in homes is through the windows. The more windows you have, the more heat loss and therefore more energy used.

Replace your windows with energy-efficient double glazed windows if they are single glazed. One way to reduce heat loss through the windows is the use of thick drapes or curtains, especially at night. However, when the sun is out and shining through your windows, open the curtains to let sunshine in - this is solar gain and it helps heat your home. Skylights are notorious for heat loss because they’re up in the ceiling where warm air converges. One way to reduce heat loss where there are skylights is by installing a ceiling fan which directs warm air down.

Moisture is also a problem in some homes.

This can be seen on windows in the form of condensation. When warm moisture-laden air reaches a cold surface, it becomes condensation.

Things that cause high moisture are people, plants, bathing and showering, washing, cooking,

and inadequate ventilation. Any water usage will add to moisture inside the home. Indoor plants contribute to excessive moisture. The solution is to extract this moisture-laden air to the outside and there are several ways of doing that. The most energy efficient way is to install a heat recovery ventilation system (HRV). This system is controlled by a dehumidistat set to a desired humidity level, usually between 40- 60% relative humidity. When the humidity goes over the setting, the HRV system is activated, and the air being extracted warms the fresh cold air coming in. Another less expensive way is to install exhaust fans that are controlled by dehumidistats. If you have a kitchen exhaust fan vented to the outside, it can also be used to extract moisture by turning it on for several minutes. To check the effectiveness of your kitchen exhaust fan, place a tissue paper on the fan grill and then turn on the fan. The tissue paper should not fall off. The same can be done to bathroom fans. A quick fix solution to get rid of high moisture is simply crack windows (open a little bit) at opposite ends of the house.

Condensation, if left uncontrolled, can cause serious damage to your home and promote the growth of molds.

The other side of high moisture is dryness or no moisture. This is common in electrically heated homes that have no air circulation. The solution to this is cracking a window, using a humidifier, or simply having a water-filled basin in the room.

Water evaporation will add moisture to the room.

The second biggest user of energy in your home is water heating. Most water heaters in Metro Vancouver are either natural gas fired or electric. If your water heater tank is located in a cold unheated basement, wrap it with a water heater blanket to reduce stand by heat losses.

The pipes coming in and out of the water heater should also be wrapped with pipe insulation.

Lifestyle is a major factor in hot water usage.

Take shorter showers, use cold water detergents for your laundry, install water saving low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators - all of these will reduce hot water usage. An energy efficient water heating system that is not so popular in Canada but widely used in Europe is the on demand tankless water heater. It is energy efficient because there is no 40 or 60 gallon tank to be heated. Water is heated only when needed, and therefore no standby heat losses.

Lighting accounts for 10% of your energy bill. On a $2,000 a year energy bill, this is significant. If you count all the lights in your home, you’ll be surprised at how many you have. In areas where you use lights for extended periods, compact fluorescent lights are highly recommended. CFLs reduce energy consumption by 75%, and they lasts from 7,000 to 10,000 hours. And always remember to turn lights off when not needed. A new type of home lighting came out recently - LED lights (light-emitting diodes). LEDs are more energy

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 28 efficient than CFLs and are also environmentally friendly because they do not contain mercury.

However, since they’re still new on the market, they’re quite pricey and therefore not as cost effective as CFLs. Modern appliances in Canada carry energuide stickers showing the average consumption of the appliance in kWh. A lower kWh rating means lower energy consumption. There are three types of refrigerators common in homes: top freezer type, which is the most energy efficient; bottom freezer type; and the side freezer type (two-door side by side), which is the least energy efficient.

Convection ovens are energy efficient because they speed up the cooking process as well as cook the food more evenly. Use the small toaster ovens when baking or roasting small items. You don’t need the big oven when you only have a fish or a small chicken to cook. A microwave oven is the most energy efficient cooking appliance - use it whenever you could. And for your laundry, the frontloading washing machines are energy efficient and also gentler on your clothes as they have no agitators.

How to calculate your electricity consumption. BC Hydro’s residential rates are now based on a two-tiered system, i.e. the more power consumed, the higher the rate. However, for our purposes, we will use $0.06/kWh. The formula: watts/1000 x hours x $0.06 = operating cost If watts is not available on the unit, take the amps and multiply by the voltage to get watts If calculating for a unit with an electric motor, like a lawnmower, take the horsepower rating.

1 hp = 746 watts, however, allowing for efficiency losses, we will use 1 hp = 1000 watts Protecting electric equipment: Whenever there is a power outage, UNPLUG all sensitive electric equipment like computers and related peripherals, TV sets, stereo equipment.

Just leave one light bulb on. When power is restored, there is an initial power surge that could potentially damage your equipment. Wait for a few minutes to allow power to stabilize before plugging back your equipment. The light bulb left on is just to let you know that power is back.

Safety in the home: Install carbon monoxide detectors if your home is natural gas heated.

Check periodically to ensure the detector is functioning properly. It is also wise to install smoke detectors. DO NOT overload electric circuits. Frequent resetting of circuit breakers could make them fail. A 15-amp circuit can accommodate 1800 watts. Exceeding that will trip the circuit breaker. To figure out the load, multiply amperage by the voltage. The utilization voltage for residential customers is 120/240 at 60 hertz. For your home outlets, apply 120 volts.

If you have any questions on Power Smart, energy efficiency, electricity, or BC Hydro, contact me by email at: bananaking69@yahoo.com Be Power Smart. Save energy, save money.

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29 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Lifestyle

Your tummy fat can make you look young again

BY CHECHE V. MORAL Philippine Daily Inquirer FAT STEM cell repair therapy may be the latest solution to aging, hair loss, skin rejuvenation and even improving general health and sexual function BELIEVE IT: That stubborn fat that has clung to your tummy like a barnacle on a crustacean’s shell?

It has a purpose. And it’s not to keep you warm on a frigid winter day.

A clinic in the country has just introduced autologous fat stem cell therapy, or fat stem cell repair therapy (FSCR), a procedure that its proponents claim to have not only aesthetic, but also medical and wellness benefits. The treatment makes use of your own tummy fat.

FSCR is for anti-aging and skin rejuvenation, hair loss, and improved general health and even sexual function, according to Dr. Jung Kwang Seup, a South KoreanBrazilian plastic surgeon with a private practice in Seoul.

The treatment is also aimed at patients with diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as those with hematological, liver and immune disorders, said Dr. Jung, who was in town as a guest of Dr. Aivee Aguilar-Teo and Dr. Z Teo of The Skin Laser and Aesthetic Center ( www. aiveeaguilarteo.com; tel. nos. 4033245, 5562533, 8280197, 4031982).

Dr. Jung has been performing FSCR for eight years.

FSCR, he said, may also benefit patients with autism.

The first step is the removal of fat from a patient’s stomach through a mini lipo or lipo aspiration. The harvested fat is processed in a machine called an automatic stem cell isolation system. The fresh stem cell is then injected into the patient.

The fresh stem cell is intended to stimulate the patient’s body into producing new, healthy cells, to repair and rejuvenate the body’s tissues. The procedure takes two to three hours on an outpatient basis.

No risk for rejection Fresh adult stem cells are typically harvested from one’s bone marrow, umbilical cord, blood or fat, Dr. Jung explained. Since it’s harvested from and injected into the same patient, there are no risks of rejection, unlike in the popular sheep stem cell therapy. It also doesn’t carry ethical issues, unlike the controversial embryonic stem cells, he stressed.

“We prefer fat because it’s easy to isolate from the body, and there’s a lot of stem cells in the fat,” said Dr. Aguilar-Teo, a dermatologist whose clinic pioneered the treatment here about six months ago.

The umbilical cord typically produces less stem cell, and bone marrow tends to take more time to process and is, therefore, more expensive.

FSCR has been available abroad for at least eight years now, but it was only recently that everything has become automated: A state-of-the-art machine has been developed to ensure that the process is sterile, to avoid risk of contamination. If everything is done in the clinic, there’s also less risk of damaging the stem cells, which could happen if they are cultured in a lab and transported to and from the clinic.

In a recent demo at Dr. Aguilar-Teo’s clinic, a middle-aged female patient was put under twilight sedation in preparation for lipo aspiration. A minimum of 50 cc of fat is needed in one treatment. The amount is determined by the patient’s condition, and how much fat he or she has on his or her tummy or inner thigh, said Dr. Aguilar-Teo. The quality of stem cell differs with every person.

Age, state of health and lifestyle are key factors, said the dermatologist. (In other countries, patients are sometimes injected with the stem cell of their close blood kin when the patient, for instance, is too sick or too old.)

After one-and-a-half hours, the isolated stem cells—a syringe-full of pale-pink translucent liquid, derived from 200 cc of opaque, red-orange fat—were injected on the patient’s face and butt to achieve aesthetic goals. It was also injected in her joints—the patient was showing early signs of osteoarthritis, said Dr. Aguilar-Teo. In some cases, a patient may request to have the stem cells injected in their genitalia for renewed sexual vigor.

Repurposing fat “No matter where you inject it, it will spread all over the body,” Dr. Aguilar-Teo added. “It becomes part of the body, to stimulate the body to produce cells.”

In her clinic, they have performed full liposuction and FSCR at the same time on some patients, repurposing the fat removed from the patients’ bodies.

Dr. Aguilar-Teo’s husband, Dr. Z Teo, who was suffering from chronic knee pain that made him walk with a limp and unable to do any sport, underwent FSCR a year ago.

“If you’ve dealt with crippling pain every day, I can’t put into words how amazing the results were,” said the Singaporean doctor. “Since then, I’ve been playing tennis twice a week for two hours each time. And I’m running again. You see, if you take painkillers, and you ice and compress, you’re just getting rid of the symptoms; the problem is still there.

The cartilage is finished. The point is to regrow your cartilage.”

As the person ages, the wear and tear on the body will require the patient to return for treatment “as soon as the symptoms come back,” said Dr. Teo. The frequency of treatment will depend on the patient’s need. “I haven’t had to do it in a year,” he said.

Dr. Aguilar-Teo clarified that “stem cell is not a cure and we don’t claim it to be a cure for any diseases…

There’s no scientific proof, but we hope that it can also help chronic conditions. We can’t guarantee, but we can’t also discount that it could help.”

She stressed, “Stem cell is meant to repair. It aims to wake up latent cells to produce new ones. It’s meant to retard the aging process.”

A surgeon and an anesthesiologist are usually present during an FSCR procedure. Depending on the patient’s case, a dermatologist, an orthopedist or even a pediatrician may also be present.

There’s no age limit as to who may undergo FSCR, for as long as one has fat—on their tummy and in their bank account.

Dr. Aguilar-Teo declined to discuss the treatment’s cost, but based on rates for similar treatments abroad, good health and the fountain of youth certainly don’t come cheap.

“The good thing is that, you have use for your fat,” she said with a laugh. “So you shouldn’t feel bad.” ■

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Lifestyle

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 30

How to drink your whisky—especially if it’s the Scottish kind One shouldn’t rush the experience, says Darren Hosie of Pernod Ricard, makers of the famous Glenlivet malt

BY JOVIC YEE Philippine Daily Inquirer IN THE HIGHLANDS of Scotland, one region has been known to produce the best whisky in the world since the early 1800s.

The Glenlivet region has been home to the whisky and distillery of the same name.

As the first legal distillery in that part of Scotland, Glenlivet was much-admired, such that many distilleries went to great lengths to reproduce the same whisky product and even add the word Glenlivet after their own distillery’s name.

But a legal ruling in 1884 said that only the original single malt could be named “The Glenlivet.”

While still leading the whisky industry for more than 200 years, Glenlivet acknowledges that there has been a change in how whisky, particularly single malt, is now consumed.

Pernod Ricard regional mentoring manager for Asia Pacific Darren Hosie attributes this mostly to consumer behavior.

“In the past, whisky would have been consumed straight from the pot, and that could vary quite dramatically in quality and flavor,” Hosie said. “But we are very fortunate to live in a time where whiskies are of the highest quality and consistency,

A whisky drinker himself, Hosie said that in his travels he had seen many ways by which whisky is enjoyed. Drinking whisky is a matter of preference, he noted.

He himself enjoys his whisky in two ways—on the rocks or with water.

Whenever he’s in Asia where it’s usually hot and humid, Hosie prefers to have his whisky with a few cubes of ice. But when he’s at home, he just adds some water to his whisky and lets the water “open up the whisky and gently release the lovely, soft and complex aromas.” and benefit from a very careful and selective maturation process.”

Something new Nowadays, he said, drinkers are always looking for something new and of high quality.

“If they enjoy The Glenlivet 12 years old, they may want to try The Glenlivet 15 years old French Oak Reserve. We [at Glenlivet] need to adapt and offer something new and high-quality to our fans. One of the great things about malt whisky drinkers is that they love to go on a journey of flavors, and single malts offer this.”

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Aged to perfection Although he does not discourage mixing whisky with other liquors, he said it should complement the whisky and not hide the flavors that were aged to perfection.

“A mixed drink that I enjoy, especially on hot days, is a high-ball glass with

some ice and a measure of Chivas Regal 12 years, topped with ginger ale and garnished with a slice of lime,” Hosie said.

Traditionally, whisky has been thought of as a drink that you can have before and after dinner. Nowadays, Hosie said, any time is the best time to enjoy whisky.

“The complexity of the flavors in The Glenlivet makes it an ideal whisky for enjoying with food.”

First-time whisky drinkers shouldn’t rush the experience, he said. “It is important to remember when approaching whisky for the first time that the flavors and aromas about to be experienced have taken many years to create and are very complex.”

Add a few drops of water, he said, and have a nose and taste. Then, add a few more drops until one hits the perfect whisky spot—then drink away. ■

Brazilian wax–now as easy as having a manicure

BY IRENE C. PEREZ Philippine Daily Inquirer CONSERVATIVE Filipino women (and men!) used to be shy about getting hair removed from their nether regions, but with the number of LayBare salons nationwide, many have become aware that it is nothing to be ashamed of.

The Hilario sisters put up in 2006 the first LayBare branch in an off-the-road building on Filmore St., Makati City.

Fiona and Monique thought of the idea after waiting in line for their turn in another salon.

“At that time, only one technician was assigned to wax; the others were busy with hair and nail care,” Monique says.

“We wanted an establishment focused just on waxing.”

LayBare eventually became a family beauty business: Fiona is in charge of human resources, Monique does training and marketing, and their brother Paolo takes care of business development and information management.

There are now over 50 branches nationwide, mostly in malls, with one franchise in the US. Affordability is a big come-on: underarm waxing is P150, Brazilian is P450, full-body waxing is P1,500 (price is slightly higher for men).

Clients are mostly women from 18-35, but girls as young as nine go for waxing (arms, underarms). There are also some seniors. Summer is the busiest season since a lot are getting bikini-ready. Walkins are welcome, but it’s best to call for an appointment.

Cold vs hot wax LayBare pioneered the use of cold wax instead of the traditional hot wax, which

may burn the skin. The cold wax jelly is made of natural materials—sugar, honey and calamansi. It is applied on the skin in small patches and peeled off to remove the hair, without the use of cloth strips.

Cold wax, Monique explains, promotes skin whitening and exfoliation. It is also gentle to use on sensitive spots such as the underarms and bikini area. A houseformulated soothing cream is applied afterward to prevent ingrown hair, which can be terribly itchy.

For those who are still scared of waxing, Monique offers tips: “Keep skin clean and don’t apply lotion before waxing. Pop a pain reliever 30 minutes earlier if you have a really low threshold for pain. Keep the area dry for six hours after hair removal. Exfoliate to prevent ingrown hair.”

Paolo says opening the California franchise helped in developing the local branches. Waxers are required to wear gloves, and wax is placed in small covered cups to prevent double-dipping.

All materials are also sterilized in between use.

Glow party Loyal LayBare clients are given a Premiere Loyalty Card with an accumulated P5,000 receipt. This entitles cardholders to a 10-percent discount on succeeding treatments. Paolo says there are around 5,000 cardholders to date.

As a way of giving back, the salon recently invited cardholders to a LayBare Glow party at the Palladium club in New World Hotel, Makati City.

DJ Callum David played the music.

Partygoers came in urban chic outfits with a touch of neon. ■ Visit www.lay-bare.com.

31 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Journey Home to Christmas with Jose Mari Chan

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

IF THE GHOST of Christmas Past were ever to haunt at random, I know someone on whom he would have nothing. This man would be downright immune to anything the ghost could throw his way, for he has lived every Christmas to the fullest, in the season’s truest spirit. And if his Christmases are indicators of his life, then we know he – in all probability –carries the spirit with him all year round.

He goes by the name of Jose Mari Chan, though we could very possibly call him “Mr. Christmas”.

A brightly-lit path of Christmases past Jose Mari Chan is one of Asia’s most prominent balladeers. He has been on the scene since 1966, having started out as host and singer of the TV show “9 Teeners”. Listeners and viewers were intrigued by this sugar plantation scion (from the southern province of Iloilo in the Philippines), with a graduate degree in AB-Economics (from the Ateneo de Manila University), and a smooth, soothing, lyrical voice (from the good Lord up above).

His first single, Afterglow, was released in 1967, while his first full-length album, Deep in My Heart, was released in 1969.

In 1973, his song Can We Just Stop and Talk A While made it to the finals of the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, at which Mr. Chan represented the Philippines.

The year 1975 saw his move to the United States for business reasons, and he remained there for 11 years. He returned to the Philippines and made his comeback on the music scene in 1986, with the release of the album A Golden Change.

This was followed by the album Constant Change in 1989.

The album was named “Album of the Year” by the AWIT Awards, the country’s highest awards-giving body for music, and reached Diamond Record status in terms of sales.

Though highly-acclaimed for many of his musical masterpieces, it seems that when it comes to Christmas, no one does it like Mr. Chan. His first Christmas album, Christmas in Our Hearts, was released in 1990 and achieved Triple Platinum status within the same year. The album also earned the Double Diamond Record Award.

To this day, Christmas doesn’t seem complete without songs from the album being played on the airwaves, at shopping malls, and in homes. Mr. Chan has become a seemingly integral part of the Filipino Christmas, as well as in other countries across Asia.

That is probably because Christmas is a seemingly integral part of Mr. Chan.

“Growing up in Iloilo, I had so many memorable Christmases as a child, thanks to my parents and my maternal grandmother who made each Christmas simple and yet so meaningful. In my album Thank You, Love released some years ago, I have a song called “Christmas Past” which expresses my fond memories of those early years,” recalls Mr. Chan.

He has since gone on to release other award-winning albums, such as A Heart’s Journey in 2001 and The Manhattan Connection: The Songs of Jose Mari Chan in 2011.

But listeners, music and Christmas-lovers alike have waited with baited breath for Mr. Chan to release yet another Christmas gem, and after 22 years, it is finally here.

When asked why the long wait, Mr. Chan said that “It’s not easy to come up with an entire album of original Christmas songs, that’s why most artists only have one Christmas record in their career. The songs in Going Home to Christmas were written over these past several years. Some as early as 18 years ago, others were composed just in the last two years.”

He adds that “Pop music style goes through changes from one era to another, but not Christmas songs. That genre has remained unchanged and since there are very few new material that’s released, it was challenging to create new songs that essentially express the same joy, the same spirit and with the same message.”

But as with all challenges, he faced this one with a stalwart determination: he was bent on releasing a second Christmas album.

“When you love what you’re doing, the thought of retiring or giving up seldom comes, if ever. Music is a passion and you face up to challenges with your chin up,” he says. He adds that through it all, his wife, Mary Ann, has been his number ONE supporter and major inspiration. And now, his children and grandchildren are his immeasurable sources of joy, as well.

“Going Home to Christmas” The title of Mr. Chan’s much-awaited new album, Going Home to Christmas, perhaps best reveals the meaning of the season in the artist’s heart: Family and a sense of home.

“Whenever I sing my Christmas songs in concerts abroad, I notice a teary-eyed audience because they miss HOME. So the title song of my CD is dedicated to our modern heroes :our kababayans who live and work out of the country, far from their loved ones,” reveals Mr. Chan.

This latest album is composed of 22 heart-felt tracks, each written to bring cheer to the Yuletide season. And no, the number of tracks is not coincidental (22 years in the making, and 22 tracks). I had the privilege of being a fly on the wall at some of Mr. Chan’s recording sessions (incidentally, the album was engineered, mixed and mastered by, a Filipino-Canadian sound engineer currently based in Manila), and I must say how very much of a perfectionist he is. Nothing is coincidental; every piece is well thought out, laid out, and then carefully unraveled for us by Mr. Chan. Each song written and sung reveals a part of the heart of Christmas, and revels in the spirit of Christmas.

“In the new album, I have a song for everyone,” says Mr. Chan.

To showcase the value of family, he sings with four of his children on the track “Christmas Moments”, giving listeners a glimpse into some of the Chans’ fondest Christmas memories, capturing the essence of Christmas: the spirit of giving. On the track “Song of the Firefly”, he is joined by his 10-year old granddaughter Ramona, whose clear and lyrical voice is enough to bring a nostalgic tear of joy to one’s eye.

“A Christmas Song for You” is for couples who now find themselves in empty nests, with their children having grownup and moved on with their individual lives. Those in love, on the other hand, will connect with “Starlight”, sung by Noelle Cassandra, and “Anyway”, sung by Hanna Flores.

For lovers of instrumental pieces, there are 2 tracks performed by an American Orchestra in New York arranged by Yaron Gershovsky, a musical arranger for New York jazz band,

Manhattan Transfer. Those looking for a touch of the more traditional, on the other hand, will surely enjoy the praise song “Come Let Us Adore Him” which Mr. Chan adapted from Intermezzo from the Opera Cavaleria Rusticana of Mascagni.

Of course, there are also 2 tracks that capture the Pinoy flavor, “Pagdating ng Pasko” (lyrics by Jimmy Santiago, Mr. Chan’s godson) and “Pinoy na Krismas” (performed by The Company, with lyrics by Ogie Alcasid).

A joyful, meaningful Christmas present Yes, the play on words on words is intended. This season, Mr. Chan brings the joys of Christmas to his kababayans in Canada by way of a special concert entitled CHRISTMAS in our HEARTS! Mr. Chan is set to perform his third Canadian concert on Sunday, December 16, 2012, 7PM at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster, BC. There will be a Pre-Show Reception on December 15 at the Pondok Indonesian Restaurant from 4PM-7PM, an event which will introduce the cast of “Christmas in our Hearts”, which includes The Rosario Strings, and string players of the New Westminster Symphony orchestra.

Mr. Chan says that concert-goers can expect him to sing his hit songs from the past 45 years, and of course, his Christmas songs from both his past and present albums.

Hope for Christmas future What can we expect of Mr. Chan in Christmases to come?

Certainly more love, more of the spirit of giving, more of the value for family and that place called “home”.

Expounding on the spirit of giving, he speaks of people, performing random and not-so-random acts of kindness and muses, “There are ANGELS all around us every day of our lives.

They help bring the Spirit of Christmas into our hearts...may it remain there always. Not just on Christmas Day. ■

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Entertainment

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 32

BY JILL LAWLESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LONDON - ``Viva Forever’’? Time will tell.

Girl Power lit up London’s West End on Tuesday at the premiere of the new Spice Girls musical - but audiences and critics will decide whether it has the energy to become a hit.

The five members of the 1990s girl group, who all attended the show, were confident as they took the stage alongside the cast for a curtain call at London’s Piccadilly Theatre. ``It was ... great,’’ said Melanie Brown, also known as brassy band member Scary Spice. She inserted an emphatic expletive before ``great.’’

Added band mate Geri ``Ginger Spice’’ Halliwell: ``That’s why we’re the Spice Girls.’’

For a few hours Tuesday, it was as if the 1990s were back, as the Spice Girls and their fans attended the show, a tale of female friendship and motherdaughter bonds set to songs including ``Wannabe,’’ ‘’Spice Up Your Life`` and the title track.

The show, written by comedian Jennifer Saunders, takes the Girl Power theme that made the band a pop sensation and updates it to a modernday world of Twitter and TV talent shows.

It got a standing ovation, but not

everyone was impressed. Mark Shenton, a critic for The Stage newspaper, tweeted that it was ``a phoney, manufactured musical’’ - and not even funny.

The Independent newspaper’s theatre critic Paul Taylor gave the show two stars out of five, calling it ``lacking in any truly original or challenging spark.’’

Some audience members might have reflected that the real-life story of the Spice Girls - their rise to global fame from obscurity, subsequent fallout and varied solo careers - is richer and more interesting than the show’s feel-good plot.

Success of the big-budget show will depend partly on how well the Spice Girls are still loved, a decade and a half after their heyday.

The five-piece group, known for its brash attitude and ``Cool Britannia’’ branding, shot to fame in 1996 and sold 75 million records around the world.

Halliwell left the group acrimoniously in 1998 and the group effectively split a decade ago.

The five members appeared on stage together for the first time in five years at the London Olympics closing ceremony in August and have reunited to promote ``Viva Forever.’’

Four of the Spice Girls arrived together on the red carpet ahead of the premiere, to cheers and chants of ``spice up your life’’ from scores of die-hard fans.

``If people criticize it, we don’t care - because we love it,’’ she said.

Chisholm posed for photographers and fans on the red carpet before the show with Brown, Halliwell and Emma ``Baby Spice’’ Bunton.

Victoria ``Posh Spice’’ Beckham, now a successful fashion designer, arrived later with her husband, soccer star David Beckham, and their Burberry-clad sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. ``Viva Forever’’ is a pop confection with heavyweight credentials. Writer Saunders is co-creator of celebrityskewering sitcom ``Absolutely Fabulous.’’ The producer is Judy Craymer, who produced stage and screen versions of the hugely successful ABBA musical ``Mamma Mia!’’ ``I always wanted to be a Spice Girl, and this is as close as I’ll get,’’ Craymer said.

Melanie Chisholm - ``Sporty Spice’’ She stressed that ``Viva Forever’’ is - said she was not afraid of critics’ not the story of the Spice Girls - ``It’s a verdict on the show. story of now.’’ ■

ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS

Singer Jenni Rivera dead in Mexican plane crash MONTERREY - U.S. authorities confirmed Monday that Jenni Rivera, a U.S.-born singer whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles made her a MexicanAmerican superstar, was killed in a plane crash in northern Mexico. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to help investigate the crash, and the board said Mexican authorities had informed them that Rivera had died in the accident. ■

Photo courtesy of Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

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Stars spice up red carpet at London premiere of girl power musical ‘Viva Forever’

‘Fifty Shades’ publisher awards $5,000 bonuses NEW YORK - Thanks to “Fifty Shades of Grey,” employees at Random House Inc. are seeing green.

Every worker, from sales to editorial to distribution, will receive a $5,000 bonus, prorated for those who joined Random House during the year. In a company-wide letter sent Monday, CEO Markus Dohle noted the publisher’s “unprecedented success” in 2012. EL James’ erotic trilogy has sold more than 35 million copies and Random Houser also released such bestsellers as Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” and Robert Caro’s “The Passage of Power.” Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum said Monday that while some employees have existing bonus plans, the across-theboard payment was “unique” for the company. ■

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Entertainment Scorsese-de Leon team to save Brocka’s film

33 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer THE RESTORATION of Lino Brocka’s 1975 film “Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag” has found a surprise benefactor from across the globe—Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Foundation (WCF).

The nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation of neglected world cinema has reportedly taken a keen interest in the project.

Acclaimed by critics for such films as “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “The Departed” and “The Aviator,” Scorsese has adopted film archiving and preservation as a pet advocacy.

On the WCF website, Scorsese explained that “[the] foundation was created to help developing countries preserve their cinematic treasures.”

According to the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Scorsese enthusiastically embraced the digital restoration of “Maynila.” “I want a Brocka,” Scorsese reportedly said.

In a rare interview, Mike de Leon, the film’s cinematographer and producer, told the INQUIRER that a “few select people and institutions” played crucial roles in preserving “Maynila” through the years.

De Leon, who is emerging from a hiatus from show business for the restoration of the Brocka masterpiece, talked to the INQUIRER, the first media outfit to have the chance to interview the reclusive master in a long, long while.

“That this 1975 film still exists in a relatively excellent state is due to the generosity and expertise of LVN Pictures

and its color laboratory, Pierre Rissient of France and Tan Bee Thiam of Asian Film Archive (AFA) in Singapore,” De Leon pointed out.

This list will soon include the FDCP and WCF, as Scorsese teams up with De Leon to save Brocka’s masterpiece.

De Leon recalled that LVN Pictures and its color laboratory “ensured that the film negatives were processed to give maximum stability that would last for decades.”

De Leon recounted that sometime in the late 1970s, French cineaste Rissient “deposited the original film negatives of ‘Maynila’ and ‘Itim’ (De Leon’s debut as director) in the British Film Institute (BFI).”

Rissient is largely credited for bringing Brocka to the Cannes Film Festival, where “Insiang” was shown at the Section Parallèle in 1978.

Possible Cannes premiere In a fitting homecoming, the digitally restored “Maynila” is being earmarked for a possible premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May next year, according to the FDCP. When LVN Film Archive closed shop in 2005, De Leon transferred “the only good print of ‘Maynila,’ along with the restored master negatives of Lamberto Avellana’s ‘A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino’” to AFA in Singapore.

De Leon expressed his gratitude to Tan, founder of AFA. “My film collection is now kept at AFA. ‘A Portrait’ was produced by my father (Manuel de Leon) and he bequeathed it to me,” the award-winning director said.

“LVN had a fully functioning archive in the early 1990s and no matter what people now say to the contrary, there was already a growing awareness of the need for film preservation within LVN in the late 1980s.”

The master negatives at the BFI and the only extant good print at AFA will surely help the experts in restoring “Maynila” to its full glory.

“I am confident that these original film elements of ‘Maynila’ in London and Singapore will provide World Cinema Foundation and L’Immagine Ritrovata with a solid basis for a pristine restoration of Brocka’s film,” said De Leon.

Clearly, it will take the joint efforts of various institutions from different countries to save “Maynila” from the claws of deterioration.

From novel to movie Based on a novel by Edgardo M. Reyes, “Maynila” is widely regarded as one of the best works of Brocka.

It swept the Famas awards in 1976— winning best picture, director (Brocka), cinematography (De Leon), screenplay (Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo Jr.), actor (Bembol Roco) and supporting actor (Tommy Abuel).

It is the only Filipino film included in the anthology “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die,” where it was described by critic Chris Fujiwara as a “low-budget hit … a breakthrough for Filipino cinema … still often regarded as the best Filipino film of all time.”

While restoring another Filipino classic, Manuel Conde’s 1950 costume epic “Genghis Khan,” the FDCP developed a working relationship with the restoration laboratory, L’Immagine Ritrovata, based in Bologna, Italy.

“The ‘ Maynila’ prints [from London and Singapore] are already in Bologna,” De Leon said.

The WCF works closely with L’Immagine Ritrovata, said Briccio Santos, FDCP chair.

In a way, “Genghis Khan” laid the groundwork for the collaboration between the FDCP and Scorsese’s foundation.

“WCF has been in the forefront of film restoration worldwide,” Santos told the INQUIRER. Santos pointed out that WCF’s interest in “Maynila” “validates FDCP’s decision to embark on major film restoration projects.”

The FDCP chair explained that “restoring films like ‘Maynila’ can be an effective means to provide the masses with much-needed access to these masterpieces.”

Brocka tribute De Leon envisions the “Maynila” restoration as an apt tribute to Brocka.

Santos asserted that Brocka’s message remained as relevant today as it was in the 1970s.

“Brocka has always been known for his discipline and sense of determination to imbue his films with a social purpose.

He undertook filmmaking to serve the Filipino people. This may be the reason why he was proclaimed national artist,” Santos said.

Del Mundo, who wrote the script of “Maynila,” agreed with Santos: “More than any other Filipino filmmaker of his generation, Brocka dealt with social and political issues. He was sincerely interested in exposing the injustices in our society, to find genuine solutions.”

Abuel, who portrayed lead star Roco’s friend, Pol, in the film, recalled that “Maynila” was produced only three years after the declaration of martial law.

“It bravely showed the exploitation of the working class, the poverty in the slums. It dared expose the ugly side of Manila, at a time when then-first lady Imelda Marcos wanted to emphasize only ‘the true, the good and the beautiful’ in the movies,” Abuel told the INQUIRER. “It was the height of martial law,” Santos related. “And yet Brocka challenged viewers to confront the actual conditions of oppressed Filipinos in an era characterized by danger and repression.”

Abuel related that Brocka also pushed the cast and crew to grapple with the harsh realities of the martial law regime.

Abuel said Brocka took the actors to an actual construction site, where the Bureau of Internal Revenue building now stands in Quezon City. “It was an immersion exercise. Lino asked us to interview real construction workers. He even encouraged us to buy the laborers’ tattered clothes to wear onscreen.”

Del Mundo said Brocka collaborated closely with the entire cast and crew.

“With me, he discussed the additional scenes he wanted to include in the screenplay—particularly, the subplot about male prostitution.”

More on page 33

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Entertainment Buy a Parol and Help a Kapamilya

ABS-CBN has launched a campaign to help disasteraffected families by selling the “Kapamilya Parol” to jive with this year’s theme “Lumiliwanag ang Mundo sa Kwento ng Pasko”.

By purchasing a “Kapamilya Parol”, buyers are taking part in an effort to help disaster-affected families as all proceeds will be donated to Sagip Kapamilya, the ABSCBN Foundation’s arm that provides relief to affected

Weathering a Twitter storm Netizens criticized Valerie Concepcion for ‘partying’ with the President during a national tragedy

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer IT HAS almost been a year since TV host-actress Valerie Concepcion faced a daunting controversy, sparked by a simple message on Twitter.

As the country reeled from the devastation caused by Tropical Storm “Sendong,” Concepcion tweeted that she had attended a Christmas party with President Aquino and the Presidential Security Group in December 2011.

Netizens criticized her insensitivity while the President was put to task for “partying” during a national tragedy.

“I stopped visiting Twitter for two weeks,” she recalled. “A lot of people got mad at me. There were even accusations that I was working with the opposition to put the President in a bad light.”

TV host Kris Aquino, the President’s sister, reached out to her. “She wanted to know what happened. I was so embarrassed since Kris and I had worked together on [ the defunct noontime show] ‘ Pilipinas Win na Win.’ I asked Kris to relay my apologies to the President.”

It was pretty stressful, she recounted. “I wanted to explain that I meant no harm. If you check my Twitter page, you’d see that I would usually talk about where I had been, where I had just performed.”

As a result of the boo-boo, she became a hot trending topic on the social networking site and received her fair share of haters.

She quickly apologized, she recalled, confessing that she was clueless about current events at that time. “I was so busy … I hadn’t been watching TV.” Until now she can be quite oblivious, she admitted. “I didn’t even know that a costar was

dating a certain actor. By the time I found out, they had already split up.”

As a result of the brouhaha, she has become more careful about tweeting.

She has refrained from discussing her love life on Twitter, too, she pointed out. She had just broken up with basketball player Dondon Hontiveros.

They were a couple for four years and were on the verge of tying the knot earlier this year.

“We’ve remained good friends. We still love and respect each other,” she said. “We still have a business together. I invested in one of his farming ventures in Cebu. I trust him so much.”

She willingly slowed down in the biz as she was preparing to get married. “Now, I want to focus on work.”

She stars in “Flames of Love,” an indie film directed by Gigi Alfonso and Baby Nebrida which opens today.

Since it was a smaller production, she didn’t mind adjusting her talent fee.

“I look at the bright side,” she said. “It was my first indie film, but I got to work with good actors like Christopher de Leon, Dina Bonnevie, Jaclyn Jose, Lani Mercado.”

Since she was away from the big screen for awhile, the film would serve as a comeback vehicle, too, she said. “The role was too meaty to pass up. I wanted to try something different.”

She plays a troubled woman, a coed-by-day/ GRO-by-night, who gets entangled in dysfunctional affairs with four different men.

“At first, I was worried because I didn’t want to do sexy roles,” she related. “But after I read the script [by Nebrida], I was convinced.”

It also helped that she had two women directors who, she said, made her “feel safe on the set.” ■

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 34

communities of disasters, as well as rehabilitation and disaster risk reduction projects.

Sagip Kapamilya will be allocating “Kapamilya Parol” funds to the people directly affected by the recent calamities of 2012, including orphaned children who are under the continued care and assistance of Sagip Kapamilya.

Buyers can hang these parols in their homes but it can also be donated to less fortunate families through the ABS-CBN Online Store at www.abscbnstore.multiply. com. ABS-CBN will give a parol in the donor’s name to a child or family affected by the calamities of 2012 and upon receipt of the parol, an email will be sent to the donor with the recipient’s name and if possible, a photo as well. Proceeds of the donated parols will still go to Sagip Kapamilya.

The “Kapamilya Parol”, with its central icon designed by kids orphaned during typhoon Sendong, is now available in SM Kultura, selected ABS-CBN Regional Network Stations, selected provincial department stores such as LCC Malls and Fiesta World Malls, and at the ABS-CBN Store. It is also available globally and nationwide through the ABS-CBN Online Store.

The ABS-CBN Christmas Campaign aims to highlight the Filipinos as bearers of light who never run out of kindness especially during dire times. Spread light and kindness by buying or donating a “Kapamilya Parol” now. For more information, please visit http:// kwentongpasko.abs-cbnnews.com/parol. ■

Entertainment

35 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

‘Oro, Plata, Mata’ restored, Bacolod screening planned

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer

by studentactors from La Salle, St. Scholastica’s and La Consolacion in Bacolod.”

AFTER a recent private screening of “Oro, Plata, Mata,” director Peque Gallaga approached Manet Dayrit, head of Central Digital Lab, the company that digitally restored the 1982 film—he wanted to correct the sound and dialogue in a scene.

Gallaga had actively participated in the restoration process. He told the INQUIRER how elated he had been that a team of professionals had spent a lot of time (at least 1,500 hours) and effort restoring the landmark film to its full glory. The project was spearheaded by ABS-CBN Film Archives.

Joel Torre discovered Scriptwriter Jose Javier Reyes ended up doing a cameo as a Chinese cook in the opening party scene.

“I was hanging out on the set all the time,” Reyes said, and added that Joel Torre was “discovered” via the movie. “Albert Martinez was supposed to play the lead, but he was tied up with ‘Bata Pa Si Sabel.’

Joel, a production assistant at the time, got the part.

It changed his life.”

The movie captures Torre, Sandy Andolong and Cherie Gil at their prime. After watching a preview of the restored “Oro,” Torre noted, “We had great skin... we didn’t need HD makeup.”

Seriously, he said, he was reminded of coworkers who had since passed on—actors Mary Walter, Manny Ojeda, Abbo de la Cruz and production designer Don Escudero.”

For actress Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, watching “Oro” again was a “sentimental revisit, especially now that I am doing one indie film after the other.”

(The movie was produced by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines.)

More than an award “For me, this is more precious than an award. It says that people cared enough about the film to preserve it,” Gallaga said.

The film’s cinematographer, Rody Lacap, was also involved. “He checked the color grading,” said Gallaga. “When we shot the movie, we were going for a certain glow, a golden patina.”

Gallaga also made sure the sound quality would be as he originally intended it. “In the 1980s, movie houses didn’t have high-tech sound system. [Even] subtle background music was played too loudly.”

He recalled that in those days before digital technology, editing was done manually. “With this restoration, even dust, fingerprint and scotch tape marks were removed from the film.” The new “Oro” was unveiled to the public on Nov. 28, opening the Cinema One Originals fest.

Other big plans An earlier restoration project, Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala,” started a theatrical run on Dec. 5. Leo ...from page 31

Del Mundo described Brocka as “fun coworker.”

De Leon agreed. “He was fascinating.”

“He was a pleasant guy. He never shouted on the set,” Abuel said. “He would only get tense if there was a missing prop.”

“I did a documentary, a 16mm behindthe-scenes look on the making of ‘Maynila.’ Lino was very cooperative,” Del Mundo said.

It was De Leon who asked Del Mundo to make the documentary on the making of “Maynila.”

De Leon, who met Brocka on the LVN lot, had been impressed by the latter’s “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang,” released in 1974.

“I was amazed. It was a local film but it

Peque Gallaga

Joel Torre

Katigbak, head of the ABS-CBN archives, told the INQUIRER about similar plans for “Oro,” including a screening in Bacolod, the film’s setting.

There is also the possibility of releasing a special criterion edition of “Oro” on video—with special features like the director’s commentary and recollections from the cast and crew.

Gallaga remembered tapping campus theater groups: “Maids and houseboys in the film were played

was different. It made a lot waves then,” De Leon said.

De Leon, who got interested in cinematography, teamed up with his cousin, Severino Manotok, to form Cinema Artists, which would eventually produce “Maynila.”

Maiden venture Manotok thought they would produce a sexy film, as “bomba” (bold) movies were all the rage then. De Leon, however, said that his cousin didn’t object when he chose Del Mundo’s script of the Reyes novel as their maiden venture.

Although he had yet to read Del Mundo’s script, “I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to get away from the TVtype of lighting of the movies at that time.” De Leon wanted to achieve the “available light” look in cinema.

De Leon and Brocka had long conversations before and during the

First step The restoration of “Oro” and “Himala” marks an important first step in the long journey ahead, said Gallaga. “There are 3,000 titles in the network’s library. Even if they restore one film a day, it will take them over 10 years to finish everything.”

There was a missing scene from the print used to restore the film, the result of celluloid unspooling from the projector. “It shows Sandy and Joel in a field of ferns during a storm,” Gallaga said. “I wanted to do a Celso Ad. Castillo with that scene.” ■

making of “Maynila.”

“I wanted him to direct the film that I wanted to produce,” De Leon said.

Brocka was, however, initially ambivalent about “Maynila.” There were reports that another national artist, Ishmael Bernal, had wanted to turn Reyes’ novel into a movie, too.

But, after reading the script, “Lino called me up immediately. He was ecstatic. He was the one who added ‘Maynila’ to the title.”

Said Santos: “Maynila” is “an acknowledged classic not only here in the Philippines but also all over the world. ‘ Maynila’ brought Brocka to the United States. It was shown at Lincoln Center at the New Directors, New Films fest in New York in 1980 and was screened at Walter Reade Theater of Lincoln Center again in 1999.”

That “Maynila” marked the collaboration of Brocka and De Leon

makes it a “landmark” film, said Santos.

“Two big names in Philippine cinema actually joined forces to come up with a movie that would alter the course of filmmaking in the country.”

Santos, Abuel and Del Mundo agree that “Maynila” should be seen by today’s generation of filmmakers and film buffs.

Del Mundo, who also heads the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (Sofia), welcomes the restoration of “Maynila.”

“Any film restoration project is significant,” Del Mundo said.

Santos lauds President Aquino’s issuance of Administrative Order No. 26 which supports FDCP’s goal to consolidate archiving efforts under the National Film Archive. “It’s high time for the state to step in and assume a much proactive stance in the preservation and repatriation of audio-visual treasures.” ■

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36 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2012

Travel

Glimpses of Cebu Second Part

BY JAY AR DECENELLA Philippine Canadian Inquirer What was supposed to be an educational tour around Cebu’s manufacturing and business districts turned out to be more of a perfect getaway from the mindpounding strains of work, at least to me.

I immediately left my hotel room after only 30 minutes of unloading my luggage and refreshing myself. Albeit the dizzying sea trip that lasted for more than 12 hours, compounded by a literally warm welcome by the island’s extremely hot weather at the time, my already worn out strength was rejuvenated with the promise of Cebu’s hot spots.

Manufacturing industry Our first stop was the Mactan Economic Processing Zone (MEPZ), the powerhouse of Cebu’s productivity.

MEPZ is divided into two, the MEPZ1 and MEPZ-2. The industrial district houses a few of the country’s large companies, including Timex, Lexmark Philippines Inc., BMC Group and Mitsumi that manufactures no less than some of the peripherals and spare parts of Apple’s iPhone and Samsung gadgets. A friend of mine who works as a division coordinator at Mitsumi revealed to me the exact similarity of iPhone’s and Samsung Galaxy’s components. But that is another story.

The work force of Cebu, which concentrates on non-agricultural lines, has been one of the fastest-producing labor forces in the country. The island’s rapid economic growth could

be attributed to soaring rates of tourist arrivals, strategic location and vast array of natural resources. Cebu is also home to a few of the Philippine’s top apparel brands like Penshoppe and Oxygen, which have invaded the international market. Domestically, homegrown-brands like Bo’s Coffee and Julie’s Bakeshop have also expanded, the public receiving them with open arms.

Outside the economic zone, there are other viable businesses in the island that are even homegrown, but have proven that their products are equally export quality. For furniture enthusiasts who constantly look for top-of-the-line quality home decoration, Cebu offers just what could just measure up to their standards. The swift expansion of the furniture industry in Cebu has prompted the Department of Tourism to develop this aspect of the region through programs dedicated to small and medium enterprises. Their crafts are imbued with export quality as well.

“Napulo ka tuig na mi ani nga negosyo, mao ra gayud ni amo gisaligan pagpa-tungha sa amo upat ka anak (We’ve been into this business for 10 years now, which has helped us a lot in sending our four kids to school),” said Jaime Dela Costa, a local maker of wooden dining tables in Basak, Mactan.

Business centers A few kilometers away from MEPZ was Cebu’s smaller version of Metro Manila’s Makati, the Asiantown IT Park in Lahug, which houses various industries such as business process outsourcing, software and engineering.

The business center is also a stone’s throw away from Waterfront Hotel, Cebu’s finest in the hospitality sector. If you are after top of the line accommodation and hotel services,

Waterfront is the place to go and stay.

Snuggled in the center of the Queen City of the South, Waterfront Hotel is a 30-minute ride from Mactan International Airport. The hotel boasts of its 561 rooms that combine “elegance and style.”

The castle-like hotel has a relatively long strip of restaurants called “The Gourmet Walk,” where guests are treated to a cobblestone passage flanked with artistically hand-painted scenic walls. At the restaurant proper, international cuisines abound to cater to its multiracial guests, with chefs who are prepared to cook luscious and sumptuous dishes even for those who have the most discriminating palate.

Tourist destinations The sun was far from setting down, so we had more time to treat ourselves to the finest tourist destinations in Cebu.

Of course, visiting Cebu won’t be complete without seeing the island’s historical and national landmarks.

Visiting Fort San Pedro throws you back to the Spanish period. This frequent destination in the Pier Area of Cebu City was built by Cebuano and Spanish laborers in 1738. The triangular bastion was mounted as a defense against presumed Muslim rebels during the time of Miguel López de Legazpi. Inside the fort, a park in the middle welcomes every family with fresh and unadulterated air.

Tourists who love total calmness won’t have a hard time finding a place to go in Cebu, as the Taoist Temple offers just what they are looking for.

Located in Beverly Hills Subdivision in Lahug, the temple was built by the Chinese community in Cebu on 1972.

Elevated 300 meters above sea level, the Taoist Temple is accessible by three winding routes. Worshippers and nonworshippers alike are welcome. Trips to the temple are usually offered by travel agencies as a side-trip.

Historical importance What contributes more to the historical significance of Cebu is the Lapu-Lapu Shrine, a 20-meter bronze statue in Punta Engaño, City of Lapu-Lapu. The landmark was mounted to honor Datu Lapu-Lapu who killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan and eventually defeated his troops in the Battle of Mactan on 1521. At last, I told myself, I was seeing before my naked eye what I only used to stare at textbooks. At the entrance, different souvenir items are sold, from customized T-shirts to wooden bracelets carved with the name of “Mactan, Cebu.”

Food trip For tourists looking for the best variety of seafood, Mactan offers a long list of resorts where you can sit in islandthemed dining tables and savor the taste of your favorite dish. With only P1000 (or CAD$25) in your pocket, you can already indulge yourself in the long strip of restaurants all day long.

In between our tour, we never failed to dine in buffet-style posh restaurants.

Some of the highly recommended restaurants in Cebu are the Tsim Sha Tsui Dimsum & Tea Bar, Anzani which offers Mediterranean dishes, and Tongs which has several branches in the city. Rates range between P500 (CAD$12.50) to P999 (CAD$25).

Cebu’s lechon capped our food trip in the island. It is in this place where the best-tasting lechon in the world can be found. The CNT lechon, in particular, is the best to me, by far. An unsolicited tip for would-be buyers: choose the belly part because it is where all the ingredients are stuffed. To get to CNT would only cost you a few steps from SM City Cebu Mall, so it’s not really hard to find. ■

Travel

37 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Alpine touring – the purist’s way to ski Canada’s backcountry ski areas await those willing to earn their turns

BY DAVID WEBB Courtesy of the Commission

Canadian

Tourism

REWARDS ARE sweeter if you’ve worked for them, and few know this better than Canada’s alpine ski touring crowd.

Using nothing but muscle power and specialized equipment that bridges the gap between cross-country and downhill skiing, alpine touring adventurers revel in the satisfaction of both glorious descents and thigh-burning climbs. Here are four Canadian hotspots where you can join the au natural world of self-propelled skiing, telemarking and snowboarding.

Garibaldi Provincial Park, BC Located only 70 km (44 miles) north of Vancouver, Garibaldi Provincial Park serves up nearly 200,000 hectares of backcountry bliss. Intermediate-toadvanced ski tour enthusiasts can selfguide into reams of untracked powder at both the Diamond Head and Black Tusk/Garibaldi Lake backcountry ski areas. Black Tusk/Garibaldi Lake even offers first-come-first-serve alpine

huts for overnight adventures; winter camping is available in both areas.

(While those backcountry routes require experience, newbies can get their feet wet via nearby Whistler’s hike-in, hike-out “backcountry light” Flute Bowl – accessed on-resort and bordering Garibaldi Park.)

Purcell Mountain Lodge, BC The alpine touring concern is sensitive to Mother Earth. That’s why Purcell Mountain Lodge, accessed via helicopter from Golden, BC, operates an on-site wastewater treatment plant, receives electricity via unobtrusive micro-hydro and adheres to a strict policy of waste reduction and composting. As a guest though, you may be too engrossed in daily guided ski tours through 1,200 hectares of powdery glades, long stays in the wood-fired sauna, gourmet organic meals and starry Rocky Mountain nights to notice their commitment to eco-friendly operation (but it’s good to know).

sufficient, intermediate-to-advanced ski tour adventures. Whistler Creek, accessed from Marmot Basin ski resort and The Bald Hills, near scenic Maligne Lake, are just two of many popular routes. Should you require some local advice, Jasper’s toque-wearing alpine-tourists are friendly folk always willing chat with a fellow skipurist – provided you’ve got a granola bar to share.

Jasper National Park, AB Jasper National Park is the Alberta Rockies’ quieter side – a perfect setting for self-

Chic-Chocs Mountain Lodge, QC Located in Québec’s Gaspesie Region, Chic-Chocs Mountain Lodge is

an eco-sensitive alpine ski touring operation for discerning powder hounds.

Accessed via snow-cat (615 metres of elevation in the province’s Reserve Faunique de Matane), wintertime guests experience fully-guided, self-propelled ski and snowboard tours (all equipment provided), finished off with spa visits, fine dining, top-shelf wine, four-star accommodation and even a yoga space.

Nights are purposefully relaxing, as daytime is filled with 300-metre descents (and climbs) within 6,000 hectares of glades and snowfields. ■

afraid because Jim Ongena, a certified mountain guide, is shouting words of encouragement from below while controlling the rope attached to your safety harness. When you ring the bell at the top and look down – waaaaaay down – you feel on top of the world.

Roller Coasting at Mont SaintSauveur– Put on a Viking helmet, climb into a two-person sled and get ready to scream! The Alpine Coaster Viking hurdles down the snowy Québec mountain slope on an elevated track at up to 35 km/h (22 mph). You’ll fly around bends, careening with your toboggan.

Don’t worry; you’re strapped in and if you really don’t like the feeling of having your stomach in your mouth, you can lean on the brakes and make your journey a scenic one instead.

Snowmobiling at Blue Mountain Resort– Enjoy the rolling farmland and deciduous forests of the Niagara Escarpment by snowmobile. Blue Mountain Resort, near Collingwood, Ontario, provides guided one-hour tours on some of the thousands of kilometres of trails created and maintained by the Ontario Federation of Snowmobiling

Clubs. You don’t need any experience to drive a snowmobile – just a driver’s licence.

Skating at Grouse Mountain– High above Vancouver the air is cold and crisp as you glide across the smooth ice on Grouse Mountain’s 744-squaremetre (8,000-square-foot) skating pond.

It’s popular with couples looking for a romantic evening skating to music under the stars and families looking for a funfilled day with the kids. When you need to warm up, head into the Peak Chalet and sit by a roaring fire with a mug of hot chocolate.

Snowshoeing at Mount Washington Alpine Resort– Walk out Mount Washington’s back door and walk into the old growth forest of Strathcona Provincial Park on Vancouver Island.

Choose from seven marked trails that meander between trees and over frozen lakes. Keep an eye out for gray jays that will feed from your hand if have a snack to share. On Friday and Saturday nights the resort offers an hour of guided snowshoeing, followed by a three-course fondue dinner back at Raven Lodge. ■

Not a skier? Not a problem Canada’s ski resorts offer as much off-mountain fun as you can fit in

BY SUZANNE MORPHET Courtesy of the Canadian Commission

Tourism

ICE CLIMBING at Big White Ski Resort– Bits of ice fly in every direction

as you plunge the picks of two ice axes – one in each hand – into the towering 18 metre (60 foot) wall of ice at Big White, near Kelowna, British Columbia. With every heart-pounding swing, you pull yourself closer to the top. And you’re not

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Family Noche Buena - A Good Night for a Filipino Feast!

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 38

PREPARE HIM ROOM (Part 2)

BY FELICHI PANGILINAN-BUIZON “LET EVERY HEART prepare Him room.” As promised, before days get more toxic, here is second part of a list of activities that you can share with your family to keep the main thing, the main thing this holiday season. (In case you want to go back to the first list, you may check them at PCI’s November 30 issue)

The author (second from left) with her family.

BY CANDICE MACALINO The Christmas season is my favourite time of the year because for my family, it’s about spending time together and indulging in a Filipino feast called Noche Buena.

Spanish for “good night”, Noche Buena is a traditional late-night meal celebrated after midnight mass by many Filipino families on Christmas Eve. I still get giddy with excitement during the car ride home from church, anticipating the dishes that my Mom had lovingly prepared earlier that day.

As we approach my parent’s house, it’s around 1:30 am and we’re looking forward to our second Christmas Eve dinner. My Mom brings out her best china and silverware, a special touch for the holidays, to serve our favourite Filipino and non-Filipino dishes.

Her Noche Bueno menu changes from year to year but we can always count on the staples: pandasel (sweet Filipino buns) with sliced roasted ham and pasko de bola (ripened cheese ball), buko (young coconut) fruit salad, cold macaroni chicken salad and my favourite, bibingka cake.

With my Dad’s favourite Frank Sinatra Christmas album jingling in the background, we dig into the festive treats while joking about old family memories, reminiscing about the past year’s events and being grateful for spending another Christmas together. By 3:30 am, we’re exchanging gifts and slowly winding down for the night.

There are lots of leftovers from Noche Buena and we’re able to easily whip up another large spread when our extended family gathers for Christmas dinner. To my delight, my Mom always makes sure we have ample bibingka cakes to last until the following day - she knows it’s not a Filipino Christmas without them!

Bibingka is a soft and chewy cake made with flour, sugar and coconut milk. It’s baked in pan lined with banana leaves to help impart flavour and create a natural non-stick surface. Once cooked, the cake is topped with butter, sugar, grated coconut, shredded cheese and salted egg.

Bibingka can be enjoyed as a snack, dessert or breakfast and can be found as street food in the Philippines as well as in high-end restaurants and five-star hotels. It’s loved by many Filipinos because of the unique flavour combination. The sweet coconut cake with the savoury cheese and salted egg surprisingly go well together. For me, bibingka tastes like Christmas!

Food is and will always be the centre of any Filipino celebration, especially during a Noche Buena feast. In addition to basting your turkeys, try adding this bibingka recipe to your Christmas menu. Happy Holidays!

Candice’s Cusina Bibingka Cakes Ingredients 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (or rice flour) 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 3 large eggs 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 coconut milk 2-3 banana leaves melted butter to brush on banana leaves Toppings 1 cup shredded cheese (Edam, Mozzarella, or Cheddar) 1 boiled salted egg, diced 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp sugar 1/3 cup grated fresh coconut Preparation 1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line one 8” diameter spring-form pan or five 6 oz. ramekins with banana leaves. Brush leaves with melted butter.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

3. Beat eggs and sugar in a separate bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 5-7 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and tuned a pale yellow.

4. Slowly add the flour mix and coconut milk to egg mixture until just blended. Then stir in 1/2 cup cheese.

Pour batter into spring-form pan or ramekins and top with 1/2 diced salted egg.

5. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cake and the top it with the other 1/2 diced salted egg and 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Brush top of cake with butter then sprinkle with sugar and grated coconut. Masarup!

Candice Macalino is a Filipino food blogger who lives in Vancouver, BC. Her goal is to help elevate the public’s awareness about the Philippines through a food lens sharing food videos, recipes and restaurant recommendations. Visit her blog, Candice’s Cusina, at www.candicescusina.blogpost.com.

CELEBRATE THE LIGHT OF LIFE. One Christmas, using folded tracing paper, with tea lights lit in the middle, we created our own lanterns. We made several of them and lit them all around the dining room. Then, we talked about the nature of light and celebrated Jesus as the Light of the world. I think we will do that again this year. I just discovered that there are lantern bags on sale in bookstores.

Invite a friend or a couple to join you as you celebrate Jesus!

CHRIST-CENTERED TAGS. Personalized tags are very popular. Why not Christ-centered tags? One Christmas, I was able to google an image of Santa kneeling by the baby in the manger. Visualize it. I thought it was a powerful illustration of who the real star of Christmas is. I pasted this image on the tags of gifts I gave to my young nephews, nieces and godchildren.

HIDING HIS WORD IN OUR HEART. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Scripture reveals how God’s word is valuable. He instructs that we read and meditate on it. So this year, to delight the birthday Celebrant, my kids and I committed to reflect on and memorize truths in His Word. It’s amazing how, when we value what God values, it blesses us in return. My kids claim His promise in Psalm 119 that keepers of His Word gain greater wisdom than their enemies, teachers and those older than they.

A DATE WITH THE LORD. Take time out on your own to reflect on the year that was. With your planner in hand, check out the times Jesus showed Himself faithful as Provider, as Shepherd, as your Comforter, as Father, as Protector, as a Friend, as your Refuge and Help, as your source of wisdom, as your Prince of Peace. Thank Him, praise Him, worship Him! PRAY FOR OPEN HEARTS. Still the best way to keep the main thing, the main thing is to share with others why Jesus came. Jesus is the greatest gift selflessly sent by the Greatest Giver to heal our greatest problem of sin. John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Last week, I met Nino, a watchmaker on a wheelchair and I had the privilege of sharing with Him the message of salvation. Pray for opportunities to share and for hearts to make room for the best gift. Let earth receive her King! ■

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39 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

Christmas

CHRISTMAS AT OVERLYNN MANSION, A HERITAGE BUILDING Overlynn Mansion -built 1909 - 401 North Esmond Avenue, Burnaby, BC.

Nick Kvenich, Gigi Astudillo (PCI) and Orest Kernycky who toured PCI and related stories about the mansion.

Action Line Housing Society formed in 1968 was initially established to build low-cost housing project. It developed a twenty-unit 3 bedroom townhouse complex along Irmin Street, South Burnaby. The complex still operates today and has provided affordable housing for low-income families.

In the seventies, Action Line Housing Society bought Seton Academy site from the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, a Catholic order in North Burnaby that operated the said school. It converted its facilities into senior citizens retirement housing. Seton Villa retirement complex opened its doors in 1975, and currently is home to over 230 senior citizens. Many of these residents of Seton Villa grew up and raised their families in North Burnaby.

Located inside the Seton Villa site is a heritage building known as Overlynn Mansion that was built in 1909.

Overlynn is a two and one-half storey British Arts and Crafts mansion, with an exterior composed of a massive native granite rubble-stone base that is surmounted by distinctive half-timbering, a hipped roof, a rare surviving intact interior, and elaborate landscape features. It has stone walls and planted terraces. It is situated

in the residential neighborhood of Vancouver Heights, and on a high point of land overlooking Burrard Inlet to the west and the mouth of Lynn Creek to the east.

Overlynn is a superb example of the work of the noted architectural firm of Maclure and Fox. The architecture of Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) was synonymous with high quality residential design for prominent citizens in both Vancouver and Victoria. Maclure was known for his British Arts and Crafts style with meticulous attention paid to functional and beautiful interiors that utilized native wood combined with luxurious imported fittings. He was a leading exponent of the Art and Crafts design movement in B.C.(British Columbia), and established a sophisticated local variation of residential architecture...

This landmark residence is also an intact and comprehensive representation of a grand Edwardianera estate home. The interior is notably intact, and retains many highly-refined original features, including substantive millwork of exotic woods, silverplated and nickel-plated light fixtures, fine plasterwork, tiled fireplaces and exceptional hardware. Landscape features of Overlynn include the

original layout for circulation paths, a porte-cochere, granite posts and stone walls, a sandstone and iron sundial, and mature trees and shrubbery. The house was designated by Burnaby Council in 1995 as the first heritage building in B.C. to receive legal protection for its interior features. Overlynn is valued as one of Burnaby’s oldest upperclass estates. (Source: Heritage Site Files, City of Burnaby, Planning and Building Department) In 1909, C.J. Peter and his employer, G.F. and J. Galt Limited, developed Vancouver Heights in North Burnaby; believing that it could be one of the most picturesque districts in the area; and could compete with the Canadian Pacific Railway’s prestigious Shaughnessy Heights in Vancouver.

Buyers then were obligated to build houses worth at least $3,500, at that time when the average house price was $1,000 only; while Overlynn was built during that same period for a staggering cost of $75,000. It was one of the first houses constructed in Vancouver Heights, and was considered as the most grandiose and impressive then.

The house remained as the Peter’s home until 1936, when the estate was

sold to the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, a Catholic order which had moved to Vancouver Heights in 1927 to operate a school. The mansion became their convent and new girls’ school known as Seton Academy. The mansion’s original conservatory was demolished and a two-storey addition was constructed. In 1970 when the school closed, it was bought by Action Line Housing Society, which developed it into a senior citizens’ residence.

Christmas at Overlynn is a one of a kind event that invites the community to share their love, through an experience of Christmas celebrations in traditional festive surroundings of this mansion.

Overlynn Mansion is transformed with a dazzling and delightful, yuletide atmosphere.

“We are so pleased to announce our 8th year of Christmas celebrations at the Overlynn Mansion. This has now become a must attend event of the Christmas season for Burnaby and all Lower Mainland residents,” said Fran McDougall, Executive Director of Seton Villa seniors retirement centre.

Admission is by donation. Guided tours of the mansion are available till 3pm each day. ■

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Business

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 40

Bangko Sentral seen keeping rates steady

THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas has hinted the key policy rates would be kept at historic low levels when its Monetary Board holds next week the last policy setting meeting for the year.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the current levels for the central bank’s overnight borrowing and lending rates were deemed appropriate given the favorable combination of high economic growth and slow inflation.

“At this point in time, the stance of monetary policy is appropriate,” Tetangco told reporters at the sidelines of a financial forum jointly organized by Citi and Financial Times.

“There has been an ideal convergence of high growth rate and benign inflation,” added Tetangco, noting the likelihood that the “high growth-slow inflation” scenario could be sustainable over the medium term.

He cited latest estimates by the BSP that inflation for this year, 2013 and 2014 would settle at about 3 percent. The official inflation target range is 3 to 5 percent.

The government reported last week that the economy, measured in terms of

Jun Acullador | Flickr Creative Commons

BY MICHELLE V. REMO AND DORIS C. DUMLAO Philippine Daily Inquirer

the gross domestic product, grew by a surprising 7.1 percent in the third quarter.

This brought the average growth for the first nine months of 2012 to 6.5 percent.

Officials said the better-than-expected performance indicated the likelihood that the full-year growth rate could be faster than the official target of 5 to 6 percent.

The government also reported that inflation settled at only 2.8 percent in November, bringing the average for the first 11 months to 3.2 percent.

With the favorable levels of economic growth and inflation, Tetangco said there was no need to tweak the current policy rates of the BSP. He said, however, that the central bank would not hesitate to adjust its

policy rates in the event of developments that could threaten economic and price stability.

The central bank’s key policy rates, which affect commercial interest rates, stand at record lows of 3.5 and 5.5 percent for overnight borrowing and lending, respectively. These had been brought down to historic lows following four rate cuts of 25 basis points each in January, March, July and October.

Private economists have mixed views on whether interest rates should go down further.

The BSP would likely hold rates steady during its next policy rate-setting next week, said Trinh Nguyen, an economist at British banking giant HSBC. On the other hand, Bank of the Philippine Islands economist Emilio Neri Jr. said the BSP should cut its overnight borrowing rate by another 25 basis points to be consistent with its mandate to maintain both price and financial stability.

“Together with additional macroprudential measures, another 25basis-point cut on Dec. 13 could help temper a peso appreciation to bring the market back above the 41 handle before the year closes,” Neri said.

Swiss global financial group UBS sees the BSP turning modestly hawkish in

monetary policy, bringing its overnight borrowing rate 50 basis points higher at 4 percent at the end of next year as inflation pressures emerge while risks to global growth wane.

The November inflation rate of 2.8 percent was below the market consensus forecast of 3-3.1 percent. While monetary authorities started hinting that they were no longer going to cut policy rates during the Dec. 13 meeting, Neri said the latest data might lead them to reconsider.

“Monetary authorities must remember that the 7.1-percent headline GDP (gross domestic product) print only looked impressive because of the disappointing performance we had in 2011. Consider the fact that we grew by merely 3.2 percent in third quarter 2011, which brings our twoyear average growth to around 5 percent, a full percentage point weaker than Indonesia, which has consistently expanded by more than 6 percent since 2010,” Neri said.

Macro-prudential measures like restricting the higher-yielding special deposit account (SDA) facility limited to local investors have had some effect on the foreign exchange market, Neri said, but he opined that these were “clearly not doing enough to temper the peso’s rapid rise.”

HSBC’s Nguyen said upside risks to inflation—including strong domestic demand, weather events and an unfavorable base effect—would likely motivate the BSP to hold rates steady next Thursday. ■

Gov’t agency cites decline in fuel, food prices

BY NIÑA P. CALLEJA Philippine Daily Inquirer INFLATION in November dipped to its lowest in five straight months due to an ample supply of agricultural products and cheaper local oil prices.

The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that the year-on-year inflation last month, as measured by the consumer price index, slowed to 2.8 percent from 3.1 percent in October.

The latest inflation figure did not surprise economists as earlier projections had been made on the sustained downtrend in inflation before the year ends due to stable food prices and a stronger peso. The figure was also at the lower end of the 2.73.6 percent target range of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for the month.

The lowest since July, the November inflation rate was a marked improvement from the year-ago rate of 4.7 percent. The NSO recorded the lowest year-onyear inflation last March at 2.6 percent.

“The country’s annual [increase] in the food index was pegged at 2.1 percent in November. This was

slower than the 2.5-percent growth in October,” the NSO said.

Core inflation, which represents long-term inflation trend, stood at 3.4 percent in November, slower compared to the 3.6 percent in October. The lower core inflation implies an easing of demand pressures on consumer prices.

“With the continued benign price increases for the period, we are expecting that inflation should be manageable for the rest of the year,” Neda officer in charge Rolando Tungpalan said in a statement.

According to the NSO, the decline in the year-onyear inflation was helped by the slower price gains in heavily weighted food, non-alcoholic beverages, electricity and fuel.

Citing industry data, Tungpalan noted that Manila Electric Co.’s generation charge last November was lower by 2.7 percent (P0.16/kWh) against the same period in 2011 due to lower generation costs from suppliers.

He also said the prices of kerosene, which slowed down, fell by 2.5 percent in November from an increase of 3.5 percent in October. Diesel prices

likewise eased by 4.6 percent from 3.1 percent.

“These were due to the trimmed trading price of Dubai crude in the international market, which contracted by 1.6 percent from a 4.8 percent growth in October 2012,” Tungpalan said.

In Metro Manila, the year-onyear inflation also eased to 2.6 percent in November from 2.9 percent in October as the NSO recorded lower year-on-year price increases in food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.6 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (2.5 percent) and restaurant and miscellaneous goods (3.6 percent).

The annual inflation in areas outside Metro Manila likewise moved at a slower pace, settling at 2.9 percent in November from 3.3 percent in October.

“This is consistent with my earlier prediction that full-year inflation would be in the neighborhood of 3.2 percent, approaching the lower end of the official inflation forecast,” said economist Benjamin Diokno of the UP School of Economics.

The mild rise in prices is caused by a strong peso and “not good governance as Malacañang would like to claim,” added the former budget secretary. ■

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Sports Pacquiao: I’m fine, I’ll be back Freddie’s improbable losing spell continues to fight again 41 FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012

BY ROY LUARCA Philippine Daily Inquirer

Tony Magdaraog / Shutterstock.com

LAS VEGAS—For someone who is used to winning, Freddie Roach is now getting accustomed to losing.

With Manny Pacquiao’s shocking knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez Saturday night, the Hall of Fame trainer is now one-for-five in the last two years.

The 52-year-old Roach also saw his other elite fighters—former world champions Amir Khan and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.—drop their bouts.

It was Pacquiao’s second straight loss, following his controversial bum-decision setback to Timothy Bradley in June.

Khan also went 0-2 and left Roach for another trainer. But Roach is sure to bounce back. Pacquiao is expected to fight again and it’s unlikely for him to part ways with the man he’s worked with for the last 11 years.

BY ROY LUARCA Philippine Daily Inquirer LAS VEGAS—He’ll be back. That’s the assurance Manny Pacquiao gave to his fans and countrymen following a harrowing knockout loss to Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez Saturday night.

The statement sent to Filipino sportswriters past midnight here reads: “First and foremost I would like to thank God for keeping Juan Manuel Marquez and me safe during our fight on Saturday night. I want to congratulate Juan Manuel. I have no excuses. It was a good fight and he deserved the victory. I think boxing fans who watched us were winners, too.

“To all my fans, I would like to thank you for your prayers and assure you that I am fine. I am looking forward to a nice rest and then I will be back to fight.

“On behalf of Jinkee and our family we would like to wish everyone a joyous Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.”

For now, however, Roach wants to talk it over with Pacquiao.

“We don’t know how to proceed,” Roach said. “We need to get all the facts on his medical condition.”

According to Roach, he and Pacquiao will evaluate the situation so they can study their options.

“If he can do it (fight again), then why not,” the trainer said.

Roach, whose rivalry with fellow Hall of Fame trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain provided an interesting sidelight to Pacquiao-Marquez IV, will return to his Wild Card Gym in Hollywood with a heavy heart Sunday.

NOTES: Losing US presidential candidate Mitt Romney was among the 16,348 fans who watched PacquiaoMarquez IV. As it turned out, Romney visited Pacquiao in his dugout before the bout. ■

Arum’s correct, but not on winner Following the savage knockout that matched his two-round demolition of Briton Ricky Hatton in May 2009, Pacquiao made a precautionary visit to University Medical Center, according to his adviser Michael Koncz.

“Manny was given a CT scan and the results were negative,” added Koncz.

“We were in and out in just over an hour and Manny was in excellent spirits.”

After getting the medical clearance, Pacquiao returned to his penthouse suite in the hotel for dinner.

They then viewed his fourth fight against Marquez.

As the DVD played, Pacquiao announced: “Spoiler alert. I don’t think you are going to like how this ends!”

In a consensus Fight of the Year candidate, Pacquiao was ahead on all scorecards, 47-46, when he was knocked out cold by Marquez with a right straight to the jaw with just a second left in the sixth round. The loss, of course, was painful. But as far as Pacquiao is concerned, what happened was the will of God. ■

BY ROY LUARCA Philippine Daily Inquirer PROMOTER Bob Arum was right all along.

The fourth showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was a blockbuster and it did end via knockout.

Only it was his favorite fighter, Pacquiao, who ended up on the losing end in a shocking sixth-round stoppage.

Early sales figures would have been enough to put a smile on the face of

Arum, who turned 81 on fight night Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

A full-house crowd of 16,348 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, gate receipts of $10,886,000, strong payper-view and closed-circuit sales, and phenomenal foreign television returns were right on target, as Arum predicted.

“We did good,” said Arum, adding that Pacquiao-Marquez 4 is certain to eclipse the returns of the third edition.

“There was no discount, no nothing, no nonsense.”

“Didn’t I say that there’s going to be a knockout (in this fight),” said Arum.

While he is willing to stage a fifth fight, Arum hinted it may take a while due to the nature of punishment both fighters endured.

Arum also said he wasn’t entirely surprised that the 39-year-old Marquez got the better of the 34-yearold Pacquiao. “(George) Foreman knocked out (Michael) Moorer when he was 44.”

Then he said the punchline: “Look at me.” ■

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Sports Darryl Yung, Hitting Deep into Badminton’s Courts

Darryl Yung at the 1996 Olympics

Philippine Canadian Inquirer GREATNESS. The seemingly lofty ideal towards which most, if not all, of humanity aspire. The mark which we all strive to acquire. For some, it remains an aspiration. Others actually work hard to achieve it.

No matter the area of life, the pursuit of greatness comes at a cost. And a whole lot of effort and discipline. Facts which Darryl Yung, badminton player par-excellence, is well-aware of.

This player-turned-coach is clearly leaving his mark of greatness, hitting deep into badminton’s courts.

The road to greatness Darryl Yung was born and raised in Victoria. BC. He holds the prestige of having represented the country in the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, USA (where he finished in the top ten), as well the titles of Canadian Open Champion, three-time Canadian National Champion and four-time Canadian Junior National Champion in the sport of badminton.

Greatness in his field did not happen overnight.

For Darryl, as with other athletes of top-caliber, it is a journey upon which he has embarked, spanning years of training and dedication to his passion.

Darryl started playing at the early age of 5. At the age of 14, he joined the Canadian National Junior Team for 4 years before joining the Canadian National Senior Team, with which he trained for 8 years.

He has spent a total of 35 years of his life playing badminton, training rigorously with several national training centres, including some in Asia and Europe.

Darryl always sought to reach greater degrees of excellence in his chosen sport, and this dedication has taken him all across the globe. He competed as a professional player for many years, and has since retired, but continues to take his quest for greatness to yet another level.

The responsibility that comes with greatness Winston Churchill once said that responsibility is the price of greatness. This is very much a double-edged sword, for responsibility is required to achieve greatness, but it is also what is required by greatness when it is achieved.

After his retirement as a pro badminton player, Darryl decided that the best way to fulfill the

responsibility attached to greatness in his field was to help others strive towards it, as well.

He started teaching badminton part-time at local community centres in and around the Vancouver area.

This foray into part-time teaching led him to establish ClearOne, which would centralize his efforts and teaching skills in one location.

The first ClearOne badminton facility opened in 2003, as a 6-court centre with Olympic court surfaces.

Here, amidst an organized and focused atmosphere, Darryl began training some of Canada’s top young prospects in the sport. To give back for all that he had achieved, Darryl decided that the centre be a public facility, with no membership fees and open for anyone to come in and play badminton.

In 2005, the second facility, originally named ClearTwo Badminton Centre opened its doors to the public. This facility, located within walking distance of ClearOne, boasts 13 Olympic court surfaces.

Darryl felt the need to open a second facility, in order to accommodate more students, and to have a place in which he could bring on Indonesian National team coaches Ronne Runtulalo and Sandiarto from Indonesia to assist him in his goal of developing a program that would someday produce an Olympic player.

Today, all of Darryl’s facilities go by the name ClearOne Badminton Centres, and are found in Richmond Browngate, Richmond Leslie, Port Coquitlam, Calgary & Orlando. These centres have a collective of 50 Olympic court surfaces. All ClearOne centres work towards the same goals: to raise the awareness of the sport of badminton, and to give each and every badminton athlete the tools they need to succeed, both on and off the court.

The cycle of greatness Darryl’ efforts towards perpetuating the cycle of greatness in the sport of badminton are already beginning to come to fruition.

Since opening ClearOne Badminton Centres, Darryl and his highly-qualified staff of coaches have had athletes win a total of 36 National titles. They have also produced many National finalists and numerous provincial title holders in the sport. They recently had their first Olympic qualifier, as well,

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 42

in the person of Toby Ng, who represented Canada in the London 2012 Olympics. Already, they are looking to the 2016 Olympics in Rio, hoping to have more of their trainees qualify for the sport.

“It is a true passion for me to train all athletes to be top players giving them the necessary skills technically, mentally and physically to someday represent Canada at the Olympic Summer Games,” says Darryl.

Darryl sums up the mission and vision behind ClearOne centres as threefold.

The first facet being, ClearOne is a company dedicated to bringing the International Badminton experience to the masses of Canada and North America.

Secondly, ClearOne aims to be the industry leader is every aspect of badminton and to innovate at all levels of the sport be it facility operation, event planning, product sales or teaching and athlete development.

And thirdly, ClearOne dreams to bring the sport of badminton into the mainstream of the North American Sporting culture through work ethic, style and expertise.

“I am very proud of my sport and believe that badminton at the grass roots level is the key to the success of our sport and ClearOne is training kids of all ages and all levels from beginners to Super Elite National Team players. With the support of the Badminton Community, we will succeed in our mission,” Darryl states.

And with this, the cycle of greatness, at least in the field of badminton, shall continue for years to come.

That is if Darryl has anything to do with it. And based on the tenacity of the man, he most definitely will. ■

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International News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 14, 2012 46

After stunning loss, Pacquiao faces tough choices: boxing, politics, showbiz?

BY HRVOJE HRANJSKI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Photo by Ryan Lim/Malacanang Photo Bureau/PNA

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao has already achieved what most of his countrymen can only dream of: lifting himself out of wrenching poverty, securing a future for his children and becoming a hero to Filipinos the world over.

Not content with just winning in the ring, Pacquiao also set about making his mark in politics.

But after his stunning loss to Juan Manuel Pacquiao and wife Jinky with President Aquino days before the December 8 fight.

Marquez in Las by clinching eight world titles in eight congress in neighbouring South Vegas on Saturday, the 34-year-old is facing some of the weight categories. At home, he was Cotabato province.

In the meantime, he promised to clean toughest questions of his remarkable declared a hero, “the people’s champ” 17-year career: does his future lay - an inspiration to the legions of the up his act: no more gambling, drinking in boxing, politics, show business, poor, and the man the rich and powerful and womanizing, and took up preaching the Bible. Some called it a public religion, or perhaps there’s even a new wanted to rub shoulders with.

As the titles, honours and money relations stunt for a budding politician, challenge on the horizon? but Pacquiao insisted it was for real.

“Being the king of boxing, being started pouring in, so did distractions.

Politicians, minor actors and an “To those who think that way, let us the highest paid athlete in boxing ... it goes with the territory,” boxing analyst assortment of hangers-on formed his leave them be. I will pray for them.

Even Jesus Christ, even after he Ed Tolentino said. “For Pacquiao, the huge entourage.

“You only need a Ferris wheel and performed miracles, no one believed fame was too much to handle. There was just too many things on his plate his training camp would have been a him, what more for a sinner like me,” circus,” Tolentino said. he said, adding he did not want to other than boxing.”

In a nation where celebrities, money be a pastor but share how “the Lord The distraction was costly for Pacquiao, who trained for two months, and politics equal a winning formula, changed my life.”

Pacquiao played his card by running Then came the first blow: a compared to 4 1/2 for Marquez. controversial decision awarding During that time the Mexican bulked for Congress in 2007, but lost.

The most popular face in town, he his June fight to Timothy Bradley. up and became more muscular to withstand the blows from Pacquiao turned to crooning his own songs. His Questions arose if Pacquiao was that proved so damaging in their three picture endorsed countless products. showing the wear of 17 years in the He’s a regular on TV, and hosts his own ring, and whether the distractions are previous encounters.

Pacquiao grew up a survivor and show. He’s made a movie. Another catching up with him.

Saturday’s loss to Marquez, whom fighter, overcoming poverty and cut- passion is cock fighting, a traditional he had beaten twice and drawn once, throat competition in a country where past time in the Philippines.

He was Pacquiao Inc. only made the question more urgent, half of the population lives on $2 a Showbiz “takes a lot of time, a lot of although Pacquiao made no mention of day and 3,000 leave for jobs overseas energy. You have to prepare for these a possible retirement. every day.

“Among boxers, they don’t have the He left high school to work as a shows,” said boxing commentator baker and a construction worker to Ronnie Nathanielsz. “(Pacquiao) loses word retirement in their dictionary. earn money for his mother and siblings focus because he has so many things to It’s so hard to admit that all of sudden it’s over, especially for Pacquiao,” after his father left them. As a scrawny worry about and attend to.”

Pacquiao was elected to Congress Tolentino said. teenager, he was a stowaway on a “His demotion was from the ship that took him from his southern from his southern Sarangani province hometown of General Santos City to in 2010, and has announced he penthouse to the doghouse,” he added. the capital, Manila, where he took up will run for re-election next year. “I think really there has to be a lot of Taking a cue from his political soul searching. ... He has to consult his boxing while working as a labourer.

After finding success in local bouts, allies, he appears to be building a family, his real entourage.” ■ --Pacquiao began his international political organization, with his wife, Associated Press writer Oliver Teves career in the late 1990s. In the next Jinkee, running for vice governor, decade, he became a household name and younger brother, Rogelio, for contributed to this report.

Editor Melissa Remulla-Briones editor@canadianinquirer.net Associate Editors Maria Ramona Ledesma Frances Grace H. Quiddaoen Correspondents Lizette Lofranco Aba Gigi Astudillo Jay Decenella Angie Duarte Dr. Rizaldy Ferrer Stella Reyes Katherine Marfal Heidi Ng Graphic Designer Victoria Yong Illustration Danvic C. Briones Photographers Solon Licas Ryan Ferrer Angelo Siglos Art Viray Operations and Marketing Head Laarni de Paula 1-888-668-6059 laarni.liwanag@canadianinquirer.net Sales Alice Yong (778) 889-3518 alice.yong@canadianinquirer.net Dominador Masakayan (604) 355-0692 masakayan@ il.com PHILIPPINE PUBLISHING GROUP Managing Editor Maita de Jesus Junior Art Director Kimberly Claire Bernardo Graphic Artists Reggie Goloy Maud Villanueva Editorial Assistant Phoebe Casin Associate Publisher Lurisa Villanueva Jr. Associate Publisher Millicent Agoncillo Project Coordinator Lychelle Ang In cooperation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer digital edition PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER is located at Suite 400 North Tower 5811 Cooney Road, Richmond B.C. Canada Tel No. 778-383-6090 / 778-383-3203 / (604) 279-8787 ext. 1722.

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ASIAN HEROES CANADA FOUNDATION and GLOBAL PINOY DIASPORA CANADA with THE PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL of Vancouver request your kind donation in cash and/or in kind, except used clothing, to be consolidated and sent to the victims of Typhoon "PABLO" in the Philippines.

They Need OUR Help...

The first dedicated mass for the victims will be held at St. Patrick’s Church to be celebrated by Fr. Edgar Polotan on December 15 at 10:30 AM.

“Just as government has become proactive, I

St. Patrick’s Church– Main St and 12th Ave in Vancouver

am seeing a greater spirit of cooperation among our fellow citizens. Still, Pablo has taken its toll, and I am confident that those of you who have always been giving generously in the past will take the time to lend a helping hand where it is needed. We are proving to the world that geographical gaps cannot shake the unity of the Filipino people," posted on President Aquino's Facebook page.

Masses at other locations are still being organized. Please get your Fil-Can community newspapers for further announcements.

Cash donation will be issued receipt for income tax purposes.

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Tagum, Davao, Del Norte—Images courtesy of Gerry Gorit/ GMA News, AFP, NormzGagarin, Mantisa Apal, Kristine R. Ravanera, Val Amiel Vestil & Jef Maitem/Rappler.

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