Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #102

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VOL. 2 NO. 102

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FEBRUARY 14, 2014

7

8

12

24

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Jobless Filipinos hit 12.1M

“Father hugged me. I was saved.”

Enrile, Estrada to steer clear of Tuason at hearing

Global Filipino: Dustin Andaya, the King of Roses

Love Letters

Most Filipinos asked in poll say they support arbitration case over China's territorial claims

radiate

LOVE

The Associated Press

PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER celebrates LOVE this week. Read love letters (on page 25) and see where to go for this love weekend in Canada (on page 46).

Enrile law firm keeps Ceza partner name secret

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—A Philippine government-commissioned survey has shown strong support among Filipinos to a decision to legally challenge China’s massive territorial claims in the South China Sea before an international arbitration tribunal, an official said Monday.

Independent pollster Social Weather Stations said 81 per cent of 1,550 Filipinos it surveyed supported the government’s decision to bring the long-raging territorial disputes before an arbitration body backed by the United Nations. The poll was taken by face-to-face interviews nationwide Dec. 11-16. Its sampling margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage

PHOTO BY MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s senior partners in his law firm, Pecabar, have invoked lawyer-client confidentiality to keep under wraps the true identity of the private partner of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) in the government’s project to

develop Port Irene.

In a letter to the Inquirer, Eleazar B. Reyes and Jesus Manalastas of the Ponce Enrile Reyes & Manalastas law firm, or Pecabar, clarified that they were merely representatives in August Star Holdings Corp., the company that took control of Ceza’s port operator Asia Pacific International Terminals Inc. (Apit)

Ruby: I have to do this ❱❱ PAGE 12

❱❱ PAGE 10 Enrile law

❱❱ PAGE 8 Most Filipinos

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 2

ANG PANGAKO AY HABANG BUHAY, 'DI ANG KONTRATA SA TELEPONO.

no term contracts

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Philippine News

3 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Meralco asks SC: Lift TRO on rate increase

EXPERIENCED, TENACIOUS, EFFECTIVE.

Utility firm warns of power outages

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO AND JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA ELECTRIC Co. (Meralco) told the Supreme Court that the continued suspension of its power rate hike would disrupt the power supply chain and force it to ration power that would result in brownouts.

At the continuation of the oral arguments on petitions to stop its rate increase, Meralco said it owed power generating companies P18 billion since the high tribunal froze the generation charge at P5.67 per kilowatthour because of the 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) that the court issued last Dec. 23.

But this statement of Meralco lawyer Victor Lazatin did not sit well with Associate JusticeMarvic Leonen.

Leonen countered that what the high court had temporarily stopped was Meralco’s Dec. 5, 2013, request for a rate hike application of P4.15/kWh to be staggered for three months and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approval of this request on Dec. 9.

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said the TRO covered only the November 2013 charges.

“The court is not insensitive to the time element,’’ Sereno said.

Leonen said that based on the matters raised by Meralco in its Dec. 5 letter, the TRO did not cover the (increases in) December, January and March.

“It escapes us that you read (the TRO) as freezing the P5.67/kWh generation charge. It is not there. You’re using it, that our decision will affect the power sector,’’ Leonen said.

Clarification

Lazatin said that Meralco had intended to clarify what the TRO meant last December but he noted that the high court had already gone on recess. He said he would file a motion seeking to clarify the TRO. It was the turn of Meralco to defend itself from the petitions seeking to permanently stop the P4.15/kWh rate increase that the ERC had approved for collection in December, February and March.

Meralco has 5.3 million customers in its franchise area that covers 31 cities and 80 municipalities inMetro Manila, the entire provinces of Bulacan, Rizal and Cavite; and parts of the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, Batangas and Pampanga.

The franchise area, home to 24.7 million people, accounts for about 50 per-

cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Lazatin said the petitioners— Muna lawmakers and Nasecore—were barking up thewrong tree as what theywere questioning was the increased “pass through’’ generation charges of the generation companies (gencos) that resulted from the shutdowns of the Malampaya facility and several power plants.

“Petitioners have no issue with Meralco’s distribution charge, which has not changed. And yet, Meralco finds itself in the vortex of the controversy, which should have been properly a case between the petitioners and the gencos,’’ Lazatin said.

He insisted that Meralco was a distributing utility and its share in the electricity bill had to do with the distribution charge.

Lazatin urged the high court to lift its TRO, which ends on Feb. 23, and for it to deny the petitioners’ appeal for a writ of preliminary injunction.

Warning

The Meralco lawyer warned that the continued TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction would disrupt the power supply chain.

Lazatin initially said the power distribution firm had owed gencos some P11 billion to P12 billion but this ballooned to P18 billion because of high power rates at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). He said the P18billion collection deficiency covered the December and January billing.

“As the unpaid fuel suppliers will stop delivering fuel to the gencos, the unpaid gencos will stop generating and delivering power to Meralco, and Meralco will have insufficient power and will have to ration power resulting in blackouts,’’ Lazatin said.

He said the TRO saw Meralco freezing the generation charge at P5.67/kWh. While power supply is sufficient “for now,’’ the demand will increase in the summer months, peaking at 17 percent in April, according to the Meralco lawyer.

Lazatin said the economy would suffer because of rotating brownouts.

“If at all, all gencos and other beneficiaries should likewise be enjoined from collecting these pass through charges from Meralco,’’ Lazatin said.

Shutdown justified

Meralco said the rate increase was due to the shutdown of the Malampaya gas pipeline for maintenance from Nov. 11 to Dec. 10.

A number of power generation plants also shut down during this time, creat-

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604.273.6411 208 - 4940 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC www.cbelaw.com ing a 45-percent shortfall in the average 6,000 megawatts that Meralco supplies to customers.

Meralco said the shortfall forced it to buy a more expensive supply from WESM and to pass on the cost to its customers.

The shutdown of the pipeline also forced plants that use the cheaper natural gas from Malampaya and supply power to Meralco to use more expensive fuel.

‘By the book’

Lazatin insisted that Meralco “played by the book” but added that there were some regulations in the power industry that the company would have “wished” to be deleted, among them the “mustoffer” rule for all gencos that required them to offer prices for electricity they were selling even if they already have a supply agreement with distribution utilities, such as Meralco.

He also denounced gencos, which he said made offers to supply electricity but did not do so, and those that made an offer but not to the maximum level as Meralco grappled with the looming shortfall due to the simultaneous shutdown of power plants.

The lawyer also blamed the Commission on Elections’ request for the power plants to postpone their scheduled maintenance shutdowns from October last year, when the barangay polls were held, to November. He said it was Na-

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tional Grid Corp. of the Philippines that approved the simultaneous shutdowns.

He said Meralco also made “private efforts” to stop the increase by asking Philippine Electricity Market Corp.

(PEMC), which operates WESM, for an “administrative” or controlled price of electricity after learning about the simultaneous shutdowns.

However, PEMC, Lazatin said, rejected Meralco’s request, saying WESM rules cover only disasters and security emergencies.

Carpio interpellates

Justice Antonio Carpio’s interpellation of Lazatin focused on the power supply agreement (PSA) between Meralco and one of its suppliers, Therma Mobile Inc. (TMO).

Since the PSA gave Meralco the power to dictate to TMO what prices to offer, Carpio said it appeared that Meralco was acting both as the buyer and the seller.

The petitioners claimed there was a collusion because, in accordance with WESM rules, the P62 per kWh cap price offered by TMO also became the price offer by all other power suppliers when Meralco was buying electricity for its 10-percent shortfall.

Carpio said it appeared that the price of P62 “was established by one party,” referring to Meralco. ❱❱ PAGE 11 Meralco asks

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 4

Palace opposes lifting of TRO on rate hike

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA, TJ A. BURGONIO AND GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer MALACAÑANG JOINED calls against lifting the Supreme Court’s suspension of the P4.15 per kilowatt-hour rate increase, reminding Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) that its distribution business—along with the rest of the power industry—was “imbued with public interest.”

“Government believes that unjustifiable price hikes should not be passed on to the people,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma told reporters, the day after Meralco told the high court that the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the rate increase would lead to power outages.

“Therefore, the proposed petition for the lifting of the TRO is not consistent with the public interest,” Coloma said.

The 60-day TRO on the rate increase, the biggest so far, will expire on Feb. 23.

The Palace said President

Aquino remained “firm on the general welfare provision of the Constitution,” amid proposals that the government consider taking over Meralco to prevent power disruption in the future.

“He always reminds us, whenever we have discussions on issues, that if there are doubts or something is not clear regarding the interpretation of different laws, the President has the responsibility to ensure the general welfare of the citizens,” Coloma said.

P18B owed

During oral arguments, Meralco lawyer Victor Lazatin said the company owed power generators P18 billion because of the TRO issued by the Supreme Court last Dec. 23 froze the P5.67 per kWh in generation charge.

But Justice Marvic Leonen corrected Lazatin, saying the suspension affected only application for a P4.15/ kWh increase to be implemented in December, February and March.

Lazatin said unpaid suppliers would stop delivering fuel to

power plants that in turn would stop generating and delivering electricity to Meralco. The result, he said, would be blackouts.

While power supply was sufficient “for now,” the demand would increase in the summer months, with the demand peaking at 17 percent in April. In the end, the economy would suffer from the rotating brownouts, the Meralco lawyer told the high court.

Simultaneous shutdowns

After the Malampaya plant went on scheduled shutdown from Nov. 11 to Dec. 10, which overlapped with the shutdown of generating plants, Meralco was forced to buy power at a high rate from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).

The simultaneous shutdowns created a 45-percent shortfall in the average 6,000 megawatts (MW) that Meralco supplies to customers.

The Senate energy committee has opened an inquiry into the possible collusion that led to high power rates.

Foreseeable event

Malacañang reiterated the President’s position that the maintenance shutdown of the Malampaya natural gas plant was a “foreseeable event for which Meralco and other industry players should have prepared.”

“The President also believes in enforcing the provision of the Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) on possible disgorgement of profits if current investigations by the DOE (Department of Energy) and the DOJ (Department of Justice) will establish that there has been collusion among the industry players,” Coloma said.

we’re not expecting any shortage to cause brownouts in the next few months,” Trillanes told reporters, reacting to Meralco’s arguments before the Supreme Court.

Then he added: “However, if they would dare to do so, as a blackmail to the Supreme Court and the government, then we will call all of its owners and make them face the wrath of the people.”

He was referring to the Senate inquiry into the record P4.15 per kWh rate adjustment that Meralco was to collect from its 5.3 million customers to pay for at least P9.6 billion in additional generation costs until it was restrained by the high court.

Face public wrath

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV scoffed at the power distributor’s warning of power outages if it failed to pay power generation costs, threatening to summon its owners to face public “wrath.”

Trillanes said Meralco should not be issuing such a threat because there was sufficient power supply.

“There’s enough supply. So

Dare to Meralco

Bayan Muna dared Meralco to carry out its threat of power outrages.

In a press conference, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said that such course of action would compel the government to take over Meralco’s operations ❱❱ PAGE 13 Palace opposes

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Philippine News

5 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Palace vows reforms at BOC

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer ADMITTING THAT smuggling is “no small-time problem,” Malacañang outlined the government’s efforts to deal with it through “systemic reforms.”

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is the target of those reforms, after previous corrective measures failed to stop the agency’s officials and employees from abetting big-time traders in smuggling in exchange for billions of pesos in bribe.

Malacañang and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) announced fresh attempts to stem revenue losses through smuggling as Sen. Cynthia Villar, chief of the Senate agriculture committee investigating rice smuggling through the ports, called on the Department of Justice to file criminal charges against Davidson Bangayan, alias David Tan, for rice smuggling.

On Monday, Bangayan told Villar’s committee that it was common practice for rice import permits to be sold to traders.

“At least, we were able to connect him to rice trading and definitely—I’m not a lawyer— but my opinion is that if you use other people to import for your benefit, that is illegal,” Villar told reporters.

In Malacañang, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said it was not enough to revamp the BOC, which President Aquino had already done by appointing former Finance Undersecretary John Philip Sevilla to the top post at the agency.

“It’s not enough. We need systemic reforms,” Coloma said in a press conference, referring to the six “reform measures” now being implemented at the customs bureau.

Fresh measures

The measures include the establishment of a “centralized single reference for valuation information, a single dispute resolution process for valuation, digitization of every single formal transaction, review of the monitoring of customs bonded warehouses, revamp of the importer accreditation process, and intensified monitoring of sensitive imports.”

“One simplified way of look-

ing at this is to automate and to transition to a purely electronic system where there is almost no human intervention,” Coloma said.

The Palace said it appreciated the report of the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which estimated at $410.5 billion the total amount of “illicit funds” that flowed through the Philippines from 1960 to 2011.

Of the amount, $277.6 billion allegedly came through underreporting merchandise shipped into the country, according to economist Brian LeBlanc, one of the authors of the GFI report on illicit money inflows to the Philippines.

“This is mostly importers trying to avoid VAT taxes or import tariffs,” LeBlanc said. “Customs corruption is a huge issue in the Philippines,” he said.

Corruption at the BOC has cost the government at least $23 billion in forgone tax revenues since 1990, the GFI said in its report titled “Illicit Financial Flows to and from the Philippines: A Study in Dynamic Situation, 1960-2011.”

Not small time

Reacting to the report, Coloma said the administration “assumed office without any illusion that this is a small-time problem.”

“We realized that this is a systemic and deeply rooted problem that is why we are prepared to address it strategically and to adopt long-term solutions,” he said.

Coloma stressed, however, that the Aquino administration “accounts for only three, or one-seventeenth of the 51 years,” covered by the GFI study.

“This is an administration that from Day One has committed itself to the proposition that good governance equals good economics and has made the campaign against corruption the cornerstone of its good governance program,” he added.

“So we appreciate studies like this that shed light on the nature, extent and scope of corruption in the hope that this will give us valuable insights that will aid the government in further strengthening institutional reforms that will ensure that corruption will be minimized, if not totally eradicated,” he said.

Also reacting to the GFI re-

port, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares told a news conference that the administration would tighten the channels traditionally used by smugglers to avoid paying customs duties.

Itemization of goods

Henares said the Department of Finance would require the itemization of merchandise.

“Imports can no longer be lumped [together] in a single figure [in their declaration forms],” Henares said.

She explained that highly dutiable goods are lumped together and misdeclared under misleading descriptions to avoid high customs tariffs.

One example, she said, is the use of the label “collared shirts” to describe expensive signature shirts that are sold in high-end boutiques, or “food items” to describe expensive beef from other countries.

Henares said there were standing instructions for itemization of imports, but the new finance department order would give the system more teeth.

She said the BOC would be asked to reevaluate preaudit and postaudit procedures of importers to better determine which ones were faithfully complying with regulations.

“We will also come out with a revenue memorandum order and a customs order for accreditation [of brokers who can deal with the customs bureau] as to what the criteria are, who will be accredited and how you can maintain accreditation status,” she said.

In the Palace, Coloma said the government had filed 157 cases of tax evasion since 2010, an average of one case a week.

He said the BOC had “taken steps to promote transparency and openness, simplified transactions, and adopted a systemic approach to plug loopholes and minimize opportunities for graft and corruption.”

Still, smugglers continue to get away because of entrenched corruption, one of the reasons why the BOC misses its revenue collection goals.

Revenue shortfalls

In January, the bureau failed to meet its revenue target of P31.3 billion, with total collections amounting to P29.36 billion, a shortfall of P1.94 billion.

According to the BOC’s fiwww.canadianinquirer.net

The Bureau of Customs is the target of reforms, after previous corrective measures failed to stop the agency’s officials and employees from abetting bigtime traders in smuggling in exchange for billions of pesos in bribe.

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

nancial service office, the collections for January were 6.2 percent off the bureau’s goal for the 21-day trading period in that month.

Still, the total revenues were P4.82 billion, or 19.6 percent more than the P24.54 billion the bureau collected in the same period in 2013.

According to the financial service office report, eight of the BOC’s 17 collection district across the country missed their revenue targets in January.

They include the country’s three biggest ports—the Manila International Container Port, Port of Manila and Ninoy Aquino International Airport— with collections and shortfalls of P8.15 billion (P1.090 billion); P5.38 billion (P1.43 billion) and P2.09 billion (P747.1million), respectively.

Their revenue goals were P9.24 billion, P6.82 billion and P2.84 billion, respectively.

Collection shortfalls were also recorded at Clark International Airport, P70.1 million; Aparri, Cagayan, P25.4 million; Tacloban City, P18.4 million; Legazpi City, P11.9million; and Surigao City, P100,000.

Surpluses

On the other hand, these

ports registered revenue surpluses: Batangas City, P615.2 million; Subic Freeport in Zambales, P490.6 million; Davao City, P89.7million; Iloilo City, P88.9 million; San Fernando City, La Union, P80.2 million; Cebu City, P43.7 million; Cagayan de Oro City, P31.3 million; Limay, Bataan, P8.9 million; and Zamboanga City, P1.6million.

In 2013, the BOC collected a little more than P300 billion, which was more than P35 billion short of its annual target of P340 billion.

Filing of charges

In the Senate, Villar said the agriculture committee recommended the filing of charges against the smugglers way back in February last year.

She said the Senate legal department was preparing perjury charges against Bangayan for his repeated denial during the hearings that he was the alleged rice smuggler David Tan. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile moved to cite Bangayan in contempt for lying to the committee by denying he was David Tan when evidence held by the committee and testimony from witnesses pointed to him and Tan as the same person. ■

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 6

UN seeks $19M more for Bohol

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE UNITED Nations humanitarian agency has renewed its call for donor support in quakedevastated Bohol and nearby provinces as it noted urgent shelter needs for more than 360,000 displaced people in Central Visayas.

In a statement, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) appealed to donors to fill the $19million (P885 million) funding gap in the $33.8-million revised Bohol action plan, which seeks to address the remaining humanitarian needs in the disaster zone until April.

International donors had earlier contributed a total $15.1 million (P680 million) to the six-month plan (October to April), which lays down the United Nations’ early recovery programs in affected areas.

The revised plan released reduced the United Nations’ funding request from the original $46.8-million (P2.1 billion)

plan following assessment and consultation with government and stakeholders as humanitarian work on the ground has already shifted to the recovery phase, Ocha said.

Shifting to ‘ Yolanda’

Luiza Carvalho, United Nations’ resident humanitarian coordinator in the Philippines, cited how the United Nations continued to do parallel work in quake-hit provinces even while donor priority shifted to providing relief to more than 14 million people affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: “Haiyan”) barely amonth after the Bohol disaster.

“The Philippines authorities and humanitarian partners have contended with a series of disasters, including Supertyphoon Haiyan, since the 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Bohol on Oct. 15 last year. We are continuing to support the authorities’ efforts on many fronts and will not forget the plight of people affected in Bohol,” said Carvalho.

“Although Typhoon Haiyan did not cause significant damage on Bohol, it had a strong impact on the response, as many government and international humanitarian resources were moved from Bohol to address needs caused by Haiyan,” Ocha said separately in its revised action plan.

7.2-magnitude quake

The 7.2-magnitude Bohol quake displaced some 367,580 people across Central Visayas as it either damaged or destroyed some 79,217 houses and 4,617 schools.

Providing shelter to those who lost their homes and removing them from unsafe living conditions is now top priority, said the United Nations, as it noted how aftershocks were “still common” in quake-hit areas.

“People move frequently between their damaged homes and tents—depending on aftershocks and weather events.

Landslides and aftershocks push them out of the house and into the tents, while flooding and heavy rains drive them

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Men on a motorcycle pass through a damaged mountain road near the town of Loon in Bohol, the Philippines, following the earthquake on 15 October 2013.

PHOTO FROM IRIN / JASON GUTIERREZ

back into unsafe homes,” said Ocha in its revised action plan.

“As aftershocks are still common, support for durable shelter solutions is urgently needed to help people get out of these

unsafe conditions,” the humanitarian agency said.

The world body is also hoping to rebuild schools, with classes still being held in some 839 makeshift classrooms. ■

Philippine News

7 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Hardliner said to be Jobless Filipinos hit 12.1M SWS: Unemployment rate rose to 27.5% in Q4 new BIFF head

BY NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer THE MILITARY believes the leader of the breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), Ameril Umra Kato, had suffered a stroke and the secessionist group was now under the command of Kato’s right-hand man.

Kato remains the BIFF chieftain but his top aide, Commander Muhaiden Animbang, aka Kagi Karialan, who fought in the recent offensives in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, was now issuing the commands, Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said.

Hermoso said details were scant about Karialan. “But we know he is a hardliner, hardcore. He’s the one leading now.

I don’t know his qualifications,” Hermoso told the INQUIRER by phone.

In an offensive dubbed Operation Darkhorse II, the military recently attacked known strongholds of the BIFF, which is opposed to the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Over 50 suspected BIFF fighters were reported killed in the encounter.

Hermoso said government troops recovered an improvised litter and stretcher, as well as medicines from a BIFF camp in Barangay Ganta, Reina Re-

gente, Maguindanao.

“They were able to bring him out right away,” Hermoso said, referring to Kato. Hermoso added that Reina Regente was a huge area that encompassed several villages where the BIFF had established camps, like Ganta and Barangay Bakat.

Hermoso said that Kato was apparently evacuated early on during the offensive that began on Jan. 26.

Hermoso said Kato remained the BIFF leader but “with his health condition—he is already bedridden—he can no longer give commands.”

Hermoso said Kato could not move on his own since suffering a stroke. “It is Karialan who has taken over the older fighter’s duties,” the military officer added.

The military, however, has not been able to lay a hand on either Kato or Karialan.

While Kato and Karialan remain at large, the military said the objective of Operation Darkhorse II had been achieved, which was to dismantle the strongholds of the BIFF. “We’ve met this objective by being able to capture the camps of the BIFF,” said Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs chief.

Zagala said Operation: Darkhorse II was the continuation of Operation: Darkhorse I which was launched against the BIFF before September last year. ■

Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—The number of unemployed Filipinos in the last quarter of 2013 swelled to more than 12 million, making the 7.2-percent growth in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year, considered the second-fastest after China, far from inclusive.

The unemployment rate rose to 27.5 percent, or an estimated 12.1 million individuals, as 2.5 million Filipinos joined the ranks of the jobless between September and December, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found.

The level of joblessness across the country was almost 6 points higher than the 21.7 percent (some 9.6 million) in the previous quarter, results of the SWS survey conducted from Dec. 11 to 16 showed. The results were first published in BusinessWorld.

Nikka Policarpio, 19, who graduated from the University of Santo Tomas last year with a degree in journalism, is among the millions of unemployed.

Nearly a year after college, Policarpio is already in between jobs since she left her first job last month as a marketing communications specialist.

“I have been applying at different media companies for less than a month now… I want to take a rest before I start working again,” said Policarpio, who resigned from her nine-month stint with a cosmetics company because the low compensation did not match the heavy workload.

The high unemployment rate despite the high GDP growth may have contributed to the pessimistic outlook of Filipinos last December.

A survey by another polling outfit, Pulse Asia, found that 55 percent of Filipinos felt the national quality of life deteriorated in the past 12 months. They also expected the situation to remain the same for the whole of 2014.

‘Understandable’

The military believes the leader of the breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Ameril Umra Kato (in photo), had suffered a stroke and the secessionist group was now under the command of Kato’s right-hand man, Commander Muhaiden Animbang, aka Kagi Karialan.

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Malacañang on Monday described as “understandable” the findings of the SWS survey.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda pointed to calamities that hit the country last year to help “explain” why unemployment rate increased to 27.5 percent at the end of 2013. www.canadianinquirer.net

Lacierda cited Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), which devastated central Philippines last November, and the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol and Cebu provinces a month earlier.

According to the Genevabased International Organization for Migration, some 6 million workers saw their livelihood destroyed or disrupted as a result of Yolanda.

Lacierda said the siege of Zamboanga City by Nur Misuari’s followers “also disrupted” economic activity in the area.

“Certainly, it’s very unfortunate that these things happened, but we have to rise up. That is the role of government: to provide for its people,” he said.

‘Bloodied but unbowed’

“We were bloodied but unbowed,” Lacierda added, borrowing the words of William Ernest Henley’s poem, “Invictus.”

Despite the increase in the unemployment rate, Lacierda said the government would “continue to ensure that our people find employment.”

The latest jobless rate, however, was below the 34.4 percent posted in March 2012.

The unemployment rate has mostly remained over 20 percent since May 2005, according to SWS. It was under 15 percent from 1993 to March 2004, and was within 16.5 percent to 19 percent from August 2004 to March 2005.

Different definitions

The SWS definition of unemployment covers respondents aged 18 and above who are “without a job at present and looking for a job.” This excludes those not looking for work such as housewives, students and retired or disabled persons.

This is different from the official definition in the Labor Force Survey (LFS), which covers per-

sons 15 years and over who are reported not working, looking for work and available for work.

The government’s latest LFS put the official unemployment rate at 6.5 percent (about 2.6 million Filipinos) as of October 2013.

The SWS survey also found that 40 percent of respondents believed there would be more jobs in the next 12 months, 31 percent claimed the number of available jobs would remain the same, while 21 percent expected fewer jobs.

Unemployment picked up sharply among men (from 13.4 percent to 21.2 percent) but remained higher among women (from 32.4 percent to 35.9 percent).

Highest among 18-24

Across age groups, joblessness remained highest among those 18-24 years old (52.3 percent). It was 33.1 percent in the 25-34 age bracket, 25 percent in the 35-44 age bracket and 17.7 percent among those 45 years old and older.

The nationwide unemployment included those who were retrenched (10.4 percent), resigned from their jobs (13.5 percent), and first-time job seekers (3.5 percent).

‘Endo’

Of those retrenched, 6.8 percent did not have their contracts renewed (also called “endo” or end of contract, usually after six months so that the workers won’t be regularized and the employer won’t pay benefits), 1.6 percent had employers whose businesses ceased operations and 2 percent were laid off.

The survey, which used faceto-face interviews with 1,550 Filipinos, had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.5 percentage points. ■ Reports from Rafael L. Antonio and Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research; and Christian V. Esguerra

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 8

“Father hugged me. I was saved”– Florida bus crash survivor Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Father hugged me. I was saved.

That was the account of Amian Sicam, son of artist David Sicam, as he recalled the moment when the wayward Florida Transport bus they were riding fell into a ravine in Bontoc, Mountain Province last Friday.

The crash killed David Sicam and 13 other passengers, including comedian Arvin Jimenez, popularly known as “Tado.” Amian survived.

Fely, aunt of David Sicam, said that based on the accounts of the artist’s youngest son Amian, he was hugged by his father as the bus plunged into the deep ravine.

Amian sustained minor bruises while his elder son, Agong, suffered minor bone injuries.

Meanwhile, the G.V. Florida Transport which owned the bus that plunged into a ravine in Bontoc, Mountain Province last Friday has not yet tried to reach out to the families of the dead victims, or at least to one of those killed.

BY NIÑA P. CALLEJA Philippine Daily Inquirer

This unit of the GV Florida Transport Inc fell off a ravine on the morning of Feb. 7, 2014, landing at a small farm in Barangay (village)Talubin, Bontoc town in Mt. Province. The bus came from Manila. The accident killed 14 people, including 2 foreigners and comedian Arvin “Tado” Jimenez whose remains were driven back to Manila on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014.

PHOTO BY RICHARD BALONGLONG/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

“Whatever compensation you give them now, it will not compensate for the grief….Give justice to the families. They were innocent…If one dies many are affected,” said Fely.

She said the bus company has not yet tried to talk to them.

The accident prompted the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board to impose a 30-day suspension on

G.V. Florida Transport Inc. and Mt. Province Cable Tours.

Based on a report, the bus that crashed had a G.V. Florida body marking but its plate number was assigned to another bus company, the Mt. Province Cable Tours.

David Sicam was one of the 14 people who were killed in the accident. The 35-year-old art-

China and the Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping claims across the busy and resource-rich South China Sea, with China and Taiwan claiming the largest swathe of the strategic waters.

In its complaint, the Philippines listed several aggressive moves it alleged were launched

by China in recent years to fortify its territorial claims, including the occupation of South China Sea is-

allows Chinese patrol vessels to block and board foreign ships passing through Chineseclaimed waters.

The Philippines was ready to submit its legal defence and evidence before the tribunal before a March 30 deadline, Hernandez said. ■

❱❱ PAGE 10 “Father hugged”

Most Filipinos... points.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the strong public support bolstered the government’s resolve to pursue the legal battle with the Asian superpower.

“We are in a way empowered and encouraged by this result,” Hernandez said in a news conference, where he and SWS officials presented the survey results.

The survey findings, he said, showed Filipinos “are behind this decision of the government to pursue a peaceful resolution of the disputes based on the rule of law.”

China has ignored the Philippines’ defiant move, insisting on one-on-one negotiation to resolve regional territorial conflicts. Such a negotiation, which would give China an advantage because of its sheer size, has been rejected by the Philippines. ❰❰ 1

‘Forget death penalty, free innocent cons’

lands and the enactment of a Chinese law that www.canadianinquirer.net

THE CATHOLIC Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reminded lawmakers who want to revive the death penalty that many prisoners who had been wrongfully convicted were languishing in prison.

Rudy Diamante, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, said a coalition of groups against the death penalty had been documenting cases of wrongful conviction in the country to strengthen their argument that the revival of the death penalty w o u l d do more harm than good.

Dubbed the Innocence Project, the group gives free legal help to convicts and uses DNA technology and investigative techniques to overturn wrongful convictions, Diamante said.

“We have interviewed 400 detainees we believe were wrongfully convicted. There are 10 cases our lawyers are trying to reopen in court,” Diamante said in a forum on Tuesday. He was joined by Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, lawyer Romulo Macalintal and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza.

Partnering with the CBCP, the law schools of the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Davao University and De La Salle University have held seminars to train students in DNA analysis.

Innocence Project Philippines was convened after the documentary “Give up Tomorrow,” which follows the case of

Juan Larrañaga who was sentenced to death for the 1997 rape and murder of two sisters in Cebu City, was shown.

“It sparked the movement to find and help prisoners who had been wrongfully convicted,” Diamante said.

Larrañaga was offered clemency by the government of Spain where he is serving his sentence, but he turned it down since he would have had to admit guilt.

“We are tracing who are the wrongfully convicted (prisoners) because there are a lot. If they want to bring back the death p e n a l t y, t h e y should l o o k closely into the defective justice system,” Diamante said.

In a statement, the CBCP said the imposition of capital punishment was “unchristian and inhuman.”

“The stance against the death penalty is in no way a posture to let criminal offenders go scot-free. The Catholic Church believes in justice and this is ranked high in its hierarchy of values,” the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care said.

Rather than take away “precious human life,” the CBCP said it wanted the government to explore alternatives to mete out justice.

“For one, it seriously considers and vigorously advocates a shift in the paradigm of justice from litigation to mediation, prosecution to healing, punishment to reform and rehabilitation, from the retributive to the restorative,” it said. ■

Philippine News

9 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Mike A’s lawyer tagged De Lima: Malampaya mystery man to be named

BY JEROME ANING AND GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer JUSTICE SECRETARY Leila de Lima linked a former lawyer of Jose Miguel Arroyo, husband of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to the scandal involving the misuse of P900 million in government royalties from the operation of the Malampaya gas field off Palawan province.

Speaking at a news conference, De Lima said lawyer Jesus “Jess” Santos had something to do with the scam, based on the testimony of Ruby Tuason, a former social secretary to former President Joseph Estrada, now mayor of Manila, and wife of Arroyo’s late cousin.

Tuason returned from the United States yesterday, offering to serve as state witness and tell all she knows about the P10-billion pork barrel and Malampaya Fund scams in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Mysterious beneficiary

De Lima said Tuason’s testimony would uncover the identity of the mysterious beneficiary of a portion of the misused funds.

About P243 million was allegedly withdrawn from the fund for Tuason’s unnamed principal.

“What Mrs. Tuason is confirming to us now is that deliveries of money were made at her house to his brother, now deceased. He was the one who was dealing with someone. But she said she also witnessed the delivery of the money and she mentioned a name, the one who was getting the money in their house and that can lead us to Attorney Jess Santos,” De Lima said.

“We all know who he (Santos) is. This is a very important development because, at first, we were still not sure who the undisclosed principal is. With her revelation, Mrs. Tuason is mentioning a name so we will pursue this,” De Lima said, adding that the Malampaya case was still being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman.

“Finally we have an idea who the undisclosed principal is. We will build on this,” she added.

De Lima declined to elaborate on the leads provided by Tuason.

Who, me?

Santos adamantly denied that he served as bagman for the unnamed principal.

In a phone interview, Santos said he did not know and never met Tuason.

But he recalled meeting a certain “Ruby Tuason” who was peddling guns to him 20 years ago, although he said he was not sure if this was the same person as his accuser.

Tuason’s family owns Arms Corp. of the Philippines (Armscor), a major firearms and ammunition supplier.

Santos said he also did not know Tuason’s late husband, Butch Tuason, a first cousin of Mike Arroyo.

“The mother of FG is a Tuason, but I do not know them,” Santos said.

“So how can I know where her home is when I never knew who she is. I never even knew there was a Malampaya Fund, I only read about it in the newspapers,” he said.

Santos said he ceased being Arroyo’s lawyer four years ago, but admitted visiting him in his office at LTA Building in Makati City and also visiting former President Arroyo at Veterans Memorial Medical Center, where she is detained while un-

der trial on electoral fraud and plunder charges.

He said he would take legal action after getting a copy of Tuason’s affidavit.

Santos was last in the news when he became a lawyer for former party-list Rep. Jovito Palparan who was charged with the abduction and murder of two University of the Philippines students.

In 2012, the Bureau of Internal Revenue filed charges of tax evasion against Santos over the salaries, allowances and bonuses he received when he was a member of the Government Service Insurance System board of trustees.

‘Extremely irresponsible’

Ferdinand Topacio, current lawyer for Arroyo, accused De Lima of “extreme irresponsibility and lack of ethics, logic and common human decency” in “heavily insinuating” that Arroyo was involved in the Malampaya Fund scam.

“It is unlawyerly and unseemly of a public official sworn to impartially applying criminal laws,” Topacio said in a statement.

He said Tuason’s testimony, though “bare and untested,” was being used in the “continuing persecution” of the family of former President Arroyo by the Aquino administration.

“The fact that the unproven testimony of Tuason says she handed [money] to Attorney Santos—which he says he will strongly dispute as he does not know Tuason from Adam, and which he will prove—cannot by any stretch of logic or imagination be made to implicate Attorney Arroyo,” Topacio said.

“So what if Attorney Santos was the counsel of our client? Ms De Lima should know enough that there is no such creature as guilt by association

www.canadianinquirer.net

Jesus Santos (bottom photo), a former lawyer of Jose Miguel Arroyo (top photo), was linked by state witness Ruby Tuason to the Malampaya Fund scams.

PHOTO FROM BULATLAT.COM AND INTERAKSYON.COM

or even guilt by lawyering,” he said.

De Lima, he said, should exercise more restraint, as her pronouncements are usually carried by the press.

“Allusions, innuendo, obloquy and asides have no place in a modern and civilized justice system, in which her department plays a not insignificant part,” Topacio said.

“There is the old saying she must need that goes: Better be quiet and be thought of as a fool than speak and remove all doubts,” he added.

Corroboration

Tuason’s

lawyer,

Dennis

Manalo, said Tuason corroborated the evidence presented by the whistle-blowers in the pork barrel scam, including the names of the personages and the amount of money involved.

Manalo said Tuason would name more people aside from those already tagged in the investigation.

In her brief talk with Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and De Lima after submitting her affidavit, Tuason said it was her troubled conscience that drove her to come forward and testify in the case.

She said it was a difficult decision, as some of the people involved were close to her. ■

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 10

Enrile law... two years ago, which they claimed was owned by “a group of Ceza locators/investors” that they did not identify.

“We, as lawyers, are strictly bound by the Rules of Court and Code of Professional Responsibility from disclosing or being examined, without the consent of our client, ‘as to any communications’ made by the client to his lawyer, or ‘his advice given thereon in the course of, with a view to his professional employment’ (the attorney-client privileged communication), not to mention the penalties imposed by our criminal law on violations of such ‘betrayal of trust’ or ‘revelation of secrets,’” they said.

Data culled by the Inquirer showed that Manalastas and Reyes were incorporating stockholders of August Star along with three former Pecabar lawyers—Loreto C. Ata, Pablo A. de Borja and Rainier L. Madrid—all of whom paid P12.5 million each for the obscure financial holding company’s P65-million paid-up capital as of August 2012.

August Star’s office is located at Pecabar’s headquarters on the third floor of Vernida IV Building on Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City.

By virtue of their holdings in August Star, the five lawyers were elected as directors of Apit with another Pecabar associate, Kay Angela Peñaflorida, acting as the sixth director and Apit’s corporate secretary.

Apit is virtually under full control of the Pecabar group, as Reyes and Manalastas are also the company’s chair/president and treasurer, respectively.

Reyes and Manalastas said that when Apit and Ceza signed its build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) contract in May 23, 2000 ❰❰ 1

(which was approved by then President Joseph Estrada), it was originally owned by the Rafael J. Dizon Jr. Group, which they described as a “reputable group well experienced in the operation and development of seaports in the country.”

They said a new group of shareholders—a consortium led by Wilfredo Serafica—acquired the Dizon group’s shareholdings in Apit in 2004.

Pooling of funds

“It was only in mid-2012, after the BOT contract had been in effect for 12 years that a group of Ceza locators/investors pooled their resources to acquire the Serafica group’s shareholdings, which is about 81.25 percent of Apit’s then outstanding capital stock. We were engaged by this group to handle the ‘pooling’ of the funds and the acquisition of the shares, which is the reason why we organized a new company, August Star,” Reyes and Manalastas said.

They denied that the ownership structure of Apit was “intentionally designed for an iniquitous purpose, i.e., to conceal an unlawful ownership of the company.”

“This structure was not patterned after the Marcos-era [legal tactics] but is the prevailing form or vehicle of stockholders’ [aggroupment] practiced in present-day business, especially for investments in long-term development and infrastructure projects,” they said. “The insinuation that we are concealing something illegal relative to the ownership of Apit is malicious.”

A high-level government lawyer, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject, claimed that Apit’s corporate structure was patterned after Marcos-era legal tactics to hide a company’s true owner-

Port Irene in Cagayan Freeport Sta. Ana, Cagayan. A big-time contractor, who has close personal and business ties to the former chief of staff of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and her family, cornered the bulk of P5 billion in state largesse given to the Cagayan Freeport in the last five years.

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ship.

The same lawyer noted that Pecabar was formed in 1983 by Enrile and the late Sen. Rene Cayetano after a falling out with their partners at Accra (Angara Cruz Concepcion Regala and Abello), the country’s most powerful law firm during the martial law years, which specialized in weaving corporate veils to conceal the real owners of companies, such as the businesses established with financing from the coconut levy fund.

Enrile connection

Reyes and Manalastas also took note of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s insinuation that their founding partner, Enrile, had “financial interests” in the P5.101-billion, governmentfunded breakwater project in Port Irene, suggesting that he had a hand in picking the contractor, Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corp. of businesswoman Alice Eduardo.

“Such implication is unduly strained and does not actually fit reality,” Reyes and Manalastas said, noting that Enrile has been “on leave” from Pecabar since 1987 when he was first elected to the Senate.

Enrile has denied having anything to do with Ceza or Apit or

Enrile’s alleged influence in the disbursement of P5.101 billion in public funds to pay for the breakwater project handled by Eduardo.

“Enrile was able to insert this humongous amount in the budget for the Cagayan Freeport for the last five years. It appears that Enrile used their names to surreptitiously morph the Freeport into the main vehicle for smuggling and other illicit operations,” Santiago said.

No fixed commitment

Eduardo’s businesses.

Inquirer Research showed deep personal and business ties between Eduardo and Enrile’s former chief of staff, lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, and her family.

Eduardo, whose company won all five contracts bid out for the 1,000-meter breakwater project, which was started in 2008 and expected to be completed this year, is reportedly a close friend of Gigi Reyes, who fled the country last year to evade plunder charges filed against her for allegedly serving as bagman in the diversion of Enrile’s pork barrel allocations to fake foundations controlled by detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that Eduardo formed a company, Sta. Fe Builders Dredging & Equipment Corp., together with Gigi Reyes’ brother Neal Jose O. Gonzales and mother, Gloria Cooper, as incorporating shareholders and directors.

This company, in turn, invested in MGNP Inc., a company controlled by Reyes’ family.

In a two-page letter, Santiago asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima last week to investigate

Reyes and Manalastas said that under the BOT plan, Ceza was obliged to fund the construction of a breakwater as a “condition precedent to the performance of Apit’s obligations under the arrangement, as it (breakwater) is key to the safety and efficiency of ship loading and unloading at the port.”

But while Ceza has already lived up to its part of the deal, it remains unclear how much Apit has spent or will spend in Port Irene.

Reyes and Manalastas explained that the BOT contract “did not specify the amount to be expended by Apit.”

“It requires Apit to put up and operate a detailed list of port infrastructure, capital equipment, and operational and maintenance facilities, utilities and services designed to achieve the primary objective of using Port Irene as the catalyst for the privatization of the Cagayan Valley region and eventually as a major transshipment and foreign trade hub during the 25-year concessional period,” they said.

“On top of the huge capital and operating outlay to be expended by Apit, it commits to pay an annual guaranteed payment to Ceza from its revenues,” they said. ■

camp on Sunday night.

“We wanted to honor David who is one of those who created the images of peace that can be found on the walls of the AFP headquarters. This is our simple way of recognizing the lasting contributions that he had rendered to our organization through our peace advocacies,” said 7th Civil Relations Group Commander

Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc.

The four-kilometer wall of Camp Aguinaldo was a collaboration of thousands of artists and volunteers. David Sicam was one of the 30 lead artists.

On Thursday, a candle-lighting ceremony by the “peace mural family” will be held at Camp Aguinaldo as a tribute to the late artist. ■

“Father hugged...” ist and musician was with his friends and his family to celebrate his son’s birthday in Sagada. In his group of 15, there were four of them who were killed, including comedian Arvin Jimenez, known to the public as “Tado.”

His wife, Abigail, and their two kids survived the accident.

But his wife remains in the hospital and has to undergo two ❰❰ 8

more operations after undergoing a surgery in the spine, said Fely Sicam, David’s aunt.

‘Family man’

Fely described to reporters that his nephew was a “family man” and “a loving person.”

“He never forgets his relatives. You’ll never see him frowning or with a sad face. He’s always smiling,” she said.

‘Military tribute’

But to the military, David is remembered as one of the lead artists of Camp Aguinaldo’s famous painted walls that is vying for a Guinness record as the world’s longest mural.

His remains lie in state at the Multi-Purpose Hall of the Civil Relations Service at Camp Aguinaldo as the military’s tribute to him. His body arrived at the www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

11 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

‘AMATEURISH POLITICIAN’

P-noy thanks Chinese agency for name-calling

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY CALLING him an “amateurish politician,” China’s state news agency merely affirmed the correctness of the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea, President Aquino responded.

The President said he had expected Xinhua to echo China’s position, but noted that it went further and resorted to namecalling.

But Mr. Aquino quipped: “I can only thank him (the Xinhua commentator) for this. If he intended to insult me, thank you because you’re showing that the Philippines has taken the right position.”

“If the guy who wrote that had a strong view of their position ... if I were him, I would have used that position. But if one resorts to namecalling or insults, then that shows that he can’t stand by their original position,” Mr. Aquino told reporters after presiding over the Army chief turnover in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

There’s a saying that “If you can’t respond to an issue, you resort to name-calling,” he quipped.

The President drew a sharp rebuke from Xinhua after he compared the plight of the Phil-

To the insult, President Aquino quipped: “I can only thank him (the Xinhua commentator) for this. If he intended to insult me, thank you because you’re showing that the Philippines has taken the right position.”

PHOTO BY RYAN LIM / MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU

ippines now locked in dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea to parts of Czechoslovakia that fell into Adolf Hitler’s hands without Europe’s help in the 1930s.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Aquino enjoined other nations to do more to help the Philippines in fending off China’s aggressiveness in the seas believed to be rich in oil and gas.

He said the Philippines, like Czechoslovakia in the past, has come under strong pressure to yield its territory to a stronger foreign power and needed support for the rule of international law to resist this.

“At what point do you say, ‘Enough is enough?’ Well, the

world has to say it. Remember that Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War II,” he said.

Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia fell into the hands of Hitler’s Nazi Germany in 1938 after Western nations failed to back the Czech government.

Xinhua ran a commentary, bristling at Mr. Aquino’s remark, and said “he has never been a great candidate for a wise statesman in the region.”

“But his latest reported attack against China, in which he senselessly compared his northern neighbor to Nazi Germany, exposed his true colors as an amateurish politician who was ignorant both of history and of reality,” it said. ■

Saudi execution of doomed Pinoy still on hold

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE EXECUTION order on jailed Filipino worker Joselito Zapanta remains on hold as government continues to negotiate a lower blood money settlement to spare him from capital punishment, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The foreign office made the statement following reports that Zapanta’s execution order had been recently signed. It remained unclear where such reports came from.

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said Saudi Arabian authorities have yet to set a date as talks continue between government and the family of Zapanta’s victim, a Sudanese landlord who he killed at the height of an argument over rental payments in 2009.

“There was an order that was signed regarding the implementation of the (death) sentence for Zapanta. But that was signed last year. The implementation has been held in abeyance pending negotiations,” said Hernandez in a press briefing.

Blood money

He said the execution order currently on hold was signed before the lapse of the Nov. 3 deadline. It is the second extension for Zapanta to settle some 4 million Saudi riyals (P96 million) in

blood money demanded by the family of Saleh Imam Ibrahim.

Government is pursuing negotiation’s with Ibrahim’s family in an effort to bring down the amount to 2 million Saudi riyals (P48 million). Vice President Jejomar Binay recently sought the help of a Saudi Prince in hopes of saving Zapanta from the death penalty.

‘There is still chance’

Binay, the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ Concerns, has been raising funds for Zapanta’s blood money. He recently secured a “substantial” contribution from President Aquino but, as officials remain mum on the amount, it remains unclear how much of the total blood money has so far been raised.

The official again expressed optimism on the Zapanta case, saying “there’s still a chance” in the ongoing negotiations.

“Let’s not alarm the public anymore. The paperwork is moving, there’s still a process to be followed,” Binay said in a statement.

Earlier, a young Filipino convict in Saudi Arabia, Dondon Lanuza, launched an online campaign to raise blood money for his release. His campaign caught the attention of prominent Filipino American philanthropists and eventually, the Saudi royal family which donated over 2.5 million riyals that clinched his release. ■

Meralco asks... ❰❰ 3

Malacanang joined calls against lifting the Supreme Court’s suspension of the P4.15 per kilowatt-hour rate increase, reminding Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) that its distribution business—along with the rest of the power industry—was “imbued with public interest.”

PHOTO FROM RAPPLER.COM

Business strategy

Lazatin cited “business strategy” behind the P62 price, saying TMO offered the highest price in the hope that it would not be dispatched. TMOalso had no choice but to make an offer because it was required by WESM rules.

The lawyer said that because other power suppliers did not make good their offers or made incomplete offers, Meralco ended up buying at the P62 price that was dictated by TMO. Carpio asked if the clearing price of P62 per kWh was the “actual cost” of the electricity which Meralco was obligated under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act. www.canadianinquirer.net

Lazatin said Meralco was only a “price-taker” and had no say about how the price of electricity will be set by themarket.

Asked by reporters about Sereno’s statement that the TRO covered only the November billing, Lazatin said that the way Meralco understood it was that the TRO also covered the December billing.

He said that the month of December registered a high demand for electricity and that Meralco should have charged P9-10 per kWh. Caution

“Meralco erred on the basis of caution,’’ Lazatin said, when asked whether Meralco misread

the TRO as claimed by Leonen.

Asked whether Meralco would make the adjustments, Lazatin said he would have to consult his client first.

“It’s a business decision. My client will make the decision,’’ he said.

While Meralco was seeking the lifting of the TRO, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called on the Supreme Court to extend it.

“We hope that the TRO will be extended indefinitely as we wait the final ruling of the court, which we believe should be in favor of the consumers and not the giant power monopolies,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement. ■

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 12

Enrile, Estrada to steer clear of Tuason at Thursday’s hearing

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA PHILIPPINES— Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada aren’t keen on facing off with Ruby Tuason over the pork barrel scandal on Thursday, preferring to meet her in court.

Enrile said he also had doubts that his former chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, had any reason to say anything against him.

“I must admit she’s a casual acquaintance,” Enrile said of Tuason, who flew home Friday from the United States to testify that she delivered kickbacks to the senators at the instance of Janet Lim Napoles.

Enrile admitted arranging lunch with Tuason either in late 2006 or early 2007, with Reyes around, to discuss the sale of a piece of property . He said this was the only time he met Tuason.

Enrile denied dealing with Tuason on the priority develop-

ment assistance fund (PDAF).

Estrada said he never authorized Tuason to handle his PDAF allocation.

“I was never given any pork barrel fund. Kickback? I don’t know because I do not live with Mrs. Reyes. I do not live in her house ,” he said, reacting to Tuason’s claims she brought the kickbacks for him to Reyes.

Enrile, who said he would respond to Tuason’s affidavit in due time, said he would skip again the Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing on the scandal on Thursday.

“I inhibited myself from the very start. I don’t want to be misunderstood. This is a case, and I have to handle it properly as a case. I am going to face my accuser in the courtroom,” Enrile said.

Estrada said he too would inhibit himself from Thursday’s Senate hearing and would face Tuason in court if the Ombusdman decides to take the case to trial by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court. “f I face her, and if she lies, do you expect me to cite her in

contempt? I can’t do that. And she has immunity. I’d end up the loser,” Estrada told reporters. “What for?”

Like Enrile, Estrada said he would face Tuason in court if the complaint gets there.

At Monday’s afternoon session of the Senate, Estrada asked Senate President Franklin Drilon to order Sergeant-atArms Jose Balajadia to release CCTV footage of Tuason entering the Senate through the basement parking.

Since Estrada could not specify a date for Tuason’s presence in the Senate, he said that Tuason should be asked about this at next Thursday’s hearing hearing. Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, Blue Ribbon Committee chair, took note of this.

“I just want to clear the coast.

I’m not guilty. She did not deliver any money to me, in my residence, most specifically in the Senate,” Estrada said, referring to Tuason’s claims she delivered the money to him through the basement parking. “I have nothing to hide.”

He said he never authorized

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (top) and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.

PHOTOS FROM YOUTUBE AND PCIJ.ORG

Tuason to handle his PDAF. Estrada said he believed that “big players” in the scam were behind Tuason’s move and wanted her to “limit the case to us.”

“There are higher-ups who don’t want to be implicated, that’s why we’re being made the sacrificial lambs,” he said. He said the media should research on these personalities. ■

witness, she could save her grandchildren from ridicule and criticism, she said.

“I do not want to be an embarrassment to my grandchildren and children. I am so ashamed of myself that I have to do something to correct what I have done,” Tuason said.

amount of the money.

She said Reyes received the kickbacks for Enrile in restaurants and in her house.

Tuason described Estrada and Reyes as close friends, going all the way back to the administration of Estrada’s father, former President Joseph Estrada whom she served as social secretary.

The former president said Tuason was only on the staff of the social secretary, in charge of catering.

She said that after she was named as one of those involved in the pork barrel scam last year, she left the country and that gave her time to reflect on what she had done.

“I was alone and it gave me a chance to dig into my conscience. I was so ashamed to myself and I said I could not

Ruby: I have to do this Socialite says love for family drove her to become state witness

BY NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer SAN FRANCISCO, California—Her deep love for her grandchildren and a desire to right a wrong drove socialite Ruby Chan Tuason to turn her back on her “close” friends and testify that they received millions of pesos in kickbacks from businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Tuason was interviewed by the INQUIRER in a café at the San Francisco International Airport less than two hours before she boarded a Philippine Airlines flight to Manila where she reaffirmed her sworn statement before Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. Earlier, Tuason swore to the veracity of her testimony in an affidavit

before Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco. Dressed in a long black dress, Tuason looked calm as she talked to the INQUIRER about her decision to come forward and testify that she worked for Napoles as bagman for the kickbacks of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada from projects funded with their allotments from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Tuason arrived at the airport escorted by Witness Protection Program Director Marty Meñez, National Bureau of Investigation Special Task Force chief Rolando Argabioso and NBI-International Operations Division (Interpol) head Daniel Daganzo.

She was accompanied by her lawyers, Benedicto Valerio and Dennis Manalo, who were pres-

ent during the interview with the INQUIRER. Meñez, who had custody of the new witness in the pork barrel scam case, gave the INQUIRER 30 minutes to interview Tuason after she agreed to it with her lawyers’ approval.

Pain to family

Tuason said that among the reasons she decided to testify against Estrada and Enrile’s former chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, whom she described as her close friends, was the pain that her wrongdoings had caused her family, particularly her young grandchildren.

“I do not want them to hate me when they grow up, because they would be told by friends that their grandmother did something very wrong,” Tuason said.

By coming forward as a state www.canadianinquirer.net

Stopping cycle of lies

Tuason said that the only way to stop the cycle of lies was for her to come forward and tell the truth that she delivered millions of pesos in kickbacks to Estrada himself and to Enrile through Reyes from Napoles.

“I have to do something, this has to stop. I cannot right a wrong with another wrong if I lie for them,” Tuason said.

Tuason said she delivered Estrada’s kickbacks to his office in the Senate, with the money placed in bags. She said the size of the bags depended on the

❱❱ PAGE 14 Ruby: I have

Philippine News

13 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

This David Tan costs gov’t P10B/yr

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer

Palace opposes... to ensure stable power supply in the country’s biggest franchise area.

“Meralco’s threat has no basis because there is no question on supply. Meralco itself told the Supreme Court that total national supply was at 11,000MW while peak demand was only 8,500MW. There is no shortage, so why should there be brownouts?” asked Colmenares, one of the petitioners in the high court against the Meralco rate increase.

Colmenares said that based on Meralco’s arguments (since it could not pay the generation companies for power it used in NovemberDecember, power generation companies would stop supplying Meralco, which will then be forced to cut its service), the biggest issue was money and not supply.

“If they will cut power supply, then we will urge the government to exercise that provision in the Constitution allowing government takeover of companies in case of emergency.

I hope Meralco does not push through with this threat because the people will surely not accept brownouts caused not by undersupply but by commercial reasons,” he said. ❰❰ 4

‘Smoking gun’

Colmenares said Meralco’s own admission that it forced Therma Mobile of Aboitiz Power to buy at P62 per kWh at WESM was the “smoking gun” the Supreme Court needed to rule against the P4.15 per kWh increase.

Colmenares said his group would pursue criminal charges against Meralco and its power generation firms for manipulating the surge in power prices during Malampaya’s monthlong shutdown.

“One possible motive of Meralco in the collusion is to lay the groundwork for its eventual entry into power generation, especially since its planned power plant in Subic had been stopped by the court,” he said.

Rotating brownouts

Told about Meralco’s warning of rotating brownouts if the power distributor was not allowed to collect the increase in generation charge, Coloma said the government was “serious in saying that the business of power distribution is imbued with public interest.”

“And the public interest mandates that that service be delivered without justifiable interruption,” he said.

He said unjustifiable price hikes would not be tolerated.

“Second, collusion will not be allowed. [Power utility companies] should prepare for what is supposed to be forseeable, and they can’t just reason that they were not able to prepare,” he said.

ADD “DAVID Tan-Taba,” or David Tan-Fat, to the David Tans on the list of 17 alleged big-time smugglers who continue to receive special treatment at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Tan-Taba is one of three players going by the name David Tan in their operations at the BOC, according to bureau insiders. His trading group’s misdeclared and undervalued imported goods cost the government over P10 billion in lost revenue every year, they said.

The sources showed the INQUIRER copies of Tan-Taba’s import papers, which showed that in the period Jan. 3-30 alone, his group facilitated the release of 1,751 container vans of various imported goods, 1,132 of which entered the country through the Port of Manila and the rest (619) through theManila International Container Port.

The goods, the release of which were handled by four brokerage firms, were “intended for distribution to various stores of a popular Metro Manila supermarket chain,” the sources said.

Other sources, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak to media, identified the supermarket, the brokers and the 17 companies used as consignees of the shipments, but asked that their names not be printed.

Tan-Taba’s shipments “also included huge quantities of li-

quor and other alcoholic beverages, as well as cigarettes and frozen meat, but these were not listed on his group’s import papers.”

They were “misdeclared as mixed groceries, dairy products, beauty and health products, glassware, toiletries and plastic products, among other things,” the sources said, adding that Tan’s contacts at the bureau “made sure the import papers were in order.”

The two other David Tans operating at the Bureau of Customs are David Tan-Payat (Thin) and David Tan, aka Davidson Bangayan, the alleged “Goliath” of rice smuggling who has been charged with perjury by the Senate.

Earlier, customs sources, including one newly appointed official, named some of the alleged smugglers and their consignees and brokers.

Topping the list was “Big Mama,” who brought into the country over 100 container vans between Jan. 10 and 23.

The other alleged traders included a Kimberly Gamboa, Ma’am T, JR Tolentino, a certain Moso, the tandem of Boy and Taguba, a certain Bocalin, Joel Teves, Jerry Teves and Aying Acuzar.

These players could influence the volume of imports handled by the BOC either by withholding shipments or bringing in more to help the agency meet its monthly collection targets, the sources said.

More shipments arrive if the smugglers and their contacts in the bureau could reach an agreement on the amount of

“tara” or grease money to facilitate the release of the goods, the new BOC official said.

Agaton Teodoro Uvero, customs deputy commissioner for the Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group, said that the days of the so-called “Big 17” were numbered.

He confirmed that many of these players had been operating at the BOC for years.

“I haven’t met anyone of them, but the 17 are the popular ones here,” Uvero told reporters.

He said that “sooner or later, things will be a lot more difficult to play at the Bureau of Customs as reforms are slowly being implemented here.”

Former Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said that while naming the 17 alleged smugglers was good, “it would be better if sufficient evidence was gathered against them before identifying them so it would lead to prosecution.”

“Otherwise, they will just lie low and others will take their place. It is also important to go beyond personalities and look into customs processes and procedures,” he said.

Earlier, Biazon pointed out that “commissioners come and go, but the kalakaran (way of doing things) at customs remains the same as it has always been.”

“That’s because people always look at smuggling as the be-all and end-all of the problem. If you remove one corrupt individual and yet the same environment prevails, the risk of the replacement to go bad remains high,” he noted. ■

Threats

But Coloma said neither Meralco nor the government should resort to “threats” over the issue of power rate increase.

“Under a democracy, we use reason, not threats,” he said.

Despite Mr. Aquino’s strong position against unjustifiable increases, Coloma said the Office of the President was not “prejudging” the outcome of the investigation of a possible collusion among power players, which led to the huge increase.

“There’s no conclusive determination yet and we have no prejudgment because all processes, including the one at the Supreme Court, are still ongoing,” he said. ■

David Bangayan AKA David Tan; and Bureau of Customs Commissioner John Sevilla.

PHOTO FROM UNTVWEB.COM

www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 14

Ruby: I have... ❰❰ 12

continue like this.

Imade amistake and I had to tell the truth,”

she said.

But it pained her that she would be testifying against Estrada and Reyes, she said.

“It hurts and pains me to do this to them. I am the last person they think who will do this to them. But I have to do this to straighten out a mistake that I am so sorry for,” she said. Was she also close to Napoles? “I cannot really say that we were good friends like the others ( Estrada and Reyes –Ed.),” Tuason replied.

Benhur Luy, the principal whistleblower in the pork barrel scam, said in an earlier interview with the INQUIRER that Napoles set Tuason aside and dealt directly with Estrada and Reyes after Tuason introduced them to her.

Tuason said Napoles began to use dummy nongovernment organizations as recipients of the PDAF allotments of Estrada and Enrile in 2004.

Tuason admitted that she was cut off from the transactions after Napoles had become acquainted with Reyes and Estrada.

Unaware of scam

Tuason said she never knew that Napoles’ projects were nonexistent and that nothing had been delivered to farmers.

“I did not know that they were ghost projects. I only found out when the story came out in the newspaper,” she said, referring to the series of reports on the pork barrel scam in the INQUIRER. She said Napoles assured her that all the projects were aboveboard.

“I believed Jenny (nickname of Janet Napoles –Ed.) when she assured me that the reason for the hefty commission for legislators was that she had an oversupply of merchandise,” Tuason said.

She said it was like the promotional sales at American stores where the goods are offered at 50- percent discount when sales have topped the expected margin of profit.

The INQUIRER had known about Tuason’s application to serve as state witness for sometime, but held off the story for her and her family’s security. *** SAN FRANCISCO, California—

She was the responsible party for Janet Lim-Napoles’ lavish parties.

Apart from being the alleged pork scam mastermind’s bagman, socialite Ruby Chan Tuason was Napoles’ party planner who mounted sophisticated and big-budget socials that brought together politicians, celebrities and government officials, among the country’s bigwigs.

The attractive widow with three children and two grandchildren who has just turned state witness said some of these extravagant parties— of which lasted for three days—were held in Napoles’ posh homes and condominium units as well as in the estimated 3,000 square meters of “lawn and estate lots” in upscale Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City.

Tuason, who used to work as an aide to former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, said Napoles had specific instructions to make these grand and lavish.

During the wake of Napoles’ mother in 2008, for instance, Tuason said there was a different caterer every night with food overflowing for VIP guests.

“She called me up crying, saying her mother had died.

She asked me to help organize the wake,” Tuason told the INQUIRER. At one time, Tuason said she even volunteered to loan Napoles crystal glasses for a welcome reception for “a high official from the Vatican.”

She said her association with Napoles began in 2004 when she was introduced to her by her late husband, Carlos “Butch” Tuason, former Philippine Olympic Commission chair.

She said her late husband introduced her as a rich businesswoman and a potential buyer of her house, which she was selling at that time.

After the meeting, Napoles requested that she be introduced to her politician friends to help expand her business of supplying farm kits and implements.

One thing led to another and before she knew it, she was working as a bagman for Napoles.

Conscience bothered

Tuason said her conscience was bothered not only by her involvement in the pork barrel

IN FROM THE COLD. Pork barrel respondent-turned-state witness Ruby Tuason (left) meets with Justice Secretary Leila de

Lima after she flew in on Friday morning from the United States where she had fled in August last year.

PHOTO BY MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / INQUIRER

scam but by recent unfortunate events like the devastation brought about by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“Watching the victims of the supertyphoon on television had given me more resolve to correct my mistake,” she said.

Tuason’s family owns the gun store Squires and Bingham, which she personally managed before.

Her late father, a ChineseFilipino, was a tobacco and cigarette businessman.

Her friends described Tuason as a pious person who went to Mass, said novena every day and regularly visited the Blessed Sacrament.

Another friend described her as a good cook.

Misjudgment

Tuason said it was “misjudgment” and “friendship” that triggered her entanglement with the law.

“It was misjudgment on my part because I allowed friendship to prevail over values and principles,” Tuason said, when asked why she allowed herself to serve as conduit for what she said were the kickbacks of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada from their Priority Development Assistance Fund allocations.

Tuason, the prosecution’s latest witness against Enrile, his former chief of staff Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes and Estrada, was interviewed by the INQUIRER at a café at San Francisco International Airport before she boarded a plane for Manila.

Tuason declined to say whom she confided in when she finally decided to turn state witness.

Her lawyer, Dennis Manalo, however, said they discussed www.canadianinquirer.net

her application as a state witness with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Tuason said that the day her name came out in the papers as among those mentioned by pork barrel scam principal witness Benhur Luy as involved in the scam was also the day she found out Napoles was engaged in ghost projects.

Freaked out

“I freaked out, I did not know what to do. I could not sleep and eat. I was angry with myself as to how in heaven’s name I did it, when I am neither hungry nor starving,” she said.

Tuason said she had no idea that Napoles used dummy nongovernment organizations and engaged in ghost projects when she agreed to do business with her.

She said she thought she was helping Estrada and Reyes, whom she described as her “close friends.”

“As a friend I thought I was doing them a favor because of lots of people going to their offices seeking financial assistance,” Tuason said.

“I valued our friendship, but I would be a hypocrite if I would say I did not earn from it, no matter how little,” she said.

Right thing to do

When she decided to come out, she knew her enemies could fabricate things about her.

“I have made up my mind, they can fabricate things about me and I could even die for this, but this is the right thing to do,” Tuason said.

“I realized that the time has come to make a decision on what path to take. I prayed for discernment and I kept on

praying, and by the day, I was really more guilty and more guilty,” she said.

She added that her decision to come forward was not also borne out of personal interest.

“This has to stop, this kind of corruption should not thrive and should be put to an end,” Tuason said.

She said she expected her coming out to change her life.

“My movements will be restricted, this also takes a lot of sacrifice at my age. I should have just enjoyed life, but I have to do it for my peace of mind.

“I am ready to die, and in the event that I die for this, or because of natural causes, I have my peace of mind,” she said.

Tuason said her decision to come home and cooperate with the prosecution against Napoles, Estrada, Enrile and Reyes had given her that.

Peace of mind

“I feel relieved, I have peace of mind, but I’m nervous because I fear for my life,” Tuason said.

When asked who she thought would like to harm her and whom she feared themost, she said, “I guess anybody mentioned in the statement.”

She also said she expected no reward for coming out.

“Iamnot doing this to be famous or for any financial gain.

I just want to tell the truth and avail of the government witness protection program and its benefits,” she said.

After her name was implicated in the scam, she realized that some of the people she knew had stopped talking to her.

“Usually, I receive lots of text messages on Christmas Day, but last year, most of those messages were not sent,” she said. ■

Philippine News

15 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Senate to probe ‘Yolanda’ rehab

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE SENATE will start an inquiry into the status of rehabilitation work and international aid in the disaster-ravaged areas, but presidential assistant for rehabilitation Panfilo Lacson will not be attending the probe because of illness.

Officials will be called before the Senate public works committee and questioned over whether they already have a comprehensive rehabilitation plan not only for Tacloban City but other areas ravaged by recent typhoons, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.

This will cover the issue of substandard and possibly overpriced bunkhouses for the thousands of survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” that tore through the Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8, said Marcos, who chairs the public works committee.

Officials will also be asked to account for the millions of dollars in donations from international organizations and countries for the Yolanda victims, he said.

“I’m really interested to see what’s the general reconstruction and rehabilitation plan. We hear about no-build areas, but as far as I’ve seen I’ve not heard of

Rehabilitation chief Panfilo Lacson (inset) has begun investigating reports of a possible “collusion” between contractors and “at least one politician” to pocket kickbacks of 30 to 35 percent in the construction of bunkhouses (shown in photo) for victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Leyte and Samar.

PHOTO OF LACSON FROM INQUIRER FILE/PHOTO OF BUNKHOUSES BY NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

an overall plan,” Marcos said in an interview.

Nearly three months after the devastating storm, some people were still “living out in the open” and the supply of food remained inadequate, he said.

“And what has happened to the money? There are individuals and organizations, such as the Pinoys in the States, who sent money for their hometowns.

We’re talking of big money here,” he said.

Yolanda, packing sustained winds of 235 kilometers per hour and gusting up to 275 kph, tore through the Eastern Visayas, as well as parts of the Central Visayas and Palawan, on Nov. 8, leveling coastal communities and leaving more than 6,000 dead.

The National Economic Development Authority has drawn up a P361-billion Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY) plan for areas ravaged by the supertyphoon.

Roxas: I tried to end Zamboanga siege early

BY NORMAN BORDADORA Philippine Daily Inquirer INTERIOR SECRETARY Mar Roxas said he negotiated with CommanderHabier Malik, a senior aide of fugitive Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari, during the early part of the Zamboanga siege in September.

Roxas was one of the resource persons during the Senate committee on national defense’s inquiry into the Zamboanga siege.

“There were efforts to talk. I myself had at least two or three telephone conversations with Habier Malik where I implored him to have a ceasefire, have his men stop what they were doing because the condition of the Armed Forces was that they would only stop firing when the other side did,” said Roxas, who was in Zamboanga overseeing government efforts at the time.

Secretary Teresita Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, told the Senate panel that up to now, the government was trying to reach out to the Misuari faction and the rest of the MNLF to

get them on board on developments in the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“I had a two-hour meeting with Labawa, the vice chair ofMisuari,” Deles said, adding that she still had scheduled meetings with other MNLF commanders.

She said efforts to meet with Misuari proved futile.

The government has set aside P2.8 billion for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of communities in Zamboanga City four months Misuari and his MNLF faction laid siege to the city.

Roxas said the bulk of the amount— some P2.481 billion— would be spent on the construction of houses. Some P302 million would be spent on land acquisition, while over P35 million would go to road widening and improvement.

According to Roxas, the proposed housing sites could accommodate 3,172 housing units on a total area of 12.62 hectares.

“The plan is to rebuild the damaged communities and make them better, safer and more pleasing for the people of Zamboanga City,” Roxas said in a statement. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Lacson has informed the committee that will not be able to attend the hearing because he is sick. Undersecretary Danilo Antonio and Louie Martinez from his office will appear on his behalf.

“It’s better if he’s there, but if we get the information that we need from his office, that’s fine,” Marcos said.

Architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr. and Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson have confirmed their attendance.

The committee had scheduled its first hearing for Thursday last week, but cancelled it because Lacson was unavailable.

Palafox, who accompanied Lacson in the latter’s ocular inspection of the bunkhouses in Tacloban City, had reported the bunkhouses were cramped, had thin plywood walls and two slope roofs that could be easily torn off by strong storms.

“We have to find out what’s that about,” Marcos said of Palafox’s observations. “Why do we have bunkhouses?”

An international shelter group reported that the bunkhouses being developed by the Department of Public Works and Highways did not comply with internationally recognized standards and best practices. ■

Opinion

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 16

THERE’S THE RUB

Enough is enough

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer THIS IS too important to let pass, Ruby Tuason will still be there tomorrow. Was P-Noy right to suggest that China’s leaders are doing a Hitler?

His comment of course was so attention-grabbing it grabbed the attention of the world, quite apart from the leaders of China themselves. Last I looked it was still an item in Yahoo News, having been so since last week.

“At what point do you say: ‘Enough is enough?’” P-Noy asked the New York Times. “Well, the world has to say it—remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War II.” “Sudetenland” of course was what Hitler called the German-speaking lands he seized from Czechoslovakia in 1938, which presaged his invasion of Poland. And thence Europe.

P-Noy’s point being that if you don’t stop China from fledging expansionism now you won’t be able to stop it from full-blown expansionism later.

Unsurprisingly, China responded angrily. Or one of its mouthpieces, Xinhua News Agency, did: “(Aquino’s) latest attack against China, in which he senselessly compared his northern neighbor to Nazi Germany,

exposed his true colors as an amateurish politician who is ignorant both of history and reality.”

So, is P-Noy’s comment justified?

Not perfectly so, but reasonably so, yes.

The parallel is worlds from being, well, parallel. The prospect of China graduating from sending gunboats to disputed territories, making claims on the entire China Sea, and imposing all sorts of rules on its air space to gobbling up its neighbors simply defies credulity, to say the least. Germany doing so then did not. Hitler had spent the 1930s arming Germany to the teeth and had been whipping up public resentment over the apparent humiliation Germany had endured after the First World War. German invasion of Europe didn’t just seem likely, it seemed imminent. Not so China’s invasion of its neighbors, let alone the world, today.

Nor indeed, to find an example closer to home, does China’s belligerence over the South China Sea or its outlying territories give off even faint echoes of Japan’s martial overtures throughout the 1930s which presaged its occupation of Asia and the Pacific. Japan’s imperial ambitions not quite incidentally drew from economic need, which it showed by

coercing the occupied countries to form an East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. China already dominates Asia and the Pacific economically, what does it need to invade it for?

Which is really what Western experts in particular find the most puzzling thing. China has become the second biggest economic power in the world without shouldering an immense military burden and without recourse to gunboat diplomacy. What in hell is it trying to provoke its neigh-

Was P-Noy right to suggest that China’s leaders are doing a Hitler? ... Not perfectly so, but reasonably so, yes. bors for, thereby risking the prospect of a conflagration there? And quite incidentally drawing the not very altruistic attention of the only superpower left in the world, the United States, the one country that enjoys the most mind-boggling arsenal of weapons ever assembled in the history of humankind and the one empire that, having entered the phase of decline, is looking for ways to revive it.

The only answer the experts can think of is that China remains trapped

in a Middle Kingdom mentality, a parochialism or self-centeredness that is proving petty and self-destructive.

You would imagine, say observers, that with its current status it would launch an initiative to win friends and influence people, its neighbors chief of them. Instead, it is doing everything in its power to lose friends and piss off people, Vietnam and Japan among them. Vietnam is a country that is not exactly loath to take on a seemingly invincible power and Japan a country that has had a fractious relationship with China for reasons that owe to Japan’s own belligerence in the past.

Whatever the reason, China’s current bullying of its neighbors, even if it nowhere near represents a Hitlerian threat, remains a nasty aggravation that needs to be nipped in the bud.

It does represent a threat unto itself, which is that of us and our neighbors living under China’s tyrannical shadow, even if only informally, even if only enforceable economically, for decades to come. That is not a pleasant prospect, and I am glad that P-Noy, however he represents quite possibly the weakest country (economically) in the emerging bloc that is opposing China, has drawn the line here. If it takes comparisons with Hitler to rouse the world into taking a collective stand against its

schoolyard bully antics—China insists that the countries it is feuding with speak singly and not with one voice— then by all means invoke Hitler.

While at this, nothing could be more amateurish or ignorant of history and reality than not researching the characters of the Asian leaders you are dealing with. Had they done so, they would have learned that the current Philippine president, who has known bullies and tyrants in his lifetime, one of them snuffing the life of his father, would be the least inclined to take a path advocated by coercion and force majeure. Those are the very things guaranteed to make him go against it.

Will this defiance cost us dearly?

Yes. China has become the most pervasive and dominant economic force in Asia and is not without the means to hit back at perceived tormentors. As witness Hong Kong’s recent moves discriminating against us, or indeed China’s tepid response to “Yolanda,” the only country in the world to manifest it. There will be consequences, but no more so than simply ignoring the provocations China has thrown our way the last couple of years. Ignoring them will have consequences that are far more intolerable. Tama na, sobra na.

Enough is enough. ■

had sent feelers signaling she wanted to come home and unburden herself.

To the credit of the DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation, government agents were promptly sent to the United States to contact her, get her to execute an affidavit, and eventually bring her home. Remarkably, all this was done without any fanfare or leaks. One would never have expected this of our justice system under previous administrations.

The details of how the Napoles pork barrel scam was conducted for 10 years without triggering any investigation are now falling into place like small pieces in a complex jigsaw puzzle. The picture has become clearer with the pieces supplied by Tuason. We can now see that the scam slowly evolved; it was not invented overnight by a shrewd underground entrepreneur who had mastered the political economy of corruption. Napoles learned by doing, relying on the simple insight that no one in Philippine officialdom—no matter how rich—could staunchly resist the delights of quick money.

Starting out as a supplier to the military, content with small margins made from delivering overpriced goods, she widened her network to include lawmakers who were con-

stantly looking for contractors who could pay the highest kickback from pork-barrel-funded projects. In the beginning, the money was made mainly from delivering cheap and worthless goods.

But, with more and more “soft” projects being included in the pork barrel menu, it became possible to submit ghost projects complete with lists of fictitious beneficiaries, and altogether skip the pretense of supplying anything. Lawmakers saw this as an opportunity to demand bigger kickbacks, rationalizing their insatiable appetites as the outcome of the costly requirements of public office in a patronage-driven society. Napoles responded to this demand by setting up paper NGOs for every conceivable purpose and cultivating close partnerships with obscure government agencies she could use as channels. Her office became a documents factory and a virtual bank that often advanced the kickback to needy legislators.

Napoles was a fixer who made corruption nearly invisible, shielded from liability by her powerful clients.

But greed and arrogance led her to take for granted the small people who assisted her. They are the whistleblowers. Her story is a fable for our times. ■

PUBLIC LIVES

Ruby Tuason’s affidavit

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer IT HAS been almost six months since the first cases of plunder and graft involving lawmakers’ pork barrel were filed at the Office of the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman has to carefully evaluate these charges before endorsing them to the Sandiganbayan for trial or dismissing them outright for insufficiency of evidence. The one thing the Ombudsman cannot do is bury them among its files in the expectation that the public will soon forget about them.

No, despite “Yolanda” and Vhong Navarro, the issue remains very much alive in the public consciousness.

The legal process is taking time not least because those charged include powerful individuals in our society who are still in government. Investigators must tread on a virtual minefield.

The accused lawmakers will try to take these cases out of the judicial system by depicting them as politically motivated. They will threaten to drag everyone down with them to save their skins.

This has been the tenor of the privilege speeches of Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla. Thus, the closer we get to 2016, the more difficult it will be to keep these cases strictly within the ambit of the law.

The Department of Justice and the Ombudsman, in whose hands now lies the nation’s hope of dealing a mortal blow to official corruption, must balance the duty to gather solid proof with the need to start the trial of the accused without the distraction of the next elections. This is where Ruby Chan-Tuason’s offer to turn state’s witness assumes crucial importance.

Her emergence bolsters the DOJ’s cases and hastens the process.

Tuason is one of the key private individuals who have been implicated in the so-called Napoles pork barrel scam. In the affidavit she submitted as part of her bid to gain immunity from prosecution, she admitted that she acted as an “agent” for Janet LimNapoles and some lawmakers, earning a tiny percentage of the kickback for her services. She has also offered to return the money she received.

Her testimony is critical to the plunder charges against Senators Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile. But, more important, it shows us how it was possible for someone like Napoles, previously a small-time supplier of goods and services, to gain access to the inner offices of senators and befriend some of the most powerful politicians of the country.

Being no stranger to the corridors

of power, Tuason became Napoles’ conduit to the highest echelons of government. She once served on the household staff of President Joseph Estrada in Malacañang, doing work that put her in touch with a broad array of important people. The surname she carries, that of her late husband Butch Tuason, first cousin to former first gentleman Mike Arroyo, has political cachet. Quite unlike the streetsmart Napoles, who likes flaunting her powerful connections and possessions, Tuason is a picture of bourgeois

Quite unlike the streetsmart Napoles, who likes flaunting her powerful connections and possessions, Tuason is a picture of bourgeois discreetness. discreetness. She is the last person you expect to give testimony against people she has served. That is what makes her a credible source. Her role as a witness for the prosecution has the same value as that of Enrile’s former chief of staff, lawyer Gigi Reyes— if the latter were to surface and become state’s witness.

Press reports say that Tuason, who fled to the United States when she was named by the whistle-blowers,

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Opinion

17 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

VIEWPOINT

Eraser senator?

By Juan L. Mercado Philippine Daily Inquirer “WHAT GNAWS at the guts of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile?” a colleague asked during a journalists’ lunch on Saturday. JPE turns 90 on Valentine’s Day—and twists in the wind over pork barrel plunder raps.

“Intimations of mortality?” we replied. “Or outcome of Ruby Chan Tuason appearing before the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing Thursday? She’ll probably be in a Witness Protection Program bulletproof vest. There, she’d ‘slam dunk’ answers to questions Sen. Miriam DefensorSantiago must be itching to lob.”

“No,” the editor replied. “It’s the need to rewrite memoirs he launched two years ago, before the country’s glitterati. Titled ‘Juan Ponce Enrile,’ this 754-page book, which recalls JPE’s relationship with the past six presidents, blacked out incidents like kickbacks and shaving (dagdag-bawas) votes in 1995,” he added. “Can he do it before his term peters out in 2016?”

Born in Cagayan, as Juanito Furagganan, JPE was adopted by his father, lawyer Alfonso Ponce Enrile. After graduating from the University of the Philippines and Harvard law schools, he rose to political prominence. His

career oscillated from pillar of the Marcos dictatorship to co-leader of the 1986 People Power Revolution.

The late President Corazon Aquino sacked him for plotting coups. He towered over the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona. And in June last year, he was toppled as Senate president—only to bog down in the pork barrel scam.

Upon return from the United States Friday, Tuason submitted an affidavit to the Ombudsman, saying that she served as a conduit, from 2004 to 2007, for “cuts” delivered to Senators Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada.

The going rate was 40 percent for every project assigned to dummy nongovernment organizations.

Tuason’s sworn statement admits she personally handed cash, intended for Enrile, to his chief of staff: lawyer Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes. She’d hand the mazuma to Reyes, in her home or restaurants like Tsukiji or L’Opera. On occasions “Enrile would join us when we were almost done for a cup of coffee. And sometimes he would just come to pick up Gigi,” Tuason added. She stopped being a conduit for Enrile in 2007.

Sorry. But Ms Gigi won’t be there for Thursday’s Senate probe. She stopped answering her phone after quitting over a spat with senators critical of Enrile’s Christmas bonuses. That was

after whistle-blower No. 10, Merlina Suñas, testified that couriers Fernando Ramirez and John Raymund de Asis ladled cash, from a duffel bag, in front of “Attorney Gigi. There was no one else in the living room… I stood at the door and from there I could see.”

Last September, she flew to Macau, on Cebu Pacific Flight 5J362. Bureau of Immigration records show she booked a return flight for two days later. But she vanished. Nor did she leave a contact ad-

Born in Cagayan, as Juanito Furagganan, JPE was adopted by his father, lawyer Alfonso Ponce Enrile.

After graduating from the University of the Philippines and Harvard law schools, he rose to political prominence. dress. Isn’t that a reprise of how Joseph Estrada’s accountant-auditor Yolanda Ricaforte fled the country, when the Senate impeachment case erupted?

After the 1995 elections, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. wedged into the Filipino political vocabulary a new term for vote shaving: dagdag-bawas. In his complaint lodged before the Senate Electoral Tribunal, he charged that there had been a systematic campaign to gut his votes and credit them to JPE.

The tribunal confirmed Pimentel’s charges. In a tally, JPE, who had squeezed into a winning 11th slot, nosedived into the losers club as No. 15. He raised the issue to the Supreme Court where, like far too many cases, it was overtaken by events. Pimentel went on to win the next elections. And the Court, seven years later, ruled the case had become “moot and academic.”

A rewrite of JPE’s memoirs would call for end-to-end revision of what Rappler editor Chay Hofileña calls a tale of “hypocrisy and contradictions.” In his book, JPE claims he was surprised that Marcos used his alleged ambush as the trigger for martial law imposition.

“I honestly did not know why Marcos suddenly decided to cite my ambush in justifying the declaration of martial law when he made his public statement on September 23,” wrote JPE. “There was absolutely no need for it.”

Yet, the Official Gazette quotes Enrile, after the People Power Revolution, saying “it had been staged by Marcos to justify martial law.” The Inquirer’s front page, on Feb. 23, 1986, reported that Enrile’s ambush was “fake.” Indeed, “the Inquirer was not a crony paper and was supportive of Enrile and People Power.

It had no reason to fabricate a report on events of the previous day.”

The Age, published in Australia,

reported: “Enrile told a media conference at Camp Crame that an alleged assassination attempt on himself— one of the factors which led to the imposition of martial law—was staged.”

“People have different impressions about me, about you and about others,” Enrile wrote. “So let it be.” Hofileña, however, wonders: “Question is, will the truth-tellers just let it be?”

Most likely not. And they’ll probably focus on the denial, by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokesperson Monday, that she was the “unidentified principal of Ruby Chan Tuason.”

Her husband was a cousin of former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

Lawyer Raul Lambino defended GMA’s decision to tap P900 million in Malampaya Funds to help storm victims. She used Marcos’ Presidential Decree 910. “President Aquino used the same decree to tap the Malampaya Funds for the purchase of ships for the Philippine Navy.”

At 90, Enrile has the task of rewriting his flawed memoirs—if he is so minded. “Every autobiography is concerned with two characters,” W.H. Auden wrote in “Selected Essays.” That is “a Don Quixote, the Ego, and a Sancho Panza, the Self.”

Was that why they put erasers on pencils? ■

AT LARGE

Giving voice to women for peace

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer IRENE SANTIAGO of the Mindanao Commission on Women and lead convener of the “Women’s Peace Table” (WPT) shares this account of a European diplomat from the front lines of the Balkan conflict.

It concerns an elderly woman named Sophia then living in Croatia, who went to the local church every morning, climbed the steps up the belfry and rang the church bell. But one morning, on her way to her daily chore, she found the church and steeple in ruins, the target of a bombing.

Sophia found the bell on the ground, silenced. Undaunted, the old woman stood the bell upright and, taking hold of the ringer, proceeded to make the bell ring out as it did every morning.

Asked much later why she persisted in ringing the bell every day, Sophia had a simple answer: “It is our job to ring the bell of peace every day.”

And so, at the end of the rites marking the launching of the Women’s Peace Table, Santiago and other leaders of the WPT took hold of hand bells and proceeded to ring them, sounding out a call for “enduring, lasting peace” in Mindanao, and elsewhere in the country and in the world, where con-

flict still exists and persists.

The Women’s Peace Table aspires to be a parallel and “connecting” organization to the formal government and MILF tables that recently negotiated the GRP-MILF peace agreement. It “seeks to bring voices of women into the peace process,” its leaders said, bringing in women in the communities, “especially those affected by war and who long for peace to come soon” into the task of rebuilding after the dust of conflict settles. The table will also, they said, “act as a bridge among different sectors including those whose support for the final peace agreement will be crucial such as business, international institutions, the religious sector, media, labor, cooperatives, academe, widows and orphans, the elderly, and the youth.” *** ASIDE from the Mindanao Commission on Women, laying out the settings for the Women’s Peace Table are the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy and the Miriam College Women and Gender Institute (Wagi), which serves as the project secretariat. Funding support is provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The WPT will also work with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace

Process and the National Steering Committee on Women, Peace and Security.

Aside from providing an alternate sounding board and platform for women in Mindanao, the WPT also aims to mediate among “members of the public that want to ‘spoil’ the final peace agreement”; as well as gather a pool of experts on “post peace agreement reconstruction and recovery.”

“It’s been a two-year journey to highlight the role of women in the peace talks,” remarked Aurora Javate de Dios of Wagi. First on their list of activities will be a baseline study on the situa-

Asked much later why she persisted in ringing the bell every day, Sophia had a simple answer: “It is our job to ring the bell of peace every day.” tion of women in six areas of Mindanao (which will be expected to constitute the bulk of the Bangsamoro homeland): Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Marawi, Zamboanga and North Cotabato.

The immediate task at the moment, De Dios added, was to “sell” the final peace agreement, the basic law and the Bangsamoro entity not just to lawmakers and local executives but also to the Filipino public. The agreement, she said, “still needs to be understood,

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accepted and embraced.” *** INDEED, among the issues being raised in relation to the establishment of the Bangsamoro is that the status of women in the Bangsamoro areas will be subjected to further strictures and limitations in keeping with the tenets of conservative, if not fundamentalist, Islam.

In the Inquirer dialogue with the government and MILF peace panels, Raissa Jajurie, a lawyer and member of the MILF panel, assured us that in the process of birthing the basic law and the creation of the Bangsamoro, “there will be more opportunities for Moro women to talk about their own vision for the future.”

So perhaps bleeding hearts concerned about the fate of women living in the Bangsamoro (not just the Muslims but also the Christians, members of the cultural minorities and other religions) should realize that the work of ensuring, protecting and promoting women’s rights lies primarily in the hands of the women themselves.

I am thus encouraged by plans of the WPT to conduct consultations among women across all economic backgrounds, ethnicities and education levels to get a picture of where the women are, what they want and what role they are to play in shaping

the future of the Bangsamoro. *** “A TRUE artist and a dedicated activist,” is how the late Arvin Jimenez (no relation), more popularly known as “Tado,” is described by his friends and cofounders of “Dakila (Great),” an artists’ collective for “modern heroism.”

Tado, who died while aboard a bus in Bontoc, Mountain Province, was working on a series of travel-themed video projects titled “40 Mountains” as part of his advocacy for the environment at the time of his death, his friends said.

“His thought-provoking lines, witty commentary and signature style commanded the attention and rebellion of the public that sought for alternative heroes,” the collective said.

I especially enjoyed his deadpan brand of comedy, especially while skewering politicians and politics.

Another young artist joined Tado in his “last trip.” He was Andrew David “Debid” Sicam, who had made the trip with his wife and children and other artist-friends to celebrate son Amien’s birthday by “communing” with a tribal community.

A visual artist and musician, Sicam was part of the ethnic music group the Makiling Ensemble.

So sad that the crash of that Florida bus had to take the lives of two promising and gifted artists! ■

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

18

Canada News

Text of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s budget speech in the House of Commons The Canadian Press OTTAWA—Mr. Speaker, nearly 150 years ago, Canada was founded with fiscal responsibility as its cornerstone.

The men and women who carved this great country out of the wilderness simply called it “good government.”

That’s what Minister of Finance John Rose was talking about when he stood before this assembly to deliver Canada’s first budget speech in 1868.

He said, “I say that we ought to be most careful in our outlay, and consider well every shilling we expend.”

Now, that’s just old-fashioned English for old-fashioned common sense.

And it is that solid, Canadian common sense that has guided our Government through good times and bad.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to present Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2014.

This prudent plan builds on our record of strong, sound and consistent fiscal management. It is a low-tax plan to promote jobs and economic growth and support Canadian families. And it is a common sense plan that will see Canada return to a balanced budget in 2015.

Economic Action Plan 2014 sticks to the principles that we adopted when I rose to deliver our Government’s first budget in 2006 during good times. What did our Government do then, when our budget was in surplus and when few could see dark clouds on the horizon?

• We paid down our federal debt.

• We lowered taxes for families and job creators.

• We made sure our fiscal house was in order.

Why did we do this? Because it was the responsible way to a brighter future for Canadians.

Financial prudence now leads to financial prosperity in the future. It leads to opportunity. And so it was that when economic bad times came, our country was better prepared than most.

Since the depths of the recession Canada has led the G-7 in job creation. Coming out of the recession Canada had a triple-A credit rating with a stable outlook—which was and

still is virtually unmatched among our peers. We have the best net debtto-GDP ratio among G-7 nations.

There are many reasons to be optimistic. There are signs of recovery around us.

But there are also troubled waters.

The world economy is still fragile— one need look no further than Europe and the emerging economies to see that. Here at home, household debt is still higher than we’d like to see. And there are still too many Canadians looking for work, and too many employers looking for workers. There is still work to be done.

As my favourite Father of Confederation, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, once said, “We are in the rapids and must go on.” And so, even as the times get better again, we will stay the course that has worked so well.

Mr. Speaker, Sir John A. Macdonald—my other favourite Father of Confederation—could have been talking about our Economic Action Plan when he said, “the Government are merely trustees for the public.” And that is why we are so committed to balancing the budget and returning Canada to a position of fiscal strength.

When governments run prolonged deficits, they are spending money that belongs to future generations.

Deficit spending endangers social programs we benefit from and our children will soon depend on.

We also recognize that balanced budgets are important to the longterm prosperity of this country, inspiring confidence in investors and consumers, whose dollars grow the economy and create jobs, and ensuring interest rates stay low.

Canadians have trusted us with the economy and we have delivered. As we have promised, our Government remains committed to balancing the budget in 2015.

But I must be clear: we did not do this on the backs of ordinary Canadians or Canadians in need, or at the expense of our provinces and territories. We did not cut the programs Canadians rely on. We did not cut transfers to our provinces and territories—money they use for things like education and health care.

Rather, we did this by getting our

own fiscal house in order. And, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly how our Government will continue. Our Government has reduced direct program spending for the third year in a row in 2012-13. That is something no other government has done in decades.

Our Government continues to eliminate waste that will cut the cost of government without cutting programs Canadians depend on.

Going forward: • The Government will freeze the operating expenses of departments.

• We will continue to divest government assets when in the best interest of Canadians to do so.

By doing these things, we will not only balance the budget in 2015, we will achieve a surplus. But let me be clear: a return to surplus is not a licence to spend recklessly. What we will do—what we have always done— is stay the course.

We will make sure Canada’s fiscal position remains strong, strong enough to weather any future global economic storms. That starts with paying down the debt. And keeping taxes low.

Even in the toughest economic times, our Government has worked hard to reduce the tax burden for Canadian families and Canadian businesses. In fact, the federal tax burden is the lowest it has been in 50 years.

Since taking office we: • Delivered more than 160 tax relief measures.

• Lowered the GST to 5 per cent from 7 per cent.

• Introduced pension income splitting for seniors.

• Created the Working Income Tax Benefit—WITB—to help ensure that low-income workers are better off by taking a job.

Now, an average family of four pays $3,400 less in tax in a year. But we also know that taxes help fund programs and services Canadians rely on. And we will keep closing tax loopholes so every Canadian pays their fair share.

Mr. Speaker, by keeping taxes low we have created the best environment for business investment in the ❱❱ PAGE 21 Text of

NEWS BRIEFS

FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS

CONSUMER DEBT BALLOONS TO $1.4 TRILLION TORONTO—The love affair Canadians have with debt is still going strong, according to a new report by credit monitoring agency Equifax Canada. Equifax said Monday that its figures show that consumer debt, excluding mortgages, rose to $518.3 billion through the end of November 2013. That was up 4.2 per cent from $497.4 billion a year earlier.

SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT SELLING CASINOS: NDP REGINA—The Opposition says the Saskatchewan government has made a deal to sell Casino Regina and Casino Moose Jaw to the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority. The NDP says in a news release that the government gave the Opposition a briefing on the sale last Thursday, but wouldn’t provide a copy of the memorandum of understanding.

Jennifer Graham ROB FORD MOVIE OR TV SHOW IS IN THE WORKS TORONTO—The antics of embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford could soon be coming to a TV or movie screen. Blue Ice Pictures has acquired the film and television rights to the new book “Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story.”

ALBERTA EXPANDS RANGE OF PHARMACY SERVICES EDMONTON—Alberta is allowing a wider range of services to be dispensed by pharmacists. In addition to dispensing prescription drugs, pharmacists will now be able to counsel patients on ways to stop smoking and set up care plans for those with chronic conditions.

Canada News

19 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Tories forge ahead on job grant, vow to enforce it with or without provinces

BY LEE-ANNE GOODMAN The Canadian Press OTTAWA—The federal budget makes clear Ottawa will enforce the contentious Canada Job Grant in just six weeks, with or without co-operation from the provinces and territories.

“In jurisdictions where agreements are not secured,” says Tuesday’s document, the government will deliver its signature national job training program starting April 1, through Service Canada.

That’s to ensure “employers and Canadians in all jurisdictions have the opportunity to benefit from the grant.”

The Tories will also renegotiate the $1.95 billion-a-year Labour Market Development Agreements, as promised, so that job training is matched to the demands of labour markets. The funds are specifically designed to support workers across Canada who qualify for employment insurance.

The proposed Canada Job Grant aims to provide $15,000 per eligible worker, divided equally among Ottawa, the provinces and employers. In the face of a hue and cry from the provinces, Employment Minister Jason Kenney recently offered to cover the provincial portion of grant, upping the feds’ share to $10,000.

But Kenney’s provincial and territorial counterparts argue they’d still be forced to remove $300 million in federal money from existing provincially run programs for youth, aboriginals and disabled citizens.

The provinces and territories have presented a united front to the government on the job grant, recently sending a counter-offer to Kenney that proposed more flexibility in how they would pay their share and less onerous requirements for corporate participation.

Kenney, who frequently laments the country’s supposed shortage of skilled workers, has yet to respond to their offer though Tuesday’s budget was another signal the federal government plans to press ahead unilaterally if needed.

Connecting Canadians with available jobs—from aging citizens to new immigrants and those with disabilities— while addressing the skills shortage via beefed-up training programs was a key theme of Tuesday’s budget.

Among the new tools in the Conservatives’ skills-training arsenal is the creation of the Canada Apprentice Loan, an expansion of the Canada Student Loans Program.

The fund will provide apprentices in so-called Red Seal trades with access to

more than $100 million in interest-free loans every year to help them pay for their training.

“At least 26,000 apprentices per year are expected to apply,” the budget document states.

The government starkly lays out the argument in its economic blueprint that a serious skills shortage is vexing Canadian employers, citing a litany of reports—from organizations ranging from Engineers Canada to a professional recruitment agency—to make its case.

To that end, the Tories announced a further $75 million over three years to assist unemployed older workers by renewing its so-called Targeted Initiative for Older Workers program. The initiative will also be expanded to communities “experiencing unfulfilled employer demand and-or skills mismatches,” says the document.

Other multimillion-dollar new investments on the jobs and skills front include: • $40 million toward supporting up to 3,000 internships for young graduates in high-demand fields; • $11.8 million over two years, and $3.3 million a year, to launch an enhanced job-matching service to help connect Canadians with jobs; • $11 million over two years, and $3.5 million a year, to reform the contentious Temporary Foreign Worker Program to ensure that Canadians are first in line for available jobs; • $14 million over two years, and $4.7 million a year, to implement the socalled Expression of Interest economic immigration system. The program allows the federal and provincial governments to actively target highly skilled would-be immigrants to Canada; The Conservatives also pointed to the announcement last year of $222 million annually for a new generation of so-called labour market agreements for people with disabilities, estimating there are approximately 800,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities “who are not working even though their disability does not prevent them from doing so.”

The money is matched by provinces and territories.

Further to those initiatives, this year’s budget pledges $15 million over three years to the so-called Ready, Willing and Able program of the Canadian Association for Community Living. The Tories also announced $11.4 million over four years to support the expansion of vocational training programs for people with autism. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

World News

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 20

Swiss referendum backs nationalists’ call for limits on immigration

BY FRANK JORDANS AND ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS The Associated Press GENEVA—Voters in Switzerland on Sunday narrowly backed a plan to limit immigration, in a blow for the government after it had warned that the measure could harm the Swiss economy and relations with the European Union.

Swiss public television SRF reported that some 50.3 per cent of voters backed a proposal by the nationalist People’s Party to introduce quotas for all types of immigrants. About 49.7 per cent voted against the plan. The difference between the two sides was fewer than 30,000 votes, with a turnout of about 56 per cent.

The decision means that the Swiss government will need to renegotiate treaties on the free movement of workers that it had painstakingly hammered out with the EU. Until now, citizens from most EU member states could live and work in Switzerland with little formality, while Swiss citizens could do the same in the 28-nation bloc that encircles the Alpine nation.

Two years ago Switzerland introduced quotas for immigrants from eight central and eastern European nations, a move

NO MORE FREE MOVEMENT. Swiss public television SRF reported that some 50.3 per cent of voters

backed a proposal by the nationalist People’s Party to introduce quotas for all types of immigrants.

that already drew heavy criticism from the EU. Ahead of Sunday’s referendum business groups warned that many of the 80,000 people who moved to Switzerland last year are vital for the country’s economy, and curtailing immigration further could cost Swiss citizens’ jobs too.

“We always thought the argument about jobs would win people over,” said Urs Schwaller, a lawmaker with the centrist Christian People’s Party, told SRF. “Clearly that wasn’t enough.”

Schwaller said the Swiss government would now need to launch a diplomatic offensive, explaining to the EU that its hands are bound by the referendum while trying to avoid sanctions from Brussels.

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“We need to show the European Union that we’re a reliable partner,” he said.

The new proposal forces the government to draft a law extending quotas to immigrants from Western Europe and introduce limits on all foreigners’ rights to bring in family members or access Swiss social services. EU Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said that it was disappointed by the vote.

“This goes against the principle of free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland,” he said. “The EU will examine the implications of this initiative on EU-Swiss relations as a whole.”

Almost a quarter of the 8 million people living in Switzerland are foreigners. This

is partly due to Switzerland’s healthy economy and high salaries.

But Switzerland’s restrictive citizenship laws also mean many people who were born in the country or have lived there for a long time don’t have a Swiss passport, inflating the share of foreigners compared to other countries.

The People’s Party—which has more than a quarter of seats in the lower house of Parliament—launched a massive campaign in favour of limiting immigration, hoping to emulate the success of other referendums in recent years that targeted foreigners.

Some posters showed a huge tree crushing a map of Switzerland, while others depicted a heavily veiled woman beneath the headline “1 million Muslims soon?”

According to official figures about 500,000 people in the nation of 8 million identified themselves as Muslim. Many of them are former refugees who fled to Switzerland during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.

Only a minority are actively religious.

In a local referendum in the eastern municipality of Au-Heerbrugg, voters decided to impose a ban on Muslim girls wearing headscarves at a local primary school. ■ Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report.

Suicide car bomber in Afghan capital kills 2 NATO civilian contractors

BY RAHIM FAIEZ The Associated Press KABUL, AFGHANISTAN—A suicide attacker rammed a car bomb into a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital and killed two foreign civilian contractors, authorities said Monday, while a coalition soldier was killed in a separate attack in eastern Afghanistan.

The Islamic militant group Hizb-i-Islami claimed responsibility for the attack in eastern Kabul, saying it would drive all foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Taliban insurgents and other militants like Hizb-i-Islami have stepped up attacks in the final year of the international coalition’s 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan, seeking to shake confidence in the Kabul government’s ability to keep order after they assumed full security responsibility last year.

Police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the attacker struck the convoy near the capital’s Pul-i-Charkhi prison. He said at least seven Afghan civilians were

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wounded, including a child.

Police and ambulances rushed to the scene. Only the charred wheels and axels remained of the attacker’s car. Two civilian vehicles lay overturned and nearby shop windows were shattered from the force of the explosion.

A local shopkeeper named Jameel, who uses only one name as is common practice among Afghan men, said he saw two NATO vehicles leaving the prison and a car slamming into the second one.

He said he saw at least two wounded foreigners but he could not tell the extent of their injuries before they were evacuated.

A Hizb-i-Islami spokesman, Haroon Zarghon, said one of group’s fighters carried out the attack using a Toyota Corolla. He said the attacker was targeting “foreign occupiers” and vowed to strike again.

Hizb-i-Islami is a radical group with thousands of fighters and followers across the country’s north and ❱❱ PAGE 37 Suicide car

News

21 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Text of...

G-7. And those businesses create jobs for Canadians. Creating jobs and opportunities remains our Government’s top priority.

We already have the best record for job creation among G-7 nations. Since the depths of the economic recession, employment has increased by more than 1 million. These jobs are overwhelmingly full-time and in the private sector. And we’re making sure that opportunities are there for everyone.

We have invested in apprenticeship programs and measures to increase the numbers of people with disabilities, young people and Aboriginal Canadians in the workforce by helping them find the job training they need. But there is more we can and will do: • That’s why today I am pleased to announce the Canada Apprentice Loan, which will give apprentices registered in Red Seal trades access to interest-free student loans millions of other Canadians have benefited from previously.

• And that is why the Prime Minister announced more than $1.9 billion in new funding to implement the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act. Canada has one of the besteducated workforces in the world. In fact, the number of Canadians under 25 with university degrees has gone up by more than 50 per cent since 2002.

Still, getting that first job after finishing college or university can be challenging. To help young people get the first, critical work experience they need, our Government will focus investment to support internships in high-demand fields and in small and medium-sized businesses.

As well, we will support two ❰❰ 18

programs that will help people with disabilities find jobs and stay employed.

• Ready, Willing & Able is an initiative to help Canadians with intellectual disabilities become part of the workforce.

• We will also invest in a program to help young people with autism find rewarding jobs.

We will also implement an enhanced Job Matching Service to help unemployed Canadians get back to work by connecting them with employers looking to hire individuals with their skill set.

We will also introduce a new Expression of Interest system to ensure Canada has an efficient, flexible immigration system that matches the needs of employers.

Mr. Speaker, Canada leads the G-7 when it comes to investing in post-secondary research.

And we know that investments in science and technology help Canadian business remain competitive while creating high-paying jobs.

That’s why we have invested more than $11 billion in new resources since 2006 to support science, technology and innovative companies that are opening new frontiers for Canada. And that’s why I am very pleased today to announce our Government’s investment in the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

This fund will support the strategic research priorities of Canada’s post-secondary institutions and help them excel globally in research areas that create long-term economic advantages for Canada.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, Budget 2014 will result in the largest annual increase in funding for research through the granting councils in over a decade.

PA-MAX-VALENTINEPILLOW-Q1-2014-Philippine Canadian Inquirer 1

In Canada’s very first budget speech Finance Minister John Rose said, “What this country wants is care and judgement in the development of its resources.” Those words still ring true today. That’s why our Government is promoting safe, responsible resource development that is not bogged down by unnecessary red tape.

Minister Rose also said, “We must not neglect the means necessary to bring our products of all kinds to a profitable market.”

That is also true today, especially when it comes to energy.

Making sure that Canadian energy remains available to markets around the world is a priority for this Government.

That’s why I am happy to announce today that Economic Action Plan 2014 sets aside funds for review of projects like the Energy East Pipeline proposal.

In addition, Canada has always been an exporting nation. Our investment in the new WindsorDetroit crossing means Canadian goods will get to market faster, allowing businesses to grow, expand trade and help to secure a prosperous future.

Our Government is committed to protecting Canada’s environment. And that commitment is evident in our ongoing investment in National Parks. In fact, since coming to office we have added more than 160,000 square kilometres to our National Parks and marine conservation system.

These priceless natural and historical places are a spectacular legacy for our children and we must ensure they remain pristine.

I am pleased to announce that our Government is investing to maintain these national treasures for the next generation to enjoy.

We will make substantial in-

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vestments through Parks Canada to improve the highways, bridges and dams located in our National Parks and along our historic canals.

We know partnering with committed citizen groups can make conservation dollars stretch farther. That’s why we introduced the Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program, which doubled the impact of every dollar invested in its first year.

Today we are increasing our commitment to protect even more sensitive fish habitat in the future.

Canada is blessed with a network of recreational trails that allow Canadians to connect with nature all year round. It pleases me to announce that our Government will partner with the National Trails Coalition to make this recreational experience even better, fulfilling another of our 2011 platform commitments.

Families are the lifeblood of every community. Our Government is working hard to ensure that Canadian families are protected in their communities. As part of these efforts, we will create a DNA-based Missing Persons Index to help bring some peace to the families of missing persons. For that, I want to thank Judy Peterson.

Mr. Speaker, we are also standing up for hard-working families trying to make ends meet. Our Consumers First agenda will help ensure Canadians are also protected in the marketplace.

When Canadian families spend their hard-earned money, they should be confident that they are being treated fairly in a competitive marketplace. That’s why we took steps to increase competition in the wireless sec-

tor, which has reduced wireless rates by 20 per cent.

That’s why we are: • Taking steps to lower wholesale roaming rates within Canada; and • Giving the CRTC the power to impose financial penalties on companies that do not comply with the rules.

We will also: • Introduce legislation to address the price gap between identical goods sold in Canada and the United States.

• Continue our investments in Canada’s food safety system by hiring more inspectors to ensure the food destined for Canadian dinner tables is safe.

• Prohibit the pay-to-pay practice that charges consumers for paper bills— including printed credit card statements.

• Reduce red tape for charities by enabling them to apply for registration and file their annual returns electronically.

• Make major investments to improve broadband coverage in rural and northern communities.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of our Government’s record of fiscal restraint and good management.

This record has been the envy of the world. I believe we have been, as Sir John A. wanted us to be, “trustees for the public.”

And I know that I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that we are truly grateful to all Canadians for putting their trust in us.

We have worked hard. And we will continue to work hard to, as Thomas D’Arcy McGee said, “strengthen the faith of our people in their own future, the faith of every Canadian in Canada.”

Mr. Speaker, the plan unveiled today is another prudent step toward that brighter future.

Thank you. ■

2014-02-11 5:49 PM

Immigration

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 22

Coming Home to SFG TWO YEARS and the Saturday Fun Group (SFG) of the Collingwood Neighbourhood House has not run out of reasons to have fun.

Originally dubbed as the Saturday Gathering Program, the SFG welcomes kids Grades 4-7 and youths Grades 8-10 to an afternoon of fun learning, healthy get-together and wholesome camaraderie.

“Every kid should experience SFG,” exclaimed Dahlia, a Gr. 9 student. Dahlia is a regular participant of SFG. She expressed her hope that other kids around the area get to go to SFG every Saturday because she considers going to SFG as seeing and being with family.

Dahlia considers SFG her second family. “I like going there because I love how I am treated there as family. We respect each other and treat each other well.” As participants, she appreciates that they are being asked what they think or what they want to do. They are being given the chance to express themselves. She said SFG

has helped her increased her self-confidence and also in cultivating her social skills.

Her opinion of SFG is echoed

by Steph who is happy that she is a member and hopes other kids also get to discover the fun they are having at SFG. Both girls mentioned sports, cooking, movies, learning and meeting other kids as some of the things they enjoy most about SFG. With that, the mission and resources that both Collingwood Neighborhood House and Telus share in this program are successfully working out for the young families of the growing multicultural community in this side of Vancouver and its neighboring areas.

SFG had been originally designed to bring together Filipino children and youth for an afternoon of wholesome fun, relaxing conversations, positive interactions, recreational games and other educational activities. But it has since welcomed all nationalities and cultural ethnicities in the group,

and has encouraged friendly games of competitive sports.

Two tournaments were successfully held last year—basketball and volleyball. Both tournaments were ideas of the kids and they were successfully held with their leadership and support.

For the past 2 years, the other secret of the group is its team of facilitators. Their competence does not only lie in their preparedness in terms of skills but also in their genuine involvement and concern for the kids who come and join the afternoon sessions. These facilitators are guided by their mission and vision to make SFG a more permanent, even safer place for every member youth and child.

Best of all, the facilitators solicit ideas and encourage participation and leadership among the kids. The kids appreciate this and give their best efforts.

So, what makes SFG different from other efforts or similar programs for this particular age group? Or, what ingredients have made it endearing among

Youth Facilitator Karen Caguioa (extreme left) with members of the Saturday Fun Group.

Youth facilitators Danvic Briones and Bolet Arevalo (extreme left) with members of the Saturday Fun Group at the Renfrew-Collingwood TEDx Convention.

its members?

“SFG has helped me a lot.

Here, I gained back my self-esteem. I increased my self-confidence. I earned the respect of others. Coming is like going home to a second family every time.”

And they expressed it better when they said, they hope to go home to this family every Saturday for as long they can.

For more information, please call Collingwood Neighbourhood House at (604) 435-0323 or visit http://www.cnh.bc.ca/ ■

“Attracting and retaining the best international talent to fill skills shortages in key occupations is critical to Canada’s economic success.”

- Hon. Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P.

Minister of Employment and Social Development

Respond to Canada’s need for immigrants.

Become a Regulated Immigration Consultant Full-time | Part-time | Online Apply online at www.ashtoncollege.com or contact a program adviser at (604) 899-0803.

Ashton College | Vancouver, BC 604 899 0803 | 1 866 759 6006 w w w. a s hto n co l l e g e. co m

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Immigration

23 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

PANGARAP: SO, OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

So, Are You Holding on to that Dream?

BY BOLET AREVALO

WE ADULTS think that we know more, or know better than our children.

I have always admitted that I have never dreamed a serious dream. I said in a high school interview that I wanted to be a ramp model when I grow up but I never did anything to be that person. I was so caught up with the hard life. All I wanted was to earn a living. I even started my own family early in my teens.

As a mother, I just kept working, working hard. I could not even stop to dream. I just felt that working hard will get you to something, whether or not you have dreamed about it. Today, I am not even sure if I did the right thing working so hard for my family back in the Philippines. That might have pre-

vented my older children from dreaming their own dreams because they get everything, well, most things they want by just being my children.

Then, one day I thought that whatever I gained from working hard will be gone when I retire. I made a decision to give my children something that will give them a viable option for the rest of their lives, a Canadian passport. That was to be my last card in trying to carve a better future for them. If they did not dream or did not know what to do with their lives as of yet, then that is an option that will stay with them till they are able to make their own decisions.

I thought that was the only reason or may be the only good thing that can come out of this decision to come to Canada.

Again, it was not even my own dream to come. I just followed my instincts. It is not fatalism, but at the same time that you are doing your part, you will

always know that something is right and going for you, if things are just falling into place along the way.

I did not have job in Canada for more than a year when we came to Vancouver. Coming to Toronto, I have also been out of job for more than half a year. As such, I am distressed with the thought that I have not been able to give my children the life that they used to have. It’s been

a hard-knock life out here to a point of scraping for government assistance. Living out of government subsidy is the farthest thing from my mind when I came over. I was a skilled professional when I migrated but have not been given the chance to practise my profession. It can be frustrating. There is still a minor daughter to work hard for.

Life’s twists and turns can be surprisingly life’s greatest lessons.

I have always said that if there is anything really good that has come out of our migration to Canada, it is knowing that there is a God who is alive and who listens and who answers... if you will follow His proddings. That there is a God of the impossible, a God of miracles, a God Almighty... if you know how to dream.

Sometime in the middle of 2013, my daughter and I launched a crowdfunding campaign through an internet platform called Indiegogo. It was to raise $30,000, about a year’s tuition for Branksome Hall, a private, independent school for girls in Toronto that offers an International Baccaluareatte Program. It was my daughter’s dream school and diploma program for high school. An IB Program is a worldwide accepted high school diploma program that ensures one of acceptance to any university ❱❱ PAGE 34 So, Are

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FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 24

GLOBAL FILIPINO: DUSTIN ANDAYA

The King of Roses

BY TINA ARCEO-DUMLAO Philippine Daily Inquirer IT’S NOT that he considers himself a hopeless romantic, just a hopeful and hardworking entrepreneur.

Andaya is the marketing director of Philippine Cut Flower Corp. (PCFC), the Philippines’ single largest producer of Dutch and French roses whose operations are at their most frantic in the two weeks leading to the feast day of St. Valentine.

Not only does PCFC supply roses to institutional buyers such as hotels and flower shops, it also sells the bulk of its blooms through its online retail arm, www.islandrose.net, one of the country’s most successful e-commerce sites. The site serves as a convenient gateway that allows overseas Filipinos to send roses and gifts to their loved ones back home.

Indeed, romance is a serious business, says Andaya, who says that the website has undergone its latest major revamp, allowing potential buyers to immediately see the flower arrangement that they’d like to send their special someone.

The website showcases various blooms, but Andaya says roses remain the top seller among its growing legion of buyers—70,000 registered customers as of last count—most of them men and increasingly from the younger generation.

“We wanted to broaden the product range to include spring flowers like gerberas and chrysanthemums which we get from our partner farms, but roses remain the most popular,” says the 43-year-old businessman.

The most popular variety ordered on the website that was created in 2000 is the Red France Deluxe, a dozen bright red roses that cost P1,419.

Andaya admits that might sound pricey, but adds that customers can actually get a discount if they order before January 30, for delivery at their convenience. Yet, he reveals, Filipinos usually wait until the very last minute before placing their orders. Their busiest days, when orders start pouring in, are from Feb. 5 to the 12th, during which prices go up by about 30 percent. This peak

season also see orders going up to a cumulative 8,000 dozens.

The marketing executive says that despite other alternatives in expressing sentiment in this digital age when text messages, email and video are just a click away, most Filipinos still prefer to send flowers on Valentine’s Day. And not just any flowers, mind; the all-time favorite are red roses, which is why nearly half of PCFC’s production is dedicated to the red varieties.

The white variety is the next most popular option.

“We never had a year when we did not grow in terms of the volume (of sales),” says Andaya. He’s not sure if Internet access to their website has something to do with good business, “or if people’s schedule are so hectic, they just give flowers (instead of being there).

Flowers help them express their feelings.”

As the company’s website blurb stresses, “Island Rose is about keeping relationships alive,” he cites.

And lucky for him, most Filipinos seem to remain infatuated all the time, but most especially on Valentine’s Day, as hordes of couple render the city streets almost impassable as they head to a date movie or a candlelit dinner.

Says psychiatrist Dr. Johnny Edrozo: “Filipinos are generally a romantic people. Love and romance make us show the best of ourselves to the object of our affection. “ Edrozo, who practised psychiatry in the US for 43 years before settling back in the country and establishing a clinic here, is upbeat on romance.

“Romance brings lots of emotional exhilaration and good feeling about oneself. It allows us to show tender and loving feelings for another.”

Love may be timeless, but expressing it involves a long process that begins with choosing the right flowers and making sure that they are ready and

available when they are ordered, especially on Valentine’s Day, the single most lucrative day for the flower industry.

If they are unable to provide that, the whole promise of keeping relationships going starts withering away, says Andaya.

Because, he adds, despite the romantic notions about floating on a cloud and being whisked away to the moon and the stars when one falls in love, the business side of love is entirely grounded.

“The essence of the company is PHOTO FROM INQUIRER.NET

on the ground, in the greenhouse,” says Andaya.

To keep competitors at bay and win the hearts of customers, especially those abroad, he cites the company’s edge: not just the ease of access through its website, but also the flowers themselves, the artistic arrangements, and the on-time delivery.

“Our challenge is to get the right flowers and the right suppliers. The next challenge is arranging them and making sure that when the person gets to open the box, the wow factor is still there,” Andaya says, adding that because they themselves grow the flowers, they “can ensure the quality of the blooms.”

PCFC, whose farms are in cool Tagaytay City, uses greenhouse technology to produce in commercial quantities 11 varieties of roses featured in arrangements found in its website, www.islandrose.net.

Far from being a competitor, the Net has proven to be an ally, says Andaya, adding that more than half of the flower orders through the website come www.canadianinquirer.net

from overseas, with local buyers making up the balance . Of overseas buyers, more than half are based in the United States.

Data from the company also show that most of the buyers are single, with a 70-30 ratio in favor of male buyers in previous years. Lately however, the ratio has closed in at 50-50, with more women buying flowers not only for their significant other, but also for their friends and family.

Men, on the other hand, mainly buy flowers for their wives or girlfriends.

The company began its relationship with buyers in 1983 when PCFC was established, jumpstarting the growth of the cut flower industry in the Philippines. It went into full scale rose production initially to service the export market, although it eventually included the local market in its sales target. Through the years, it has become one of the country’s most reliable flower suppliers, says Andaya.

The PCFC has managed to establish a stranglehold on the market through continuous investment in greenhouse technology designed to mimic weather conditions in Europe, the marketing exec adds.

The Philippines is not exactly hospitable to roses because of its humid climate, explains Andaya, adding that these fragile flowers require cool temperatures to flourish.

Thanks to the greenhouse technology, the company man-

ages to produce some three million stems of roses a year, taking advantage of the yearround sunlight while protecting the flowers against rain and humidity.

Its website was born in 2000 when e-commerce was just starting to get off the ground.

Since then the website has gone through several improvements and updates, with the current version featuring not just flowers, but also gifts such as the fast-selling chocolate line, teddy bears and costume jewelry.

Andaya says chocolates comprise the fastest-growing sector among the company’s product lines, especially The Black Luxe collection. Although established only in 2012, this sector has been growing by around 30 percent a year, he adds.

“We are also selling other Island Rose brand products like jewelry and the teddy bear we call the Messenger Bear. These are among the favorites of buyers,” says Andaya, who adds that he intends to expand the product line to capture new markets.

Despite the growth of other product sectors, the company will always be about the roses, he maintains.

“Flowers automatically make a gift romantic because they give it added meaning ,” he says.

“That’s why flowers will never get old. They make a gesture romantic and boost everything you need to say.”

Adds Andaya, who confesses to giving his wife roses regularly: “Valentine’s is really about flowers,” which, their customers agree, have always been the beautiful language of love. ■

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

25

Love Letters

Love yourself! You are worth it!

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer THERE IS a song I remember vividly from my youth. It is tragic, not only because it reveals my age, but also because it is a microcosm of the world as it is—pretty much. The first verse alone is enough to make you want to go in search of a reasonably high building and a ledge on that reasonably high building; even if only in your mind: I learned the truth at seventeen/ That love was meant for beauty queens / And high school girls with clear skinned smiles / Who married young and then retired / The valentines I never knew / The Friday night charades of youth / Were spent on one more beautiful / At seventeen I learned the truth...

“At Seventeen,” by Janis Ian, is as haunting lyrically as it is melodically; her melancholic voice inducing a tragic-romantic reverie akin to a depressed stupor, to the last strains of the last lyric. Sadly, it is descriptive of a harsh socio-cultural-emotional reality that is as true today as it was way-back-when. Although admittedly tempered by a more liberated sense of femininity and womanhood, the bottomline remains: the beautiful generally live a charmed life with a special someone; while the unbeautiful generally—well—do not. Theirs is stereotypically the life of the awkward, wallflower loner.

There is, perhaps, no reminder more poignant of this than Valentine’s Day.

Beyond roses

Flashback some years ago, to a day in life that brought this point home in a way that hurt— and angered—my mother’s heart: Valentine’s Day 2011. My daughter was in 5th grade, and she came home, visibly upset, but doing her best not to let on. A bit of prodding and a big hug later, the beans came spilling out: “Why did some girls get roses, and I didn’t, Mama?

The school sold roses today, and some of us didn’t get any…”

Now mind you, my daughter is gorgeous by any standard (not just by the “I’m her mother, and she’s gorgeous in MY eyes” standard), but she is the type who purposely avoids being one of the “populars.” She is quite the anti-“IT-girl,” and honestly, her Dad and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being able to stand up to peer-pressure; being more concerned with substance of character than mere outward beauty—these are qualities most parents seek to instill in their children. This, as far as we see it, is the way to go.

But not in the world’s eyes.

The world seems to reward the superficial and the shallow.

The world seems smitten by the popular.

After getting over my annoyance that the school had thought it a “good idea” to encourage “romantic rose-giving” among young school graders, I quickly re-assured my daughter of what she already knew, but momentarily became insecure of: that her beauty goes beyond being gifted with roses.

Way, w a y beyond.

Aaah, those 3 special words: I love ME!

What to do, if you don’t receive roses?

Are alone on Valentine’s Day? Fall short of the “popular” mark?

Do we wallow in self-pity?

Suffer the blues in a peculiar shade of lace-trimmed red, white and pink? Shoot a certain cherub with a crossbow, as a heart-eating zombie with no worthwhile purpose in life?

No! We embrace our alone-ness.

We find our own beauty and self-worth.

We love who we are.

And we spoil ourselves silly.

“I LOVE ME!” The words may seem alien to you, and may take a while to roll off your tongue, but say them out loud; with feeling! We all too often speak negative words about ourselves, that we believe our own negativity and become our own biggest critics: “I’m so fat,” “I’m

n o t good enough,” “I’ll never make it,” “I look awful,” “I’ll never be happy,” “I’ll never get that job / be rich/ be successful,” are among the top ego-smashers we tell ourselves.

We need to change all that and be our own biggest fan and learn to love—and cheer for— ourselves.

up conditions little girls to passively wait for the knight, while little boys are trained to be pro-active in the search and throw grand parties and balls to that end. Thankfully, this is slowly changing, as long-held stereotypes are questioned and destroyed.

We wait, empty and yearning for someone to fill the void.

Some wait ‘til they’re blue in the face or the cows come home, whichever comes first; while others wait in vain—because that’s not usually how life works.

To be loved, we must first have love to give. And this starts with loving yourself.

shining

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, find out what it means to me

Hours are wasted, pining away for love; waiting to be loved; keeping our fingers crossed for love to find us.

Like a princess holding out for a knight in shining armour, yearning for that special love; meanwhile feeling empty, lost and incomplete without it. On that note, it is funny that most literature with which we grow

❱❱ PAGE 31 Love yourself

Goodbye, armour

knight

in

Loving yourself is mainly having self-respect, and this is the first step to creating love in your own life to share with others. When you expect love from an outside source, and someone or something does not fulfill this expectation, this makes you feel worse than before, in a vicious cycle that only loving

Love Letters

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 26

Behind the Boudoir taboo

BY ANGEL JONES Special to Philippine Canadian Inquirer

friends as a project. The whole point of the shoot was to show women, especially mothers in a light that captured their intimate moments in such a way that was poetic and beautiful.

I am an advocate for personal growth and self acceptance and bearing myself in front of these women and a camera was the ultimate of acceptance and growth for me.

Growing up I have had a negative complex of my body and self acceptance was not something that was easy for me, which is a common struggle for a lot of women. Through the years I was able to grow in my self-esteem and confidence and the boudoir shoot was a great way to really celebrate that.

There is such a power in seeing yourself in a natural state looking gorgeous. I had my hair and makeup done and all the shots were tasteful and we only took shots I was comfortable with.

Although I am a beach bunny and love living in my bikinis, it was a different feeling to be naked and a camera pointed at you! The whole process from the moment I agreed to do it

BOUDOIR PHOTO shoots has been quite popular lately. I recently had a boudoir photo shoot myself. Before your imagination starts running wild with racy poses and images filled with lace and chains, I want to talk how a taboo topic can be fantastic for your self-esteem and why a boudoir shoot will make an awesome Valentine's gift for your significant other and for yourself.

First let’s look at the definition: bou•doir [boo-dwahr] a woman's bedroom or private sitting room.

As I read between the lines of this definition the words that come to mind are intimate, vulnerable, sensual, beauty. That is exactly how I felt during my shoot.

I decided to do a boudoir shoot with two of my girl

to seeing the final product was such a positive almost spiritual moment in my battle of self loathing towards the image of my own body. It is always such a challenge for women to feel amazing and complete in their own skin and that is exactly what a boudoir shoot does for women. Before you say “no way!” let me explain.

Boudoir doesn't mean a peg from a dirty magazine. Boudoir is classy and the atmosphere is safe and comfortable. If you are still leery, there are a lot of companies where the photographers are women. It is not necessary to be naked and no you don’t have to wear bustiers and fishnets if that is not your style; the attire can be adjusted to what you are comfortable with. No matter what shape, size and age there is boudoir right for you.

This project was one of the coolest and bravest things I did for myself. It’s such a wonderful feeling to see yourself in a candid natural state and see the beauty that the world sees in you. What a wonderful gift to give your significant other as

well. Your partner knows what you look like and loves you for it but it is so different when you can give your partner a confident sexy moment of you that is purely you at your most beautiful state. So If you are stumped as to what you might want to give your love for Valentine's

day, why not consider giving the gift you both can enjoy? A gift of your beauty and confidence caught in a photo. ■ You can follow me on Twitter @ jonesvangel, Instagram @angelvjones, Facebook /angelicavjones

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Love Letters

27 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Letters of Love and Longing: Notes from the Famous COMPILED BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

EVERYONE DESERVES to love and be loved— even those living in the spotlight.

Here are some love letters from famous people courtesy of Letters of Note (www.lettersofnote.com) editor Shaun Usher. ■ GERALD FORD DEAREST MOM No written words can adequately express our deep, deep love. We know how great you are and we, the children and Dad, will try to be as strong as you.

Our Faith in you and God will sustain us. Our total love for you is everlasting.

We will be at your side with our love for a wonderful Mom. xxxx Jerry

JIMI HENDRIX

JOHNNY CASH

LITTLE GIRL….. happiness is within you….so unlock the chains from your heart and let yourself grow— like the sweet flower you are…..

I know the answer— Just spread your wings and set yourself FREE Love to you forever Jimi Hendrix

HEY JUNE, That’s really nice June.

You’ve got a way with words and a way with me as well.

The fire and excitement may be gone now that we don’t go out there and sing them anymore, but the ring of fire still burns around you and I, keeping our love hotter than a pepper sprout.

Love John MARLON BRANDO (to a flight stewardess who caught his fancy in 1966)

FRIDA KAHLO DIEGO, MY love, Remember that once you finish the fresco we will be together forever once and for all, without arguments or anything, only to love one another.

Behave yourself and do everything that Emmy Lou tells you.

I adore you more than ever. Your girl, Frida (Write me)

DEAR LADY — There is something not quite definable in your face — something lovely, not pretty in a conventionally thought of way. You have something graceful and tender and feminine (sp). You seem to be a woman who has been loved in her childhood, or else, somehow by the mystery of genetic phenomena you have been visited by the gifts of refinement, dignity and poise.

Perhaps you cannot be accredited with all that.

Irrespective of your gothic aspects, you have passed something on in terms of your expression, mien and general comportment that is unusual and rewarding.

It’s been a pleasant if brief encounter and I wish you well and I hope we shall have occasion to cross eyes again sometime.

Best wishes Marlon Brando

www.canadianinquirer.net

NINOY AQUINO (hours before he was assassinated on August 21, 1983) MY DEAREST Cory, In a few hours I shall be embarking on an uncertain fate, which may well be the end of a long struggle. I slept well last night for the first time since I left Boston – maybe because I’m just plain tired or I’m really at peace with myself. I want to tell you many things but time is running out and I do not have any machine. After a few more paragraphs, my penmanship will be illegible.

All the things I want to tell you may be capsulized in one line – I love you! You’ve stood by me in my most trying moments and there were times I was very hard on you. But if anyone will ever understand me, it is you, and I know you will always find it in your heart to forgive – and unfair and ironic as it is – it is because of this thought and belief that I often took you for granted.

Early on I knew I was not meant to make money – so I won’t be able to leave anything to the children. I did what I thought I could do best, which is public service, and I hope our people in time will appreciate my sacrifices. This would be my legacy to the children. I may not bequeath them material wealth but I leave them a tradition which can be priceless.

I realize I’ve been very stingy with praise and appreciation for all your efforts – but though unsaid – you know that as far I’m concerned, you are the best. That’s why we’ve lasted this long. There will only be one thing in the world I will never accept — that you love me more than I love you –because my love for you though unarticulated will never be equaled.

If all goes well I should be back in my cell before sundown. Should I be detained do not rush to get home. Take your time and enjoy a side trip to Europe with the girls.

I’ll try to call you tonight if the authorities will allow me. Otherwise just remember me in your dreams.

Love, Ninoy P.S. I offered a special rosary for Papa and I asked for his intercession. You know he never failed me.

Seen & Scenes

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 28

SERENDIPITY TEA PARTY VALENTINE’S DAY CELEBRATION February 11, Vancouver— Granola Girl’s April Bellia and Baljit Rayat of Conscious Divas held their first co-ed Serendipity Celebration to celebrate new heart connections and Valentine’s Day 2014 at The Sutton Place Vancouver, Room Chateau Lafite.

LBC's Tricia Garcia, and Raffy Policarpio

HAIYAN SURVIVORS EXPRESS APPRECIATION THROUGH SEN. ENVERGA, JR. Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in Estancia, Iloilo relayed their appreciation to Canada and its people, through Filipino Canadian Senator Tobias Enverga, Jr. (C, Ontario) saying, had it not for them, probably, “we would not have survived the catastrophe which befell us last November.”

Senator Enverga, Jr. visited the Central Visayan town during his four-week work and vacation trip to the Philippines.

(Office of Sen. Tobias Enverga, Jr.)

For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net. www.canadianinquirer.net

LBC’s Tricia Garcia d cargo, courier, and Romy Rafael, presid Foundation; Sir Ge Commander, The O Press Club Ontario ca Rafael. St. Jame

Seen & Scenes

29 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FIL-ACT BASKETBALL HOLIDAY GATHERING The Fil-Act Basketball League of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, recently held its annual gathering of members, patrons and supporters at Rembrandt Banquet Hall in Scarborugh. Among those who attended the gathering are Mimi Rico, Marlie Rivamonte, Pearlie Perez, Arlene Nepomuceno, Nora Rosales, Violie Lim, Carol Valles, Flora Tayag, Marilou Silva, Donna Tentativa, Jocelyn “Inday” dela Cruz, Arlene Ponce, Lalaine Zaragoza, Claire Ponce, Flor Lim, Rey Rico, Nandy Valles, Noel Sarsonas, Fredie Zaragoza, Bonie Quiming, Romy Turla, Bobby Chang, Donde Rivamonte, Danny Aglipay, Cris Tentativa, Rico Nepomuceno, Lito Rosales, Rey Ponce, Ramon Tayag and Tony Sicat.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP SEMINAR The University of the Philippines Alumni Association in British Columbia (UPAABC), with the Office of the Consulate General in Vancouver, held a seminar on dual citizenship at the Surrey City Centre Library on February 7. Deputy Consul General Anthony Mandap spoke about the benefits of dual citizenship, which includes the right to own real property in the Philippines, right to engage in business or commerce as a Filipino, right to practice one’s profession in accordance with law, right to acquire a Philippine passport, and right to vote in the Philippine elections.

TORONTO EVENT

LBC UNVEILS NEW LOGO & IDENTITY The LBC - Hari ng Padala has unveiled the new logo and identity of the leading global Filipino-owned company at the Max of Manila Toronto Restaurant on February 8 and at the Max of Manila Vancouver Restaurant on February 11.

During the Toronto event, Marketing Director Tricia Garcia revealed that LBC shipped 126 containers to the Philippines during the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda intended for the thousands of typhoon victims in Leyte, Samar, Iloilo, and other provinces in the Visayan Region. Meanwhile, in the Vancouver event, Carlo Ferrer and Josefina Marquez discussed the important services of LBC.

, marketing director for North America o, country manager for Canada.

LBC has been a well-known Filipino company which has been serving the Filipino community not only in the Philippines but throughout the world in the business of fast and reliable cargo, courier, and money remittance with 1,000 branches and over 100 branches worldwide.

VANCOUVER EVENT

By Manny Papa & Dindo Orbeso (Toronto), with report from Gigi Astudillo (Vancouver)

discussing important services of the money remittance company with dent, Philippine Canadian Charitable eorge Poblete,KGCR, Canada Regional Order of the Knights of Rizal; Philippine o Member Marlou Tiro; and Ms. Rebecestown News Service www.canadianinquirer.net

Love Letters

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 30

Eat, Pray, Love: What to Do (and Eat) on Valentine’s Day

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer IT’S THAT time of the year again!

It felt like Christmas and New Year was just a few days ago and now reds and pinks and felt hearts are all over the place— from malls to office spaces to schools, even on social media.

You have to be living under a rock if you still have no idea that Valentine’s is just around the corner.

Despite its rather bloody origin, Valentine’s Day gave lovers the license to be mushy and ohtoo-sweet even just for a day.

Nothing is too cheesy or too flamboyant when it’s the season of love. All forms of expression will be (and must be) utilized to let your significant other know of your love and devotion (or lack of it).

Here are some traditional Vday activities, as well as not-socommon ones to give your love day celebration a fresh flare.

The author with her husband.

Bunkbed stargazing

PHOTO FROM IMGUR

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Lover’s Lair

Pull out all the stops and redecorate (even just for Friday) to change the mood from “party night Friday” to Cupid’s love den.

Pop some popcorn, pull out the cooler and fill it with drinks, and fix up your backyard for an outdoor movie night for your special someone. You can even invite a bunch of couple friends to enjoy a movie or two. Plus, you can ask them to bring all sorts of goodies like wine and cheese to share.

If you’re renting and lacking in lawn space, then turn your bedroom in to a hotel room.

Break out those fancy sheets, buy a few scented candles to improve the ambience, visit the farmer’s market for a bunch or two of flowers for accent and decoration. Forgo the rose petals on the bedspread, the thread count should be more than enough. For an added “room service” feel, prepare a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and a bow of chocolate-covered strawberries or whipped cream.

Repurpose an old bunkbed by taking out to the yard and turning it into a stargazing fort. Add a few pillows here and there, a

Keeping the flame alive in your marriage

Outdoor movie night

cushion, a nice bedsheet and comforter, and of course don’t forget the mood lighting in the form of candles (or ’electric candles’) and lamps. Now, lay down and relax and snuggle comfortably with your significant other.

You can also download starmap apps on your smartphone or tablet to make the most of your stargazing night.

For those who will spend Valentine’s over Skype, do make an effort to light up your background with some candles and some soft music. Why not have dinner in front of the computer together? Coordinate your meals so it feels like you’re eating in the same place. Trust us, it’s not as sad as it sounds.

PHOTO FROM BUZZFEED

We’ve got you covered.

If you’re both adventurous, why not create a scavenger hunt for each other? List down things you want each other to find throughout the apartment, house, or even your neighborhood. It would be great if you can incorporate stuff from your relationship: a menu from the restaurant on your first date, a DVD of the first movie you saw together, a picture of the spot where you shared your first kiss.

Since everything’s basically on WikiHow now, check out a few massage techniques here and there and treat your special someone to a massage. Do not forget to include candles, essential oils and/or incense,

Doable for the Duo

Activities for Valentine’s?

❱❱ PAGE 38 Eat, Pray

www.canadianinquirer.net

“A SUCCESSFUL marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” This is my favorite quote about marriage and continues to be my guiding light in my still young married life.

In my day to day living, I am able to meet a lot of couples who have been happily married for quite some time now and are still thriving in the journey they have chosen.

Their stories have definitely helped me add a bit of spice, vibrancy, growth and joy to my married life.

So, whether you are planning to get married, just got married or have already been married for several years now, here are some tips from married couples and professionals to make this chapter of your life the best ever!

Giving compliments is key.

I often hear some just-married couples complaining that their partner’s sentiments or appreciation of them—on how they look and the things they do right—has gone down or been virtually non-existent after their first or second wedding anniversary.

Couple Dr. Philip Lee and Dr. Diane Rudolph, Clinical Associ-

ate Professors of Psychiatry at New York said, “Couples should spend more time acknowledging the positive aspects of their relationship and put aside their complaints.”

The simplest compliments can go a long way. Say it. Tell her that she’s more beautiful with her new hairstyle or new dress.

Or praise her for her effort in learning a new recipe. I know married couples who make it a habit to give little notes to their partners—on the bathroom mirror or by the alarm clock— every waking day.

Do not be angry at the same time.

“Constant arguing makes everyone feel terrible about the marriage,” Philip Lee and Dr. Diane Rudolph said. If there should be someone in the winning end, let it be your partner.

Married couples would not always agree with one another; simply because they are different individuals with diverse thoughts. So, professionals advise couples to listen first to their partner and learn to understand where the other is coming from and what he/she wants to say. Once you feel that the argument is beginning to escalate, stop, count to 10 and just say, “Okay, you won.”

You can discuss this topic again if you want when emotions ❱❱ PAGE 39 Keeping the

Love Letters

31 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Love yourself... and respecting yourself can break. Understanding the effects of loving yourself will heighten your ability to love others.

To be loved, you must first have a healthy love and respect for yourself, as much as you do others—if not more so.

Healthy self-respect can be cultivated by changing your selfview and your self-talk. Easier said than done, admittedly, but well-worth the effort. Don’t be afraid to seek out help for issues you feel you cannot change on your own: enlist the services of a counselor, life coach or therapist where needed.

In this same vein, we must also learn to take responsibility for ourselves, and stop relying on others to float our boat.

❰❰ 25

No more self-abandonment

But don’t take my word for it; I am, after all, no expert on the matter.

Best–selling author and relationship expert (and YES, she has appeared on Oprah) Margaret Paul has this to say about it: “Expecting others to make you feel loved while you are abandoning yourself will never lead to

feeling loved and lovable. When you learn to take responsibility for yourself emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually, organizationally and relationally, then you will feel loved and lovable. Taking responsibility for loving yourself fills your heart with love, which you can then share with others. Sharing love is the most fulfilling experience in life, but you need to be filled with love in order to have love to share. Learning to love yourself is what fills you with love.”

In an article on huffingtonpost.com, Dr. Paul shares 9 ways to love yourself, which begins with loving—as opposed to abandoning—your inner child:

3. Open to learning about what your feelings are telling you. Much as an actual child feels loved when you are compassionately interested in why he or she is hurting, your inner child will feel loved when you explore what your feelings are telling you. Learn from your feelings. Painful feelings, for instance, may be telling you that you are abandoning yourself, or that someone is being unloving to you, or that a situation is not good for you. Attend to your feelings with compassion, learn what they are telling you, and then take action to fix the situation. These will make you feel loved.

1. Listen within to your own feelings. Tune in to how YOU feel. Do not allow your inner child to feel rejected, abandoned and unloved by you.

4. Create a solid connection with a spiritual source of love, wisdom and comfort. Love is not a feeling generated by our mind. It comes from the heart when our heart is open to our source of love. Open yourself to learning with your higher power about loving yourself and others, and love will flow into your heart.

2. Be compassionate with your feelings. Do not judge your feelings, telling yourself you are wrong for having them.

Be kind, gentle, tender, understanding and accepting of your feelings, then your inner child will feel loved by you.

5. Choose to be around loving people. In your personal relationships (because you don’t al-

ways have a choice in work relationships), choose to be around caring, supportive and accepting people will make you feel loved.

6. Take loving actions for yourself around others.

Speak up for yourself and do not allow others to treat you badly. Disengage from interacting with those who treat you badly. Allowing others to treat you badly sends a message to your inner child that he or she is not worth loving.

7. Take care of your body, your time, your space and your finances. You will feel loved and lovable when you feed yourself healthy food, and get exercise and adequate sleep.

Do not ignore your health; doing so sends a message that you are not worth loving. Respect your own and others’ time and space; this lets you know that you are worth it. Do not overspend and put yourself in unnecessary debt, this makes your inner child feel anxious and insecure about life.

8. Find work you love. Since work takes up a big chunk of your life, find or create work

that fulfills you. This is vitally important. You need to know that you are worth the effort it takes to create a sense of fulfillment in your life.

9. Create balance. All work and no play, or all play and no work, creates inner anxiety rather than inner peace. We need balance in our life to feel loved and lovable. Rest and rejuvenate. We must nurture our body and soul through activities that bring us joy.

Alone, but NOT lonely

If Valentine’s Day rolls around and you find yourself alone, or you find yourself sans a bouquet of roses, do not despair. Instead, take a step towards loving yourself. Pamper yourself. Treat yourself to your day of shopping. Curl up and read that good book for which you never seem to have time.

Or, find a friend and paint the town your own shade of red.

You are worth it!

Turn your situation around and resolve to love yourself; for even tragically depressing songs remind us that “It isn’t all it seems at seventeen...” ■

Ang Apprenticeship Grants ay nakatulong sa akin na bumili ng tools at makamit ang aking layuning maging mekaniko. Mahal ko ang aking trabaho!

– Valerie, HVAC & Refrigeration Mechanic

Maraming mga programang makakatulong sa iyo na makuha ang in-demand skills na kailangan mo.

Alin ang mainam para sa iyo?

• Apprenticeship Grants • Work Experience for Youth • Job Bank

ActionPlan.gc.ca/Jobs • 1 800 O-Canada

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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

32

Entertainment

Fake romance for closeted couple Philippine Daily Inquirer JUST IN time for Valentine’s Day, here are three stories of dubious romance.

From the Inquirer tabloid Bandera: Remember Closeted Entertainer, the cosmetics junkie? To quash persistent gay rumors, CE conspired with Gifted Performer, who pretended to be his girlfriend. GP played along because she had gender issues of her own.

CE and GP are sticky-sweet in public. But away from the stage and prying eyes, CE and GP stay in their own corners in the communal dressing room (they’re both in this popular show) and pretty much ignore one another.

Expiry date

Pretty Starlet thought Cute Hunk was determined to win her heart and, in fact, CH was initially gung-ho in his pursuit.

Then, CH suddenly vanished.

Disappointed, PS blamed their hectic schedules: “We didn’t have enough time for each other.”

She should realize that CH’s interest had an expiry date. He stopped the wooing when promotions for his project ended.

In the blood

Mole is certain that Handsome Hunk and his relative, Cute Newbie, have one more thing in common (aside from matinee-idol good looks).

For years, HH has been parrying rumors questioning his

sexuality. Turns out, CN’s gender is similarly suspect.

CN seems much too swishy for comfort. Still, he made a big show of his purported relationship with Statuesque Celeb.

That affair is going nowhere, insists a Rushes spy, who is sure CN is more interested in fellow hotties. Just like HH. Good looks and questionable sexuality run in the blood!

Verde ang dugo, as they say.

Blockbuster

Glamorous Beauty was supposed to meet with Powerful Personality. At the last minute, the meeting was canceled, much to the dismay of GB’s Staunch Supporter.

A mole claimed that SS’ Vociferous Nemesis blocked GB’s appointment with PP with the help of Newsmaking Relative.

Just like that, GB’s name was erased from PP’s calendar.

VN can also stand for vindictive and nasty! SS’ responded by arranging a meeting between GB and Influential Insider, NR’s rival.

Consummate pro

From the Inquirer Radio program “Inquirer Entertainment” (dzIQ 990 AM, Monday to Friday, 3 to 5 p.m.): Remember Brazen Beauty, the incorrigible party girl? She turned out to be a consummate pro, in the strictest sense.

BB arrived for a show three hours ahead of the call time.

That was because she wanted to be thoroughly prepared. She asked for a copy of the script and buckled down to memoriz-

ing her spiels. She also meddled in the music scoring department, suggesting a song for her segment: Mariah Carey’s “Hero.” BB is OC! Top of the Talk Shows

For those who missed these TV gabfests (and why we are moved, if we are moved): Julia Clarete on friend Tado Jimenez, who perished in a bus accident in Bontoc: “Si Tado, naturally witty ’yan on- and offcam. Matalas, mabilis, magaling mag-isip.” (Another good one gone. Rest in peace.)

• Vhong Navarro, asked if he was weary of the things happening around him following the mauling incident: “Buhay ko po ang nakataya dito, buhay ng pamilya ko, ng mga anak ko.”

(Stereotypically dramatic, but he’s got a point.)

• Vhong on the girlfriend he cheated on: “Gaya po ng paulitulit kong sinasabi sa kanya, ako ang may kasalanan … Sobrang mahal po ako, mahal na mahal.”

(When you count your blessings, count that girlfriend at least a hundred times.)

• Wally Bayola to viewers, when he returned to “Eat Bulaga!” five months after his sex video scandal: “Sorry po … Sana bigyan niyo po ako ng isa pang pagkakataon para maayos ang buhay ko.” (And here we are, big suckers for drama. Seriously.)

• Jose Manalo, asked what he learned from what Wally went through: “Ingatan, alagaan natin kung ano ang ibinigay sa ’tin.” (Haaaaay, naku!)

• Regine Velasquez, asked about her most memorable ex-

ANDI Eigenmann is sure she can take good care of her daughter.

perience with her father, Mang Gerry, who passed away recently: “’Yung mga defeat moments namin [sa singing contests].

Kapag natatalo ako, lagi niyang sinasabi, ‘Ay luto ’yan!’ Pero ipopoint out niya na, ‘Pero alam mo, medyo nag-flat ka talaga dito [sa parteng ’to] … Pero luto pa rin!’” (That’s a funny, and precious, one.)

• Regine, asked about her coming concert, “Voices of Love”: “Ang iniisip ko, he’ll be there; otherwise, I can’t sing properly. Ayoko munang umiyak this week kasi mauubos ang boses ko. After na lang ng concert!”

(Of course, he’ll be there.)

• Mang Gerry in one of his last interviews, asked what his wish for Regine was: “Sana magkaroon pa siya ng isang baby.” (O ayan, now na!)

• Heart Evangelista, asked what boyfriend Sen. Chiz Escudero gave her for her coming birthday: “Trip to Hong Kong …

Hindi siya ’yung ma-shopping.

Pag bumibili nga ako ng sapatos na may kamalahan, tinatanong niya kung hindi ako nakokonsensiya. Sinasabi ko, ‘Not really, sorry!’” (Well, this is… enlightening.)

• Heart on Lolit Solis saying that Sen. Chiz isn’t as goodlooking as her exes: “Crush na crush ko siya! Nakita ko siya

once, naka-shirt at shorts …

Guwapong-gwapo ako sa kanya nun. Naalala ko tumutugtog nun ’yung ‘The Lady in Red’ and after that, I listened to it over and over!” (Love, as they say…)

• Heart, asked at what age she planned to get married: “Tomorrow!” (What age, not what day! Ayan, love also takes one’s brain, este, breath away.)

• Jaclyn Jose on rumors that her daughter, Andi Eigenmann, squanders her earnings: “Mas maraming pera ’yun kaysa sa ’kin. Wala siyang ginagastos sa bahay. I pay for everything.

Ni hindi nagse-share ’yan sa electricity, kahit ano… kuripot.

Pero alam ko naman nag-iipon siya para sa pag-aaral ni Ellie (Andi’s daughter).” (As well she should.)

• Andi on Ellie: “Technically walang father si Ellie kasi ’di pa ako married at wala pang naga-adopt sa kanya. ’Yung biological father naman niya, I don’t think he even wants to meet her … Walang help or acknowledgement galing sa kanila , which is perfectly fine!” (Good riddance, right? She has lots of uncles and grandfathers.)

• Jaclyn about not meddling in Andi’s love life: “Na-in love din ako. Bakit ko siya pipigilian?

Ang sarap-sarap nun!” (Spin a win!) ■

Entertainment

33 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Aiza Seguerra engaged to Liza Diño Karylle and Yael’s wedding set in March Philippine Canadian Inquirer

SINGER AIZA Seguerra made a surprise wedding proposal to his actress-girlfriend Liza Diño.

A fund-raising performance for the 55th anniversary of the Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts in UP Diliman has become Seguerra’s way to propose her love for Diño. And she planned it well with the help of Liza’s former co-teachers.

Towards the end of the play, Aiza went down on her knees and presented a diamond-andsapphire engagement ring to Liza.

Liza immediately said ‘yes.’

“Just like the ring of Princess Diana and Kate Middleton,” Liza later said.

“I thought Aiza was just adlibbing,” Liza recounted.

Aiza’s and Liza’s parents were all present in the surprise proposal.

“Aiza asked our parents’ per-

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK PAGE OF AIZA SEGUERRA

mission before proposing to me,” Liza said.

The wedding date is yet to

be set, but according to Liza, it would likely be in Los Angeles, California. ■

Piolo: I’m happy being with Shaina

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer “I DON’T want to preempt [love],” said actor Piolo Pascual of the reason he refused to discuss the real score between him and fellow Kapamilya artist Shaina Magdayao.

Piolo claimed Shaina was the girl “closest” to him at the moment. However, he added, “We have both decided to keep quiet about what’s really happening.

Sa amin na lang muna ’ yon.”

Shaina split up with John Lloyd Cruz in October 2011; Piolo and KC Concepcion ended their relationship a month later.

“Shaina and I click,” Piolo shared with reporters during a media gathering for his latest film, “Starting Over Again,” which premieres Feb. 12. “I’m happy when I’m with her. We have something special right now. We’ve been friends for many years. If there’s any girl I’m closest to right now, it’s Shaina.”

Finding time

Piolo said their relationship “grew deeper” when they worked on Erik Matti’s action

thriller “On the Job,” released in 2013. “That was when we really had the chance to go out.

We also got to spend a lot of time together when we went to Dubai recently for ‘ASAP,’” he said, adding that another project with Shaina was in the offing. “She’s young, but already very professional. She can still accomplish a lot of things as an artist; that’s why I don’t want to rush her.”

For a reason

The 37- year- old also admitted that he was “attracted” to his “Starting Over Again” leading lady Toni Gonzaga when she transferred from GMA 7 to ABS- CBN in 2005, but did not act on it. “It was because Toni was just new in the business and making a name for herself.

Juggling time for family, work and a romantic relationship would have been very difficult for her.”

Piolo added, “I’ve always admired Toni. As to whether I regretted not pursuing her, I don’t dwell on it anymore. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I guess this issue has resurfaced because we have

a movie coming up. We all know that, for many years now, she’s been with Paul (Soriano, film director).”

After starring in OTJ, which tackled serious subjects like crime and corruption, Piolo said it was refreshing to do another romantic comedy. He explained, “I didn’t think I could do another rom- com, but I fell in love with the script [ of ‘ Starting Over’] the first time I read it. The story is not superficial; in fact, it’s very realistic.

That’s what immediately attracted me to it.”

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—After all the speculations, hostactress Karylle Tatlonghari finally confirmed that she will soon tie the knot with Spongecola vocalist Yael Yuzon.

She made the announcement on Saturday, February 8, via a speech on her noontime show “It’s Showtime”, saying, “Next month, we wed, and a new chapter begins.”

“It was a sunny afternoon. Kumain kami sa Mister Kebab kasi mahilig po ako sa kanin, and after that we had coffee. And ‘yun, sinagot ko siya,” she narrated.

(We ate in Mister Kebab because I like eating rice, and after that we had coffee. And then I said yes.)

She also thanked her “It’s Showtime” co-hosts Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Vhong Navarro, Jhong Hilario, Billy Crawford, Coleen Garcia, Jugz and Teddy, Eric Tai and Kim Atienza for helping her grow in many ways.

“Ryan (Bang) taught me how to be a hurado ( judge)… I started to dream bigger because of Anne (Curtis). I learned how to share sawsawan (sauce) because of Vhong (Navarro). And, I was pushed to give more and share more of myself because of Direk Bobet.”

“Si Billy (Crawford) ang pinakagame sa malabo kong trip na abangan ang sunrise (is the most game in my desire to wait for the sunrise) ‘cause he’s ready to be a friend… Teddy (Corpuz) showed me how fun it is to have a growing family. Jug-

gy (Jugueta) showed me that he loves me even though he finds that I’m the weirdest in the ‘Showtime’ group.

“Jhong (Hilario) taught me to be more attentive and respectful. Coleen (Garcia) taught me that younger people have wisdom and Eric (Tai) showed me that boys with muscles have big, big hearts.”

She also thanked Vice Ganda for teaching her how to “laugh out loud.”

Most importantly, Karylle said that Kim Atienza’s pieces of advice helped her relationship with Yael. “(He) told me that I’m a good friend but a high maintenance girlfriend.”

Karylle’s co-hosts, in return, expressed their happiness and excitement for her upcoming wedding.

Congratulations to my sister, @anakarylle! Love you so much! Take care of each other @yaelyraz So happy for the both of you :)—Coleen Garcia Congratulations ate @anakarylle i love you very much ninong ako!—Ryan Bang Vice Ganda admitted that all the “Its Showtime” hosts are close to Yael, while Kim Atienza said that Yael is very lucky to have Karylle as his future wife.

An article in Manila Bulletin reported that Karylle’s ex-boyfriend, actor Dingdong Dantes and his current girlfriend actress Marian Rivera, were both happy for the 32-year-old singer-actress.

Meanwhile, Karylle’s actressmother Zsa-Zsa Padilla, in an interview last year expressed her support and readiness should her daughter decide to marry. She added that Karylle is capable enough to make her own decisions. ■

Irresistible factor

He added, “That Olivia Lamasan is directing it made it irresistible. I have so much respect for her as a director.” Piolo first worked with Lamasan in the romantic drama “Milan” in 2004.

“How this film will fare in the box office is no longer important to me. Making it was an experience I will never forget.”

“Starting Over Again,” with a script written by Carmi Raymundo, also features Iza Calzado, Joross Gamboa, Edgar Allan Guzman, Cai Cortez, Bryan Santos and Beauty Gonzales. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

PHOTO FROM INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS OF KARYLLE AND YAEL

Entertainment

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 34

Wally Bayola returns to “Eat Bulaga” after the sex scandal

BY KATHERINE MARFAL-TEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer COMEDIAN WALLY Bayola received a second chance.

On Saturday, Feb. 8, Bayola surprisingly appeared in the remote telecast of the show’s “Juan for All, All For Juan” segment in Barangay 686, Zone 75 in Paco, Manila in time for the birthday celebration of his comic duo partner Jose Manalo, who just turned 48.

It will be recalled that Bayola figured in a sex video scandal with “Eat Bulaga” dancer Yosh Rivera in September last year.

Being a family man with five kids, netizens couldn’t help but criticize Bayola.

Five months after, he was in tears as he faced his fans and co-hosts. He asked for forgiveness for his mistake and thanked the producers for giving him a second chance.

Manalo was personally moved with Bayola’s comeback. “Ang tunay na Dabarkad laging nandiyan, laging handang magpatawad,” he said. (A real friend is always there, always ready to forgive).

PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK PAGE OF WALLY BAYOLA

He added, “Ang importante, nandito ka sa harap ng mga tao at inaamin mo lahat ng kasalanan mo (What’s important is you are here to admit to everyone your mistakes),” Manalo said.

“Tandaan mo ang Diyos, hindi marunong magparusa, hindi ka paparusahan (Remember, God does not punish. He won’t punish you).”

According to a reliable source, Bayola had already been doing stand-up comedy in the Zirkoh Comedy Bar in Quezon City prior to his comeback in “Eat Bulaga.” ■

So, Are... around the world to pursue post-secondary education.

When I announced our campaign at Facebook, I said I was taking my motherhood to the extreme by letting all my friends know the sad fact that I could not afford to send my daughter to her dream school. I knew in my heart that it was going to draw mixed reactions from friends. Most of them were tactful enough not to tell me that my daughter and I are going out of our heads and probably too ambitious to even think of going to a private independent school in Canada that carries a tuition of $30,000 something when I could not even get a good job. Well, one or two did. If you cannot afford it, why even think of it?

Many ignored my crowdfunding campaign by not even Liking or Sharing my posts, and I felt I lost them at that point in time. I know some wanted to help but there are more important things to spend money for than for this crazy mother-and-daughter adventure.

But 18 people chose to believe and donated money. God only needed 18 people around the world follow His proddings.

The campaign netted about $1,000 from a goal of $30,000.00. But $1,000 was enough for my daughter’s $600 plane fare to Toronto, $200 to pay her SSAT fee and $200 to pay the admission fee to a special arts school where she passed tough auditions in visual arts if ever a slot would open up and they call her as an incoming Grade 10.

My daughter’s “discovery” and admission to the No. 1 secondary school in Toronto, the Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts is her own achievement. One day, she felt that Toronto had more opportunities for her and decided to find a way to get to Toronto. She diligently searched the internet for the good schools, found Cardinal Carter and used her God-given talent in the fine arts to try to get in. She competed with a portfolio of paintings and sketches, did her panel interview and on-the-spot drawing test. She passed the audition with flying colors but since she an incoming Grade 10, a slot has to be vacated for her to get in. In other words, she was placed on a waiting list.

All along, what I did was just to follow her instructions on what I can do for her to support her. Sometimes, she would be frustrated with me when I tell her that’s a dream too big for an aging breadwinner like myself who could not even get a decent job in Canada. In between that though, she never stopped dreaming and I never stopped supporting her by doing what I could when I could. All along, too, she never stopped dreaming about going to Toronto and maybe Branksome Hall. If she was the one getting frustrated, I would simply tell her, just be prepared to go when it happens.

If it is your destiny to go to Toronto, it will happen. When it is your fate to go ❰❰ 23

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to Branksome, it will happen even if you have to do that one step at a time.

Two weeks into the 2013-14 School year, Cardinal Carter informed us that a slot had been vacated and if we were still interested, we could be taken in. Using the money we raised at our crowdfunding campaign, she flew. God proved that we only needed enough, only $1,000 to start moving towards that dream. $600 for her plane fare, $200 for her SSAT exam and $200 for admission fee.

I also flew with her but went back to Vancouver to think clearly about a permanent relocation. Some things happened to me in my job in Vancouver but I was just trusting that God was with me all along. Those things were too hurtful and traumatic but I felt I just needed to be strong and follow my instincts again.

That is, to be with my daughter in Toronto.

Shortly before I lef for Toronto in December, I just gave Branksome one more shot as my daughter kept bugging me that Branksome is still her dream school. Dec. 5, 2013, I sent an email to Branksome inquiring about the Hallward scholarship or any other full scholarship available to a poor, deserving student. No reply came in. And I did not even bother to make a follow-up. Jan. 16, one day after their Jan 15 deadline, I received an email notice from Branksome that I can proceed to apply for this scholarship for my daughter, giving me a few days extension.

By this time, my daughter had passed her SSAT entrance exam, passed her preliminary admissions interview and will face the honorable Hallward Scholarship Committee for an oral presentation about herself and her dreams as a chosen finalist to the full scholarship.

There is no question in my mind that God is making these all happen, and all we needed to do was to obey and follow where He takes us step by step.

As for us the rest, just hold on to that dream. God is moving. ■ Nobody ever said that our journey, will be easy. But as I write and as you read, we share our strengths and we can hold to the promise that “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them,” Matthew 18:20.

Bolet is a marketing communications practitioner and dabbles in writing as a personal passion. She is author-publisher of the book: The Most Practical Immigrating and Job Hunting Survival Guide, proven simple steps to success without the fears and the doubts. The book is available in Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, the Reading Room and other online bookshops worldwide, and in National Book Store and Power Books in the Philippines. Please check out https:// www.amazon.com/author/boletarevalo.

Entertainment

35 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

LaBeouf makes a scene promoting ‘Nymphomaniac’ at Berlin Film Festival The Associated Press BERLIN—Actor Shia LaBeouf hit the Berlin Film Festival in memorable style Sunday, first walking out of a press conference for the film “Nymphomaniac Volume I” and then wearing a paper bag over his head at the red carpet premiere.

The actor posed for photographers in a stylish tuxedo— and a paper bag with eyeholes and the words “I am not famous anymore” written across it.

LaBeouf has frequently used the statement on his Twitter page, and he was identifiable by a tattoo on his hand.

The unconventional attire came shortly after the star walked out of a press conference with co-stars Uma Thurman and Christian Slater to promote

Lars von Trier’s film, the first installment of a two-part drama about a woman’s sexual life from girlhood to age 50.

A reporter’s question as to whether the actors were worried about the film’s sex scenes elicited the response: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.

Thank you very much.” He then walked out.

LaBeouf’s line was borrowed from French soccer player Eric Cantona, who baffled reporters with it in the mid-1990s following his suspension for a flying kick on a heckler.

The actor has come under fire for borrowing dialogue and story line for his short film, “Howard Cantour.com,” which closely resembled a 2007 graphic novel by Daniel Clowes.

“In my excitement and naivete as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation,” LaBeouf said on Twitter in December in response to Clowes’ publisher’s claim that he stole dialogue verbatim.

LaBoeuf wasn’t the only one making a statement. Von Trier turned up to a photo call sporting a t-shirt with the logo of the Cannes Film Festival and the words “Persona non grata, official selection.”

In 2011, von Trier was ejected from the Cannes event after a bizarre, rambling news conference in which he expressed sympathy with Adolf Hitler. He said afterward he had been joking, later issuing an apology and then saying he would refrain from future public statements.

The characters of Nymphomaniac.

The director skipped Sunday’s news conference to talk about the film. The version at the festival increases to nearly 2 1/2 hours the first installment.

At the press conference, Thurman said she enjoyed letting off the “fury of woman

scorned” in a monologue von Trier wrote for her in the movie. “It was a real great challenge to memorize seven pages of Lars’ female diatribe of rage,” she told reporters.

“Lars kept saying I was overacting, but that’s nothing new,” Thurman added. ■

Olympic Viewing: Lip reading, floating feathers and Big Ben

BY DAVID BAUDER The Associated Press HIGHLIGHTS FROM coverage of the Sochi Winter Olympics: LOOKING AT ASHLEY: One of the most scrutinized Olympic moments over the weekend had more to do with lip-reading than athletic competition.

TiVo said that the one moment people rewound their DVRs to watch more than any other on Saturday night was when unhappy American skater Ashley Wagner looked at the scoreboard to find her scores after skating to Pink Floyd. She wasn’t pleased. Her one-word response looked about as sour as her expression. Facebook also said Sunday that Wagner was one of the most talkedabout subjects on the popular social media site over the weekend. Facebook’s most discussed topic, however, was the moguls performance of Canadian sisters Justine and Chloe DufourLapointe, who took gold and silver.

RATINGS: An estimated 25.1 million people watched NBC’s prime-time Olympics coverage on Saturday night. That’s the

PHOTO BY MARTYNOVA ANNA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

biggest Saturday night audience in February for a broadcast network since the Vancouver Winter Games of 2010. The audience is down from the 26.2 million people who watched the comparable Saturday night coverage four years ago. The first Saturday in Turin eight years ago, when the time difference also prevented live primetime events, was 23.2 million.

MOMS: Seeing American gold medal slopestyle winner Jamie Anderson in a commercial right after she is shown clinching the medal feels cheap, like hearing a song be-

ing used as an advertising jingle while it’s still at the top of the charts. No doubt NBC was paid handsomely for the spot, but it doesn’t do the network any favours, either. Instead, it reminds viewers they are seeing a canned TV show instead of a sporting event. When it’s considered a weakness that the time zone difference doesn’t allow for any live competition in prime-time, hard to understand why you would want to underline the point.

FEATHER DOWN: Yes, the strength and athletic skill required of Olympic-caliber ice www.canadianinquirer.net

dancers is undeniable. But it’s that much harder to take seriously as a sports event when two Russian skaters have a point deducted from their performance because a feather from the woman’s costume fluttered to the ice. It seemed unremarkable to NBC analyst Johnny Weir, who just came from that world, but kudos to Terry Gannon for not letting the inherent ridiculousness of the moment slip past.

BIG BEN: As if it wasn’t scary enough, the NBC Sports Network graphic that compared the height of the ski jump with Big Ben and the length competitors are airborne with a football field effectively illustrated the sheer nuttiness—oops, we mean bravery—of the athletes who participate in this sport.

CONGRATS: American female medal winners stick together. Gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, silver medal-winning skier Julia Mancuso and silver medal-winning snowboarder Hannah Teter all tweeted congratulations to Anderson for winning gold. Tweeted Teter: “You are a boss!!”

ICE BOX: It might take NBC’s Mary Carillo until May to thaw out from her visit to Siberia for a

travelogue. Enjoyable for viewers, though maybe not for her, since she stood out on a snowcovered tundra when it was 43 degrees below zero. The report did feel a little airbrushed, however. For generations the idea of being “sent to Siberia” was fearsome and deadly enough to cause shudders halfway across the world, and that history deserved some examination.

TWEET OF THE NIGHT: “The NBC Olympic coverage of Siberia looks more like Chicago than I feel comfortable with.”

GOLD ZONE: The “Gold Zone” is rapidly becoming the most popular element of NBC’s digital package. Modeled after the “Red Zone” NFL show that distills big moments in football games as they happen, the “Gold Zone” rapidly whips fans from venue to venue during the day for live competition.

CROSS COUNTRY: The competitors lost their breath, and Chad Salmela nearly lost his voice analyzing the long-distance cross country skiing race.

Give him credit, though, for bringing excitement to an event that was—to most people outside northern Europe—a bunch of unpronounceable names darting through the woods. ■

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

36

Lifestyle

Screening mammography doesn’t cut breast cancer deaths, Canadian study says

BY HELEN BRANSWELL The Canadian Press TORONTO—A long-term, landmark— and contentious—Canadian study looking at the impact of breast cancer screening with mammography suggests the widely used technique isn’t reducing the number of women who die from breast cancer.

The latest update from the now 25-year-old Canadian National Breast Screening Study, published in the British journal BMJ, suggests annual mammograms given to women in their 40s and 50s found more cancers, but didn’t save more lives.

The authors say that in countries where breast cancer treatment is state of the art, screening mammography doesn’t appear to be more effective at reducing breast cancer deaths than regular breast self-examination plus an annual breast exam given by a medical professional.

The study also said that screening mammography is leading to overdiagnosis of breast cancer, suggesting between one in four and one in five breast cancers detected through a mammogram wouldn’t require treatment if they hadn’t been found. But the science of distinguishing a killer cancer from one that won’t be fatal isn’t yet perfected, so breast cancers that are found are treated.

That, the authors said, equals one over-diagnosed breast cancer for every 424 women who received screening mammography in the clinical trial.

“In technically advanced countries our results support the views of some commentators that the rationale for screening by mammography should be urgently reassessed by policy makers,” they said.

(An important point to make clear: The study looked at mammography as a cancer screening tool, a way to find cancers early in people who appear to be healthy. Its findings have no bearing on the use of mammography to determine whether women who have found a lump or lumps in a breast actually have cancer.)

Some might concluded the study’s findings imply that formal breast cancer screening programs—which often target women 50 and older—are starting to screen too early.

But lead author Dr. Anthony Miller offers another take on it. He believes the findings can probably be extrapolated to women 60 and older as well, which would call into question the value of screening mammography where good care for breast cancer—including tamoxifen or other post-treatment drugs—is available and accessible to all.

“There’s little question in my mind that everything needs to be re-evaluated,” said Miller, who knows the suggestion will not go unchallenged.

“I don’t underestimate the difficulties that are going to occur,” he said.

Miller spoke from experience. The Canadian National Breast Screening Study, which one outside expert described Tuesday as “probably the most meticulously done randomized trial of screening mammography,” was also denounced as “incredibly flawed and misleading” by a group representing American radiologists. Radiologists are integral players in mammography screening programs— they read mammograms—and they have been vocal critics of the Canadian study over the years.

The American College of Radiology and Society of Breast Imaging, issued a statement calling the study “an incredibly misleading analysis based on the deeply flawed and widely discredited Canadian National Breast Screening Study.” The group said the findings should not guide policy on breast cancer screening, suggesting to do so “would place a great many women at increased risk of dying unnecessarily from breast cancer.”

In the statement, the group reiterated complaints it has been making about the study for years—that the quality of the mammograms was poor, that researchers steered sicker women into the arm of the study where mammography was given, leading to skewed results. For a randomized controlled study to produce valid findings, the people in the two arms of a trial must be essentially similar. Stacking one arm of the trial would have an impact on the findings.

Miller has heard many of these critiques of the over the years, and he dismissed them in short order, calling them “misconceptions” and “falsehoods.” Of the suggestion that the mammography machines used were secondhand and not state of the art—a new claim—Miller said: “Absolutely wrong. I don’t know who on Earth invented that one.”

“They’re obviously conflicted,” Miller said of the radiologists group.

Conflicted perhaps, but not alone.

While the Canadian Cancer Society didn’t trash the study, the agency’s director of cancer control policy attempted to downplay it.

Robert Nuttall said the study’s findings related to women age 40 to 49—that there isn’t a clear benefit from screening mammography in this age group— are consistent with other studies. But he said other studies have shown that screening women over the age of 50 does cut deaths due to breast cancer.

“We still have the opinion that based on everything that’s gone on around the world that screening mammography, especially for women 50 to 69, is beneficial,” he said.

An expert on cancer screening, Dr. Gilbert Welch of Dartmouth University’s Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, said the issue is not so simple.

(Welch is the person who described this study as probably the most meticulously conducted and reported randomized trial on screen mammography.)

Late last year, Welch and a colleague published an analysis in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine that attempted to translate for women what the evolving science on breast cancer screening is revealing. His aim: to help women make an informed choice about whether the benefits of screening outweigh the potential harms.

“The last thing I’d want to do is ban ❱❱ PAGE 44 Screening mammography

Lifestyle

37 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Gifts to get your loved one moving

BY ANNE A. JAMBORA Philippine Daily Inquirer UPGRADE YOUR significant other’s fitness toolbox this Valentine’s Day. Equip them with the hottest fitness gadget or the coolest workout gear, or finally sign up for that Pilates class you’ve both been planning to join. After all, what better way to say you care than to give the gift of health?

Here’s a list of gift ideas for fitness buffs.

stow away. Available at ROX, Tryon and Lifecycle.

Juicing gift certificates

It’s a megadose of nutrients from organic vegetables in a bottle. How convenient is that?

And they actually taste good, too. Two juicing companies offering GCs are Juju Cleanse, with certificates that come in denominations of P100, P500 and P1,000; one-day and threeday packages; and Detoxify Bar, P1,350 for a day package.

Workout sessions

Fitness tracker

Probably the handiest of fitness gadgets today are fitness trackers, those wearable bands that track your day-to-day activities, including your sleep.

Fitness trackers monitor your heart rate, calorie burn, steps, distance, elevation and goals. Data easily synchs with your phone app. Hottest brands in the market include Jawbone Up, Fitbit Force, Misfit Shine and Withings Pulse.

Fitness trackers were all the rage during the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show that this year, industry leaders such as Garmin and Polar launched their own called Vivofit and Polar Loop. Some brands also offer them in clips and clasps, with options to wear them as wrist bands and necklaces. Available abroad, although many local online merchandisers are already selling them.

Foldable bike

It’s a bike you can literally take anywhere with you, even when you have to make a quick stop for groceries. Just fold it, leave it at the baggage counter, and you’re good to go. You’ll never have to worry about parking anymore. They’re lightweight, and are easy to lug around and

The chances of exercise programs succeeding significantly increase when you exercise with a workout buddy. This February, some outfits offer special promos. Vivian Zapanta Pilates Studio is throwing in two additional free sessions for those who will buy two semiprivate packages of eight sessions each.

At Options Studio Valero and BGC branches, sign up with a friend this February for 10 semiprivate sessions and get a 25-percent discount. Online shops such as Deal Grocer and Groupon also allow you to purchase workout sessions for yoga, Pilates, TRX, crunch boot camps and more as gifts.

Workout videos

Workout videos come in handy when you don’t have time to brave the traffic to get to your gym, or for people who would rather exercise in the privacy of their homes. Hot videos right now are Zumba, Piloxing, Insanity Workout, P90X and Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. And if your partner is into video games, there’s a new Zumba game for Wii Fit and Xbox 360.

can’t go wrong with Newtons.

These eye-candy shoes are lightweight—some models are even ultralightweight—and responsive. Other hot running shoes are Brooks, Adidas’ Adizero Adios Boost, Skora and Berghaus. Available at Toby’s and Runnr.

Great Scott

Feel good and actually look good in these Adidas apparel by New York-based designer Jeremy Scott. These are the luxury sportswear and streetwear vision of the designer that focuses on bold colors, fabrics and intricate prints. Women’s Originals Jeremy Scott Arrow Wedge Shoes and other apparels are available at Adidas.

Compression tights

These won’t make you a better athlete, but it sure will make you feel a lot better the day after, say, a long run. Wearing compression tights significantly reduces muscle soreness and fatigue, so that you can bounce right back to training faster.

For people who train or who exercise regularly, recovery rate matters. Available at Runnr.

Garmin Forerunner

Buy only for someone who is very passionate about running.

They’re not cheap. Garmin is the authority on tracking your runs.

The classic GPS running watch Forerunner measures distance, pace and heart rate, and provides the motivating feedback you will need to get you through your program. Other GPS running brands include Timex Ironman, Polar, Suunto, Adidas miCoach. Available at Adidas, ROX, Runnr and Toby’s.

been Photoshopped, he will appreciate the Go Fit Contoured Kettlebell. The unique contoured shape is ergonomically designed to wrap around the wrist and forearm, giving a much more comfortable experience. Available at Move Fitness Lifestyle Store.

Polar heart rate monitor

This is the old-school heart rate monitor, and the reason it’s still around is because this little gadget is still among the most reliable heart rate monitors in the market. It records your exercises and your calorie burn based on your sex, weight and age, and beeps when your heart is working too hard. Available at Toby’s and Runnr.

Basketball shoes

If you’re going out with a Filipino, chances are he loves basketball. Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose’s latest design offer is the D Rose 4.5 signature basketball shoe. This shoe offers a lightweight, flexible and cushioned ride. Other models include Dwight Howard 4S, Kyrie Irving Hyperdunks, Griffin Jordan Super Fly 2, LeBron XI. Available at Adidas and Nike.

Kettlebells Running shoes

If s/he loves to run, you

If you’re boyfriend (or girlfriend) is ripped like s/he’s

Hydration belts/bags

following a “direct fire attack by enemy forces.”

The coalition did not provide further details or the service member’s nationality.

The attacks on Monday come amid fears of an upsurge in violence ahead of Afghanistan’s April 5 election—which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt.

Security is a major concern in the election, and the vote is considered a key test of Afghanistan’s fragile democracy and the ability of its 350,000-strong, Western-trained security forces to counter violence.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said Monday that Afghan forces will be able to protect 94 per cent of the

planned polling places in the election. He said police and the military have been working closely with the country’s election commission and have determined that 420 of the 7,168 planned voting centres will be too difficult to secure.

The Independent Election Commission officials have said that any polling place that can-

It keeps you hydrated, and

some models have enough room for your phone, ID, keys and money. Better models even hold gel packs and have toggles to hold your race number. Brands worth checking out include Fitletic, Fuelbelt and CamelBak. Available at Toby’s, Runnr, ROX. Yoga apparel

This Coco yoga apparel comes in sets of four shorts or bandeaus, in white, maroon, black, gray and navy. If your girlfriend is not comfortable showing skin, the set of shorts will serve her well. You can also opt to get yoga mats and socks.

Available at Move Fitness Lifestyle Store.

Boxing gloves

This one, from Titans, also comes in pink. Choosing the boxing gloves is critical to one’s performance. A more popular boxing glove is Everlast. Available at Olympic Village, Move Fitness Lifestyle Store and Toby’s. ■

Suicide car... east. It was founded by former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar—a former Afghan prime minister and one-time U.S. ally who is now listed as a terrorist

by Washington.

The NATO-led coalition said later Monday that a service member had died in eastern Afghanistan in a separate attack ❰❰ 20

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not be secured will be closed.

Also Monday, the coalition said one of its service members died in the country’s east of a non-battle-related injury. It gave no other details. ■ Associated Press writers Amir Shah, Kay Johnson and Cassandra Vinograd contributed from Kabul.

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 38

Eat, Pray... ❰❰ 30

soothing music, and soft towels to give them the full experi-

ence.

Set aside some time to explore each other’s thoughts and beliefs. It is best to spend time to pray and/or meditate together. One must never underestimate the power of a spiritual connection.

If you’re in a long distance relationship, we surely hope you’ve prepared for Love Day ahead of time. Send a care package containing his/her favorite things (especially things that he/she misses from home the most)—bagels from your favorite breakfast place, a magazine, a book, notes from family and friends, and even a scrapbook of your relationship.

For some good ol’ playtime with your significant other, spray paint your lawn with like a Twister mat using waterbased paint or food coloring diluted in water. Make sure you don’t forget funny body-partand-color combinations to ensure an afternoon of fun (don’t forget to throw in a few naughty combinations in the mix). This is also a great way to burn some calories before that special Valentine’s dinner.

And speaking of dinner…

Kale salad

monds. In a small bowl, combine the minced shallots and the lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Toss the kale and almonds with the dressing, coating all of the kale.

Add the cheese and gently toss to evenly distribute the kale.

For a filling and fulfilling main dish, here’s a fool-proof crowd pleaser courtesy of Oh She Glows: Tomato Walnut Basil Pasta.

TOMATO WALNUT BASIL PASTA

Food for the Fond

Valentine’s, like Christmas, comes just once a year so better make it count.

Here’s a V-Day menu to make you feel the love in your heart (and in your belly).

Start the evening right with a light yet satisfying salad from Heather Christo. A classic with a modern twist to fit the changing times and freshen the palate.

KALE SALAD WITH LEMONS, ALMONDS, AND PECORINO

• 1 large bunch curly kale • ½ cup slivered almonds • 1 cup finely shredded pecorino cheese For the Lemon Vinaigrette: • 1 shallot, minced • 4 tbsp lemon juice • 2 tbsp champagne vinegar • 4 tbsp olive oil • kosher salt and black pepper to taste Finely shave the kale, avoiding the stems and add to a large bowl along with the slivered al-

• One 28oz can crushed tomatoes • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil • 1/2 medium onion, diced • 3 garlic cloves, minced • 1 tsp dried oregano • A pinch of red pepper flakes • 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, stems removed & chopped finely • 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste • 1/2 cup nutritional yeast • 2 large handfuls spinach, roughly chopped • 1/2-3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped • Pasta of your choice cooked al dente Chop onion and garlic. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion and cook over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and cook on low for another 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent.

Add in the oregano, salt, and black pepper. Stir well. Cook on low for a few minutes. Now add

PHOTO FROM HEATHER CHRISTO

Tomato walnut basil pasta

PHOTO FROM OH SHE GLOWS

in the 28oz of crushed tomatoes, chopped basil, and nutritional yeast. Stir. Bring to a low boil and then simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook your pasta.

Stir in the chopped walnuts and the chopped spinach. Cook for about 10 minutes longer on med-low. Serve over pasta and garnish with basil leaves and additional walnuts.

To end the night on a sweet note, here’s a scrumptious and unbelievably beautiful Marbled Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie courtesy of The Novice Chef.

MARBLED RED VELVET CHEESECAKE BROWNIES

For the Red Velvet Layer: • 3 1/4 cups flour • 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar • 3 tbsp cocoa powder • 1 tsp salt • 1/2 tsp baking powder • 3 large eggs • 1 cup vegetable oil • 4 tbsp milk, divided • 1 tbsp vanilla extract • 1 tbsp red food coloring • 2 tsp white vinegar For the Cheesecake Layer: • 2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened • 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 2 large eggs • 2 teaspoons vanilla Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and/or line a 13 x 18 jelly roll pan with butter or cooking spray.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk towww.canadianinquirer.net

Red velvet white choco brownies

gether eggs, vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla extract, red food coloring, and white vinegar.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients, until completely combined. The batter will be a really thick, almost moldable texture...but don’t worry, that’s what you want. Remove 3/4 cup of the batter and place it in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk (into the 3/4 cup of batter you just took out). Set aside the 3/4 cup batter.

Pour the remaining batter into the prepared jelly roll pan.

Using a spatula, smooth out the batter to reach all the edges.

Now, in your stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar

PHOTO FROM THE NOVICE CHEF

until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined and there are no lumps. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet layer and smooth mixture till it reaches all the edges.

Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter (that you mixed with milk) onto the top of the cheesecake layer.

Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.

Bake for 30 minutes, rotating half way through, or just until the center is set and it no longer jiggles. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting. Use a medium sized heart cookie cutter to create the perfect Valentine’s Day treat! ■

39 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Keeping the... have settled down. Most often, husbands allow their wives to win. A happy wife is a happy life seems to be a great credo. ❰❰ 30

Spend quality time with your spouse.

There should be no excuse for not dating wives once in a while. “Everyone needs to unwind when the day ends. Do not demand that things get done [immediately] after returning home from work. Take time to relax and shed the tensions of the day,” Dr. Philip Lee and Dr. Diane Rudolph said. “It can be wonderful to reminisce about the early days of your relationship and romance. Many people wonder what ever happened to those days.”

Lee and Rudolph also emphasized that couples need time away from the kids, house and work so they can be together. “There is nothing like the occasional dinner out at a romantic restaurant or a weekend away at a hotel.”

This Valentine’s day, despite of your frantic schedule, find time to go on a Valentine’s date. Lee and Rudolph stressed that couples should also give something personal to their partners. A bouquet of roses, a necklace, a dress, a perfume or anything that your partner likes that will make him/her feel loved and treasured.

Saying “Thank you”

There are times when we forget to utter simple words that can make a difference in our married life.

According to Lee and Rudolph, “For some reason, marriage seems to bring to an end the daily practice of being polite. We forget to thank one another for little favors we do for each other. Those favors are taken for granted and that is why they can disappear. There is nothing wrong with using terms like, ‘thank you‘, ‘what a nice dinner’, ‘picking up the kids really helped’, and, ‘thanks for doing the dishes tonight’.”

Don’t say, “You never do this.”

According to Dr. Lee and Rudolph, uttering all-or-nothing words like “you never do this,” or, “you always do that.”

Or “it is not true that “we always, or “never,” are all encompassing words that can create a false catastrophic atmosphere.

Most often, we don’t know that we’re already hurting our partners with the words we utter, so it is best to think first before we say a word.

Don’t play the blame game. After getting married, you’re now part of one team.

Lee and Rudolph said, “Stop blaming your spouse for everything—from forgetting to close the door to the condition of world politics. All us need to become more tolerant of each others foibles.

None of us are perfect and, much of the time, the things we quarrel about could

be the source of lots of laughter.”

Listen.

“How many times have I pointed out to couples in therapy that they are not listening to one another. They are not listening because they are talking over one another. Each person is so busy attempting to state their own version of things that they do not hear what is being said. I ask couples to practice paraphrasing what was just said before making a comment just to make certain they really heard and understand what was just said. So often, what we believe we heard is different from what was said,” Lee and Rudolph explained.

And my father would always tell me, “A successful marriage is made up of two good listeners.”

Learn Together.

Marriage also means discovering new things together. Bonding moments can also be educational, and of course, fun!

Sharing your knowledge with one another can be a great source of intellectual bonding. Discover your common interests, and from there find an activity that you can both get into. You can enroll in a foreign language class or any workshop that interests you both.

There are times when you can find yourself liking a certain activity that you thought you had no interest in. My regular companion in attending writing workshops is my husband—who is not a writer, but a chef!

I am also being the supportive wife as I accompany him in watching cooking shows, which I have grown to really like.

Stay attractive.

Sportscaster Patricia Bermudez-Hizon said that it is important to always feel good about yourself when you’re in any relationship. And for her, in order to feel good, you have to look good all the time.

“You must manage to stay beautiful and attractive even you’re already married, not just for your partner, but most importantly for yourself,” she explained.

Be intimate.

Marriage experts said that being intimate with your partner can start from saying the simple “I love you” to giving your partner a good morning kiss every waking day.

They said that there are many ways to show your affection to your spouse. An elegant dinner for two at home perhaps.

Being seductive once in a while can also add zest to your married life. Wearing revealing lingerie and tempting perfume, while rose petals are scattered on the bed and shadows of scented candles play on the walls may start something sensual and special.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Business

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 FRIDAY 40

BSP sees investors returning to PH soon Tetangco cites ‘overreaction’ to US Fed’s tapering move

BY PAOLO G. MONTECILLO Philippine Daily Inquirer MONETARY OFFICIALS are confident that investors will return in droves as the country stands out in the region as one of the few economies that will remain healthy in the face of global uncertainty.

Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) also noted that foreign investors were merely overreacting to the news of the Federal Reserve’s tapered bond-buying program.

“The outflows we’ve seen so far are possibly part of the global portfolio rebalancing. At

points of inflection in market sentiment, there is often an exaggeration in market reaction,” Tetangco said.

The rebalancing of fund managers’ portfolios followed the Fed’s decision to cut its $85-billion bond-buying program by a total of $20 billion a month starting next month.

The bond-buying or quantitative easing program was introduced in 2009 to infuse cash into the struggling American economy. Fed officials decided to reduce the monetary stimulus as the US economy showed signs of a stronger economy.

Documents from the central bank showed a net outflow of $813.5 million in foreign port-

folio investments from the country. Portfolio investments or “hot money” refer to placements in peso-denominated government securities, local stocks and time deposits. The net outflow in the first three weeks of January was a reversal from the $976.38 million in net inflows registered in the same three-month period the year before.

Tetangco remained unfazed, saying investors were bound to recognize the country’s healthy economy that would set it apart from its neighbors in the region.

“In the case of the Philippines, we believe any such overshooting would soon be tempered as market participants revert to

YAMANG PANGKINABUKASAN

Trim your tax bill with A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) AS MANY people know, A Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is designed by federal government to help citizens save for retirement. An RRSP is one of the best ways to save for retirement as RRSP contributions are tax-deductible and significant upfront tax savings can result. It means an RRSP contribution can reduce your tax bill at the high rate when you contribute and pay the government back at the lower rate when you retire.

An RRSP is not an investment, but a type of account that holds investment assets, and it can include different types of funds depending on the investor’s preferences and risk tolerance.

In other words, it holds about any investment from risky penny stocks to secure high interest savings accounts.It is a powerful tool for you to use your hardearned dollars to grow tax deferred and create a nest egg to assist you retire comfortably.

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of age is last day you can make a contribution to your RRSP. In other words, anyone under the age of 71 who has earned income to save for retirement is eligible.

You can also contribute to an RRSP under which your spouse or common-law partner is the annuitant until the end of the year your spouse or commonlaw partner turns 71.

For 2014, the maximum RRSP contribution limit is $24,270.

Comparing to the last year 2013, $450 of RRSP contribution limit has been increased for this year.

You can deduct previous contributions from 1991 forward, if you did not deduct them for any other year and if they are not more than your deduction limit for 2014. Therefore, your RRSP contribution limit for 2014 may be more than $24,270. In an RRSP, your money is tax-sheltered so it can grow faster. In general, any income you earned in the RRSP is usually exempt from tax as long as the funds remain in the plan; you generally have to pay tax when you receive payments from the plan.

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income-splitting strategy can be applied to reduce overall tax when the funds are withdrawn. If you are planning on purchasing your first home or are interested in contributing to your education, you can contribute to your RRSP, and then use these funds as a source of financing. Also if you anticipate fluctuations in your income because of maternity leave, career change or employment interruption, the funds in an RRSP are always available to you.

Plan your secure retirement today. For most Canadians, RRSP will be a key source of your plan retirement income.

That’s why it is important to implement right strategies to maximize your RRSP growth.

Live life you’ve earned. ■ For more information about this topic and other valuable financial information listen to our weekly radio program – “YAMANG PANGKINABUKASAN” every Saturday from 1:30pm to 2pm on JUAN Radio 96.1 FM, hosted by Surrinder Varpaul and Kuya Boy. For any questions or to book a free appointment with the “YAMANG PANGKINABUKASAN” RRSP expert team, please call 778 554 1114 or email ep8301@gmail.com. www.canadianinquirer.net

considering the country’s sound macroeconomic fundamentals that continue to be solidly in place,” Tetangco said.

He said the BSP would maintain its forecast for the balanceof-payments (BOP) position for now despite the heavy outflows

at the start of the year. The BOP position is a summary of all the money that enters and leaves the country during a given period. The BSP expects the Philippines to post a BOP surplus of $3 billion this year from $5.3 billion in 2013. ■

BSP keeps key rates steady But monetary execs warn of risks to price stability

BY PAOLO G. MONTECILLO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) kept interest rates at record lows despite a fasterthan-expected increase in consumer prices in January.

But monetary officials cited risks to price stability, namely possible increases in food prices due to recent natural calamities and the chance of a power rate hike in Metro Manila by March.

“While inflation has risen slightly due mainly to the recent increase in food prices on account of adverse weather conditions, latest baseline forecasts continue to indicate that the future inflation path is likely to stay within target,” BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said in a statement. “Market expectations remain anchored to the inflation target over the policy horizon.”

The BSP’s overnight borrowing and lending rates were kept at their record lows of 3.5 and 5.5 percent, respectively.

The central bank’s reserve requirement ratios for banks and yields for special deposit accounts were also untouched.

Forecasts for inflation were revised to 4.3 percent for 2014 from the previous 4.5 percent, and to 3.3 percent for 2015, from 3.2 percent. The new forecasts are still within the central bank’s target ranges of 3 to 5 percent for 2014, and 2 to 4 percent for 2015.

Last month, inflation accelerated to 4.2 percent from 4.1 percent in December. Earlier, Tetangco noted a “narrowing” in the BSP’s space to keep policy rates at their current record lows.

Diwa C. Guinigundo, deputy governor of the BSP’s Monetary Stability Sector, said the delayed implementation of Manila Electric Co.’s power rate hike was partly to blame for the lower forecast inflation for the year.

Food prices also threaten price stability due to natural calamities late last year and early this year.

“Already in the first two months, we’ve seen a series of natural calamities with damage on property, lives and crops.

This is something we are monitoring. The possibility of the impact on food prices should be considered in the assessment,” Guinigundo said. ■

Sports/Horoscope

41 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Canadian Twitter sensation Alexander Broad pokes fun at Sochi Games

BY TYLER HARPER The Canadian Press ATHLETES TRAPPED in bathrooms. Hotel rooms still under construction. Clowns wandering the streets.

Alexander Broad is doing his best to document everything wrong and weird at the Winter Games with Twitter’s latest satire-of-the-moment account, (at)SochiProblems.

The Internet sensation, which began Tuesday, had already amassed over 331,000 followers by Sunday.

Broad hoped for at most 30 followers. By Wednesday morning he had 11,000 and a spotlight he wasn’t expecting.

“Never in a million years.

I made it as a joke. The entire idea of this came as a joke, something to laugh at,” says the Pickering, Ont., native.

The idea came to Broad on

Tuesday morning as he sat in a journalism class at Toronto’s Centennial College while looking for breaking news. By then Canadian and international journalists were arriving in Sochi, Russia to find facilities still under construction, and pictures of the debacle were trending on Twitter.

Broad had his idea. Now he needed a moniker.

Before the class, Broad spilt Tim Hortons coffee on a plaid jacket, which seemed like a uniquely Canadian problem to

the 20-year-old. Now he was searching for what there was to worry about in Sochi.

“From there on it just kind of grew. It’s sprouted into this giant thing,” he says.

The word giant doesn’t do Broad’s popularity justice—(at) SochiProblems has more followers than either the official Sochi Games profile or the Canadian Olympic team’s account, and has also caught the attention of American media such as The Washington Post, USA Today and ABC.

Satirical accounts are the norm on Twitter. Fake feeds for celebrities, politicians and fictional characters proliferate on the social media website, even if many only last as long as the zeitgeist they’ve captured allows them to remain relevant.

That’s got Broad under pressure to watch the Olympics all the time for material.

“I think the biggest thing, I feel like it’s just like I’ve got to stay alert to everything a lot more,” he says, adding he draws the line at staying up through the night.

Broad’s favourite Olympic mishap so far was a series of tweets from a Canadian journalist who arrived at his hotel room late at night only to find the locks had been changed.

“I was just sitting on my couch reading them and absolutely, I had tears flowing from my eyes,” he said. “I was laughing quite hard. I don’t know why

it triggered that but I thought it was quite funny.”

Broad was quickly outed as the mind behind (at)SochiProblems. All the popularity means he is taking Twitter more seriously than his readers might know.

After realizing one of the pictures he posted wasn’t taken at Sochi, Broad tweeted a correction and now does his best to verify all his material is real.

Now he’s wondering if a Twitter account started as a joke should become about something more.

“The whole idea of this entire account was a satire,” he said. “I think that’s what a lot of people are calling it. I made the entire thing out of a joke, and I have tweeted things that have ... some political-ish type things.

“But a lot of the things I’ve tweeted there’s a lot of humour in it as well. So I’m still not entirely sure.” ■

HOROSCOPE ARIES

CANCER

LIBRA

CAPRICORN

(MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

(JUNE 22 - JULY 22)

(SEPT 23 - OCT 22)

(DEC 22 - JAN 19)

Settling a dispute may be on your agenda today, Aries. If find yourself getting caught smack in the middle of the stew , the wisest thing might be to pull out.

When you’re in this position (especially with two people you care about), the outcome winds up hurting someone, and it may just be you. If you tell them you care about them both too much to get involved, chances are you’ll be far better off.

Good decision making will be a prominent asset today, Cancer.

It’s an excellent time to make a list of things that you’ve either put off or haven’t been able to settle on. This doesn’t need to be things that are just related to work or finances. Consider putting effort into your personal life as well. If there are issues surrounding friends, your romantic partner, or family, this is a great opportunity to think up options.

It’s a great day to explore your creativity, Libra. This probably isn’t a new thing for you, since you’re artistic. Staying focused on one thing can be another story, though. Today’s energy can give you the extra concentration you need to get a creative project completed. Make the most of this by either finishing something you started earlier or tackling a new project. Have fun expressing yourself and creating!

It’s a super day to make decisions, Capricorn. You can sit on the fence for a little too long when it comes to serious choices. Seize the energy that flows from today’s planetary aspects, make a list of things that need to be decided in the areas of work, relationships, and finances, and go down the list one by one. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. Better that than missing out entirely, don’t you think?

TAURUS

LEO

SCORPIO

AQUARIUS

(APRIL 20 - MAY 20)

(JULY 23 - AUGUST 22)

(OCT 23 - NOV 21)

(JAN 20 - FEB 18)

You’re likely to be feeling pretty energetic today, Taurus, making it an opportune time to do some much-needed cleaning and organizing. Why not tackle those closets, attic, and storerooms? If you have to work, your desk, workspace, and filing cabinets could use a little attention. Just think how great it will feel when everything is in order! Make the most of your energy by accomplishing as much as you can.

Your ability to concentrate will be enhanced today, Leo. If you have studying or detailed work to tend to, this will be an opportune time to get to it. Hobbies that require a lot of focus may also strike your fancy. Even if a herd of stampeding elephants runs through your space, you aren’t likely to lose your concentration. Pull out your most intensive tasks and have a great day.

Taking the easy way out won’t tempt you in the least today, Scorpio. This isn’t to say that you usually favor this approach, by any means; yet it’s safe to say that everyone is tempted from time to time. Not so for you, though, as the planetary aspects are giving you the strength to take all of the necessary steps, however long they may be. Stand your ground if a partner tries to convince you otherwise.

It’s a great day to set some of your ideas into motion, Aquarius. The courage you need to forge ahead is available to you with this day’s planetary aspects.

All you need to do is use it. If your thoughts aren’t clear, sit down and write your ideas out.

Note the steps you need to take in order to get things rolling and then make your move. Don’t let fear or insecurity hold you back!

GEMINI

VIRGO

SAGITTARIUS

PISCES

(MAY 21 - JUNE 21)

(AUG 23 - SEPT 22)

(NOV 22 - DEC 21)

(FEB 19 - MAR 20)

See about getting as active as possible today, Gemini. This could really give your overall health a boost, especially if you’ve been sedentary lately. Try something fun. Gardening and cutting the lawn are other activities that are better for you than sitting all day. The physical movement can reduce stress and give you a sense of accomplishment.

Every part of you benefits from being active.

It’s time to get up and get moving, Virgo. If your job or home life leans toward the sedentary, your health can suffer if you don’t engage in some physical activity. Not only is your body affected by a lack of exercise but your mind and emotional disposition can become depleted over time as well. Even a daily walk or playing a sport once a week can make a world of difference. Try something today.

Practicality and planning will work well for you today, Sagittarius. It’s a good time to take a long look at your financial situation. Are you where you want to be?

Have you got plans in place for down the road?

Do you have sufficient cash flow? Think about what you’d like to improve and make some plans.

You can include talking with a financial planner or trusted banker to create more options for yourself.

www.canadianinquirer.net

A renewed sense of values and integrity may be present for you today, Pisces. Connecting with this can be extremely uplifting, as it can put everything into perspective for you. With your hardworking tendencies, it can be easy to drift from the things that are most important to you as a person. Make the most of this day by getting in touch with yourself. If you keep a journal, explore your mood on paper.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

42

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43

Travel

Dogsledding in Gatineau Sochi scene: Like attracts winter loving selfies to a flame adventurers from around world The Canadian Press

BY BEN MAKUCH The Canadian Press OTTAWA—In an age of snowmobiles and four-wheelers, mushing a sled team of pooches across a snow-covered forest is a rarity, but dogsledders all over the Ottawa region have visitors flocking from as far away as Europe to try out this uniquely Canadian sport.

“When people come from other countries, it’s something they want to do,” says Sylvain Drapeau, 37, owner and dogsled guide of Escapade Eskimo, a winter resort in Otter Lake, Que. “They associate Canada with dogsledding in the winter,” says Drapeau, who has had visitors from Germany, France and England.

Deep in the boreal forests of the Outaouais woodland region only 75 minutes from Ottawa, Drapeau runs the dogsledding experience with wife Caroline Desrosiers, 35, and 22 Siberian huskies.

He says dogsledding is a great way to enjoy winter days in nature outside the city.

“It’s really an outdoor activity. People can enjoy the winter too and most of the people who come here all love animals and they pet the dogs.”

After breeding one of his male dogs with a female from another kennel, Drapeau has two new puppies arriving from the litter for visitors to gush over, but as many of his female dogs run in teams he tries to keep his dogs from breeding during the sled season.

“They’re really happy to see people,” says Drapeau about his friendly dogs which run up to 50 kilometres a day in teams of six to eight per sled.

While huskies enjoy a mis-

PHOTO BY GILLMAR / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

chievous reputation for eating furniture and digging holes in their suburban owners’ backyards, Drapeau says in a dog team they can’t get enough running, often gnawing on their reins in their eagerness to sprint.

“Even a five-minute break is too long,” he says. “They get so excited they jump and bark to go again and ... you have to make them really tired.”

According to Drapeau, part of the skill of an experienced dogsledder is being a part-time dog psychologist, managing the personalities within his sled teams.

“There’s so much to know about one dog because some dogs don’t get along and you don’t really know why, but they all have their history.”

First-time drivers shouldn’t be intimidated to drive his modern aluminum sleighs either: Kids as young as 13 can learn to safely drive the sleds in no time.

“There are always two on the sled: One person driving and one person sitting ... It helps to have more weight in the sled so if the (driver) doesn’t lift the (right) foot to break or make a curve, it won’t matter really because the person sitting will make enough weight.”

Drapeau has been dogsledding for 30 years and fell in love with the sport when he watched his uncle mush a team as a kid.

When he got older and had his own dogs, he offered dogsled rides as a way to pay for dog food.

“We had so many people asking and asking, finally I decided to change my job to (dogsledding) full-time.”

Ten years into his dogsled business and visitors come to Drapeau’s resort to mush their own dogsled teams or try the more adventurous sport of Skijoring, which is cross-country skiing with a harnessed dog pulling you forward along the trail. ■

SOCHI, RUSSIA—The Olympic flame in Sochi has become a selfie hotspot.

Taking a self-portrait with a cellphone camera has become wildly popular, and the opportunity do it with one of the most iconic Olympic symbols in the background is proving to be one of the biggest attractions at the Sochi Games.

In fact, so many people are doing it upon entering Olympic Park that a bit of a competition has broken out, with fans going for unique poses to set themselves apart from the flood of flame selfies on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

A state-run children’s ballet ensemble from the nearby city of Rostov-on-Don broke into a choreographed dance when Swan Lake came over the loud-

speakers, while their instructor took pictures with the flame just behind them.

“We’re seeing it for the first time,” Yulya Podgurskaya says.

“It’s very beautiful.”

For some Russians, it’s become a can’t-miss chance to express some patriotism and revel in having the biggest sporting event in the world in their backyard.

Philip Shustov went one step further, putting his 10-year-old son back in Moscow on FaceTime on his iPhone to let him see the flame.

Shustov says the flame is the defining symbol “of the games, of New Russia. I don’t remember previous Olympic Games because I was only 3 years old.

Now it’s history here in Russia.”

Russia is hosting the Olympics for the first time since the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow. ■

“Wish me good lick... #SochiSelfie” tweets snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg.

PHOTO FROM SAKE KOTSENBURG (@ SAGEKOTSENBURG) / TWITTER

Motoring

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

Car Accident?—Here’s what to know NOBODY WANTS to be involved in a car crash—but in spite of our best efforts, accidents happen. A car accident can be one of the scariest things imaginable. If you are involved in an accident, do not panic, here is what to do.

First, take a moment to get your bearings. Make sure that you and your passengers are safe. If you or your passenger(s) are hurt, call 911 and request assistance.

Second, once you determine that you are no longer in danger, pull your vehicle out of traffic and into a safe spot. It is important at this point to exchange information with the other driver(s) involved in the accident. What you will need to record is; 1) the driver(s) name, licence number and contact information, the licence plate of the other vehicle(s) and a description of the crash including location, direction of travel and how it happened.

Third, if your accident happened in British Columbia you should call the ICBC dial a claim number at 604-520-8222 (lower mainland) or 1-800-9104222 anywhere else in BC. Once you call ICBC they will record the accident details and give

Screening mammography... mammography. I just want to make sure than women understand the deal,” said Welch, who authored a book on cancer screening titled “Over-diagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health.”

Welch’s analysis suggested screening 1,000 50-year old women annually for a decade would save between zero and three lives. Over the same time, nearly half or more of those 1,000 women would have at least one false alarm on a test and between three to 14 would be over-diagnosed and treated needlessly.

With breast cancer, treated needlessly can mean some combination of l u m p e c t o m y, mastectomy, radiation and chemotherapy.

To answer the question of what benefit screening mammography has in an era when breast cancer treatment has become such much more effective at saving lives, Welch and his co-author proposed that ❰❰ 36

you a claim number. The ICBC may also book an appointment for you to meet with a representative.

Fourth, know your rights. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident you have rights— whether or not you are at fault.

Injury claims are difficult to place a financial value on. It is essential that you consult with an expert prior to engaging in discussions with the insurance company. My firm, for instance, provides a free consultation to anyone involved in an accident.

At that consultation we answer your questions and help you to understand whether you need legal counsel. I generally do not open a case unless I am confident that my legal representa-

tion will help you obtain a more valuable settlement.

Accidents are a part of life, so it is important to know your rights. Over the next months I will provide a series of brief articles with the goal of educating you and your family on accident claims in British Columbia. ■ The author, Joel Zanatta, is the managing partner of Hammerberg Lawyers, one of Vancouver's foremost law firms specializing in personal injury and ICBC claims. Joel and his team of lawyers have represented thousands of injury victims throughout British Columbia.

Questions? call 604 269 8500 x126 or email jzanatta@hammerco.net

FRIDAY 44

two new clinical trials—one is never enough proof—should be conducted.

In the meantime, Welch said more consideration and careful thought is taking place on the value of mammography. “The mantra of 20 years ago that this is only something that can help you, it can’t hurt you—people understand it’s more complicated than that.”

But Miller said he finds little openness to the idea among the agencies that run breast cancer screening programs.

“By and large they don’t want to talk to me about it. A number of people who are in these positions were responsible for setting up programs in the first place. And they don’t want to admit there’s a problem.”

He suggested, though, that the International Agency for Research on Cancer—an agency of the World Health Organization—may evaluation screening mammography later this year. ■

Have you been in a car accident? Know your rights.

You have rights, entitlements, and choices with your ICBC claim and should never be told differently.

Joel leads our team of personal injury lawyers. They’ve worked successfully on thousands of files winning significant settlements for people just like you. We will help resolve your claim comfortably and get you the time you need to recover fully before returning to work.

We provide a translator and also welcome your enquires at no cost to you.

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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2014

45

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Events

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

FRIDAY 46

Valentine's Day events in Canada Toronto

Edmonton

Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque: Be Mein Valentine Wednesday Feb. 13 & Thursday Feb. 14 Head to the Gladstone Hotel for a night of burlesque, presented with Boylesque T.O.

Let The Moon Light Your Love Strathcona County is offering up a moonlight ski for lovers of all ages. You need only bring a headlamp and your woolies - everything else you can rent there. Get a bit chilly before heading home to heat things up.

Valentine’s Packages at Second City Tuesday February 14 "Because Ryan Gosling isn’t available."

“Dracula - A Love Story” Thursday Feb. 14 & Friday Feb. 15; Thursday Feb 21 - Saturday Feb 23, 2013 Prefer your romance with a side of the macabre? Brant Theatre Workshops brings a stage adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic story to various rooms of Casa Loma. $39 plus HST (Valentine’s Day tickets are $66 plus HST and the evening includes a glass of champagne and a chocolate fountain). Preregistration is required for all performances and space is limited.

Toronto Zoo: So You Think You Can Romance?

Thursday February 14 & Friday February 15, 6:30pm-8:30pm Adult Program. "Join us for a delicious evening of food and fun as we learn the fine art of romance as observed in the animal kingdom." $140 per couple’s ticket, $75 per individual ticket (discount for members). A portion of the fees will go to supporting the Toronto Zoo Reproductive Programs.

Valentine’s Day Dinner & Nature Walk at Kortright Saturday February 16 Visit the Kortright Centre for Conservation in Woodbridge for a candlelight dinner, a nature walk at twilight, and a bonfire. Reserve your spot in advance.

Casa Loma Valentine’s Day Brunch Sunday February 17 Enjoy brunch in Casa Loma’s library then take a self-guided tour of the castle.

Prices vary - visit the website for details, including menu.

Vancouver

Valentines Dinner & Dance Cruise Friday, February 14, 2014 (7:30 PM) Pride of Vancouver Charters Ltd. 450 Denman Street, VancouverBC (Downtown) Enjoy the romance of the sea in the true cruise ship tradition aboard our luxurious Pride of Vancouver. You will be impressed by our gourmet buffet and ever-changing spectacular waterfront views. #LIQUIDLOVE @Backstage Lounge Friday, February 14, 2014 (9:00 PM) Backstage Lounge 1585 Johnston St. Vancouver BC (Vancouver) Vancouver doesn’t have a night dedicated to Liquid Bass music, so Wetcoast presents to you the very first #LIQUIDLOVE at the Backstage Lounge this VALENTINES DAY. An intimate night with liquid DnB, Dubstep, Drumstep, Glitch, Future Bass, Future Funk, Nu-Soul, Trap & More. Here we will be celebrating the softer end of the Bass genres without sacrificing BASS. The 25th Annual St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Vancouver’s World-Famous Improv Tournament Witness history as Vancouver TheatreSports League’s signature festival pits exceptional improv groups from around the world against each other in a battle for and inspired by your love.

Vintage Valentine’s Day Dinner at the Selkirk Grille Friday, February 14, 2014 This Valentine’s Day, treat your loved one to an elegant and intimate evening of romance at the Selkirk Grille.

Calgary

Lolita’s Just Jazz Valentine’s Day Special featuring The Sillan & Young Duo Friday, February 14, 2014 – 6:00 pm – 12:00 am Lolita’s Lounge,1413 – 9th Ave. S.E., Calgary, AB, T2G 0T4 Smart & Soulful, this dynamic duo brings a fresh, new & exciting angle to an acoustic Jazz Duo. Led by the little blond with the big voice, Johanna Sillanpaa and co-lead by guitarist Aaron Young, this accomplished is very well rounded duo can cover all styles and flavors of music.

Same Time, Next Year One of the most popular romantic comedies of the century, Same Time, Next Year ran four years on Broadway, winning a Tony Award, which makes it a sure bet for the theatre-lover in your life. Twenty-five years of manners and morals are hilariously and touchingly played out by the lovers.

Put on by the St. Alberta Theatre Troupe, tickets are still available for this Valentine’s Day dinner Forget Me Not One of our editors went to see this touching storytelling concert last year and was blown away by the funny songs and emotional tales. It would make a perfect Valentine’s Day date idea, especially for the history-lover in your life.

Show goes on at the Capitol Theatre at Fort Edmonton Park.

Animal Attraction Single this Valentine’s Day? Spend a night at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, noshing on delicious desserts, sipping a few cocktails and meeting some friends you didn’t know you had. This speed-dating event is being held for two nights. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a Mr. Right... or even a Mr. Right now.

Montreal

Night under the stars Strom spa nordic 14th of February: Special Valentine’s day Chocolate fountain and whisky tasting! ***For 15$ more, get your seat in the musical section with violinist and champagne bar

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Romantic singer & pianist at L’Étoile de l’Océan Feb. 14

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Love gives you wings at Le Balcon Tribute to Crooners Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett on February 14th & 15th, 2014 at 8:30pm.

The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team.

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