Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #118

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VOL. 6 NO. 118

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JUNE 6, 2014

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Rob gang boss gets hospital trip out of Bilibid

Solons want migrants better protected

Crime spike tied to brownouts

Filipino-Canadian in Focus: Glenn Estrabillo

Did you know...? A PCI PH Independence Day special

Celebrating Philippine independence in Canadian soil

RAISING THE PH FLAG IN CANADA

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer IN FREEDOM, there is always a choice.

There is always an option. This fact is both a blessing and a curse, but it depends on how you perceive it. ❱❱ PAGE 26 Celebrating Philippine

HAPPY PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY FROM THE PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER. Filipino-Canadians all over Canada are celebrating the 116th

Philippine Independence Day. Our special coverage on page 25.

PHOTO BY ANGELO SIGLOS

Pacquiao tops 2013 richest solons list

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—The only billionaire in the House of Representatives, Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao, is still the richest lawmaker in the country for

2013.

Pacquiao, who earlier became the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s target for tax payment failures, had a net worth of P1.4 billion in 2013, according to his filed statement of assets and liabilities net

LEARNING WITH PURPOSE SINCE 1903 3 310.HIRE (4473)

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Students swamp congested Metro Mla Schools PHOTO BY LYN RILLON

❱❱ PAGE 9 Pacquiao tops

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Philippine News

3 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Bring Napoles back to Senate–Cayetano ‘Let her stand up to her affidavit’

BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer SENATE MAJORITY Leader Alan Peter Cayetano yesterday demanded that Janet Lim-Napoles be brought to the chamber’s blue ribbon committee to testify on the contents of an extended affidavit elaborating on the alleged P10billion pork barrel scam that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was scheduled to turn in today.

In a telephone interview, Cayetano said he was “in favor of immediately releasing” the document, warning that keeping it a secret would only “empower Napoles to manipulate public opinion one way or the other.”

“But I’m also in favor of a faceto-face, professionally handled hearing” that would allow Napoles to “stand up to her affidavit,” the senator said.

Cayetano said such a hearing should include Napoles’ husband Jimmy, De Lima, Benhur Luy and the other whistle-blowers, and Secretary Panfilo Lacson, who earlier submitted Napoles’ unsigned affidavit to the committee headed by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III. “Why allow Mrs. Napoles to pollute the people’s minds one way or the other if she won’t appear in the Senate hearing anyway, or if there won’t be any mechanism in place to know if [her revelations] are true or not,” he argued. “The problem now is that roles have been reversed: it’s the accused who now have to do the explaining, not Mrs. Napoles.”

Guingona released a draft report on April 1 on 10 hearings the committee had conducted on allegations that P10 billion in congressional allocations from the graft-ridden Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was diverted to ghost projects and kickbacks through nongovernment organizations controlled by Napoles.

The draft report recommended that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla be prosecuted for plunder in connection with the misuse of the lawmakers’ PDAF, a pork barrel intended to ease rural poverty. The three senators have denied wrongdoing.

Guingona has not announced a decision whether he would reconvene the committee.

Extended affidavit

De Lima will submit today the extended affidavit of Napoles supposedly detailing the involvement of many other officials in the pork barrel scam, in addition to those whose names had already been made public. She earlier released

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

PHOTO FROM SENATE.GOV.PH

a list of lawmakers involved in the scam that was given to her during a five-hour “tell-all” meeting on April 22 at Ospital ng Makati.

The 51-year-old Napoles, who is detained on charges of serious illegal detention filed by Luy, is undergoing hospital treatment after having her cancerous uterus removed.

Cayetano yesterday cautioned the government against entering into a deal with Napoles, who has expressed her desire to be granted immunity in exchange for turning state witness.

“I am 100 percent against any deal with Napoles or her family, especially since the government keeps saying it already has an airtight case,” he told the INQUIRER. Cayetano cited reports that the government was exploring the idea of granting immunity, at least, for Napoles’ family in exchange for her testimony in the pork barrel case.

“If it’s true that there’s some sort of immunity that might be given to her family, the agreement should be that if she tells a lie or she doesn’t tell the whole truth, the whole deal is off,” he said.

Last November, Napoles told the committee she knew nothing about the PDAF scam.

De Lima has twice asked for more time to submit Napoles’ extended affidavit, citing the medical condition of the businesswoman, who remained confined at Ospital ng Makati due to vaginal bleeding.

The extended account would elaborate on the list De Lima earlier submitted to the committee, which included, aside from Enrile, Revilla and Estrada, Senators Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, Francis Escudero, and Cayetano.

It also named two former senators, Manny Villar and the late Robert Barbers, and more than 70 members of the House of Representatives.

The list is similar to the one earlier submitted to the committee by Lacson, which Guingona subsequently made public. ■

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Philippine News

JUNE 6, 2014

FRIDAY 4

No problem with workers’ rights in PH, says Baldoz

PAGBATI MULA SA

BY TINA G. SANTOS Philippine Daily Inquirer LABOR SECRETARY Rosalinda Baldoz has downplayed the assessment of an international workers’ rights organization that the Philippines is among the worst countries in the world for workers.

“It does not necessarily concern the workers’ rights since we don’t have problems with workers’ rights. We can say the industry advocacy for workers in the country is very good,” said Baldoz, referring to the 2014 Global Rights Index of the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

ITUC ranked 139 countries based on internationally recognized indicators to assess where workers’ rights, such as democratic rights, decent wages, safer working conditions and secure jobs, are best protected, in law and in practice.

Countries were ranked from 1 (best) to 5 (worst) based on 97 indicators related to workers’ rights. The evaluation was conducted from April 2013 to March 2014.

The Philippines obtained a rating of 5, which meant that legislation protecting workers’ rights were in place but work-

ers effectively had no access to such rights, thus exposing them to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices.

“In terms of quality of work in the country, I can say we are doing OK. The same goes with what they are saying about labor rights,” Baldoz said.

But she said that if there was one aspect of the ITUC findings that was accurate, it would be the problem of the extrajudicial killings of workers.

According to Baldoz, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has committed to fast-track the investigation and hearing of extrajudicial killings involving workers by creating special prosecutor teams.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), meanwhile, said the ITUC findings only confirmed what labor groups in the country had been saying all along.

“The TUCP confirms the findings of the ITUC that the Philippines is indeed one of the worst places to work in,” said TUCP president Democrito Mendoza in a statement.

The TUCP underscored the high unemployment in the country, adding that it expected this to increase because there was no new infrastructure to attract large and jobs-creating investments. ■

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Philippine News

5 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Thai cadet joins PMA

BY VINCENT CABREZA Inquirer Northern Luzon FORT DEL PILAR, BAGUIO CITY—Cadet Pongpeera Disapirom of Thailand on Saturday was formally incorporated into the Philippine Military Academy here as a full-fledged cadet belonging to Class of 2018.

But Disapirom, 19, did not draw much attention during the rites attended by Philippine Army chief Lt. Gen. Hernando Iriberri.

Maj. Gen. Oscar Lopez, PMA super intendent, said he was certain Pongpeera was keenly aware that the Thai Army chief had seized power in his country on Thursday while Thailand’s political parties negotiated a

peaceful settlement following the court-directed ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Lopez said he had not discussed the matter with the cadet, “who was busy with activities at beast barracks for the last two months.”

Pongpeera’s parents, Samrueng and Alele Hara, joined him for a late lunch at the picnic grounds along with the other plebes.

Plebes are the lowest ranking cadets who take orders from the senior cadets at the academy.

Pongpeera was a cadet at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy of the Royal Thai Army when he accepted an invitation to join the PMA, according to the Department of National Defense (DND).

The DND said Pongpeera “joins a distinguished list of Thai alumni of PMA, including Gen. Tumrongsak Deemongkol (Class 1976), who was the No. 8 graduate of his batch; Gen. Thawip Netniyom (Class 1981), who graduated valedictorian and is now a senior staff officer of the Chief Defense Forces of the Royal Thai Armed Forces; and Maj. Mongkol Khum-arwut (Class 2001), who is with the Royal Thai Army.”

Pongpeera had taken a preparatory course before joining the PMA, said Thai Army Col. Pongsak Munklhan, one of the two Thai military attaches who escorted the cadet’s parents to Baguio City, adding that the cadet was “like the new generation of young people who know

Cadet Pongpeera Disapirom of Thailand.

PHOTO FROM INQUIRER.NET

English well.”

Pongsak said the foreign cadet exchange programs were expressions of cooperation being advocated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“And [Cadet Pongpeera] is doing quite well,” he said.

Iriberri said incorporation daymarks the start of the PMA academic year, which plebes

should cherish because they now belong to the academy.

Iriberri cautioned the cadets about resting on their laurels, saying that every action they take at the academy and in the military service after graduation would be “examined through a prism by the public, much like the academy has been scrutinized time and again.” ■

Binay wife hits Ombudsman for reviving cases

BY CYNTHIA D. BALANA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—The lawyers of former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay on Thursday scored the Office of the Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman for resurrecting three more dismissed cases against their client.

In a manifestation filed in the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division, counsel Felicitas Aquino of the Yorac, Arroyo, Chua, Caedo and Coronel law firm decried what they called the “repeated violations of her constitutional right to due process.”

The filing of new cases brings to four the number of cases against the former mayor and wife of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“Mrs. Binay was deprived of her right to due process when the Office of the Special Prosecutor included her again in the four graft cases despite the fact that the dismissal of the cases has become final and executory,” the lawyer said in the manifestation.

The case stemmed from the alleged overpricing of hospital beds at Ospital ng Makati. Binay was originally included in the complaint, along with several city officials.

The lawyers said all complaints against the former

mayor were filed more than 10 years ago and dismissed in 2011.

But the other coaccused filed a motion for reconsideration, prompting the court to direct the Office of the Special Prosecutor to act on the motion.

The special prosecutor again included Binay in its resolution dated Aug. 29, 2013.

Deprived of right to be heard

Final, executory dismissal

Binay’s lawyers earlier filed a motion for clarification/motion for reconsideration in the Office of the Ombudsman on Feb. 5, asking it to throw out its special prosecutor’s finding of probable cause, citing the “final and executory” dismissal of the cases two years ago.

They also filed a motion in the Sandiganbayan to suspend all proceedings and to order the Ombudsman to complete the preliminary investigation on the motion for reconsideration, which she filed in the office, and resolve the issues raised in the motion for reconsideration.

In assailing the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the lawyers said the new finding of probable cause was based on the motions for reconsideration filed by the corespondents who were not dropped from the complaint.

They added that Binay never received a copy of the motions for reconsideration filed by the corespondents and was thus never given the opportunity to be heard.

Former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay with husband, Vice President Jejomar Binay.

PHOTO FROM GMANETWORK.COM

“The former mayor, Dr. Binay, was not notified of the reinvestigation based on motions for reconsideration filed by corespondents, thus depriving her of her right to due process,” the lawyers said.

“Indeed, the unwarranted review of the instant cases with respect to the dismissal of the charges against respondent Binay, on motion for reconsideration of the aggrieved party, runs afoul of the well-established doctrine of finality of judgment, which is grounded on fundamental considerations of public policy and sound practice,” they added.

The lawyers cited the court’s ruling in Tupaz v. Hon Apurillo, which stated, “After the lapse of the 15-day reglamentary period to appeal, an order becomes exwww.canadianinquirer.net

ecutory and it goes beyond the jurisdiction of the court that rendered it to further amend or revoke.”

The decision said the subsequent filing of a motion for reconsideration “cannot disturb the finality of a judgment nor restore jurisdiction that has already been lost.”

The former mayor’s lawyers also stressed that her right to due process was violated because she never received any pleadings or legal process from the Ombudsman after the case was dismissed.

The lawyers stressed that their client was not even furnished a copy of the other respondents’ motion for reconsideration. Neither was she informed and ordered to file a motion for reconsideration.

When the special prosecutor of the Ombudsman asked the Sandiganbayan to issue an amended information to include her in the graft cases without considering her side, “she was effectively deprived of her right to be heard, which is fatal to the assailed memorandum [on consolidated resolution including her in the case] issued by this Honorable Office.”

They stressed that this “inordinate delay” violated the rules requiring the Ombudsman to act promptly on a case and thus violated the former mayor’s right to due process and the speedy resolution of the cases against her.

The lawyers cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Angchanco Jr. v. Ombudsman where the high court cited the Tatad v. Sandiganbayan case where it ruled that the delay of more than six years by the Ombudsman in resolving criminal complaints against a petitioner “to be violative of his constitutionally guaranteed right to due process and a speedy disposition of the cases against him, thus warranting the dismissal of the said criminal cases.”

The Vice President described the decision of the Special Prosecutor as “glaring acts of abuse of authority and violation of her rights.” ■

Philippine News

PAGBATI MULA SA

JUNE 6, 2014

Seaman’s book seeing print after long delay

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer QUEZON CITY-based printing company Apo Production Unit (APU), a governmentcontrolled corporation, has acknowledged delays in the production and delivery of some 200,000 seaman’s books to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), citing “supply chain” problems.

APU chair Mila Alora yesterday attributed the delay in the printing of seaman’s books to supply issues on laminates, which, she said, had been resolved.

She said full production was resumed on May 18.

“APU will be up to date by June 22... Marina can expect full delivery one month ahead of the Oct. 15 deadline,” said Alora, press assistant secretary during the Corazon Aquino administration.

Last week, Marina administrator Maximo Mejia said the delay in the delivery of the seaman’s books had “something to do with a problem in the APU supply chain.”

TIPID TAWAG

6

FRIDAY 6

“A vital component could not be delivered by their supplier in France,” he said.

Mejia, members of the Marina bids and awards committee and APU general manager Jaime Aldaba are facing graft charges in the Office of the Ombudsman for the alleged irregular award of a P59million contract to APU for the supply of seaman’s books to the maritime agency.

The case was filed earlier this month by Nelson Ramirez, president of United Filipino Seafarers (UFS).

Ramirez claimed, among other things, that Marina awarded the contract to APU on Feb. 7 despite the company’s “incapability to print and supply 200,000 copies of seafarer’s books.”

“It has been almost three months since APU committed to deliver 20 percent of the seaman’s books on Feb. 26. However, up to now APU has yet to make the deliveries,” he said.

Yesterday, Alora assailed some “private printers” she said were behind a smear campaign against APU. ■

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Philippine News

7 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Students swamp ‘congested’ Metro Manila schools

BY DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN, KRISTINE FELISSE MANGUNAY, AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES–As classes opened on Monday, already congested public schools in Metro Manila attempted to cope with overflowing enrollees by further dividing classrooms, using corridors, libraries, laboratories and even the principal’s offices as classrooms.

About 626, or 82 percent, of the 764 public schools in the metropolis have resorted to creating two shifts—or morning (6 a.m. to 12 p.m.) and afternoon (12 to 6 p.m.) classes—to accommodate more than their optimum capacity.

Of these, the Department of Education (DepEd) has identified 20 “highly congested schools,” including six in Quezon City, four in Caloocan, three in Malabon, two each in Las Piñas, Taguig and Parañaque and one in Marikina.

The rest are in the standard single shift, with one school implementing three-class shifts.

“Most of the problems have to do with the lack of classrooms, school chairs,” said Luz Almeda, DepEd director for the National Capital Region.

She said that where possible, schools where the class size had ballooned to between 75 and 80 had divided classrooms into two to halve the class size, packing pupils in a smaller space.

The ideal class size is 45 for high schools and 35 in elementary schools.

“We used the science labs, libraries, lanais (corridors) and the principal’s office as classrooms. The problem is we don’t have buildable space anymore,” Almeda said, adding that they will no longer build one-story classroom buildings but would go for three- up to five-story buildings.

After the DepEd central office shelved a planned threeday school week, schools in Caloocan City were left with class sizes of above 70 up to 78, according to Almeda.

“They are already on two shifts but the class size is really large,” Almeda said.

In Quezon City, Almeda said, schools in the Batasan area—including Batasan National High

FIRST DAY HIGH. A little boy waits for instructions to enter his classroom on his first day in school at President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School on Batasan

Road in Quezon City.

PHOTO BY ALEXIS CORPUZ / INQUIRER.NET

School, President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School and Payatas A, Payatas B and Payatas C Elementary School—had to divide their classrooms to accommodate two classes in a space meant for just one class.

‘Busing system’

In Valenzuela City, the “busing system” started on Monday as the latest scheme to be tried out to ease overcrowding in certain schools.

At least 140 late enrollees of Malinta Elementary SchoolPagalagad Annex would be transported daily to Caruhatan West Elementary School using six vans donated by the city government to the DepEd division office.

The vans would pick up the pupils daily from Malinta at 10:45 a.m. and bring them to Caruhatan West supposedly by 11:45 a.m., and then bring them back to Malinta after their classes.

Almeda said they hoped to make a similar arrangement in Caloocan within the year and in Quezon City next school year to transfer late enrollees from congested schools to other not yet crowded schools within the city.

Coping in Pasig City

Lack of classrooms and K to 12 modules, and a shortage of

teachers are just some of the problems encountered in some public schools in Pasig City.

At Manggahan Elementary School, 2,842 students showed up on Monday. “We are expecting more students because the enrollment is still ongoing,” said Maria Tesana Fabros, assistant to the principal.

“Sometimes, there are also transferees,” she said, adding that last year’s enrollment figure reached around 3,300.

The big number of students has prompted school officials to implement varying classroomto-student ratios per class, with the “maximum” number of students in one classroom reaching 48, she said. The DepEd has said that the ideal classroom to student ratio is 1:45.

“We might have to increase the (classroom-to-student) ratio possibly to 1:50 if more students show up in the coming days,” Fabros added.

As in years before, the school is implementing a shifting scheme to accommodate all classes in the school’s 61 classrooms.

She said the students in five kindergarten sections, and all Grade 2 and Grade 5 students would come to class in the afternoon so they can use the same classrooms used by other kindergarten sections and all Grade 1, Grade 3, Grade 4 and www.canadianinquirer.net

Grade 6 students in the morning.

Fabros said some teachers may have to “improvise” because the K to 12 modules for Grade 3 had yet to arrive. “It’s up to the teachers,” she said.

Freeze on hiring teachers

In nearby Napico Elementary School, a teacher who refused to be identified for fear of reprisal admitted that the same K to 12 modules had yet to reach them. “We already have the modules for Grades 1 and 2, but not for Grade 3. We haven’t been told when these (Grade 3 modules) would arrive,” she said.

Whereas before, the classroom-to-student ratio in the school reached a “maximum” of 1:50, she said, this year so far, the ratios reached a “maximum” of 1:56, with the “minimum” being 1:48.

She attributed the increased number of students per classroom to the shortage of teachers.

Asked why the teachers had “gone,” she said they were let go in light of a DepEd memorandum that directed regional directors, school division superintendents and school heads of public elementary and secondary schools to “discontinue the hiring of new LGU-funded and kindergarten volunteer teach-

ers” starting this school year.

Mothers also cram schools

Separation anxiety apparently hit mothers harder than the pupils on their first day of school.

At Commonwealth Elementary School, principal Rodolfo Modelo said the facility, with one of the biggest pupil populations, had no problem on opening day except for “makulit” (annoyingly persistent) mothers who insisted on lingering in the already crowded school compound.

Modelo told the Inquirer that it was understandable for mothers of kindergarten to Grade 2 pupils as well as children enrolled under special education to stay longer inside the compound until their kids are settled but older pupils had to be taught to be independent, at least at the school.

The principal estimates the school population at 9,600 could increase by 4 or 5 percent

by Monday when they will open up the enrollment for late applicants. The school, he said, currently has 247 kids under the special education program.

Modelo added that 16 classrooms are under construction to improve the room-to-student ratio at the school, particularly for the older pupils, which stands at 1:55 currently. ■

Philippine News

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JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 8

Happy new year: Pope Francis comes to PH in January 2015 Philippine Daily Inquirer POPE FRANCIS on Monday announced that he would visit the Philippines in January 2015 after his travel to Sri Lanka.

Francis made the announcement as he spoke to reporters for nearly an hour on board the papal plane after his grueling, three-day trip to Jordan, the West Bank and Israel.

In Manila, Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has disclosed that plans were indeed afoot for the Pope’s visit to the Philippines next year, but could not say exactly when.

“The Vatican has not yet announced the dates and specific itinerary that the Pope will observe, but I am confident that it will happen early next year,” Tagle said over Catholic News Service (CNS), the oldest and largest news wire service reporting on religion.

A year earlier

If plans push through, Francis’ visit will be a year earlier than expected. He has a standing invitation to attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Cebu City in January 2016.

“We are hopeful he could come because I think the Pope wants to come sooner than 2016. He was officially invited to attend the [event] but he has expressed several times that he wants to come sooner especially after (Supertyphoon) ‘Yolanda,’” former Ambassador to the Holy See Henrietta de Villa told reporters in an interview.

De Villa said Tagle was confident about the Pope’s visit. “He is very hopeful because he often goes to the Vatican.

The Pope gave him a lot of work ... he was even appointed one of the three presidents- delegates for the coming Synod of Bishops this October so he has the ear of the Pope, so we hope.”

Pope Francis.

The last Pope to visit the Philippines was John Paul II, now a saint, who came in January 1995.

Aboard the papal plane, Francis took all 11 questions posed by the reporters and responded with candor and occasional humor.

Announcement

The announcement of the papal visit to the Philippines will be made by the nunciature, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) or Tagle himself, according to De Villa.

But the CBCP’s secretary general on Tuesday said he had yet to receive any official communication from the Vatican or nunciature.

Earlier during a trip to Leyte, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum Cardinal Robert Sarah announced Francis’ intention to visit typhoon-stricken areas in Eastern Visayas and extend comfort to the victims.

Sarah said the visit to Eastern Visayas could take place after the 6th Asian Youth Day in South Korea in August. But Tagle

PHOTO BY GIULIO NAPOLITANO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

said plans were under way for the Pope to visit Sri Lanka and the Philippines on a single trip to the region next year.

“I think one of the purposes of the visit of the Holy Father is to come close to the people who suffered from the recent typhoon (in November) and the earthquake (in October),” Tagle told CNS. “We will see how that could be done.

But he, I think, would want that to be a defining character of his trip,” said the Manila archbishop. “I have said his coming will be stronger than the typhoon but in a positive way.”

Citing reports from CNS, the CBCP said the papal visit to the Philippines either in January or February next year was “under study.”

Quoting Vatican spokesperson Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, the CNS also said the Pope would possibly stop by Sri Lanka before going to the Philippines.

“In his first Asian trip, Francis will travel to South Korea for the Asian Youth Day on Aug. 14 to 18 this year,” the CBCP said. ■ Report from Jocelyn R. Uy in Manila

After drug lord, rob gang boss gets hospital trip out of Bilibid

BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer TWO WEEKS after a convicted drug lord was rushed to a leading hospital in Pasig City, another high-profile inmate—the subject of a Facebook page accusing prison officials of giving him special treatment—was allowed to get medical services outside New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Herbert “Ampang” Colangco, a convicted robbery gang leader who has been serving time at the maximum security compound since 2009, was rushed to Asian Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC) in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, around 6 p.m. Tuesday due to urinary tract infection.

Colangco had been tagged in several bank robberies in Metro Manila since the early 2000s. Police said the Colango gang had also worked together with

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other notorious crime syndicates like the Waray-Waray and Ozamis robbery groups.

NBP Supt. Fajardo Lansangan said he received an “emergency referral” from the NBP hospital to transfer Colangco to the private hospital on Tuesday afternoon, after the NBP doctors conferred with Colangco’s personal physicians.

Colangco remained confined at ❱❱ PAGE 10 After drug

Philippine News

9 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Pacquiao tops... worth (SALN).

Former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, who has a net worth of P922.8 million, the same as the previous follows after Pacquiao as the richest member of the House of Representatives.

The third-richest congressman is Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of Quezon City, with a wealth of P819.749 million— higher than his P817.574 million in 2012.

Belmonte is followed by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfred Benitez who came fourth with a net worth of P713.875 million, from P702.066 million in 2012.

Negros Occidental Rep. Julio Ledesma IV with a net worth of P617.326 million, from P590.558 in 2012 ranked fifth.

Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar came next with a wealth of P526.450 million, much higher than his P361.782 million in 2012.

Aside from the former first lady, another Marcos relative came in the top 10 wealthiest solon—Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Mrs. Marcos’ nephew. Romualdez’s wealth amounted to P475.002 million, from P474.18 million in 2012.

Rizal Rep. Joel Roy Duavit is the eighth- richest solon with a net worth of P272.975 million, from P195.9 million in 2012.

Tarlac Rep. Enrique Cojuangco Jr. is ninth with P217.52 million from P214.84 million in 2012.

The only newbie solon in the top 10 is Maguindanao Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu, the brother of Maguindanao Governor Es❰❰ 1

mael Mangudadatu. He has a net worth of P215.850 million.

Poorest

Anakpawis Rep. Fernando Hicap, is the poorest lawmaker with a net worth of P37,722.

The poorest solon in 2012 was Hicap’s predecessor Rafael Mariano with a net worth of P92,507.

Other lawmakers at the bottom 10 are: Abakada Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz (first termer) – P550,000 Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Bag-ao – P598,013 (she is a first termer as Dinagat solon but she was Akbayan representative last year with a net worth of P230,789) Kalinga Rep. Abigail FerriolPascual – P636,980 (second termer with wealth of P501,951 in 2012) Terry Ridon – P900,000 (first termer) Coop-Natcco Rep. Cresente Paez – P1.098 million (third termer, with wealth of P1.195 million in 2012); Gabriela Rep. Emmi De Jesus – P1.24 million (second termer, with the same wealth in 2012) Act Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio – P1.278 million (second termer, with P1.288 million in 2012) Magdalo Rep. Francisco Acedillo – P1.326 million (first termer) Camarines Norte Rep. Elmer Panotes – P1.455 million (second termer, with P1.599 million in 2012). ■ With reports from GMA News

Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao had a net worth of P1.4 billion in 2013, according to his filed SALN. PHOTO FROM HBO.COM

US and Philippine marines during an exercise. Members of both forces were killed in a 2009 landmine attack.

PHOTO FROM RAPPLER.COM

Suspected bomber who allegedly killed 2 US Special Forces arrested in southern Philippines The Associated Press MANILA, PHILIPPINES— Philippine police on Sunday captured a suspected Muslim rebel bomber who allegedly was involved in a 2009 land mine attack that killed two U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers and a Filipino marine in a restive southern province.

Miraji Bairulla did not resist when policemen, backed

by Philippine marines, served a warrant for his arrest in the town of Indanan in Sulu province, police Senior Superintendent Abraham Orbita said.

Bairullah, who uses the rebel name “Mahang,” is a bomb expert for the Moro National Liberation Front rebel group, he said.

Bairullah was among militants who placed a powerful land mine that hit and caused a passing Humvee to flip over, killing two U.S. soldiers and a Filipino marine on Sept. 29, 2009, in an isolated stretch of www.canadianinquirer.net

a coconut tree-line dirt road in Indanan, Orbita said. Two other Filipino marines were wounded in the attack.

No gunbattle ensued after the land mine blast.

The American and Filipino troops came under attack while en route to deliver food and other supplies to U.S. Seabees helping construct a school building and dig a water well for poor villagers of Kagay village in Indanan, a hilly farming town where militants belonging to the Moro National Liberation Front and the smaller but more violent Abu Sayyaf have had an active presence.

U.S. and Filipino forces appeared to have been lured to pass through the land mineridden hinterland at the time by the militants, who resented the construction of school building and other projects by outsiders.

U.S. military personnel usually travelled by helicopters for safety, but villagers often flew kites, an aviation hazard that

prompted the Americans to travel by land, security officials said at the time.

Hundreds of American military personnel have been providing counterterrorism training and advising Filipino troops battling al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in southern provinces including Sulu since 2002. That year, an American Green Beret was killed by a bomb outside an army camp in southern Zamboanga city in an attack blamed on Abu Sayyaf militants.

The Moro National Liberation Front was once the largest Muslim rebel group in the south, homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic Philippines, until it signed an autonomy deal with the government in 1996. Many of the rebels, however, held on to their firearms despite the peace deal and later resumed attacks. Others defected from the Moro group and organized the Abu Sayyaf in the early 1990s. ■

Philippine News

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 10

9 out of 10 Pinoys short of cash in past year, says poll

BY DORIS C. DUMLAO Philippine Daily Inquirer NINE OF 10 Filipino adults experienced being short of funds in the last 12 months, due mainly to rising basic living expenses such as food and shelter and the increasing cost of their children’s education, according to a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) in partnership with insurance firm Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc. When asked to identify the major expenses that led to their financial shortage in the past 12 months, 74 percent cited household expenses, such as rent, utility bills and food, while 41 percent cited school expenses for their children.

Twenty-five percent pointed to expenses for medical treatment, and another 25 percent encountered difficulties due to debt servicing or loan payments.

Seven of 10 Filipinos also noted the rising prices of commodity prices as the culprit behind their financial woes, while two of five respondents blamed their reduced earnings. Three out of 10 blamed unexpected expenses.

The survey results presented yesterday also revealed that financial difficulties were felt

not just by the lower income segments but also by the upper income classes, suggesting the lack of financial planning across the population.

The survey was conducted with the First Quarter 2014 Social Weather Survey of SWS, which was based on face-toface interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide from March 27 to March 30 this year. It is part of Sun Life’s annual personal finance research called Study of Lifestyles, Attitudes and Relationships (Solar), which analyzes how Filipinos handle money.

Based on the 2014 Solar survey, one of five Filipinos said that what he or she earned was not enough to cover expenses, said Sun Life Financial Philippines president Riza Mantaring.

Based on the latest Solar results, 39 percent of Filipino adults said they were trying to save regularly but only 32 percent of respondents actually stuck to the habit.

On the other hand, 10 percent saw no need to save at all since their income was “not enough anyway” while 5 percent would save up only for things they wanted to buy.

Anticipate inflation

“Money is enslaving Juan (a name typically used to represent the common Filipino) in a cycle of shortage, worry and

financial dependency,” Sun Life chief marketing officer Mylene Lopa said at a briefing yesterday.

“The numbers show that most Filipinos experience a financial shortage, or to use a common term we have for such a state, ‘ kinakapos.’ The price increase and unexpected expenses definitely have an effect on finances, but these can be countered by proper financial planning,” Lopa said.

“Inflation occurs every year and is something that we can anticipate, so we should prepare ahead of time as much as we can. This way, the impact is softened and is easier to handle, as compared to seeking a solu-

tion when the problem is already there.”

BuCor (Bureau of Corrections).

Public biddings are held for it,” he stressed He said the most recent hospital renovation, involving a building for tuberculosis patients, was undertaken through a memorandum of agreement between the BuCor and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Lansangan also denied that Colangco had been allowed to have his own house inside the maximum security compound.

“Not one inmate has a house here. Perhaps what they see are the reformation centers, where inmates can hold activities”.

ing ways to rehabilitate them.”

“All we know is that our conscience is clear. We are doing our jobs,” he added.

Colangco’s hospitalization followed that of convicted drug lord Amin Buratong, the man behind the so-called “shabu tiangge” (flea market) in Pasig City that was already thriving in the mid-2000s when the police conducted raids.

Buratong was allowed to be brought to Medical City, also in Pasig, on May 13 due to a ‘‘recurring coronary artery disease” and a liver ailment, among other health problems.

Tightening belts

When asked about the steps they had taken or intended to take to address financial shortage, seven of 10 respondents said they would tighten their belts or reduce expenses.

“Just as the age-old saying goes, ’ pag maiksi ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot (which literally means, when the blanket is too short, learn to curl up under it),” Mantaring said. “But why insist on making a small blanket work when you can find a bigger blanket, so to speak,” Mantaring said.

While most would cut costs,

the same survey showed two in five Filipino adults said they intended to look for—or have found—additional sources of income.

Others addressed or intended to address their financial woes by borrowing from relatives, friends/neighbors, or money lenders, or even selling or mortgaging properties.

On the brighter side, Lopa said one of two Filipinos said he or she was willing to learn more about managing finances.

“It’s time to change money habits so we can break free from the bondage of financial shortage, debt, worry and the cycle of financial dependency,” Lopa added. ■

After drug... ❰❰ 8

AHMC as of press time Wednesday, Lansangan told the

Inquirer.

Weeks before his hospitalization, the convict has been a recurring subject on a Facebook page called “Bilibid Atin Ito,” which speaks of alleged corrupt practices and mismanagement at the NBP. One post read: “They tolerate Ampang Colangco constructing his own big house inside the prison compound (sic), his own desktop computer with WiFi connection, his own air-conditioning system, his own cook and bodyguards, and his own golf carts, his own line of water connection while ordinary inmates fetch their water in a long lane just to get one gallon to spend for the whole day.”

The post alleged that Colangco had been granted such perks because he donated P1.2 million to the NBP hospital last year.

It also noted that Colangco had been sponsoring regular weekend concerts called the “Chairman Colanggo Musical Charity Show” at the maximum security compound.

When told of the Facebook page, Lansangan confirmed the Colangco-sponsored concerts, saying they were part of the inmates’ “reformation” and “extracurricular activities.”

“If they have talents, they use them to uplift their fellow inmates,” he stressed.

But Lansangan denied that Colangco had made any donation to the NBP hospital. “The funds for hospital renovations, medicines, are all allocated by

NBP policy ‘We find ways’

“Call it VIP treatment if it’s the government spending for them,” he said. ‘‘We are handling 22,000 inmates and findwww.canadianinquirer.net

Buratong stayed in the hospital for four days and underwent angioplasty, Lansangan said in an earlier interview.

The NPB official then clari-

fied that when inmates are brought to private hospitals, it would be on their personal expense. “We allow them to be treated outside if the NBP hospital doctors have recommended it and expressed that they cannot handle the treatment themselves,” he then said.

Letting them them stay in private hospitals could not be considered “special treatment,” he said. “How can it be special treatment when the person is really sick? The [NBP] hospital cannot handle it. If something happens to him, we will also get the blame.”

“Our policy states that the inmate should be brought to a government hospital, but they have an option to choose a private hospital if they have the financial capacity,” Lansangan explained. ■

Philippine News

11 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Unhappy, solons want migrants better protected

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES–Disappointed at the way labor officials handled the complaints of sexual exploitation of Filipino workers by government embassy personnel, lawmakers want to amend the Migrant Workers Act to allow for the forcible repatriation of Filipino nationals who commit crimes against fellow Filipinos abroad.

The House committee on overseas workers affairs recommended the strengthening of the Migrant Workers Act to put in place measures that would allow the government to repatriate overseas nationals in order to curb abuses against overseas Filipino workers.

Committee chair and Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said the committee was not satisfied with the way the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) handled their investigations into the issue, charging that the agencies gave the officials concerned mere “slaps on the wrist” or moved to ensure that they would not be held accountable for their actions.

One recommendation is for the DFA and the DOLE to ensure there would be treaties or agreements between the Philippines and other countries to enable the Philippine government to forcibly repatriate Filipino nationals alleged to have committed crimes abroad against fellow Filipinos. The agreements should also cover those who are not public offi-

cials and employees.

Another committee recommendation is to amend the Migrant Workers Act so that illegal recruitment would also include the inducement, persuasion, encouragement or recruitment of an OFW to commit prostitution or any sexual or immoral act in exchange for money, airfare or any other favor or special treatment.

The government must also provide free legal assistance to OFWs for the filing and prosecution of cases in foreign courts against their abusers, the report said.

And to reduce the risk of distressed OFWs being exploited, the government must establish a time limit for their repatriation, starting from the date the worker expresses his or her desire to be repatriated under reasonable conditions to be provided by law. A firstin first-out rule must be observed, it added.

The Bahay Kalinga centers abroad should also sponsor regular seminars to inform OFWs about the process of government-sponsored repatriation so that they would not fall prey to blackmail, illegal exaction of fees and other illegal activities.

Another recommendation is for the DOLE and the DFA to see to it that all persons hired by Philippine government offices abroad undergo a very strict selection process to avoid the hiring of those who may commit offenses against Filipinos abroad. There should be an especially designed psychological examination and character background check. ■

3 Ways to Buy a Home for Less Money GREATER VANCOUVER—If you’re like most home buyers, you have two primary considerations in mind when you start looking for a home. First, you want to find the home that perfectly meets your needs and desires, and secondly, you want to purchase this home for the lowest possible price.

When you analyze those successful home buyers who have been able to purchase the home they want for thousands of dollars below a seller’s asking price, some common denominators emerge. While the negotiating skills of your agent are important, there are three additional key factors that must come into play long before you ever submit an offer.

This topic has been the subject of extensive analysis by Industry Experts, and a summary of their findings, and a specific step-by-step purchase plan for home buyers, can be found in a new

This report is courtesy of Cheryl Fuller, Royal LePage Kamploops Realty.

Not intended to solicit buyers or sellers currently under contract. Copyright 2014

Azkals all heart, beat Maldives, play for AFC title on Friday

BY CEDELF TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer MALE, MALDIVES—In one final act of defiance, the youngest Filipino player on the pitch, defender Amani Aguinaldo, kissed the Philippine flag on his sleeve in front of a fuming Maldives skipper Ali Ashfaq, before breaking down in tears.

In an exhausting 120 minutes that reminded everyone how football can be beautiful and brutal at the same time, the Philippines ousted hosts Maldives, 3-2, on a goal by Chris Greatwich in extra time on Tuesday, sending the Azkals to the finals of the AFC Challenge Cup. The Philippines will face Palestine, which upset Afghanistan, 2-0, in the other semifinal.

The National Stadium here was littered with tired and battle-weary bodies and in the end, it was the Filipinos who were shedding tears of joy.

“When you go through a roller coaster of emotions during the match, it’s really down to heart and this team showed that it had the heart and the fighting spirit,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.

No ordinary run

Committee chair and Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello.

PHOTO FROM WORD.WORLD-CITIZENSHIP.ORG

ERRATUM On page 27 of last week's issue of PCI, a statement was attributed to Mr. Joseph Lee's father, using the qualifier “late.” This is incorrect. Mr. Lee's father is very much alive. He is 92 years old. Our deepest apologies.

On page 33, the title of Socorro Newland's article was incorrect. It should have been, “Avenging the Death of Disco.” Our apologies.

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Playing in his first major international tournament, the 19 year-old Aguinaldo was tasked to defend the dangerous Ashfaq all night and when the final whistle blew, his emotions boiled over.

This wasn’t just an ordinary victory for a Philippine side that had set lofty goals at the start of the AFC Challenge Cup. There’s a bigger goal ahead and they just moved closer to it.

The Azkals are now within one win of their cherished dream of reaching the AFC Asian Cup in Australia next year.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Incredible spirit

Greatwich, one of the two goalscorers, of the miraculous 2-0 win over Vietnam four years ago in Hanoi that sparked the sport’s renaissance in the country, scored the match winner in the 104th minute after both teams battled to a 2-2 stalemate in regulation play.

“It’s just a surreal night,” Azkals captain Rob Gier said after the team celebrated in front of 300 Filipino fans in the stadium.

“I’ve never played for a team that plays with so much heart. I just don’t know how this team does it. We’ve managed to find extra reserves somewhere and dig really deep. The spirit of this team is incredible,” Gier said.

The match had all the trappings of a classic. The Azkals dominated possession for most of the match, but a Maldives side feeding off the energy of a packed stadium fought back twice to force the extension.

Goals from Phil Younghusband and Jerry Lucena kept the Azkals on top for the most part, but the Azkals also needed the heroics of goalkeeper Roland Müller who stopped a penalty in the second half that could have been the difference between the two sides.

Standing in the way of the Azkals’ dream of lifting a first major trophy and a spot in the Asian Cup is Palestine, which refuses to be satisfied after bringing down favorite Afghanistan.

“It is not enough just to be in the final; we need to win it too,” said Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud. “Otherwise, all this effort will be of no use.”

Palestine advanced on the strength of goals from Ashraf Al Fawaghra on either side of half time. ❱❱ PAGE 36 Azkals all

Philippine News

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 12

Napoles tags 120 solons

BY TJ A. BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer “AS FAR as I can remember, in my present condition at Ospital ng Makati, the following are the senators, congressmen and agents, as well as officials and employees of implementing agencies who dealt with me and received portions of the pork barrel.”

Thus said Janet Lim-Napoles in her long-awaited 32-page affidavit submitted yesterday afternoon to the Senate blue ribbon committee, in which she denied she was the mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam and declared she learned the ropes from Budget Secretary Florencio Abad when he was a House member, and named 20 senators and 100 congressmen allegedly involved in her schemes to steal money meant to improve the nation’s impoverished countryside.

“I am not the mastermind of the pork barrel because I didn’t start this; this has long been practice or system,” she said.

And neither is she “the most guilty,” she added, ostensibly to bolster her bid to become a state witness.

In fact, the agents of lawmakers were more knowledgeable of the scheme, Napoles said.

Specifically, the 51-year-old businesswoman said, it was through Abad, then the Batanes congressman, that she learned that she needed a nongovernment organization (NGO) or cooperative to be able to deal with the agencies in siphoning off allocations from the congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) into ghost projects and kickbacks.

“I need to see her affidavit before reacting. I have been hearing and reading about different versions of it. It is prudent that way,” Abad told the INQUIRER when asked for comment.

In one affidavit, Napoles listed 12 incumbent senators, including Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. who are fighting indictment for plunder and graft before the Sandiganbayan over the scam.

The rest of the incumbent senators were Gregorio Honasan II, Lito Lapid, Loren Le-

garda, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Aquilino Pimentel III, Vicente Sotto III, Cynthia Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano and Francis Escudero.

The former senators were Rodolfo Biazon, the late Robert Barbers, Loi Ejercito Estrada, Robert Jaworski, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Tessie Aquino Oreta, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Manuel Villar Jr. An earlier Napoles list named 11 former and current senators among those who allegedly received kickbacks from her.

‘The truth will set you free’

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, chair of the committee, last night released copies of Napoles’ two affidavits to the media, but said he had not read the contents.

“Let the document speak for itself,” he told reporters after announcing he was releasing copies to the media, the public and senators “in the spirit of transparency.”

By telling the truth, Napoles said she expected to step on the toes of many. “The truth hurts… but the truth will set you free,” she said on page one of her affidavit.

After months of prayer and reflection, Napoles said she wished to shed light on the pork scam and Malampaya Fund mess, referring to the P900 million she allegedly stole. The money was meant for victims of Storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” in 2009. She had been named in a complaint on the case involving the government share in the operation of natural gas wells off Palawan.

Napoles said she was hurt by charges naming her as the pork barrel queen and mastermind, and describing her as “most guilty,” “center of controversy” and “architect of the PDAF scam.”

25 senators in Luy files

The businesswoman is on a hospital furlough. She is under police custody for serious illegal detention—not the pork barrel scam—on a case filed by her former finance officer, Benhur Luy. Luy’s hard disk drive, given to the INQUIRER, named 25 senators and 138 representatives—former and current— amongmany people Napoles dealt with in her PDAF activi-

ties. All of the senators named in the Luy files are included on the expanded Napoles list, except for Sen. Francis Escudero.

The latest Napoles list does not include Senators JV Ejercito, Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and former Sen. Ramon Revilla Sr. whose names appear in the Luy files.

Napoles named a certain Ruth “Allen” who helped her former aide Niel Tan in the House, and one Catherine Mae “Maya” Santos who guided her in transacting with the Department of Agriculture and the Senate.

Guingona, whose staff picked up copies of the affidavits from the Department of Justice, said he would await the submission of the Luy files before deciding when to resume the inquiry into the pork scam.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima had twice asked for an extension for the submission of Napoles’ expanded affidavit.

Her last deadline was yesterday.

Campaign fund

“I gave money for the campaign of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano in the last election,” Napoles said in her affidavit, referring to the 2013 balloting. “We met at the SLICE restaurant at the Bonifacio Global City. I personally handed the money to him.”

Cayetano’s uncle, identified as “Tito Boy,” also acted as an agent for the then congressman Cayetano for a project to be implemented by the Department of Transportation and Communications, Napoles said.

“The project did not push through because we had a disagreement on the rebate. They were asking for a bigger rebate, that’s why they returned the money I had advanced to Tito Boy. When I got the money back, it wasn’t complete,” she said.

Napoles said she met Escudero at a Chinese restaurant at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel before the elections in 2010 through Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza.

“There I was convinced to financially support his plan to run for president. I gave him financial help that day,” she said. www.canadianinquirer.net

They met again months after the 2010 elections at the Taste of LA restaurant in Quezon City. “We talked about the projects that he could give me.

I handed him money again that afternoon, but no project pushed through,” she said.

The agents

Napoles also identified Carlos “Butch” Tuason as an agent for Loi Estrada as well as for Mikey and Iggy Arroyo; Carlos “Caloy” Reyes for AquinoOreta; Catherine Mae “Maya” Santos for Legarda and Marcos Jr. and Representatives Benjamin Agarao and Marcelino Libanan; Jennifer “Jen” Corpuz for Sotto; Jun Adriano for Manuel Villar; Louie Cruz for Koko Pimentel III and Antonio Lagdameo Sr. (Koko Pimentel’s other agent is ex-wife Jewel Pimentel); Lucila “Gigi” Reyes for Enrile; Mon Arcenas for Nene Pimentel Jr.; Patricia “Gay” Agana Tan, Bibing Villacorta and lawyer Yacky Agana for Magsaysay as well as for Representatives Glenda Ecleo and Isidro Real; Pauline Labayen for Jinggoy Estrada; Richard Cambe for Ramon Revilla Jr.; Ruby Tuason for Estrada and Enrile; Tet de Joya for Enrile and Jaworski, Representatives Ricky and Vicente Sandoval, and Recom Echiverri; Tito Boy (uncle of Senator Cayetano) for Cayetano; Zenaida Ducut for Lapid; Rose Palacio for Barbers; Lyn Ranillo and Matt Ranillo for Loi Estrada, among others.

Abad deals

She said she met Abad, through an agent named Manuel Jarmin, at the Japanese Restaurant at Edsa Shangri-La Plaza Hotel. There she said Abad

explained the Saro, or special allotment release order, for PDAF allocations.

“In that meeting, I gave him P2 million. When the notice of cash allocation came out I gave him P2 million at Cravings on Katipunan,” she said.

“When we talked about the implementation of a project, he asked me if I have an NGO or coop. I said I had none, and he said he’d take care of this. As far as I can remember, he used the Batanes Electric Cooperative to implement the project,” Napoles said.

Eventually, Abad returned the P4 million plus an additional P2 million, she said.

Napoles also said that the Department of Agriculture was on the “shopping list” of the Department of Budget and Management where lawmakers could place their PDAF. She then detailed how the scheme proceeded. She said the project got rolling with the issuance of the Saro to the agency’s finance department.

“It’s at the office of Ofelia Agawin where the authenticity of the Saro is confirmed. Once the accreditation of a foundation is approved… only then would Secretary [Proceso] Alcala sign,” she said.

When Alcala was not around, Assistant Secretary Allan Umali would sign the memorandum of agreement, as well as checks before these are transferred to the regional field units and local governments, she said.

“That is where we make deliveries,” she said. Napoles also named the agents of different agencies. ■

Philippine News

13 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Mindanao power crisis: Crime spike tied to brownouts Philippine Daily Inquirer DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES—Police are seeing a link between the power shortage that is gripping this city and other parts of Mindanao and a spike in the number of crimes in areas plagued by outages that last up to more than seven hours a day.

In this city alone, Senior Supt. Vicente Danao Jr., city police chief, said the number of crimes that police have recorded has increased by 45 percent, or nearly half, in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year.

The city and other parts of Mindanao started to be plagued by brownouts in March as a result of a shortage in electricity that was made worse by the reduced output of two hydropower facilities—Angus and Pulangi—that supply 60 percent of Mindanao’s power.

Danao said by March, when the outages started being more frequent and longer, police started to record at least 58 crimes a day up from the 32 crimes reported daily in the same period last year.

He said in the first three months of the year alone, 4,000

crimes have been committed mostly against persons and property.

Danao said he believed the rotating brownouts are to blame for the spike in crimes.

For instance, he said, the outages are rendering CCTV cameras, which help in crime prevention and investigation, useless.

“Zero visibility,” said Danao. “You cannot see in the dark even if you have a generator,” he added.

He said police had to resort to extra effort, like increased visibility, to fill the gap that anticrime measures being crippled by the outages have left.

“I myself go on patrol,” said Danao.

Col. Casiano Monilla, head of the anticrime Task Force Davao, said soldiers, too, have been deployed to strategic areas in the city to help police fight crime amid the brown-

outs.

He said 17 members of the task force are to roam the city aboard motorcycles as a crime prevention measure.

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the city government plans to hire at least 1,000 watchmen to help law enforcers keep peace and order.

Each watchman would be paid P6,000 per month and get training on peacekeeping, said Duterte. They may also be issued firearms, he said.

“We have to give them more police power,” said the mayor.

In Cotabato City, police and military authorities said they were also bracing for a surge in criminality, particularly kidnappings, because of the outages.

“This is a united effort to quell lawlessness and terrorism that may occur at night while we are experiencing brownouts,” said Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesperson of the 6th Infantry Division.

Hermoso said Senior Supt.

Rolen Balquin, Cotabato City

police chief, agreed to conduct weekly meetings on the anticrime campaign to keep authorities updated.

Ramil Masukat, head of the Radio Emergency Communication Network (Recon), an anticrime watchdog, said his group would help authorities fight crime in Cotabato City.

Recon members are armed with VHF radios that they can use to report crimes, he said.

The outages are also disrupting the ongoing registration of new voters in Kidapawan City, which is being plagued by up to six hours of brownouts daily.

Diosdado Javier, Kidapawan election officer, said the outages are slowing the processing of voter applications.

Javier said his office has requested for a generator from the Commission on Elections main office in Manila but there has been no response yet. ■ Reports from Allan Nawal, Williamor Magbanua, Charlie Señase and Eldie Aguirre, Inquirer Mindanao

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Philippine News

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 14

Solons unswayed by fired MRT Edca a magnet chief’s ‘palusot’ for war, says solon

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer A HOUSE committee yesterday decided to probe further into the P517-million maintenance contract that the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 awarded to a company founded by a relative of its former general manager, Al Vitangcol III, after several lawmakers declared themselves unsatisfied with Vitangcol’s explanation.

Vitangcol, who appeared at a hearing of the House good government and public accountability committee, explained that while his uncle-in-law, Arturo Soriano, was an incorporator of the company, PH Trams, Soriano had divested from the firm by the time the bidding for the maintenance contract was conducted in 2012.

But several lawmakers have remained suspicious, suggesting that PH Trams was brought into the bidding because of its connection with Vitangcol. They pointed out that PH Trams was only incorporated two months before it was awarded the contract, and with a paid-up capital of P625,000.

Incorporation

According to Vitangcol, he only became aware that Soriano was an incorporator of PH Trams when it, together with its joint venture partner, decided to participate in the Department of Transportation and Communication’s bidding for the contract to provide maintenance services to the MRT. The DOTC took over the task after the MRT Corp., a private corporation, failed to conduct the bidding.

Vitangcol said it was he who asked Soriano to divest from PH Trams in September 2012 as it would have been improper for him to remain in the company. The contract was awarded in October.

“When I learned that particular item, then I directly told him that it would be improper on his part and on my part if he would continue to be a director of PH Trams. So he divested and he sold his shares as director of PH Trams. At the time that the bidding was done by DOTC, Mr.

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer

A P517-million maintenance contract was awarded by the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 to a company founded by a relative of its former general manager.

PHOTO BY JOYFULL / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Soriano was no longer a part of that particular firm,” he said.

He said he did not inform the bids and awards committee, of which he was a member, that his uncle-in-law was an incorporator of PH Trams because Soriano was no longer connected with the company.

“They already provided the deed of sale and transfer of rights,” he said.

DOTC Undersecretary Jose Lotilla also said PH Trams, as part of the bidding process, issued a statement saying that it had no relationship with any DOTC official. Lotilla said he learned of Soriano’s connection to Vitangcol only the other day.

Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, who moved for the committee to look deeper into the maintenance contract, scoffed at Vitangcol’s explanation that Soriano had already divested from PH Trams, saying it appeared to be palusot (unconvincing excuse).

“Of course, so that they won’t be liable under the Anti-Graft Law. There was a cleansing before it was transferred. But even if the blind will probe this, it will see that there had been an exchange here,” Farinas said.

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio also aired similar suspicions, as he noted that PH Trams alone would not have qualified to join the DOTC bidding, and was only able to participate because of its joint venture with CB&T. Ties that bind

Tinio wondered what PH Trams, with its relatively limited capital, brought to the table when it became involved in the joint venture to bid for the

maintenance contract.

He said the emerging “hypothesis” was that its incorporator’s ties with Vitangcol was the main thing it had going for it.

“It would appear that the main thing PH Trams brought to the table was its connection with the bids and awards committee. The hypothesis coming out is that PH Trams was a broker,” he said.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga also questioned the DOTC’s award of the maintenance contract to PH Trams given that the company was only 2 months old and had a relatively small paidup capital.

Lotilla said that if PH Trams had had no joint venture partner, it would not have been able to participate in bidding for the project.

The allegations over the award of the P500-million contract to a firm connected to Vitangcol’s relative led to his resignation as MRT 3 general manager.

Vitangcol, an appointee of President Aquino, said the DOTC had temporarily relieved him of his position because of this, but he deemed it best to resign.

Asked if he would continue on as MRT head if the President were to decide not to accept his resignation, Vitangcol said he would not because he already submitted his resignation, which was effective immediately.

Vitangcol yesterday also reiterated his denial of the allegations made by Czech Ambassador Josef Rychtar that he tried to extort $30 million from the Czech-based Inekon Group for the latter to be awarded the contract to supply new coaches for the MRT. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

CONTRARY TO government claims, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) was not a deterrent to war, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said yesterday.

“On the contrary, the Edca is a deterrent to peace and a magnet for war because all the enemies of the United States will have the Philippines as one of its targets due to this deal,” Colmenares said in a statement, reacting to the assertion made by Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista the other day.

Bautista earlier said that Edca was a creative way of establishing deterrence and avoiding conflict, and facing the challenges to our national security.

Bautista defended the deal, saying it was meant to operationalize the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty with the US, “which serves as a deterrence to any armed aggression.”

Under Edca, US military forces would have access to and use of agreed locations in the Philippines, and could construct military facilities. They could also preposition assets here.

The Edca was signed recently amid growing tensions with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea. Colmenares downplayed the advantages Edca would give the Philippines in terms of disaster assistance, the modernization of its military, and as a shield against China’s aggression in territorial disputes, saying these were “mostly overrated and hyped.”

“Disaster assistance and military modernization can be achieved without the Edca.

Also, the primary government reason for the deal, which is to serve as a deterrent to China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea, is not sound because the US would not risk a war with China as its economy would collapse without China,” he said.

He noted that the US owed China $1.28 trillion and had a

$579-billion trade with China.

He doubted the US would come to the Philippines’ side should tensions with China escalate.

“All the US would do is posture that it would defend the Philippines but it would not.

That is the hard and cold reality, so it is best that this lopsided deal be declared unconstitutional as early as possible so as to prevent any manmade disaster from hitting our country,” he said.

He reiterated his position that Edca circumvented the Constitution, turning the whole country into one big US military base.

Colmenares said the administration had yet to issue to his group a certified true copy of the Edca. He said he suspected this was meant to delay the filing of cases against the pact.

“We have requested a copy since the Edca’s signing last April but both the Department of National Defense and Department of Foreign Affairs are stonewalling us,” he said.

On the other hand, Bautista reiterated yesterday that the Edca was advantageous to the Philippines.

Speaking at the US Memorial Day celebration in Taguig City, where he paid tribute to the Filipino and American soldiers who fought the Japanese Army in World War II, Bautista said the Philippines and the US remained proud allies.

He again described the Edca as a deterrent to war but added that the Philippines was ready to fight with the Americans in defending the peace in the region. “(T)he Philippines shall remain a proud ally and friend of the United States,” Bautista said at the event held at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Fort Bonifacio.

“And while mutually guided by the principles of a just international order and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, may we not hesitate to act in our collective capacity to meet any aggressors threatening to undermine international peace and security, shoulder to shoulder, just as our forefathers had done,” he said. ■

Philippine News

15 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Most of the President’s men, women are rich

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—In President Aquino’s Cabinet of mostly multimillionaires, the richest got richer while the rich got slightly less rich.

The same officials topped the list of the Philippines’ richest Cabinet members, with a few switching places but generally gaining some more millions, according to copies of the Cabinet’s individual statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) released to the press yesterday.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario remains the richest among the 34 Cabinet officials, with his wealth pegged at P765.38 million, up by nearly P60 million from his 2012 declaration.

The country’s top diplomat, formerly a businessman known for giving up his government salary for distribution to employees at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), declared no liabilities.

The bulk of his bank account comes from investments in corporate stock—a total of P665.46 million-while about 10 percent accounts for properties, including a house in plush Dasmariñas Village in Makati City, four condominium units in the cities of Makati and Taguig, and seven other real estate properties.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez comes a far second to the DFA chief, but up from third place last year, with a net worth of P282.46 million, up from P249.98 million in 2012.

His assets include homes in Ayala Alabang and Punta Fuego and land acquisitions in Cavite and Laguna provinces.

Like Del Rosario, Jimenez declared no liabilities.

The tourism chief overtook by just a few millions last year’s

worth of P117.1 million, increasing his wealth from P111.29 million in 2012.

Transportation Secretary Jose Emilio Abaya remains in ninth place, gaining more millions for a net worth of P112.08 million in 2013, up from P104.72 million in 2012.

Moving up

second-richest, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

Purisima has dropped to third place, with a net worth of P278.95 million after growing his wealth by P8 million.

Also without liabilities, Purisima listed among his assets several homes in Metro Manila, Tagaytay City and Laguna province, along with various investments.

Roxas still in 4th place

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, a descendant of the oldrich Araneta clan, remains in fourth place, with a net worth of P211.027 million, up from P203.36 million in his 2012.

While Roxas has assets of

P283.56 million, he declared liabilities of nearly P72.5 million, mostly unpaid loans.

Roxas’ riches also include P122 million in corporate stock, “artworks, furniture and fixtures” amounting to P25 million, cash and time deposit of P24.48 million, and jewelry worth P10 million.

Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo remains in fifth place, with a net worth of P150.641 million, a few thousands down from P150.64 million in 2012.

Nearly half of his assets— P73.18 million—were in cash, deposits, investments and other liquid assets.

Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, the chief presiden-

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tial legal counsel, remains in sixth place, with a net worth of P120.38 million, slightly up from P120.27 million in 2012. Some P84 million of this amount comes from investments.

In seventh place, Secretary Rene Almendras earned an additional P4.4 million to raise his net worth to P119.84 million in 2013.

He listed several homes and lots among his assets, along with investments and bank deposits. He also has real property payment balances worth P31 million.

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla is the eighth-richest Cabinet member, with a net

Health Secretary Enrique Ona is the 10th-richest Cabinet member, moving up from the 12th spot to dislodge Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Ona earned more than P13 million to raise his net worth to P93.7 million in 2013 from P80.23 million in 2012.

Alcala’s net worth is P90.77 million, up from P88.42 million in 2012, while Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson is down from the 11th to the 12th spot with P83.84 million, nearly unchanged from his 2012 declaration.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro, a La Salle brother known for his modest lifestyle, remains the poorest and the only nonmillionaire in the Cabinet.

Luistro did not declare owning any house, vehicle or other properties, save for cash and bank deposits amounting to P433,392.17, lower than his declaration of P550,651 in 2012.

Busiest women

Among those at the bottom of the list are some of the busiest women in the Cabinet.

In 30th place is Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, whose net worth is P4.58 million as of 2013, followed by Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, who declared a net worth of P4.42 million, down from P7.092 million in 2012; Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, with P4.34 million, and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, with P3.68 million. ■

Opinion

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 16

THERE’S THE RUB

Back to school

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer THERE were a couple of interesting stories last weekend before the kids stormed back to school Monday.

The first was a proposal to shift to a 3-day school week for several public schools in Caloocan to ease the congestion of classrooms there. The plan called for dividing the students into two groups coming to school on alternate days. The proposal met with opposition from parents however, which forced the Department of Education to shelve it at least for this year. It would instead work out some kind of student transfer and shuttle service for overcrowded schools in Valenzuela, Caloocan and Quezon City. But should the congestion reach a “worst-case scenario,” the DepEd still retains the option to implement the 3-day school week.

I noticed this small piece of news because it came alongside a big one, which was the President announcing that he had just approved P62.3 billion for huge infrastructure projects that would improve water supply, mass transport systems, and the country’s hospitals and airports.

Only two of these projects will even be started in the remainder of PNoy’s term—an LRT 2 maintenance

program in Manila and a rapid bus transit project in Cebu. But the assignment of the money is there.

Of course the move is laudable.

Quite apart from the impact of massive infrastructure spending on sustaining economic growth, it shows foresight, or the President’s capacity to reckon beyond his term and think of legacy. Its drawback is the item above: What happened to investing just as massively, if not more so, in education?

You have to be astonished that at this late day we can still be beset by lack of classrooms such that we have to resort to things like a 3-day school schedule or shuttling bedraggled kids from one school to another. Those are not conditions that conduce to learning. I myself have always thought that the solidest, strongest, more lasting infrastructures are not those that are laid out in physical space but in hearts and minds. Of the children’s above all, of tomorrow’s generation above all. So why are we so frenzied about the first but tepid about the second?

The contrast between the two items hammers home the point. Education is not our priority, and it shows.

It shows not least in the figures.

Though the budget for education has been growing in absolute amounts, it has been contracting in relative

terms. Going by Freedom from Debt Coalition’s figures, our current budget for education is only 2.2 percent of gross national product, well below the world benchmark of 6 percent.

Unesco says we have the lowest expenditure for education in proportion to total budget. Since 1955, education has dropped from 30.78 of the budget to 15 percent post-Edsa. Our current one is even lower than the post-Edsa average of 15 percent.

It shows even more in a mass of barely literate and numerate Fili-

What happened to investing just as massively, if not more so, in education? pinos huddled in obscure corners of what Dan Brown was pleased to call the “gates of hell.” The height of whose ambition is to learn a skill or two to land a job as a seaman. As late as the 1970s, the Thais and the Malaysians were crowding into the University of the Philippines and the International Rice Research Institute to learn English and the sciences. Today they have left us biting their dust. A good deal of this has to do with education. They have continued to be big on it. We have gone on to be small on it.

Education is not an option, it is a necessity. It is not something we can put on hold and decide to do only later. We do not educate the teeming uneducated now, and we will widen the knowledge gap between ourselves and our neighbors. A thing that is frighteningly wide enough now as it is, if you just compare ourselves to Malaysia, never mind Singapore. The Constitution wisely assesses education as the most important concern of this country, and deserves utmost priority. Not doing it—that’s the most unconstitutional thing of all.

The second story is the proposal

by Rep. Kimi Cojuangco for an “open high school system.” The system will use print, radio, TV and the PC, satellite broadcasts, teleconferencing and multimedia to allow people to learn on their own without need to go to a classroom. And be accredited for it.

I’m all for it, as well as for other experiments that explore new developments. Why should we be limited by the classroom? The opportunities for education are legion, which digital technology in particular has opened up. These opportunities aren’t just the next best thing to the classroom, they’re even better than the classroom.

I myself would go even further and say that government, or the DepEd, or the private sector should not wait for

the poor, who are most of us, to come to the classroom, they should bring the classroom to the poor. If Mohammed won’t go to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohammed. The task of educating—or at least eradicating illiteracy in—this country is urgent and requires the most aggressive efforts to do it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again and again. The template is there, which is the “Kareton Classroom” Efren Peñaflorida pushed quite literally in slums, narrow alleys, and cemeteries, which made him CNN Hero of the Year in 2009. It’s an inspired idea, and bears not just sustaining but replicating all over the country. And not just with literacy but with basic education in mind. Frankly, I don’t know why this hasn’t happened yet. We have a private-public partnership program that can launch it in a big way. More importantly, we have a remarkable spirit of bayanihan, or voluntarism, that manifests itself in a phenomenal way in the aftermath of disasters to harness for the purpose. That’s when everyone comes out to give of their possessions and of themselves to help the nasalanta.

Ignorance is a far bigger disaster than “Yolanda.” ■

The ensign’s parents, Felipe and Evelyn, gave up knocking at then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez’s door. “She has not agreed to see us,” they said.

Gutierrez added “sting to injury,” noted then UP College of Law dean and now Inquirer publisher Raul Pangalangan. She dismissed the complaint after Pestaño’s parents signed the impeachment complaint against her. Gutierrez quit when the House of Representatives impeached her.

In 2011, President Aquino appointed former Supreme Court justice Conchita Carpio Morales as Ombudsman. That same year, Morales reversed Gutierrez’s 2009 decision shredding the murder and administrative misconduct charges against the 10 Navy men.

Pestaño’s parents also sought the United Nations’ help. In March 2011, the UN Human Rights Commission (UN-HRC) wrote: Despite denials by authorities, Pestaño was not a suicide but the victim of homicide.

“Violation of Ensign Pestaño’s right to life and to redress of grievance… is directly attributable to the State in party (Republic of the Philippines).”

“No one has been prosecuted for the crime—after (more than a decade). It had been committed with impunity.” The Philippines should “undertake enforceable remedies….

and inform the UN within 180 days.”

Within four months of Pestaño’s death, comrades disappeared in “mysterious circumstances,” the UNHRC in Geneva found.

PO2 Zosimo Villanueva tipped Pestaño “on drugs stashed in 20 sacks of rice aboard the ship.” Then Villanueva was “lost at sea” but his three companions survived.

Only a bloodied speedboat was found.

PO3 Fidel Tagaytay was BRP Bacolod City’s radio operator. Tagaytay agreed to brief the provost marshal about people who had sneaked aboard. He vanished when summoned to testify. Wife Leonila’s efforts to trace his whereabouts were brushed off by the claim that Tagaytay was “absent without leave.”

Ensign Alvin Farone contacted Marissa, Pestaño’s sister, saying he wanted “to tell what really happened to Philip.” He died before he could do so.

Firing is half of the job. What about the restitution? Zacchaeus told the Master he would repay fourfold what he stole. And what compensation can we, as a people of notoriously short memories, accord to a young officer for standing up to what was right?

Rename the Navy headquarters on Roxas Boulevard after Ensign Philip Pestaño for a start. What is your viewpoint? ■

VIEWPOINT

Restitution

By Juan L. Mercado Philippine Daily Inquirer THE Court of Appeals Thursday stood pat on its earlier decision affirming Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’ order: Fire 10 Navy officers linked to the 1995 murder of then 24-year-old Ensign Philip Pestaño.

Pestaño—who?

He studied at the Sacred Heart School in Cebu, then enrolled at Ateneo de Manila where he was an honor student. Pestaño joined the Philippine Navy after graduating from the Philippine Military Academy in 1993.

He was posted as cargomaster for the Navy ship BRP Bacolod City.

Among other things, he refused to load 14,000 board feet of illegal logs, weapons and shabu. For that, he got threatening phone calls. “‘Kawawa ang bayan,’ Pestaño told anxious parents, who pleaded with him to resign from the Navy,” the late James Reuter, SJ, recalled in his column, “At 3 A.M.” As the story goes, part of the shipment turned out to be “a gift” from then Gov. Gerry Matba for Admiral Pio Carranza. “Orders from above” overruled Pestaño. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources certified that the logs were inspected in Zamboanga—when the boat was already

docked in Cavite. The logs vanished but spurious clearances appeared.

Pestaño was found in his cabin with a gunshot wound on his right temple after the ship meandered on an hour-and-a-half trip from Cavite to dock at Roxas Boulevard. Normally, that trip takes 25 minutes. Logbook entries vanished.

“Suicide,” ruled the Navy within 24 hours, sans investigation. Nonsense, objected Pestaño’s PMA classmates, who pointed to the absence of powder burns on the body and also offered testimony.

Archive the Pestaño case as the evidence is “patchy,” ordered then Ombudsman Aniano Desierto. As Marcos military prosecutor, Desierto hounded senators Benigno Aquino Jr., Jose Diokno and other dictatorship victims. Up to his death, senator Lorenzo Tañada refused to even address Desierto directly.

Ombudsman Desierto “will be devoting a considerable amount of his official time protecting his hide,” constitutional scholar Joaquin Bernas, SJ, predicted then. “His image is shattered… and it is impossible for him to function effectively…”

And that’s where the Pestaño case was boxed into—until the Senate committees on human rights and national defense stepped in. Led by the late Senate president and former chief justice Marcelo

Fernan, the committees held eight meetings between May 5 and Sept. 3, 1997.

Members inspected Pestaño’s cabin.

Senate Report No. 800 concluded: “Pestaño… was bludgeoned unconscious and then shot to death somewhere else in the vessel. His body was moved and laid on the bed where it was found. Identify the persons who participated in this attempt to fake suicide…. The clear absence of blood spatters, bone fragments or other human tissues is physical evidence more eloquent than a hundred witnesses…”

Then Sen. Fred Lim did just that in

‘Theclearabsenceofblood spatters, bone fragments or other human tissues is physical evidence more eloquent than a hundred witnesses…’—Senate Report No. 800. a later privilege speech. He fingered Lt. Carlito Amoroso (PMA Class 1994) a close-in security for Admiral Carranza. Amoroso was on board BRP Bacolod City as an “unmanifested passenger.” Lim lashed at Ensign Joselito Colico who admitted, before the Senate, that he removed the magazine from the .45-caliber pistol and wiped off fingerprints. Both are among those cashiered by the Court of Appeals.

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Opinion

17 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

AS I SEE IT

How much did richest officials pay in income taxes?

By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer THE names of the wealthiest Cabinet members have been released, as determined by their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth. Earlier, the names of the wealthiest senators and congressmen were made public.

The people would surely find it interesting and helpful if the Bureau of Internal Revenue discloses how much each of these officials paid in income taxes. *** Who is Mar Roxas, and why are they saying all those nasty things about him?

Over the past few months, social media have had plenty of negative stories about him. That he was a failure both in rehabilitating Zamboanga City after the skirmishes with a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front, and in saving the people of Tacloban City from the wrath of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” That his recent tiff with employees of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club showed bad manners. That he can’t do anything right. That his popularity rating is dropping in the opinion polls while

that of his expected rival in the 2016 presidential election is rising.

In a recent survey by Pulse Asia, he got a measly 6 percent while Vice President Jejomar Binay got a whopping 40 percent. He is being written off as the next president of the country.

All right, Roxas’ popularity with the public is dropping, and Binay is way ahead of him. So why are they still hitting him? Is it because they are afraid of him? Are the brickbats just another way to camouflage their fears? Are the critics so afraid of the man? Why? The widespread perception is that President Aquino will anoint Roxas as his official candidate before the election campaign kicks off. This perception drives the stake of fear in the hearts of corrupt politicians, because the President is intent on continuing his anticorruption campaign even after his term ends.

The man expected to do that is Mar Roxas. But why him? Because his name has never been associated with political corruption. “He has been called ‘weak,’ sometimes ‘incompetent,’ but never corrupt,” said a political observer.

On the other hand, the family of

his expected opponent has pending corruption cases in the courts. These are being kept quiet in the courts but will surely surface when the election campaign begins. And the people are so fed up with corruption, as shown by the public outrage against the

The people would surely find it interesting and helpful if the Bureau of Internal Revenue discloses how much each of these officials paid in income taxes.” pork barrel scam, that they are expected to vote for a candidate who will continue P-Noy’s campaign to rid the government of corruption.

Do they fear this man who can finally stop corruption?

That fear is so apparent that recently, his critics almost danced in the streets when his wife, broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez, was implicated in the Napoles list of purported beneficiaries of the pork barrel scam.

But their glee was premature. Sanchez was cleared by the television

network she works for and by the person who supposedly received the “birthday gift” on her behalf.

But who is Mar Roxas, really?

He was an investment banker when his brother, Dinggoy, a congressman, died while in office. Reluctantly, he ran in the special election to fill up the vacant seat, and won.

He served two terms as representative of his home province of Capiz, then ran for the Senate. He was on his second term when he was appointed

by President Joseph Estrada to head the Department of Trade and Industry. As DTI chief, he earned the moniker “Mr. Palengke,” for his frequent visits to the public markets to check on and prevent profiteering.

Then he ran again for a Senate seat, and won.

It seemed that he was on the way to the presidency when he, as the nominee of the Liberal Party, decided to give way to then Sen. Benigno Aquino III as presidential candidate.

In a twist peculiar to the Philippine electoral system where the people can vote for a vice presidential candidate who is not the running mate of the presidential candidate they voted for, he lost to Binay while his running

mate won. It was the first election loss in his career.

Appointed by Mr. Aquino to the Department of Transportation and Communications, Roxas restored a policy of transparency as a deterrent to graft and corruption. He required public bidding for all projects of the department, a departure from the negotiated contracts of the previous administration.

When Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo died in a plane crash in August 2012, the President named Roxas as the new chief of the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Now that the political scene is heating up for the 2016 presidential election, Roxas is expected to be the candidate of the ruling Liberal Party.

Other presidential hopefuls have been tainted by the Napoles pork barrel scam. Not him.

A political observer said: “Let’s not write off Mar Roxas just yet. The man may yet spring a surprise.”

If, by 2016, the Filipino people end up so sick of corruption in the government, then it may well be that the stage has been set for the renaissance of a political career thought to be on the way down. ■

ing, liquefaction,” not to mention storm surges, apparently ignored in pursuit of commercial advantage, convenience and even more shopping malls. *** While the effects on Metro Manila are horrific enough, give a thought to the impact on the provinces seen to be directly hit by a major earthquake.

“Earthquakes are sudden onset events which can cause widespread impacts,” Solidum told a meeting of government officials in Tuguegarao recently. “LGUs should prepare and follow end to end early warning to local residents particularly those in areas that are at risk so they will take proper actions or response,” the Phivolcs director added.

Should the anticipated earthquake occur, it could seriously damage “well-built buildings, the foundations of bridges, utility posts and towers” as well as cause landslides from mountainsides and hillsides. Houses on vulnerable land could buckle and collapse, trapping their occupants.

Quite obviously, even without this most recent warning, local governments not just in Northern Luzon but throughout the island (even the Visayas and Mindanao are vulnerable) should put in place measures to mitigate the damage resulting from earthquakes and/or tsunamis,

starting with an audit of the safety of public structures, the training of rescue crews and responding teams, and public education.

Judging from news photos, for instance, schoolchildren are taught to duck beneath their desks and cover their heads with textbooks in the event of an earthquake. But shouldn’t disaster preparedness be more comprehensive, including the wielding of whistles and flashlights, drilling for an evacuation plan, the preparation of “holding areas” and other measures? *** And it won’t be as if this would be our first time to experience an earthquake.

Solidum said Northern Luzon has had a “long history of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions,” citing episodes in Cagayan, including a severe quake in 1690 that destroyed an old Spanish-era church in the town of Lallo, and recent episodes in 1970 and 2000.

To reiterate Solidum’s call: “Possible hazards and (their) effects in localities and the whole region must be imagined to craft and implement appropriate solutions.” All it takes is the courage, the daring and the will to imagine the worst and prepare for it, and only then pray that it doesn’t come to pass. ■

AT LARGE

Imagine the worst

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer EVEN as local governments are bracing for the usual slew of problems that attend the opening of a new school year (last-minute enrollees, lack of classrooms, striking teachers), and ordinary citizens prepare to cope with the rainy season, here’s another natural phenomenon that we have to contend with—or prepare to contend with.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum Jr. recently urged local government leaders to prepare for “a possible major earthquake up to Intensity 8” that he said may hit Northern Luzon and some parts of the Cordillera region. The LGUs, he added, should prepare “for the worst possible scenarios.” Solidum was quoted in a report in another paper that “possible hazards and (their) effects in localities and the whole region must be imagined to craft and implement appropriate solutions.”

After all, the reason preparations and responses to natural disasters often fail to match the extent and power of the threat is not any lack of political will, funds or energy. Oftentimes, the cause could simply be a lack of “imagination,” the failure to

conjure up the worst that could happen and so, instead of overpreparing or preparing adequately, authorities find themselves woefully underprepared and instantly overwhelmed.

For the Northern Luzon disaster he foresees, Solidum said the provinces of Cagayan, Quirino, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya, as well as the eastern parts of Kalinga and Apayao in the Cordilleras, may experience an “intense” event “that may trigger tsunamis as well as multiple hazards.” *** But if we in Metro Manila and environs think the threat is too far away and thus unworthy of our attention, much less our preparations, then, as the saying goes, we have another think coming.

Kelvin Rodolfo, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and best known for calling the world’s attention to the impact of “lahar” in the wake of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, writes that Metro Manila is very much in “the line of fire” in the event of a major temblor in Luzon.

“We need to remember that reclamation areas in Manila Bay would not require a nearby earthquake to occur to suffer serious damage,” he writes.

In 1968, he reminds us, “Manila was the city hardest hit by the Ca-

siguran, Quezon earthquake.” That earthquake is best remembered for the Ruby Tower collapse in Binondo, killing 260 people, with “many structures that were built on thick river deposits of the Pasig River (suffering) severe damage from ground shaking and/or liquefaction.”

That “Ruby Tower” earthquake was a magnitude 7.3, says Rodolfo, so a magnitude 8, which Solidum is warning us about, is, says Rodolfo, “30 times more powerful.”

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum Jr. urged local government leaders to prepare for ‘a possible major earthquake up to Intensity 8’ that he said may hit Northern Luzon and some parts of the Cordillera region.

And as a further warning, Rodolfo reminds that “reclamation areas are just as susceptible to ground shaking and liquefaction during earthquakes.” Which points out even more strongly the folly of plans to reclaim land along the coast of Manila Bay. Such plans include the building of a spanking new airport and runways with the danger from “ground shak-

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FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

18

Canada News

BY MICHAEL MACDONALD The Canadian Press HALIFAX—A unique Nova Scotia law aimed at squelching online harassment is being used for the first time to reach beyond Canada’s borders to determine the identity of a cyberbully.

The province’s CyberScan unit said Monday a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge issued an order last week under the province’s new Cyber-safety Act demanding information from Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Canada’s BCE Inc. “It is the first order in Canada for that purpose,” said Roger Merrick, the province’s director of public safety. “It’s groundbreaking for us.”

The court order is seeking records that could identify the accused cyberbully, including home addresses, email addresses, user names, given names, account names and IP addresses.

The case involves a young woman in Halifax who has recently received threatening and harassing messages from an unknown person or persons accused of hacking her social media accounts, Merrick said.

“I can’t give you too much information for fear of jeopardizing the investigation,” said Merrick, adding that police are also investigating.

The CyberScan unit has yet to hear

from any of the companies involved and the process could take months to complete, Merrick said.

He said police routinely issue production orders when seeking information from online sources while investigating criminal matters, including child exploitation cases. If the information sought is found in the United States, police turn to the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance to guide them.

In this case, the CyberScan unit is relying on civil law procedures.

“This is the first one for us ... (and) there may be a different process,” Merrick said, adding there’s no guarantee the companies will recognize the court order. “This is a learning process for us, too.”

The province’s Cyber-safety Act defines cyberbullying as any electronic

communication “that is intended or ought reasonably be expected to cause fear, intimidation, humiliation, distress or other damage or harm to another person’s health, emotional well-being, self-esteem or reputation.”

The law was drafted after the death of Rehtaeh Parsons, who was taken off life-support in April 2013 after a suicide attempt. The 17-year-old girl’s family says she was subjected to months of bullying, much of it online.

The law received its first test in court in February when a judge imposed a cyberbullying prevention order on a man who used Facebook to threaten the chief of a native band.

Andrea Paul, chief of Pictou Landing First Nation, complained that local resident Christopher George Prosper had used the site to post abusive, obscene and defamatory comments about her and her family.

Judge Heather Robertson of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court concluded Paul had been cyberbullied. She ordered Prosper to remove all messages deemed to be cyberbullying, refrain from contacting Paul and stop cyberbullying.

The unit has the option of seeking orders to confiscate computers, cellphones and other mobile devices.

Those who violate orders like the one issued against Prosper can be fined up to $5,000 and face a jail sentence of up to six months. ■

Feds appeal court ruling that lifted restrictions on expat voters The Canadian Press OTTAWA—The federal government says it will appeal a court ruling that struck down a ban on voting by Canadian citizens who’ve lived abroad for more than five years.

Pierre Poilievre, the minister responsible for democratic reform,

says voters should have “a direct and meaningful connection to Canada” to be eligible to cast ballots in federal elections.

He says it’s “fair and reasonable” to prohibit non-residents from voting if they’ve lived outside Canada for more than five years.

And he says that’s been the law for more than two decades.

Poilievre says the government will seek a stay of the Ontario Superior Court ruling while it awaits the appeal.

A spokesperson for the minister says that’s intended to ensure the five-year rule applies to non-residents who want to vote in four federal byelections scheduled for June 30. ■

NEWS BRIEFS

FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS PHOTO FROM PM.GC.CA

Nova Scotia cyberbullying unit seeks personal data from Facebook, Google

HARPER HEADS TO EUROPE WITH PUTIN ON HIS MIND OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper will join fellow world leaders in Europe this week in affirming western solidarity against Russian aggression in Ukraine. One target will remain in Harper’s political crosshairs as he visits three countries: Russian President Vladimir Putin.

DRIVE TO EDUCATION: UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG GETS SPECIALTY LICENCE PLATES WINNIPEG—Drivers connected to the University of Winnipeg and wanting to support the school will be able to do so with a specialty licence plate. Students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff members will be able to buy the plates starting next Monday. The cost will be $70, with $30 going towards scholarships for university athletes and to inner-city youth sports programs.

LONDON-ST. JOHN’S, N.L., FLIGHTS TO RESUME ST. JOHN’S—Air Canada has announced it is resuming year-round direct flight service from St. John’s, N.L., to London. The company quashed the service in September 2006, citing a lack of profit, though it later launched a seasonal service.

CANADIAN STUDENTS WIN COVETED TICKET TO APPLE EVENT TORONTO—Top programmers who write software for Apple computers, phones and tablets plan their year around attending the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. For 16-year-old Douglas Bumby of Vancouver, making the trip means missing a week of school.

19 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

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World News

21 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

In India, another brutal gang rape reflects an immense cultural divide and a deep ambivalence

BY TIM SULLIVAN The Associated Press NEW DELHI—The vows for change came quickly after the young Indian woman was beaten, gang-raped on a moving bus and finally died in a faraway hospital. No longer, politicians promised, would rape victims be shamed by police. No longer, the judicial system said, would rapists be able to blame their victims.

Thousands of people swept through the streets of New Delhi in spontaneous protests after the December 2012 bus rape, demanding protection for women. The victim became “the daughter of the entire nation,” said Sushma Swaraj, now the country’s foreign minister.

Much has changed in the 18 months since then—harsher laws against rape, increased media focus on sexual violence, new police units dedicated to helping women. But a gang rape last week that left two teenage cousins dead, their corpses hanging from a village mango tree, has revealed the immense gulf that remains in India. In a nation that can at times appear convulsed with outrage over a culture of sexual violence, there are plenty of occasions when it seems little has changed at all.

Prominent politicians have been largely silent since last week’s rapes, and there have been only a handful of protests, most attracting just a few dozen demonstrators. The largest protest, with about 200 women, occurred Monday, six days after the girls were first reported missing. The case dominated TV news for a day or so, but soon slipped from view.

The attack happened in Uttar Pradesh, a sprawling north Indian state with nearly 200 million residents. But when the state’s top politician was asked about it, he ridiculed the journalists questioning him.

“Aren’t you safe?” Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav demanded of the reporters. “Then why are you worried? What’s it to you?”

The comment aroused only a brief flurry of headlines. After all, Yadav’s father—Uttar Pradesh’s former chief minis-

ter, and now head of the state’s ruling party—made far blunter comments about gang-rapists last month, arguing against the death penalty for convicted attackers by saying “boys will be boys.”

Some see the lack of anger rooted in the victims’ caste.

The girls attacked last week were dalits, from the group long known in India as “untouchables,” an overwhelmingly poor and ill-educated community which still faces daily discrimination.

While the men accused in the attack were also low-caste, their community—the Yadavs— is politically powerful in Uttar Pradesh.

“It’s not a coincidence that the children who were raped and hanged were dalits,” said Ranjana Kumari, one of India’s most prominent women’s activists and director of the New Delhi-based Center for Social Research.

She believes the rapes may have been political revenge, since few dalits support the ruling party, which is headed by Yadavs. The rapists could have been “attacking the pride of the dalit community.”

But if the response to the rape has been muted, the crime has not been ignored. Amid the brief flurry of media attention, officials arrested two police officers and fired two more for failing to investigate when the father of one victim reported the girls missing. Three suspects, all from an extended family, have been arrested, and police are searching for two more suspects.

And not long after mocking the journalists, the chief minister called on the federal government to have the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s FBI, investigate the attack. He also urged that the suspects be tried in special fast-track courts, bypassing the normal Indian court system, which can take years to issue verdicts in the simplest cases.

His ambivalence, in many ways, reflects the country around him.

A few decades ago, a brutal crime against a pair of dalit girls might never have been investigated, and probably would

not make newspaper headlines at all. Until recently rape was widely ignored in India—by the police, the judiciary and the media.

But if middle-class India and the media no longer view rape as an issue to be whispered about, it still remains a crime hidden in deep cultural shadows.

In 1971, just 2,500 rapes were reported in India. In 2011, that number had jumped to more than 24,000.

But in the world’s second-

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most populous nation, scholars and activists say even the higher number is absurdly small.

The stigma of rape runs deep, with many women accused of rape still forced to answer questions about their sexual history, the provocativeness of their clothing and whether they may have invited the attack.

Rape victims can face years of whispers behind their backs.

They and their siblings can have trouble finding spouses.

Question marks can taint their families for a generation.

As a result, most experts estimate that fewer than one in 10 rapes in India is ever reported.

It’s something that even rapists understand.

“They feel that they are not going to be caught,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

“They feel they will get away with it. That is pretty much the case.” ■ Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma contributed to this report.

World News

JUNE 6, 2014

FRIDAY 22

Alexander blasts critics of immigration bill as C 24 goes to second reading

BY LEE-ANNE GOODMAN The Canadian Press

Bill C-24, the so-called Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, proposes a series of reforms to Canada’s immigration system.

It was slated to go to second reading—essentially agreement in principle—on Wednesday after just two hours of debate, with voting on Thursday.

Under the proposed changes, citizenship can be revoked from dual nationals convicted of terrorism, high treason and spying offences, or who take up arms against Canada.

As well, permanent residents who commit these acts will be barred from applying for citizenship.

Alexander has said the rule would only apply to those facing such charges in a Canadian court and that the government would not accept convictions from dictatorships.

The bill’s provisions also require applicants to be present in Canada for a total of four out of their past six years, and 183 days per year for at least four of

OTTAWA—Immigration Minister Chris Alexander is accusing the opposition of “folly and hypocrisy” as the government prepares to shepherd its controversial citizenship bill over its next legislative hurdle.

“Both the Liberals and the NDP remain offside with Canadians who recognize the immense value of Canadian citizenship and the importance of protecting its integrity,” Alexander said in a statement.

“It is shameful that activist immigration lawyers, who never miss an opportunity to criticize our government’s citizenship and immigration reforms, are attempting to drum up business by promoting the interests of convicted terrorists and serious criminals over the safety and security of Canadians.”

those six years.

Some critics have suggested that highly skilled immigrants who travel the world to find work will find it more difficult to meet such a test.

The bill also contains measures aimed at thwarting people who pay consultants to pretend they are living in Canada when they have no intention of ever setting foot in the country.

Alexander has said the changes are needed because the Citizenship Act hasn’t been overhauled in 36 years. The government hopes the changes will help slash a backlog of citizenship applications that has grown to 320,000 files.

John McCallum, the Liberal immigration critic, said his party will vote against the bill Thursday, chastising the government for limiting debate to just two hours.

“I think it’s obvious he doesn’t want Canadians to understand this bill; the more Canadians do

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander in Richmond, B.C. earlier this year to discuss changes in immigration policies.

PCI FILE PHOTO

understand it, the less they’ll like it,” McCallum said.

“They’re doing all sorts of things to increase the barriers to citizenship.... They suspect that everyone is some sort of criminal.”

The NDP’s Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe says her party will also vote against the bill.

“All the experts at the committee hearings agreed that this bill is probably unconstitutional,” she said.

The two biggest areas of concern are the powers the government would have to revoke

citizenship—without hope of appeal—based on convictions in other countries, and to withdraw citizenship from anyone who might have to leave Canada, Blanchette-Lamothe said.

“What if someone takes a job outside Canada, or has to leave Canada to take care of elderly parents?” she said.

“The minister can say that’s not his intention, but the question is, is the bill well-written?

So far experts say that it isn’t, and have raised many concerns about it.” ■

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FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:

Glenn Estrabillo

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer HE WAS once turned away because of his youthful looks; something he “blames” on a good stock of Filipino genes, which generally dictate that you look like a teen well into your twenties.

Yet—armed with the knowledge that he had something to offer the world of business, he persevered. Besides, he knew that someday, the “flaw” for which he had been shunned by lenders and brokers on the real estate scene would work to his advantage.

“When I first started out investing in real estate in the early 2000's, I was turned down by almost every lender and mortgage broker in Hamilton due to the fact that my Filipino heritage had blessed me with the characteristic of looking MUCH younger than I actually was and so nobody would take me seriously when I was searching for access to capital.

One bank advisor even commented that I look like I'm his niece's age (which was 17 years old), even though I was 24 at the time. Thankfully, after perseverance combined with a strong will to succeed I eventually did secure financing and now, I am proud to know that even when I'm investing at the age of 60 or 70, I will still look like I'm 40 and won't be turned away because I look like I am too old!” he said; half-jokingly, half-meant.

This is the journey of Glenn Estrabillo: CEO, entrepreneur, book author, philanthropist, lover of the sand and sea, and Filipino-Canadian achiever.

Kuyas trump kulay

Glenn is a second-generation Filipino-Canadian, having been born in Canada to Fili-

pino parents who immigrated in 1973. His father, originally from Magliman in the city of Pampanga, started out as a radio technician and engineer for Motorola in Hamilton; a job which he held for several years before starting up his own telecommunications business. His mother, who hails from Tuguegarao in Cagayan took on a nursing post at a hospital in Hamilton.

“My parents were blessed to have such a strong community of immigrant Filipino-Canadians; since in the late 60's and early 70's, 3 major hospitals and 2 large steel companies began hiring with huge demand, drawing in many others from the Philippines to Hamilton.

Many of these early settlers still remain close friends with my family to this day,” Glenn recounted.

In his experience as a second generation Filipino-Canadian, he thankfully did not have too many obstacles to face. Challenges were few and far between, though he points out that his ethnicity and colour proved a bit of a strain during his growing-up years. But Glenn took it in stride. Besides, he had his two kuyas (older brothers) to soften that blow; trumping over whatever issues kulay (colour) may have brought on. “…[G]rowing up, I did face challenges being of different colour and ethnic background than my peers in elementary school. Fortunately, that impact was tempered due to my older brothers paving the way and taking most of the brunt of that challenge,” he shared.

Empowering others

Several odd years later, the once slightly ethnicity-challenged youth is now a successful 35-year-old businessman who is definitely at the top of his finan-

cial game. In fact, some years back, at the age of 28, Glenn found that he could comfortably retire if he chose to.

However, numerous people— eager to emulate his formula for success—sought him out for his time and mentorship.

Glenn decided to create a structure that had the potential to empower and enable others to succeed for themselves.

This is the origin of 1Plus12; a company Glenn, along with some business partners, conceptualized from this eureka moment.

The three P’s

Essentially, 1Plus12 is an education company that focuses on developing people into financially independent and free human beings, with the help of three P’s: produce, protect, and perpetuate.

“Based on 50+ combined years of real estate and investment banking experience, we have created a curriculum that enables people to produce, protect, and perpetuate their wealth while simultaneously elevating their character to be a match for their ever expanding wealth. Essentially, we teach people how to invest in assets such as real estate and mentor them to apply what we teach so that effectively they earn while they learn,” he detailed.

Uplifting Filipino-Canadians

Glenn is happy to share that the company has set into motion a financial revolution in the lives of many—including his fellow Filipino-Canadians.

“The impact of 1Plus12, specifically on the Filipino-Canadian community, has been that several members of my family and friends who are Filipino-Canadian have prospered financially and are currently investing to expand their wealth,” he said.

1Plus12's Glenn Estrabillo.

Outside of the company structure, Glenn’s effort to uplift his kababayans (fellowFilipinos) extends to his philanthropic commitment to various scholarship foundations.

Among these is the United Filipino Canadian Seniors Association of Hamilton (UFCSAH), which holds an annual competition for the children or grand children of its members, awarding the winner a scholarship for post-secondary schooling expenses. Yet another is the scholarship competition held by the Pilipino Community Association of Hamilton (PCA.) His dedication to helping set young Filipino-Canadians on a good, solid path even had him serving as president of the Hamilton Filipino Youth Club (HFC), at some point; likewise filling the position of the group’s past representative on the advisory council for the Hamilton Filipino Community Center (HFCC).

extent possible. To be able to do the things you dream of doing and not just slave away at a desk for hours on end. This ability is, indeed, something towards which many of us aspire; and something which remains a luxury, still.

Glenn shares that he enjoys traveling to beautiful beaches and destinations the world over, relaxing on a hammock or on the sand, and playing beach volleyball.

He likewise reveals a significant other in his life, saying that he is “currently in a powerful relationship with Lella Satie, an actress who lives in New York.”

As for brain fodder, among Glenn’s top books to recommend would be Axioms of Freedom Books 1 thru 13 by 1Plus12 ; Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles; Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cashflow Quadrant, both by Robert Kiyosaki; and a book he has written, entitled Transformational Real Estate.

Living life to the fullest

Courage to transcend

Perhaps among the biggest pluses of financial freedom and independence is the ability to actually live life; to the fullest

What moves Glenn’s heart?

He answers, “watching people ❱❱ PAGE 32 Filipino-Canadian in

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Did you know…?

Celebrating Philippine Independence Day Heroes, Unofficially: A look at some of the Philippines’ undeclared champions of independence

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MUSIC ICON, Bob Dylan, once said: “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.”

If this definition were to hold true, it is safe to say that we all have the capacity to be “heroes” in our own way—cheesy and lofty-sounding, I know; but true, nonetheless. We can live like a hero; leave a hero’s legacy, when we live our lives with a sense of responsibility for the diverse freedoms we enjoy. Responsible speech, for instance, for the freedom of speech. Mutual respect for the freedom of choice, yet another example.

Most of us get the drill—and if you do not, then it’s high time

to catch on.

Historically, however, there are those men and women that have taken the concept of heroism to the next level. A level at which they were brave for “five minutes longer”—to reference yet another quote on heroes, this time by author an poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson—than most of us would have been.

These men and women who hold out when freedom is challenged; those who stand for freedom and the ideals that are its very foundations even to the pit of death: these are the ones whom history records in its annals as heroes of nations and peoples the world over.

National hero, defined

Wikipedia—though not always the most accurate of

sources—defines a national hero of the Philippines as “a Filipino who has been recognized as a hero for his or her role in the history of the country. Loosely, the term may refer to all Filipino historical figures recognized as heroes, but the term more strictly refers to those officially designated as such.”

Will the officially proclaimed national hero please stand up?

Ironically—and this is a fact that is perhaps, little known— in the Philippines, NO ONE had been officially recognized for the designation of national hero. Do you hear that? It’s the sound of collective gasps of shock and disbelief! It’s true, though—the Philippines has never directly and definitively proclaimed a national hero. Not Rizal (who is largely accepted

as the greatest Filipino hero, and as THE national hero), not Bonifacio, not anyone.

The Executive Summary of the Selection And Proclamation Of National Heroes and Laws Honoring Filipino Historical Figure, as published online by the Reference and Research Bureau Legislative Research Service says that : “No law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national hero. However, because of their significant roles in the process of nation building and contributions to history, there were laws enacted and proclamations issued honoring these heroes.

Even Jose Rizal, considered as the greatest among the Filipino

heroes, was not explicitly proclaimed as a national hero. The position he now holds in Philippine history is a tribute to the continued veneration or acclamation of the people in recognition of his contribution to the significant social transformations that took place in our country.

Aside from Rizal, the only other hero given an implied recognition as a national hero is Andres Bonifacio whose day of birth on November 30 has been made a national holiday.”

Yes, despite the lengthy list of men and women Filipinos generally consider as their national heroes, there has been no official proclamation. A formality, perhaps; but an essential one, nonetheless. We observe holidays in ❱❱ PAGE 35 Heroes, Unofficially

Did you know…? Celebrating Philippine Independence Day

JUNE 6, 2014

FRIDAY 26

Celebrating Philippine...

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of Philippine independence is the freedom to move to foreign lands in search of a better career, a better education, and a better life.

This is a gift that many Filipinos chose.

Canadians are no stranger to us Filipinos. In fact, for the past two to three years, the Philippines is the largest labor market source in Canada. They enjoy our delectable Pinoy food, they love their hospitable Pinoy neighbors, they marvel at our lavish Pinoy fiestas. This cultural immersion is part of the gift of independence.

A gift that deserves a celebration.

Despite being thousands of miles away from their homeland, Filipinos abroad still find ways to celebrate the freedom they're enjoying now—wherever they may be. ❰❰ 1

More than a community event

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The Filipino communities in various Canadian cities know how to party—especially during Independence Day. To aid in this partying (well, okay, perhaps not just to party), a handful of organizations focusing on Philippine Independence Day were established.

The Surrey Philippine Independence Day Society (SPIDS) and the Philippine Independence Day Council in Toronto (PIDC) are just two of the said organizations. Philippine embassies and consulates also initiate and actively participate in events and programs.

"I thank the various community groups for reaching out, working closely with the Consulate, and sharing information about their events. We owe it to them to show our solidarity with the Filipino nation and friendship with Canada by attending and actively participating," Philippine Consul General in Vancouver Neil Ferrer said in a recent press release.

This 2014 marks the 116th year of our freedom from colonizing forces, and together with the help and enthusiasm of the Filipino communities, these organizations exist all-year-round to create programs and events to make each June 12 (and each day in between) as meaningful and as memorable as the last for the Filipino community.

Each project is carefully planned because it's not just a community event, a fund raiser, or a day to have fun. It's that one special day every year that we get to celebrate that time in 1898 when we, as a country, were freed from conquerors who lambasted our resources, our sanctity, and our people.

The Pearl of the Orient: no longer a colony but a liberated spirit.

Every year, communities and organizations—as well as Philippine embassies—conduct presentations, programs, contests and games, feasts, and even beauty pageants to remember our day of freedom.

Parades are probably the most common and yet the most festive way of commemorating Independence Day in a foreign country. In fact, the Philippine Independence Day Parade was held on June 1st in four major cities: Jersey City, New Jersey; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; and Toronto, Canada.

Filipinos hand out flags, wear traditional baro't saya and camisa de chino (even at low temperatures), and then march down the street to proclaim the freedom we've enjoyed for so long—proclaiming it to their communities, declaring their pride in the Filipino race and spirit.

“Filipinos love fiestas and celebrations. That is our nature as a friendly, freedom-loving and fun-loving people.

That is why despite the hectic schedule, we are in full support of the activities, which showcase our unity despite belonging to many different groups and affiliations" ConGen Ferrer said. "Again, I invite everyone—Filipinos and nonFilipinos alike, to celebrate with us.”

All of these things are reminiscent of the older immigrants' life in the Philippines, when barrio fiestas and school events would conduct such activities. ■

Independence Day Hooray!

Filipinos are everywhere. In fact, one study revealed that Tagalog (Filipino) is one of the fastest growing dialects in the United States.

And where Filipinos are, good times follow.

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Independence Day celebrations in Kawit, Cavite.

PHOTO BY ANTONIO V. OQUIAS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

27 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Did you know…? Celebrating Philippine Independence Day

Did you know: Interesting facts related to Philippine Independence

BY THESSA SANDOVAL Philippine Canadian Inquirer ACCORDING TO the Commission of Filipinos Overseas, approximately 10.5 million Filipinos were recorded to be living or working outside the Philippines in 2012—either permanently or temporarily. Despite the fact that many Filipinos leave their homeland for various reasons, they still bring to their adoptive countries their deep-rooted traditions and culture, and even pass them on to their children.

The Philippines is among the nations in the world with the richest culture and history, and we Pinoys, wherever we are in the world, are always proud of that.

But do we really know enough about our history? This month, the Philippines will be celebrating its 116th Independence Day, and it is the perfect time to refresh our knowledge of our rich past or learn something new about it. Did you know that until 1946, our Independence Day was celebrated on July 4 and not June 12? If you don’t, then you may also have not heard of these yet: Did you know that Andres Bonifacio was the first to translate Jose Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” to another language?

“The Great Plebeian” was born in Tondo, Manila to a lower middle class family. When both of his parents died, he had to quit school to be able to support his brother and sisters. Despite only having four years of formal schooling, he became fluent in written and spoken Spanish. Aguinaldo, who had seven years, was barely able to speak the language.

Being a big fan of Rizal and his works, Bonifacio translated Rizal’s last poem “Mi Ultimo Adios” to Tagalog and titled it “Pahimakas.” Bonifacio’s Tagalog translation of the poem came long before linguist Charles Derbyshire’s English translation. It was believed that Bonifacio had also learned English through his work at a British trade company, J.M. Fleming and Co., where he worked as a broker.

Rizal’s works inspired Bonifacio to establish the Katipunan (KKK), which became the onset of the revolution.

Did you know that both Rizal and Bonifacio died at the hands of Filipinos?

Jose Rizal’s firing squad was composed of Filipino soldiers of the Spanish army. On standby behind them were Spanish soldiers, who were instructed to shoot the Filipino executioners should they disobey orders. Rizal requested to be shot facing the squad, but was ordered to turn his back against everyone.

The hero made an effort to face his fir-

Philippine Independence Day in June 12,1898, Emilio Aguinaldo commissioned Caviteño composer and pianist Julian Felipe to prepare a composition for the independence ceremonies. A day before the historical event, Felipe presented his work before the president and his officers. Aguinaldo approved the composer’s work on the spot. The music, originally titled “Marcha Nacional Magdalo,” was renamed “Marcha Nacional Filipina.”

On the day of the ceremonies, the music band San Francisco de Malabon played the melody in public for the very first time. Hearing the melody and seeing the Philippine flag being unfurled for the first time as well stirred patriotic fervor among the people. However, the stirring strains remained just a march till more than a year after, when a 23-year-old soldier named Jose Palma, who also was a talented writer, penned the poem “Filipinas.” The poem, written in Spanish and translated to Tagalog later on, wed with Felipe’s composition and became the national anthem we know and sing today. ■ ARTWORK BY LUIGI DE JESUS

ing squad, but because of the shots he received, his body turned rightwards with his face directed to the morning sun. He died at 7:03 a.m. in the Bagumbayan field on December 30, 1896. His last words were those of Jesus Christ’s: “Consummatum est” (“It is finished”).

On the other hand, his fellow Katipuneros killed Andres Bonifacio. During the Tejeros convention, when Aguinaldo (in absentia) was elected to be President, Bonifacio was offered the position of Secretary of Interior. Daniel Tirona contested the decision because Bonifacio didn’t have a law degree. Bonifacio demanded Tirona’s apology, but instead, the latter turned to leave. The “Supremo” then pulled out a gun and tried to shoot down Tirona.

The Katipunan leader was then accused of failing to recognize the new government, was put on trial for treason and sedition, and sentenced to death. He was executed in the mountains of Maragondon in Cavite with his brother Procopio on May 10, 1987. Philippine Independence was proclaimed a little more than a year later, and the Father of Revolution wasn’t there to witness the conclusion of the fight he started.

Did you know that there were no words to our national anthem when our independence was first proclaimed?

Days before the declaration of the

Your

Members of Parliament wish you a

Fin Donnelly, MP Don Davies, MP Jinny Sims, MP Jasbir Sandhu, MP New Westminster- Vancouver Kingsway Newton North Delta Surrey North 604-589-2441 Coquitlam & 604-775-6263 604-598-2200 Port Moody DonDavies.ca JinnySims.ndp.ca JasbirSandhu.ca 604-664-9229 FinDonnelly.ca

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Did you know…? Celebrating Philippine Independence Day

JUNE 6, 2014

FRIDAY 28

Remembering

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

a s i t a b g a P g Maligayan g ika-116 na n g n a w i r i d Pag s a n i p i l i P g n Kalayaan Pagbati mula sa

WE HAVE eased into the month of June, a month that has all but lost its significance to the Filipino psyche.

It is during this month several eons ago that a group of katipuneros deemed it extremely important—a matter of life and death even—for Filipinos to have their own identity and nationhood; to enjoy life free from imperial control.

The present would thwart the past, however, because residing in the heart of the Filipino is the desire to be anywhere but home.

But they comfort themselves by celebrating Philippine Independence Day in the most significant, colourful, pompous ways; as if this manner of looking back would wipe from their memories the ways and means by which they have left their country.

Indeed, the fire of nationalism burns its fiercest when Filipinos are farthest from their motherland; that was how it was for Rizal and our other heroes; that is how it is for us Filipinos in Canada and elsewhere.

Touched by sentiments for motherland, but far enough so as not to be deeply bothered by its present or its future.

Pining for home and yet not having the heart to leave the path and futures they have set for themselves.

This June may break the greatest of resolves, however, and Filipino-Canadians may find themselves giving in to more than remembering.

In fact, the drumbeats are becoming louder as June 12 draws near.

May 30, May 31, June 1

Grace Nono's story and powerful chant in Kapwa: Philippine Indigenous Arts Festival at the UBC evoked ipilscented nights. She spoke of the babaylan (healer/shaman/seer) and how her search for them brought her face to face

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with real-life miracles. Alvin Tolentino, who also performed at the event that night, danced a babaylan-themed number for the audience, an excerpt from his Colonial: Returning, Remembering, Moving Forward (June 11 and 12 at The Dance Centre). It was mysterious as it was fierce.

In Jovanni Sy's Taste of Empire, the impetus came totally off center. It was a mainstream offering (read: not just for Filipinos, in fact there were only four in the audience of 35) and was the main feature at the rooftop of the Richmond Arts Centre. It was about the rellenong bangus, the clue which led me to Jovanni.

Jovanni, previously featured as one of PCI's Filipino-Canadians in Focus, is the Artistic Director of the Richmond Gateway Theatre. He is a Canadian of Filipino-Chinese descent and he escorted the audience through the history of the Philippines via a cooking demo. He was funny, satirical, at times almost-political. He told us the disturbing back story of Bong-Bong (his name for the bangus) and led everyone to and from the Philippines to Mexico, Romania and then back to Canada (man who harvested BongBong lost his job so his wife had to go to Canada to be a nanny, long story).

June 1 saw the first Philippine Flag Raising in British Columbia. There are more flag-raisings scheduled across the country.

On this special celebration of the 116th Philippine Independence Day, I leave you with an excerpt from Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not).

“How long have you been away from the country?” Laruja asked Ibarra.

“Almost seven years.”

“Then you have probably forgotten all about it.”

“Quite the contrary. Even if my country does seem to have forgotten me, I have always thought about it.”

— José Rizal, Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)

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Grace Nono.

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Alvin Tolentino.

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Jovanni Sy.

29 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Did you know…? Celebrating Philippine Independence Day

Philippine National Flag: Symbol of Independence, Cloth of National Identity

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer AFTER A war is won, a country’s sought-after independence is hoisted up with pride by raising a flag which symbolizes a country’s freedom and sovereignty. But such scenario of flag appreciation is dated a long time ago.

Gone were the days when blood is literally shed for a piece of fabric that heroes—who died decades and even centuries ago— found to be “worth dying for.”

Today, we raise the same piece of cloth—first raised by Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit, Cavite—everyday in school, in public plazas, and during special programs and events.

When Manny Pacquiao knocks-out another boxer inside the ring, or every time a Filipina’s beauty is recognized by the world on international beauty pageants, a flag is lifted up with pride by Filipino communities all over the world.

With the spread of the country’s labour force worldwide, is it even possible to name a country that has not a single Filipino resident?

And where there is a Filipino community, there will always be that piece of cloth that binds them as one, and represent the Philippines’ long and hardy race for independence.

Colouring the historical hues

flag

with

Some historians would argue that as our very own revolution was influenced to some degree

by Cuba, so was the design of our flag. The same line of thinking gave birth to the idea that the original colour of the flag was similar to the shades of red and blue found on the flag of Cuba. This was even supported by the idea that Cuba, and other Spanish colonies adopted a common design of a mythical sun with a face in their flags.

The colours used in the flag varied over different time frames. Historians suggest that the blue colour of the flag started with what they call Iazuli Rosco, a colour which, up until now is a mystery for historians.

Though some would argue that it was similar to the blue colour

Current flag design.

Original flag design.

Flag sewn in Mexico.

in the Cuban flag, other accounts suggest that the colours used matched those used in the American flag.

Another historical controversy in the flag’s colours happened when former President Ferdinand Marcos ordered the flag’s colours to be restored to the same light blue and red used in the Cuban flag. But the decision only lasted during his term as another law was passed, after he was removed from power, designating royal blue as the official colour of the flag.

But the colours were not only meant for adding a shade of merriment to the country’s cloth of identity. The colours and the objects in the flag were meant to contain a valuable meaning, history and symbolism.

The flag’s colour was by no means accidentally chosen. Under a state of war, the country need not use a separate flag as the national flag is hoisted with the red fields—which symbolize patriotism and valour—flown

PHOTOS FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

upward. Meanwhile, the blue area—which represents peace, truth, and justice—is hoisted upward in times of peace.

Even the flag’s rectangular design with white equilateral triangle stands for something— equality and fraternity.

As mentioned during the declaration of independence, an eight-rayed golden sun at the center of the white triangle symbolizes unity, freedom, people's democracy, and sovereignty; while the rays stand for the first eight provinces—Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Laguna and Batangas—that started the 1896 revolution against Spain.

The five-pointed stars placed at the corner of each triangle’s points represent the three major islands—Luzon, Panay Island, Minadanao—where the revolution started.

The brains behind the nation’s cloth of pride

Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo was www.canadianinquirer.net

not only the president of the revolutionary government; he was also the brains behind the flag’s earlier design which was conceptualized during the time when the revolutionary members are preparing for the second wave of the country’s revolution against Spanish colonizers.

Within five days, the design was sewn in Hongkong, Aguinaldo’s place of exile, by Mrs. Marcela Marino Agoncillo—wife of the first Filipino diplomat Felipe Agoncillo, along with her daughter Lorenza and Mrs. Delfina Herbosa Natividad, niece of Dr. Jose Rizal and wife of Gen. Salvador Natividad.

The flag was first raised—and according to some historians, first “baptized with fire and blood”—during a bloody encounter between Filipino forces and Spanish marines on May 28, 1898, nine days after Aguinaldo sailed back to the Philippines from Hongkong and two days before the planned hostil-

ity against the Spanish forces.

That day, the flag was lifted to symbolize the country’s victory over Spain.

But the flag raising ceremony to symbolize the country’s independence from the Spanish colony only came later on June 12, 1898 at the historic window of the Aguinaldo Mansion in Kawit, Cavite.

However, what they call “real independence” from the control of other countries became brief for the Filipino people, as the Americans and the Japanese, came to inhabit the land.

The display of the Philippine flag was prohibited and punished severely during the American regime up until the “Philippine Flag Day” was set by virtue of an Executive Order.

The same prohibition was repeated during the Japanese invasion and only when the country was completely liberated of external control, was the flag freely raised and venerated in all occasions. ■

JUNE 6, 2014

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FRIDAY 30

FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

31

Entertainment

MISS B’S ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS

Taiwanese immigrant Erik Chen won 2014 songwriting contest

BY BABES CASTRONEWLAND

THE 18TH Canadian Chinese Songwriters Quest (SQ18) organized by Fairchild Radio was culminated in a glittering concert-like event on May 23 at Burnaby’s Michael J. Fox Theatre.

No less than Filipino Community’s TFCkat Canada Grand Champs Russel Figueroa (2012) and Ana Jenessa Escabarte (2013) joined in as special guests at this annual songwriting festivity. Erik Chen, an immigrant from Taiwan who works as a videographer, won the title of Champion as well as Best Performance. Best Lyrics and the online People’ Choice went to Yikkiu Tsun and Kappo Ng, while Best Arrangement was awarded to Max Chang and Jimmy Hsu. Adason Lo, an award-winning singer-songwriter from Hong Kong, flew in to be the special performer of the event and his spell-bounding performance wowed the 600 attending audience.

Out of hundreds of entries, only eight compositions made it to the finals. All of which yielded broad spectrum of styles and music genre penned by a vast cross section of demographic backgrounds. In

fact, some were high school and college students; a wedding videographer, a teacher and a barrister at that. True to every individual’s creativity, however, each entry depicted uniqueness in musical writing style and ability. Judges and audience alike were particularly taken at each finalist’s sterling vocal performance and stage presence.

“Established in 1996, Canadian Chinese Song-Writers Quest (SQ) is a long-running songwriting contest organized by Fairchild Radio. In the past 18 years, the contest has been providing a rare platform for talented songwriters to showcase their original work. Although the lyrics of the entry song must be in Chinese, people of any ethnicity are welcome to enter and we have seen dozens of these multi-cultural participants making it big in the music world.

The special performer of the night, Adason Lo, is the perfect example of how a great musician is nurtured to maturity through music competition.

In 2009, Adason entered the renowned “Asian Millionstar” (Hong Kong’s “American Idol”).

He won the highest score in many individual rounds and was eventually crowned Champion of the Year. His amazing voice and flawless technique impressed the judges and left a lasting impression on TV view-

From left to right: Jimmy Hsu and Max Chang, winner of Best Arrangement; Erik Chen, Champion and Best Performance; Yikkiu Tsun and Kappo Ng, winner of Best Lyrics and People’s Choice Award.

Ana Jenessa Escabarte.

ers. Right after “Asian Millionstar”, Adason started releasing his own creations on web and was quickly signed by a major label. Since then he has won numerous awards (roughly 40 in 5 years) and is being nicknamed ‘Jay Chou of Hong Kong’. For the final of SQ18, Adason sang a mixture of Mandarin, Cantonese and even Korean songs accompanied by himself playing the piano. His charismatic

Russel Figueroa flanked by dancers.

presence and impeccable performance brought the event to the next level”. The aforementioned quote was culled from media release material courtesy of Fairchild Radio’s Seme Ho. Filipino-Canadians’ Powerhouse Station Entertainment artists Russel Figueroa and Ana Jenessa Escabarte wowed the Chinese Canadian audience with their seamless ability to integrate into other Asian eth-

nic cultures. That despite their non-Chinese language performances, Russel and Jenessa’s exquisite choices of songs; vocal artistry and audience rapport, they have now successfully made their marks that through music, Peace and Unity in a diverse multicultural setting is feasible. ■ Email: babescastronewland @gmail.com

Entertainment

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 32

Alleged rape victim Roxanne Cabañero confronts Vhong Navarro

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—After having been confronted earlier by an old woman who introduced herself as Denice Cornejo’s grandmother, Vhong Navarro encountered another confrontation—this time with Roxanne Cabañero who appeared and caused a brief commotion at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

Cabañero, was among the three women who filed a rape complaint against Navarro, including Denice Cornejo and Margarita “Mai” Fajardo.

Navarro was at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for the preliminary investigation of the third rape case filed against him by Fajardo.

Though she was not involved in the complaint, Cabañero ap-

peared at the prosecutor’s office and cornered Navarro who was on his way to the elevator.

Cabañero, who was trying to push through a number of guards surrounding Navarro, shouted at the actor and started verbally confronting him. However, Cabañero failed to get near him because there were bodyguards protecting Navarro. The frustrated Cabañero tried throwing her sunglasses at the actor, instead.

“Vhong, sagutin mo ang ginawa mo sa akin! (Vhong, pay for what you did to me!)” she said.

Cabañero explained that she went to the prosecutor’s office to confront Navarro after his failure to attend the hearing of the case she filed against him.

Cabañero, who refused to answer questions from the media, was seen crying as she walks out of the prosecutor’s office.

Vhong Navarro.

WIKIPEDIA PHOTO

Louis Tomlinson smoking an illegal substance.

NGO to One Direction: No drug test, no PH entry

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—An anti-drugs advocate group appealed on Monday that British boy band One Direction be prohibited from entering the country without undergoing a drug test.

Laban ng Pamilyang Pilipino group appealed to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to monitor the boy band which will be performing in the country in March 2015.

“If they want the concert to push through, the members should take a drug test as soon as they arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) before us and the media,” Jonathan Morales, the group’s

Filipino-Canadian in... demonstrate the courage to transcend the limitations of their past whether self-imposed or inherited and achieve significant results that for themselves were historically deemed improbable or even impossible.”

He dreams of further empowering and enabling thousands of families to live financially independent and free lives. As such, Glenn vows to “continue strategizing with my partners at 1Plus12 to expand the scope and reach of our programs and ❰❰ 23

workshops into the GTA and westward into the KitchenerWaterloo area so that more families can have ready and available access to the difference that our curriculum makes.”

Sound advice

Best advice he’s ever been given? “To always ask myself two questions: 1) Who am I? and 2) What is my life for? And then true-up my day-to-day actions to be consistent with the fulfillment to the answers to those questions in my life.”

SCREENSHOT FROM MAILONLINE VIDEO

Glenn has advice of his own to give to those who wish to take the first step towards freeing their lives, and it is truly sound advice: “Find a mentor who is currently doing, having, and being what you desire to do, have, and be; BUT has also been or started off where you currently are financially. AND THEN do everything they tell you to do to expand and grow your wealth and your character.”

Financial freedom and the character to support it: lofty ideals, now within our reach. It’s time to grab a hold of these. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

spokesperson, and a former PDEA agent said in a statement, published in a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The group also said that One Direction should strictly abide by the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which deems marijuana as an illegal substance.

Morales also added that while the country is strict in imposing the anti-drug regulations of the country among innocent tourists, the more should the government be strict on suspected drug addicts.

The appeal was made days after a leaked video showing One Direction members Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson allegedly smoking marijuana went viral on the internet.

In the video, obtained by the United Kingdom-based Daily Mail, Tomlinson said, “So here we are, leaving Peru. Joint lit.

Happy days!”

He asked his band mate, “What do you think Zayn about that kind of content?” who responded, “Very controversial.”

Also in the same video, which appeared to have been filmed at the back of a car in Peru during the South American leg of their tour, Tomlinson was heard saying, “He’s having a look. He’s thinking ‘I’m sure I can smell an illegal substance in there’.

And he’s hit the nail on the head,” when a motorcycle police officer drives past. ■ With reports from Philippine Daily Inquirer

Entertainment

33 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Daniella breaks silence about aunt Claudine

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—Daniella Barretto, eldest daughter of actress Marjorie Barretto, revealed that she was indeed offended by her aunt Claudine’s televised remarks, calling her “ungrateful and without good manners.”

Claudine said she made the remarks after Daniella’s series of Twitter posts last week, which she felt were in reference to her. Claudine and Marjorie are currently embroiled in a family feud; a fight which also includes another Barretto sibling, Gretchen, as well as the rest of the family.

Daniella voiced out her grievances against her aunt in an exclusive interview with “The Buzz” which aired on Sunday. She said, however, that she was more hurt than mad over what her aunt said about her.

“She said na wala na daw siyang pakialam sa akin kasi bastos daw ako and wala akong utang na loob. Pinahiya niya ako. Sira na ako agad sa mata ng tao.

Hindi pa nila ako nakikilala, she already made people believe na wala akong utang na loob and bastos ako… [Pero] mas nasasaktan ako than nagagalit ako sa kanya (She said that she wants nothing to do with me, because I am rude and ungrateful. She shamed me. My reputation has been tarnished. She made people believe that I am ungrateful and rude even before they have even met me. But I am more hurt than mad at her),” she said.

Daniella explained that Claudine must have misinterpreted her posts on social media because in reality, the tweets were not directed at or meant for her aunt.

“When she came out on TV, she released other tweets of mine that weren’t really for her. Actually last year ko pa yatang mga tweets ‘yun (Actually, I think I even sent those tweets last year yet.)

But I’m already answering it now—it wasn’t meant for her,” she said.

Asked if she was really bashing Claudine on Twitter, Daniella said, “No. I have no idea where that came from.

When she was interviewed during Mother’s Day, I saw my mom cry. And then doon na ako—alam mo ‘yung anak ka eh. Ide-defend mo ‘yung nanay mo (And then there I was—you know, I am her child. Any child would defend their mother.). I did tweet something that day.

But I realized that I shouldn’t so I erased it right away. But she saw it.”

“After her interview, haters were non-stop, below the belt ‘yung mga sinasabi like wala kang modo, mukha kang kabayo, pangit ka (they were saying things like You have no manners, you

Richard Gutierrez and Sarah Lahbati announce the arrival of baby Zion; grand reveal on reality show

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Daniella Barretto.

PHOTO FROM LOOKBOOK

look like a horse, you are ugly). So nagtweet ako (So I tweeted, as well.) And she said that pinalaki niya kami, wala daw akong utang na loob (And she said that she raised us, yet we are ungrateful). And doon na-offend ako (And that is what offended me) for my mom because my mom never left, she was always here.

Sinabi ko na walang ibang nagpalaki sa amin kundi mommy ko. Doon siya naoffend (I retorted that no one but my mother raised us. And that is what offended my aunt),” Daniella added.

Daniella likewise emphasized that she never denied all of Claudine’s efforts towards helping their family.

“I thank her for everything that she has done for my family, when she’d take us out, when she’d shower us with so many gifts. Hindi ko naman dine-deny ‘yun. Hindi ko naman sinabi na hindi siya naging parte ng buhay ko, (I never denied that. I never said that she was not a part of my life),” she said.

In response to Claudine’s remark that Daniella was the one who “drew first blood,” the younger Barretto said, “I don’t think so. The first time I tweeted, she thought that it was for her. I wasn’t attacking her. That’s two different things—attacking somebody and defending somebody. I was just defending my mom.”

Daniella chose for some time to stay mum about the situation, but has now chosen to break her silence because she feels that what’s being said is “too much already.”

“Ayaw na namin makisali eh (We did not want to be a part of this anymore).

We stayed neutral by keeping quiet but then this one, it was direct attack sa akin (at me) na. Parang teka lang naman, bakit biglang ako na (It was like, wait, why is it now me, all the sudden?)? We could have talked about this over the phone. I would have explained myself.

But wala na, parang lumabas lang siya sa TV (But then she went ahead and came out on TV),” she said.

Daniella, who is Marjorie’s daughter with Kier Legaspi, admits to having once been close to her aunt Claudine during her younger years. ■

RICHARD GUTIERREZ and girlfriend Sarah Lahbati built up the suspense, even as the revealed their son on the first episode of the reality show It Takes Gutz To Be A Gutierrez, which aired on Sunday on the E! Channel.

The couple initially alluded to the upcoming reveal on Instagram, where they finally let the public know that they have a baby boy.

Proud Mommy Sarah posted a pic of her hand with a baby’s hand resting on it with the caption, “Extremely proud to announce the new member of our family, baby Zion.”

Richard’s sister, Ruffa Gutierrez, likewise took to Instagram to gush over the birth of Zion. In a repost of a photo from Frank Briones, Ruffa posted that finally the ‘cat is out of the bag.’ “Oh my

www.canadianinquirer.net

Goddddddd!!!! And I’m crying now. Grand revelation on the premiere episode of #ittakesgutztobeagutierrez. @richardgutz publicly announcing he is a proud father.

So proud of you and @sarahlahbati . Crying and cheering now at Casa Gutierrez and their phones now are not stopping.”

Fans eagerly awaited the appearance of Baby Zion on the show, and many are already saying that it is a move that will take reality shows to the next level.

In 2013, Sarah broke her contract with GMA and left for Switzerland, which started the rumour mills spinning with talk that she was “infanticipating.” Neither Sarah nor Richard spoke of the reasons for the sudden leave of absence, and the only statement offered by the latter was that he and the former were still together. Sarah returned to acting last March, having since made peace with the network.

It Takes Gutz To Be A Gutierrez airs on the E! Channel (Ch. 57 on Skycable). ■

FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

34

Lifestyle

From idea to reality: Inventions that can help change the way we do things

BY THESSA SANDOVAL Philippine Canadian Inquirer AS CONSUMERS, we are always interested in buying the latest gadgets, which are not just trendy, but also make our lives easier. To be able keep up with consumer demand, innovation has become the name of the game for many companies—both established and startup. Even tech behemoths like Google and Facebook have to regularly upgrade their services to keep the attention of their users. Aside from these business giants, there are also startup companies. Although many startups fail, entrepreneurs continue creating and selling ideas, with the hope of one day turning them into million-dollar ones.

Because of that, every now and then, we consumers encounter products that we only once wished to exist in the future, or never imagined to be available to us at all. Here are some of the latest inventions that might just change the way we do things, or significantly improve the lives of many in the future: Mink

Imagine owning a desktop printer that instantly prints out all kinds of makeup in all varieties of colors. Well, that’s what Mink is all about. Harvard Business School graduate Grace Choi has invented this 3D makeup printer to help save women from spending a lot of money at high-end makeup stores like Sephora. Mink can take images from the web and transform it into a wearable color cosmetic. Just search for the color you like online and Mink will print it for you.

Braille phone

Speaking of 3D technology, a UK-based mobile phone

RainHouse at the Milan Design Week.

SCREEN GRAB FROM IVANKA CONCRETE'S YOUTUBE VIDEO

The Mink 3D makeup printer.

SCREEN GRAB FROM TECHCRUNCH'S YOUTUBE VIDEO

company called OwnFone has just released the “world’s first” braille phone. OwnFone has been known for producing small, lightweight phones, which quick-dial buttons can be customized with the names of people you would contact in case of emergencies. Because of its simplicity, the company’s original target markets are elderlies, and parents of children who do not really need all the features of smart phones. Now, the company has also thought of selling the technology to blind people by 3D-printing braille buttons on phones.

Other braille phone prototypes have come out in the past, but OwnFone is the first company to get it commercially available.

you will get the results on your phone through an app with suggestions on how you can improve your health based from the results. Cue is able to test for fertility, testosterone, Vitamin D deficiency, influenza, and inflammation indicators.

Cue Have you ever anxiously waited days or weeks to hear back from your doctor’s office about the outcomes of your medical tests? Cue’s revolutionary technology will allow you to perform medical exams wherever you are and view the results from your phone within minutes. With Cue, all you have to do is take a blood, saliva or nasal swab sample using a small wand and insert it into a cartridge loaded to your Cue device. After a few minutes,

Luna Washing Ball The Luna Washing Ball concept, created by Colombian industrial designer Juan Camilo Restrepo Villamizar, won people’s choice for the Electrolux Design Challenge. Luna is a metallic sphere washing machine, which you drop into your laundry basket and which then releases a cloud of steam with electrostatically charged particles to clean your garments. Using the Luna Washing Ball, you will never have to put clothes in the washing machine again. In-

RainHouse

Ivanka, a company based in Budapest, unveiled the technology during the Milan Design Week in April. RainHouse has a bio-concrete storage tank, which filters collected rainwater through solar distillation.

This innovative filtration system is part of the organization’s Water of Life Project and aims to provide potable freshwater to small and big scale users.

The revolutionary Cue device.

SCREEN GRAB FROM CUE'S YOUTUBE VIDEO

stead, it will do the reverse for you.

Entrepreneurs in the Philippines are not lacking in innovative ideas as well. A non-profit organization called IdeaSpace has been functioning as an incubator and accelerator for startups for years now. The organization has already helped a number of budding technology entrepreneurs transform their breakthrough inventions into successful businesses by helping them find funding or investors, and also providing them mentoring programs. These two businesses, which received support from IdeaSpace, look promising: TimeFree Innovations

TimeFree is a virtual queuing system, which aims to help business owners enhance cus-

tomer experience and engagement. Using this technology, customers will never have to wait in line in business establishments again, because the system will allow users to leave the establishment after registering. A text message will be sent to notify them if their turn is coming soon.

PinoyTravel

PinoyTravel is an online busbooking service, which permit consumers to: quickly reserve a seat through their computers, tablets, and phones, so they don’t have to wait in long lines in bus terminals; and track bus locations to lessen roadside waiting time. This website is particularly helpful when planning a trip during holidays or long weekends, when the number of passengers increases tenfold. ■

35 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Heroes, Unofficially... their honour, learn about them at school and such, as we await the day of their official proclamation; when the heroes of the land can stand up and be counted, once and for all. ❰❰ 25

Unofficially Heroes

Yours,

(signed)

Among the numerous unofficial heroes of the Philippines, The National Heroes Committee in 1995 recommended ten men and women to be recognized as national heroes. The list included Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Melchora Aquino and Gabriela Silang.

Jose Rizal: Reformist , writer, ladies man

José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is perhaps the most “official unofficial” national hero of them all. Born on June 19, 1861, he was a widely acclaimed reformist and key player of the reform movement. A Filipino nationalist, novelist, poet, ophthalmologist, journalist, and revolutionary, Rizal’s mightiest weapon was his quill. He authored books, poems and essays that stirred the hearts and collective soul of the Filipino people against the ills of their Spanish colonizers. Noli Me Tángere, and El Filibusterismo are two of his greatest works. Rizal was executed by firing squad of the Spanish army on December 30, 1896. His death moved the Filipinos to a bloody revolt against Spain.

Aside from his skill with the quill, Rizal was also quite the ladies’ man. His biographies reveal numerous relations with women; from the purely flirtatious in nature, to those involving deeper affections. Some of the women with whom he was linked are 14-year-old Batangueña Segunda Katigbak; Gertrude Beckett of Chalcot Crescent (London); wealthy and elite Nelly Boustead of the English and Iberian merchant family; last descendant of a noble Japanese family Seiko Usui (affectionately called OSei-san); Leonor Valenzuela, and His distant cousin, Leonor Rivera (widely believed to be the inspiration for the character of Maria Clara in Noli Me Tangere), with whom Rizal had an eightyear-long romantic relationship.

Rizal eventually settled down with Josephine Bracken, an Irish woman from Hong Kong, who he met when she took her blind fa-

ther to him for a check-up. They were, however, never able to marry, as Rizal refused to return to the Catholic Church, which he sharply criticized in his writings.

Rizal’s profile is embossed on the one-peso coin. In the Philippines, December 30 is commemorated as Rizal Day. Andres Bonifacio: president

Gabriela Silang: “la Generala” continues the fight

Almost

Given the symbolic nickname “Maypagasa (source of hope),”Bonifacio is known as the father of the Philippine revolutionary movement and the founder of the Katipunan secret revolutionary society.

Born in Tondo, Manila, on November 30, 1863, Andrés Bonifacio y de Castro grew up in the slums and never knew what it was like to live a prosperous life.

He was married twice: first to a certain Monica (of Palomar), who was Bonifacio's neighbor in Tondo. Monica died of leprosy and they had no recorded children. His second marriage was in 1892, to 18-year-old Gregoria de Jesus.

Numerous Filipino scholars, historians and everyday citizens alike feel that Bonifacio should hold the top “unofficial official” spot of national hero, instead of Rizal. Others believe, as well, that he should have been the Republic’s first president, in lieu of Aguinaldo. Still others claim that trial and subsequent execution of the Bonifacio brothers was unjust. Aguinaldo had the brothers arrested for treason for their defiance of his authority.

Bonifacio appears on the ten-peso bill, alongside Apolinario Mabini. Aside from Rizal, Bonifacio is the only hero with a public holiday in his honor.

Bonifacio Day is celebrated on November 30 of every year.

Emilio Aguinaldo: politician

in the city of San Francisco, California is named in her honor.

Polished

Emilio Famy Aguinaldo, who went by the moniker of Magdalo (a faction of the Katipunan), is recognized as the first president of the Philippine Republic.

Aguinaldo was born on March, 22 1869 in Cavite Viejo (present-day Kawit, Cavite) to wellto do Chinese mestizo parents.

He was the seventh of eight siblings. His father, Carlos, was the appointed gobernadorcillo of their area.

Following his father’s footsteps, Emilio became involved

Jose Rizal.

in politics, filling the position "Cabeza de Barangay” of Binakayan, a chief barrio of Cavite del Viejo, when he was only 17 years old. He was a central figure in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution, the Spanish-American War, and the Philippine-American War. Aguinaldo died on February 6, 1964.

He is commemorated on the five-peso bill, on which he displays the Philippine flag from the balcony of his house and proclaims independence from Spain to the Filipino masses below.

Apolinario Mabini: The sublime paralytic

“Dakilang Lumpo”— literally, Heroic Paralytic—was the nickname that Apolinario Mabini y Maranan went by. He was born on was born on July 22 or 23, 1864 (the registration of his birth is uncertain) in Barangay Talaga in Tanauan, Batangas.

Philippine history texts refer to him as "the Sublime Paralytic", and as "the Brains of the Revolution;" while his enemies and detractors called him the "Dark Chamber of the President."

Apolinario Mabini was appointed prime minister and was also foreign minister of the newly independent dictatorial government of Aguinaldo on January 2, 1899.

There was much controversy surrounding the cause of his paralysis, with strong rumours flying about that it was the result of a venereal disease; syphilis, to be precise. However, his bones were exhumed after his death and autopsy results conclusively proved that poliomyelitis had caused the condition.

Mabini died of cholera on May 13, 1903. www.canadianinquirer.net

WIKIPEDIA PHOTO

He is depicted on the tenpeso bill, with Andres Bonifacio and other symbols of the Katipunan.

Melchora Aquino: Mother of all

Born to a peasant couple in Banlat, Kalookan City, on January 6, 1812, Melchora Aquino de Ramos or Tandang Sora (Elder Sora), as she was known, helped the Katipuneros under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio. Brave and compassionate Melchora provided the revolutionary soldiers with food, shelter, medicine, and other material needs.

She owned and operated a small home-based store, which served as a front for her heroic activities with the revolutionaries.

Recognized as the "Grand Woman of the Revolution," “Mother of the Philippine Revolution,” and the "Mother of Balintawak,” Melchora never attended school, but was literate at a young age. She was also a talented singer, performing at church and local events.

Melchora had six children of her own whom she reared predominantly by herself, as her husband passed away at an early age.

She was exiled to Guam for her involvement with the revolutionary troops, and was allowed to return home when the Americans took control of the Philippines in 1898. She died at the age of 107, on March 2, 1919.

Melchora is also the first Filipina who appears on a Philippine peso banknote; specifically, the 100-peso bill from the English Series (1951–1966).

Her image was later stamped on the 5-centavo coin, which was issued from 1967 to 1992.

A district in Quezon City and a road were likewise named after Grand Mother Tandang Sora.

Likewise, Tandang Sora Street

María Josefa Gabriela Cariño Silang was the wife of the Ilocano insurgent leader, Diego Silang.

When her husband was killed in 1763 by Miguel Vicos, a Spanish mestizo who bore grievances against the rebel leader, Gabriela decided to continue her slain husband’s fight for freedom.

Feisty and fierce Gabriela was born on March 19, 1731 in the town of what is now known as Caniogan, Santa, Ilocos Sur. However, the local folk of neighbouring Abra claim she was born in what is now the town of Pidigan. She is reportedly the child of a certain Anselmo Cariño, and a servant in the Cariño household.

Gabriela was later on adopted by rich businessman Tomás Millan, whom she later married at the age of 20. She was widowed three years later, and subsequently re-married in 1757 to 27-year-old Diego Silang.

She became one of Diego’s closest advisers in the armed struggle for freedom, and figured heavily in her husband’s collaboration with Great Britain.

Upon her husband’s death, the widowed Gabriela took on the role as commander of rebel troops, and her popular image as the bolo knife-wielding "la Generala" on horseback is derived from this period.

She is remembered through many monuments, such as the one commissioned and installed at the corner of Ayala and Makati avenues in Makati City’s Central Business District, by the Zobel de Ayala family . The metal statue was cast by José M. Mendoza in 1971, and was inaugurated by Silang's descendants Gloria Cariño and Mario Cariño Merritt.

Gabriela is also commemorated by the Order of Gabriela Silang, the only third class national decoration awarded by the Philippines, and whose membership is restricted to women. Likewise, the The organisation and party list GABRIELA ("General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action"), staunch advocate of women's rights and issues, was established in her honour in April 1984.

Other figures on the list recommended by the National Heroes Committee are Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat, and Juan Luna. ■

Lifestyle

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 36

First ladies’ frugal fashion do’s, don’ts: a smart approach to looking good

BY NANCY BENAC The Associated Press WASHINGTON—Sure, living in the White House has its perks. But a clothing allowance is not one of them.

First ladies feel all sorts of pressure to project a fashionable look, and over the decades they have tried a range of cashsaving strategies to pull it off without going broke.

Seven frugal do’s and don’ts that first ladies have tried over the years:

Buy off the rack

Laura Bush experienced the “ultimate in clothing faux pas” when she selected an $8,500 red lace Oscar de la Renta gown to wear to the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006 without modifying the design. “In the book, that red dress had looked perfect. It vaguely crossed my mind that someone else might see the dress and think exactly the same thing,” Mrs. Bush wrote in her memoir, “but what were the odds of that woman wearing it to a White House party?” Pretty good, it turns out. Three other women turned up in the identical gown. They made the best of it by posing for a group photo at a White House reception. Then Mrs. Bush ran upstairs and changed into a navy blue dress from the back of her closet before heading to the Kennedy Center.

Hunt for bargains

Betty Ford wasn’t afraid to economize. She shared clothes with her teenage daughter and used scarves to make the same outfit look different. When she read about low-cost designer Albert Capraro, whose dresses retailed for as little as $70, she

The final will be played on Friday at 9 p.m. here (12 midnight, Saturday in Manila).

The Asian Cup is the continent’s showpiece football event where the likes of powerhouse Japan, South Korea and Iran are seeing action and the Azkals are looking to prove they belong in the elite group. The country has never qualified for the tournament. ❰❰ 11

Biggest goal

Trot out rethreads

Even first ladies recycle their clothes. Michelle Obama recently welcomed military moms to a Mother’s Day tea wearing the same shirtdress she had worn to lunch with Katy Perry in 2012. Lady Bird Johnson put her 1965 inaugural gala gown, a white peau de soie dress with a beaded bodice, back in the rotation three times over the next two years.

Azkals all...

US First Lady Michelle Obama.

PHOTO FROM JDWFOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

asked the New Yorker to bring her some sketches. She ordered spring dresses from him and asked him to make some evening gowns using fabric that President Gerald Ford had brought back from Japan.

“broke her little promise.” Mrs. Reagan said later: “I was just trying to help an industry that I could help and I was in the position to help. I didn’t see anything wrong with that.”

Raise some cash

Find a benefactor

When Jacqueline Kennedy caught criticism for wearing pricey French fashions, her father-in-law stepped in to defuse the issue. Joseph Kennedy offered to pay her wardrobe bills, if she used Oleg Cassini, a family friend, as her personal couturier. “Jacqueline Kennedy accepted this offer, a move that was greeted with some astonishment by Seventh Avenue, where Cassini was not regarded as a designer of the first rank and something of a vulgarian as well,” author Amanda Mackenzie Stuart wrote in a biography of Diana Vreeland.

Mary Todd Lincoln ran up $27,000 in bills for clothes and household items without her husband’s knowledge, roughly equivalent to $700,000 in modern times, and then badgered Republican politicians to pay up to “help me out of my embarrassment.” Some offered money or loans, but Mrs. Lincoln still came up short, according to historian Carl Anthony at the National First Ladies’ Library.

“At one point, she even considered selling the manure on the White House lawn as fertilizer to pay the bills,” Anthony wrote in his history of first ladies.

“We want to play at the next level, that is not a secret,” said the Azkals’ German-American coach Thomas Dooley. “We came over here to win the Challenge Cup. We want to play at the next level, which is the Asian Cup, so wewant to play against those big guys, not to win something, but to play with them and that is our biggest goal.”

Dooley added: “The biggest thing we can do is write a new history in the next game so we want to prepare the team to write history.”

The Azkals came into the match on the back of two straight wins, including a 2-0 triumph over 2012 tormentor Turkmenistan. And they started the match on a positive note with Younghusband giving the Azkals the lead in the 18th minute, showing strength and determination to hold off a defender before firing low to beat Maldives goalkeeper Mohammad Imran.

Mohamed Umair equalized in the 36th minute with a chip past Müller, but Lucena, the FilDanish midfielder, scored his first goal for the country when he bundled home a cross from Daisuke Sato at the near post.

The Azkals conceded a penalty nine minutes after the break when Aguinaldo appeared to have pushed Ashfaq inside the

penalty box.

Müller saved a penalty for the second straight game and was also alert to keep out Ashfaq’s effort in stoppage time, while Gier made a goal-line clearance in the 87th minute.

And just when it looked like the Azkals didn’t have enough gas left on the tank, Greatwich popped up inside the six-yard box to direct a shot by Patrick Reichelt into goal, silencing what had been a boisterous home crowd.

Fair Play rule

Chasing an equalizer, the Maldivians were accused of allegations of not upholding the Fair Play rule when one of their players went on the attack when he should have given the ball back to the Azkals.

“Overall, we were hungry for this victory,” said Dooley, a former US World Cup skipper, who is just three months into the job.

“In the end I am very pleased with how the team played against their great players who are always dangerous. Overall, I think that we deserved to win. We had great chances in the first half but we did not put them away,” he added.

In a bid to keep the team motivated, Dooley and Azkals manager Dan Palami have been showing videos of the team about Filipino heroism. One poignant video titled the “Filipino Spirit is Unshakeable” was about significant moments in Filipino history and also young adults playing in Supertyphoon Yolanda-hit Tacloban.

A lot of crying

“Let’s just say there’s been a lot of crying in this tournament from the team with all the videos and what we have seen,” joked midfielder Simon Greatwich. ■

Try creative writing Borrow stuff

Nancy Reagan raised eyebrows by borrowing high-priced designer gowns and jewelry as first lady, sometimes without returning them or reporting them on her husband’s annual disclosure forms. When it came out that Mrs. Reagan had kept up the practice even after she had pledged to stop, her spokeswoman, Elaine Crispen, acknowledged that Mrs. Reagan

Theodore Roosevelt’s wife, Edith, would wear the same dress to multiple events, Anthony says, but vary the descriptions in her press releases. In the days before video and 24/7 media coverage, that made it seem as if she had more clothes than she did. ■ Associated Press News Researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed from New York. www.canadianinquirer.net

PHOTO FROM ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

Business

37 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Do you really need mortgage insurance?

BY ROBYN K. THOMPSON YOU’VE BOUGHT a new house, and you’re sitting with the bank’s loans officer ready to sign for that mortgage. Then she casually asks, “Would you like mortgage insurance with that?”

Almost like your waiter asking whether you’d like fries or salad with your burger. But this is one side you should decline, no ifs, ands, or buts. Here’s why.

First, what is mortgage insurance? Seems pretty straightforward. It’s insurance that pays off your mortgage if something prevents you from doing so. After all, you want your family to be protected against foreclosure should you die or become disabled or suffer from a critical illness. The horror stories can multiply before your eyes. But your friendly loans officer assures you that the premium only adds up to a few extra bucks a month tacked on to your monthly mortgage payment, so it’s hardly noticeable. If you decline, the loans officer might even ask you to sign a waiver, declaring that you’ve turned down this golden opportunity. So why not?

You might already be covered

First and foremost, you probably don’t need it. If you already have life insurance, whether term, universal, or whole life, and it’s at least for the amount of your mortgage, you’re already covered. Add a properly designed extended health, longterm disability, and critical care insurance package that many people already get through their employee benefits program, and you’re pretty much covered in case illness prevents you from covering mortgage payments. If you need more,

you can increase the size of your term life insurance at very low cost, especially if you’re young and in good health.

logical) at least once? But if you answered “no” on your application, as most people are tempted to do (thinking that the question relates only to recent serious illnesses and heavy-duty prescription drugs), then the insurance company can (and often will) claim that you “lied” on your application and did not disclose pre-existing conditions. Because you did go. It’s right there in your doctor’s medical file.

Claim denied! Start looking for new accommodations. (But you might get your premiums back.)

And finally, unless you’re applying for a high-ratio mortgage or considering an arm’s-length mortgage for your RRSP, mortgage insurance is not a requirement for getting a mortgage.

Poor value for money

Next in the reasons for “why not mortgage insurance” is the product itself. It just doesn’t give value for money. Mortgage insurance pays only to the amount of the outstanding balance of the mortgage, whatever that balance is. The maximum insured amount is typically $500,000, which may not be enough anyway. But even if the principal amount of your mortgage is paid down, the premiums on your mortgage insurance won’t change. So you’re actually paying more and more for less and less as time goes on.

The claim denial gambit Nothing extra for your family

And the mortgagee gets the funds in the event of your death. If you were hoping for an additional sum to provide living expenses and so on, forget it. The mortgagee is the one and only beneficiary. To provide for your family, you’ll need to buy ordinary term life insurance where beneficiaries receive the entire proceeds, no strings attached. So again, why bother with mortgage insurance to begin with? Just buy additional— and cheaper—term life to cover the mortgage.

There are also other restrictions on mortgage life insurance that make it poor value for the money. Coverage is tied to the lender and the property—it isn’t portable. If you sell your home or transfer your mortgage business to another bank, your policy is cancelled and coverage stops. Premiums are not refundable.

There is one last, really big reason for not forking out the big bucks for mortgage insurance: Claim denial. Typically, you’ll be asked to buy mortgage insurance when you’re actually signing the mortgage document. You’re under a lot of pressure, and you’ve already agreed to borrow a huge sum of money. Okay, you’ve caved. Another few bucks, another quick application form. You fill out the application, and check off a few boxes on an innocuouslooking medical questionnaire, and you’re done.

Actually, you’re done like toast.

That’s because mortgage insurance is sold without qualifying you. It’s a form of underwriting called post-claim underwriting. Your application is filed with the underwriting insurance company (not the bank, unless it’s the bank’s insurance company, of course) but not reviewed to see if you qualify for coverage until a

claim is actually made. What could possible go wrong? Plenty, it turns out.

If you did not read the questions on your application thoroughly and answered a yes-no question incorrectly, a future claim could be denied. The trouble is that the medical questions on mortgage-insurance applications are so wideranging that it’s very easy to inadvertently provide an incorrect answer. They may include something like this: “Have you ever consulted a medical practitioner, physician, specialist or attended a hospital or other medical facility, or taken any medications or received treatment for a cardio-vascular, respiratory, digestive, or nervous systems complaint?”

The better, cheaper alternative

Tummy trouble

Courtesy Fundata Canada Inc. © 2014. Robyn Thompson, CFP, CIM, FCSI, is president of Castlemark Wealth Management.

This article is not intended as personalized advice.

The key word is “ever.” Well, who hasn’t gone to the doctor with tummy ache (digestive) or a bad cold or the flu (respiratory) or a migraine (neuro-

Mortgage insurance comes with high costs, tight restrictions, and the dodgy post-claim underwriting. For those reasons, it’s poor value for your premium dollar. Instead, if you wish to protect your family against default on your mortgage, consider a much cheaper term life policy, which is reviewed at application to ensure you qualify, that you can renew every five years, adjusting the insured amount to match the declining principal balance owing on your mortgage. Your best bet is to consult a knowledgeable financial planner or licensed insurance agent, who’ll make sure you get the proper sides of insurance to go with your main course. ■

Warm weather fails to heat up cold manufacturing sector: RBC report The Canadian Press OTTAWA—A fresh survey on Canada’s manufacturing industry suggests warmer weather is not yet having the desired effect of heating up the sector.

After a winter setback caused by harsh weather, the RBC manufacturing purchasing manager’s index slid to 52.2 in May,

down from 52.9 the previous month and 53.3 in March.

While still north of 50, which indicates growth, it was the lowest reading since January.

RBC economist Paul Ferley called the second consecutive moderation in the PMI index disappointing, although he said the return to more seasonal temperatures and improvements in the U.S. outlook should

lift activity in Canada’s manufacturing sector going forward.

In the U.S., following two corrections by the Institute for Supply Management, the May ISM was revised to show a gain of 0.5 points to 55.4, after initially being recorded that it had dropped to 53.2. However, the employment index remained lower in May than where it stood in April.

There was also some encourwww.canadianinquirer.net

aging indicator in the Canadian report—the pace of hiring in the sector edged up four-tenths of a point to 52.4.

Still, the good news in Canada’s economy of late appears to be based mostly on future expectations.

Most key economic indicators have been tepid, flat or falling.

Employment fell by nearly 30,000 jobs in April, and on Fri-

day, Statistics Canada reported the economy shrank to 1.2 per cent growth in the first quarter— less than half the speed in the previous three-month period.

Analysts believe the Bank of Canada will need to maintain a dovish stance on interest rates this week, given that the economy still has yet to achieve a sustainable and robust growth track. ■

Sports

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 38

5 things to know as anticipation builds for the Spurs Heat matchup in the NBA Finals

BY NANCY BENAC The Associated Press MIAMI—Here are five things to know as anticipation builds for the NBA Finals rematch between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat. The series starts in San Antonio on Thursday night: Game 1 facts

The Spurs have never lost Game 1 of an NBA Finals. And Miami star LeBron James has never been part of a Game 1 road victory, in any round.

Advantage, Spurs?

Maybe. Maybe not.

San Antonio—which has never played an NBA Finals game while facing a deficit in the series—has won each of its five Game 1’s in the title round, doing so by an average of 10.4 points per game.

Including his time in Cleveland, James has been on teams that opened playoff series on the road seven times. They’re 0-7, losing by an average of 12.3 points.

But in four of those seven occurrences, including all three times it’s happened with Miami, James and his team eventually won the series.

All they do is win

Over the last decade, no one has come close to matching the playoff win totals of the Spurs and Heat.

Since the start of the 2005 playoffs, including the first three rounds this year, San Antonio has a league-best 92 playoff victories, while Miami has won 89 playoff games.

No other franchise is even close: The Celtics and Lakers have both won 59 playoff games during that span.

Miami has the best playoff winning percentage in the last 10 postseasons, its mark there of .654 just edging San Antonio’s mark of .626.

There’s six teams who don’t even have 10 wins in the last 10 years— the Knicks (7), Raptors (6), Bucks (4), Kings (3), Bobcats-now-Hornets (0) and Timberwolves (not just zero wins, but also zero playoff games played).

A last bit of rest

Apparently, two days without practice is a standard perk for winning a conference title in the NBA these days.

The Heat ousted Indiana on Friday night, then took Saturday and Sunday off to refresh and recharge. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra summoned his team for practice on Monday morning.

The Spurs aren’t planning to do anything officially basketball-related until Tuesday.

They eliminated Oklahoma City on Saturday night, and had no practices scheduled on either Sunday or Monday— which, if nothing else, figures to give Tony Parker plenty of time to work on improving the condition of his sprained left ankle.

Parker sat out the second half of the Spurs’ West-clinching win at Oklahoma City because of the ankle problem.

championship.

Miami will get a payout of $2,795,220 if it does not win the finals, and $3,631,684 if it wins the championship for the third

Respect level

Oh, there will be a high level of physicality in this series, for certain.

But something like, say, blowing into an opponent’s ear, we can safely dismiss that as a realistic possibility during these NBA Finals.

There is genuine respect between the franchises, perhaps best proven by how Spurs coach Gregg Popovich warmly embraced any Heat player or coach he could reach after Game 7 ended a year ago.

Frankly, the Heat won’t miss the Lance Stephenson-antics—like blowing into LeBron James’ ear— and the endless questions about those moves.

“It’s an annoyance,” Heat forward Shane Battier said. “It’s nice we don’t have to deal with that anymore. ... It’s about basketball and not all of the chicanery that went on.”

Money at stake

There’s $14 million in the league’s playoff pool this season, and as if the Heat and Spurs weren’t motivated enough by the chance to hold another Larry O’Brien Trophy, there’s also some cash at stake.

The Spurs are already assured of taking home a total of $3,268,347 from that pool, a figure that would rise to $4,104,811 by winning the NBA www.canadianinquirer.net

straight year.

The pool pays out based on where teams finished in their conference in the regular season, which explains the dis-

crepancy in what the Spurs and Heat have earned so far. There’s also a difference of $836,464 in what teams receive for winning or losing the finals. ■

39 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

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Seen & Scenes

JUNE 6, 2014 FRIDAY 40

SENATOR ENVERGA AT PROUDLY PINOY

WCDWA LAUNCHES NEW RESEARCH

Senator Enverga was a special guest at the Proudly Pinoy: Celebrating Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School in Toronto, Ont. on May 31, where he spoke about the importance of sharing the lessons of our immigrant experience with our children.

The West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association (WCDWA), a workers’ rights advocacy group, launched on May 28 at the Roundhouse Community Centre, a new research entitled, Labour Trafficking & Migrant Workers in British Columbia. WCDWA Executive Director Ai Li Lim (middle) said their findings contradict claims that the TFWP has been a model for migrant migration. She added that the stories presented in the study show experiences of physical, verbal and psychological abuse, manipulation, deception and fraud, and wage theft.

WCDWA Executive Director Ai Li Lim

FILIPINO GETS DEGREE FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITY Ryley Alexander Poblete, the architect son of Ben Poblete, who graduated Summa Cum Laude in B.S. Arch. at the University of Houston two years ago, completed his Master of Science in Architecture in Harvard University, last week. In photo are proud grandparents George and Dolly Poblete of Toronto and parents Jackie and Ben Poblete of Houston, Tx.

EXPLORASIAN 2014 RECOGNITION GALA The explorASIAN 2014 Recognition Gala held at the Pink Pearl Restaurant on June 1 shone the spotlight on Filipino pioneers and community builders: Publishers Leonardo and Marilyn Cunanan, educators Aprodicio and Eleanor Laquian, entrepreneurs Joseph and Doris Lee, dentist and community volunteer Rufino and Elvira Olivar, and philanthropists Miguel and Julia Tecson. Long-term VAHMS director, Winnie Cheung, was also recognized at the event. Alan Yong, CEO of TimesTel, was the presentor of the award to entrepreneurs Joseph and Doris Lee.

With relatives the Pobletes, Crisostomos and Astorgas in a picnic celebration after graduation.

For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net. www.canadianinquirer.net

Seen & Scenes

41 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

CHARICE LIVE IN VANCOUVER

The crowd signals the most applauded song of the night, ‘Pyramid.’ Photo by Angelo Siglos.

PISTA NG BAYAN DONATION Belinda Lim-Herrera, far right, managing director for International Remittance (I-Remit) Canada, hands over a CAD 5,000 check to Elena Agala, co-chair of the Philippines Pista ng Bayan Cultural Society. The check represents the company's sponsorship donation to Filipino community events in Metro Vancouver to commemorate the 116th anniversary of Philippine independence. Others in photo are (from L) Joel Castillo, Lita Nuguid and Elena Agala, members of the Pista ng Bayan Executive Committee.

EXPERIENCE ASIA

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International singing sensation Charice, gets a big hug from fan, Dr. Gloria Samosa, during the ‘Charice World Tour Live in Vancouver’ jam-packed concert on June 1.

Photo by Angelo Siglos.

JOSE RIZAL The Filipino class in St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School in Scarborough, Ont. was visited by Trustee Gary Tanuan and wife Marla. They were surprised to be met

by Jose Rizal (look-alike contestant Brendan). Tanuan gave a short talk on the life and the great works of the Philippine national hero. Photo shows Trustee Tanuan, Marla, “Jose Rizal”, Maria Regala, teacher of the Filipino classes, George R. Poblete, and Jaime T. Marasigan, of the Order of the Knights of Rizal.

FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

42

Travel

Oahu surf mecca has much to offer to landlocked, non-surfer Calgarians

BY LAUREN KRUGEL The Canadian Press HALEIWA, HAWAII—Oahu’s North Shore may seem like an odd place to visit for a pair of non-surfers from landlocked Calgary.

Legendary surf spots such as Banzai Pipeline, Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay line a 13-kilometre stretch of coastline on the northern tip of Oahu, with swells up to 12 metres during the winter months. The region hosts the famous Vans Triple Crown of Surfing competition every November and December.

But the area has much more to offer for visitors who—let’s face it—can barely stand up on a surfboard.

The North Shore is an easy day trip from iconic, but crowded, Waikiki Beach in Honolulu.

But it feels like a completely different world.

“Honolulu’s a metropolitan city. Out there, it’s very country,” said Kira Chong Tim of the Oahu Visitors Bureau.

“You want to get that different perspective of the island.”

On a calm day, Shark’s Cove is a gorgeous snorkelling spot that’s shallow and well-protected from the waves, and where colourful tropical fish can be seen zipping in and out of the coral.

Charming boutiques and galleries line the main drag of historic Haleiwa town, where many buildings date back to early-1900s plantation days.

An old sugar mill in nearby Waialua now houses dozens of small shops, including ones that shape the boards of some big-time pro surfers.

It came as no surprise to learn many scenes from the TV show “Lost” were filmed around the North Shore.

While we didn’t even attempt to hang 10, my partner and I did have our fair share

PHOTO BY EDDY GALEOTTI / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Rainbow Bridge in Haleiwa, Oahu North Shore Hawaii.

of beach time on the North Shore. Neither of us are particularly strong swimmers, so we didn’t venture much farther than waist-deep into the waves.

On a relatively quiet April day at Waimea Bay, the surf easily knocked me off my feet and blasted me with sand.

Haleiwa is about an hour’s drive from the hustle and bustle of Honolulu, by the most direct route. But we decided to take the long way around the island.

For most of the 2 1/2-hour drive, we had sandy beaches and clear blue-green water on one side of us. On the other side were verdant mountains, lush gardens, fruit markets and more shrimp shacks than we could count.

Stopping for a picnic lunch at

one virtually empty beach park along the way, we encountered a giant sea turtle. Someone had drawn a semi-circle in the sand around the creature, presumably to protect it from curious onlookers.

We found affordable and beautiful “glamping” accommodations through Air BnB in the town of Waialua, about a five-minute drive from downtown Haleiwa. Our hosts warned us our GPS would not help us find the place, instead suggesting we look out for the yellow gate with the “goats for sale” sign. So we knew to expect some rustic digs.

After a few wrong turns, we eventually found our little offthe-grid hideaway, nestled in luscious farmland in the shad-

ow of Mount Ka’ala, Oahu’s tallest peak.

Our digs consisted of a large safari tent and outdoor patio.

The kitchen and bathroom were powered by a combination of solar energy and propane.

We felt immersed in nature, without having to give up any of our creature comforts.

A pair of chickens roamed freely around the property. We were invited to pick fresh papayas and bananas from trees on our hosts’ land.

We stayed in for breakfast during our stay, frying eggs over a small propane-fired stove.

Fresh fare from beach-side food trucks was a great lunch option. And for supper, there were more great restaurants to try than we had time for. Waialua

Cafe had excellent sandwiches and smoothies. Luibueno’s had great fish tacos and margaritas.

Banzai had terrific Japanese food.

If we weren’t already feeling mellow enough, our hosts pointed us to drop-in, paywhat-you-can yoga classes at a church a two-minute drive down the road in Waialua.

It didn’t take long for our sense of time to shift. Almost immediately, our schedules synced up with nature; we awoke at dawn to a cacophony of birds and were fast asleep not long after sundown. ■ If You Go...

Oahu Visitors Bureau: http:// www.gohawaii.com/oahu

Ph:604.805.3440

43 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

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Events

JUNE 6, 2014

Philippine Independence Day Flag-Raising at City Hall

Canadian Citizenship Preparation (Tagalog)

By Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vancouver City Council

Presented by Mosaic Settlement Services

WHEN/WHERE: 1 p.m., June 12, at the Ceremonial flag pole on the north lawn, Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Ave., Vancouver, BC.

WHEN/WHERE: 5-8:30 p.m., June 17 & 19 Mosaic Vancouver, 1720 Grant St., MORE INFO: Registration required: Call 604-254-9626 ext. 484

Philippine Independence Day Celebration 2014

By Festival Society of Canada WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., June 7, St. Michael’s Angelican Church, 409 E. Broadway, Vancouver, B.C.

FRIDAY 44

Operation Pagbangon’s Independence Day Celebration

By Philippine Independence Committee of Calgary (PIOCC) WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m., June 14 & 15, Pacific Place Mall (T&T) parking lot MORE INFO: Recognizing Operation Pagbangon’s volunteers for their effort during Typhoon Haiyan’s fundraisers, PIOCC is cordially inviting everyone to participate during the parade and two-day event to mark the 2014 Independence Day Cclebration. OP volunteers are enjoined to wear their Tabang Na Tulong na, Tayo Na shirts and carry Operation Pagbangon’s Banner during the parade. Admission is free.

TICKETS: $20 Dinner-Dance

YUKON NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

NUNAVUT

Pista ng Bayan Community Picnic

By Philippines Cultural Pista ng Bayan Society in cooperation with the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 7, Slocan Park, 2750 E. 29th Ave., Vancouver

BRITISH COLUMBIA

ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA

Angat Pinoy the 2014 Philippine Days Festival Presented by the Metro Vancouver Philippine Arts & Culture Exposition Society

Seniors’ Week 2014 launches in Edmonton

WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., June 14-15, Waterfront Park, North Vancouver, B.C.

Associate Minister of Seniors Dave Quest will launch Seniors’ Week 2014 WHEN/WHERE: June 2-8, Westend Seniors’ Activity Centre, 9629-176 Street, Edmonton, Ab.

Philippine Independence Day Gala Presented by Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations

Kalayaan, 116th Philippine Independence Day Celebration

WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m. Cocktails, 7 p.m. Dinner on June 14, The Sutton Place Hotel Edmonton (10235 101st St., Edmonton, AB)

Presented by Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations

TICKETS: $55

WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to p.m., June 14, Edmonton City Hall

MORE INFO: Attire: Filipino Attire (Barong Tagalog/Filipiniana Dress) For more info, visit: http://www.cefa.ph

MORE INFO: Interfaith Mass, Philippine and Canadian flag raising, cultural presentations, free lunch, raffle draws. Visit their website, http://www.cefa.ph

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Events

45 FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

Kalayaan Community Picnic By the Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre WHEN/WHERE: June 7, at Mississauga Valley Park, Msga.,On.

CANADA EVENTS

26th Annual Art Exhibit By the Philippine Artists Group of Canada WHEN/WHERE: 1 p.m., June 7; 56 Neilson Drive Etobicoke, On.

View all events by scanning this QR code or visiting

http://bit.ly/ PCI-Events

Fluvial Parade and Picnic Led by The Philippine Community Center of Ottawa WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m., June 15; Lac Leamy Lake picnic grounds MORE INFO: Contact Rafael Mamaril (mamaraf@hotmail.com)

Overseas Voting Registration and Independence Day Picnic By the Philippine Embassy and Picov

Annual Independence Day Ball By the Philippine Independence Day Committee of the Ottawa Valley WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m.,June 13, St. Elias Centre, 750 Ridgewood Ave., Ottawa MORE INFO: Dinner-dance affair. Tickets at $45 per person. Contact Nora Arriola, Philippine Independence Day Committee of Ottawa Valley chair (noravarriola@ yahoo.ca)

WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., June 8; Vincent Massey Park, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B7 MORE INFO: Biggest gathering of the Filipino community in Ottawa featuring a parade of Filipino community organizations, Ala Eh's Parada ng Lechon, community entertainment and sports. To register for the 2016 Philippine national elections, please bring a photocopy of your Philippine passport (for permanent residents) or Oath of Allegiance (for dual citizens) to the Philippine Embassy Overseas Voting Registration Desk located next to the gazebo.

For more information, please contact: for overseas voting registration: Rhodora Manlapaz (613.233.1121) For the PICOV picnic: Nora Arriola (noravarriola@yahoo.ca)

NEWFOUNDLAND QUEBEC

ONTARIO

Flag Raising at Ottawa City Hall Presided by Mayor Jim Watson, Charge d'Affaires Eric Gerardo E. Tamayo and PICOV Chair Nora Arriola at the City Hall grounds.

WHEN/WHERE: 8 to 8:30 a.m., June 12, 10 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1, Canada MORE INFO: Contact Nora Arriola, PICOV chair ( noravarriola@yahoo.ca) www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY JUNE 6, 2014

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