Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #124

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JULY 18, 2014

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President’s defense of DAP on TV hailed, jeered

3yo wakes up during her funeral

Medical tests on Gigi Reyes done, results out by Thursday

Filipino-Canadian in Focus: Rafael Fabregas

Trending now

Canadians turned out in the hundreds to celebrate Germany’s World Cup win

BY ETHAN LOU The Canadian Press TORONTO—Canadians turned out by the hundreds to watch Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday, with many braving either a scorching sun or heavy downpour.

TYPHOON GLENDA

❱❱ PAGE 21 Canadians turned

AFTER THE STORM. A view of the Manila Bay area after ferocious winds from Typhoon Glenda (international name: Rammasun) smashed large

parts of the Philippines, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) image (inset) obtained July 15, 2014 and taken by the JMA MTSAT-2 satellite at 0730Z on July 14, 2014 showed the breadth of the typhoon.

PHOTOS FROM SHANICE GARCIA AND THE NOAA/HANDOUT

Stress good in DAP, senators tell Aquino

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

List of big projects pressed

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—When he addresses the nation on TV Monday night, President Aquino should focus on the benefits of the Disbursement Accelera-

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tion Program (DAP) and stress that officials did not pocket the funds, senators said on Sunday.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said Aquino should dwell on the good brought about by the DAP, which the Supreme Court in

‘Jocards’ prey on philanderers in QC COPS WARN MEN ON “JOCARDS.”

❱❱ PAGE 10 ❱❱ PAGE 7 Stress good

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Philippine News

3 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

DAP critics on P-Noy clearing Abad: Too much, too soon

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, DJ YAP AND TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE SWIFTNESS with which the Palace cleared Budget Secretary Florencio Abad of wrongdoing in relation to the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) was only matched by the quickness with which it condemned members of the opposition, lawmakers said yesterday.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said the Palace’s absolution of Abad came too fast.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, secretary general of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), criticized presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda for “downright clearing” Abad of liability by saying he did not personally benefit from the illegal transfer of P170 billion in public funds through the DAP. High impact projects?

Tiangco said Abad should enlighten the public on how the people’s money was funneled to finance supposed “highimpact” projects like the “Corona impeachment trial, the P250-million congressional eLibrary, and P135-million spy gadgets purchased by the Presidential Security Group (PSG), to name a few.”

“Why would Lacierda insist that Secretary Abad—who is considered the brains behind the DAP—did not personally gain from it? P170 billion is not spare change… He needs to explain what he did with the people’s money,” he said.

“Until now Secretary Abad has been tight-lipped, while Malacañang apologists continue to justify the DAP by mere rhetoric,” Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said in a statement. “This isn’t fair. He has to make a full disclosure of the extent of the program and explain if the funds released through the DAP were really used for development projects, and not as a reward to loyal political subalterns of the President,” he said.

Lower courts to decide

Osmeña noted that as per the Supreme Court’s ruling on the DAP, the criminal, civil and administrative liability would

have to be decided by a lower court, since the tribunal was not a trier of facts.

After the Supreme Court largely invalidated the DAP, critics have called on the administration to account for the DAP. The DAP controversy came on the heels of the scandal over the alleged plunder of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, for which three opposition senators, including Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, have been charged and detained.

Sen. JV Ejercito, for his part, said Abad should break his silence on the DAP, as speaking out was also a matter of good governance.

“If there’s an issue, in the thrust of good governance, they should explain and be more transparent. I think if Secretary Abad has nothing to hide, he should respond to the issue,” he said.

He noted that Abad is a lawyer and used to be a member of Congress, aside from being the budget secretary. Abad was expected to be an expert, and should be the one guiding the President on the DAP issue, he added.

But the Cabinet members are hiding behind the President, using his popularity as a shield, he added. He pointed out that the President's trust rating has taken a hit because of the controversies.

He reiterated his call for Abad to take the bullet for the President to shield him from the scandal.

Ejercito said the minority has yet to meet to determine whether to give a contra-State of the Nation Address (Sona), which is the counterpoint to the President’s national address.

But he said he wanted the minority to deliver its counterpart address, because the Senate must perform its role as fiscalizer. He said the contra-Sona was not meant to simply criticize or find fault.

“In the remaining two years of the Aquino administration, we’re hoping poverty alleviation would take place, inclusive growth would be achieved. We would want to point out certain issues or certain programs that we think would realize all of these achievements,” he said.

He said the Sona would touch on the DAP, though he thinks

discussing economic numbers would be more important.

Tiangco, Ejercito’s ally, said Lacierda’s statement appeared to be a departure from President Aquino’s avowal of tuwid na daan (righteous path), in which “no one will be spared from any investigation whether a political ally or not.”

‘A-bad faith’

“What Malacañang did was

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clearly in ‘A-bad faith,’” Tiangco said, making a pun on the Cabinet member’s name.

He said the President could not just give a blanket decree absolving anyone from liability without the benefit of any investigation.

Tiangco lamented that Mr. Aquino was treating his “yellow allies” with kid gloves, even those who were directly involved in the congressional

pork barrel and DAP controversies.

He noted that Lacierda also defended and cleared Abad of the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet LimNapoles in connivance with several lawmakers, dismissing the charges as malicious and ridiculous. ❱❱ PAGE 13 DAP critics

Philippine News

JULY 18, 2014

FRIDAY 4

Spokesman says no truth to text messages of Binay quitting

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—Text messages recently flew back and forth across cyberspace with rumours that Vice-President Jejomar Binay will be holding a press conference to announce his resignation from the Aquino Cabinet.

Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesman, confirmed that the text messages are indeed a hoax, and nothing more.

Prior to the text message-hoax running rampant, Binay had expressed his support for President Aquino, in the midst of cries for the impeachment of the latter with regard to the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) controversy.

The rumours may have been fueled by Binay’s refusal to clap when Aquino announced that he rejected Budget Secretary Butch.Abad’s resignation on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision that sections of the DAP are unconstitutional.

Binay in fact expressed his support for

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the President’s decision to reject Abad’s resignation.

“The President has made a decision and I respect his decision. The decision to accept or reject the resignation is the prerogative of the President,” he said.

United Nationalist Alliance secretarygeneral and Binay-ally, Toby Tiangco said that he has not yet talked to the Vice-President about his refusal to clap; but he is sure that “gusto niya (Binay) ng transparency.”

Meanwhile, Binay has requested for an independent audit of projects under the DAP, as well as for full disclosure of the matter; pointing out that the SC made a clear decision concerning the necessity of accountability.

“But where do we start? For me, a good starting point would be to make available to the public all the projects funded by DAP. This is after all, consistent with the tenets of full transparency that is the cornerstone of the Aquino administration, and I do hope my colleagues will reconsider a reported decision to withhold the release of the so-called DAP list,” he said. ■

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Philippine News

5 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

Gov’t lawyers outclassed Defense beats prosecutors at Bong, et al. bail hearings

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer IT WAS like a law school classroom scene with aspiring lawyers hearing a mouthful from the professor who wanted them to learn to think on their feet.

Except that the students were real state prosecutors whom the Ombudsman had tasked to exact justice from Sen. Bong Revilla, the member of his legislative staff Richard Cambe and businesswoman Janet LimNapoles for embezzling billions of pesos in public funds.

And there was not just one but three professors who were actually the justices in the Sandiganbayan First Division who were trying the three accused on plunder and graft charges over the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

It was the Philippines’ biggest official corruption case in more than a decade and yet the prosecutors were all thumbs, getting a trouncing from the seasoned defense lawyers almost at every turn during the initial presentation of evidence in the bail hearings for Revilla, Cambe and Napoles.

The justices couldn’t conceal their impatience, repeatedly panning the bumbling attempt of Prosecutors Joefferson B. Torribio, Jacinto de la Cruz Jr., Lyn G. Dimayuga and Emerita O. Francia to stop the accused from walking out of jail.

Specifically, the division chair, Efren de la Cruz, and Associate Justice Rodolfo A. Ponferrada knocked the prosecutors’ choice and sequencing of witnesses and their perfor-

mance in extracting testimony from their witnesses.

Ponferrada questioned the prosecutors’ decision to put Commission on Audit (COA) Assistant Commissioner Susan Garcia on the witness stand first when they should have started with the main protagonists in the case, whistle-blowers Benhur Luy, Merlina Suñas and Marina Sula.

Ponferrada likened the presentation of witnesses to a telenovela where the audience wanted to hear from the main players as early as possible.

Torribio argued that the prosecution started with Garcia to provide the big picture, the P224.5-million allegedly embezzled by Revilla, Cambe, Napoles, her nephew Ronald John B. Lim and her driver John Raymund de Asis (Lim and De Asis are at large).

But Revilla’s lawyer Joel Bodegon, Cambe’s lawyer Remigio Michael A. Ancheta II and Napoles’ lawyer Stephen L. David countered that Garcia’s testimony would be only hearsay.

Ponferrada said the prosecutors should bring their witnesses to court to allow the magistrates to question them at any time during the trial.

Justice De la Cruz showed annoyance at the prosecutors’ amateurish ways in trying to make Garcia state the amounts covered by the 12 special allotment release orders (Saro) that were allegedly used to facilitate the release of Revilla’s pork barrel funds to fake nongovernment organizations controlled

by Napoles, said to be the mastermind of the pork barrel scam.

On several occasions, Ponferrada had to correct the prosecutors each time they got their numbers wrong in the Saros being presented by the witness, drawing chuckles from people in the courtroom.

“You should have read the Ombudsman resolution because it is all there. You brought a lot of documents but you did not bring the basic document,” Ponferrada told the prosecutors.

In contrast, the defense lawyers were quick to pounce on any shortcoming of the prosecution to make their point that the bail hearings were being unduly stretched.

At the heart of the defense team’s argument was the claim of forgery involving the signatures of both Revilla and Cambe in the documents being shown by the prosecution.

Bodegon, wearing round horn-rimmed glasses and a paisley bow tie, said that with the way the prosecutors were adding witnesses and evidence, the bail hearings would take a year.

De la Cruz assured Bodegon, however, that the court would not allow that to happen.

Aside from Garcia and the whistle-blowers, the prosecution planned to bring more than a dozen witnesses to the bail hearings.

They are National Bureau of Investigation special investigator Joey I. Narciso; Department of Budget and Management officials Lorenzo Drapete and Orlando M. Magdaraog; Ombudsman Field Investigation Office members Gerhard Basco, Junelyn Pagunsun, Gialyn Yebron,

Jose Romano Francisco and Rholie Besona; managers and representatives of Metrobank’s Dasmariñas, T. Pinpin and Jose Abad Santos branches and Land Bank of the Philippines Pasig Capitol branch; a representative from the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat, and the records custodian of the Senate blue ribbon committee.

The prosecutors’ amateur show at the First Division yesterday was a continuation of their failure last month to amend the charges against Revilla and Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile to show the three lawmakers as the central figures in the plundering of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and not Napoles.

The First Division handling Revilla’s case and the Fifth Division hearing Estrada’s case rejected the amendments, telling the prosecutors that the changes could alter the finding of probable cause to make the two senators stand trial and lead to orders to release them from jail.

Trying to avoid a third failure, the prosecutors withdrew a motion to amend the plunder charges against Enrile in the

Third Division.

The early setbacks for the prosecution drew criticism of the government’s handling of the pork barrel cases, with University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque urging the Ombudsman to revamp its prosecution teams.

“I’d like to think the Ombudsman wants to win the cases in court, not just file them in court,” Roque said.

Roque suggested that the Ombudsman replace Danilo Lopez, the lead prosecutor in Estrada’s case, who he said could not afford to lose the PDAF case the way he lost the P365 million lamppost case in Cebu City in 2008.

He also criticized the cochair of the main prosecution panel, Deputy Special Prosecutor John Turalba, who he said moved for the dismissal of graft charges against Reynaldo Varilla, a retired deputy director general of the Philippine National Police, and two others in 2008 in a defective case involving the illegal provision of submachine guns to the Philippine Marine Corps.

After the prosecutors’ early setbacks in court, Roque wondered aloud where the pork barrel scam cases were headed. ■

Japan donates quake, tsunami monitors

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer SOME ONE billion yen (about P518 million) worth of earthquake and tsunami monitoring systems, as well as mobile flood control equipment, will be turned over today by the Japanese government to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The turnover rites are to be held this morning at the DPWH’s Flood Control Management Office in Barangay Sta. Rosa, Pasig.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe and Public Works Secretary

Rogelio Singson will witness the “ i n st a l l a tion of the quake and tsunami monitoring systems and a tsunami simulation database and the turnover of eight mobile drainage pumps,” the Japawww.canadianinquirer.net

nese Embassy said in a statement.

The equipment are part of Japan’s “project for the improvement of disaster risk management” in the Philippines, the embassy said.

“The project reaffirms Japan’s commitment to help the Philippines minimize the threats of disasters,” it said.

The embassy pointed out that Tokyo, which it said was the

“top official development aid donor” to the Philippines, “has supported the nation’s disaster mitigating efforts by sharing its experiences and lessons it learned from past natural disasters.”

It expressed the hope that the project would “further foster the strategic partnership between the two countries and serve as a model for disasterprone areas in the Philippines.” ■

Philippine News

JULY 18, 2014

www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY 6

Philippine News

7 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

Profiteering raps filed vs rice miller

BY JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEPARTMENT of Justice has filed profiteering charges against officers and employees of a rice mill in Marilao, Bulacan, who were caught repacking for resale several sacks of rice being sold by the National Food Authority (NFA).

Assistant provincial prosecutor Jowell Jose recommended the filing of charges against Juancho San Luis, operations manager of the Jomarro Star rice mill, and 16 of his employees for violating Republic Act No. 7581, or the 1991 Price Act. The Bulacan police criminal investigation and detection team, led by Chief Insp. Reynaldo Magdaluyo, conducted a sting operation last July 3 after receiving a tip about the alleged illegal re-bagging of NFA rice being carried out at the Jomarro Star.

According to the informant, several trucks of NFA rice were being delivered to the rice mill’s warehouse which were then repacked in sacks for resale as commercial rice at a higher price. NFA rice costs about P30 per kilo.

Magdaluyo, who posed as a buyer, said he transacted with San Luis who told him the Jomarro Star was selling rice for up to P43 per kilo. The police officer said he also saw other employees rebagging NFA rice into rice bags labelled “MJR Sun Rice” at the rice mill’s warehouse.

Shortly after rounding up the suspects, the CIDT received a report that two trucks owned

by Jomarro and loaded with NFA rice had been found aban-

doned at a gasoline station on the MacArthur Highway in Bocaue, Bulacan.

The prosecutor found probable cause to indict the suspects for conspiring to violate RA No. 7581 which penalizes profiteering, defined under the law as the “sale or offering for sale of any basic necessity or prime commodity at a price grossly in excess of its true worth”.

The offense is punishable with five to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of P5,000 to P2 million.

Two other suspects, Roberto and Regina Pualenco, remain at large but the Bulacan prosecutor’s office has set the preliminary investigation against them for July 17.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation will be helping the NFA and other agricultural bodies in investigating reports of smuggling and price manipulation of prime commodities such as rice and garlic.

“The President has instructed the NBI and the PNP to seriously investigate smuggling of rice and other prime commodities and the dramatic price hike of garlic and other [agriculture products]. All (government agencies) will be helping one another on this undertaking,” she said.

Following a meeting with Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan and NFA administrator Arthur Juan on Tuesday evening, De Lima said the NBI and the NFA have signed a memorandum of agreement to increase cooperation in enforcing laws against price manipulation, smuggling and monopolies. ■

According to an informant, several trucks of NFA rice were being delivered to the rice mill’s warehouse which were then repacked in sacks for resale as commercial rice at a higher price.

Stress good... a unanimous decision ruled on July 1 as unconstitutional.

“He should stand by it and explain how the program benefited the country,” Trillanes said in a text message, when asked if it was necessary for the President to issue an apology.

“In my view, what is more necessary is for the President to say [the DAP] went to the correct, proper and good projects.

It would be good if he would provide a list showing where it went, the big projects that changed the lives of the Filipinos,” Sen. Francis Escudero said over radio station dzBB. Aquino should also point out that the DAP funds were not stolen, Escudero said.

“It would be good for the President to say the truth, that they did not personally benefit from this,” he said.

According to him, claims of plunder were unlikely to hold because there were no allegations in the court decision that the funds were pocketed by administration officials and were used for personal gain. ❰❰ 1

Demands for apology

Critics have compared the DAP to the graft-ridden Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). In November last year, the Supreme Court likewise declared the PDAF unconstitutional following intense public indignation at allegations P10 billion in congressional pork barrel allocations went to ghost projects and kickbacks.

The President’s nationwide address comes amid continued criticism, warnings of impeachment and calls for an apology hurled at the administration over the high court’s decision voiding core activities of the DAP. Unspent funds, savings

The DAP was used to pool unspent funds and savings and allocate these for projects deemed priority. Among its recipients were projects recommended by senators.

There have been allegations that the DAP was used to bribe senators who voted against Chief Justice Renato Corona in his impeachment trial, but lawmakers denied this.

There have been calls for Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to resign, which the President has rejected. www.canadianinquirer.net

Critics have compared the DAP to the graft-ridden Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

PHOTO BY BENHUR ARCAYAN / RYAN LIM/ ROBERT VIÑAS / MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

Last week, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said the President should apologize should the Supreme Court reject the administration’s motion for reconsideration of the DAP ruling. Osmeña said the Palace’s call for senators to disclose where they allocated the DAP funds was a ploy to divert public attention.

Senate hearing

But despite the brickbats hurled at the administration, including threats to impeach the President, former Sen. Panfilo Lacson said over dzBB on Sunday that he believed Aquino would hurdle all of the challenges.

“I have no doubt that he will complete his term. We do not have any reason to compare him to the Arroyo administration,” said Lacson, the presidential assistant on rehabilitation and recovery for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Escudero said he would still push through with his Senate finance committee’s July 21 hearing on the DAP, which Abad had been summoned to attend.

He said on Sunday the President’s speech was more likely to focus on the broad picture, the context and the principles behind the DAP. The hearing, he said, was going to tackle the nitty-gritty, the details of the projects funded by the DAP. There was a need to distin-

guish which of the DAP funds were unconstitutional, Escudero said.

According to the Supreme Court, these were the funds that did not follow the definition of savings, the cross-border allocations, the DAP used for items in the budget and the DAP from unprogrammed funds not supported by a certification from the national treasury.

The DAP funds not sourced from these were not deemed invalid, Escudero noted.

Details on DAP sought

Escudero also believes there is no reason for the President to ban Abad from attending the Senate hearing.

He said the conditions for invoking executive privilege were not present, pointing out that the list of DAP projects had already been submitted to the court, though there was no breakdown per special allotment release order, which is what his committee wanted to know.

“Truth be told, it’s in their interest to explain and put an end to the discussions about the DAP and to be open about it,” Escudero added.

He said the questions about the DAP would surely be raised during the budget deliberations, so it would be better to get them out of the way early, he said. ■

Philippine News

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 8

Sandigan justice hits trial by publicity Publisher Alan Yong Editor Melissa Remulla-Briones editor@canadianinquirer.net Associate Editor Laarni de Paula laarni.liwanag@canadianinquirer.net Community News Editor Mary Ann Mandap maryann.mandap@canadianinquirer.net Correspondents Gigi Astudillo Angie Duarte Frances Grace Quiddaoen Ching Dee Socorro Newland Thessa Sandoval Bolet Arevalo Graphic Designer Victoria Yong Photographers Angelo Siglos Danvic Briones Solon Licas Operations and Marketing Head Laarni Liwanag (604) 551-3360 Advertising Sales Alice Yong (778) 889-3518 alice.yong@canadianinquirer.net Antonio Tampus (604) 460-9414 antonio.tampos@canadianinquirer.net PHILIPPINE PUBLISHING GROUP Editorial Assistant Phoebe Casin Graphic Designer Shanice Garcia Associate Publisher Lurisa Villanueva In cooperation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer digital edition Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at 400-13955 Bridgeport Rd., Richmond, BC V6V 1J6 Canada Tel. No.: 1-888-668-6059 or 778-8893518 | Email: info@canadianinquirer. net, inquirerinc@gmail.com, sales@ canadianinquirer.net Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly every Friday.

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Member

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer SANDIGANBAYAN Associate Justice Gregory Ong yesterday blasted the INQUIRER for its exclusive reports on his Supreme Court-ordered investigation for fixing a graft case involving Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno ordered the investigation in January and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, who carried out the probe, recommended that Ong be found guilty of gross misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety and be ordered dismissed.

Breaking his silence since the INQUIRER broke the investigation story last month, Ong, chair of the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division, issued a six-page statement saying the reports subjected him to “trial by publicity” and were published in “wanton violation” of his rights.

Ong also decried the release of the confidential investigative report of Gutierrez, which was submitted to the Supreme Court on May 15.

“I deplore in the strongest possible terms the untruthful and misleading reports on the matter coming out [of ] the Philippine Daily Inquirer,” Ong said.

Napoles’ ‘contact’

Gutierrez’s investigation found that Ong allowed himself to be Napoles’ “contact” in the Sandiganbayan and that he accepted money from her to acquit her, her husband, retired Army Maj. Jaime Napoles, and several ranking military officials in the P3.8-million Kevlar helmet case in 2010.

Gutierrez said Ong’s “serious transgressions impaired the image of the judiciary” to which he owed loyalty and had the “obligation to keep it at all times above suspicion and worthy of the people’s trust.”

She said the Supreme Court “will not hesitate to rid its ranks of undesirables.”

Citing court sources, the INQUIRER reported on Wednesday that Supreme Court justices were deliberating on the penalty to impose on Ong—whether dismissal or suspension—with 12 justices believing he was guilty.

(Two other justices, formerly of the Sandiganbayan, inhibited themselves from the decision.)

Preempting court ruling

That report angered Ong, who decried how it preempted a formal ruling from the Supreme Court.

“To date, the Supreme Court has not made any ruling on my case, which is still pending deliberation,” he said.

Ong cited the confidentiality of Su-

Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

preme Court deliberations, stressing that the proceedings “should not be presented to the public.”

He said the INQUIRER “unfairly and untruthfully” presented the information from the deliberations as “already the actual verdict or decision of the Supreme Court on the matter.” “[R]eports coming out [in] the INQUIRER are brazenly misleading the people and generating adverse reaction from the public … when, in truth and in fact, no such decision has been reached by the Supreme Court even up to this time,” Ong said.

He said Gutierrez’s investigation results were “only recommendatory” and the findings “cannot in any truthful way be equated to the factual findings and eventual disposition that the Supreme Court would make on my case.”

Ong also denounced the release of the 34-page report of Gutierrez, saying the release of such a confidential report was illegal.

“The disclosure or premature release of Justice Gutierrez’s report to the media and the public at large is patently illegal and is even considered a serious criminal offense,” Ong said, citing the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act. He invoked Section 3(k) of the law (Republic Act No. 3019), which brands as a corrupt practice the act of “divulging valuable information of a confidential character, acquired by [a public official’s] office or by him on account of his official position to unauthorized persons, or releasing such information in advance of its authorized release date.”

“Being private and confidential, that report should not have been released to just anyone, even to the media, and the

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INQUIRER should not have disseminated its contents to the public, as the same is intended only for the exclusive use of the Supreme Court,” Ong said.

He did not discuss the merits of the case, although saying “the urge for me to answer back” had become “almost unbearable.”

Ong said he deferred to the Supreme Court’s directive that “proceedings against justices of the Sandiganbayan shall be private and confidential.”

“Though I issue this statement, I stop short of attempting to refute such allegations and claims, as published by the INQUIRER, not because I am not willing or capable of refuting them, but because this is not the proper forum for me to do so,” he said, adding that court rules barred him from discussing the case.

Ong emphasized that the INQUIRER “clearly and knowingly violated” the judicial confidentiality rule.

Fairness and balance

He appealed to the media for fairness and balance and to await the final word from the Supreme Court.

“I … most respectfully request the media to be fair and balanced, to respect confidential judicial deliberations by not misrepresenting as ‘facts’ matters that have not been decided upon by the Supreme Court, to obey laws and rules protecting the confidentiality of certain processes and proceedings, to report only the truth and established facts, not mere surmises, rumors and speculations, and finally, to patiently wait, as I do, for the proceedings against me to rightfully conclude when a decision thereon is finally promulgated by the Supreme Court in due time,” Ong said. ■

Philippine News

9 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

President’s defense of DAP on national TV hailed, jeered

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Reactions to President Aquino’s nationally televised defense of his controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) Monday night followed partisan lines, with his allies hailing his blast against the Supreme Court and the opposition saying it would fuel impeachment moves against him.

Iligan Rep. Vicente Belmonte said he fully agreed with the President’s legal position on the DAP and that he believed that the high court’s decision was just a case of “sour grapes” against the President.

Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas said: “How can someone relying on a law like the Administrative Code be guilty of bad faith? It is his duty to prove good faith.”

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Bato-

cabe praised the President’s speech as “a simple and concise explanation” of the true nature of the DAP. “It is unfortunate that the political opposition has muddled the DAP and portrayed the same as a means to plunder the treasury, which is really farther from the truth as adequately explained by the President. The President also convincingly explained that he and his men were in good faith when they conceptualized the DAP because of an existing provision in the [Administrative] Code in that regard. This good faith is further translated in the numerous tangible programs funded by the DAP, which contributed immensely to our economic growth,” Batocabe said in a text message.

No different from Gloria

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, however, said the President’s speech had further

bolstered his group’s plan to file an impeachment case against the President.

“His ratings plunged because of the rise in prices of basic commodities like rice, garlic, meat, oil and electricity, and the DAP. As can be seen he failed miserably on both issues,” Colmenares said. “He is no different from President [Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo and he even justifies his wrongdoing. President Aquino has lost his credibility and he should be held to account by impeachment.”

ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said: “This is the height of President Aquino’s hubris.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that he usurped the congressional power of the purse through the DAP. In so publicly and brazenly repudiating the key arguments of the ruling, he seems intent on usurping the Supreme Court’s exclusive role as final arbiter on

www.canadianinquirer.net

“The DAP is good.

Our intentions, our processes, and the results were correct.

Bosses, I promise you: I will not allow your suffering to be prolonged, especially if we could do what we can as early as now.”

PHOTO BY BENHUR ARCAYAN / RYAN LIM/ ROBERT VIÑAS / MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

matters of law as well.”

Tinio said that with words and actions, the President had further poured more fuel to moves to impeach him.

“President Aquino’s defiance of the Supreme Court constitutes nothing less than what the Constitution refers to as betrayal of public trust, specifically a tyrannical abuse of power, a clear ground for impeach-

ment,” Tinio said.

“Ironically, the son and heir of the icons of the antidictatorship struggle, Ninoy and Cory, is acting like a full-fledged tyrant, having been found to have usurped congressional power and now challenging the authority of the Supreme Court,” he added. ❱❱ PAGE 14 President's defense

Philippine News

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 10

‘Jocards’ prey on philanderers in QC

BY ERIKA SAULER Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES— Here is a police warning to male philanderers: Beware of “Jocards.”

Supt. Limuel Obon, chief of the Quezon City Police District-Kamuning Station, issued the warning to men who might be looking for stolen pleasures in the Kamuning area.

“The Jocards prey on unwitting men and they are rampant on Aurora Boulevard,” Obon told the Inquirer in a recent interview.

“Jocard” is a police term for women who lure men to dingy apartelles supposedly for sexual services. While the men are taking a shower—before or after the sexual tryst—the women run off with their wallets.

‘Gentleman Jocard’

Three or four such cases have been reported in a week in the Kamuning area, according to the police.

Some policemen at Kamuning grinned when asked how the term “Jocard” came to be used. “It’s just a code we use,” one investigator said.

He speculated the term might have originated from the name “Joe Card,” referring to American soldiers who availed themselves of sexual services when the United States was still operating military bases in the Philippines.

A check on the Internet also revealed the story of an African slave who led a revolt, killed his master and became a pirate lord named “Gentleman Jo-

card” in the movie “Pirates of the Carribean.”

Women also victims

In the Kamuning cases, the victimized men—usually married—were not inclined to press charges, afraid that their sexual adventures—or misadventures—might be reported in the media, Obon said.

He said the police used to round up the women and detain them for vagrancy to stop their modus operandi.

But the police apparently can no longer do that because vagrancy has been decriminalized.

Women’s groups would also come to their rescue, maintaining that women in the sex industry are also victims, Obon said.

Maria or Jennifer

The police have also unsuccessfully asked barangay (village) officials to revoke the business permits of the apartelles used by the Jocards.

To help complainants identify the women who took their wallets, the police have set up a gallery of previously arrested women who never gave their real names to the police.

“It’s Maria today, Jennifer tomorrow,” Obon said.

Other police officers would just warn the men when they see them hooking up with a Jocard.

But the men would usually tell the police to back off, saying, “Don’t meddle here, I’m not committing any crime,” Obon said.

When they do come to seek police help after being victimized, chances are they’d get an “I told you so” answer. ■

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes (at right).

COMPOSITE: BULLIT MARQUEZ/AP AND RAFFY LERMA / INQUIRER.NET

Separate detention for JPE and Gigi

BY DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN AND JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer SEN. JUAN Ponce Enrile and his former chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes, will not be together in Camp Crame after all.

Reyes was transferred last night from the Sandiganbayan’s basement detention cell in Quezon City to the Bicutan Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City after the antigraft court’s Third Division denied for lack of merit her request to be detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

The 90-year-old Enrile, meanwhile, was allowed to remain at PNP General Hospital, also in Camp Crame, until the Sandiganbayan determines whether he should be detained in the hospital.

The two have been detained since July 3 when they voluntarily surrendered after the court issued warrants for plunder charges over their arrest on the alleged siphoning of P10 billion from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) into ghost projects and kickbacks.

Enrile turned himself in at the PNP Custodial Center, while Reyes surrendered to the Sandiganbayan.

The senator was immediately taken to PNP General Hospital when his blood pressure shot up. He has stayed in the hospital since then.

More checkups

The court ordered the Philipwww.canadianinquirer.net

pine General Hospital to conduct a medical checkup on Enrile and report “whether there is an imperative need for his continued confinement.”

The court authorized the PNP hospital administrator to decide whether Enrile needed to be temporarily brought to another hospital in case of an emergency, provided he is returned to Camp Crame.

The separate orders were announced shortly after 5 p.m., past the close of office hours yesterday. The orders were signed by Presiding Justice Amparo CabotajeTang, and Associate Justices Alex Quiroz and Samuel Martires.

The prosecution had objected to Enrile’s hospital detention, but not his confinement at the PNP Custodial Center.

In Reyes’ case, however, prosecutors objected to her detention at the PNP Custodial Center and asked the court to transfer her to the crowded Quezon City Jail.

Reyes had been detained at the Sandiganbayan facility while the court considered whether to transfer her to the Quezon City jail.

JV sees Enrile, not Jinggoy

Sen. JV Ejercito yesterday visited Enrile at Camp Crame.

He later told reporters he spent around 45 minutes with the Senate minority leader, who was then with his son, former CagayanRep. Jack Enrile, and Cagayan Gov. Alvaro Antonio, and talked about “politics in general.”

“I said, ‘ Manong, last year

there were six of us. Now with you and Senator Jinggoy detained, there are only four of us in the minority, and two have pending cases. But Manong, I want to be more active,’” Ejercito said.

He also asked Enrile’s advice about the minority members drafting a counterstatement to President Aquino’s upcoming State of the Nation Address.

“He said we should just concentrate on performance, economic numbers, so the true state of the country will be known,” Ejercito recalled.

He said Enrile was also concerned about the West Philippine Sea dispute with China and the development of his home province of Cagayan.

‘Very touching’

The younger Enrile was scheduled last night to leave for the United States and Europe on a two-month trip.

“They embraced. It was very touching, and of course, sad... I remember the time when I was also visiting [my father] former President Erap [when he was in jail]. When you have to leave behind your father, it’s painful,” Ejercito said.

He admitted that he was waiting for “the right time, when the situation has cooled down” to visit his half-brother Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who, along with Sen. Bong Revilla, is also detained at Camp Crame.

“It’s not a secret that even before Jinggoy surrendered, we already had misunderstandings and disagreements,” Ejercito said. ■

Philippine News

11 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

‘91% of DAP spent properly’ Palace: Did Abad steal the money? No

BY TJ BURGONIO AND CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA Philippine Daily Inquirer “DID SECRETARY Florencio ‘Butch’ Abad waste [Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP] money? No. Did he steal the money? No. [These are] very, very clear, categorical answers that neither acts happened. Did he personally gain from [DAP]?

No, as well,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

Malacañang yesterday cleared Budget Secretary Abad of any wrongdoing after his brainchild, the DAP, was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

“Ninety-one percent” of DAP funds had been spent properly by the executive branch.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Lacierda said on Wednesday.

But Lacierda apparently could not vouch for the remaining 9 percent of DAP funds—an estimated P12.8 billion—which were allocated for projects

identified by legislators.

Lacierda cited the ongoing Department of Justice investigation into allegations that five senators had channeled their respective allocations to fake foundations put up by Janet Lim-Napoles, the suspected mastermind of the pork barrel scam.

“That’s where the investigation is now focused,” he said.

When reports of the alleged DAP misuse by certain senators first came out in the INQUIRER last year, a number of them said they were not exactly aware that the additional funds offered by Malacañang had been sourced from DAP money.

Said Lacierda: “I really don’t know how it was expressed to the senators. It’s possible that they were not aware that it was a disbursement acceleration fund. It’s possible.”

“But the source of those funds were clearly from the Disbursement Acceleration Program,” he said.

The Palace was also confident that President Aquino

would survive the controversy generated by the DAP, which pooled government savings to supposedly expedite spending and improve the economy.

“Yes, no doubt,” Lacierda replied when asked about this in a press briefing.

Lacierda downplayed the plunder charges filed by several youth organizations against Abad, the chief architect of DAP who has been silent since the Supreme Court ruled against it last week.

“Secretary Butch Abad did not in any manner, shape or form gain funds from these programs,” Lacierda said.

Abad “systematically misappropriated, converted, misused and malversed public funds through his executive issuances and the programs implemented by him ... in connivance with other government officials,” according to the 16-page complaint filed

by Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon and other youth groups in the Office of the Ombudsman.

According to Ridon, the Pres-

ident was excluded from the plunder case only because of the immunity he enjoys until his term expires in 2016.

“The very fact that Aquino is coddling a criminal like Abad only proves that the two of them have connived to execute this multibillion monstrosity known as the DAP,” Ridon said on Tuesday.

Lacierda said the idea of Abad resigning as a result of the high court’s decision could be the subject of “a conversation between” him and the President.

As of yesterday, Abad had not addressed the unconstitutionality of his pet program. Lacierda said Abad was “doing OK” and was “just preoccupied” with preparations for next year’s proposed national budget.

Abad, however, found time to issue a five-paragraph press statement on the credit rating upgrade the Philippines received from Japan’s R&I. Lacierda said the executive branch would later release the list of projects funded through DAP, in-

cluding the “context” of spending.

Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV yesterday said he doubted President Aquino would resign over the DAP controversy, but expected him to come clean on this in his State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Worst that can happen

“That’s probably one of the worst things that can happen to our country if a President resigns where the reason is corruption cases,” the President’s cousin told reporters in the Senate.

Mr. Aquino has no reason to step down given that under his watch, individuals have been haled to court over the pork barrel scam and the economy has grown strong, the senator said.

“I don’t think that’s true. Secondly, that won’t happen because at the end of the day, these are happening because there is transparency, and the President is candid,” he said, reacting to a column by Ramon Tulfo in the INQUIRER that the President was thinking of resigning. ■

Who’s afraid of Grace-Chiz team in 2016? Not Binay

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer WHO’S AFRAID of a Poe-Escudero or an Escudero-Poe tandem in 2016?

“Let’s just see,” Vice President Jejomar Binay told reporters on Thursday, reacting to news reports of the possible candidacies and partnership of Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero in the 2016 presidential election.

Binay’s political coalition, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), is likewise unperturbed. “My advice always is do not mind your opponents,” said Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, who is also UNA secretary general.

Binay, who announced three years ago his plan to run for president in 2016, said everyone has a right to aim for the presidency.

Poe, a neophyte senator, hinted at a possible bid for higher office in tandem with Escudero

during a television interview with Karen Davila on Wednesday. She did not say whether she would run for president or vice president.

However, Poe later issued a statement that she had not made any plans regarding the matter.

that the people would be the judge. “And so why should we look at those who are running in 2016?” he added.

Strong tandem

Praying for strength

Interviewed over radio dwIZ on Thursday, Poe said she was praying to have the strength to choose what was right, even as she noted that she is surrounded by people who give her good advice.

If she would be considered for a position, that would be an honor, she said. Some people let such a thing get to their heads, and she does not want to reach that point, she added.

Binay said he had yet to pick a running mate after consulting with the people and that 2016 was “still too far away.” He was interviewed by reporters after addressing the Rotary Club of Manila at Alphaland City Club in Makati City.

PHOTO FROM 1PILIPINAS.COM

‘Constructive critic’

Tiangco said the UNA, which describes itself as a “constructive critic” of the Aquino administration, also found it too early to choose Binay’s partner.

The alliance, he said, was still open and willing to talk with anyone about it.

He said the running mate must be one with Binay in the programs he wanted to implement to better people’s lives.

Tiangco said the UNA was focused more on doing its duty in helping build the nation, noting that the election was “all about how well you performed” and www.canadianinquirer.net

Sen. JV Ejercito, who ran and won under the UNA in the 2013 senatorial election that Poe topped, said a Poe-Escudero tandem could bring another dimension to the forthcoming elections.

“That will be a very strong, formidable tandem considering they are both young. That would make the 2016 elections interesting,” Ejercito said at the Kapihan forum at the Senate on Thursday.

But the senator believes Binay still has the edge and could very well run away with the presidency.

“I’m not belittling the [Liberal Party] and of course coming from the UNA, I’m very confident that if elections were held tomorrow, we will be winning it … I am very confident in the UNA that at the rate we’re going, we will be winning the 2016 elections,” he said.

Too early

Asked for comment, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said it was too early to say who would be strong contenders. The matter would become clearer in one year, since surveys will be coming out in June 2015, he said.

He also said he expected Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to throw her hat in the ring.

“Whether she campaigns or not, I expect her to declare (her candidacy) because she’s already ending her second term and she always wants a say in the national debate,” he said.

Ejercito noted the electoral strength of Poe, citing results of a recent survey which showed the woman senator second to Binay among the top picks to be president.

“I would think that among the other [presidential hopefuls], even if she has not declared [she will run], she’s already second, she has a high rating. She’s a fresh face, she’s new. That’s a big factor. People right now, especially the youth, are looking for new faces,” he said. ■

Philippine News

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 12

‘Where did billions for Zambo go?’

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer THE HOUSE of Representatives will investigate the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its alleged failure to build homes for thousands of people in Zamboanga City displaced by three weeks of fighting between government forces and Moro insurgetns 10 months ago despite billions of pesos allocated by Congress to help them.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said yesterday the DSWD should take responsibility for “the appalling condition” of the internally displaced people in the evacuation centers built by the agency.

“The Aquino government should reassess its priorities.

It must be accountable for its continuing negligence in providing basic social services and immediate permanent housing for the people displaced by the fighting, Zarate said.

Zarate filed a resolution seeking a House committee on social services inquiry into the DSWD’s alleged mismanagement of the evacuation centers.

The inquiry would also look into what the government had done with the P14-billion supplemental fund for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of devastated areas due to natural

and man-made calamities, including the Zamboanga fighting, allocated by Congress last year.

Zarate said that despite the allocation (as well as the P20 billion Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program Fund, P13 billion from the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Fund and a standby P80 billion unprogrammed fund for reconstruction and rehabilitation earmarked by Congress this year), the evacuees still had no permanent homes and lacked food, medical and financial support and livelihood.

He estimated that 23,794 families, or 118,819 people, were displaced by Moro Islamic

Liberation Front (MNLF) chair Nur Misuari’s thwarted attempt to control Zamboanga City, and said that they had suffered for 10 months due to the DSWD’s “gross inefficiency.”

In a report released last week, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), a private group based in Switzerland, said: “Almost all (the displaced) belong to Muslim groups, including indigenous groups, who represent a minority in the largely Christian city. Some 38,000 people are reported to be living with host families in the city, while some 26,000 men, women and children remain in camps and oth-

er temporary structures.”

Zarate said at least 138 people had died since September last year, including 3-yearold Ferji Usman, a Badjao boy at the Cawa-Cawa evacuation center.

Usman died from malnutrition on June 21, he said.

Another boy, who was 12 years old, died of tuberculosis on March 23, Zarate said.

Sexual abuse in centers

Aside from ailments caused by the unsanitary condition in the evacuation centers, Zarate said there had been reports of rape and sexual abuse of minors that were ignored by authorities.

“The Aquino administration

should be made to pay for the deaths of these innocent people [because of ] its failure to provide basic social services such as clean water, livable homes and relocation sites with job opportunities,” he said.

We have witnessed that the [displaced] have not been allowed to return to their previous homes due to the government’s no-build zone policy, as demanded by big businessmen,” he said.

The IDMC said the “building back better” reconstruction and rehabilitation plan adopted by President Aquino last December that was started to be implemented only in May was the “main obstacle” in solving the Zamboanga situation, which it described as reaching “critical levels.”

“The plan is largely focused on physical reconstruction but neglects issues of economic recovery and compensation for lost property. [The displaced] have been told that they cannot return before it is finalized. The plan is also seen as unrepresentative at best and discriminatory (against informal settlers) at worst. While nearly 10,000 homes were almost totally destroyed, the government plans to build only 5,581 new houses and support 1,661 families [in rebuilding] their homes—leaving a shortfall of some 30 percent left to go without,” it said. ■

3-year-old kid wakes up during her funeral in Zamboanga

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—As if out of a movie, a 3-year-old girl reportedly “moved her head and fingers” while a priest was giving the last sacrament—during her funeral.

The young girl suffered from bronchial pneumonia and passed away on July 10.

On Saturday, July 12, during her funeral at the local church, mourners allegedly saw the girl move. Her father then opened the coffin and carried her, as shown on the video. He then brought her to a nearby hospital, where doctors said the girl didn’t have a “pulse and was dead.”

Inspector Heidil Teelan said

in an interview with the local news that “During that time, the attending clinic personnel and physician confirmed that the young patient had no more pulse and was clinically dead last Saturday morning about 9am.”

Fr. Nilo Tabaña of San Isidro Parish Church said he could not advise the family to bring the girl home because there were a lot of people in the church at the time.

Despite the medical professional’s findings, the parents decided to bring their child home and give her milk. They also consulted a local healer (‘albularyo’), who said the girl has a pulse and therefore should not be buried.

“We really can not make confirmation on the status of the

girl but based on the observation of the police personnel I deployed it appeared the girl remained in a state of comatose in their house,” Teelan said.

On July 14, Zamboanga del Sur municipal health officer Mary Silyne Cabahug attached a cardiac monitor to the young girl to show the parents that their child had no pulse.

“The baby has no heartbeat.

Flatline. The baby has no life,” Cabahug said.

The family is planning to follow the doctors’ orders to bury the girl, since her body has started to decompose. ■ With reports from ABS-CBN Regional News Group and Mirror UK. Video courtesy of ishareyoushareweshare on Youtube. www.canadianinquirer.net

The young girl suffered from bronchial pneumonia and passed away on July 10.

VIDEO GRAB FROM YOUTUBE.COM

13 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

Medical tests on Gigi Reyes done, all results out by Thursday—BJMP

PHOTO FROM GMANETWORK.COM

BY ERIKA SAULER Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES— Medical tests on Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes at the Philippine Heart Center were expected to have been finished Monday but the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology will have to wait for the doctor’s advice regarding her transfer.

Reyes, former chief of staff of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and co-accused in graft and plunder charges over the P10-billion pork barrel scam, underwent a nuclear heart scan and blood test to check thyroid function on Monday.

Inspector Aris Villanueva, the BJMP spokesperson, said results of all the tests would be released by the hospital in a consolidated report not later

than Thursday.

The nuclear test or myocardial perfusion imaging is a noninvasive evaluation of a coronary artery disease. Its result will be known in 30 minutes to 1

hour while the thyroid function test will take longer, according to Villaester.

However, “the doctors will have to do an analysis so the consolidated report will be re-

DAP critics...

The DAP was introduced by the Aquino administration in 2011 behind the glare of media purportedly to pump-prime the economy after its straight path policy resulted in a slowdown of government infrastructure spending amid a review of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s alleged corruptiontainted projects.

The disclosure in September last year by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada that senators who voted to convict Chief Justice Renato Corona in May 2012 received “incentives” of from P50 million to P100 million in additional allocations under the PDAF prompted Abad to reveal the existence of the DAP. On July 1, the Supreme Court struck down the DAP. It earlier also declared PDAF, the congressional pork barrel, uncon❰❰ 3

leased late Tuesday or Thursday at the latest,” he said over the phone.

Reyes was supposed to be detained at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. She was brought to the TaguigPateros District Hospital after allegedly experiencing a panic attack.

Reyes was moved to the Philippine Heart Center because the district hospital lacked the equipment for the needed tests.

Asked if Reyes would be returned to TPDH after the tests at the Heart Center, Villaester said the BJMP would have to wait for a clearance from her doctor.

“Her doctor is the authority on her health. That is not included in our mandate. We can only transfer her by virtue of the doctor’s advice,” Villaester said. ■

stitutional amid public outrage over its alleged diversion to ghost projects and kickbacks.

Estrada, along with Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Bong Revilla, is under detention on plunder charges in connection with the PDAF scam.

Prepare apology

Osmeña said yesterday Mr. Aquino should prepare his apology for the DAP fiasco and give an explanation in his forthcoming Sona.

“Right now, the case is going to be the subject of a motion for reconsideration.

If the Supreme Court upholds its earlier decision— and remember, that was a 13-0 vote— then yes, he should apologize,” Osmeña told reporters in an interview.

“Just imitate Gloria,” he said, mimicking the former President saying “I am sorry” following the “Hello Garci” election scandal in 2005. ■

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Philippine News

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 14

Japan won’t start war, says consul

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer JAPAN HAS no intention of waging war under its new security policy that will see its military defend the country and its allies if they are under attack.

Tetsuro Amano, Japanese deputy chief of mission and consul general in Manila, gave that assurance following the reinterpretation by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan’s pacifist Constitution that expanded the role of the Japanese military.

Last week, Japan’s Cabinet approved a resolution that allowed the country to exercise its right to collective self-defense, a move that has given a broader role for the Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

In essence, the resolution allows the SDF to help allies like the Philippines and the United States even if Japan itself is not under attack. It came amid tensions between Japan and China over a territorial dispute in the East China Sea, where both countries claim a group of uninhabited islands called Senkakus by the Japanese and Diaoyus by the Chinese.

“We do not want to wage any war,” Amano said, stressing that Tokyo actually aims to help keep the peace in the region under its new security policy.

Philippine support

In a talk with the INQUIRER last week, Amano was thankful to the Aquino administration’s continued statements of support for Japan’s new security policy. It was during Abe’s meeting with President Aquino in Tokyo last week that the Japanese government announced the new security policy.

Malacañang said it would support any action that would move toward promoting peace in the region. The Department of Foreign Affairs described Tokyo’s new security policy as a “step in the right direction.”

Amano noted that Mr. Aquino pushed for Japan’s bid to reinterpret its American-drafted Constitution during his meeting with Abe. Mr. Aquino said the Philippines was not alarmed by Abe’s bid to revisit Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution, which bans the right to collective self-defense.

Sandiganbayan orders jewelry seizure; nixes Imelda’s motion for reconsideration

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

A reinterpretation would allow Tokyo to fulfill its international obligations and Manila would benefit as well, he said.

“This is a big contribution to international society and regional stability, especially in the Asian region,” Amano said.

“We are ready to expand our contribution to international society in order to keep stability in the region by use of our self-defense force.”

Japan has a military force of 200,000, according to Amano.

He said the Japanese forces had been limited to responding to disasters, relief and peacekeeping operations.

International links

The implementation of the new security policy also comes at a time when “Japan’s society is very connected to international society,” Amano said.

He said, however, that Tokyo still had to iron out details of the implementation of the new policy.

Once fully defined, the plan will be presented to the Diet (Japan’s parliament) for discussion, Amano said.

He said he did not know how soon the new security policy could be implemented, but expressed hope that it could be done within the year.

Amano said “current established regulations” would also be amended in order to implement the new security policy.

In 1947, two years after World War II ended, Japan wrote a new Constitution under the direction of the United States.

The Constitution states that the Japanese people “forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation.”

That clause was written in to prevent a repeat of Japan’s invasion and occupation of many countries in Asia, including the Philippines, during the war Abe, the first Japanese pre-

mier born after the war, pressed for an amendment, citing a deteriorating security environment, notably China’s aggressive rise as military power and the nuclear threat from North Korea.

More visitors

But as Japan expands its military role in the region, it is also opening up to more tourists and foreign workers and among the expected beneficiaries will be Filipinos.

Amano said Japan would relax its tourist visa procedures, specifically for multiple-entry and onetime visit visas. Tokyo officials are looking into the proposal to expand the duration of stay under these two type of visas, he said.

The current three-year stay under the multi-entry visa would be expanded to five years under the proposal, Amano said. For the one-time visit visa, the current 15-day stay would be extended to 30 days, he said.

There is also a proposal to simplify the visa procedures for visitors on package tours by dropping the birth certificate requirement, he said.

Amano said the changes were being worked out and the Japanese Embassy in Manila was waiting for instructions from Tokyo.

The new visa regulations will benefit both the Philippines and Vietnam, he said, adding that the changes signal Japan’s move toward a no-visa requirement for foreign visitors.

“This is a critical milestone toward visa cancellation, a step toward no visa, maybe in the near future,” he said.

Amano said Japan was preparing for the no-visa policy by stepping up its campaign against human trafficking. “[I] f we open up with a visa-free [policy], this might be used [by human traffickers]. So we need to make some preparations,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—The Sandiganbayan threw out the motion for reconsideration filed by former first lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos and her daughter Irene Marcos-Araneta against the order to seize the Malacañang jewelry collection.

In a decision set forth on June 11, the anti-graft court stated: “A perusal of the respondents-movants’ motions for reconsideration will show that the arguments set forth therein are a mere rehash or reiteration of the arguments contained in

Imelda Marcos.

their comments and opposition to the Republic’s motion for partial summary judgment, which the Court had already judiciously considered and thoroughly passed upon in the challenged partial Summary Judgment, dated Jan. 13, 2014.”

The jewelry collection, estimated to be worth millions of pesos, was ordered seized by the Sandiganbayan on Jan. 13, under Civil Case No. 0141, as part of the “illgotten wealth” of the Marcoses.

In 1991, the Malacañang collection was appraised at between $110,055 and $153,089. It is the least valuable among the collections thus far seized by authorities. ■

PHOTO FROM EN.WIKICOLLECTING.ORG

President’s defense... ❰❰ 9

Noble objectives

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said he was satisfied with the President’s speech. “It was very clear that they have legal basis and noble objectives when they implemented the DAP. He was also able to enumerate some of the gains brought about by the DAP,” he said.

He said he would now wait for the fulfillment of the President’s promise to provide details of how the DAP funds were spent.

This would help the public know if the funds were stolen or not, he added.

Sen. Sonny Angara said: “I think he merely reiterated his previous stand regarding the DAP and sought to ‘laymanize’

the Supreme Court decision for the consumption of the larger public who may not have had the chance to read the court decision.”

“I am sure the people do not believe P-Noy stole or pocketed the money. Events of the past few years, however, resulted in a jaded and cynical public looking for accountability and transparency and all public officials must heed this call and comply,” he said.

Sen. JV Ejercito said the President showed “arrogance.”

“P-Noy should respect the checks and balances being provided by the Supreme Court as mandated by our Constitution instead of questioning it and defending technical malversation,” Ejercito said. ■

Philippine News

15 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

DILG unearths dirty trick of rice hoarders

BY JULIE M. AURELIO AND TONETTE OREJAS Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government on Monday disclosed a new modus operandi of rice hoarders as it inspected a warehouse in Malolos City, Bulacan province.

The dirty trick: mixing rice imported from Thailand with broken rice intended for animal feed and selling it as premium Sinandomeng rice.

The duplicity was discovered as Interior Secretary Mar Roxas was inspecting the Purefeeds Corp. warehouse at First Industrial Center in Barangay Tikay, Malolos City.

“The broken rice residue intended for animal feeds came from Vietnam and was being mixed with the Blue Diamond rice imported from Thailand, and then repacked and being sold as ‘Golden Bee’ premium Sinandomeng rice,” Roxas said in a statement.

The inspection team was made up of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Bulacan local officials and representatives of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the National Food Authority (NFA) and the Bureau of Customs.

Roxas said the owner of Purefeeds Corp., a certain Jomerito Soliman, could be charged with violation of Philippine trade laws.

Operations of the rice mill will be temporarily suspended as charges are being readied against the warehouse owner.

During the inspection, 32,000 sacks of assorted broken rice intended for animal feed and regular rice imported from Thailand were discovered in the warehouse.

Senior Supt. Ferdinand Divina, Bulacan police acting director, said two trucks loaded with 900 sacks of the adulterated or mixed rice were prevented

from leaving the warehouse.

Farmers, leaders of cooperatives, traders and provincial officials of the NFA have been summoned to an administrative hearing that began on Monday, Pangilinan said.

Elvira Obaña, provincial manager of NFA Pampanga, confirmed that Jomarro, the retailer in question in the Marilao raid, “obtained” 1,500 bags of NFA rice through the FAIR Purchase Program.

Investigators said around 1,000 bags of NFA rice being repacked into commercial sacks and part of the 5,000 bags stocked in the same warehouse supposedly came from NFA Bulacan.

“As of [July 7], generally all our issuances are imported [rice]. [Stocks of ] local rice [had run out] as of June 30,” he said.

No data was immediately available on how many cavans the NFA bought from local farmers this year or in 2013.

There are 1,065 accredited retailers in Central Luzon as of July 3, De Guzman said.

Aurora province has 101 retailers who are allotted 40 to 70 bags weekly; Bataan province, 67 retailers allotted 20 to 120 bags weekly; Bulacan, 218 retailers, 30 to 50 bags; Nueva Ecija province, 209 retailers, 45 to 60 bags; Pampanga, 193 retailers, 50 to 100 bags; Tarlac province, 190 retailers, 70 bags; Zambales province, 87 retailers, 35 bags.

In the Pampanga capital of San Fernando, four owners, who own accredited rice outlets, said their weekly allocations were limited to 25 bags a week.

“Buyers are always angry at us because we always run out of supply, and we could sell only 5 kg per buyer. That’s NFA’s order,” an owner told the INQUIRER. All four declined to be named for fear that their licenses would not be renewed.

Obaña said the allocation had been doubled in Pampanga starting Monday “to lower the price of commercial rice.”

She said traders were required to pick up stocks twice weekly to “avoid diversion and overprice of rice.”

Program suspended

One-strike policy

18th raid

The raid at the Purefeeds warehouse was the 18th to be conducted by the CIDG and the NFA. Of the 18 warehouses raided, four were found to be engaged in illicit trading of rice.

Under Republic Act No. 7581 or the Price Act, the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies are tasked with inspecting warehouses for possible hoarding and diversion of NFA rice.

NFA Administrator Arthur Juan, meanwhile, said the agency would investigate why the two trucks at the Purefeeds warehouse bore the NFA logo and license number.

The CIDG chief, Director Benjamin Magalong, said the series of operations against rice hoarding had yielded 275,000 rice sacks found in warehouses, 80,000 of which were found to be in violation of antihoarding laws.

“We have been inspecting for four days warehouses in Manila, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Isabela and other provinces,” he said in a radio interview.

FAIR to be reviewed

In the wake of the illegal practice of certain traders repacking NFA rice and passing it off as commercial grain for resale at a higher price, Presidential Adviser on Food Security Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said the government would review the Farmers Incentive Rice (FAIR) Purchase Program.

The review comes as the NFA started imposing a one-strike policy in which a trader’s license to sell NFA rice would be canceled if he diverted the sale of the government rice or overpriced it.

The government on Sunday raided 12 warehouses in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon and seized more than 170,000 sacks of NFA rice be-

The duplicity was discovered as Interior Secretary Mar Roxas was inspecting the Purefeeds Corp. warehouse at First Industrial Center in Barangay Tikay, Malolos City.

PHOTO FROM SOLARNEWS.PH

lieved to be hoarded.

On Thursday, the police and NFA personnel also seized 1,200 sacks of NFA rice that were being repacked in a warehouse in Marilao town in Bulacan.

Pangilinan said the raids, part of the campaign to prosecute profiteers and dealers hoarding commodities, would be expanded to the Visayas and Mindanao.

The NFA has been implementing the FAIR Purchase Program since 1989, according to Pangilinan.

“Farmers who sell [locally grown palay] to the NFA is given 25 percent of the volume as an incentive [under the FAIR program]. The farmers, in turn, could sell the 25-percent incentive to members of his or her cooperative or he or she can retail [it], provided he or she is a licensed retailer,” the presidential adviser said in a text message.

The 1,200 cavans (a cavan is equivalent to a sack or bag of 50 kilograms of rice) of NFA rice on two 10-wheel trucks found in a warehouse in Marilao, Bulacan, came from the NFA in Pampanga province, police told reporters.

The CIDG filed a criminal case on Friday against the retailer, warehouse owners and

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workers for violation of the Price Act following the Marilao raid.

Hearing

But the FAIR Purchase Program has been suspended on Monday because the supply of locally grown rice has run out, said Amado de Guzman, NFA director in Central Luzon region.

“FAIR was being implemented regionwide at the time of the raid. The NFA suspended its implementation at present,” he said.

It was Obaña who disclosed that the new NFA administrator had imposed the one-strike policy on unscrupulous traders.

De Guzman said Central Luzon, as of June, had a rice stock of 6,805,300 bags.

These, he said, would last for 96 days at a consumption rate of 71,140 bags daily. About 10 million people live in the region’s seven provinces. ■

Opinion

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 16

THERE’S THE RUB

Fallout

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer HOPING against hope, I had hoped something like this would happen at the State of the Nation Address (Sona). P-Noy needed to say something dramatic to offset the impact of the Supreme Court ruling on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), and he would. Toward the end of it, he would show some humility and express a willingness to bow down to the will of the Supreme Court. Its ruling was unanimous after all, which showed how fairly clear and inescapable the call of conscience went. The justices themselves had to bow down to it. So did the President.

Then at the very end of it, he would announce that Butch Abad had resigned.

He would praise him to high heavens for it. He would submit to the fact that the DAP was unconstitutional, as decreed by the Court, but submit as well that Abad truly did it in good faith, believing that it would do the things he promised it would. He knew Abad well and personally believed in him. Without prejudging his liability in whatever abuse might have proceeded from DAP, he was confident in his innocence. But he would rise above his personal preju-

dices, he would be president to the many and not just to the few.

He would accept that resignation.

Well, that won’t happen. He won’t say those things, he did not accept Abad’s resignation.

He won’t make things better.

I don’t know if Malacañang truly appreciates the implications of P-Noy’s rejection of Abad’s resignation. Those implications are legion, none of them good.

First off, it rattles the credibility of government with the force of a 7-magnitude earthquake. Not least the credibility of Abad’s resignation itself. As the reactions of the past several days show, they are one of widespread disbelief, if not cynicism, several people calling it a moro-moro. Toby Tiangco, for one, does, calling it bad script, bad acting, and bad taste. If Abad had really wanted to resign, he said, he would have made it irrevocable.

He can’t be blamed for saying so.

Only recently we had a government official who resigned—or was forced to—and she made it irrevocable. Who was Margie Juico. Juico was only the victim of the intrigues of the people who now find themselves in hot water, she was not guilty of committing a wrong, as Abad has been deemed so by the Supreme Court. Yet she never thought twice about pleading her case. She never

thought twice about clinging to her position. She resigned, immediately, spontaneously, irrevocably. That is buo ang loob, that is resolve, that is class.

Secondly, it blunts the whole impact of the jailing of Senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile.

That would have been a high point of the Sona, if not the apex of it. For the first time since the War, a Philippine government has had the wit and will to jail not one but three senators for corruption. Of course they remain to be convicted by a court of law for what they have done, but

I don’t know if Malacañang truly appreciates the implications of P-Noy’s rejection of Abad’s resignation. Those implications are legion, none of them good. that was a good beginning, that promised the dawning of a new day.

What happens to all that now? How can P-Noy mention that in the Sona, let alone make a big deal of it, without inviting a storm of protest, without provoking hisses and catcalls? It puts into question the nature of the presidential resolve. “You have no problems jailing three senators, but you have a problem merely accepting the

resignation of one of your own?” Abad does not merit jailing—until such time as the Ombudsman can show corruption on his part. But he deserves to resign: He knowingly authored something unconstitutional. “You not only cannot find wrong with him, you find only right with him?”

It may not increase P-Noy’s political vulnerability to impeachment— he has the numbers—but it increases his moral vulnerability to it. Not accepting Abad’s resignation removes the buffers or fail-safes to the presidency. It conveys the message that the President was in it all along, he was party to the plot, he gave it his full blessings from start to finish.

And thirdly, it wrecks the whole concept of accountability in government. Being accountable has been one of the things the current administration has been proudest about, contrasting itself with the previous one which considered itself above accounting to anyone. But you start saying things like, “I cannot accept the notion that doing right by our people is a wrong,” and you bring that accountability into question.

Put baldly, it’s just saying, “I cannot accept the Supreme Court interpretation of the DAP.” Or it’s just saying, “I cannot accept the Supreme Court ruling on the

DAP.” Or it’s just saying, “The Supreme Court is wrong and I am right.” Or it’s just saying, “I am the ultimate arbiter of what is wrong and what is right.” Or it’s just saying, “I have the right to veto the Supreme Court when I think it is wrong.”

Or, a la Romy Neri, “Let me be the judge of that.” Take your pick, but not one of that can make you feel very comfortable about the state of democracy.

Being personally honest and trustworthy is not an entitlement to it.

Of course the President can always say, “In the end, I will be accountable only to my Boss, who is the people.”

But unfortunately in a democracy, the people manifest their voice through the judiciary too, through the courts too, through the Supreme Court too.

You start disregarding those institutions, you start imagining the people speak directly to you, and you sow the seeds of discontent. You know what they say: You talk to God in your quiet moments, and it is called prayer. God talks to you in your fitful moments, and you should seek help. What is true of God is true of the Boss as well.

Things like “I will be accountable only to my Boss” sound very nice, but in the end they really mean only one thing: “I will be accountable only to myself.”

That’s an engraved invitation to a fallout. ■

many state institutions are still hobbled by corruption.

“There are five reasons why Indonesia’s presidential election matters,” Kate Lamb wrote in the UK Guardian.

First: Indonesia is a megademocracy. This is the first time power will be handed from one directly elected president to another.

Second: Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy. By 2030, it will have 90 million more consumers.

Only China and India outstrip that.

However, 32 million Indonesians still live below the poverty line. Corruption and infrastructure bottlenecks cripple economic potential.

Former president Suharto is believed to have “diverted” $35 billion—triple what the Marcoses ripped off here.

The country’s anticorruption body, the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, has made gains. It shoved Akil Mochtar, the former head of the constitutional court, behind bars for life for pocketing bribes. (Didn’t Filipinos do that to a chief justice too?)

Third: It is a dynamic democratic society. Its transition contrasts with coup-marred Thailand now confronted by a once-towering king, now gravely ill. A quasi one party rule in Malaysia still festers.

Fourth: Indonesia has a “moderate

Islam.” There are around 216 million Muslims in Indonesia, more than in the whole of the Arab world. Indonesia is often compared to Turkey as an example of the compatibility of democracy and Islam.

In recent years, Jakarta has worked hard to cripple extremist groups, such as those behind the 2002 Bali bombings. Indonesia’s constitution protects religious freedom.

But under Yudhoyono—whose coalition includes Islamic-based parties— religious intolerance against Christians, Shia Muslims and Ahmadis has been on the rise.

Fifth: If Jokowi clears the legal spanners, his greatest challenge will be to forge national unity, to enable the country to discharge fully its role on the global stage. Indonesia needs a leader who can unify one of the world’s most diverse nations. Indonesia has held together since its foundation in 1945. In a globalized world beset by schisms and breakups, Indonesia could leave behind a bitter campaign where leading candidates wove a nationalist thread to their rhetoric.

The world will face a more assertive, determined Indonesia after the elections of July 9. And the Philippines and the region will be better off for that. ■

VIEWPOINT

The deeper stake

By Juan L. Mercado Philippine Daily Inquirer MANY of us are fixated by the “wheelchair syndrome” that causes those involved in the Priority Development Assistance Fund to seek hospital refuge. But Filipinos have a deeper stake in the election count unreeling in Indonesia.

Jakarta Gov. Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is on track to become Indonesia’s seventh president. Exit polls, by eight reputable companies, show the same trend: Widodo got 52 percent of the vote, challenger ex-general Prabowo Subianto, 48 percent. Tarred by human rights violations, Subianto refuses to concede.

Quick counts, since 2009, accurately forecast results of regional and national elections, Associated Press reports. This election, 12 organizations did quick counts; eight, with established track records, report Widodo’s lead at 4-5 percent.

The other four have it for Subianto.

“Two of those projecting a Subianto win were… TV stations openly supporting his bid.” Tension is rising, the New York Times reports.

An estimated 187 million Indonesians voted in 17,000 islands across three time zones Wednesday. It’s

the first election to see power transferred from one directly elected leader to another in what was once a dictatorship.

The Elections Commission will release the final tally on July 22. The outcome will define the thrust and direction, over the next generation, for a 250 million-strong country. Half the population is under 29 years of age.

Why should that matter to Filipinos?

There are 9,844 Filipinos in Indonesia, government headcounts say.

That doesn’t tally the “illegals”—who shove the figure to 15,000. In contrast, one out of five overseas Filipino workers are in Saudi Arabia. Other destinations are United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Qatar. Laborers and unskilled workers comprise the largest group at 31 percent.

Filipinos in Indonesia are mostly professionals and cluster in finance, banking and education. They see themselves as “architects of business,” Rappler’s Ayee Macaraig writes. “They’re a key part of the success story of the world’s fourth most populous country.”

Former SGV accountant Rodolfo Balmater heads his own Jakarta-based business consulting company. Accountant-turned-investment officer Thelma Victorio has been in Jakarta for 26

years. Tita Thiel “helped in Jakarta’s pioneering broadcasting industry.”

In Indonesia’s shoe industry, most executives are graduates of Rubber World Philippines. They design the shoes: New Balance, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, etc. If you see an ordinary Englishspeaking Indonesian kid in the mall, chances are, his teacher is Filipino.

As founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Indonesia and the Philippines work closely together. The most contentious have been issues like advocating for a Code of Conduct on the South

Filipinos in Indonesia are mostly professionals and cluster in finance, banking and education. They see themselves as ‘architects of business’.

China Sea. The two countries’ recent boundary treaty is hailed as a “model for maritime dispute resolution.”

Subianto could contest an adverse vote report in the constitutional court. If heard, the decision must be issued before Aug. 24.

Business, military and political elite invested millions to back Subianto. They’re digging in their heels against concession on the basis of quick counts in a setting where

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Opinion

17 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

AS I SEE IT

State of the nation: rotten to the core

By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer President Aquino will address the people today (Monday), via national television, starting at 6 p.m., according to Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, from Malacañang. He is expected to explain the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

On July 28, the President will deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address. I think the people already know the real state of the nation: it is rotten to the core. For years, almost all government officials—from presidents to members of Congress to members of the Cabinet and their subordinates, to the local government officials down to the barangay captains—have been feasting on the people’s money like predators feasting on the carcass of their hapless prey.

The next president has his work cut out for him: Reform the bureaucracy so that the thievery that has been going on for years will not be repeated.

I think all the branches of government—the executive, legislative and judiciary—and the constitutional institutions are guilty of outright kleptocracy, tolerance of it and massive neglect. What are their sins?

The executive: It commits the original sin by including in the budget it sends to Congress appropriations meant to be stolen. For example: It knows that pork barrel funds are being stolen by senators and congressmen. All it has to do to stop the theft is not to include any appropriation for the pork barrel in its budget.

But year after year, the Department of Budget and Management appropriates funds for the pork barrel.

Why? Because the president can use it to bribe legislators. The pork barrel funds of cooperative lawmakers are released promptly; those of uncooperative ones are delayed or not released at all. The pork serves as a carrot-and-stick clamp.

The DAP was invented by Budget Secretary Florencio Abad to bribe senators to convict impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Cabinet members were either in cahoots with the pork barrel thieves or woefully negligent. We have seen

how easy it was to concoct fake nongovernment organizations (NGOs), foundations and cooperatives, which the executive department was supposed to check. All that Janet Lim Napoles had to do was make a list of bogus NGOs, have the pork barrel funds of legislators assigned to these NGOs, give commissions to govern-

The next president has his work cut out for him: Reform the bureaucracy so that the thievery that has been going on for years will not be repeated.

ment officials along the way, give half of the pork allocation to the legislators, and she would be laughing all the way with almost half of the loot to the banks.

The legislative: The biggest thieves are in Congress, stealing hundreds of millions of pesos every year. The

job of legislators is to legislate, but they insist on doing the work of the executive by initiating public works and other projects and funding these with their pork . Why do they do it?

Because they steal about a third or half of the appropriation for the projects which they give to their favorite contractors.

Local government officials are not left behind. Councilors have their own pork barrels. Quezon City councilors have, at last count, at least P4 million each every year. Recently, the board of a Luzon province gave expensive cars to each of its barangay captains, courtesy of the people’s money.

The judiciary: Because of the extremely slow administration of justice, the judiciary abets crime and corruption.

Even when a criminal is caught and charged in court, the trial is so slow that being caught and tried does not scare criminals. The average trial of a criminal case takes decades. The trial of Imelda Marcos is now four decades old and still there’s no end in sight. This has emboldened her to dream of returning to her old glory in Malacañang.

The Supreme Court can hasten the wheels of justice but it is doing nothing. On the contrary, it is often the cause of the delay. Even an application for a temporary restraining order (TRO) takes years for it to decide. And when it gives a TRO, it is “indefinite,” there is no deadline.

The maximum life span of a TRO it has allowed the lower courts to issue is 60 days. If you get a TRO from the high tribunal, it is almost as if you are acquitted.

The constitutional commissions: The Commission on Audit (COA) shares part of the blame for the spread of corruption. By shifting to a “post-audit” scheme, it has abetted corruption.

“Post-audit” means auditing an office’s finances after the money has been spent. Even if it finds something wrong, the money is gone. Even when it orders the culprit to return the money, he either will not or cannot do it because he has spent the money.

In the pre-audit system, the finances are audited before the fund is released. Thus any wrongdoing can be stopped before it is committed. The COA should go back to preauditing. ■

seem more confident of surviving a war than of surviving back home, where only uncertainty awaits them.

Some have said they prefer to stay put, hold on to their jobs and sources of income, rather than take the risk of coming home only to face joblessness and long-term insecurity. Better the bombs they know than the unsure future.

As it has done in other international crises, DOLE and other agencies entice workers in trouble spots to come home with the promise of “re-employment” programs, offering training in alternative livelihoods or entrepreneurial skills. But if such programs had proven successful, would word not have spread among OFWs, convincing those in hot spots to take the risk and head home?

Of course, it could very well be a case of complacency among OFWs, or of desperation, with people who have lost hope in the Motherland (the reason they left the country in the first place) choosing instead a risky existence in a place where they have found gainful employment. We have a term for it: “kapit sa patalim,” holding on to a knife’s edge, fully aware of the risk of injury, but hoping all the same for a better—or tolerable—outcome. *** But still, it would not surprise me

if, in the coming days or weeks, we should start seeing photos or footage of Filipinos in Libya, Iraq, Gaza and other hot spots like Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan besieging Philippine embassies and diplomatic outposts as the conflicts escalate and they start feeling the heat.

By then, the situation would have moved from alerts and warnings to desperation and calls for “action” from government representatives. It isn’t too far from the situation here when typhoons strike, and residents who had earlier ignored warnings of floods and the need to evacuate to safer areas start clamoring to be rescued, with much danger to their safety, as well as their rescuers.

A provincial official, interviewed on radio in the course of a typhoon, admitted she felt inclined not to come to these stranded residents’ rescue as they had plenty of time to flee the danger areas and had now put provincial employees, including police and other rescuers, at greater risk.

Of course, such talk is politically risky. More so if we’re talking about our new heroes abroad risking alienation, loneliness and their very lives just to be able to send home muchneeded money to their families. But still, there are limits to good intentions and to patience as well. ■

AT LARGE

‘Kapit sa patalim’

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer A TEST of leadership is the ability to rise above one’s personal interests and push forward measures for the greater good—even if it may run counter to one’s preferences or selfinterest.

Such a situation now confronts PNoy, with the Department of Justice recently supporting the signing into law, by the President, of the Graphic Health Warnings bill passed by Congress last month.

Malacañang had asked the DOJ for an opinion on the soundness of the measure, which would replace mere written warnings on the dangers of smoking in cigarette packs with more “graphic” means, such as photographs showing the health consequences of smoking. Earlier, the Department of Health and other health groups had pushed for the passage of the bill, arguing that the toll of deaths and illnesses related to smoking—an estimated 240 deaths per day, plus the cost of health care and lost productivity for thousands more—far outweighed the gains from taxes and employment.

The “graphic warnings,” it was hoped, could discourage any increase in the number of smokers, especially among the young who could pos-

sibly be turned off by the unsightly pictures and thus never pick up the habit.

I hope I’m wrong, but it might be too late by now for the President to suddenly develop an aversion to cigarettes because of some “yucky” pictures. After all, he has been a smoker for most of his life, as evidenced by his frequent coughing in the middle of his speeches and the days off he’s forced to take due to coughing spells and other breathing troubles. But even if he persists in this bad habit, PNoy should be aware that it is in the country’s best interest to eliminate this growing threat to public health.

Maybe the Palace’s request for a legal opinion is the executive department’s way of finding cover in law for the passage of a measure that is sure to draw even more attention to P-Noy’s smoking and the apparent contradiction in his signing of a law that apparently he would choose to ignore.

But he could very well say: Do as the law says, and not what I do myself. Or, he could seriously give quitting smoking a try. He would not just be setting a good example, he would be saving his life. *** Saving their lives is an option that overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East are free to take up, but which

many, judging from news reports, choose to ignore.

Surprising indeed is the disclosure by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration that only 515 of an estimated 13,000 OFWs in Libya have taken up the government’s offer of free voluntary repatriation in the wake of the rising tensions in that anarchical country.

Filipino workers in Israel, particularly in the beleaguered and Palestinian-controlled area of the Gaza Strip, are also being urged to partake of the

I don’t know what it is exactly our compatriots are waiting for, but... they seem more confident of surviving a war than of surviving back home, where only uncertainty awaits them. free repatriation program offered by the government. Indeed, embassies in Egypt, Israel and Jordan stand ready to lend assistance to any Filipino who wants to flee the fighting and missile attacks.

I don’t know what it is exactly our compatriots are waiting for, but judging from the testimony of those caught in other, earlier conflicts, they

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FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

18

Canada News

Canada “mourns” Gaza deaths: Baird’s office says of call with Egyptian minister

NEWS BRIEFS

FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS

BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press OTTAWA—The Harper government has expressed its first overt sympathy for the deaths of the innocent Palestinian civilians in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

The comment came Monday from a spokesman for Foreign Minister John Baird after days of unwavering support for Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of rocket attacks from Hamas militants in Gaza.

“Canada mourns the death and suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza,” Baird’s spokesman Adam Hodge told The Canadian Press in an emailed response to questions.

However, he added: “Responsibility rests solely with Hamas and its allies, who launched and continue to feed this crisis.”

As of Monday, an estimated 175 people had been killed in Gaza, dozens of

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROPOSES CHANGES TO FOOD LABELS

A bombed-out residential block in a neighbourhood in Gaza.

PHOTO BY RYAN RODRICK BEILER / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

them civilians, since Israel began air assaults last Tuesday. There have been no Israeli deaths from the Hamas rocket attacks, but several people have been wounded, including a teenaged boy seriously injured by shrapnel, the Associated Press reports.

Baird spoke Monday with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry about the situation in Gaza.

The minister’s office said the two talked by telephone about what role Egypt could play in demanding Hamas stop firing rockets at Israel.

Baird repeated Canada’s view that the Hamas attacks are unacceptable, and called on them to stop, according to a read-out of the call provided by ❱❱ PAGE 34 Canada “mourns”

Gearing up for the launch of Express Entry Minister Alexander meets with key employers on Canada’s economic immigration system TORONTO—Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander met with stakeholders and business leaders today about the January 2015 launch of Express Entry: a faster and more effective way for Canada to welcome skilled economic immigrants.

The Government of Canada, in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, has hosted a number of information sessions on Express Entry with employers across the country in recent months.

According to Minister Alexander, “Our government is reforming Canada’s economic immigration system to make it faster, fairer and more flexible to ensure that Canada’s labour market needs are met.

Express Entry will connect candidates for permanent residence with employers who have been unable

to find skilled Canadians or permanent residents for the job, and bring them here quickly. Our government is working closely with provincial and territorial partners, as well as employers to ensure that January’s launch of Express Entry is a success.”

The Express Entry electronic application management system will apply to four existing economic programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class, and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program. Through Express Entry, foreign nationals who meet the criteria for one of the federal immigration programs will be placed into a pool, from which employers will be able to consider candidates who meet their needs when they cannot find a Canadian or permanent resident for the job. The Government

of Canada’s new and improved Job Bank will help facilitate matches between Canadian employers and Express Entry candidates.

Express Entry candidates who receive a qualifying job offer from a Canadian employer or nomination under the Provincial Nominee Program will be invited to apply for permanent residence soon after—a key distinction between the Express Entry system and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which is only used to fill temporary labour and skill shortages. Job offers will be subject to Employment and Social Development Canada’s Labour Market Impact Assessment in place at that time. ■ For more information on Express Entry, please see www.canada.ca/ ExpressEntry.

EDMONTON—The federal government says proposed changes to food labels should make it more clear how much sugar is in packaged food. Among the changes, Health Canada says both total sugars and added sugars would be required information on nutrition tables.

DROP IN WIRELESS PRICES REFLECT COMPETITION TORONTO—The price of basic wireless phone service in Canada has gone up 16 per cent since last year but packages with more features have held steady or gone down, according to an annual study commissioned by Industry Canada and the CRTC. Industry Minister James Moore said the report’s findings show that average wireless prices have come down 22 per cent since 2008 and smartphone plans have fallen even further, with newer carriers substantially less expensive than the bigger, older carriers.

CANADIAN HOME PRICES 20% OVERVALUED: AGENCY OTTAWA— Fitch Ratings says Canada’s real estate market is as much as 20 per cent overpriced and cautions the government may need to take more measures to slow down borrowing on homes. Fitch is the second U.S. financial agency to sound the alarm on Canadian home prices in the past week, with the Morningstar research firm predicting a 30 per cent correction was possible over the next few years.

WARNING ISSUED AFTER SEALS BROKEN ON FORMULA OTTAWA—Consumers are being warned to inspect containers of an infant formula product after reports that some bottles were found in Ontario with their tamper-proof seals broken and resealed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued the warning about Enfamil A+ Readyto-Feed Infant Formula after three complaints were received in Brampton and Mississauga involving products sold at Walmart stores.

19 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

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JULY 18, 2014

FRIDAY 20

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World News

21 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

UK, Sweden, Romania among countries evacuating citizens from Gaza amid violence The Associated Press

Germany national team poses as champions of the 2014 World Cup at Maracana Stadium.

PHOTO BY ANDRE DURAO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Canadians turned...

Supporters gathered in public spaces across the country to cheer on their teams, watching Germany beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time to claim its fourth World Cup win.

In Toronto, hundreds of sweatdrenched fans gathered downtown near the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and watched tensely as the game went through a scoreless 90 minutes.

While many donned the striped jerseys of Argentina, Germany’s supporters seemed to be greater in number and a lot more vocal.

Chants of “Germany!” and “Deutschland!” filled the air and grew louder each time either goalkeeper blocked off a shot.

“If you’re German, you just cheer for every moment,” said Nicole Hauvisen, who has lived in Toronto for five years.

While Germany’s supporters—many with their faces painted and some shirtless—erupted into dance at the end of the match, Argentina’s supporters slinkered away silently, with some declining interviews.

One man who was cheering for Argentina, Rhys Wakeham, said he thought the game was done as soon as Germany put in its single goal with just seven minutes left in the game.

“It was like hopeless,” he said. “I thought that was it. I thought that was the end right there, when they scored...

Germany’s defence was just too strong.”

In Montreal, several hundred people braved overcast skies for an outdoor party at Montreal’s Parc Jean Drapeau, which is on the same island where the Montreal Grand Prix is held.

Rain spat at the enthusiastic crowd gathered before two large screens before turning into a downpour as the match went into the final minutes. The mob erupted with cheers as Germany was declared the winner and then scattered amid the driving rain. Some hung around to savour the win. ❰❰ 1

Jonathan Lohe Chung, who had supported Argentina, said he didn’t expect it to take so long for someone to score.

“I was expecting two or three goals in this whole game but how they played everything was pretty conservative on both sides,” he said. “Great game no matter what.”

In Vancouver, there were mixed feelings about Germany’s win amongst the hundreds who gathered to watch the game.

“Vancouver is the city of bandwagons,” said Patrick Koo. “I’m pretty sure everyone’s a Germany fan now.”

“I was rooting for Germany, I bet a little bit of money on them.” said Craig McKimm. “I think I’ll win $26 or something like that—don’t tell my girlfriend though.”

In Edmonton, where sports hoopla is typically reserved for hockey or the other type of football, hundreds gathered under a baking Prairie sun to watch the final on a big screen in the city’s downtown.

“I’m from Toronto and I didn’t expect this much support for the World Cup in Edmonton,” said Arsh Sidhu, who was wearing an Argentina jersey.

Rob Welte and his family, who were on their way back to Fort McMurray after a holiday in B.C., were also surprised to see such a large crowd.

Welte, a Germany supporter, explained that his family were such big soccer fans that they took a break from camping during their trip to drive to Kamloops to watch Germany beat France in the quarter-finals.

“This is perfect for World Cup,” Welte said as he sat among the crowd in Edmonton. “You get a lot of people in public rooting for their country. It’s just awesome.” ■

LONDON—European countries from Britain to Romania on Monday announced dozens of evacuations from Gaza amid violence in the region.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said 27 British and their Palestinian dependents left Gaza late Sunday through Israel to Jordan. Romania’s foreign ministry said 84 citizens living in Gaza in mixed Romanian-Palestinian families arrived at an air base north of Bucharest on Monday from Amman, Jordan.

In Sweden, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted that 93 Swedish citizens had been evacuated from Gaza to Jordan. Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Erik Wirkensjo said the Swedes were among a few hundred other nationals who were evacuated from Gaza

Sunday.

In Turkey, the foreign ministry said it assisted 28 Turkish citizens who requested help to leave the region. The group crossed into Jordan Monday.

Israel launched an air strike campaign in the Hamas-controlled Gaza last Tuesday, saying it was responding to heavy rocket fire from the territory. At least 175 people have died since the offensive began.

The outbreak of violence followed the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month, and the subsequent kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack.

Hague spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman over the weekend and urged for an immediate cease-fire. ■

G roup of A rtists

Cordially Invite Y ou to Their Group Exhibit Dimasalang

EXPRESSIONS

With files from Steven Chua in Vancouver, Nelson Wyatt in Montreal and Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton. www.canadianinquirer.net

at t h e

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World News

JULY 18, 2014

FRIDAY 22

Pakistani teen who survived Taliban attack visits Nigeria, seeks release of kidnapped girls

BY LEKAN OYEKANMI AND MICHELLE FAUL The Associated Press ABUJA, NIGERIA—The Pakistani teen who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012 marked her 17th birthday Monday with a visit to Nigeria and urged Islamic extremists to free the 219 schoolgirls who were kidnapped there, calling them her “sisters.”

Malala Yousafzai, who has become an international symbol for women’s rights in the face of hard-line Islam, said Nigeria’s president promised to meet for the first time with the abducted girls’ parents.

“My birthday wish this year is ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ now and alive,” she said, using the social media slogan that has been picked up around the world to demand freedom for the girls, who were abducted by the extremist group Boko Haram in April from a school in the remote northeast Nigerian town of Chibok.

Malala appealed directly to their captors as she held hands with some of the girls who escaped.

“Lay down your weapons. Release your sisters. Release my sisters. Release the daughters of this nation. Let them be free. They have committed no crime.”

She added: “You are misusing the name of Islam ... Islam is a religion of peace.”

Malala also spoke against the custom of child brides in her home country, a tradition common in Nigeria, too. Boko Haram has threatened to sell some of the girls as brides if its fighters are not freed.

“Protect girls from cruelty,” she said in a speech, explaining that girls should not be forced to marry or to leave school to become brides “when they should be girls,” or to give birth to children “when they themselves are children.”

Boko Haram attacks continued over the weekend with witnesses blaming the group for the bombing of a major bridge on a northeast Nigerian highway that further limits access to its base camps in the Sambisa Forest, where it is believed to be holding some of the girls.

Gunmen destroyed most of the bridge on the road between Maiduguri and Biu on Saturday night, making it impossible for vehicles to cross, the spokesman for the Nigerian Vigilante Group, Abbas Gava, told The Associated Press.

Malala met Monday with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan and told reporters that the president “promised me that the girls will be returned as soon as possible.”

She described an emotional meeting Sunday with some of the girls’ parents.

Jonathan has not met with any of the parents, though some regularly make the dangerous drive from Chibok to join activwww.canadianinquirer.net

ists who have held daily rallies in Abuja.

When the activists tried to march peacefully to the presidential villa in May, they were blocked by soldiers and police. Jonathan cancelled a planned trip to Chibok that same month.

On Monday, he told Malala that criticism that his government is not doing enough is “wrong and misplaced,” according to a presidential statement.

“The great challenge in rescuing the Chibok girls is the need to ensure that they are rescued alive,” he said, insisting his government is “actively pursuing all feasible options” to achieve their safe return.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau put out a new video Sunday in which he repeated demands that the government release detained insurgents in exchange for the girls’ freedom.

“Nigerians are saying ‘Bring Back Our Girls,’ and we are telling Jonathan to bring back our arrested warriors, our army,” he said in the video, which was obtained by the AP through similar channels used for previous messages.

Jonathan so far has refused, despite pleas from the parents.

Since the mass abduction, Boko Haram has increased the number and deadliness of its attacks with a twopronged approach—bombing cities and towns and a scorched-earth strategy in villages, gunning down villagers, looting livestock and burning down huts.

In the new video, Shekau crowed over recent victories, including two explosions at a fuel depot in Lagos that the government tried to cover up. It would be the first reported bombing by Boko Haram in Lagos— Nigeria’s commercial capital, an Atlantic port and probably the continent’s most populous city with some 20 million people. The attack also raises fears that the insurgency is spreading beyond its stronghold at the opposite end of the country.

Shekau also claimed responsibility for another bomb that went off hours before at the biggest shopping mall in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, killing at least 21 people.

On Monday, Malala also appealed to the Nigerian government to dedicate more money to education and to drastically reduce the hundreds of thousands of children who are out of school throughout the country, not just in the area targeted by Boko Haram.

The group’s nickname means “Western education is sinful.” Boko Haram wants to enforce an Islamic state in Nigeria, whose 170 million people are almost equally divided between Christians in the south and Muslims in the north. ■ Faul reported from Lagos, Nigeria. Associated Press writer Bashir Adigun co tributed to this report from Abuja, Nigeria.

23 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

www.canadianinquirer.net

Immigration

JULY 18, 2014

Who wins in the immigration game?

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Canada and America found out that the more immigrants they take in, the more progressive the country becomes.

The bigger the population, the larger the market for their products since everyone has to eat, find shelter, buy appliances, clothing and thousands of other goods and services. The more buyers and workers, the more industries can be set up to supply the market; the more industries and workers, the more taxes the government gets. We who migrated to Canada saw in a few decades the transformation of farming communities into modern cities because of this migration.

Importing countries like Canada saves a lot on education, healthcare, and other costs because rather than raising its population from the crib, immigrants come when they are already working and productive. Canada also has the option to choose the brightest, the healthiest, the most experienced, highly skilled and most educated of applicants, the “crème of the crop” of the third world countries.

However, since Canadians know very little about the education and work experiences of these new immigrants, they mainly hire them as cheap labor, i.e., doing menial work. This is a waste of talent and time; however, it is assumed that this is their way of protecting their graduates and/or forcing immigrants to enter their educational institutions.

Since Canada does not recognize the foreign credentials of new immigrants, new immigrants are forced to go to school again. Schools make them veritable milking cows; the exorbitant cost of going to school is also the reason why there are thousands of doctors, engineers and other professionals driving taxis or working at Tim Horton's. They have families to feed and have no luxury of money, or time, to spend on school.

The result: their talents and skills are wasted, they suffer near-poverty and depression, they lose their self esteem.

On the other hand, exporting countries proudly claim to benefit from the export of labour. The Philippines has made it a policy to promote this, claiming that this year alone, it expects $24 billion in remittance to the country.

New immigrants send money to their families in the Philippines for housing,

www.canadianinquirer.net

education, healthcare, food, clothing, recreation and investment.

There are now more than 11 million OFWs, and a million leave the country every year.

Aside from this remittance, Filipinos send boxes of goods to their families once a year, with a cost of at least $300.

When they visit their families, they spend an average of $5,000. When they retire, others go back to their homeland or stay there for 3 to 6 months, spending their retirement money of $1,000 to $4,000 a month.

So, who wins?

There's the financial/mental/cultural drain. When immigrants leave the Philippines with their family of six for example, the country loses buyers of products and services: a market for food, housing, clothing, education, healthcare; a taxpayer and someone who can contribute more of their skills, talents and ideas to the development of the country. Once the entire family is abroad, the link to the old country diminishes until even the children will no longer wish to visit; they will not even take time to register and vote during elections even if they were given that privilege.

They leave in their wake a culture of mendicancy. Those left behind become dependent on remittances, become parasites, lazy. You see them playing the card game, “pusoy,” and drinking even in the early hours of the day. They wait for balikbayan boxes and extort their overseas families for liquor money or steal from them. Parents lose their drive and become contented with holding out their hands for remittance, most of the time asking for more.

There's severance of family bonds.

Temporary foreign workers, for example, have to leave their families for three or more years at a time. The husbands or the wives left behind look for love elsewhere; the children are left in the care of grandparents or other people unrelated to them. These families become strangers to each other; when they get back together, often there is blame or guilt. The abandoned children grow up spoiled and they rebel. This comes with other attendant problems: drug use, early pregnancy, depression, suicide.

Is there a good side to this? Yes. We are here, after all, and trying to make things better for us, our children, and our children's children.

But on the question of who wins, maybe it is no one. Maybe it is everyone. ■ Email: rodjalram@gmail.com

25 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS: RAFAEL FABREGAS

Ontario’s First Filipino-Canadian Liberal MP Hopeful TORONTO —Approximately half a million Canadians of Filipino ancestry live in Canada right now. Almost half of them are in Ontario. Of this, 85% live in Toronto. In Scarborough Centre, where Rafael Fabregas is seeking the Liberal nomination to be the party’s standard bearer to run for MP in next year’s federal elections, Tagalog (Filipino, Pilipino) is the 3rd most widely-spoken language at home or mother tongue, the 1st being English, and the 2nd is Tamil. Yet, of the current 308 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing the different parts or ridings in Canada in the House of Commons, there is not one Filipino-Canadian voice.

Laws are made and passed in the House of Commons by elected Members of Parliament or MPs: laws that govern our educational system, laws that determine our country’s immigration policies, laws that mandate how we make our voice and our vote count, to name a few.

It is time

When Toronto Filipino-Canadian lawyer Rafael Fabregas launched his campaign for the Liberal nomination contest in Scarborough Centre, cries of “Panahon na! It is time!” reverberated throughout the Filipino-Canadian populace in Toronto. For many who have witnessed the young lawyer give of himself to the community over the years, it is indeed time for Fabregas to take it to the next level of advocacy and representation: a bid for Federal Liberal MP candidacy for a seat in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

“Kung isipin natin na doon sa Parliament, kung saan sila gumagawa ng mga batas, at kung saan tayo ngayong walang representative, ito tayo ngayon na may tumatayo na isa sa atin: trained siya at edukado siya sa traba-

Rafael Fabregas.

Fabregas with caregivers at Thomson Park.

ho na yon. Mabuti siyang tao.

Makes sense, diba? Kung magkakaisa lang tayong mga Pilipino at ma-realize natin na pag tulungan natin si Raffy manalo, lahat tayo makakaangat at makikinabang din.” (Aaron S.) Following fellow Liberal Dr. Rey Pagtakhan’s footsteps (Winnipeg North MP 19882004), Fabregas is currently in the thick of his nomination campaign in Scarborough Centre where he is one of three candidates vying for the Liberal Party standard bearer position; one of three, and the only Filipino-Canadian. As a riding with a population that is made up of 55% immigrants, Scarborough Centre is a true melting pot wherein one of the country’s biggest concentrations of Filipino-Canadians lives: where a Filipino-Canadian candidate—Rafael Fabregas— can win a nomination contest and an election.

A victory for us all

The road to victory is steep and challenging: in order to run as the Liberal MP Candidate in next year’s federal elections, Fabregas first needs to clinch the Liberal Party nomination.

Having a lawyer of Fabregas’ calibre and character—who has over the years successfully represented and advocated for live-

in caregivers, temporary foreign workers, immigrants, entrepreneurs, businessmen, businesses and corporations— represent not just Scarborough Centre residents and Filipino-Canadians, but all of us immigrants and Canadian citizens as well can mean so many things for us.

It means having an advocate who will listen to us and present our petitions to the House of Commons: an advocate who has proven himself to be a champion of equal opportunity for all no matter one’s circumstances and background. It means having direct access to his immigration law and legal expertise; Citizenship and Immigration services are one of the most in-demand services in an MP’s office and Fabregas is well-positioned to provide just that. Moreover, it means that we Filipino-Canadians can now be law-makers and not merely law-abiders; leaders and not just followers.

Lastly, it is also an indication of our country’s progressive move towards inclusiveness.

According to Myer Siemiatycki, a a Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University: “Who our political leaders are is a critical indicator of Canada’s progress towards inclu-

sion as a diverse society. Elected officials are our lawmakers and policy-makers. They also symbolically represent who can be the ‘face and voice’ of our country, province and city.”

Come 2015, there will be 338 elected Members of Parliament. Right now, amongst the 308 MPs, there are MPs who are from Sri Lanka, Romania, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Algeria and Greece.

Come 2015, there will be 30 more elected Members of Parliament, for a grand total of 338 MPs. It’s about time that one of them should be one of ours: a Filipino-Canadian.

A qualified candidate, a proven advocate

The Parliament of Canada website describes the job of an MP as “primarily a law-maker… including legislator, negotiator, ombudsman, policy analyst, public speaker, and diplomat.”

As a seasoned lawyer who has testified before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, Fabregas is well-equipped and highly qualified for the job.

For many years now, Fabregas, in addition to working fulltime, has been volunteering his time and skills to various causes and community groups, most notably to live-in caregiver and immigrant causes.

His tireless efforts have re-

sulted in several awards and recognitions: • Prize in Immigration Law 2005, Osgoode Hall Law School • Lawyer of Distinction Award 2008, Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers • Top 25 Canadian Immigrants 2009, Canadian Immigrant Magazine • Outstanding Young Professional 2010, Filipino Centre Toronto • Outstanding Volunteer Award 2011, Support Enhance Access Service Centre, Chinatown Toronto • Ontario Volunteer Services Award 2012, Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration Working together with his client, the late Juana Tejada, and various community organizations and leaders, he also championed the law to protect temporary foreign workers' rights—the "Juana Tejada Law." "There are thousands of "Juana Tejadas" that are currently grateful because of your effort. We believe that more can be done for the Filipinos when you are in position. So best of luck and our prayers go with you Rafael!" —Joseph O. During a Fundraising Dinner in Scarborough last month, Fabregas shares some of his reasons for running for Liberal public office: “I’m in here fighting for a ❱❱ PAGE 34 Ontario's First

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Seen & Scenes - Vancouver

JULY 18, 2014

FRIDAY 26

NEW FILIPINO SOCIETY HOLDS KICK-OFF ACTIVITY The newly-created New Westminster Philippine Festival Society had their first-ever community activity, a summer picnic, on July 13, at the NW Pier Park in New Westminster, B.C. Pictures show Filipinos having loads of fun during the event.

TRADE GROUP MEET Above: Philippines-Canada Trade Council (PCTC) President Leo Valdes (R) hands an award to Atty. Butch Guevarra (L) during the recent PCTC general assembly. Also in photo are PCTC officers Gigi Astudillo and Wilbur Victoria.

Right: Corinthian Distributors was awarded ‘Best Business’ by the Philippines-Canada Trade Council.

SINGING NANNIES CHANT FOR A CAUSE

RICHMOND FIRST COMMITS TO BRING GOOD GOVERNANCE Councillor Bill McNulty (center) and Richmond First candidates are committed to bringing residents of Richmond, B.C. good government that is both pro-active and fiscally responsible.

Singing Nannies pose for a souvenir group shot before their performance at the Philippine Canadian Friendship Ball.

Clockwise: 1. Nannies with benefactors Eleonor (2nd from L) and Prod Laquian (R). 2. New sensation in Filipino events are The Singing Nannies, a group of volunteer caregivers who serenade audiences with nostalgic Pinoy medleys. 3. Some of the nannies volunteer their time selling books.

For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net. www.canadianinquirer.net

Seen & Scenes - Toronto

27 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

FIL-CANS CELEBRATE SUMMER Filipinos in Toronto enjoyed a sumptuous summer community barbeque at Thomson Park. The summer event included games participated in by FilipinoCanadian youngsters.

IREMIT TEAM SUPPORTS FILIPINO EVENTS The IRemit team continues to support Filipino events in Canada. Shown in photo are (from R) Simeon Sarte, IRemit branch manager and marketing officer for On.; Jeda Gondalera, supervisor; and Lupo Ortiz, assistant branch manager. IRemit is encouraging clients to use the company’s on line service. For more information, call 1 - 647 - 932 - 6407. St. Jamestown News Service, Manny Papa

LBC OPENS NEW BRANCH

Consul General Mahilum West said the establishment of the LBC branch office on Wilson Avenue is a strong sign that Philippine business is getting stronger in this part of Canada. At the same time, she called on members of the Filipino community to support and patronizeproducts and services to help Philippine economy.

Fr. Ben Ebcas (center), director of the Filipino Chaplaincy in Toronto blessed the new branch and its employees.

Consul General Junever Mahilum West, LBC Country Manager Canada Raffy Policarpio, George Poblete, KGCR, the regional commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal for Canada, cut the ceremonial ribbon.

The brief program was opened by Rafael ‘Raffy” Policarpio, country head of LBC in Canada.

www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

28

Trending Now

I Iz Kitty—Hear Mez Meowwwwr (Or, the Cat Internet Phenomenon)

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer THE INTERNET has recently been a-purr with a new viral sensation of the decidedly feline kind. The world is crazy for cats, it seems! These adorable furry friends have taken cyberspace by storm: from photos to videos, gif’s to “cat-sies,” netizens cannot seem to get enough of these seemingly purrfect creatures. Feline videos and photos these days really are the cat’s meow. Grumpy Cat, Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat are three of the kitty-phenomenon’s brightest stars.

Grumpy Cat, in fact, has

gained so much popularity in just about over a year since her first video went viral, that she’s landed a movie deal (“Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever”, to be released in December 2014 by Lifetime), “authored” a bestselling book (“Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book”), and is even the inspiration for a signature coffee line (“Grumpuccino”).

She’s appeared on “Good Morning America,” been interview

by Forbes, and was featured

by Time Magazine as meme of the moment. As if all that were not enough to make the most popularity of celebrities bare their teeth and hiss, Grumpy Cat slinked away with the 2013 Internet Cat Video’s (yes, In-

ternet cats have their own Awards!) Golden Kitty award, given by web users to their most beloved viral kitty.

Need we say more?

I have always been a fan of the furry feline (I had 21—yes, you read correctly, 21!—cats, at one point), so it doesn’t surprise me much that this is “trending.”

Without getting catty about it, it should, in fact, surprise no one. History reveals that humanity has, from the seeming dawn of time, always been largely fascinated with cats.

“Mau” than man’s best friend

Though they may not have been bestowed the lofty title of

“man’s best friend,” unlike their canine counterparts, they hold an even loftier title, in this day and age: “man’s best shot at Internet fame.” There is no power known to humanity, it would seem, that can stand against the crazy cuteness of cats.

Human folk have been under this feline spell since the time of the ancient Egyptians, during which they were worshiped as gods (the cat-goddess Bast) and valued for their important role in vermin and snake control. The goddess Bast was a central figure to early Egyptian religion, and was revered as the deity of protection, fertility, and motherhood.

In ancient Egypt, cats were

known as “mau”, and believed to have been domesticated from the Middle Eastern subspecies of the Wildcat approximately 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. They held such an important place in ancient Egyptian society, that some felines were given the same mummification rites upon their death as was accorded to humans.

Ode to a cat

Humanity’s homage to cats in popular culture dates back to, once again, ancient Egyptian times. Cats were generally seen in pictographs and hieroglyphs; ❱❱ PAGE 32 I Iz Kitty

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Throwing back on #ThrowbackThursdays

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer WHAT DO Beyoncé, football star Cristiano Ronaldo, First Lady Michelle Obama, General Electric, and this author have in common?

No, it’s not our money or luscious curves. It’s our fondness for this online sensation called “throwback” which especially happens on Thursdays.

The Beginnings of #TBT

Everything has to start somewhere—even throwback Thursdays.

The very first throwback Thursday photo on Instagram was from Bobby Sanders. It was a photo of a bunch of Hot Wheels taken in 2011. He was the first Instagram user ever to use the hashtag #throwbackthursday.

This history-making hashtag was even featured on the 8 o’clock news (according to one of the commenters on Sanders’ photo).

“I don’t even remember that picture—it must have been something on my phone and I didn’t have anything better

to post that day,” Sanders told Buzzfeed.

Today, the hashtag #throwbackthursday has been used over 38 million time (and counting), while #tbt has been used more than 193 million times.

Talk about phenomenon, eh?

According to Liz Gannes of Recode, a man named Matt Halfhill also started this throwback craze. In 2006, Halfhill wanted to make a site about sneakers (yes, shoes) like Gizmodo to cater to sneaker lovers or ‘sneakerheads.’ It was called NiceKicks.com. Around July 2006, he came up with website features like the ‘release reminder’ to let people know about shoes to be released on the market and ‘throwback Thursday’ about sneakers classics. Roughly eight years later, #ThrowbackThursday has featured more than just shoes.

In an interview with Recode, Halfhill shared, “I’m a huge sucker for alliteration, and I was a big fan of throwback jerseys, like retro football jerseys, so it just came to me.”

“It’s allowing yourself to take a break from the news and have

Barack and Michelle Obama.

a moment to celebrate what happened in the past. We human beings become products of our past experiences—just the same as shoes,” he added.

Today, NiceKicks has 3.5 million readers every month. Halfhill also has a shoe store with the same name.

On Twitter, the oldest tweet with the hashtag #throwbackthursday was from S. Pink posted on October 2008. The tweet was about Lil’ Kim’s music video from 1997.

Jasmine and Anne Curtis.

Standout #TBT Photos according to Instagram

In 2013, Instagram declared that the most used hashtag was—of course—throwback Thursday.

In the press release, Instagram said that “Throwback Thursdays provide Instagrammers with a weekly opportunity to share a special moment from the past.”

Here’s the list of standout #TBT photos according to Instagram:

• US First Lady Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) shares an old photo of herself embracing husband President Barack Obama.

• Footballer Cristiano Ronoldo (@cristiano) posts a childhood photo from the field.

• Chef Giada De Laurentiis (@ giadadelaurentiis) looks back to her time at Le Cordon Bleu.

• NBA player Lebron James (@kingjames) shares a moment ❱❱ PAGE 31 Throwing back

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FRIDAY 30

Alohomora! J. K. Rowling opens a new chapter in Harry’s life

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer ALOHOMORA! And a new Harry Potter who is about to turn 34 enters the door of J.K. Rowling’s new short story. A spell to open doors, Alohomora, is the best spell to use in opening a new chapter, and quite the shortest one Rowling has written, about Potter’s life.

The 1,500 short-story was written as a tabloid article by Riza Skeeter, a gossip columnist.

Decades after their heroic battle against Voldemort and his force of evil witches, Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley were reunited in the new short story at the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. And because their being good witches did not spare them from aging, their adult lives and their bad hair were discussed in the sassy column.

A silver-haired Potter who now works as a specialized magical law enforcement officer or an “Auror,” has developed a mysterious scar, not on his forehead anymore, but on his cheek. Harry’s wife, Ginny, was also present in the game.

"About to turn 34, there are a couple of threads of silver in the famous Auror's black hair, but he continues to wear the distinctive round glasses that some might say are better suited to a style-deficient twelve-year-old,” reads Skeeter’s notes on Harry Potter in the short story.

Granger was also already appointed as the Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and her husband Weasley, “famous for his ginger hair appears to be thinning slightly,” now owns a joke shop.

The story was set in time for the Quidditch World Cup, an event Rowling has been writing at Pottermore, Rowling’s site, in anticipation of the actual

World Cup, according to The Guardian.

Though there will be more stories about the Harry Potter World, Rowling was recently reported to have had her spokesperson announce that that she is no longer planning to write Potter stories.

The ‘controversial’ ending

The new short story is following Deathly Hollows, the chapter which was said to be the conclusion of the entire story of Potter and his wizard world.

The final novel, which up to now bears the title of the fastest-selling book, has sold over 15 million copies in the first 24 hours following its release.

Deathly Hollows, written as the ending of the entire Harry Potter series, focused on Potter and his wizard friends’ battle against Voldemort and his force of evil wizards.

The novel ended with an epilogue dated 19 years later. Pot-

The new short story is following Deathly Hollows, the chapter which was said to be the conclusion of the entire story of Potter and his wizard world.

ter married Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley’s sister and they had three children including James Sirius, Albus Severus and Lily Luna. Granger also had two kids with Weasley, including Rose and Hugo.

The ending became “controversial” after Rowling told the media that she should have

paired Granger with Harry, instead of his bestfriend, Weasley.

In a CNN report, which cited Rowling’s interview with Emma Watson for the entertainment magazine, Rowling said that Hermione should have married Harry. ❱❱ PAGE 36 Alohomora!

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It’s no choke: Aronia berry gaining prominence and market share as easy to grow ‘superfood’

BY MARGERY A. BECK The Associated Press MISSOURI VALLEY, IOWA— A new fruit that research says packs more antioxidants than popular “superfoods” like blueberries, acai berries and goji berries is establishing itself in the aisles of mainstream grocery stores, showing up in everything from juices to powdered supplements to baby food.

Its rise from being a novelty item at farmers markets into a multimillion-dollar U.S. industry even includes a name change, from the common chokeberry— so named centuries ago by European settlers who found the tart, astringent berry more pretty than palatable—to the aronia berry, derived from its genus, Aronia melanocarpa.

The native North American berry was introduced in Russia and eastern Europe in the early 20th century and has been cultivated there for juices and wines. Now, farmers throughout the upper Midwest are planting the shrubs by the thousands every year. But the industry’s roots in the U.S. can be traced to Sawmill Hollow Family Farm in the Loess Hills of western Iowa, where most in the industry believe the first bushes were planted for commercial cultivation in the U.S. Andrew Pittz, 28, is the driv-

ing force behind the aronia berry’s emergence. His family was looking for a crop they could cultivate on the hilly, silt-heavy soil near the Missouri River, and in 1997, Pittz’s parents planted some 200 bushes. The bush grows well in the Midwest, has few pests and doesn’t have to be replanted every year.

The Pittz family was successful: Sawmill Hollow products now are sold in about half of Hy-Vee’s 237 stores, and in all of Whole Foods’ 45 Midwest-region stores, according to spokeswomen for the chains. Rather than keep the berry and its economic potential under wraps, Pittz and his family have been spreading word far and wide— especially throughout Iowa.

The farm holds an annual field day that draws thousands in September, and Pittz planted bushes in all 99 Iowa counties last year. Even Iowa State University is helping promote the berry as a value-added crop and a good way to diversify farm income, offering grants to help people get started.

“We want the aronia berry to be to Iowa’s Heartland what the peach is to Georgia.” Pittz said.

Consumers are taking notice of the potential health benefits, said Stacey Loftus, Hy-Vee’s health and wellness supervisor.

Research published last year in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry says aronia’s

Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia).

oxygen radical absorbance capacity—a standard measurement of antioxidant strength—shows the berry has one of the highest values ever recorded for a fruit.

“I don’t think this is a passing fad,” she said.

Antioxidants help protect cells from damage, although there are questions in the medical field as to what role antioxidants play in helping prevent human disease. Federal regulators have, in recent years, targeted companies that have made unsubstantiated health claims about antioxidant-containing products. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission upheld a judge’s decision that POM Wonderful made deceptive claims that its pomegranate products could treat or prevent heart disease, prostate cancer and other illnesses. The FTC’s action is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

CC BY-SA 2.5 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

More than 440 new products containing aronia—mostly in juices, wines and other drinks— have been introduced worldwide in the last five years; about 60 of those are in the United States, according to the 2013 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Processing Center’s Product Traffic Report, supported by the U.S. Agriculture Department to track new food products.

Aside from Sawmill Hollow products, widely distributed mainstream brands have jumped on board, such as Old Orchard juices and Beechnut baby foods, which introduced an apple and aronia berries puree this year.

The first aronia co-operative— the North America Aronia Cooperative, based in Omaha, Nebraska— was formed earlier this year with members from 10 Midwestern and Great Plains states. Group president Colleen Nipp says the co-op is capable

of producing up to 20 million pounds of fruit a year and estimates the current economic impact is about $85 million, “which includes plant sales, berry sales, processing charges, harvesting equipment, growing supplies, irrigation equipment and the sale of finished aronia products.”

But with the industry is in its infancy, it’s difficult to provide overall yearly production numbers or even a common price per pound. Midwest Aronia Association president Melissa Ehrman Johnson says her group, which has members in 12 states and Ontario, Canada, has farmers fetching anywhere from 50 cents per pound to $7.50 a pound.

Johnson and her husband got into business in 2009, planting about 300 bushes on their 10acre homestead in southwest Iowa farm. The venture has already proved to be profitable, she said, as she’s hoping to move from on-site sales to commercial marketing this year.

There is much to be learned, Johnson says, from another industry that has seen enormous success with its own bitter berry: the cranberry industry.

“We actually have a gentleman who’s on the Cranberry Association who has worked with us from the early get-go to help us out with ideas along the way, particularly with processing ... and recipe and product development,” she said. ■

Throwing back... from the court in 2000.

• Former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords (@gabbygiffords) remembers a fond moment with her husband at the DavisMonthan Air Force Base.

• Rapper Snoop Dogg (@ snoopdogg) shares a photo with his two sons.

• Supermodel Gisele Bündchen (@giselleofficial) posts a favorite shot from a past Missoni campaign.

• Photographer Mario Testino (@mariotestino) looks back at a candid, behind-the-scenes moment with Beyoncé.

• Television journalist and talk show host Katie Couric (@katiecouric) posts a gym❰❰ 29

nastics photo from her time in school to celebrate female athletes.

• Actor James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) shares a memory of actor Paul Walker after his passing.

Pinoy artists throwing back

Celebrities from the West aren’t the only ones doing well with this throwback hullabaloo.

Pinoy celebrities are also jumping the bandwagon, and might I say—some of them do it pretty well.

Guidelines for throwing back

Kate Knibbs of Digital Trends wrote about ‘how to throwback like a pro’ whether you do it on Thursdays, on Tues-

days (#throwbacktuesday), on Wednesdays (#waybackwednesday), on Fridays (#flashbackfriday), or like Pinoys on Saturdays (#sentisabado).

“If you keep posting selfies from 12 hours ago and adorning them with the #tbt hashtag, people are going to call you out,” wrote Knibbs. “The art of Throwback Thursday is selecting an appropriately nostalgiainducing picture—from a different era of your life. And last Tuesday doesn’t count.”

Knibbs suggests that your posts must be properly hashtagged. If you’re posting a photo from last month, it is better to put #latergram rather than #throwback—lest you www.canadianinquirer.net

Snoop Dogg.

plan on getting mockery from your followers.

Getting topical would also earn you bonus points. Post apt throwback photos during the holidays, prom season, thanksgiving—you know the drill.

Taking a photo of a tangible photo is another way to tell your followers: “This photo is

so old that we actually have to print it out just to see it.”

And Knibbs managed to say what most of us think of that one friend we have that just gets too excited come Thursday.

“Exercise some restraint and limit yourself to one or two pictures each Throwback Thursday,” Knibbs wrote. ■

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JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 32

I Iz Kitty... and in temples, as statues of Bast, the cat goddess.

Poetry from as early as the 9th century also reflects our feline fancy. The poem “Pangur Ban” was penned in that era by an Irish monk, in honour of his fur baby. Although I highly doubt they were called fur babies, back then.

In the 1870’s, Harry Pointer (Pointer, NOT Potter) and his carte de visite's featured cats with amusing captions. Several hundred years later, Christopher Smart would author the poem “For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry.” And even further along, in the 1930’s, T.S. Eliot would write his renowned and well-loved Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Aficionados of musical theater will perhaps know that the musical CATS was based on this work.

Now, we have LOLcats as perhaps the most popular cat photo and meme sharing venue.

Ben Huh of the Cheezburger Network says that cats, in fact, have an undisputed rule of the Internet. He pointed out that people submit 10 times as many “LOLCats” as “Hot Dogs” to the site.

Scott Stulen of the Walker Arts Center, a contemporary art museum in Minneapolis, describes the response to the Cat Internet Video Festival, first held in 2013: “There’s something about the cat video that transcends language and transcends culture,” he said.

And it’s more than simple entertainment, because people feel such a strong connection.

“There’s definitely something much deeper to it.”

The cat craze has obviously outlived its nine lives, and it doesn’t show any signs of fading away anytime soon. ❰❰ 28

Picture purrrfect Meeeeowve over, selfies! It seems the feline fascination is such that in certain countries, like the United Kingdom, cat photos are more popular than selfies.

UK mobile network company, Three, in conjunction with net research company Viral Spiral, conducted a study which found that internet users share more than twice as many online cat pictures as they do selfies. More than 3.8 million cat snaps are shared each day, as against 1.4 million selfies.

Snoopy.

The study also disclosed that one in five internet users have created an online persona for their cat. This computes to more than 350,000 cat owners who have set up an account on Twitter or Facebook or other social networks for their pet.

Daniel Fisher, CEO at Viral Spiral, said: “The most popular Internet cats display human characteristics, mirroring our everyday habits. The Internet cat Hall of Fame features grumpy, affectionate, keyboard playing, surprised, talking and angry cats. And it’s all about making people laugh, with humour winning over cuteness.

The vast majority of cat videos online are cute, but the superstars are the ones who are hilarious, make us smile and want to share with our friends and followers.”

Purrfect combination Why the seeming obsession with cats that—more seemingly so, if history is any indicator— won’t go away anytime soon?

Not that we would EVER want it to, might I add.

Naturalists, psychologists and sociologists have all studied the phenomenon, and have come up with several theories, which may explain why we worship on feline ground. Maybe the key is one, or a combination of these factors.

First, we are in awe of cats.

It’s pretty hard not to be, really.

Being around a domesticated cat is like being around the king or queen of agile, fierce, beautiful, awe-inspiring jungle beasts.

Only smaller in size cuddly, entertaining, funny, squishable, and safe.

Mieshelle Nagelschneider, author of the book Cat Whisperer said in an interview with

Grumpy Cat.

Maru.

a reporter from the online publication, New Republic, that humans have an inclination towards cats and towards watching cat videos or looking at cat photos because we wish we could do the things that cats can do. “When we are watching these videos, they just blow our minds,” she said.

Second, it seems that cats (and this may come across to some as a little, well, weird) remind us of our own human offspring. Hence, the desire to protect and nurture them.

Michael Newall, a philosopher of art at the University of Kent, theorizes that our almost obsessive interest in cats may derive from their outward resemblance to human babies; what with their big eyes, smallish noses, and dome-shaped heads. These features, in turn, set-off in us the evolutionary nurturing instincts that we demonstrate toward our babies.

In similar manner, Ben Huh also noted that, in references to cat memes, "cats have very expressive facial and body exwww.canadianinquirer.net

pressions, so they are a perfect canvas for human emotion, which makes them awesome for captioning and anthropomorphization."

Third, we love that cats are social and comic, and yet incredibly aloof, dignified creatures. We find this paradox endlessly amusing, apparently.

Tom Cox, author of Under the Paw - Confessions of a Cat Man and Talk to the Tail says: "Cats have a combination of incredible dignity, but also comedy about them. Cats can be so ridiculously pleased with themselves—and you don't get that with dogs. Because they are so proud and so aware of that dignity, when it is punctured it's the funniest thing in the world."

And fourth, and simply enough, the Internet has become the best avenue for cat owners to share their love for their fur babies. The Internet has, in fact, become the equivalent of a “dog park” for cats and their humans.

Whatever the reasons, one thing is for certain—the Internet has brought out and magnified (as the Internet does with virtually anything it touches) what has been there all along: We cannot get enough of cats.

And perhaps—knowing cats as I do—this has been their Great Feline Agenda all along. ■

The 10 Most Famous Internet Cats in the World (according to a list published in http://www.cutestpaw.com in April, 2013.

All images from the respective Facebook pages): 1. Maru the Cat 2. Grumpy Cat 3. Snoopy the Cat 4. Lil Bub 5. Colonel Meow 6. Cooper: Photographer Cat 7. Nala the Cat 8. I Am Scarface 9. Hamilton the Hipster Cat 10. Street Cat Bob

FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

33

Entertainment

‘On the Job’ and ‘Boy Golden’ big winners at FAMAS

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—KC Concepcion and ER Ejercito (Jeorge Estregan) took home the Best Actress and Best Actor awards from the 62nd Annual FAMAS Awards Night for their movie “Boy Golden: Shoot to Kill.”

Former Laguna governor ER Ejercito bested three other actors in the category: ‘Bossing’ Vic Sotto for “My Little Bossings,” Coco Martin for “A Moment in Time,” and co-stars Piolo Pascual and Gerald Anderson for “On The Job.” Speaking of “On The Job.” The Erik Matti film won Best Director, Best Story, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Editing, and of course Best Director—making it one of the most awarded films of the night.

Meanwhile, KC won over Ms. Lorna Tolentino for “Burgos” and the triple threat acting of Toni Gonzaga, Bea Alonzo, and Angel Locsin on “Four Sisters and a Wedding.”

Here is the list of FAMAS winners from Sunday night.

Best Picture: On The Job Best Actor: ER Ejercito (Boy Golden: Shoot To Kill) Best Actress: KC Concepcion (Boy Golden: Shoot To Kill) Best Director: Erik Matti (On The Job) Best Supporting Actor: Pen Medina (10,000 Hours) Best Supporting Actress: Bela Padilla, (10,000 Hours)

Willie Revillame.

PHOTO FROM SHOWBIZRENEGADE.COM

Willie’s TV5 show not pushing through

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

“On The Job” film poster.

Best Child Performer: Adrian Cabido (Lauriana) Best Screenplay: Michiko Yamamoto and Erik Matti (On The Job) Best Cinematography: Boy Golden: Shoot To Kill Best Editing: On The Job Best Story: On The Job Best Sound: On The Job Best Musical Score: Boy

Golden: Shoot To Kill Best Visual Effects: Pagpag Best Theme Song: Abra (Midas) and Boy Golden: Shoot To Kill Best Special Effects: Kung Fu Divas ■ With reports from ABS-CBN, The Philippine Star, and Fashion Pulis

MANILA—It was over before it even began.

Famous host Willie Revillame is reportedly very sad over TV5 network’s decision to not push through with his new noontime show.

According to a report from showbiz columnist Cristy Fermin, an informant who’s very close to Revillame said that Revillame was ecstatic over the progress of the planning for his new show. His staff even started coming back to Manila from

their hometowns with news that their boss will be having a new show.

The production even started conducting auditions for new dancers for the show—even holding meetings in his Revillame’s Tagaytay home. However, as of TV5 and Revillame’s last conversation, the show will not be in the networks roster any time soon.

Revillame has decided to turn down the offer to host the successful talent show ‘Talentadong Pinoy’ since he won’t be hosting his noontime show.

TV5 is yet to release a statement on the said reports. ■

Entertainment

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 34

Ontario’s First... chance to drive change and to build a fair, just, and compassionate society where each and every one of us and our children can have a real and fair shot at success, regardless of our background, stripe, colour or where we’re from. A real and fair shot at success for all. Equal opportunity for all. This is at the heart of why I’m a Liberal, the heart of Liberalism: a fair, just, and compassionate society.

Like Justin Trudeau, I’m here because of my family—my wife and children, our extended family of Titos and Titas, uncles and aunts, our community, friends who are like family, and fellow Canadian citizens and immigrants who like me, know what it’s like to work all hours, sometimes at 2 jobs, in order to pay the rent, the mortgage, pay down the credit card debts, student loan debts. We, or perhaps our parents, know what it’s like to give up the home that we grew up in to give ourselves and our children a better future in a bountiful and just country like Canada. To quote Bob Rae, ‘We came in different boats…but we are all in the same boat now’.” ❰❰ 25

An everyman & the people’s choice

Known simply as “Raffy” to friends and

family, the young lawyer is a dedicated husband to his wife of almost 17 years, Monique, and a proud father to their three children. A UPian (UP Los Baños), La Sallian (De La Salle Zobel Elementary & HS), University of Toronto alumni and Osgoode Hall Law School graduate, Raffy is the third child of Angel Roco Fabregas who hails from Naga and Cristina Rodriguez Fleming who is from Manila. New to the Canadian political arena, Raffy’s family though is no stranger to politics. His uncle and his father's first cousin, former Senator and Secretary of the Department of Education the late Raul Roco, ran for the Philippine presidency and was in the midst of his campaign when he had to seek treatment for cancer in 2004.

An upstanding, kind, honest and personable young man, Raffy has earned and won the loyalty and affection of many, friends, volunteers and supporters in our community—senior citizens, international students, members and leaders of our LGBT community, caregivers, retired executives, business owners, even once diehard Conservatives have pledged their allegiance to Raffy—all are welcome and all are equally valuable. Disarmingly mestizo, Raffy is fluent in Tagalog and can also understand Bicolano. Says Ogie

Buan, once non-political but who is now a “true Raffy-believer”: "He is a simple guy with the biggest heart. I am deeply honoured to be a part of this campaign. I saw in Raffy his dedication, his perseverance, his determination and his sacrifice just to be a civil servant. We are a diverse group of dedicated Canadians who are avid supporters and total believers of Rafael Fabregas, the 1st Filipino-Canadian who will be seeking the [Liberal] nomination as Member of Parliament here in Ontario, Canada, in the Scarborough Centre riding…let's all rally for his nomination!”

Unity & a new chapter

The Fabregas campaign is also a call out for all of us to come together as one—to embrace our differences and to share our varied perspectives in order to build a stronger team, enact positive change, and build a better future. Through an overseas recording, his uncle Jaime Fabregas (ABSCBN actor) entreats Filipino-Canadians: “Raffy Fabregas is my nephew, and I am here to let you know that I support him all the way from Manila. We Filipinos are a strong and united community when we come together as one. Malakas po ang ating People Power. I ask you to join Raf-

fy’s cause and campaign, to help us have our own elected Filipino representative in Ottawa. I am proud to support Raffy who is kind, honest, accomplished, hardworking and qualified for this job. I know he will make all of us Filipinos proud. ” Raffy says that “I really believe that as a community, we have the skills, we have the ability, we have the support, and it’s time...” It is indeed time for us to send one of our very best to Parliament Hill to show and remind our fellow Canadians what we Filipinos can do: lead, enact positive change and make significant contributions to the country that we have chosen as our home.

Join Raffy’s campaign and cause, and be a part of this new chapter in our history as Filipino-Canadians. At his campaign launch last March 2nd, Raffy calls out to each one of us “to reawaken our Bayanihan spirit…sama sama po tayo at kapit bisig” as we cheer one of our own up the long and arduous climb to Parliament Hill. ■ To join Raffy, contact: Campaign membership manager, Dr. Alice Herrera, Ph.D. 647.408.2360 Campaign volunteer coordinator, Mary Ann San Juan 416.492.7313 Raffy Fabregas 416.970.8997 raf@rafaelfabregas.ca

Canada “mourns”...

Baird’s office.

“Canada believes that Israel has every right to defend itself, by itself, from such belligerent acts of terrorism,” it said.

“Baird continued by saying that Hamas has a clear choice. It can immediately lay down their arms, and stop the indiscriminate firing of rockets at innocent Israelis, or accept blame for the continuation of hostilities.”

The opposition New Democrats and Liberals urged Canada to do all it can to push for a cease fire.

Paul Dewar, the NDP’s foreign affairs critic, said the government has been too one-sided in its support for Israel in this latest crisis that has seen Hamas fire almost 1,000 rockets at Israel, while the Jewish state has launched more than 1,300 air strikes.

“They haven’t expressed the deep concern that we have, as the official opposition, as other countries have about the conflict as it affects civilians,” Dewar said in an interview. “I think what you’re seeing is Minister Baird trying to catch up and engage.”

Liberal foreign affairs critic Marc Garneau applauded Baird for trying to enlist Egypt in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.

“There’s no question from our point of view, it goes without saying we condemn the rocket firings from Hamas and Israel has an obligation to protect itself. We’d ❰❰ 18

www.canadianinquirer.net

expect the same thing if it was in our country,” Garneau said in an interview Monday.

Garneau also said a cease fire was essential to prevent further civilian deaths.

“It (Gaza) is a highly densely populated place. Notwithstanding the technology of precision guided munitions, there’s always a risk of collateral damage.”

On Sunday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields to defend against the Israeli bombardment.

Harper called on allies of Israel to show their support, saying that “failure by the international community to condemn these reprehensible actions would encourage these terrorists to continue their appalling actions.”

During the Monday phone call, Hodge said Baird also raised the case of Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian journalist who was jailed in Egypt after he and two Al-Jazeera English colleagues were found guilty on terrorismrelated charges. Hodge declined to give details.

Baird has said he doesn’t believe abrasive “bullhorn diplomacy” will help win Fahmy’s release. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but Baird has said the government hopes to win Fahmy’s release through an appeal or pardon.

Egypt’s president has said he won’t intervene in the judicial process. ■

Entertainment

35 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

Maya does Rihanna, but Ser Chief won’t dance in concert

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer Kris Aquino and Coco Martin.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ABS-CBN

‘Feng Shui 2’ filming has Kris praying to get along with Coco

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—With the sequel to the 2004 horror film “Feng Shui” already in the works, actresshost Kris Aquino is keeping her fingers crossed that everything will go well with the project.

Aquino shared on Wednesday’s episode of “Kris TV” that she prayed for her first movie project with co-star Coco Martin, as she did for herself and the movie’s director, Chito Roño.

“Of course pinag-pray ko rin si Direk Chito, ako at si Coco, na magkasundo-sundo kami,” she said.

“Kasi lahat kami medyo, you know, may kanya-kanya kaming ego sa trabaho so sana hindi kami magkabanggaan. Alam mo ‘yung ganoon, ‘yung sana ay magmahalan at magrespetuhan kami doon,” she expounded.

There is reason for Aquino’s concern over the situation.

Showbiz buffs will remember that early this year, Aquino revealed that she played a part in the rift between Martin and Kim Chiu. Though none of the parties involved disclosed the reason for the rift, rumors circulated that Kim and Kris were criticizing Coco’s fashion sense.

“He hated us talaga. Nagnaughty lang kami ni Kimmy.

Matagal ‘yon, parang one month niya kaming hindi kinibo,” Aquino said; though she added that she apologized to Martin for the incident on numerous occasions.

The original “Feng Shui” was Aquino’s first in a series of horror flicks with Star Cinema; for which she was christened “Boxoffice Horror Queen.”

The movie raked in over P130 million at the box office upon its release. ■

ACTRESS JODI Sta. Maria, whose character Maya de la Rosa in “Be Careful With My Heart” made her a household name, said she would now have to be more selective with her projects.

“I can’t imagine doing daring roles. However, it would really depend on the project. I was thinking that after this show, I would only accept projects that impart good values to viewers.

We know how powerful television is … I feel that I have a responsibility to protect the viewers.”

Jodi clarified that the romantic comedy series would not be ending soon, in spite of online criticism that the story has been stretched far too long.

“We can’t please everybody.

We just decided to focus on those who still appreciate the show,” she pointed out. “We’ve read a lot of positive comments—inspiring stories of our kababayan abroad who use the show as a way to fight homesickness.”

Jodi’s costar Richard Yap, better known as Ser Chief, recalled an interesting story of a widow who sent him a thankyou note. “She felt so depressed when her husband passed away that she thought of committing

Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap with their twins in the show.

suicide. She said the show made her change her mind. Her letter was touching. I took time out to meet her,” he recounted.

To bashers, Richard had this to say: “They can always switch channels and watch another show. We’re not forcing them to watch us. We’re doing this for all our supporters.”

To thank their fans and to celebrate the program’s second year, ABS-CBN has organized a free concert titled “I Heart You 2: The Be Careful With My Heart Anniversary Thanksgiving” at the Araneta Coliseum on July 25.

The cast members will perform with singers Erik Santos, Juris and Richard Poon.

“You will not see me doing sexy numbers. I’m still the same wholesome Maya, but I’ll be doing Rihanna songs. I can’t say anything about my outfits yet because I still have to discuss them with my stylist. I’ll be working with the G Force Dancers and I’m very excited,”

Jodi said.

Two left feet

Richard said he would be singing more Filipino songs in the concert. “Don’t expect me to dance. I have two left feet,” he quipped. “The performances will be patterned after our characters. I’ll have production numbers with Jodi and Aiza (Seguerra, who plays Maya’s younger sister Kute).”

Jodi said the program has changed her life in many ways.

“I never imagined that I’d be given the opportunity to visit Filipinos abroad and perform for them. My character has also taught me to be more patient and understanding,” she said.

After appearing in the shows “My Binondo Girl” and “Walang Hanggan,” Richard said he seriously considered quitting show business. “Looking back, I’m glad I chose acting as my career.

I never expected ‘Be Careful’ to be so successful. I thought it would only last a season.” ■

‘It’s liberating but scary’—Lovi on admitting relationship with Rocco

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA—Actress Lovi Poe finds her admission of her relationship with actor Rocco Nacino to be “liberating but scary.”

“It’s liberating but, at the same time, it’s kinda scary,” she said. “Parang every time, you’re gonna have to answer questions about the relationship.”

The actress has recently revealed her relationship with the actor in an interview with Lolit Solis for Startalk.

She also said in an interview for the Philippine Entertainment Portal that she initially had no plans of revealing their relationship.

She, however, added that she has no regrets after the revelation.

“Okay lang, (It’s okay) I mean, it’s bound to happen anyway,” she said. “Anyway, alam ko na si ‘Nay Lolit [Solis] ang mag-i-interview sa akin, (Anyway, I already knew that it was Nay Lolit who will be doing the interview) the night before pa lang, I was preparing myself,”

the actress said.

The actress said the reason why she hesitated to reveal to the public some things about her personal life is that she always want to keep them private.

“What if there’s a moment that you don’t wanna answer anything about it and if worst comes to worst, I mean, talking about the breakup is not something fun to do,” she said.

“And I’ve avoided the breakup talks because I don’t talk din naman about my past relationships,” she added. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Lovi Poe and Rocco Nacino.

Entertainment

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 36

Tracy Morgan sues Wal Mart over truck, limousine crash that killed 1, hurt comedian The Associated Press TRENTON, N.J.—Tracy Morgan has sued Wal-Mart over last month’s highway crash that seriously injured him and killed a fellow comedian.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, claims Wal-Mart was negligent when a driver of one of its trucks rammed into Morgan’s limousine van. The complaint claims the retail giant should have known the driver had been awake for over 24 hours, and that his commute of 700 miles (1,125 kilometres) from his home in Georgia to work in Delaware was “unreasonable.”

It also alleges the driver fell asleep at the wheel.

“As a result of Wal-Mart’s gross, reckless, wilful, wanton, and intentional conduct, it should be appropriately punished with the imposition of punitive damages,” according to the complaint.

The June 7 wreck on the New Jersey Turnpike killed 62-yearold comedian James McNair, who went by the name Jimmy Mack. Comedian Ardley Fuqua and Jeffrey and Krista Millea, who were passengers in the limo, are also named as plaintiffs.

Morgan, the former “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” star, suffered a broken leg and broken ribs in the crash and is currently in a rehabilitation centre. Fuqua is recovering from crash-related injuries.

Truck driver Kevin Roper,

The six-episode show focuses on Alejandra Jackson, the ex-wife of Michael’s brother Jermaine (in photo), and her five children.

PHOTO BY FEATUREFLASH / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Tracy Morgan.

PHOTO BY EVERETT COLLECTION / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

35, of Jonesboro, Georgia, has pleaded not guilty to death by auto and assault by auto charges. A criminal complaint also accuses him of not sleeping for more than 24 hours before the crash, a violation of New Jersey law.

A report by federal transportation safety investigators said Roper was driving 65 mph (105 kph)in the 60 seconds before he slammed into the limo van. The speed limit on that stretch of the turnpike is 55 mph (89 kph) and was lowered to 45 mph (72 kph) that night because of construction.

Roper had been on the job about 13 1/2 hours at the time of

the crash, the report concluded.

Federal rules permit truck drivers to work up to 14 hours a day, with a maximum of 11 hours behind the wheel.

Morgan, a New York City native, was returning from a standup comedy performance at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Delaware when the crash occurred.

Morgan’s lawsuit seeks a jury trial and punitive and compensatory damages.

A message seeking comment from Wal-Mart was not immediately returned Saturday. An email seeking comment from Morgan’s publicist was not immediately answered. ■

Potter says no more movies to come

"My inclination is to say 'no' because I don't think it's even a hypothetical at the moment," said Radcliffe as quoted in the report.

He also added in the same report that though he hasn’t read the story yet, he thinks it’s a very short piece for a movie.

"What she's written—and I haven't read yet but I will—I understand it's a very short piece. And he's 12 years older than I am now,” Radcliffe again quoted in the report. ■

Alohomora...

"I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfilment. That's how it was conceived, really," Rowling said in the interview, and was quoted in the CNN report.

"For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron." Rowling also said, as quoted in the same CNN report. ❰❰ 30

Despite the story’s release, which has been trending on social networking sites for the past few weeks, Daniel Radcliffe told Potter’s fans not to expect another Harry Potter film.

Saying “Sorry,” to his fans in the same CNN report, Radcliffe who is now into doing more adult roles such as appearing nude on Broadway, said he does not think a film is possible at the moment.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Members of Michael Jackson’s extended family step out of ‘bubble’ for new reality show The Associated Press BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.— Members of Michael Jackson’s extended family are stepping out of what they call “the Jackson bubble” for a reality show.

The six-episode show, debuting Nov. 18 on Reelz, focuses on Alejandra Jackson, the ex-wife of Michael’s brother Jermaine, and her five children. After Michael’s death five years ago, they left the Jackson family home in suburban Encino, a move that a clip from the show suggests wasn’t their idea.

“We didn’t want it to happen that way,” Alejandra’s daughter Genevieve said Saturday at the summer TV critics’ tour.

Son Donte Jackson added, “Some of the politics came into play.”

At the same time, Genevieve said the family lived under constraints at the Encino house.

“We were very sheltered,” she said. “There’s a lot of outside people coming in and out of our house. We had to watch what we said.”

Alejandra Jackson and her brood started a new life away from the home of grandparents Katherine and Joe Jackson.

She had two children with Randy Jackson—Genevieve and Randy Jr.—and then married Randy’s brother Jermaine, having sons Jaafar and Jermajesty.

Alejandra has raised Donte since he was 2 after he was adopted by Katherine and Joe. “It’s a long story,” Alejandra said about her love life.

Considering the amount of tabloid attention the Jackson family has received, why not keep their lives private?

“People already had a preconceived judgment of us and we weren’t speaking,” Randy Jr. said. “Now we feel comfortable enough to show how we really are.” ■

Lifestyle

37 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

FILIPINOCANADIAN IN FOCUS Every week, the Philippine Canadian Inquirer celebrates the unwavering Filipino spirit through a feature called “Filipino-Canadian in Focus.”

The feature recognizes the achievements of Filipinos living in Canada who have shown concern for the community, success in spite of trials, and the uniquely Pinoy practice of “bayanihan.”

This year, we are welcoming nominations for the next subject of “Filipino-Canadian in Focus.”

MECHANICS: - All nominees must have (a) Filipino heritage/ancestry - All nominees must be residing in Canada at the time of nomination - Nominees from all industries are welcome (e.g. medical/ health, politics, community service, business, entertainment, charity institutions, etc.)

- Who can nominate? Anybody.

Fill up the nomination form online by scanning the code with your smartphone or by visiting InFocus.canadianinquirer.net.

www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

38

Lifestyle

Study suggests link between density of fast food restaurants and heavier people

BY HELEN BRANSWELL The Canadian Press TORONTO—Neighbourhoods with a high number of fast food restaurants are no place for the weight conscious, a new study suggests.

The research reveals that the average body mass index of Canadians living in areas with a high density of fast food outlets is higher than the average BMI of people who live in neighbourhoods with more full-service restaurants.

The work was conducted by scientists at the University of Western Ontario, in London, and published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

Some earlier studies done in the United States have revealed similar findings, as have a couple of small studies looking only at children in two different centres in Canada. The authors say this paper is the first to show the possible link in the Canadian adults based on individual-level data.

And they say the finding could be used to justify government action, whether that’s zoning bylaws aimed at restricting the density of fast food outlets or requiring fast food restaurants to post calorie counts for the food items they serve.

But an expert who treats patients battling obesity says he found little new in the study.

And Dr. Yoni Freedhoff of the Bariatric Medical Institute of Ottawa says the weight differences identified by the study are not enormous.

“This is a small drop in a very large bucket and while I am all for affecting and attacking all drops, there are a lot of bigger drops we’ve got to hit before we start worrying about zoning fast food,” says Freedhoff.

The researchers used data gathered in the 2007-08 Canadian Community Health

Survey, charting the average individual BMIs in neighbourhoods against a database of restaurants

found across the country.

A study of this type cannot prove cause and effect, so the researchers cannot say that living near fast food restaurants is contributing to the higher weights of people in those areas. It could also be that fast food restaurants are located in less affluent neighbourhoods, where people have limited capacity to buy healthier but more expensive food focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables.

The study found more fast food outlets was associated with higher weights and more full-service restaurants was associated with lower weights.

In either case the effect small. For instance women of average height who lived in fast-food plentiful neighbourhoods weighed on average 1.14 kilograms more than women

who lived around fewer fast food outlets.

And men who lived in areas where there were a lot of fullservice restaurants weighed on

average three kilograms less than men who did not.

Freedhoff says he looks for information that will help his

patients when he reads studies.

With this one, the finding underscores something they would already have heard.

“Your kitchen is your friend when it comes to weight and restaurants are places to try to minimize and to use for occasions,” Freedhoff says.

“I think one thing that’s incontrovertible in regards to weight is that people who eat out in restaurants a lot more frequently tend to struggle more with their weight and that as a society we go out to restaurants a lot more than we ever used to.” ■

Lifestyle

39 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

TV’s ‘Mad Men,’ cooking shows boosts interest in home bars, bar carts

BY MEGAN COLE The Canadian Press VICTORIA—As cocktail culture becomes trendy in lounges and bars across Canada, there’s increasing interest in bringing a piece of it home.

The desire to shake, muddle and stir vintage cocktails has been fuelled by cooking shows, along with programs including “Boardwalk Empire” and “Mad Men” (which has inspired much online chatter about how to mimic the drinks imbibed by Don Draper et al).

“With the Internet (and) Food Network ... everyone wants to be Jamie Oliver and be bartenders at home now,” says Shawn Soole, bartender, general manager and proprietor of Little Jumbo Restaurant and Bar in Victoria B.C., and author of “Cocktail Culture.”

As cocktail making becomes a popular hobby, Soole warns it can be an expensive one and says many of his customers at Little Jumbo, and Clive’s Cocktail Lounge in Victoria (where he used to work), buy equipment that is more expensive than what he uses at the restau-

Don Draper from “Mad Men.” SCREENSHOT FROM ROGEREBERT.COM

Home bar.

rant.

“Once you start entertaining and that sort of thing it goes from being what you do at house party to something more serious,” he says. “Our customers will buy the top of the line mixing glasses from Japan and gold-plated spoons. They start travelling and buying products in the U.S. and bringing them back, so it can get out of hand as an expensive little hobby.”

Even though there a lot of high-end cocktail tools on the market Soole says there are only four essential pieces need-

ed to make great drinks.

“I always say you need a twopiece Boston shaker, and the reason why is, they are a bit more finicky and hard to get used to as an amateur cocktail maker but they can be used in a lot more ways,” he says.

Soole says a Boston shaker can be used to stir, shake and muddle (mash up spices and herbs) for a wide range of cocktails.

He says a bartender also needs an ergonomically designed bar spoon, a Hawthorne strainer and a jigger.

While the tools and ingredients are important for making great drinks, homeowners are also trying to enhance the overall home cocktail bar experience.

“The trend is definitely there,” says Tamara Bowman, owner and lead designer at Metric Design Centre in Saskatoon. “It is all a part of entertaining and it is such a big part of people’s lifestyles now. We have very few hours at home we want to enjoy them with friends or family, and entertaining is a big part of that.”

Unlike the dated bars of the past, Bowman says homeowners are including feature lighting to highlight wine displays, wine coolers and also backsplashes with stone.

“Feature things are impor-

tant in creating a wow factor,” she says. “It is about bringing in different materials that don’t necessarily match what is going on in the rest of the home, instead they are creating this feature area that is more interesting.”

Bar carts like those that appeared in the offices of “Mad Men” are also a popular choice for those looking to bring a bit of the cocktail culture into their home, but are on a budget.

“The bar cart is a really great way to bring that bar element into the space, and there are so many cool options for bar carts now,” says Bowman. “Including a few key pieces of glassware helps draw the focus to that space. Dressing it up with barware and maybe a flower to soften it and bring focus to it.” ■

Safety tips for preventing the deaths of children in hot cars The Associated Press MORE THAN three dozen children die of hyperthermia in cars annually in the United States, and since 1998 more than 500 children have died in hot cars. Heatstroke can happen when the temperature is as low as 57 degrees, and car interiors can reach well over 110 degrees even when the outside temperature is in the 60s.

Here are some tips from safety advocates on avoiding accidental deaths in hot cars: • Never leave children alone in a vehicle to run even a short errand. Use drive-thru win-

dows at banks, dry cleaners and restaurants whenever possible.

Use a debit or credit card to pay for gas at the pump.

• Put a purse, cellphone or other item you will need in the

back seat of your car. This will ensure that you check the back seat before leaving the vehicle.

• Make a habit of opening the back door of your car and

checking the back seat whenever you exit it.

• Keep a stuffed animal or toy in your child’s unoccupied car seat. Put that item in the front seat when you place the child in the seat as a reminder that the child is in the back of the car.

• If a child is missing, immediately check the car, including the trunk.

• If you see a child alone in any vehicle for more than a few minutes, get the child out and call 911. ■ Sources: Connecticut State Police, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, kidsandcars.org www.canadianinquirer.net

PCI and Sprott Shaw College is in need of a pool of part time Tagalog teachers for their Vancouver and New Westminster Campus.

Submit resume to info@canadianinquirer.net.

Only those shortlisted will be contacted.

Business

JULY 18, 2014 FRIDAY 40

Financial advice for the soon-to-be-married

BY ROBYN K. THOMPSON MANY NEWLYWED couples I talk to in my financial planning practice are of the high net worth variety. They are often professionals or executives and each brings to the marriage a fairly robust net worth and often substantial assets, including houses, cars and investment portfolios. Sometimes it’s a second marriage. But surprisingly, a large percentage of these couples have never discussed their financial past, present, or future with their partner. And that can be a source of friction in a new marriage. Here’s how to make sure financial surprises don’t cut the honeymoon short.

Set goals

Financial matters never “look after themselves.” Talk about goals before you get married to ensure there’s some meeting of minds. If you intend to have children, discuss a timeframe.

Then at least discuss childcare options (who stays home,

who goes to work, will there be live-in help?). Where will you live? How will your income and spending patterns be affected?

cally—you have to specifically direct the insurance company to do it. Or you may want to think about raising coverage, especially if you’re planning on having children. The same applies to extended health insurance, disability, and critical care. Often, one spouse can be claimed on another’s policy through a group plan at work.

And that could add up to big savings on premiums.

Discuss investment styles

The time to discuss your investment styles is before you tie the knot. You may both be active investors with aggressive styles. Or, more likely, one will be more conservative with a lower risk-tolerance level, and the other might be a shootthe-lights-out investor with a proclivity for speculative, small-cap, junior mines. I’ll tell you right now this isn’t going to work in a marriage.

You will have to work with your financial planner to come up with a plan that encompasses all your combined assets, which for higher net worth couples can be substantial. You have to look at your combined assets as a total portfolio, and apply the principles of prudent asset diversification to your entire net worth. This is not to say that you have to give up any pre-nuptial agreements affecting asset split-

ting or investments—only that you treat your new asset base as a whole for portfolio planning purposes, even if some assets are owned separately.

Very often, one partner in a marriage will have more skills— or desire—with the nuts and bolts of financial management than the other. Sort out who likes to do what before walking down the aisle.

Protect each other

Newlyweds, especially those under 30, without life insurance should consider some form of term life insurance, be-

cause it’s the most economical.

Ten-year term life insurance is the most common, and may be purchased individually or as a joint first-to-die policy, which is even cheaper per couple. The joint policy insures both spouses and pays out to the surviving spouse. However, the insurance coverage continues in force as long as premiums are paid, even if the marriage breaks down.

If you each already have insurance coverage, you’ll probably want to change the beneficiary of your respective life insurance policies to each other. It doesn’t happen automati-

Talk to a (financial) counselor now

A good financial planner can counsel couples on those sticky financial matters before marriage, so they don’t become problematic afterwards. Get the “money talk” out of the way now, and make sure the honeymoon isn’t over before it even starts. ■ Courtesy Fundata Canada Inc. © 2014. Robyn Thompson, CFP, CIM, FCSI, is president of Castlemark Wealth Management.

This article is not intended as personalized advice.

Most teens around world lack financial prowess; not top performers on financial literacy test

BY JENNIFER C. KERR The Associated Press WASHINGTON—In an increasingly global economy, just 1 in 10 teenagers around the world is able to make some key—but complex—financial decisions, including choosing among various loans or analyzing invoices and pay slips.

The picture is no better in the United States, where only 9.4 per cent of 15-year-olds were able to answer the most difficult questions on an international test of their financial knowledge and skills. More than 1 in 6 U.S. students did not reach the baseline level of proficiency in financial literacy. At best, those students could make only simple decisions on everyday spending, said a report released Wednesday by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

OECD called financial literacy “an essential life skill” for teens.

Already at 15, many have bank accounts and debit cards. And “many students nearing the end of compulsory education also have to decide, with their parents, whether to continue with post-compulsory education and how to finance such education,” the report said.

Alex McClain, 15, of Anderson Township, Ohio, does not have a bank account. But he says taking a personal finance course last semester has better prepared him.

“I learned about how to do a check, even though I rarely will do that,” McClain said during a visit to Washington. “I know how to manage money better now, and how to get out of bankruptcy if you get into a problem.”

China’s financial hub of Shanghai had the highest average score—603 points—for teens who participated in OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA. The U.S., by comparison,

had an average score of 492— smack in the middle of the 18 countries and economies studied. Colombia, at the bottom, scored 379.

In the rankings, Shanghai was followed by the Flemish Community of Belgium, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, the U.S., Russia and France. At the bottom of the list: Slovenia, Spain, Croatia, Israel, the Slovak Republic, Italy and Colombia.

Reacting to the study, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said average isn’t “good enough” and American schools can do better.

“Our economy is changing so much and the idea of young people going into the world of work, staying with one job for 40 years, having secure pension and retirement, those jobs are basically gone,” Duncan told reporters Wednesday. Young people need to have a “level of financial literacy that 20 or 30, 40 years ago, maybe wasn’t apwww.canadianinquirer.net

plied. But today it’s an absolute necessity.”

The questions on the twohour paper test ranged from simple to complex. The easiest questions asked students to display basic financial literacy skills, such as recognizing the purpose of an invoice or comparing prices per unit to determine which had a better value.

The most difficult asked students to analyze two loan proposals with differing rates and terms and choose the better offer.

Michael Davidson, head of early childhood education and schools division for the OECD, says successful schools don’t let students fall behind. Shanghai schools, he said, perform well because they identify students who are struggling and provide the support those children need.

Financial education in schools varies.

In New Zealand, for example, financial literacy has been included in the curriculum since

2007, the report said. And in the Pudong New Area of ShanghaiChina, regular training on finance has been part of the program since 2009 in primary and lower secondary schools.

In the U.S., just 19 states require a course in personal finance to be offered in high school, according to a 2014 report from the Council for Economic Education. Those states are: New Hampshire, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Tennessee, Missouri, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, Arizona, Utah, and Idaho.

The financial literacy study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development was administered in 2012 to approximately 29,000 15-year-old students in 13 OECD countries and economies and five partner countries and economies. ■ Associated Press writer Stacy A. Anderson contributed to this report.

Sports/Horoscope

41 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

Ateneo Alumnus Wins 2014 BC Seniors Chess Tourney GM Wesley So Ends Runner-up in Edmonton, Alberta

BY JOE SOLIVEN IT COULDN’T have much sweeter. After going through a stiff competition in the 8th Grand Pacific Open held in Victoria, BC last April, 2014, Fil-Can Jose Kagaoan finally etched his name in the annals of BC Chess history when he was declared champion in the recently-concluded 2014 BC Seniors Chess Champrionship.

Jose Kagaoan now joins a few Fil-Can chess masters who are champions in their own right in other categories: Vicente Lee Jr., BC Active Champion, 2009-2010; Mayo Fuentebella, BC Active Champion, 20122013 (co-champion with Maxim Doroshenko in 2011); Loren Laceste, 2011 BC co-champion and Butch Villavieja 2012 BC Champion.

Jose Kagaoan, pictured 2nd from right.

Actually, Kagaoan tallied the same score with runner-up Joe Soliven but wound up with a higher tie-break. With the top seeds, namely Brian McLaren, Roger Patterson, Paul LeBlanc saddled with early draws or loss, Kagaoan was hardly challenged in the 5-round Swiss-

system tournament held in Surrey, BC last June 20-22, 2014. It was in the 4th round, however, that he was tested by dark horse newcomer Enayat Ganjian.

Handling White in their Bird’s Opening encounter, Kagaoan played his usual aggressive style and quickly demolished

his worthy opponent’s defenses. With an inevitable threat of mate, Enayat offered his resignation.

In the last round, Kagaoan missed some winning chances against Soliven who allowed Kagaoan sole control of the hfile with his rook and a threat of a passer with a pawn capture instead of a rook on the 30th move. With a pawn up but with major pieces off the board, Kagaoan couldn’t make any headway with his king and extra pawn. In the end, Kagaoan offered a draw. Both Kagaoan and Soliven scored 4.5 pts apiece.

Other notable Fil-Can players in the tournament were Severo [Jun] Caluza, Manuel Escandor and Jofrel Landingin, the 2014 Keres Memorial 2000 & below category chess champion.

The tournament, organized

by Victoria Jung Doknjas and

Paul LeBlanc, was made possible by BC Chess Federation, Comfort Inn & Suites Surrey Hotel and Victoria Chess Club led by ex-BC Chess President Roger Patterson and current Treasurer Paul LeBlanc and ably supported by Chief Arbiter Joe Roback. Individual donors included Philip Harris, Roger Patterson, Paul LeBlanc, Richard Lapenna, Doug Sly and Paul Burke.

Meanwhile, Filipino GM Wesley So was runner-up to eventual champion Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine in the just-concluded 8th Edmonton International chess event. He remained undefeated with a 6-0-3 win-loss-draw slate. It can be recalled that the 20 yr old grandmaster was seeking to switch federation and reportedly applied for US citizenship to attain it. ■

HOROSCOPE ARIES

CANCER

LIBRA

CAPRICORN

(MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

(JUNE 22 - JULY 22)

(SEPT 23 - OCT 22)

(DEC 22 - JAN 19)

You’ve been doing your stuff the “impromptu” way lately.

This may not be good for you this week, as tasks that need more planning will be coming your way. Try to do the thinking stuff ahead of your deadlines so you’ll have more time to prepare.

Remember that planning and thinking of preventive measures before doing an action is still the best way to ensure a hundred-percent success.

A great event will inspire you this week. Something that will move and change your views will happen. Don’t worry about changing; as long as it’s for the better, you have to embrace it. This week you will learn to free yourself from the fear of replacing your former views with new and fresher insights. Going with the flow is sometimes scary, but this shouldn’t stop you from discovering more and living your life to the fullest.

TAURUS

LEO

(APRIL 20 - MAY 20)

(JULY 23 - AUGUST 22)

Keep believing. Your faith will be tested by an unexpected event, but don’t let it move the strongest views you have. A critical mind may be helpful this week as you go into the process of questioning the truth about things. Whether you like it or not, there will be instances that will shake your beliefs. Just don’t let them fall. Hold on to that belief and you will realize it’s really best that way.

SCORPIO (OCT 23 - NOV 21)

You will be looking for that loving atmosphere to comfort the coming stressful days this week. You don’t need to look that far because the heavens have blessed you with the most loving people on earth. You just have to be open to that love. Sometimes the only reason why you can’t seem to find what you are looking for is that your eyes are closed. Try opening it up widely this week, and you’ll see just how blessed you are.

GEMINI

This may be the best time to open an account which you will personally name, “for the future.” If you have the luxury of money, you may also consider investing to the right investment today. You may feel secure about your financial status today, but you’ll never know what will happen in the days to come. This is the best time to save and invest.

Friendly ties may be more of a burden today. They will be prying into some aspects in your private life, as close friends often do. Don’t let your closeness be their key to digging up the most personal secrets you keep. Learn to keep a little distance and maintain it. You might need it a lot this week.

This week, loving will be a little tiring for you, Capricorn. You will feel the burden of loving not just your better half but your work, your career and your passions too.

It’s normal to feel exhausted at times especially when you keep investing too much emotion. Don’t ever let that tiresome experience put you away from the things and the people you love.

AQUARIUS (JAN 20 - FEB 18) Shower yourself with a lot of patience this week and brace yourself for a really stressful day that will surely push you to your limits. You may have been extending your patience already in the weeks that have passed, but the stars are asking you to extend your patience a little more.

Things might not come in your favour if you don’t keep your temper on hold. Just take a deep breath and say, “all shall be well, all shall be well...”

VIRGO

SAGITTARIUS

PISCES

(AUG 23 - SEPT 22)

(NOV 22 - DEC 21)

(FEB 19 - MAR 20)

(MAY 21 - JUNE 21) You will be feeling so much energy this week. Yes, there will be a lot of the adrenaline bursting into your system today. Make sure to not just feel the rush but use it productively.

You will never be this motivated in the next weeks, so use your energy wisely. The stars also wants to remind you today: your body still requires a little resting and recharging, so don’t push yourself too much.

Today is the best time to say “no.”

The past days may have been very stressful for you, physically, emotionally and maybe financially as well. Now is the best time to say “no” to spending unnecessary time, effort and money. You might have been doing a lot of the unneeded activities recently. The stars are telling you that now, is the best time to start. Focus on the things that you really need and let go of those you don’t.

You might need to lower your expectations this week.

The past days have been causing you a lot of frustration partly because your standards are really high. Learn to be objective and appreciate the little things. Life can really be exciting if you don’t expect too much. Sometimes all you need is acceptance. You can’t always get the great things, but at least you can get the good ones.

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There are important things and persons in your personal life or in your career that you may have taken for granted.

Try reviewing your actions today and you might just realize that you have been giving a little attention to something or someone very important. Dig dipper and you might just see how that person or thing is at the edge of breaking and you are nearly losing because of your passive actions.

FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

42

Travel

For second day, visitors wait First people 5 hours for Harry Potter ride to ride world’s at Universal Studios tallest waterslide Verruckt say it’s as scary as it looks

BY MIKE SCHNEIDER The Associated Press

ORLANDO, FLA.—You might need a magic wand to get on the new Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando Resort.

For a second day in a row, visitors waited up to five hours to get on the ride, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, located in the new Diagon Alley section of Universal Studios. A day earlier, on the first day Diagon Alley was open to the public, visitors waited for as long as seven hours.

A sign at the entrance to the 3-D ride at midday Wednesday said the wait would be 300 minutes.

“We’re not going to wait,” said Eric Poudrier after snapping a photo of the wait time.

He was visiting with his girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter from Montreal.

Tammy Clark and her 11-year-old son, Ethan, also decided to skip the ride after seeing the line.

“It’s a five-hour wait,” said Clark, of Bridgeport, W.Va. “You won’t be able to see anything else.”

Juan Sigler, his wife Susy and their two children, Samantha and Steven, arrived at the park after 7 a.m., got in line and didn’t exit the ride until well after noon. But they said it was worth a five-hour wait since they felt immersed in Harry Potter’s world.

“It has great special effects and you see the central characters,” said Susy Sigler, of Pembroke Pines, Fla. The ride is the centerpiece of the new Harry Potter section. It combines a roller coaster ride with 3-D projections featuring characters from the Harry Potter books and movies. The

BY BILL DRAPER The Associated Press

Hogwarts Express Train at Wizardly World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, Florida.

PHOTO BY EDWARD FIELDING / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

rest of Diagon Alley consists of seven detail-heavy shops selling merchandise such as wizard robes and interactive wands that allow visitors to perform wizard tricks throughout the section.

Honeymooners David and Jennifer O’Neill spent their second day in Diagon Alley but skipped the ride since Jennifer isn’t a fan of roller coasters.

Dressed in wizard robes, they wandered through the shops of Diagon Alley purchasing wizard wands and other merchandise.

“It’s fantastic! It’s like being in Diagon Alley,” said Jennifer O’Neill, of Dallas. “We walked in and it was so surreal.”

Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said the park doesn’t disclose attendance figures but “we are very pleased with the results we’re seeing.” Park

workers were trying to accommodate the crowds by giving visitors a ticket with a time to return if they found the wait too long on a first attempt, he said.

Not everyone was thrilled with the long wait to get on Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.

Jason and Kristi Phillips of Baton Rouge, La. waited with their twin 9-year-old sons, Jacob and Jordan, for four and a half hours. When asked if the wait was worth it, all four said in unison: “No!” They had to board the ride three different times Wednesday morning since it stopped twice mid-trip because of technical glitches.

“Nothing is worth a four and a half hour wait,” Kristi Phillips said. ■

KANSAS CITY, KAN.—Six weeks after the world’s tallest waterslide was initially scheduled to open to the public, media members and local dignitaries took the first rides Wednesday on the Kansas City, Kansas, attraction.

Kansas City Mayor Mark Holland, who rode in the second raft of the morning, insisted his screams on the way down the slide, called Verruckt, were of joy, not fear.

“It’s ridiculous,” Holland said moments after his first run down the 17-story slide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark. “You gotta think, why are you doing this? But then you cast common sense aside.”

While members of his staff waited anxiously to whisk him off to another appointment, the mayor made his way up the 264 steps to the top of the slide to ride it again.

The 168-foot-tall waterslide is scheduled to open to the public Thursday, after initially being slated to open May 23. The ride was reconfigured after early tests included sandbag-filled rafts flying off the slide and crashing to the ground.

Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry, who came up with the idea for the slide two years ago, said the early failures to keep rafts from being catapulted to the ground were just part of developing new technology.

“We wanted to know where the envelope was,” said Henry, who was the first person to ride Verruckt. “We found those envelopes and pushed those levels.”

While listening to the screams of riders who were coming down the slide Wednesday, Henry declared it to be “the baddest ride that’s ever been built.”

Verruckt, which means “insane” in German, was certified as the world’s tallest water slide in April by Guinness World Records. ■

The World’s Tallest Waterslide – Verrückt at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

PHOTO FROM THEVERRUCKT.COM

Travel

43 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

French presidents’ holiday retreat on a Riviera island opens to the public for the first time

BY SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press PARIS—It’s an old fortress on a tiny island, surrounded by pine trees and the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea: The Fort de Bregancon has been the very private holiday retreat of French leaders for decades.

And now it’s open to the public.

Socialist President Francois Hollande has decided to break with tradition and to show it to the masses for the first time instead of vacationing there, as a symbol of a toned-down presidential lifestyle in tough economic times.

The stylish villa is located on one of the most beautiful and unspoiled parts of the French Riviera.

Visitors can walk in the salons, the dining room and the president’s office, but shouldn’t expect the marble, gilding and elegant parquet floors you find in many French palaces. Instead, white walls and simple

tiles on the floor, in the local Mediterranean style, make it look like a family house.

“It is also the charm of the place: The president can live like ordinary people do, in a simple environment,” said Bernard Le Magoarou, administrator of the fort.

Built in the Middle Ages, it became state property during the French Revolution. Gen. Charles de Gaulle made it the official residence of the Republic after spending a memorable—if not very pleasant—night in it in 1964.

“He had a terrible night, because of the mosquitoes and a bed too small. He decided to renovate it,” said Le Magoarou.

Since then, every French president has come to take some time off from the demands of the Elysee Palace in Paris, to rest under the sound of the cicadas, and to enjoy the private beach and the spectacular view from the patio.

Jacques Chirac and his wife Bernadette visited often dur-

The fort has no swimming pool, forcing bathers out to the beach—giving the paparazzi better opportunities to take pictures of presidential couples in swimwear.

If You Go...

The Fort de Brégançon seen from the sea.

PHOTO BY PATRUB01 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ing his presidency from 1995 to 2007, regularly meeting residents of the neighbouring village.

Nicolas Sarkozy, president from 2007 to 2012, used to go

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jogging or biking. After he married model-singer Carla Bruni while in office, he preferred vacationing in her more luxurious villa at Cap Negre, but continued visiting the fort.

FORT DE BREGANCON: French presidential retreat open to the public through Sept. 28. A visit costs 10 euros and must be pre-booked on the website of the tourist department: http://www.bormeslesmimosas.com/fr/decouvrir/ fort-bregancon.php.

Bormes-les-Mimosas, the town that hosts the fort, is about an hour and a half drive east from Marseille or two hours southwest from Nice. The nearest train station is Toulon, and from there you can take a bus or taxi. From Bormes-les-Mimosas, the local tourist department runs boats to the fort. ■ Claude Paris in Bormes-lesMimosas, France contributed to this report.

Seen and Scenes

JULY 18, 2014

FRIDAY 44

KOOTENAY FIL-CANADIANS ELECT NEW OFFICERS The Filipino-Canadian Association of East Kootenay recently elected a new set of officers for 2014-2015, at the residence of Lourdes and Rezin Butalid. Elected officials are: President- Davidson Javier; Vice President Pamela Brunisholz; Secretary - Darien Guzman and Penny Gallardo Lariosa; Treasurer - Jeanne Pequero; Auditor - Irma Zamora; Public Relation Officer - Albert Servando

Former Vancouver Consul General Jose Ampeso (3rd from L) recently reconnected with friends Deputy Consul General Anthony Mandap and wife, former Vancouver Labor Attache Bernie Julve, and Philippine Canadian Inquirer’s Alan Yong, wife Jhynet Juanillas-Yong and daughter Jasmine, at the Golden Bay Chinese Restaurant in Pasay City.

Four Filipino community stalwarts of Vancouver gather in Manila for a mini reunion.

WINNIPEG ARCHIVIST PRESENTS PAPER AT 2014 CONFERENCE Mary Grace P. Golfo of the University of Manitoba, recently presented a paper at the 2014 Conference of the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) held in Victoria, B.C.

EDMONTON A catholic priest celebrates Mass at the Edmonton City Hall to mark Philippine Independence Day.

Winnipeg archivist Mary Grace Golfo (L) awaits her turn to speak during the 2014 Conference of the Association of Canadian Archivists.

For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net. www.canadianinquirer.net

Events

45 FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

Music Throwback with Randy Santiago, Gino Padilla & Fe de los Reyes

By Pinoy Times WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., July 25, at the Polish Canadian Cultural Centre 3015 15 St., NE, Calgary MORE INFO: Call 403-9752150 or email pinoytimes@gmail.com

YUKON NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Music Throwback with Randy Santiago, Gino Padilla & Fe de los Reyes

By Pinoy Times and MY 780 NUNAVUT Creative Solutions WHEN/WHERE: 5 p.m., July 27, at Ramada Edmonton Hotel & Conference Centre 11834 Kingsway Ave., Edmonton MORE INFO: For tickets call 1-888-666-4259

BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA

EVENTS

View all events by scanning this QR code or visiting

http://bit.ly/ PCI-Events

Consular Outreach in Montreal, Quebec By the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa WHEN/WHERE: 2 to 7 p.m., July 25; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., July 26 at the Philippine Community Centre (FAMAS Centre) 4708 Van Horne Ave., Montreal Quebec MORE INFO: Contact 1-514-3417477 Reception Celebrating the 150th Birth NEWFOUNDLAND

MANITOBA

SASKATCHEWAN

QUEBEC ONTARIO

3rd Vancouver's Original Pinoy Music Festival By the Filipino Canadian Marketing Group & GMA Pinoytv WHEN/WHERE: 12 nn to 6 p.m., July 19, at the Plaza of Nations MORE INFO: Free Admission. Enjoy a free concert in Downtown Vancouver featuring the Philippines' Queen of Soul, Jaya.

Philippine Fiesta By the Bayanihan Cultural and Housing Society (BCHS) WHEN/WHERE: noon to 5 p.m., July 20 at the Bayanihan Community Centre, 1709 Blanshard St., Victoria MORE INFO: Great selection of Filipino dishes. Entertainment includes folk dancing, line dancing, singing, talent show and children’s games.

Surrey Fusion Festival/ Visit Philippines

By Coast Capital Savings and produced by the City of Surrey WHEN/WHERE: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., July 19-20, Holland Park, Surrey, B.C. across King George Skytrain Station MORE INFO: The ultimate celebration of music, food and culture.

Awarded Best Cultural Event in Canada

Annual Summer BBQ By the World Financial Group WHEN/WHERE: 12 nn to 5 p.m., July 20 at Memorial South Park, Vancouver MORE INFO: Free food and music, games and prizes for all ages, open field activities, and entertainment for friends and family. Don’t forget to bring water guns and towels.

UP Annual Summer Picnic By the University of the Philippines Alumni Association of British Columbia WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., July 19, at Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park Burnaby, B.C. MORE INFO: Picnic Area 1. Potluck/ Luau (if possible, wear Hawaiian)

CANADA

Fil-Canadian Friendship Day By the Filipino-Canadian New Era Society WHEN/WHERE: 12 noon to 6 p.m., July 20, Capri Hall 3925 Fraser St., Vancouver, B.C.

Anniversary of Apolinario Mabini

By The Embassy of the Philippines WHEN/WHERE: 5:30 p.m., July 23 at the Embassy of the Philippines MORE INFO: RSVP Armi Santos 613-2331121 or contact armi.santos@philembassy.ca

Consular Outreach in Winnipeg, MB By the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto WHEN/WHERE: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., July 25 to 28, at the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba 737 Keewatin St., Winnipeg, MB Mabuhay Cup 2014 Invitational Slates Tourney

By Philippine Independence Day Council WHEN/WHERE: JULY 25-27 at the Downsview Park's HoopDome, North York, Toronto.

MORE INFO: contact mabuhaycup@yahoo.ca

Consultative Meeting

By Tapsilog WHEN/WHERE: 2 to 4 p.m., July 26, at 5294 Imperial St. (near Royal Oak St.), Burnaby.

MORE INFO: Agenda includes the two hot issues, organizational setup, plans, etc. www.canadianinquirer.net

Fiesta ng Kalayaan

By Philippine Independence Day Council WHEN/WHERE: JULY 25-27 at the Downsview Park's HoopDome, North York, Toronto.

Workshop on WordPress, Microsoft Basics

By Digital Ink Group (DIG) with FilCore Support Group WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 3 p.m., July 26, at the Canada International Career College (CICC), at Unit 100, 345 Wilson Ave., Toronto, ON, M3H 5W1.

MORE INFO: To reserve a seat in the workshop, contact Odette Montelibano at 416-743-9610, or send an e-mail to odette@odettemontelibano.com; or e-mail Christine Salubre, FilCore Support Group chairman at mcsgurdag@gmail.com.

To have your events featured on PCI, please email events@canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY JULY 18, 2014

46

CANADA

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We are currently recruiting for Sales Associate and Customer Service Representative to join us in Promenade, Toronto.

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FRIDAY 48