Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #135

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Drilling to go ahead in disputed area

A power plant on every roof

Jollibee hailed as one best food chains in US

Rob Ford is back in public

Tiny wasp tasked with saving Indonesian crops

No Filipinos hurt in HK protest; advised to stay away, don’t join

PROTESTS ERUPT IN HONG KONG

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Protestors in Hong Kong continued to gather in the streets this week. The protests started in response to election reforms by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

PASU AU YEUNG / FLICKR

P-Noy home after 12-day EU tour, US nostalgic trip PRESIDENT AQUINO returned to Manila late last week after a 12-day tour of Europe and the United States, bringing home pledges of investment from foreign businesses and possibilities of

“making dreams come true.”

Mr. Aquino and his entourage arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2 at 10:20 p.m. on a special Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight.

The President’s four-country tour of Europe and the United States cost the government P31.9 million.

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BY NIÑA P. CALLEJA AND NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — No reports of Filipinos being injured in the ongoing mass demonstrations in Hong Kong have been received by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), officials said.

“We are monitoring closely the situation in Hong Kong to ensure the safety of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) there. Our position is that we hope both sides will express their views in a peaceful manner,” DFA spokesman Assistant Secretary Charles Jose told members of the press on Monday.

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Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

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A picture of the aftermath from Typhoon Glenda earlier this year.

LEXTRIKE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Solons seek Php600-M subsidy for typhoon Glendaravaged electric cooperatives PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Lawmakers this past Monday stressed the necessity for a Php600million government subsidy to help rehabilitate electric cooperatives in the Typhoon Glenda-ravaged regions of the country.

“Typhoon Glenda hit the country last July 15, 2014 and left 18 electric cooperatives in five regions with about Php600-million losses due to damage in substations, sub-transmission lines and distribution lines,” Rep. Michael Angelo Rivera, Rep. Reynaldo Umali, and Rep. Rodel Batocabe said.

They are the authors of HB 4973 or “An Act urging the Office of the President to grant the sum of Php600-million to the National Electrification Administration for the reconstruction, repair and rehabilitation of distribution lines/ system and other infrastructure support to electric cooperatives ravaged by Typhoon Glenda.”

They recalled that Typhoon Glenda left an overall estimated damage of Php7-Billion with 24 deaths and 4 missing persons, and devastated agricultural lands as per report by the National Disaster Risks Reduction and Management Center (NDRRMC).

With Region V suffering the most damage, other electric cooperative gasping for assistance are from Regions IV-A, IV-B, III, and VIII. “NEA Electric cooperatives are designed not to earn profit so these ECs cannot build up funds to respond to natural disasters such as typhoon and earthquakes. The operation of an electric cooperative severely damaged by a natural calamity puts its integrity to a challenge,” they said.

These cooperatives, recently hit by Typhoon Glenda, are now on their knees and find it difficult to recover from the

losses, they revealed.

“Government should immediately help these electric cooperatives that serve millions of households, cater to other basic services and move the wheels of the economy and prevent deterioration of the peace and order conditions in the affected areas,” they stressed.

The authors cited an initial assessment by the NEA, Department of Energy and the electric cooperatives showing that Region V suffered the most damage — Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative (SORECO II) at Php122,749,342; Camarines Sur I Electric Cooperative (CASURECO I) with Php89,715,180; CASURECO III and CASURECO IV estimated at Php79,138,172,87; APEC EC at Php61,043,380.70; CASURECO II with Php30,753,952.38; and SORECO II and CASURECO II posted losses at Php9,013,437.50.

For Region IV-A — Batangas I Electric Cooperative (BATELCO I) with Php7,897,531.48; BATELCO II posted P24,157,016.22; First Laguna Electric Cooperative (FLECO) at Php3,584,895; Quezon 1 Electric Cooperative (QUEZELCO I) estimated loss at Php45,262,155.

Region IV-B — Marinduque Electric Cooperative (MARELCO) with Php8,812,310; Oriental Mindoro electric Cooperative (ORMECO) with Php624,441.97.

Region III — Zambales II Electric Cooperative (ZAMECO) at Php4,200,285.76; Peninsula Electric Cooperative (PENELCO) Php138,000; Pampanga II Electric Cooperative (PELCO) with Php1,784,765.

For Region VIII — Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO) with an estimated loss at Php200,978.

The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Energy chaired by Rep. Reynaldo Umali himself, one of the three principal authors. ■

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Philippine News

OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

P-Noy home...

But the country stands to reap big returns as a result of Mr. Aquino’s pitching for the Philippines as a destination for foreign investors.

Speaking to reporters at the airport, Mr. Aquino reported that his trip secured $2.3 billion in pledged investments after his discussions with business leaders in Spain, Belgium, France and Germany.

“We were gone for 12 days but we made the most out of those days,” Mr. Aquino said.

The President said he had 94 engagements and met top leaders of countries and institutions in Europe and the United States.

His top priority, he said, was winning support in Europe for the Philippines in its territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea. Spain, he said, offered to be the Philippines’ voice in the European Union in its efforts to resolve the dispute with China peacefully through international arbitration.

“It is clear from our meetings with various leaders, including with think tanks, that they they understand our position in our territorial dispute with China,” Mr. Aquino said.

After Europe, Mr. Aquino proceeded to the United States and visited Boston, where his family lived in exile during dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ martial rule in the Philippines.

He also went to New York and spoke at the United Nations Climate Change Summit. ❰❰ 1

Forum Energy PLC will go ahead in 2016 with drilling in Reed Bank, a disputed area northwest of the Philippine island of Palawan.

Filipino-British company to drill for gas in disputed sea with or without Chinese partner THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The chairman of a Philippine energy company said this past Friday that a Chinese stateowned oil producer hasn’t responded to a revived proposal to jointly explore a disputed area of the South China Sea, but drilling will go ahead by 2016 with or without a partnership.

Manuel Pangilinan said that Filipino-British company Forum Energy PLC communicated the offer to China National Offshore Oil Corp. to explore Reed Bank, northwest of the Philippine island of Palawan.

Philippine and Chinese vessels had a confrontation there three years ago.

Pangilinan said the Chinese company, also known as CNOOC, has not responded but Forum is continuing its attempts to engage with the Chinese company. He said the project has not attracted other investors because it is in an area of conflicting territorial claims and other investors did not want to offend China.

Pangilinan is chairman of Philex Petroleum Corp., majority owner of London-based Forum Energy that has been awarded the exploration contract.

He had an initial meeting with CNOOC President Yang Hua in 2012, but the talks have stalled, with the territorial con-

flict hampering exploration in the area.

Pangilinan said Forum still intends to drill two wells in first half of 2016.

“We will do it on our own if we have to ... as long as we are not disturbed,” he said.

The Department of Energy has extended Forum’s delayed drilling program by a year, giving it up to Aug. 15, 2016 to fulfil its contractual obligations. Pangilinan said weather would permit drilling only from March to May. Territorial spats between China and the Philippines over parts of the South China Sea have worsened in recent years, straining ties.

President Benigno Aquino III last week voiced concern that two Chinese hydrographic ships sighted by the military at the disputed Reed Bank in June could presage an attempt to drill for oil there.

In March 2011, Chinese ships tried to drive away a Philippine exploration vessel at the Reed Bank. The Philippines deployed two air force planes but the Chinese patrol ships had left by the time the aircraft reached the contested area.

China and the Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, have been contesting ownership of mostly barren islands, islets, reefs and surrounding waters in the South China Sea for years. ■

Making a snowman

Mr. Aquino’s visit to Boston

was personal, but he shared with reporters his memories of the place and gave them a rare glimpse of the tight bond between him and his father, the late former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Once he tried making a snowman that came out looking triangular and a bit malnourished.

“What do I know about building a snowman? Then my father arrived. He saw that it was just plain snow. So he got a leaf, put a pair of eyes and mouth.

“Someone gave him a scarf that he didn’t like. He put it around the snowman’s neck. He had a cap he didn’t like. He put it on its head. After which he called my mother and told her to take our picture,” the President said, smiling.

They cleaned their station wagon together—in the dead of winter. Toward the end of the chore, the President said he wanted to ask his father if they could just bring the car to the car wash instead.

In the small den, which his father used as his office, they listened to music together, Mr. Aquino said. “We both liked listening to music.”

One time, when he was shoveling snow in the driveway, his father went out of the house to tell him to get some rest.

“I told him I was OK and I wasn’t feeling tired. But he told me to feel my pulse. ‘Feel your pulse because you are exerting effort and that’s the way to combat the cold,’” the President said.

As he toured the house, Mr. Aquino saw the dining area where his father, the opposition

leader, held meetings with his guests. Beside it was the small living room where he watched on TV the news that his father had been shot dead.

“I was asked if I wanted to go up to my room,” the President said, which was near his parents’ bedroom.

At that point, seeing the place where he first heard the news of his father’s death, then the room where his mother and sisters waited for word about their father’s fate, still evoked painful memories for the President.

He chose not to see his room.

He summarized his recent homecoming to Boston with a Filipino adage that emphasizes the role of the past in shaping one’s future.

“It’s nice to remember all those times because we have a saying: ‘ Para makarating sa paroroonan, kailangan lumingon sa pinanggalingan, (To get to your destination, you have to look back to the past)’” the President said in a media briefing on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning in Manila) at his hotel in New York.

The three years he spent in Boston was the point in his life when he was molded into becoming the person and the leader he is today.

His visit in September was the first time in 31 years that he returned to Boston, fitting in his personal journey with his four-day working visit to the United States.

By coincidence, his homecoming took place on the 42nd anniversary of martial law, the very reason the President and his family found themselves in self-exile in the United States. ■

President Benigno Aquino III visiting the home in Boston where his family lived while they were in exile.

RYAN LIM / NIL GARTEA / MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

FILIPINO-CANADIAN 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.

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OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

No hero’s burial for Marcos Palace: P-Noy’s stand still the same

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT AQUINO has not changed his mind about disallowing the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos among heroes at Libingan ng mga Bayani, Malacañang said last month, on the 42nd anniversary of Marcos’ declaration of martial law.

“The position of the President remains the same,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters in Malacañang.

Lacierda said Mr. Aquino or any of his officials had never discussed the question of Marcos’ burial at Libingan and this meant that the President’s position had not changed.

While campaigning for Malacañang in 2010, Mr. Aquino promised never to allow Marcos to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery in Taguig City, Metro Manila.

Ninoy’s jailer

Mr. Aquino’s father, Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was the leader of the opposition to Marcos. The dictator ordered him arrested and jailed him for nearly eight years before allowing him to go to the United States for a heart operation.

Senator Aquino returned to the Philippines on Aug. 21, 1983, and was assassinated at Manila’s international airport.

Although it has never been proven, it is widely believed that Marcos had a hand in the murder of Ninoy Aquino.

Marcos, who ruled the Philippines with an iron fist for two decades, fled to Hawaii after being toppled in the Edsa People Power Revolution in February 1986.

He died in Hawaii three years later at age 72, after a long battle with heart, lung and kidney

ailments.

Mr. Aquino’s mother, President Corazon Aquino, who was swept to power by the revolution, refused to allow the return of Marcos’ body to the Philippines.

FVR allowed body’s return

But in 1993, her successor, President Fidel V. Ramos, allowed the body of Marcos to be brought home.

The body arrived in Laoag City, in Marcos’s home province of Ilocos Norte, on Sept. 7, 1993.

There were no military honors for Marcos, but 21 retired military generals who had served under his administration were there.

Ramos was represented by his sister, former Sen. Leticia Ramos Shahani. Then Vice President Joseph Estrada, who supported Marcos during the Edsa Revolution, was also there.

Despite allowing the return of Marcos’ body, Ramos did not allow its burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Claiming that it was Marcos’ wish that he be buried in the heroes’ cemetery, his family preserved his body and kept it in a crypt in his hometown of Batac, waiting for a friendlier administration that would allow the fulfillment of the dictator’s wish.

But the succeeding administrations of Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also did not allow Marcos to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery.

Burial resolution

Three years ago, 193 members of the House of Representatives led by Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero III (now deceased) signed a resolution allowing the burial of Marcos at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Mr. Aquino declined to decide the issue and instead

tasked Vice President Jejomar Binay to study the matter and submit a recommendation.

Binay recommended that Marcos be buried with military honors in Batac. The Marcoses refused, insisting on fulfilling the dictator’s wish.

Last week, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the dictator’s only son, reiterated his family’s wish to have his father honored by laying him to rest at Libingan.

“It is his right because he is a soldier and he served in the military and his record speaks for itself. And he was the longest sitting president in our history. By rights, he should be buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Marcos said in a television interview. “We really need to start moving forward. I think bringing us back again to that conflict does not serve its purpose now.”

Reparation for victims

Thousands of Marcos’ opponents perished in military prisons during those years.

Thousands survived and are now entitled to reparations under Republic Act No. 10368, or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

As required by that law, the government has set aside P10 billion for the payment of reparation to the survivors of Marcos’ martial rule.

But Gloria Rodriguez, 60, who was tortured in prison, tied by her feet and hung upside down over the sea from a helicopter, has lost interest in being recognized and compensated.

“I applied for compensation.

I was among the first one. But along with Ka Satur [Ocampo], I wasn’t put on the final list.

I suppose because [Human Rights Chair] Etta Rosales knew I was in the movement,” Rodriguez told the Inquirer in an interview yesterday.

This photo from 1982 shows Ferdinand Marcos receiving a full honor departure ceremony from US troops.

“After that, I lost interest.

I don’t want to do it anymore even if I’m being urged to,” she said.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) has also lost faith in the reparation process.

“We stopped our campaign for the implementation of the claims process after a former policeman was appointed head of the screening committee,” Bayan spokesperson Andrienne Mark Ng said, referring to former Philippine National Police Director Lina Sarmiento, chair of the Human Rights Victims Claims Board (HRVCB).

“When they find out the claimants are from progressive organizations, they don’t recognize them as victims.”

Pressing recognition

But the HRVCB promised to press the effort to recognize the heroism and sufferings of the survivors.

“The HRVCB commits to tilt

back the scales of justice in favor of the victims by acknowledging the wrongs of the past toward healing the wounds of martial law,” the board said in a statement yesterday.

The board has so far received 17,659 claims for reparation from the victims or their heirs at its office on the University of the Philippines campus at Diliman in Quezon City, its five regional desks, and through “across-the-country caravans.”

The desks are located at the Commission on Human Rights regional offices in the cities of Davao, Cotabato, Iloilo, Legazpi and Tacloban.

HRVCB Chair Sarmiento said the board was setting up nine more regional desks to accommodate more claimants.

The filing of claims began on May 12, and ends on Nov. 10.

The board expects 20,000 to 30,000 human rights abuse victims to come forward to file claims and tell their stories. ■

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Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

7

Purisima urged: Take leave Poe to PNP chief: Explain wealth

BY TJ BURGONIO AND NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer GO ON LEAVE. Sen. Grace Poe last week asked Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima to take this step so he could respond to charges of undisclosed wealth and protect the institution.

“It’s not saying that anybody’s guilty. But if there’s an issue and there seems to be some valid points, especially certain disparities in the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), it is a chance for him to be able to concentrate and defend himself, and build a case to protect himself by taking, perhaps, a leave,” Poe told reporters.

Purisima and other PNP officials are in Bogota, Colombia, for an antikidnapping and antiextortion senior leadership conference.

The Coalition of Filipino Consumers filed charges of plunder, graft and indirect bribery against Purisima for his alleged “hidden mansion” in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija province, and the construction of the White House, his official residence, in Camp Crame.

This is on top of a complaint filed against the PNP chief over an allegedly anomalous P100million contract with a courier service firm for the delivery of firearms licenses.

cades he had known Purisima, he never saw the police official “eat too much or live luxuriously.”

“The way I know Alan … I have known him since 1987, from that time to the present, I have never seen this person na maluho, matakaw ( live luxuriously or eat too much),” Mr. Aquino said, when sought for comment after a citizens’ group filed a plunder complaint against Purisima in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Mr. Aquino said Purisima had not enriched himself even when he was with the Presidential Security Group and the Special Action Force.

Nonetheless, the President said he still “would want to see the details of the complaint” filed by the Coalition of Filipino Consumers, “so as not to prejudge it … and render an accurate judgement.”

The President, however, said he was “not worried” over the allegations made against Purisima.

Mason brothers

The group said Purisima was liable for plunder for accepting donations amounting to some P25 million to P30 million from his Mason brothers for the renovation of the PNP Chief’s official residence in Camp Crame called the “White House.”

The President said the PNP was “in the capable hands” of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas who would “get to the bottom of this.”

Purisima’s defender

While on his Presidential tour In New York last month, President Aquino defended Purisima against allegations that he enriched himself while in government service.

At a media briefing as he wrapped up his four-day US working visit, the President said that in the nearly three de-

P104.5-B budget

At the Senate hearing on the proposed P104.5-billion budget for 2015 of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Poe suggested that Roxas recommend to the President for Purisima to go on leave.

Roxas said he would take up Purisima’s fate with Mr. Aquino

Senator Grace Poe (left) has called on Philippine National Police Director Alan Purisima (right) to take a leave of absence amidst allegations against Purisimia of plunder, graft, and indirect bribery.

when he arrives from a working visit to the United States Thursday.

Executives of three construction firms donated more than P11 million for the construction of Purisima’s P25-million official residence in Camp Crame, according to the interior secretary.

Interestingly, the deed of donation between the construction executives and Purisima was dated Sept. 3, weeks after the controversy on the White House broke. Reporters were furnished copies of the deed.

Pressed about Purisima’s controversial White House, Roxas read a report by the PNP comptroller to the Commission on Audit stating that Purisima had received a deed of donation amounting to P11.4 million from Carlos Gonzalez of Ulticon Builders Inc., Alexander Lopez of Pacific Concrete Corp. and Christopher Pastrana of CAPP Industries Inc. Roxas said that while Purisima enjoyed his trust, it was necessary for the PNP to respond to the allegations against him.

“We can’t deny that the PNP, as an institution, is affected by this. Even the President is dragged here, even yours truly,” he told reporters.

Spot discrepancies

At the Senate finance committee hearing on the DILG’s proposed budget, Poe told Rox-

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as that it shouldn’t be difficult to spot discrepancies in a police official’s SALN, say the declared value of a house and its real property value.

Poe said that Roxas should tap the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to do a swift scrutiny.

“The SALN is very clear-cut.

You can easily see if an item is manifestly disproportionate.

So, if one declares a P2-million property, yet it’s several hectares, you’d know that’s not due to a spike in the real estate market,” she said.

Lifestyle check

Roxas confirmed that the Napolcom, Office of the Ombudsman and Bureau of Internal Revenue would jointly conduct a lifestyle check on police officials.

Poe pressed on and said: “I believe that a leader should have a purpose higher than himself, and all of us, I feel that it’s unfair to the PNP, especially to the others if the topmost person is not even available to defend the institution during the budget hearing or to be able to articulate to us what the institution needs even not for himself, for the people that he is leading.”

SALNs mix-up

Bewailing reports that police officials’ SALNs were not available at the Office of the President, or that these had been mixed up with those of the rank and file, Poe put Roxas on the spot.

“What would you recommend to the President regarding the PNP leadership?” she asked Roxas point-blank.

Roxas promised to take this up with the President, who is expected to arrive from the United States on Thursday.

“This is a complex matter.

With due respect, I don’t want this discussion to go any further because the person concerned isn’t here,” Roxas said of Purisima. “We will get to the truth, and when that time comes, the government can move properly.”

Simple living

Amid the controversy over the hidden wealth of Purisima, the PNP reminded its members to “lead modest lives.”

In a statement, the PNP Public Information Office (PIO) announced the issuance of a memorandum reminding all its personnel to observe a “simple standard of living” in accordance with Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

“Police personnel are considered public officials and are mandated to lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income. They shall not indulge in extravagant or ostentatious display of wealth in any form,” the PNP PIO said. ■

Philippine News

8

OCTOBER 3, 2014 FRIDAY

SC sacks Napoles justice Ong first antigraft court member to be axed Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Inc. Managing Editor Earl Von Tapia earl.tapia@canadianinquirer.net Community News Editor Mary Ann Mandap maryann.mandap@canadianinquirer.net Correspondents Ching Dee Angie Duarte Lei Fontamillas Frances Grace Quiddaoen Socorro Newland Bolet Arevalo Graphic Designer Shanice Garcia Photographers Angelo Siglos Solon Licas Operations and Marketing Head Laarni Liwanag (604) 551-3360 Advertising Sales Alice Yong (778) 889-3518 alice.yong@canadianinquirer.net Jennifer Yen (778) 227-2995 jennifer.yen@canadianinquirer.net sales@canadianinquirer.net 1-888-668-6059 PHILIPPINE PUBLISHING GROUP Editorial Assistant Phoebe Casin 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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BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer JUDGES BEWARE. Fraternizing with litigants can get you disrobed.

For lying and showing “corrupt inclinations” as an officer of the court, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong got the boot from the Supreme Court yesterday, never again allowed to hold a public post for his links with the alleged pork barrel scam brains, Janet Lim-Napoles.

Voting 8-5, the high court found Ong guilty of grave misconduct, dishonesty and impropriety, immediately dismissing him from the service for “fraternizing” with Napoles during the time his sala handled a case against the businesswoman and other accused.

Two justices—Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and Diosdado Peralta—inhibited themselves from the ruling as they formerly served at the Sandiganbayan.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima welcomed the decision.

“Finally deciding to dismiss rather than merely suspend Justice Ong, the Supreme Court affirms that moral integrity is not divisible. It is the highest quali-fication for judges and justices.

Members of the judiciary found lacking in integrity cannot be merely suspended because the character disqualification is permanent, not only incidental,” De Lima said in a statement.

She said the “trust of the people in the justice system is best preserved by maintaining the highest levels of moral integrity in the superior courts.”

The Sandiganbayan said it would immediately implement the order of the Supreme Court removing Ong from the 15-member antigraft court.

First to be dismissed

Ong, 61, became the first Sandiganbayan justice to be dismissed from the service since the court was created by a Marcos-era edict on June 11, 1978.

Appointed by then President Joseph Estrada on Oct. 5, 1998, Ong was the most senior among the 14 associate justices of the antigraft court.

The Supreme Court ruling took away Ong’s retirement benefits, “except for accrued leave benefits.” Ong may never seek reemployment “in any branch, agency or instrumentality of the government, including government-owned and -controlled corporations.”

The tribunal said that while evidence against Ong was “insufficient to sustain the bribery and corruption charges,” it “found credible evidence of Ong’s association with Napoles” after his division handed down a decision clearing the

Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Gregory Ong was ejected from the Philippine Supreme Court, and is never again allowed to hold a public post.

businesswoman of the charges.

Suspicion of partiality

The court noted that such links, established through testimony that he had visited Napoles in her office two times, had fueled the public’s “suspicion of [his] partiality.” “[The] totality of the circumstances of such an association strongly indicates Ong’s corrupt inclinations that only heightened the public’s perception of anomaly in the decision-making process,” the high court said in a summary of its ruling released yesterday.

In administrative proceedings, the court needs only “reasonable ground” through evidence that is “substantial… or that amount of relevant evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.”

Dishonesty

The court also noted that Ong “was not truthful on crucial matters even before the administrative complaint was filed against him,” making him liable for dishonesty.

The ruling “is immediately executory.” Ong may still appeal the decision “but the judgment is carried out pending the appeal,” said court spokesperson Theodore Te. Repeat offender

The decision said Ong “was not a firsttime offender.” Ong and a fellow Sandiganbayan Justice had been found liable for misconduct in 2011 for violating the Rules of Court. Ong, who lost an appeal to the ruling, was fined P15,000 for “unbecoming conduct.”

“The court noted that Justice Ong was not a first-time offender and that the charges of gross misconduct and dishonesty were both grave offenses; it concluded that Justice Ong was no longer fit to remain as magistrate of the special graft court,” Te said in a press briefing.

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The Supreme Court cited how the pork barrel scam bled into the judicial branch because of Ong’s misconduct, as his apparent links with Napoles “had dragged the judiciary into the… controversy, which initially involved only legislative and executive officials.”

Grossly improper

“The court found that Justice Ong’s act of voluntarily meeting with Napoles at her office on two occasions was grossly improper and violated Section 1, Canon 4 (propriety) of the New Code of Judicial Conduct,” Te said.

The cited section says “judges shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of their activities.”

“The court emphasized that a judge must not only be impartial but must also appear to be impartial and that fraternizing with litigants tarnishes this appearance. It also stressed that the rule on propriety extended even beyond the time that a judge had already ruled on a pending litigation,” said Te, citing the ruling. “…[I]t does not matter that the case is no longer pending when improper acts were committed by the judge. Because magistrates are under constant public scrutiny, the termination of a case will not deter public criticisms for acts, which may cause suspicion on its disposition or resolution,” said the high court.

Whistle-blowers

In recent months, the high court had been deliberating on whether to dismiss or merely suspend Ong for his links to Napoles, first disclosed through testimonies of pork barrel scam whistleblowers Benhur Luy and Marina Sula last year.

The two witnesses said Ong was in contact with Napoles while his division heard graft and malversation cases ❱❱ PAGE 14 SC sacks

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

9

Mayon eruption emerging as Phl’s 2014 biggest touristic event

BY JOHNNY C. NUNEZ Philippine News Agency

“Mong Kok protesters sitting down blocking Nathan Road, a hugely busy Kowloon thoroughfare. Quite a sight #HongKong” PHOTO COURTESY OF KATY LEE ON TWITTER

No Filipinos...

Pro-democracy demonstrators, numbering in the thousands, gathered at a major thoroughfare — disrupting traffic, bus routes and subway operations — near government offices on Sunday to decry China’s decision to limit political reforms in the semi-autonomous city. The protest targets, in particular, the ramifications to the elections in 2017.

Filipinos in Hong Kong have been strongly urged by the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong to avoid going to, and taking part in, the demon❰❰ 1

strations. The consulate pointed out specific areas to avoid as: Causeway Bay, the Wan Chai nightlife district and the harbor in Mong Kok on the Kowloon peninsula.

“Our consulate is equipped and capable of taking care of the welfare and safety of our Filipinos there,” he said; in response to questions about contingency plans should violence break out.

There are approximately 185,000 Filipinos living and working in the city of Hong Kong. ■

LEGAZPI CITY — Albay frowns on disaster tourism promotion but the ongong threats of major eruption by Mayon Vocano, the world’s most perfect cone mountain, is emerging as the Philippines’ biggest 2014 touristic event.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the strong probability of a Vulcanian - Strombollian eruption of Mayon is another geological phenomenon now waiting to happen but it has drawn foreign tourists in droves.

Salceda said they have already moved residents within Mayon’s six-kilometer radius danger zone and up to eight-kilometer extended buffer zone, away from harms’ way, and are now safe in evacuation centers, so that problem has already been addressed. The focus of attention is now in providing the

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needs of the 10,902 families or 46,674 people in the 44 evacuation centers across Albay.

Phivolcs officials warned of a possible big blast of Mayon due to a gargantuan lava dome that has accumulated at its crater in recent weeks. As this developed, more tourists were noted to have arrived in the province.

The governor said tourists can pose some problems in their operations, “but there’s no way to stop them from watching the world’s most perfect cone volcano blows its top, which is a once in a lifetime chance.”

Visitors watch lava and pyroclastic materials cascade down Mayon’s southeastern slope especially on clear nights.

Visitors come by bus or via the Legazpi Domestic Airport, which is not closed even during Alert 4 or 5 because it is 18 kilometers away from the crater and from the declared sixkm radius Permanent Danger Zone.

The Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council has prohibited activities near the volcano; ATV (all-terrain vehicle) tours, trekking, playing golf at Doña Pepita Golf Course and all other activities within the permanent danger zone (PDZP and extended buffer zone.

The recommended areas where tourists could view the volcano from a distance are Ligñon Hill, Cagsawa Ruins Park, Daraga Church, Legazpi City Boulevard, Taysan Hills and Quituinan Hills. The spectacle could be better viewed at night.

“Our objective is to make the surroundings so boring and the stage so uneventful that Mayon can have her solo show.

Once endangered residents are evacuated, an eruption should actually be an engaging geological and touristic event,” said ❱❱ PAGE 13 Mayon eruption

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Philippine News

OCTOBER 3, 2014 FRIDAY

A power plant on every roof

BY DORIS C. DUMLAO Philippine Daily Inquirer THIS 21-YEAR-OLD entrepreneur dreams of converting every roof deck in the Philippines into a power plant, banking on improvements in solar technology to help deal with the country’s looming power supply shortfall.

Leandro Leviste, founder and president of Solar Philippines— the country’s first allin-one solar financing, design, construction and maintenance company—took one big step forward last Saturday with the launch of the 700-kilowatt Central Mall Biñan rooftop solar system, Southeast Asia’s largest own-use power project so far.

The project is pioneering in many ways. It is the first solar installation financed by a local bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), the first offered at a rate competitive with fossil fuel and the first solar-powered shopping mall in the country.

Furthermore, Solar Philippines has also bagged deals to construct solar systems in other shopping malls, including SM North Edsa, Robinsons Palawan and City Mall Roxas.

Leviste’s company expects to complete at least seven more solar projects for shopping malls by end of 2014.

“I come from a family of environmentalists but for me, this is more about addressing one of the country’s greatest economic challenges—the high cost of electricity,” said Leviste, a son of Sen. Loren Legarda, a known advocate of climate change awareness.

“I also believe that only by making a solution commercially viable can it reach meaningful scale in mitigating climate change. Solar is a technology that’s long been tried and tested, but which has not reached wide adoption because no company had packaged this in a way marketable to consumers—zero upfront, as an operating and not a capital expense,” Levite said in reply to an INQUIRER query.

Below Meralco rates

Leviste’s Solar Philippines financed, designed and constructed the entire system at no upfront cost to Central Mall

Biñan. Under a power purchase agreement, solar electricity is supplied directly to the mall at below rates charged by Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), which guarantees savings from Day One—a first for renewable energy in the country.

Spanning over 7,000 square meters, Central Mall Biñan’s rooftop solar-power system is made up of 2,514 solar panels and equipment from premium German brands. It can cover 30 percent of the mall’s energy needs, in turn reducing the electricity bill by millions of pesos a year.

The roof-deck system can produce enough energy to power 1,000 homes and its expected operation in more than three decades will offset over 20,000 tons (18,143.7 metric tons) of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the planting of 100,000 trees.

Cost-competitive

“The days of having to choose between business and the environment are over,” Leviste said. “Solar has gained the reputation of being expensive, not because of the technology but because previous applications were too small to benefit economies of scale. By building the country’s largest solar rooftop projects, we have become the first local company to make of 500 megawatts in 2015, the into solar power plants.” solar cost-competitive with fos- DOE has increased its solar insil fuel.” stallation target from 50 MW Road to entrepreneurship “Solar technology is already to 500 MW, noting that a solar It all started a year and a half tried and tested. The problem plant’s fast construction time ago, when Leviste read about has been the business model and makes it a natural solution to how a US company called Sothis is the first company to get the looming power crisis. larCity pioneered the model it right,” said Energy Secretary This is a plan that doesn’t of fully financing solar rooftop Jericho Petilla, who graced Sat- sit well with some economists, installations at zero up-front urday’s roof-deck inauguration who fear that Filipino electric- cost, supplying electricity at in Biñan City, Laguna province. ity consumers will be burdened below utility rates.

“I commend So“Despite the lar Philippines Philippines havfor bravely pioing the highest neering this zero electricity rates up-front scheme, Solar technology is already tried and in Asia and the which is an obtested. The problem has been the decreasing cost vious choice for business model and this is the first of solar panels, customers.” company to get it right. no company By next sumhad been able mer, the Departto replicate that ment of Energy model in the (DOE) plans to Philippines. So I cap air-conditioning tempera- with additional power charges dropped everything to pursue ture in shopping malls to 25 de- under the feed-in-tariff sub- the opportunity. Once I startgrees Celsius to conserve peak sidy. ed, I realized other things that power. However, Petilla noted For his part, Leviste believes made this the perfect niche for that “solar-powered malls would that everyone can be part of the a start-up: huge potential, a low be exempt from this policy.” solution. “All commercial and barrier to entry and entirely industrial building owners can untapped because the model Power supply shortfall help curb the power shortage was very different from what Warning of a supply shortfall by converting their rooftops traditional power companies www.canadianinquirer.net

The solar project on top of City Mall Binan.

SOLARPHILIPPINES.PH

were used to,” said Leviste.

Yale study on hold

Leviste was about to finish his senior year at Yale University, where he was majoring in political science with the hope of becoming a lawyer, when he heeded the call of entrepreneurship.

“I tried to juggle this and my studies for a semester but then realized the importance of focus. So school is now on indefinite hold,” he said.

The young businessman has since then assembled a 35-person team with over 100 years of combined experience in the solar energy, construction and power industries.

Solar Philippines is now completing over 50 MW of solar power projects by the first quarter of 2015. “In the range of experiences of our solar engineers, I’d like to think we’ve built a monopoly over solar expertise in the Philippines,” he said.

In the first few months, Leviste ran Solar Philippines from

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

his bedroom, learning as much as he could from people in the industry here and abroad while sinking his teeth on a pilot project.

“Building a company has definitely been more difficult than building a project. It was a series of tiny victories, with lots of embarrassing moments and lots of firsts, but [it] ultimately came together in the end,” he said.

“I think that in this generation, the power to make a difference really is in the hands of entrepreneurs, not policymakers, and that the pace of innovation from Silicon Valley will open many opportunities for those who seek it. I grew up expecting to enter politics but realized that in the 21st century, it’s entrepreneurs who are changing the world,” he said.

Zero up-front cost model

Solar Philippines’ mission is to make solar energy cheaper than coal and affordable for every home and business in the country.

“The reason we’ve been able to build the largest projects in the country is that we’re the first and only company to get prices low enough to produce a compelling return on investment; and in a selfreinforcing cycle, those large projects allow us to reach ever lower costs. Moreover, we’re the only local company that both finances and installs solar plants, meaning we pass on the savings of fullintegration to the end-user,” Leviste said.

He noted that Solar Philippines was a long-term oriented company that believed in building partnerships with key customers and, as a result, would happily accept slim margins for large volume.

Leviste does not see solar power in competition with any other energy source because of its potential for distributed generation.

“Even if others might be able to reach a lower generation cost, on top of that would be the transmission, distribution, other charges, resulting in an end-user cost nearly twice as high. This is in comparison to solar, which can bypass that entire value-chain by generating power on-site. You can’t build a coal, gas or hydro plant, or even a windmill on the roof of any mall. But you can mount solar panels!” he said.

Break-even point

For enterprises using solar power to augment electricity needs, the estimated breakeven point depends on the franchise area. Meralco has a high electricity cost and a “demandbased” component. Thus, the bill for commercial and industrial customers is based on their highest kilowattdemand at any point in the month.

“Given that most customers still have peak load in the late afternoon or evening, the distribution and transmission portion of your bill—nearly 20 percent— remains intact. But, bottom line, you should expect sixto seven-year payback, or a 15percent annual return, for a sys-

eight months, solar rooftops can provide or augment the power they need. Funding is not a problem, as banks, like BPI, have financing programs that also provide free technical advice.”

For Leviste, the potential for solar power is as big as the entire Philippine electricity market. “There’s more than enough rooftop space to meet the entire country’s energy requirements and it makes financial sense to go solar in nearly every electricity franchise in the country,” he said.

Consumer education

Leandro Leviste, the 21-year-old founder and president of Solar Philippines.

tem that’s warrantied for 25 years. So the numbers look great! The challenge remains in surmounting the high initial capital investment and this is why we’ve introduced zero upfront financing to the local market,” he said.

Huge market

Edgar Sia II, cofounder and chair of DoubleDragon Properties Corp., which plans to build a large chain of community malls across the country under the “CityMall” brand, has affirmed the use of solar power as part of his group’s road map.

“We are working with a few solar power groups because all the upcoming 100 CityMalls around the country [by 2020] will have both solar power and rainwater collection systems as part of our longterm planning and outlook,” Sia said in a text message.

“Solar power makes sense for mall developments because malls have underutilized big-roof footprint and also because malls consume daytime power simultaneously with the sunshine.”

CityMall in Roxas City will have 650 KW of solar power generation capacity, covering about half its requirements.

The SM North Edsa roof-deck project is estimated to generate 1.5 MW, covering less than 10 percent of its requirements, while Robinsons Palawan is estimated to generate 1.2 MW. More SM malls are expected to resort to solar power. The SM group, led by the family of tycoon Henry Sy, is not a stranger to solar power generation. In mid-2013, SM City Xiamen launched a 1.1-MW rooftop solar power project, the first of its kind in Xiamen, involving the installation of 3,740 solar panels.

JoAnn Eala, BPI vice president and head of sustainable energy finance and specialized lending, shares optimism on solar power projects, especially among commercial and industrial users.

“More and more mall and large-rooftop owners realize that they need not fall victim to the power crisis and impact of climate change that have been disrupting business operations. In six to

“Provided that the numbers now work, the remaining bottlenecks are the willingness of banks and consumer education. No doubt this is a long process that will take several decades to transition to renewable energy and distributed generation, but our company is here for the long haul,” he added.

Given the market’s potential, Leviste said it was not a question of gaining market share but of coping with demand. Apart from Central Mall Biñan, SM North Edsa, Robinsons Palawan and CityMall Roxas, his company is in talks with a number of other large industrial and commercial chains.

Residential customers

In the long run, Leviste sees solar power becoming affordable, even to ordinary households. “Electricity rates

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11 are 50percent higher for residential than commercial consumers and while there’s a high initial investment, you’ll be generating a return on investment of over 20 percent a year, he said.

“The challenge remains in achieving economies of scale and the advantage of our doing the largest projects in the country is that we can pass our costsavings from economies of scale onto residential consumers,” he added.

Vision

His vision is for Solar Philippines to become the first distributed generation utility in Asia by making solar energy accessible and affordable to every home and business.

His is the same vision as that of SolarCity, founded by Elon Musk—also the founder of Tesla Motors, the world’s first successful electric car company— who believes in a future where every building will be powered by solar energy on its rooftop, replacing the electricity grid we know today.

“It’s an exciting vision and something I see happening in my lifetime. To put things in perspective, in the early ‘90s, cell phones displaced fixed-line telephones a lot faster than people had expected,” Leviste said.

“One thing for sure is that by the number of massive projects completed by next summer, consumers will never look at solar the same way again.” ■

12

Philippine News

OCTOBER 3, 2014 FRIDAY

P-Noy doubles security due to ‘credible threat’ vs Pope

BY NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT AQUINO last week said he expected stepped up measures by the Presidential Security Group (PSG) to protect Pope Francis during his visit to the Philippines in January next year amid a news report in Italy of a possible threat against the Pontiff by Islamic militants.

“We are not going into details. What the PSG affords me, I want to see them double the effort especially for the head of the Holy Mother Church. There shouldn’t be any incident while he’s in our country. But going into details now might increase the problems of the PSG,” Mr. Aquino told reporters in a briefing.

The Iraqi ambassador to the Vatican, Habeeb al- Sadr,

has been quoted by the Italian newspaper La Nazione earlier this week as saying there is a “credible threat” from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) against the Pope.

With ‘ Yolanda’ victims

Pope Francis will be in the Philippines from Jan. 15 to 19, primarily to visit the survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” that devastated the Visayas in November last year. He is scheduled to fly on Jan. 17 to Tacloban, which bore the brunt of the cyclone, internationally known as “Haiyan.”

The PSG will also beef up security for 21 world leaders, including the United States, China and Japan, who are expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in the Philippines in November next year, the President said.

Mr. Aquino said the terrorist groups in the Philippines being pursued by security forces are not part of the Isis.

“The Abu Sayyaf, maybe even the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) are doing basically the same things but now attributing it to their joining IS, which doesn’t necessarily mean that they are IS,” the President said.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario was set to meet with officials from the US Department of State on Wednesday morning on the latest air strikes by the US military carried out against the Islamic extremist group in Syria.

The President said Del Rosario would seek “more details, exactly if they [US] are asking for assistance [from the Philippines] and what manner of assistance… which we will review.”

Pope Francis will receive extra security for his visit to the Philippines in January of 2015.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KOREAN CULTURE AND INFORMATION CENTER

US authorities

“Of course, we want to do something that is doable and within our capabilities without posing undue risks to

our forces or the country at large,” said Mr. Aquino, who was winding up a two- week visit to Europe and the United States. ■

SC sacks... against the businesswoman, her husband and several others for the delivery of subpar Kevlar helmets to the Philippine Marines worth P3.8 million in 1998. ❰❰ 8

Visit to Napoles office

Ong’s division in the Sandiganbayan acquitted Napoles and the other accused in a 2010 ruling. In his testimony before the Senate blue ribbon committee on Sept. 26, 2013, Luy said Ong visited Napoles’ Ortigas office in 2012, receiving 11 checks amounting to P3.10 million.

Sula recalled how Napoles told her staff that she had a contact in the Sandiganbayan, and that they should not be worried about possible legal cases arising from their alleged involvement in the pork barrel scam.

PDAF

Napoles is accused of taking public money through the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as lawmakers’ pork barrel, using dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

The Supreme Court also cited a photograph that “publicly linked” Ong to Napoles and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, now jailed for his alleged involvement in the

PDAF scam.

In a letter he submitted voluntarily to the Chief Justice right after the Senate hearing where he was implicated, Ong denied the charges and denied attending any party or social event hosted by Napoles.

He told the high court that, even while he was not required to explain, he sent the letter “to defend his reputation as a judge and protect the Sandiganbayan as an institution from unfair and malicious innuendos.”

Through a six-page statement in July, Ong decried INQUIRER reports about the confidential proceedings, saying these subjected him to “trial by publicity” done in “wanton violation” of his rights.

He said retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez’s findings on the administrative case against him were “only recommendatory in nature and it cannot in any truthful way be equated to the factual findings and eventual disposition that the Supreme Court would make on my case.”

In its ruling, however, the high court upheld Gutierrez’s recommendations. She had recommended that Ong be removed from the court for “serious transgressions” that have “im-

that the testimonies of Luy and Sula showed that Ong was in contact with Napoles during the pendency of the Kevlar case.”

“By his act of going to Napoles at her office on two occasions, Ong exposed himself to the suspicion that he was partial to Napoles,” the high court said.

Photo of Ong and Napoles

Janet Lim-Napoles's official mugshot.

paired the image of the judiciary to which he owes the duty of loyalty and obligation to keep it at all times above suspicion and worthy of the people’s trust.”

Gutierrez found that Ong had in fact visited Napoles after the Sandiganbayan handed down its ruling on Napoles’ case, acquitting her of the charges. She also noted that Ong, in his Sept.

26 letter, did not disclose the visit to the Chief Justice. www.canadianinquirer.net

Credible witnesses

She also found that Luy and Sula gave consistent testimonies when she cross-examined them during the investigation.

The investigating retired magistrate found the two were “credible witnesses and their story untainted with bias and contradiction, reflective of honest and trustworthy witnesses.”

The court affirmed Gutierrez’s assessment: “The court noted

“That Ong was not the ponente of the decision which was rendered by a collegial body did not forestall such suspicion of partiality, as evident from the public disgust generated by the publication of a photograph of Ong together with Napoles and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada,” said the court.

The eight magistrates who voted to dismiss Ong were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Associate Justices Carpio, Arturo Brion, Mariano del Castillo, Martin Villarama Jr., Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen and Francis Jardeleza.

The five who dissented were Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco, Lucas Bersamin, Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza and Bienvenido Reyes. It was not clear whether their dissent meant a vote of “not guilty” or a vote not to dismiss and merely suspend Ong, pending the release of the full decision. ■

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

13

Mayon eruption...

Salceda.

The governor said it is their policy not to promote disaster tourism “in respect to the dignity of displaced families; we would rather have Alert 0 and still gain a lot of tourists by investing in aggressive promotion rather than spend the same for protracted evacuation.”

“Maintaining evacuees for months, as in Mayon’s past eruptions is more taxing and worrisome and expensive than actual aggressive tourism promotion,” he pointed out.

Salceda said Disaster Risk Reduction is a way of life that enables human development to proceed in the midst of risks and assures that no one, no matter how poor and no matter how stubborn, should lose his life during disaster times.

The Department of Tourism has declared Albay as the Philippines’ fastest growing tourist destination. It has post❰❰ 9

An American woman stands beside the Jollibee mascot in front of a Jollibee outlet in San Francisco, USA. ALEX HANDY / FLICKR

Jollibee hailed as one of the best fast-food chains in US

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — A food and drink website in the United States included Jollibee as one of the favorite foreign food chains in the country.

The Daily Meal described Jollibee as “hugely popular in the Philippines, and has locations scattered around the US, largely in California. Aside from burgers, they offer fried chicken, spaghetti, noodles, and unique breakfast dishes like Spam, beef tenders, or sweet pork with rice.”

Aside from Jollibee, the following foreign chain restaurants also made the cut which include: Pie Face from Australia, Pret a Manger from Great Britain, Maoz from Amsterdam, Pollo Campero from Guatemala, Paris Baguette from South Korea, Tim Hortons from Canada, YO! Sushi from Great Britain, Nando’s Peri Peri from South Afrida, and Go Go Curry from Japan.

The Daily Meal has eight million unique visits every month. It is considered to be one of the fastest-growing content sites of all time. It features annual reports which include 101 Best Restaurants in America, 150 Best Bars in America, and 50 Most Powerful People in Food.

Jollibee first opened its US store in 1988 in Daly City, California. As of the moment, it has 30 outlets in various US states which include California, Nevada, New York, Washington, Hawaii, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia.

The number of the fast-food chain’s international store network currently is at 111. It has branches not only in the US, but also in Vietnam, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In 2013, Jollibee’s Chickenjoy won the hearts of many Singaporeans as the best fried chicken. Its Halo-halo and Amazing Aloha Burger also earned a recognition from TV personality Anthony Bourdain. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

ed a sustained tourism growth, leaping by 47% in 2012, and 66% in 2013. After a flat first quarter performance, it registered another 52% growth in the second quarter of this year.

“We achieved zero casualty over the past three eruptions mainly through preemptive yet protracted evacuation.

At Alert 2, Mayon tends to draw more foreign tourists without causing economic damage,” Salceda said.

Tourist arrivals spiked at Alert Level 3 during the 2009 eruption, where Albay achieved its foreign tourist targets for one year in just one month which benefited private enterprises. There were no damages but the province spent for evacuation.

“We would rather have an Alert 0 and still gain a lot of tourists by investing in aggressive promotion rather than spending the same for protracted evacuation,” Salceda stressed. ■

14 “IT WAS not a time to put off doing good. What I saw, repeatedly, were people helping others as the need arose—now, this very minute; today, not tomorrow, because we could be dead tonight. That’s how detention during martial law taught me kindness more than anything else.”

Ricardo “Ricky” Lee, multiawarded author, stage and screen playwright and ex-political prisoner, believes he lived “at least three lives” during that crucial time in Philippine history if only because he nearly died twice, once by his own hand.

Labeled “subversive,” he was arrested and detained, beaten up, threatened with guns, hit in the head with a heavy book, routinely humiliated.

He coughed up enough blood to be confined in the Army hospital for three months. Soon after that, he slit his left wrist.

He relates all of these now with more amused introspection than pain. He insists, “It made me a very wealthy man in terms of experience.”

A story about Lee is likely to have all the elements of, fittingly, an epic movie: compelling characters, each with a fascinating back story; one big conflict, maybe two; subplots; mercifully a good dose of comic relief; resolution and, in his case, redemption. Believe it or not, it looks like a happy ending.

This winner of about 60 awards for his writing is given to saying that the theme of his life is “a certain kabobohan.”

He is hardpressed to attempt a translation, except for, “Something like stupidity but a little more … endearing, I think.” It could be naivete, obstinacy, cluelessness, or just a quirk. Or all of that combined.

He went underground “fulltime” in 1972, the year martial law was declared.

Raid on apartment

He relates: “That meant there was no more ‘Ricky Lee,’ but I couldn’t stay in what was called ‘a collective.’ I wanted my own place, so I rented an apartment on España Extension.”

Needing money, thus, he came to write his first screenplay, “Dragnet,” in 1973 under an assumed name, R.H. Laurel.

The apartment was raided in January 1974. “I knew it was trouble from the minute I heard ‘Ricky! Ricky!’ No one was calling me that anymore; I was ‘Jerry’ or ‘Angel,’ and a few other aliases. It was exactly how

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OCTOBER 3, 2014 FRIDAY

I thought it would happen. I was very scared because I knew they could kill me right then or ‘salvage’ me later.

“But while I was being led to the waiting jeep, I’m pretty sure I was smiling at some point. On the drive to Camp Aguinaldo I remember thinking, ‘I can write about this, if I survive.’”

In the next two days, five of Lee’s colleagues were nabbed in his house—Bien Lumbera, Bobby Tuason, Flor Caagusan, Cesar Carlos and Jo-Ann Maglipon.

All six were interrogated for about 10 days in Camp Aguinaldo. Then they were brought to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) barracks in Fort Bonifacio.

‘All liars’

The first time he was brought to the Army hospital, Lee’s fellow detainees found their way to his bedside by feigning illnesses.

“They brought a bag of different-sized briefs and shirts for me. They cleaned me up and the floor around my bed, too, which was caked with dried blood. They asked to watch over me 24/7. They took care of me like they had no other concerns.

To help immediately, without fear—we learned that together.”

Memories of kindness such as those “shine” for him, he says, “precisely because I was an orphan; comrades, codetainees, strangers were my family.”

When he relapsed, his jailers refused to send him back for medical care. Maglipon got through to Gemma Cruz-Araneta (one of Lee’s companions on a trip to China), who brought the case before then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.

It must have worked, Lee recounts, because he was called to the guardhouse soon after, where a colonel was waiting to “evaluate” him. “Are you Ricky Lee? Are you the writer? Is it true you are coughing up blood again?” To all three questions, Lee’s reply was, “Opo (Yes).”

The colonel said, “All right, show me.”

As Lee tells it: “The kabobohan kicked in. I saw it wasmyway out, my saving grace. I concentrated, focused, coughed and coughed. No blood would come out. Annoyed, the colonel said, ‘These activists, they’re all liars.’ Walking back to my barracks, I scolded myself. Why did I want to please that man who was clearly my enemy?

Screenwriter Ricky Lee lived 3 lives in detention

BY EMMIE G. VELARDE Philippine Daily Inquirer And my own body betrayed me!

That felt like ground glass in my chest.”

He tried to resume writing; nothing came out of it. “I still have those drafts—four stories, really bad. Plus, no one was visiting me, except for a cousin who came on his day off from work. I was orphaned as a very young boy, so the only persons I could send word to were my relatives in Daet (in Camarines Sur province) but the feedback I got was, they had consigned my fate to God.” He was sick most of the time, too, and his friends continued to take care of him.

“Also, they gave me portions of everything their visitors brought so that, in the end, I had more stuff than everyone else. But it just made me feel more alone and it was difficult to accept that I had become dependent on others.”

Suicide attempt

Frustration mounting, Lee started researching on suicide.

“Ipil (the name of the barracks) was a minimum security facility. There were about 50 of us there, and many visitors brought books. We collected www.canadianinquirer.net

enough to start a small library,” he recalls.

“I learned that death by hanging wasmessy. I considered shooting myself but how could I smuggle a gun in? I was down to slitting my wrists. I went to the sari-sari store inside the compound and bought a razor blade.”

The sight of blood spurting from his wrist petrified Lee, and he couldn’t put the blade to the other wrist. He started to weep.

That was when Lumbera found him. “There was this doctor among us who said I had done it wrong, fortunately, so the cut was not deep enough. I couldn’t end my own life! I was crushed.”

Life in Ipil

Outside of his deep-seated pains, Lee saw that life in Ipil was easier than detention in, say, Camp Crame.

“Sometimes I think it was really a matter of luck, where you were brought. We had a TV set in the mess hall, which helped us forget the wretched meals, like what we called ‘sore eyes,’ or spoilt fish with red eyes, and sinibak, milkfish chopped every which way, briefly boiled and served.”

One evening, they got to

watch President Ferdinand Marcos announcing, for the benefit of visiting foreign dignitaries, “There are no political prisoners in this country.” Lee recalls, chuckling: “We looked around and asked one another, ‘ So where is this place? Oh, and what are we, because we don’t exist pala!’”

No place mats

He also remembers jolly breaks with intrepid visitors.

“Rolando Tinio turned up and was irked. ‘What is this place?

You don’t even have place mats!’ So when he came back he had tablecloths, silverware … for fine dining.”

Tinio’s wife, Ella Luansing, conducted a one-day acting workshop once and, intermittently, old movies were shown on an improvised screen.

“I was arguing with some former friends inside,” Lee says, “about one of those movies. I said it was a Ramon Revilla starrer and the title was ‘Paglabas Ko, Lagot Kayo (When I Get Out, Beware).’ They said it was just wishful thinking on my part.”

Lee says many other ex-detainees will certainly have more provocative stories of life in detention.

Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Philippines, where Ricky Lee and five of his colleagues were interrogated for 10 days before being sent to Fort Bonifacio.

LT JIN PANGANIBAN, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; INSET:RICKY LEE FACEBOOK PHOTO

chinery of corruption and militarization was set up then. We should be able to spot it in any form, something we can do only by looking back.”

Lee stresses, “It’s good to experience, as a community, your own history. Martial law needs to be reexperienced, not literally; commemoration is one of many ways. No one wants to go back there.”

He remembers, “In Ipil, my captors owned me. They owned all captured ‘dissidents,’ the living and the alive or dead. Many people couldn’t claim their children’s bodies.”

Lee doesn’t doubt that danger remains real for active members of farmers’ or workers’ groups.

“If you become a dissenting voice that says the opposite of what the system dictates, you could be courting personal disaster, from the most subtle to the most outrageous.”

He is not about to resurrect “Jerry” or “Angel,” but it’s not because he has detached himself from past or present. (“I cannot do that. If I kill my empathy, I’ll be dead as a writer.”)

Desaparecidos

“There’s Pete Lacaba, Joel Lamangan … and you’ve heard of women prisoners who were made to sit on huge blocks of ice—blindfolded, naked, while their interrogators paced the room, threatening them with a pair of squeaky scissors, saying, ‘Talk, or I’ll snip your nipples.’”

So many levels of pain

But he has come to see that imprisonment breaks different people in different ways. “And whatever you suffered, it went straight to your soul, it never leaves.”

Where he lives now, ringing the doorbell is prohibited after 10 p.m. “And when I see men in uniform—police, soldiers—my instinctive reaction is to feel

guilty. My tormentors left that inside me. Even when I was freed, I suffered—tuberculosis, throat cancer … Imagine what it’s like for others who got the water treatment, telephone treatment … bodies, minds, souls forever scarred. So many levels of pain! Comparison with others can’t diminish what was taken away from individual victims.”

Why look back

Filipinos should keep looking back on the years of martial rule, he says.

“It was a period when things were much clearer in terms of black and white, friend and foe, life and death. Today, there’s so much clutter; you can’t see what you have to see. The ma-

But he is careful to say he understands what it’s like for more recent sufferers, like the accusers of retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, or Edita Burgos, whose son Jonas disappeared in 2007.

“Many parents of desaparecidos have kept their front-door lights on for years. When their children come home, they say, it will prove that they never lost hope, never forgot. I can only imagine how that feels.

Interviewing Mrs. Burgos and her family was agonizing for me. It’s as if every emotion they conveyed got multiplied 10 times, given my past, plus my imagination.”

During the shoot for “Desaparecidos,” a teleplay he did with director Laurice Guillen, they put up a wall of photographs of the disappeared.

“I saw the mother of one of them, a guy I knew, Henry. She

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went straight to the wall. I saw her face drop. I thought, ‘What happened? Did she see his picture?’ She approached me and asked, ‘Where is my son’s picture?’ I realized there was none on the wall. Parents never give up until the body is recovered.”

Sometimes, he says, he tries to detach. “At best, it becomes like a see-saw. I get into it, I step back; I get into it again ... and so on.”

‘Himala’ upon release

Upon his release in 1975, friends and the movies were waiting.

“Ninotchka Rosca took me in, Rolando Tinio got me a job … the movies found me again.

I wrote ‘Himala’ immediately after, so it is heavily colored with my experiences in prison.

There’s atheism, questioning God, government…”

More notably, for “Himala,” Lee worked with Imee Marcos.

The screenplay had won in a contest launched by Experimental Cinema of the Philippines, which Marcos’ eldest daughter spearheaded.

“She knew I was a detainee,” Lee says. “She also knew about Joel Lamangan, Lino Brocka (also detained for anti-martial law sentiments). She’s unusual that way. In fact, she almost played ‘Insiang’ (written by Lee, directed by Brocka).

Lee was also associated with film projects launched by Armida Siguion-Reyna, Enrile’s sister.

He taught in the University of the Philippines, but only after being rejected three times, because he had dropped out during that eventful year, 1972.

“Doreen Fernandez brought me to Ateneo, so I taught there first. Only after that was I allowed to teach in UP.” Mercifully, he didn’t need counseling. “It’s that kabobohan thing. My memory has never been that sharp. So I guess all that I remember, I had to. I even consider that whole episode as a gift.”

15 ‘Peak of happiness’

Actually, he says, alongside the “harsh, cruel and dramatic” side of the period around and during martial law, “I remember a time bursting with life. We were young people brimming with dreams, ambition and promise.

Activism wasn’t all a grim and tragic choice. We were happy to live the way we wanted. When I went to attend rallies, I was at the peak of my … happiness; there’s no other way of putting it. Waves of red streamers, robust chanting ... I belonged there. They were my family. Strangers in a life-and-death situation holding hands, embracing, fighting for what we believed, people living, or dying, for others ... because when you embrace that way of life, you put to rest all your survival issues. We were one big ocean, even if we also knew that there were government agents and spies among us.”

Occasionally, former detainees get together now and, invariably, they wonder, “Most of us were writers and student journalists, members of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. How come not one of us has written personal accounts of our detention? So a group of us is now thinking of making a movie about it.”

S&R supermarket

A little while back, Lee went with Lumbera to Fort Bonifacio, where they traced the “ghost” of Ipil to a totally unrecognizable stretch of commercial property.

“We were just curious,” he says. “We found that S&R (a high-end supermarket) and Home Depot now stand where the barracks used to be. We were amazed. We went around and checked out all the costly merchandise, like chandeliers we can never afford, all the while joking about it.”

He concludes, “I think I’m pretty intact.” ■

Opinion

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OCTOBER 3, 2014 FRIDAY

THERE’S THE RUB

Historic

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer In the end, what almost did not make the Bangsamoro Basic Law happen was not the Moro National Liberation Front, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the Abu Sayyaf and the sundry armed groups that were opposed to the peace talks and had been vowing to make them fail. What did so were some of the provisions of the proposed law. Specifically, the invocation of “Allah” in the preamble, the reservation of the exploitation of the resources of the Bangsamoro to the Bangsamoro people, and the question of the President’s general supervision of the new entity.

Such was the level of dispute over these things that Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa, who to his credit never appeared in the news for his backroom work, preferring to stay in the shadows, met several times with Moro Islamic Liberation Front chair Murad Ebrahim and chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal to thresh out the disagreements and come to a compromise. The compromise seems to have made both sides happy.

“Allah” was changed to “Almighty” to reflect the fact that Bangsamoro would also include Christians and indigenous peoples. “Reserved to the Bangsamoro people” was changed to

“preferential rights of bona fide inhabitants” in the exploitation of resources.

And the President’s general supervision in the Bangsamoro, which was absent in the original draft, was added.

These might seem like trivial semantic problems, but they are not so at all. These are political ones that carry huge significances. The last in particular is so affirming the fact that the Bangsamoro remains firmly entrenched in the Republic while exercising wide latitude of autonomy, including a parliamentary system, control over its armed forces, and retaining three-fourths of the taxes collected from it. It boldly goes where no Philippine government has gone before while adhering to the Constitution.

How important is the forging of the Bangsamoro Basic Law? It is nothing less than historic.

At the very least, that is so because the creation of the Bangsamoro— once the bill is ratified and is approved by a plebiscite in the affected areas—holds the key to unlocking the economic potential of Mindanao.

That has long been the dream of the World Bank.

The World Bank’s goal, says Matt Stephens, senior social development specialist of the World Bank in Manila, is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, a thing that won’t happen

unless you eradicate as well strife, or mitigate it, in the strife-riven areas.

Conflict and extreme poverty go hand in hand. In the Philippines, poverty levels in the conflict-affected areas, chief of them Mindanao, are double the national average. “With the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro,” says Stephens, “expectations are high for improved security and development.”

There’s solid backing for P-Noy’s assertion that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is a failed

. . . the creation of the Bangsamoro—once the bill is ratified and is approved by a plebiscite in the affected areas—holds the key to unlocking the economic potential of Mindanao. experiment, having done little to stop or mitigate the strife, which is the underlying cause of Muslim Mindanao “lagging behind” the rest of the country in progress. The Bangsamoro Basic Law addresses that underlying cause, forging the bonds of a lasting peace. It does boldly go where no Philippine government has gone before, ending a conflict that began longer than most Filipinos can recall.

It should be a particular source of pride for us, coming at a time when

conflict marked by exceptional savagery and violence has erupted in many parts of the world, over religion, territorial issues, identity and ethnicity, the same things that have fueled the conflict in Mindanao over the decades. For us to have turned swords into plowshares at this time, which seemed impossible only a few years ago, that is a feat even more impressive, and inspiring, than having risen to our feet after being the sick man of Asia for very long. Twice, we have gone against the current of world trends, both causes for much elation.

Will peace be smooth sailing from here on?

Not really, for reasons that do not owe to the Bangsamoro bill quite possibly being rejected by Congress and by its prospective constituents.

There’s only one thing stronger than the clamor for war, and that’s the longing for peace, a thing that will not allow opposition to stand in its path.

The reasons for it owe to internal conditions or instabilities within the Bangsamoro itself.

International Alert’s Bangsamoro Conflict Monitoring System (BCMS), which gathers real-time data on the peace process in the Bangsamoro areas, lists some of these: the “shadow economies,” feuding clans and extrajudicial violence from armed groups/private armies/criminal syndicates. Of these,

“shadow economies” top the list, accounting for more than a fourth of violence in the area over the last three years.

These—gunrunning, drugs, kidnap-for-ransom, human trafficking— are also called criminal economies for obvious reasons, but are called economies anyway because they have become ingrained and institutionalized in many communities and give livelihood to a variety of players.

How government and the Bangsamoro deal with this with a view to allowing communities to transition into “normal” life will determine to a great extent the success or failure of the as yet fragile peace.

But there’s a positive note to all this in the end, in that the forging of the Bangsamoro drastically curbs the “human cost” of the conflict in Mindanao. BCMS cites that as one of its most crucial findings: “human cost” (death, injury, displacement) impacts more on war and peace than other factors. Basilan for example is only fourth in conflict incidence but second in human cost, suggesting that fewer can be deadlier, thereby producing deeper and more lasting effects. Curbing human cost, if not stopping it completely, jump-starts progress like an electrical charge.

That is quite apart from saving lives being a categorical, unconditional, absolute value in itself. ■

AS I SEE IT

Public funds cannot be used to cut trees

By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer IN CASE Rep. Mark Cojuangco and other national and local government officials don’t know it, the current General Appropriations Act prohibits the use of public funds to cut trees, demolish heritage houses and buildings, and construct homes in hazardous areas identified in government hazard maps.

Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on environment, had the prohibition put there to protect the environment and our heritage. She will also have the same prohibition in the 2015 budget.

What a relief, as trees and heritage houses are being decimated fast. Whenever roads are to be widened, trees on the roadsides are in danger. Senator Legarda’s action may save many of them.

She also requests those who know where there are firefly colonies to please inform her as she wants to show them to children and even some adults who have never seen such a sight in their whole life. Development is depriving fireflies of their habitat.

There were plenty of fireflies in the park in our village but I have not seen any lately. Sometimes, I see two or three flitting in our garden, but there is nothing more beautiful than a whole colony of them lighting up a bush or a tree like a Christmas tree.

Try this: On a moonless night, turn off all the lights in your home.

If you are lucky, maybe you will see some flitting in your garden.

And why not have the University of the Philippines or some other school hire an entomologist to breed fireflies and have them fly in a darkened minipark, in the same way butterflies are bred and let loose in enclosed gardens?

Still on the environment, there are reports that the Supreme Court is about to issue its decision on the case surrounding the controversial Bt talong, a pesticide-free eggplant variety developed through modern agriculture biotechnology.

The eggplant is susceptible to a pest that burrows into its soft pulp.

Its skin may look smooth and shiny, but when you cut it you may find worms inside. Sometimes, a whole crop is lost due to pests.

To fight back, farmers spray their

plants with pesticide. However, the pests become immune to the chemical, so the farmers are forced to keep increasing the dose. Hence, the cost of producing the eggplant becomes higher and higher and the farmer’s income becomes progressively less.

Through modern agriculture biotechnology, Filipino scientists of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños have been able to breed a va-

Why Greenpeace does not want our farmers to discover and tap the benefits of chemical-free crop varieties continues to baffle many and creates serious doubts on the real motive of the powerful European activist group. riety of eggplant that is resistant to pests, the Bt talong. With this variety, farmers won’t have to use pesticide. This will not only reduce the farmers’ production cost, but also prevent consumers from eating eggplant laced with chemicals.

However Greenpeace, a foreign environmental group, has been able

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to secure an order from the Court of Appeals to stop field trials on Bt talong.

A large group of science agriculture researchers called the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines (BCP), filed a petition in the Supreme Court to intervene in the case and have the CA’s restraining order lifted. They want to prove that the Bt talong is safe to eat and not harmful to the environment.

The high court has granted the BCP petition and rejected the stiff opposition mounted by Greenpeace.

The BCP will now be able to present its findings to the high court.

This row between Greenpeace and the UPLB scientists has been going on for more than a decade now.

Greenpeace is a well-funded pressure group based in Amsterdam. It has consistently opposed the work of our scientists, particularly in introducing biotechnology-developed crop varieties to our farmers.

There are two groups that have petitioned the high court on the matter. One is the BCP; the other is a group of farmers who want their voices heard.

Greenpeace attacked the BCP petition but, surprisingly, did not oppose the farmers’ petition. One can presume that the high court will also grant their petition.

Why Greenpeace does not want our farmers to discover and tap the benefits of chemical-free crop varieties continues to baffle many and creates serious doubts on the real motive of the powerful European activist group. Is Greenpeace secretly working for pesticide manufacturers? They would lose business when farmers begin planting crop varieties resistant to pests and therefore would need no pesticides.

Greenpeace appears to have poured most of its propaganda resources into the Philippines in a desperate bid to stop our scientists from introducing biotech crop varieties to our farmers. It has lost the initial round, with the success of the biotech corn variety in the country.

When propaganda failed, Greenpeace supporters destroyed our field trial farms. When that also failed, it used the courts to stop the work of our scientists. Hopefully, the Supreme Court’s decision would stop Greenpeace instead. ■

Opinion

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

17

PUBLIC LIVES

The Kurds and the Isis

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer AS GRADUATE students in England in the late 1960s, my wife and I struck a close friendship with a classmate from Iraq and his Lebanese girlfriend. He was a Muslim Kurd, and she was a Maronite Catholic. Although he carried an Iraqi passport and was sent to England on a scholarship by the Iraqi government, he insisted on being called a Kurd. He did not seem as emphatic about his religious identity as he was with his ethnicity. Later, I realized that apart from Muslims, there were Kurdish Christians, Kurdish Jews, Zoroastrians, and Yazidis.

It was my first encounter with this ancient people, numbering close to 40 million today, the biggest concentrations of whom are found along the borders of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.

Nowadays, every time I read about the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis), I can’t help thinking of my friend and classmate, Mohammed Fatah. Did he go back to Iraq, or did he remain in England? His people, known as the world’s largest ethnic group without a country, have been waging a guerrilla struggle for

an independent Kurdistan. Wherever they live in the Middle East, they have been the object of suspicion and discrimination, and the target of the most brutal suppression and dispersal by governments.

Today, the semiautonomous territories that the Kurds occupy have also become the fiercest battlegrounds in the war against the Isis. Compared to the less committed armies of the Syrian and Iraqi governments, the Kurds have demonstrated an astounding capacity to resist the Islamist militants on the ground. Indeed, they have become the staunchest enemies of the Isis dream of an Islamic caliphate.

This is perhaps not surprising.

While, the majority of the Kurds are Muslims, they are also known as the Middle East’s most religiously diverse people, who wear their religious identities lightly. They fight as one people, heroically defending a 650-mile front that cuts through the Kurdish homeland along northeastern Iraq.

Recently, Isis jihadists were caught off-guard by the introduction of a new element in the war—an all-female Kurdish fighting force.

On the belief that a Muslim killed by a woman will not go to heaven,

the Isis fighters have scrupulously avoided engaging the ferocious Kurdish female “Pershmerga” in combat.

Through their brave women warriors, the Kurds have been able to retake villages that had been overrun by the Isis forces.

Where the Iraqi army has withdrawn from Iraqi territory in the face of the Isis assault, the Kurds have

Where the Iraqi army has withdrawn from Iraqi territory in the face of the Isis assault, the Kurds have filled the space, fighting the jihadists and claiming territory for Kurdistan. filled the space, fighting the jihadists and claiming territory for Kurdistan.

These were the same forces that rejoiced in the overthrow by American forces of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

For decades they had waged a struggle against the brutal Saddam government, and welcomed America’s entry into Iraq. But, against their expectations, America ignored their call for independence when the war was over. One of the biggest reasons, of course, was oil, a large portion

of which was on Kurdish territory.

America preferred to establish a puppet government for a unitary Iraq, a political authority that never managed to stabilize the country, than to allow the people to rule themselves.

If there is any political center that has proven its will and ability to resist the Islamic State, it is to be found neither in the besieged regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria nor in the brittle government of Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, but in Kurdistan under the leadership of Masoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish regional government. The Kurds today know better than to wait for America and Europe to recognize them. In July this year, Barzani told his people: “The time has come to decide our fate, and we should not wait for other people to decide it for us.”

All these are fascinating developments in a region of the world where the march to modernity, accelerated by the Arab Spring, has been derailed. Along with the collapse of the postcolonial authoritarian secular state in the course of globalization, we are also witnessing the race to fill the need for meaningful identity by recourse to local segmentary affiliations. In the Middle East, that race is

basically between an identity based on territory, as exemplified by the Kurds, and a trans-territorial identity based on religion, as personified by the multinational Isis fighters.

For this reason, it perhaps makes little sense to say that 3,000 Europeans and several hundred Americans have joined the Isis war for an Islamic caliphate. These individuals are European and American only in their travel documents, and, maybe, in their accents. But, as ultramodern as they may be in their arms and in the propaganda methods they use, their principal identification is clearly with Islamic jihadism, not with any particular country in which they may have been born or raised or educated.

Not so the Kurds who have shown how much they continue to be bound by the notion of a Kurdish homeland, despite the fact that they have not been able to establish a separate nation-state. In the course of their struggle, largely self-determined, they have been able to build the foundation for a stable government that, no doubt, has a greater chance at democracy than all the artificial regimes that America has put up in the wake of the wars it fought in the name of democracy. ■

gree. He earned his PhD in Myanmar.

“It was not an attractive occupation,” he explains when he is asked why they were few “takers” for jobs at the weather forecasting office.

Even he was at first not enthusiastic, but he soon learned to love the work.

Today, he is immersed in studies on climate change and planning for the proper responses. “You may love it or hate it,” he says of climate change, “but you cannot ignore it.”

Dr. Tun was in town a few days ago for the launch (and an international video conference) of the policy brief “Weathering Extremes: The need for a stronger Asean response” sponsored

by A-Fab, a regional coalition of NGOs calling for a “fair, ambitious and binding” agreement on climate change.

The prospects for such an agreement seem promising, especially since member-countries are on the verge of establishing the Asean Economic Community. Among Dr. Tun’s recommendations is that the community members adopt a policy supporting “renewable energy and policy reforms to de-subsidize coal and oil.”

The countries of Southeast Asia, he says, are especially vulnerable to the deleterious effects of climate change, especially with temperatures rising in the surrounding seas, a development that would have tremendous impact

on the region’s food security as well as sea levels and weather disturbances. *** IT is vital, says Dr. Tun, for Asean membercountries to “speak as one voice” on the issue, since they are responsible for a very small portion of the production of greenhouse gases that factor in climate change but bear the brunt of the damage and suffering.

He says Asean should take a united stand on plans by China, which is a source of a major proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, to export its pollution production. “China is cutting down on its air pollution levels by establishing coal and gas factories in neighboring countries, including Myanmar,” he says with alarm.

One recommendation he makes in “Weathering Extremes” is for Asean to “move as a regional bloc towards developing a framework and plan of action on adaptation in agriculture, emphasizing sustainability, food security, climate resilience, and gendered perspectives.”

But first, the different departments and branches of government must begin talking and cooperating among themselves, hammering out a united national policy, the better to start and complete regional dialogues and adopt crossborder policies and actions not just within Asean but with the rest of the world as well. ■

AT LARGE

Losing urbanity

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer “URBANIDAD,” or urbanity, is the term used to refer to not just “good manners and right conduct” but to overall respect for others and the maintenance of pleasant social interactions.

Most people, I know, think urbanity has mainly to do with smooth interpersonal interactions, especially toward older people. But an “urbane” person is not just polite or considerate of the feelings of others, but also aware of the need to respect others’ “space.”

As a young activist in the 1970s, I used to think of “urbanity” as a form of hypocrisy, even a value that perpetuated inequality and timidity.

The more “honest” approach was to speak out bluntly and loudly, do away with euphemisms, and practice cussing at the top of one’s voice.

That still seems to be the primary value cherished by today’s activists.

When professors and the student council of the University of the Philippines School of Economics decried the mob behavior that greeted Budget Secretary Butch Abad as he exited a symposium on the Disbursement Acceleration Program—to which he had been invited—the protest organizers and their supporters replied that this was all part of “democracy” and was a

legitimate expression of protest.

But what did they want from Abad? Were they interested in a dialogue or were they simply hellbent on exacting punishment, to frighten and alarm him and make him feel the “anger of the people”?

No matter your position on the DAP—an unmitigated evil or a legitimate if ill-conceived program—you do not invite someone to talk with you then assault him as he exits the premises. No way to treat a guest. *** SO it was with P-Noy and Fil-Am community leaders who decried the President’s failure to dialog with them (he earlier held dialogs in Europe and other parts of the United States) while on a visit to the West Coast.

But what did they expect? Just this past month, we all saw TV footage of P-Noy frozen, like a deer caught in the headlights, during a meeting in Boston when a Fil-Am student stood up and began haranguing him for his alleged intentions to extend his term.

Do you think the President would still be gung-ho about Fil-Am community dialogues after that?

And speaking of urbanity, certainly reprehensible are two developments played out mainly in social media. One is the sale of a T-shirt (in the boys’ section!) that made light of

rape by SM, a major retail network that, as a critic pointed out, holds a daily Angelus and does the censors better by banning films the management deems inappropriate.

Then there’s Bench, which is being excoriated for a portion of its annual flesh fest that showed a male actor leading around a female on a leash.

I have many words for this, but since the clothing brand seems to deliberately court controversy, I’m keeping

Were they interested in a dialogue or were they simply hellbent on exacting punishment, to frighten and alarm him and make him feel the “anger of the people”? my thoughts to myself! *** WHEN he was 17, Dr. Tun Lwin, former head of the weather bureau of Myanmar (Burma) and now an independent authority on climate change, joined the bureau because, he explains simply, “I needed to work.”

At first assigned to do menial chores, the young Tun Lwin soon impressed his superiors enough for them to decide to send him to college, and then to the Florida State University in the United States for his master’s de-

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Canada News NEWS BRIEFS

FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS

LAWYER SAYS MAGNOTTA NOT CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE

Rob Ford back in public eye for first time since being hospitalized Rob Ford greets fans at Ford Fest, his family's annual picnic, at the end of last month. It was his first public appearance since doctors detected a tumour in his abdomen a few weeks ago.

MONTREAL — Luka Rocco Magnotta is schizophrenic and was not criminally responsible when he killed Chinese student Jun Lin in 2012, his lawyer told jurors this week. Magnotta has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and there is a history of schizophrenia in his family, Luc Leclair said on the first day of the highly publicized first-degree murder trial.

ALEX GUIBORD / FLICKR

BY WILL CAMPBELL The Canadian Press TORONTO — A defiant Toronto Mayor Rob Ford returned to the public spotlight this past Saturday, talking tough about the cancer racking his body by saying he’d take it “out the back” and get rid of it like he did his substance abuse problems.

Ford mounted a small stage at Ford Fest, his family’s annual barbeque party and, backed by Tom Petty’s hit “I Won’t Back Down,” told a boisterous crowd of hundreds that he was going to triumph over his latest struggle just as he successfully tackled substance abuse during a stint in rehab that ended three months back.

“I had a guy I was looking in the mirror every morning and saying, you know what I can’t beat this guy. Wherever I went, that guy was there — and he was beating me every time — so you know what, I took that guy out the back, and I took care of him,” Ford said, his voice sounding hoarse at times.

“A couple weeks ago, the doctor came up to me... He says, we got someone bigger and badder than that, and I said, who’s that guy? And he said cancer,” Ford told the crowd.

“I said, you know what, go tell cancer that I’m going to put him where I put that guy in the mirror three

months ago.”

Doctors detected a tumour in Ford’s abdomen and he is now undergoing treatment for a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was released from hospital this week after undergoing chemotherapy and further treatments are planned.

Ford bowed out of the mayor’s race this month, but is instead seeking a seat on council. His brother, Doug, has now jumped into the Oct. 27 mayoral contest in his place with Ford’s enthusiastic approval.

Saturday’s burgers-and-pops barbecue public party came exactly one month before the election. Ford was out one night prior doing some doorto-door campaigning.

Long lines of hungry Ford fans snaked away from a busy grill, while shorter queues formed to nab Rob Ford bobblehead dolls, with proceeds going to his brother’s mayoral campaign.

Though the crowd’s spirits were high, the ailing mayor’s health loomed large over the event. tSupporter Leo Robinson, clutching a sign slagging a mayoral rival, said although Ford was battling a rare cancer, he shouldn’t quit politics but rather keep at it and stand up for the little guys.

“He’s for the people. And once you’re for the people, at the end of

the day, whether you’re here or not, you’re still going to be fighting for the people,” Robinson said.

“And that’s what he’s doing — and that’s important.”

Ford fan Silvana Macaro said Ford’s willingness to run for office again — albeit for council, not mayor — reveals his inner fortitude.

“It shows me that he believes in the city — he’s strong enough to fight for the city,” she said, standing next to the meal line.

“A lot of people would drop out. He cares to the point of putting everything else behind him. I wish he succeeds.”

Ford gave heartfelt thanks to his supporters, known in Toronto as “Ford Nation.”

“Every single person has had personal problems in life,” he said. “You find out who your real friends are and Ford Nation has never wavered one iota.”

Ford became an international celebrity last year after months of scandal, including admitting to using crack cocaine during a “drunken stupor.”

He has repeatedly said he’s not a drug addict, but entered rehab for substance-abuse problems this year.

Council voted to strip him of most of his powers last year and his role has largely been symbolic. ■

CABINET TO DEBATE SENDING FIGHTERS AND SURVEILLANCE PLANES TO BATTLE ISIL OTTAWA - The federal cabinet is poised to debate the possible deployment of CF-18 jets and CP-140 Aurora surveillance aircraft in the everexpanding air war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. But there is concern within National Defence about the wear and tear of yet another combat mission on the fighterbombers, which are well into middle age.

WOMAN WHO DIED IN CBSA CUSTODY KICKED OUT BEFORE BURNABY — An inquest in Burnaby, B.C., has heard that a Mexican woman who hung herself while awaiting deportation had been kicked out of Canada once before. Lucia Vega Jimenez died in hospital days after she was found hanging in a Canada Border Services Agency holding cell at Vancouver’s airport in December last year.

MAN JAILED IN CUBA MAINTAINS INNOCENCE VAUGHAN — A Canadian businessman jailed in Cuba on corruption-related charges maintains he’s innocent and is determined to fight for his freedom, his son said Monday. The claims against his father Cy Tokmakjian, who owns the Ontario-based automotive company Tokmakjian Group, are “completely false,” Raffi Tokmakjian said during an emotional news conference with his family in Vaughan, north of Toronto.

Canada News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

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Why Winnipeg? How Canada’s national lab became an Ebola research powerhouse

BY HELEN BRANSWELL The Canadian Press TORONTO — When Dr. Frank Plummer talks about the first experimental Ebola drug used in an outbreak, he pronounces it “Zed Map.” “I do it consciously,” says Plummer, who retired this year after serving for nearly 14 years as the head of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

The rest of the world says the first letter of the drug ZMapp the way Americans do, calling the concoction of three Ebola antibodies “Zee Map.” But the cocktail was created in Winnipeg and Plummer thinks the name of a made-inCanada drug ought to pronounced the Canadian way.

Winnipeg. Half a world away from the countries in Africa where Ebola, and its viral cousin, Marburg, occasionally slip out of their animal reservoir to start infecting and killing people, as Ebola is now doing in West Africa.

They are two of the worst viruses known to humankind, as evidenced by the current outbreak, which has infected at least 5,335 people and killed at least 2,622. To date, fortunately, there has never been a case of either viral hemorrhagic fever infections within Canadian borders.

So why then is Canada’s national lab an Ebola research powerhouse? Why is a facility on the edge of the Prairies, near North America’s longitudinal centre, the site from whence some of the most promising Ebola research emanates?

What research? Well, there’s ZMapp, the most promising of the current experimental treatments. There’s also an Ebola vaccine that may be useful both to prevent infection and stop it in its tracks, if given shortly after exposure. And a mobile diagnostic lab that has changed the way outbreak testing is done.

These are enormous contributions to the scientific efforts to prevent or contain Ebola. And the fact that they come from Winnipeg seems to come down to a few good men. *** If you ask why Winnipeg — why Canada? — is such a player in Ebola research, the instant answer comes in the form of two names — Heinz Feldmann, the lab’s first special pathogen’s chief and Gary Kobinger, his successor and the current branch chief. They are indeed key play-

ers in the Winnipeg lab’s Ebola story.

“Both of these guys are absolutely world class. I can’t say enough good things about them. They are both superb scientists and in addition to being superb scientists they are great individuals,” says Jim LeDuc, director of the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch, which also employs key Ebola researchers.

“They have the right attitude. They’re collaborative, they’re co-operative, they share their information readily and they have a global perspective. And they know exactly what needs to be done.

And they’re incredibly well respected within the scientific community.”

Still, the story doesn’t begin with Feldmann and Kobinger.

When the federal government decided to build in Winnipeg a new, stateof-the-art laboratory to replace aging Health Canada facilities in Ottawa, it was not immediately clear the complex would contain a Level 4 lab, the high containment space needed to work on the world’s most dangerous pathogens.

The Ottawa facility had not had one, al of Health Canada’s Laboratory Centre meaning that any time Canada had to for Disease Control, gave the go-ahead. test a specimen that might contain a The search began for someone to head Level 4 bug, it was forced to ship the the special pathogens team. sample to the labs of the U.S. Centers for *** Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. Lab leaders keenly wanted a young This was the early 1990s and concern German researcher who was working a b o u t in Maremerging burg, Gerinfectious man, but diseases Out of small things and maywho had was frontbe being lucky — I’m sure berecently burner. ing lucky — and maybe cers p e n t The U.S. tain people making the right time at Institute decisions, Canada became the CDC. of Media player in the game. And I H e i n z cine had think that was the concept.

F e l d issued its m a n n , seminal who had report “Emerging Infections: Microbial started his career studying influenza, Threats to Health in the United States” had moved on to researching Ebola and in 1992. “The Hot Zone,” Richard Pres- Marburg (the virus is named after the ton’s Ebola page turner, and Laurie Gar- German town where he was working). rett’s “The Coming Plague” were burnFeldmann was finding it tough to get ing up bestseller lists a few years later. the funding and support his work need“We really felt that to be properly ed. He wanted to move on. But Winnipeg prepared for all of the possible diseases wasn’t his only suitor. that we were seeing spreading ... that it “We knew we wanted Heinz. We was better and wise for Canada to have thought he was a good fit for the lab, a Level 4 lab,” recalls Dr. Harvey Artsob, which he absolutely was,” Artsob, who is who was then the head of zoonotic dis- now retired, recalls. eases for what became the National MiThe lab flew Feldmann to Winnipeg crobiology Laboratory, or NML, as the to meet NML leaders. He liked what he scientists call it. saw, even though the first trip occurred Dr. Joseph Losof, then director gener- in December. “When I came home I told www.canadianinquirer.net

my wife... ‘It’s bitterly cold out there.’

But she said ‘That’s fine’ and that’s how I got to Winnipeg,” Feldmann says.

Actually, it was not quite that easy.

Artsob recalls being warned in December 1997 by LeDuc — then at CDC and advising Health Canada on the new lab — that Feldmann wasn’t going to make the move.

“I remember Jim saying to me: ‘Harvey, give it up. Heinz will not leave Europe. Heinz will not be coming.’ That was my low point,” Artsob says. “But in fact Heinz accepted a few months after.”

“He suited Canada and Winnipeg so well.” *** NML suited Feldmann too. He liked the idea of starting his own lab, building up his own program, rather than taking over an existing one. As well, he’d been impressed by how supportive the environment appeared to be. And he was drawn to the mandate: Do science, but also do public health.

“I had the feeling that the leadership would be basically willing to put it in the people’s hands, in our hands, to build this program up under the condition that we have to fulfil the public health portion of it. And that was something I learned at CDC and found very interesting, being an M.D. by training,” says ❱❱ PAGE 20 Why Winnipeg

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Canada News

OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

Why Winnipeg...

Feldmann, who left Winnipeg in 2008 to become chief scientist for Level 4 laboratories at the U.S. National Institute of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont.

Under Feldmann, the Winnipeg lab created Ebola and Marburg vaccines that are widely thought to be highly promising.

Between 800 and 1,000 vials of the Ebola vaccine, called VSVEBOV, have been donated to the World Health Organization and will be used in this outbreak, if preliminary trials show it is safe in humans. (It is effective and safe in non-human primates.)

The team also created a mobile laboratory, a low-tech but safe lab-in-a-suitcase that has revolutionized how testing is done in the remote locations where Ebola and Marburg outbreaks typically occur.

Plummer says the idea originated in the uncertain days after 9/11, when anthrax-laced envelopes were mailed to news outlets and Congressional offices in the United States. Suspicious mail was found in New Brunswick, but no carrier was willing to transport it to Winnipeg. So NML had to send scientists to New Brunswick to do the testing. (It wasn’t anthrax.)

The mobile lab — and the team to run it — was offered to the WHO during an Ebola outbreak in 2002 or 2003, Artsob says. Diagnostic testing is critical in Ebola outbreaks, because in its early stages the disease is indistinguishable from malaria and other common ailments.

Figuring out who has Ebola and separating them from people who don’t is how outbreaks are contained.

Prior to the creation of Winnipeg’s mobile lab, the CDC took care of testing, setting up a more elaborate laboratory, generally in an outbreak country’s capital. Specimens needed to be driven from affected villages to the lab, which on African roads can add hours or days to the diagnostic process.

The mobile lab could be set up where the sick people were.

“Once they (WHO) deployed us the first time I think they realized that the on site thing was giving some advantage,” Feldmann says, noting that a lab technician named Allen Grolla who is still with NML was instrumental in devising the mobile lab. ❰❰ 19

A lab worker puts on a "Positive Pressure Personnel Suit" before entering a maximum containment lab where deadly and exotic viruses like Ebola are studied. The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is one of only a handful of facilities in the world, and the only one in Canada, that is equipped to deal with the study of deadly diseases such as Ebola.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Winnipeg mobile lab has been deployed by the WHO during most subsequent Ebola and Marburg outbreaks. And many other countries have copied the model. A number of other mobile labs are in the Ebola zone helping with the current epidemic. *** Also instrumental in Winnipeg’s success was Plummer, a seasoned HIV scientist with years in the field who returned to Canada to take over as head of the new lab in 2001.

A scientist’s scientist, Plummer was a Winnipeg native, eager to help his facility make a global mark.

“I think that Frank’s motto is: Set your people free. And I think basically he created the environment here,” says Kobinger, the rising star in Ebola

research.

Says Feldmann: “I hardly have ever seen anybody that was more supportive than Frank.”

“His expectations were high.

But he would support any way whatsoever. It was up to you to make something out of it. You always knew you had his support — unless you did something very stupid or something disastrous. But otherwise, you had his support.” *** Another thing about Plummer: He was always keen to bring top Canadian scientists home.

Gary Kobinger — born in Europe but raised in Quebec — was working on an Ebola vaccine at the University of Pennsylvania. He approached Feldmann about collaborating, and ended www.canadianinquirer.net

up splitting his time between Philadelphia and the Level 4 labs of Winnipeg.

“Heinz basically introduced Gary to me saying ‘He’s a really good guy, it would be great if we could find a job for him,” Plummer says. “So I hired him and it was one of the smartest things I ever did.”

When Feldmann was lured away to the U.S., Kobinger became his successor. “I think with Gary they found the perfect person to run that project,” Feldmann says. *** Kobinger has continued work on the Ebola vaccine. But it is with something known as monoclonal antibodies where he’s made a major mark.

Our immune systems produce a soup of antibodies to protect against various invad-

ers. But scientists try to figure out which specific ones target a given pathogen, then grow up lots of that individual antibody.

Those are called monoclonals.

Kobinger and his team produced a cocktail of three Ebola monoclonals that looked promising against the virus in animal testing. Scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Frederick, Md., were also working on a monoclonal cocktail of three antibodies. There was no overlap between the two.

Kobinger decided to try to optimize the cocktails, testing various combinations to see which was best. The result: ZMapp, which is made up of two of Winnipeg’s monoclonals and one made by the U.S. team. A recently published study showed the antibody cocktail protected 100 per cent of Ebola-infected primates, even when treatment was only begun five days after infection.

Plummer couldn’t be prouder. “People had been trying (to make Ebola monoclonals) for years and couldn’t. And we had people who were very good at making monoclonals.” *** Winnipeg’s success comes down to excellent scientists given free rein to do world class work. But serendipity plays a role in science too.

Kobinger says as a scientist, he pursues avenues he hopes will work. But he acknowledges you never know until you try.

Promising avenues can turn out to be dead ends.

Feldmann feels the same way.

“Out of small things and maybe being lucky — I’m sure being lucky — and maybe certain people making the right decisions, Canada became a player in the game. And I think that was the concept,” he says.

Kobinger admits he occasionally meets people who want to know the secret of the Winnipeg lab’s success.

“They’re trying to understand if it’s because we have more resources. I guarantee you, no,” he says with a chuckle.

“In relation to many labs in the U.S., definitely we have less.”

It comes down to people, an institutional philosophy and support.

Plummer sums it up. “My strategy, and I think it still is the department’s strategy, is to keep the scientific opportunity as rich as possible.” ■

Canada News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Canadian national nabbed with 51 turtles hidden in his pants

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer OTTAWA – We’ve all heard the saying “ants in my pants.” But “turtles in my pants?” Now that’s a new one.

US Federal Court documents showed this week that a Canadian was caught at the US-Canada border with 51 live turtles stuffed in his pants.

American authorities said that the elaborate reptile smuggling scheme was uncovered last month, but disclosed on Friday, September 26, in a report by the Toronto Globe and Mail.

The newspaper cited that a certain Kai Xu was accosted by Canadian border officials as he tried to cross into Windsor, Ontario from Detroit, Michigan in August. He was then turned over to US authorities.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service said, as quoted by the Globe and Mail, that “Xu was found to have 51 live turtles taped to his person;” the varieties of which included eastern box turtles, red-eared sliders and diamondback terrapins. These varieties of North American turtles fetch as much as $800 on the

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

black market.

Meanwhile, another Canadian national, Lihua Lin, was arrested on Wednesday at the Detroit airport for attempted turtle smuggling, as well.

Lin was bound for Shanghai with over 200 North American pond turtles in his checked luggage. He said that he was dropped off at the airport by Xu. Although the charges have yet to be proven in a court of law, Xu and Lin face up a maximum prison sentence of 10-years, if convicted of smuggling and other similar offenses. www.canadianinquirer.net

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Seen & Scenes: Vancouver

OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

CAREGIVERS' PICNIC SPONSORED

BY WESTERN UNION Western Union sponsored several migrant worker appreciation events in the summer of 2014 throughout Canada. Photos show migrants enjoying themselves in New Westminster, B.C.

FUNDRAISER GALA Friends and supporters gather at a fundraiser gala held recently for Narima Dela Cruz who is running for Surrey City Council this November.

FILCANES MARKS 12TH YEAR

WEST BAY SONSHIP CELEBRATION BARBECUE

Above: Deputy Consul General Anton Mandap crowns Teen Anniversary Queen 2014 Danica D. Kong.

Celebrating the completion of a 72-foot luxury yacht.

Below: Consul Melanie Diano receives a simple token of love and gratitude from Filipino Canadian New Era Society of BC officers and members.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson (2nd from L), FilCanes Anniversary Queen 2013 Josie Garcia (1st from L) and Sammie Jo Rumbaua (R) crown FilCanes 2014 Anniversary Queen Cora Inniger.

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

Consul Melanie Diano and MLA Adrian Dix with Little Anniversary Queen Jasmine A. Cabarrabang.

Seen & Scenes: Toronto

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

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GMA PINOY TV LIVE SHOW

FRIENDS OF JESUS 23RD ANNIVERSARY BASH Friends of Jesus Christ Canada Congregation celebrate their 23rd foundation year.

Photo shows GMA Pinoy TV International Vice President and Head of Operation Joseph Francia with Rosemer Enverga, GMA Pinoy TV marketing consultant for Canada. The TV network, in partnership with the Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF) plans to put up a live show in December 2014 and June 2015. (St. Jamestown News Service, Manny Papa)

ONTARIO FILIPINO WOMEN'S CLUB 32ND ANNIVERSARY The Ontario Filipino Women’s Club (OFWC) celebrated their 32nd anniversary with a Viennese theme party at Ellas Banquet Hall on Sept. 20. Highlight of the celebration was the coronation of Chona Stinson as the OFWC’s 2014 Queen and Anne Yamoto Licyayo as the 2014 Princess. Both ladies have been instrumental in raising funds for the Herbie Fund at the Sick Kids Hospital.

President Annabelle Migalbin will step down next year after heading the club for four successful years. She and other members put together a memorable evening marked by song and dance numbers and emceed by club officers Rebecca Reyes and Angeli Hopper. (Photos from Ariel Ramos). www.canadianinquirer.net

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OCTOBER 3, 2014

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:

Marc Generoso

Performer, Choreographer, Director, Producer

BY EARL VON TAPIA Philippine Canadian Inquirer SOONER OR later, we come to a point in our lives where we know the direction we want our lives to go.

For Marc Generoso, this happened through a series of events and experiences that, over time, culminated into him crafting the career he enjoys today as a dance teacher and choreographer, performer, director, and producer of dance shows and music videos. He wants to use his experience and his drive to combine dance with film to bring the genres to a whole new audience.

Marc didn’t start off dancing though. His introduction to the performing world started in music.

“My dad put it upon me and my brothers to be musicians.

That’s how we got our musicality. We all started with the piano, and then my little brother got converted to drums, and my

stepsisters started playing the bass and doing vocals. We were basically tricked into becoming a family band by our parents,” he said.

But his artistic path didn’t end there. Through some fortunate circumstances, he ended up in a program that would foster his passion for the performing arts.

“Right at the start of high school, our mother put us into Ailanthus, a performing arts program run by the Bentall family in Vancouver. We did acting, circus performing, and improvisation.”

“One fateful night, after a particularly stressful time with the family band, Lynda Bentall decided to sponsor a trip for me and my brother to Las Vegas for a week. We had two chaperones, we stayed at the Luxor, we could do anything we wanted! But of course, we were 14 so we couldn’t do anything too crazy. However, we saw a show in the New York New York hotel called “Manhattan”. It was

a breakdancing performance.

That was the first time I saw dancing.”

When they got back to Vancouver, they told Lynda that “we gotta have dance.” And so the next semester, the Bentalls hired some breakdancers to teach some dance steps to the kids. Marc’s passion for dance took off from there.

“They only really taught us how to do two steps, but from there I was so into it that I was just doing variations of those two moves. And then I also watched a lot of Michael Jackson,” he said.

In grade 11, he transferred schools, and Marc decided to try his hand at leading.

“I started becoming a little more vocal, and I started asking people to dance. I was learning and teaching simultaneously. I would learn a dance move, and then teach it to others,” he said.

It’s almost a stereotype that Filipinos are good at dancing. When Marc represented Canada at the World Hip-Hop www.canadianinquirer.net

Championships in Los Angeles back in 2006, he said that every team had at least one Filipino performer on it. “Even the team from Ireland,” he said.

He used the Filipino love for dance to help springboard his career out of high school.

“I was around Filipinos and we were looking at venues to perform. Filipino independence days were always something my parents encouraged me to do, and it meant so much for them to see me at that age, gathering other Filipinos, to perform and showcase the newer generation of dancers,” he said.

Marc’s journey took him through various crews, first as a performer, then as a choreographer and director. He started working at various local festivals, then he moved on to festivals and conventions throughout the US. He ended up working with various artists such as Nas, k-os, and the Jabbawockeez. He represented Canada at the World Hip-Hop

FRIDAY

Championships one year.

He was also teaching dance on the side, and directing his own performances. As time went on, he found that he liked doing that kind of stuff more and more.

“My greatest asset is my creative side. It’s more than just being a dancer. I like being the director,” he said.

For the past several years he has been teaching dance at the Harbour Dance Centre in Vancouver, one of the most respected dance companies in Western Canada. It was through Harbour Dance that he recently got an amazing opportunity, and that was to teach his craft on the international stage.

“I was directing and teaching a stage show on Vancouver Island, and I was being simultaneously referred to by the directors of Harbour Dance to teach this class in India. At first I thought it was a joke, that it was going to fall through. Because it’s India. We were negotiating this past December, and shortly after, they said I was all set to go in June. It really didn’t hit me until I was at the airport.

Okay, I’m going to Mumbai,” he said.

So for the summer Marc was teaching and leading dancers in India. He taught beginners and semi-pros alike, children and adults, as well as dance companies, and the experience left him invigorated to keep going.

Marc is back in Canada now, and according to him he is currently teaching several competitive dance groups at several studios. He also performs and choreographs occasionally.

He’s also working on his second full-hour stage show on Vancouver Island. On top of all that, he’s attending school full-time at Capilano University in the Motion Picture Arts Program.

Marc hopes to use his experience being a dance director and his new skills with film to help bring both art forms to wider audiences.

“I teach competitive dance crews at several studios, and for some of the higher level performances, I re-adapt their live performances into music videos. So I get a film crew, and at the end of the year when their dance is refined, I write a little story to make it more of a short story, and then I will combine the dancing with some acting,” he said.

“I’m trying to create something new in the industry which is to take used dance perfor-

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

mances and converting them into short dance movies, so the performers have something to hold on to,” he added.

Marc can be considered a veteran in the dance industry, having just turned 30 a few weeks ago. He has some advice for people who want to pursue a path in the performing arts, whether that’s as a dancer, choreographer, director, or any other aspect in any performing art.

He said that self doubt is “by far” the greatest challenge.

“As an artist, you go up and up, and you have such creativity and freedom. It’s different than a typical job where you have that stability. With artistry, it fluctuates, it goes up and down.

When it’s up, you feel like you’re on top of the world, but when you’re down, it’s up to you to garner the strength to pick it up again and have faith that it will go back up,” he said.

He also has some specific advice for people who are thinking of getting into dance.

“There’s two streams of thought. There’s the commercial side, and there’s the artistic side. For the commercial side, you’re just going to be a dancer.

You don’t get to think for yourself. You get to backup dance for Katy Perry, or Justin Bieber, or Chris Brown, but you don’t get to have a say in what you do.”

“And then there’s being a creator, which is being your own boss, and directing and choreographing.”

“Now if you want to be in the commercial world, then go to dance classes, go to workshops, get noticed, keep training, and if you have the right look, and energy, and aura, you will organically find your way.”

“If you want to go the other side, the creating side, it’s about harnessing your passion and your drive and your goals for dance.”

And though the creative side may not be as glamorous, it can be just as rewarding.

“Everyone has different goals, and everyone has different dreams, and you can create a lot of opportunities for yourself outside of the commercial world, but you have to believe in yourself and you have to be strong,” he said.

“Focus on the drive and why you do it, and things will come for you there. At least it did for me.” ■

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Community News

OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

Diplomats in the Americas vow to fight human trafficking

FilCans mark feast day of San Lorenzo HUNDREDS OF Filipino Catholics and devotees of San Lorenzo Ruiz gathered in Delta over the weekend to celebrate Barrio Fiesta, a festival organized to honour the first Filipino saint on his feast day.

Vancouver Deputy Consul General Anthony Mandap, who spoke at the gathering, paid tribute to the Filipinos to led the festivity, which, he said, “evokes sweet memories of our beloved Philippines.”

“The spotlight on Filipino culture and the Filipino religious community on this day is truly appreciated,” Mandap said.

He stressed that the celebration was not only a cultural festivity. “There is a higher reason and purpose for this activity, which is to look back at the life and legacy of San Lorenzo Ruiz, and draw lessons that should inspire us an overseas Filipino and Catholic community,” Mandap said life in any foreign land, including Canada, is riddled with challenges, in whatever status or category of overseas Filipino one might be—whether a temporary worker, permanent resident, tourist or even Canadian citizen.

“There are cultural challenges, economic hardships, employment-related issues, and others that we have had to endure at

some point,” he said.

“But when it comes to challenges like these, count on the Filipino and the Filipino community to step up, survive, and succeed,” he said, “because the Filipino has eternal courage and faith.”

Mandap drew parallels between the life of San Lorenzo and the travails of the overseas Filipino. “San Lorenzo Ruiz was, in a very real sense, also an OFW (overseas Filipino worker). He was in fact working as a missionary in Japan, not to earn dollars or yens, but to spread the Catholic faith and give glory to God.” He said like many overseas Filipinos, San Lorenzo endured being away from his kin, ventured into a hostile country, and suffered cruelty and untold hardship. “It was in this line of work that he was tested, tortured and martyred, giving proof to the whole world that the Filipino, then, as now, can be world-class in his work, as much as in his faith,” he said.

“By his sacrifice, he built an edifice of faith for all Filipinos to live by,” he said.

The feast of San Lorenzo is celebrated yearly in many Catholic churches in Metro Vancouver, where an overwhelming majority of the parishioners are ethnic Filipinos. ■

REPRESENTATIVES FROM the Philippine embassies and consulates general in the Americas committed to provide enhanced protection to Filipinos who are vulnerable to or have been victimized by human trafficking.

This pledge was made at the closing of the second Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Regional Workshop on Anti-Trafficking in Persons for Foreign Service Posts (FSPs), in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The regional workshop, which was held from Sept. 22 to 26, in Mexico City, was aimed at improving the institutional capacity of the FSPs in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico and the United States to assist Filipinos who are victims of or vulnerable to human trafficking.

"We will never be passive bystanders. We will fight human trafficking with all of our abilities," the participants pledged.

"We will enhance protection to persons vulnerable to being trafficked. We will assist victims and ensure their full reintegration to society," the participants promised.

The workshop modules discussed the basic concept of trafficking in persons (TIP), the international and Philippine legal frameworks in combating human trafficking, proper victim identification and protection, the national referral system, available aid to victims, case management, psycho-social counseling, caring for the service providers, and the link between gender and trafficking.

The participants benefited from the experiences and insights of experts, including

Participants of the DFA Regional Workshop on Anti-Trafficking in Persons for Foreign Service Posts in the Americas undertake the pledge of commitment to continue and intensify the fight against human trafficking on September 26 in Mexico.

resource persons from the UNODC, namely: Regional Adviser Felipe De La Torre, International Cooperation Regional Officer Mariana Alegret, Technical and Logistical Assistant Nayely Sánchez, Project Assistant Ian Hrovatin and Consultant Yuriria Álvarez.

Speakers from the Philippines include Senior State Prosecutor Lilian Doris Alejo from the Department of Justice; Directors Margarita Sampang and Dulfie Shalim from the Department of Social Welfare and Development; Labor Attaché Angel Borja, Jr. from the Department of Labor and Employment; Executive Director Reynaldo Catapang and Atty. Joel Peralta from the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) and Angella Gilberto Alfafara from the DFA-Office for the United Nations and Other International Organizations. POEA Director Robert Larga was likewise a resource speaker.

Each participating embassy and consulate general pre-

sented a snapshot of the human trafficking situation in their host countries, highlighting the challenges and best practices in combating TIP. Director Sandra Patricia Mendoza from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared her country's experiences in promoting the welfare of Mexican nationals in other countries. She emphasized the importance of raising the awareness of overseas Mexican communities of their rights, forging partnerships with local authorities and community organizations, and training consular and diplomatic personnel.

The Regional Workshop was spearheaded by DFA-OUMWA, headed by Usec. Jesus I. Yabes, and the Philippine Embassy in Mexico, led by Amb. Catalino Dilem, Jr. In 2013, the DFA assisted 2,947 Filipino victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment. Of this number, 2,201 came from the Middle East and Africa, 432 from the Americas, 298 from Asia and the Pacific and 16 from Europe. ■

Newcomer families can access Settlement Workers In Schools Program NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C.— Mosaic’s Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) Program is now available to newcomer families with children enrolled in Kindergarten to Grade 12 in the New Westminster School District 40.

The SWIS Program provides www.canadianinquirer.net

settlement information and referrals, orientation to the school system, and orientation to provincial and community services. This includes an introduction to health, housing, immigration and government services. The SWIS program also assists families to integrate

into their new communities by offering activities introducing them to community resources.

“We’re pleased to offer newcomer families access to services which will help schoolaged children adjust to their ❱❱ PAGE 43 Newcomer families

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Immigration

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OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

PANGARAP : SO, OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

So, How’s Your English?

BY BOLET AREVALO

be spoken to and carry out a conversation. But as we were coming along, I began to see the many versions of conversational English that I had to adapt to in order to be understood and to understand others. Remember, this is the land of many nations. The ways people learned to speak English are as diverse as their origins.

That is not a question for those who were born, grew up, and were educated in Canada.

The English learned is spoken in more or less the same accent and intonation. That is English version number 1. The other conversational English versions are, as I said, as many as there are nationalities in the country.

This must be the reason why there are Accent Reduction Courses. They are intended to help the new immigrant retrain his tongue in order to adapt to the manner of speaking among locals. While they are generally not free, the course fees seem reasonable.

There are English as a Second Language (ESL) courses that are offered free for adult learners. These are offered in community centers, school boards, and by some non-profit organizations. And after taking these courses, over time, you should be able to adjust your ears and

In the workplace, English is generally the only acceptable medium of business communication. Because of diversity, many times, you need to be a good listener much more than a good speaker of this language.

The first time I encountered having to be asked to certify my English proficiency was during the processing of my immigrant application. Knowing myself, I thought that I would be able to prove my English proficiency without having to go through a review class and examination which in my country cost a lot of money. I was not about to pay for something I knew I could already do well.

I was educated in Englishinstructed schools and worked in large financial institutions where English was the medium of business communication. I had both bachelor’s and masfectly, but to know it so that you ter’s degrees in communicacan be understood clearly when tions. I edited magazines in speaking and you can underEnglish both in school and in stand people when spoken to. my first job immediately after Many people who volunteer graduation from the university. find their volunteer workplace Upon arriving in Canada, as a good training ground to imthe school principal that interprove their conversational Engviewed me for lish. But whether my child’s transit is in the real fer noticed my workplace or in good English and your volunteer thought that we Remember, this is the land workplace, the had been stayof many nations. The ways work setting is ing in Canada for people learned to speak English where you will quite a while to are as diverse as their origins. unavoidably be able to have meet and talk to the right accent. people of varied The truth was languages. Yet, that we had only the only polite been there a week. Even when tongue to better recognize how way to talk is to talk in English my child was asked to read an people speak the language and because it is supposed to be English book, the principal no- to speak it better yourself. It is everybody’s language of comticed how good her English was. not so important that you know munication. When you find I wished it were that easy to your English grammar per- somebody at work who talks in

the same dialect as you do, you should refrain from conversing in your own dialect when at work because that is being inconsiderate, if not impolite.

Often, it does not seem easy or even possible to change the accent or the intonation pattern. Thus, you have to be a good listener more than a good speaker. Although it is expected that you may have to ask the other person to repeat what has been said, it definitely is not all right to ask him to do that all the time, for every sentence.

But still, no matter the consequences, it is better be safe than sorry, so ask to clarify the statement if necessary.

Knowledge of the English language would not be a key criterion in your immigrant application if it were not important for your easy integra-

tion. The spoken version of the English language is as diverse as the number of nationalities in a multicultural nation, so it is more important to be a good listener than a good speaker. Unless you are in a writing or communications job, you should be able to adjust your conversational English to one that can be understood, especially in the workplace, including your volunteer workplace. ■ Bolet is a marketing communications practitioner and dabbles in writing as a personal passion.

She is author-publisher of the book: The Most Practical Immigrating and Job Hunting Survival Guide, proven simple steps to success without the fears and the doubts. Please check out https:// www.amazon.com/author/boletarevalo.

Y. NOW ONLINE, DAIL

S IP T R E G IN F R U O NEWS AT hiYlippineCanadianInquirer @PhilCanInquirer • F/P

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Immigration

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

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Coroner’s inquest into suicide could peel back curtain on B.C. deportations

BY TAMSYN BURGMANN The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — A coroner’s inquest started this week into the death of a Mexican national who hanged herself inside a Vancouver airport holding cell offers a rare chance to examine the secretive deportation process encountered by many migrants, says an advocacy group with ties to Lucia Vega Jimenez’s family.

The group “Mexicans Living in Vancouver” was formed after the 42-year-old woman attempted suicide in late December, following several weeks in jail and Canada Border Services’ Agency custody awaiting her removal. She died several days later.

“This inquest will be an Xray. For the amount of time they will be spending and the amount of witnesses they probably will call, it’s going to be really detailed and a real opportunity to see how things really work,” said Rocco Trigueros, the group’s director.

“My hope is that recommendations are brought up and things change and we definitely can help these people who came here to work, and contribute in some way, to send them home in a less traumatic way.”

The inquest is aimed at shedding light into circumstances so far kept largely shrouded by authorities. The case was not revealed until about a month after Jimenez died, when media heard reports of the incident from members of the Mexican community in Vancouver.

The BC Coroners Service called the inquest in late February, with the explanation that an extra responsibility for care is required because the incident leading to the woman’s death occurred while she was in custody. A jury cannot make findings of fault and instead is tasked with making recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

Jimenez was working as a chamber maid for a Vancouver hotel. She was arrested over an unpaid transit ticket and her lack of status in the country was discovered.

“Mexicans Living in Van-

Lucia Vega Jimenez.

CORONER'S HANDOUT

couver” quickly raised funds from the life they’ve built, said However, his organization of to bring Jimenez’s sister to Trigueros. But he suggested it’s about 40 people has held seven Canada from Mexico after the important to try stepping into a meetings in the months since woman tried to kill herself. The detainee’s shoes.

Jimenez died. They’ve formusister was at Jimenez’s bedside “For them it means a lot. It lated their own recommenwhen they disconnected her means not being able to help dations despite knowing the from life support. family, suddenly being cut off concerns won’t get aired at the Trigueros has met several in- from friends. They have a coun- inquest. dividuals who personally knew try that they probably love,” he Immigration holding cells the woman. They described her said. “In those isolated dun- in B.C. should be opened up as a hard-working person who geons, I don’t think Lucia was to support workers, commuwould send money back home the only one who considered nity groups and mental health to her family, p r o f e s s i o n a l s, including her ill Trigueros said. mother, he said.

His group also She attended opposes the use community This inquest will be an Xray. For of private secuevents, including the amount of time they will be rity firms by the an anti-racism spending and the amount of border agency, march, and was witnesses they probably will call, saying both the also planning to it’s going to be really detailed company Gensoon get marand a real opportunity to see esis Security and ried. She did not how things really work. the CBSA must show signs of debe held to greatpression, he said. er transparency.

The coroner “If there’s one says Jimenez was found in a probably doing something like opportunity, this is the one” to shower stall at the immigration that.” make improvements, Trigueros holding centre at Vancouver The advocacy group, and said. “It’s suddenly clear that International Airport on the its umbrella called the Coali- many things were wrong. So morning of Dec. 20. She died in tion for Immigrant Rights, was this is the opportunity to throw hospital on Dec. 28. barred from participating in light, because, before that, othIt may be difficult for Canadi- the inquest. Trigueros said the er cases probably happened and ans to understand what might group was told it didn’t have we never knew.” be going on psychologically for a anything new to add to the proA spokeswoman for the bormigrant suddenly being forced ceedings. der agency previously declined www.canadianinquirer.net

to comment on the case, but did say it welcomes the opportunity to provide information and clarity of its detention policies and procedures.

The BC Civil Liberties Association was granted status to participate and has talked to the coalition about its concerns.

Its executive director said the association will raise many issues around the handling of the Jimenez case.

Josh Paterson questioned whether the woman’s death would have ever been made public if not for the vocal role of the Mexican community. He is critical of the border agency, which he said notified police and the coroner of the incident but does not have an independent watchdog.

“When someone dies in the custody of any other police force in the country, the expectation is that is revealed to the public very quickly,” he said.

“This (inquest) is going part way towards answering the serious questions around her death and the aftermath of her death, but it’s not going to get us all the way there. We’re going to be continuing to seek answers.” ■

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Western Visayas among regions with highest number of emigrants PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY BACOLOD CITY — Western Visayas is among the regions in the Philippines with the highest number of registered Filipino emigrants, figures of the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) revealed.

CFO Secretary Imelda Nicolas said that emigrants are not overseas contract workers but those who decide to reside and work in other countries.

Region 6 is in sixth place with a total of 54,971 out of the total 1,680,514 registered emigrants to other countries from 1988 to 2013.

National Capital Region is on the top of the list with 574,728 emigrants; Central Luzon, 276,598; Calabarzon, 259,737; Ilocos Region, 187,421; and Central Visayas, 97,248.

In Western Visayas, Iloilo has the most number of emigrants, with 23,737. It is followed by Negros Occidental, 20,497; Capiz, 3,954; Aklan, 3,897; Antique, 2,230; and Guimaras, 856.

Meanwhile, Nicolas said the Swiss government provided an assistance of some P10 million through the CFO to assist Filipino emigrants and their dependents.

The project will establish or support migration resource centers in the region with specific local projects and investment services for overseas Filipino, with emphasis on generating investments to provide migrants with more economic options other than working overseas.

There are 240,000 overseas Filipinos in Western Visayas, of which 23 percent are permanent residents in other countries, including US, Canada and Australia, while 77 percent are

contractual workers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

An estimated P22 billion worth of remittances were received by migrant families in the region, Nicolas said. â–

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Entertainment

12 Filipino students learn British bespoke tailoring–and how to apply it to the ‘barong’

It’s the ‘Mercedes Benz of garment-making,’ says Mark Higgins of Slim’s Fashion and Arts School, where the threemonth pilot course is ongoing

BY ALEX Y. VERGARA Philippine Daily Inquirer WHAT IS British bespoke tailoring, and how does it compare with existing forms of tailoring in the Philippines? How can local designers apply this centuriesold tradition of making men’s wear not only for three-piece suits, but also for the barong?

An initial batch of 12 students are finding out for themselves, as Slim’s Fashion and Arts School is two weeks away from concluding an intensive threemonth pilot course on British bespoke tailoring under Victoria Townsend, a British teacher and seasoned master cutter from Savile Row. Savile Row is a world-famous street in London where many of the best master cutters, tailors and tailoring houses are. It’s also where rich, discriminating men go to for expensive madeto-measure suits that start anywhere from £4,000 to £5,000.

Townsend, who’s on leave as one of Richard James’ master cutters, also considers the place as an institution.

Despite being in the tailoring business for almost 25 years now, James is one of Savile Row’s younger tailors, said Townsend. After all, the street and the tradition it has spawned date back to the 18th century.

KEVIN S JONES PHOTOGRAPHY / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

“It’s just another place in London where all the best tailors are,” she said. “But for me personally, it’s the technique and practices that go along with it that makes it an institution.”

Townsend is also on leave from Newham College, a South

London-based school where she also teaches her brand of tailoring. It’s the same college that Alexander McQueen once attended before initially embarking on a designing career on Savile Row. A typical short course at

Slim’s runs thrice a week for six months. But since Townsend and the school agreed to shorten the pilot program’s run to three months, she has been conducting six-hour classes five days a week since early August at Slims’ Makati building.

Mark Higgins, son of designer and school founder Salvacion Lim “Slim” Higgins, has been working on reviving Slims’ tailoring course since he and sister Sandy Higgins started running the family-owned school several years ago.

“I told Sandy that if I revive it, I wanted to bring it to the highest level possible,” Mark Higgins said.

That meant teaching students how to make bespoke suits the way they do them in Savile Row, where 80 percent of the garments, down to the buttonholes, armholes and various interfacings used to reinforce the suit, are said to be done by hand.

“Imagine, they hardly use sewing machines on Savile Row,” he said. “If ever they do, it’s limited to the side seams.”

After doing a bespoke suit by learning techniques that Higgins describes as the “Mercedes-Benz of garmentmaking,” graduating students “could make a shirt and a pair of pajamas and shorts blindfolded,” he said.

That’s probably not an exaggeration. “Rock of eye,” a tailoring term among pros on Savile Row, enable them to “tune yourself in” to know certain distances within a client’s body, said Townsend. ❱❱ PAGE 32 12 Filipino

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12 Filipinos...

There’s no need to case. Newham, in turn, sent fers, Slim’s had to turn away unlearn what some of Townsend to Manila soon after a number of interested applithe current students to assess the program’s viability. cants. have learned before, say, in “I came here initially to estabBut Higgins promises to acdressmaking or even conven- lish whether there are resources commodate them when the tional tailoring, because British available to make the course course is offered again in Janubespoke tailoring is a very pre- run and work efficiently,” said ary. Instead of three months, cise and unique art form in and Townsend. “Mark and Sandy it would run like a regular sixof itself. showed me around and I fell in month, thrice-a-week course.

Although it helps to have a ru- love with the place. I was con- Because she won’t be here the dimentary knowledge of sewing vinced that it could be done.” entire time, Townsend has also and cutting, it’s not necessary During Townsend’s week- started training Filipino teachas long as the student is inter- long visit to Manila, she and ers to teach the course. ested and possesses an aptitude Higgins drew up and finetuned Most of the students who for garment manipulation. the course syllabus. Instead were accepted to Slims’ pilot During the first few weeks of duplicating everything she class have either started runof the course, for instance, teaches in London, Townsend ning their own garment and Townsend started by teach- deferred to her host’s knowl- couture businesses or have ing her students various tech- edge on certain nuances and taken earlier courses at Slim’s. niques in hand stitching. requirements unique and rel- Both Townsend and Higgins They even used special thim- evant to Filipinos. are happy to report that no one bles because the needle they She returned to London in has so far dropped out from the were using tended to “backfire” February and flew back to Ma- pilot class. into their fingers while they nila in late July to begin teach“You have to understand that were stitching together thick ing the course. this is a serious and in-depth layers of suiting fabrics, said “One of our graduation re- course,” said Higgins. “It’s not Higgins. quirements in our dressmak- something that you enroll your Only after they had done ing course is for students to do sastre so you could open a typienough stitching, including do- a terno,” said Higgins. “That’s cal tailoring shop after.” ing numerous French button- one of the reasons why we also The lessons may be technical, holes, were they asked to move put the barong as a graduation but the thrust is designed to apon to their first project: a jacket. requirement for students in peal to and stimulate a designBefore the course ends, they our British bespoke tailoring er’s mind. On a practical note, would have also done a shirt, course.” teaching the designer how to pair of pants, cut and sew suits vest and barong. at this level lib“Bespoke is erates him from different in a way being at the merbecause it’s speThis is a serious and in-depth course,” cy of his master cially made for said Higgins. “It’s not something that cutters. an individual,” you enroll yourself in so you could “In every art said Townsend. open a typical tailoring shop after. form, you have to “Made-to-meamaster the rules sure dresses are first before you also made for can even begin individuals. But breaking them,” when a bespoke garment is beApart from suits, he feels said Higgins. “It also applies ing pieced together, it’s built that the barong should also be to tailoring. These are the very piece by piece rather than start- given the attention it deserves. foundations that would guide ing everything with a paper pat- There’s always a steady demand you in your profession as a detern.” for it among men, even foreign- signer.”

In Townsend’s book, British ers, in business and diplomatic And as the Philippine econobespoke tailoring is the best, circles. my continues to boom, Higgins but traditional Italian tailoring “The barong is unique for also sees a potential market for is a “close runner-up.” There’s someone like Victoria,” said bespoke suits in the country. no point in comparing the two, Higgins. “It’s technically a shirt, Because the “pagawa (madehowever, because their practi- but the shirt’s hemline is cut to-measure) culture” is so intioners resort to different hand flat. Not in a barong, which you grained among Filipinos, those skills and techniques. need to cut in a certain way, es- with money wouldn’t mind To realize his vision to re- pecially for more mature men paying the price for a beautiful vive tailoring at Slim’s, which with irregular figures.” made-to-measure suit. his mother and her two sisHe also suggested that “Yes, the likes of YSL, Zeters established in 1960 with a Townsend also teach students gna, Brioni and even McQueen homegrown curriculum based how to make their own shoul- and Vivienne Westwood offer on their actual practice, Hig- der pads. While these compo- beautiful suits that fit well,” he gins consulted with the British nents are readily available to said. “But they’re still off-theCouncil in Manila late last year. tailors in London, there are no rack. We all know that the huThose behind its education decent ready-made shoulder man body is not perfect. The exchange program endorsed pads sold in Manila. bespoke suit takes into considHiggins to people at Newham Since a teacher can attend to eration every part of your body.

College. He flew to London no more than 12 students, lest It’s a suit specially made just for earlier this year to present his the quality of her teaching suf- you.” ■ ❰❰ 31

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John Prats and Isabel Oli.

FACEBOOK PHOTO

Isabel Oli still overwhelmed by surprise marriage proposal

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Actress Isabel Oli has yet to fully grasp the reality of her recent engagement to boyfriend John Prats.

During her recent appearance on “The Buzzzzz” segment with “Tito Bhoy” and “Toni G.,” Oli recalled the events on the evening of September 24, leading up to her engagement to Prats: “It’s his Mom’s birthday yesterday and they told me there is a party at Eastwood and the attire is semi-formal. So I went with Camille Prats. Then they told me that we go shopping first and I asked them — why do we have to do rush shopping? They told me that Camile’s boyfriend from the U.S. is asking her to buy some stuff for him. Then I said, there is an event over there because I see lots of people.” Oli recounted that when they left the store, she noticed there was a crowd, and hat tSam Milby was playing the piano, but thought nothing of it. That is, until some people approached her and yanked her towards the hubbub.

“Suddenly somebody tried to pull me (I thought one of those credit card sales reps). A lot of things happened thereafter,

there was a commotion.” she said.

Then Camile began to push her towards the stage, but Oli resisted, thinking she would be asked to dance on stage. She, however, decided to play along when she noticed that Camille and and the other Prats’ sisters were in tears. The AVP on the screen likewise made her realize that this was “something else.”

“Then I saw this AVP so I thought this is now different.

Then I saw John, “he’s really handsome!” Oli gushed.

To her surprise, Prats started dancing in public; something she had never seen him do before.

“I told him how come you dance at ASAP, you dance before other people but I never saw you dance like that when we dance.”

Prats dropped to one knee, and popped the question, “Will you marry me” in front of the joyful crowd gathered at the Eastwood City square.

Tears of joy streaming down her face, Oli accepted Prats’ proposal in the presence of both their families, who had been clued in to the surprise.

Oli was Prats’ childhood sweetheart, but officially his girlfriend for a little over one year. ■

Entertainment

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Cherry Pie: No human deserved to be violated that way

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer “NO HUMAN being deserved to be violated that way,” said actress Cherry Pie Picache of the fate of her mother, Zenaida Sison, who was found dead with several stab wounds in her Quezon City home in September.

Police said she was killed in a robbery.

Sison’s body was cremated on September 24. She was 75.

“I’m angry; the whole family feels the same. We demand answers to a lot of questions,” Picache told the INQUIRER on Tuesday during Sison’s wake at the Arlington Memorial Chapels in Quezon City.

Sison’s body was in a closed white casket. “People speculate that this is because our mom’s face was damaged. That’s not true. This is her wish. She was very vain. She actually told us that she didn’t want anyone looking at her lying in a coffin.”

Picache said it was also her mom’s wish to be cremated

immediately after death. “We couldn’t comply with that part because we had to wait for my two sisters to come home from the United States. Their family would like to see mom first.”

The actress added: “She also wanted us to be gathered, complete—that’s what I’m realizing now. Through her death, the family became united. We are now more expressive of our love for each other. We’ve always been close, but not like this.”

Picache’s sister Pinky Herrera-Hibbard, who is based in the United States, said her last moments with Sison were on a trip to Beijing in 2013. “It was our way of celebrating Mom’s 75th birthday (in advance) because I couldn’t celebrate it with her this year. She was a well-traveled person, but had not gone to Beijing before. The trip was nice, also because Cherry Pie and her son (Neo) joined us.”

She added: “Mom told me, ‘This may be our last trip together.’ Since she is sometimes sentimental, I simply replied,

Cherry Pie Picache.

‘We’ll [take] another trip when you come visit me in the US.’ I hold on to that memory because that’s the very last time I saw her alive.”

Picache’s talent manager, Ed Instrella, said the actress has yet to grieve. He explained, “She is the linchpin of the family at the moment. She knows that she has to be strong for everybody.”

Instrella said Picache was very careful about revealing the shocking news of Sison’s death to him because he was just recovering from a stroke. “I felt dizzy when I learned what happened. Once I was strong enough, I went to the house

to be with Pie, but I purposely didn’t look around.”

He described Sison as “very sharp, frank and funny,” and always in the mood to tell stories.

“It’s true that she was vain, and always scolded Pie whenever she (Picache) went to public places without makeup.”

Actresses Gelli de Belen and Carmina Villarroel, who arrived at the wake together, said they could offer nothing to Picache’s family “but prayers so they will find peace.”

“We both hugged Cherry Pie,” added Villarroel. “We hope for her to be strong and to overcome this.”

Former Sen. Ernesto Maceda

joined Picache’s family in celebrating Mass that night.

Mike Bartolome of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines program department said that, for several years now, Picache has been joining its visits to children who are in conflict with the law.

“She first joined us on a trip to Bicutan. It was her birthday,” Bartolome recalled. “When the establishment closed down, we went to visit the children of Molave Youth Home (in Quezon City). It has become a yearly thing for her. There was a time when she gave each of the kids a pair of shoes.”

Comedian John Lapus, who last worked with Picache in the comedy movie “Here Comes the Bride,” said he is praying that the police will act fast.

“That will help ease the pain of the family,” Lapus said. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about her from Cherry Pie. I can only imagine the pain my friend is experiencing. To lose a mom in this very tragic way is really hard to bear.” ■

Daniel’s mom says: ‘Friend leaked voice clip’

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Daniel Padilla’s mother recently revealed that the young heartthrob knows who is responsible for recording and leaking the controversial audio clip that quickly went viral; thereby marking the first “scandal” of his career.

Karla Estrada, Padilla’s mom, said in a live interview on “Aquino & Abunda Tonight” on Friday that the culprit behind the incident has been her son’s acquaintance for the last five years.

“Nakakatakot. Imagine, pinasok ka sa bahay mo ng gano’n.

Hindi ito close friend, pero kaibigan niya ‘to [nang matagal na]. He’s older than DJ (Padilla) (It’s frightening. Imagine, someone invaded your home in that manner. This person is not a close friend, but he has been a friend for some time now),” Estrada expressed The 90-second audio clip up-

loaded on September 18 fueled rumours about Padilla having a relationship with actress Jasmine Curtis-Smith. Padilla is largely thought to be romantically involved with singer-actress Kaythrn Bernardo.

Estrada revealed that her son has opted not to confront the person responsible for making and circulating the clip.

“Si DJ, hindi siya gano’n, kasi nasasaktan siya. Hindi niya kayang harapin. Ako, hindi ko na kinonfront, kasi baka maging octopus ako (DJ is not like that, because he was hurt. He cannot bear to face the person. I, on the other hand, did not confront him as I might turn into an octopus), Padilla’s mother explained.”

When asked about how they found out who the culprit was, Estrada pointed out that Padilla’s other friends confirmed their suspicions.

“Tinanong ko ‘yung isang kaibigan na nandodoon na kasama nila sa pag-uusap. Siya ang tinu-

turo ng lahat kasi siya lang ang may hawak ng cellphone habang nag-uusap sila (I asked one of his friends who was there during the incident. The friend and everyone else all pointed to the same person because that particular person was the only one holding a cellphone during the conversation),” she said.

However, the suspect denied having purposefully uploaded the audio clip.

“Sabi ko, ‘Ano’ng motibo niya?’ Hindi raw nagsasabi. At dini-deny niya na ginawa niya daw ‘yon. Parang may something lang daw doon sa telefono niya na biglang nag-upload. Siyempre wala nang lusot ‘yung tao (I said “What was the person’s motive?’ They told me that the person did not say. And that the person was denying that it was done on purpose. The person said that it was a feature on the cellphone that all the sudden uploaded the clip. Of course, it’s because that person has no more alibis),” Estrada said. www.canadianinquirer.net

Daniel Padilla.

Despite having a suspect, Padilla simply wants to move on from the controversy; and although she would prefer to get to the bottom of things, Estrada said she will respect her son’s request.

“Ayaw na actually palalimin pa ni DJ, ano, kasi para sa kanya, ‘Kung kailangan ko matuto sa ganitong paraan, okay ako, natuto ako. Ako, mas gusto kong palawigin ito, ano, pero kung kinatatakot ni DJ ito, re-

respetuhin ko siya dito sa unang pagkakataon. Pero sa susunod, hindi ko na siya pakikinggan, (DJ does not want the problem to get any deeper. For him, ‘If I need a lesson in this manner, then it’s okay with me, I learned something.’ Me, I would rather get to the bottom of things, but if DJ is fearful about this, I will respect him for this first incident. But next time, I will not listen to him anymore),” Estrada stressed. ■

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Entertainment

OCTOBER 3, 2014 FRIDAY

Amal Alamuddin, George Clooney wedding one of hundreds of foreign marriages in romantic Venice

BY COLLEEN BARRY The Associated Press VENICE, ITALY — The romantic canaled city of Venice has been the venue for 323 weddings of foreign couples this year. Only one has drawn crowds and paparazzi.

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin said “I do” for a second time Monday, celebrating a civil wedding ceremony in Venice’s City Hall on the Grand Canal, greeted by hundreds of well-wishers who waited hours for a glimpse of the newlyweds.

The couple tied the knot two days earlier in a private ceremony attended by Hollywood celebrity friends and family in a luxury hotel. They followed up with a required civil procedure, which to be legally recognized must take place on a site designated by the city administration.

The newlyweds arrived at the pre-Renaissance Ca’ Farsetti in Clooney’s regular water taxi, called “Amore,” trailed by dozens of boats with photographers, as has been the case all weekend. Police boats tried to clear their way.

Clooney, 53, looked dapper in a grey suit and matching tie, while the bride, 36, wore a cream-colored, short-sleeved jacket with palazzo pants and a matching wide-brimmed hat accented by a navy ribbon.

As they exited the boat, Clooney drew his wife’s attention to the crowds on the opposite shore, and they stopped briefly to take in the scene and wave.

Venice has played host to 323 foreigner weddings this year, including the wedding of famous actor George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (VENICE) / CHINELLATOPHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Clooney then ushered Alamuddin inside, looking up at city employees watching from the surrounding buildings and pointing inside with his thumb as if to say, “I gotta go.”

They emerged about 20 minutes later with former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, who

performed both ceremonies.

Veltroni sent the couple off, hugging Clooney and kissing Alamuddin on the cheek.

They continued up the Grand Canal and under the arched Rialto Bridge, crowded with more well-wishers screaming “George, George,” before

disappearing up a one-way canal. Clooney’s water taxi driver, who has ferried the actor around on his frequent trips to Venice, was later seen at the airport and indicated that the couple had left.

One of the world’s most romantic cities, Venice draws couples from around the world for a fairy tale wedding in wellappointed official wedding halls overlooking the Grand Hotel.

According to official statistics for this year, 323 non-Italian couples were married in Venice’s historic centre through Monday.

A city employee, who identified herself only as Luisa, said she leaves her window overlooking the Cavalli Palazzo, where most ceremonies take place, open in the summer just so she can hear the parade of

newlyweds being congratulated by loved ones.

“There are so many beautiful brides. Every 10 or 15 minutes, they come out and people throw confetti or rose petals,” Luisa said, standing with a group of co-workers who came outside to see Clooney and his bride arrive. “Once there was even a Scotsman in a kilt. Often we find champagne bottles and glasses here in the morning.”

The last couple to exchange vows before the Hollywood star and his new bride arrived was Stefanie Eddinger and Gerald Frieder, from Vienna. The couple enjoyed the added energy from the crowd outside awaiting the celebrity newlyweds.

“They picked our day,” Frieder said, before stepping outside into a shower of confetti. ■

Fire burns down former “Corner Gas” building in Rouleau, Sask.

THE CANADIAN PRESS ROULEAU, SASK. — A building made famous by the hit television series “Corner Gas” about small-town Saskatchewan life has burned to the ground.

Grant Clarke, mayor of the small town of Rouleau (ROH’-loh) where the former

CTV comedy was filmed, says hundreds of people watched as flames engulfed the building.

The structure was used as the local supermarket in the show that featured the fictional town of Dog River.

It had become home to a business manufacturing orthopedics.

Clarke says the fire was reported around 5 p.m. this past Monday as 180 people attended an anniversary party at the nearby town hall.

He says the flames were out about 9 p.m., but fire crews worked overnight to put out hot spots.

There’s no word yet on what caused the blaze. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

DARYL SAWATZKY / FLICKR

Entertainment

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

35

‘Epic Meal Empire’: YouTube stars serve up gut busting fare on new TV series

BY LAURA KANE The Canadian Press TORONTO — The four guys behind “Epic Meal Empire” have devoured cheeseburgerstuffed lasagna, pizza cupcakes and Tex-mex sushi. So what’s the grossest thing they’ve ever eaten?

“Dried apricots and dried papayas,” says founder Harley Morenstein with disgust.

The Montreal-based kitchen crew genuinely loves calorieladen comfort food. And after racking up 600 million YouTube views for their “Epic Meal Time” videos, they’re bringing their passion for gut-busting concoctions to the small screen.

In “Epic Meal Empire,” airing Mondays on FYI, the gang moves to Los Angeles and cooks up artery-clogging fare for “extreme-food clients” — i.e. anyone with an excuse to consume meals that should probably only be eaten once in a lifetime.

The crew, led by “Sauce Boss” Morenstein and his friends Josh Elkin, Ameer Atari and Dave Heuff, sees moving from YouTube to TV as a natural progression.

“I don’t mind saying that I like ‘Epic Meal Empire’ better than ‘Epic Meal Time,”‘ declared Morenstein, 29, in an interview.

Back in 2010, he was a substitute high school teacher in his hometown of Montreal when he began experimenting in video production. “Epic Meal Time” was born when he and his friends created an elaborate “cheat meal” — ironically, amid efforts to promote health and fitness.

“After the first episode, I substituted the following week. The show had gotten a lot of traction,” he recalled. “The kids were

Former Epic Meal Time cast-member Alex Perrault aka. "Muscles Glasses" (left) and Epic Meal Time co-founder Harley Morenstein (right). The Epic Meal Time crew was able to leverage their over-the-top YouTube style into an actual Television series. Pictured is the Chili Four Loko, an early Epic Meal Time creation.

GAGE SKIDMORE / FLICKR

like, ‘Oh sir, I saw you drinking on the Internet!’ ... I kind of lost the children that day.”

Two weeks later, the number of online views were so staggering that Morenstein quit his teaching job. After hundreds of episodes, two cookbooks and six million YouTube subscribers, the crew turned their attention to TV. Morenstein said several networks were interested, but in the end they chose “contemporary lifestyle” channel FYI, a recent rebrand of Shaw Media’s Twist and A&E’s Biography.

“They let us do what we want, which is the best part of being on FYI,” he said. “They were the ones that really put the trust in us. They picked up 16

episodes right off the bat. That was enough for us to want to commit to that network.

“Now, the show is exactly what we want. It’s something we’re proud of. It’s hilarious. I think it’s an awesome show.”

In the first episode, a secondgrade teacher invites the guys to make her students a “fantasy meal,” a break from eating boring old healthy food. They build a “Taterbot,” a giant robot made of Tater Tots, licorice and grilled cheese.

Other wild concoctions in the show: a Cinnabon battleship with a cream cheese frosting churro cannon, an eight-foot chicken (made of chicken tenders and 100 eggs) on roller skates and an edible car they

www.canadianinquirer.net

also claim is “driveable.”

A bigger budget allows the guys to be more imaginative with their meals, but network television has its drawbacks.

The Jack Daniel’s-guzzling foursome can’t drink on camera, which they flout in the premiere by taking a shot off screen.

And to balance out the heavy dose of testosterone, Natalie Forte of the Cooking Channel’s “America’s Best Bites” has joined the crew as their “liaison” to clients.

“I think the network was concerned when we first started the show that we’d be a little too gross for TV — just disgusting men,” said Heuff. “So she brings a little bit of beauty and

elegance.”

The guys, who all met in Montreal, say they’ve been given a surprisingly warm welcome in Los Angeles, the land of kale and juice fasts. They still tend to eat bacon and Big Macs on their days off, although Elkin exercises regularly and Morenstein will occasionally “blast the biceps.”

Their rise to fame has been unusual, to say the least. Heuff joked that his parents “teeter on the edge of disappointment most of the time.”

“But my dad turned to me and said one day that there’s no other chance of me ever being famous or being popular. So I should probably pursue this career.” ■

36

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Lifestyle

Enterovirus D68 often mild, but be alert for breathing troubles in kids: doctors

BY SHERYL UBELACKER The Canadian Press TORONTO—The cold-causing bug, enterovirus D68, that’s been making some children severely ill across the U.S. and now in parts of Canada has been around for decades, but doctors acknowledge there may be something different about the strain circulating this year.

The virus—also known as EVD68—tends to cause symptoms in the lower part of the respiratory system, putting children with asthma or wheezing at greater risk of developing more acute illness from the infection; most cold viruses typically affect the upper airways.

“At this time, we don’t know why this virus has a predilection for the lower respiratory tract, why it’s causing more severe respiratory illness,” said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an infectious diseases specialist the BC Centre for Disease Control.

“Those sort of secrets have yet to be found out,” she said last week from Vancouver, noting that studies need to be completed on EV-D68’s genetic profile to tease out anything that might be unique to the strain.

There are more than 100 enteroviruses, the second most common cause of the common cold after rhinoviruses. But Skowronski said EV-D68 acts more like a rhinovirus than an enterovirus—it doesn’t replicate in the acid-rich environment of the gastrointestinal tract and prefers temperatures around 33 C, unlike its namesake cousins.

EV-D68 typically starts with garden-variety cold symptoms—runny nose, sneezing and coughing—and most children infected with the virus have mild to moderate symptoms that resolve on their own.

But in some cases, the

lower airways become compro- admitted a dozen children to tween 2008 and 2010—about mised, leading to wheezing and the ICU and all were on ven- 20 per cent of the 100 cases difficulty breathing that re- tilators to help them breathe. described in the medical litquires prompt action, doctors But results of testing released erature required ICU admisadvise parents.

Monday showed only one of sion, Skowronski said. In Kan“Certainly, if their children the young patients was infected sas City in mid-August, where are developing signs of respi- with enterovirus D68. The oth- the current outbreak was first ratory distress, with more la- ers had respiratory infections identified, all of 19 confirmed boured breathing, more rapid caused by other common cold cases were admitted to the ICU, breathing, losing their appetite, viruses. The patient with EV- while 90 per cent of the 11 cases then they really should be seek- D68 has recovered and been in Chicago were given intensive ing medical attention, particu- discharged home, a spokes- care. larly going to the emergency woman said.

“Since we don’t test everyone department,” said Dr. Upton In B.C., Skowronski said there for enterovirus when they have Allen, chief of infectious dis- have been seven lab-confirmed symptoms, mild symptoms eases at Toronfor instance, it to’s Hospital for may be that all Sick Children. of our surveilWhile there is lance is being no direct treatIt really is children with underlying conskewed towards ment against ditions, and in particular those who the more severe the virus, chilhave a history of asthma or wheezing, end of the specdren may receive who are having the most difficult time trum,” Skowronmedications to with this virus. ski said. “And ease airway conchildren may be striction and be having more seadmitted to a vere symptoms ward for observation. cases of EV-D68, four in chil- because of the combination of “The ones that come to hos- dren aged under 10 and three lack of immunity and smaller pital generally represent the aged between 10 and 19. airways.” more severe end of the specIt’s difficult to say how comImmunity is a key issue: entrum,” Allen said. “If they are mon it is for EV-D68 to send a terovirus D68 was first identiamong the most severely ill child to the ICU and treatment fied in 1962, and it may be that who require help with their with a ventilator. Most children young children are more susbreathing, then they would be who come down with a respira- ceptible to the bug than adults admitted to an intensive care tory illness, even if they end up because they have not been exunit where they get ventilated.” in the ER, aren’t tested to see posed to the virus before and As of last month, the U.S. what virus is causing their in- therefore have no antibodies to Centers for Disease Control fection, she said. fight it off. said there were 160 confirmed In previous EV-D68 outThat doesn’t mean that cases of EV-D68 in 22 states, breaks—there were at least six adults can’t contract EV-D68, with many more possib e - said Allen, and those with exble or suspectisting lung diseases such as ed cases being COPD could be at risk investigated. for more severe Sick Kids symptoms. recent“It really l y is children with underlying conditions, and in particular those who have a history of asthma or wheezing, who are having the most

difficult time with this virus,” said Skowronski.

“So children who have that history, if they do develop a respiratory illness and it’s worsening, with difficulty breathing, (parents) should seek medical care promptly or urgently, without delay in order to get the supportive care needed,” she said, stressing that parents should trust their instincts.

Otherwise, kids should be kept home from school and get lots of rest and fluids until symptoms abate. “That is likely all that is needed for the vast majority,” she said, adding that frequent hand-washing and other infection-control measures should be practised to prevent transmission of the virus to others.

Although EV-D68 caused three deaths in previous outbreaks, Allen said dying is not a “major feature” of the disease, and that if a patient were to sadly die, it “would not necessarily indicate a worsening of the outbreak, because that type of scenario can happen in any year.”

To put the summer-fall spate of cases in context, Skowronski said enteroviruses generally pale in comparison with such respiratory microbes as, say, seasonal influenza, which kills thousands around the world each year, especially among the very young and very old.

“In part, we’ve created a scenario of outbreak by virtue of our diagnostic testing, both in terms of who we’re testing and how we’re testing that may have created this sense of alarm that’s somewhat artificial,” she said of widespread news reports on the outbreak.

“Having said that, since we have recognized this and since there are certain people who may be at higher risk, we ought to profit from that information and make sure that they get the care that they need.

“But the sky is not falling.” ■

Lifestyle

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

37

Report finds most Canadians have good mental health, but may not be full picture

BY SHERYL UBELACKER The Canadian Press TORONTO—More than 75 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older are considered to have “flourishing” mental health— feeling good about life and functioning well most days, a report released last week says.

The Statistics Canada report found less than two per cent of Canadians are “languishing,” meaning they experience low positive emotions and poor functioning, while almost 22 per cent are classified as having moderate mental health—neither flourishing nor languishing.

When combined with information on mental illness, about 73 per cent—or almost 20 million Canadians—are said to have “complete” mental health because they are both flourishing and don’t meet criteria for

such major disorders as depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and alcohol, cannabis or other drug abuse or dependence.

While that figure seems to put a sunny face on Canadians’ mental health status, the report’s cloudier flip-side shows that one in four people don’t have optimum emotional health or are struggling with psychological problems, the Canadian Mental Health Association said in reaction to the report.

“Let’s not all sort of think, ‘Wow, almost 77 per cent of Canadians say they have flourishing mental health; we must be doing great things in Canada,”‘ said national CEO Peter Coleridge. “If you unpack it, there’s some cautions here.

“There’s a significant proportion of our population that needs help,” said Coleridge, cit-

ing statistics to illustrate that point.

One in five people live with a mental health and/or addiction issue a year; 500,000 Canadians miss work each week due to mental health problems; and among youth aged 15 to 24, suicide is the second leading cause of death after accidental injury.

The report, which is based on the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey, also doesn’t include certain segments of the population with an elevated risk of mental health problems, among them aboriginal Canadians living on reserves and other settlements; members of the military; and those in institutions like prisons and longterm care facilities, he said.

Aboriginal youth, for instance, have a suicide rate five to six times higher than nonaboriginal youth, and suicides among the Canadian military

www.canadianinquirer.net

since 2002 outstripped the number of personnel killed in combat in Afghanistan by 178 to 158.

And because the report is based on a survey, in which participants answer an interviewer’s questions, Coleridge said the percentages may not necessarily reflect reality.

“The discrimination and stigma associated with mental

health issues, mental illnesses, in our society (means) people are judged as being weak. And responding to a survey via an interviewer, they’re very unlikely to divulge information that their mental health is not so good because they would be judged.

“So the discrimination and stigma is pervasive and would have an impact on that self-reporting.”

Coleridge said further investment is needed to maintain and improve the emotional wellbeing of children and youth because research has shown that 70 per cent of mental health problems and illnesses begin in childhood or adolescence.

The report’s authors also found that men and women were equally likely to have complete mental health, with factors contributing to wellbeing including age, marital status, income, education, employment status, spirituality and physical health.

Older age was found to be a strong factor in psychological well-being, with 80 per cent of those 65 and older having complete mental health, compared to 65 per cent among those aged 15 to 24.

Having a spouse or partner was also associated with having complete mental health, as was higher education and income.

People who reported that religious or spiritual beliefs were important in their daily lives were significantly more likely to have complete mental health than those not classified as having strong spirituality: 76 per cent versus 66 per cent, respectively. ■

38

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Business

BlackBerry improves, but smartphone maker isn’t clear of hurdles yet

BY DAVID FRIEND The Canadian Press WATERLOO, ONT.—BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB) hasn’t forgotten about everyday smartphone users and, eventually, chief executive John Chen hopes to pursue their loyalty once again.

But the head of the Waterloo, Ont.,-based company says that for now business customers will remain his priority.

“I’ve got to focus on something,” Chen said during a media roundtable at BlackBerry’s headquarters.

“I need to base our recapturing of the enterprise customers for this company to get back on track financially. I am by no means suggesting that this is the only thing that we’re going to do.”

“Over time I definitely would love to reach everyday people, but it’s too early for us right now. One thing at a time.”

The smartphone maker delivered a round of financial results last Friday that showed some improvements, but further challenges to overcome.

BlackBerry, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars came in ahead of analyst’s expectations on the bottom line, but fell short on revenue.

The company’s adjusted loss, which excluded a restructuring charge and an adjustment related to its debentures, amounted to two cents per share. Analysts on average had expected loss of 16 cents, according to a survey

by Thomson Reuters.

On a fully reported basis, the loss was lost was US$207 million or 39 cents per share, compared with a net loss of US$965 million or $1.84 per share a year earlier.

Sales in what was the company’s second quarter dropped to $916 million, coming in short of analyst estimates of $950 million and below the $1.57 billion reported a year ago.

Blackberry Ltd. is showing improvements, including releasing a new Blackberry model (The Passport) that has been met with good reviews, but it still has a long way to go before catching up to the current giants in the mobile industry.

“We are definitely in the first half of what I refer to as the eight quarters recovery,” chief executive John Chen said on a conference call.

“From a revenue standpoint, we might not be at the lowest point, but we are near the bottoming out.”

Over the past year, BlackBerry has been squeezed from all angles by Chen, who stepped into the leadership role with the goal of creating a leaner and profitable operation.

So far, he has made significant progress and has stuck to a goal of making the company break even on cash flow by February 2015, which is the end of the company’s fiscal year.

But he also has to contend

with a longtime BlackBerry customer base in the corporate world that has migrated to competitors like Apple’s iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy models.

Fewer users has meant lower services revenue for offerings like access to its secure enterprise servers.

During the quarter, services revenue fell 18 per cent to $424 million from the previous quarter, though BlackBerry is hoping that a change in how it charges for its offerings will help bolster those results in future.

On a regional basis, revenue declined in every key market for the company with the exception of North America, where sales of older BlackBerry devices helped buoy the results

compared with the first quarter, the company said.

Across the world, BlackBerry booked revenue on 2.1 million smartphone sales in the period, which is an improvement over the previous quarter when it was 1.6 million devices.

The company also boosted the cash in its coffers by $11 million to $3.1 billion.

Last week, BlackBerry launched the Passport, a largescreen version of its smartphones that’s aimed at corporate customers. More than 200,000 Passports have been ordered since it was released, the company said last Friday.

Behind the scenes BlackBerry has been undergoing a fundamental change in how it does

business.

In the second quarter, the company formed BlackBerry Technology Solutions, a division focused on monetizing the assets of its patent portfolio and technology developed by QNX, which develops software technology for the automotive industry.

BlackBerry is also pushing a variety of subscription-based security services. A more secure version of its BlackBerry Messenger service is already being sold to corporate customers. Additional features like money transfer and a virtual conference service called BBM Meetings will be incorporated for an additional cost.

“We have a pretty strong plan in attacking the enterprise space for monetizing these features,” Chen said.

Monetizing BBM has been a goal of BlackBerry for over a year, though it hasn’t disclosed any revenue figures yet. Active users on the platform grew to 91 million in the quarter from 85 million, the company reported.

BlackBerry is also reworking its smartphone offerings to phase out the longtime BlackBerry Bold model that helped sustain sales during its most troubled days, while it will introduce the BlackBerry Classic later this year, a new take on its popular older phones.

“We respect BlackBerry’s strategy and turnaround plans, but ultimately, we remain cautious about long-term demand for the firm’s products that will someday transform the company into a highly profitable firm,” Morningstar analyst Brian Colello said in a note which did compliment the improvements through cost cutting.

“The much harder task, in our view, will be revitalizing demand for the company’s handsets and converting software licensees to longtime paying customers.” ■

Business

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

39

Tiny wasps tasked with saving Indonesia’s cassava crop from devastating pest

BY MARGIE MASON The Associated Press BOGOR, INDONESIA—They are the size of a pinhead and don’t even pack a sting, but these tiny wasps are coldblooded killers nonetheless.

They work as nature’s SWAT team, neutralizing a pest that threatens to destroy one of the developing world’s most important staple foods: cassava.

The wasps are being released in Indonesia, the latest country threatened by the mealybug.

It’s a chalky white insect shaped like a pill that’s been making its way across Southeast Asia’s fields for the past six years. The pest first appeared in Indonesia in 2010. Bogor on the outskirts of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta was ground zero.

But unlike in Thailand, where infestations reached some 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres) of crops grown mostly as part of a huge export business, cassava in Indonesia is a vital local food source second only to rice. That makes the mealybug a serious threat to food security in Indonesia, which already has one of the region’s highest child malnutrition rates.

The parasitic wasps, or Anagyrus lopezi, need the mealybug to survive. Females lay their eggs inside the insect and as the larvae grow, they eat the bug from the inside out, slowly killing it until there’s nothing left but its mummified shell.

Last month, scientists put 3,000 wasps into a secure tentlike habitat in an affected field in Bogor. They will be monitored to see how well they handle local conditions as they multiply to an expected 450,000 within a month. Once a government permit is obtained, the wasps can be released into the wild to start their relentless killing spree.

It’s unclear how much damage mealybugs have already caused to Indonesia’s crops, but infestations have been reported on the main cassava-growing island of Java and in parts of Sumatra, said Kris Wyckhuys, an entomologist at the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture, which is helping to co-ordinate the re-

Parasitic wasps voluntarily released into Thailand were able to stem the tide of a mealybug infestation. Scientists are hoping for a similar result in Indonesia, where mealybugs threaten to devastate essential cassava crops.

CIAT / FLICKR

lease.

He said the idea is to introduce the wasps early in a preemptive strike because the pests if left unchecked can destroy more than 80 per cent of a harvest by sucking the plant’s sap until it withers and dies.

“It is entering into areas where it is expected to cause the biggest yield impact and the biggest impact on food security and on cassava-related livlihoods,” Wyckhuys said.

Cassava farmer Wahyu Hidayat said the pests hit about three hectares of his five hectacre crop four years ago. The leaves started shriveling and falling off the plants that grow up to four meters tall, and no one had ever seen anything like it. It lowered production from five kilos of cassava from one tree down to two kilos.

“It’s really difficult for us,” he said, welcoming the government’s wasp intervention. “As

a traditional farmer, we didn’t know how to deal with it.”

Indonesia is one of the world’s top producers of cassava, planting around 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) a year, half of which is eaten as a staple food across the sprawling archipelago of 240 million people.

The long roots of the shrublike plant are a major source of carbohydrates and provide an array of nutrients. Like the potato, cassava is a versatile starch that’s an essential part of daily meals across much of the developing world. In Indonesia it is boiled, fried, made into noodles, crackers and even cakes.

Known elsewhere as manioc, tapioca and yucca, it is also made into livestock feed and used as an ingredient in a variety of products worldwide, ranging from lipstick and artificial sweeteners to paint and glucose IV drips. www.canadianinquirer.net

Portuguese traders first brought the plant from South America centuries ago, and many of the world’s poorest people today depend on it for survival. It grows well in bad soil conditions and doesn’t need much water, making it ideal for hot areas hit by drought.

It is especially important in Africa, which suffered a massive mealybug attack in the 1980s. Wasps were first imported there from Paraguay and released across the continent by airplane. The method was effective, wiping out up to 95 per cent of the bugs in some areas, and has been credited with averting famine and saving $20 billion.

Wyckhuys said the wasps have not created any unintended problems within ecosystems since the so called pink mealybugs only eat cassava and the tiny wasps only eat mealybugs.

However, he said it’s impos-

sible to erradicate all of the pests because the wasps must keep some hosts alive in order to keep from dying out themselves.

Mealybugs, or Phenacoccus manihoti, are believed to have hitchhiked into Thailand in 2008, most likely aboard cassava cuttings transported from Africa. But without the wasps to keep them in check, they quickly spread to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Small releases have been conducted within those countries, and the wasps imported in 2009 to Thailand have also slowly migrated into neighbouring countries.

The wasps have vastly improved the problem in Thailand, the worlds’s largest cassava exporter, but not eliminated it entirely. Several wasp releases are planned in different parts of Indonesia using insects brought from Thailand. ■

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Travel

5 free things in Edinburgh, Scotland, from museums to a volcano with a 2,000 year old fort

BY PAUL KELBIE The Associated Press EDINBURGH — Scotland has made headlines lately with voters rejecting independence and choosing instead to remain part of the United Kingdom. Visitors will naturally be curious about the centuries of history that led to Scotland’s distinct culture. And a visit to the country’s capital, Edinburgh, with its historic 16th century tenements and grandiose 19th century town houses, is a tale of two cities in one.

More than 600 years of history seep from every pore of Edinburgh’s volcanic foundations.

Tales of genius and enlightenment are mingled with those of body-snatchers, witches and revolutionaries.

The Old Town, dominated by the imposing medieval battlements of Edinburgh Castle, runs downhill along the Royal Mile stretching from the castle to the Queen’s official Scottish residence of Holyrood Palace.

Exploring the narrow lanes and footpaths between some of the world’s tallest 16thand 17th-century merchants’ houses feels like a return to the days of Daniel Defoe, the 18thcentury author of Robinson Crusoe and English spy, or the 19th-century murderers Burke and Hare.

In contrast, the neoclassical New Town area built between 1767 and 1890 is a masterpiece

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Arthur's Seat, a dormant volcano within the city limits of Edinburgh, Scotland.

KIM TRAYNOR AND DAVID MONNIAUX, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

of city planning, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a monument to the Age of Enlightenment which put Edinburgh at the heart of intellectual and scientific accomplishments

formation Center and its museum of crime contains a business-card holder made from skin of infamous body-snatcher William Burke.

In addition to numerous museums, Edinburgh is also home to several free art galleries, including the Scottish National Gallery in the middle of the city; the National Portrait Gallery and the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art. Old Masters sit alongside the work of some of the world’s leading Impressionists and Post-Impressionists in addition to temporary exhibitions, which create a smorgasbord of culture for art lovers.

a couple of operators, such as Sandeman’s Free Walking Tour and Edinburgh Free Walking Tours, which take visitors along the Royal Mile.

Typical routes take in the views of Edinburgh Castle and St. Giles Cathedral, which has over 200 memorials to notable Scots, and the historic Grassmarket and Cowgate areas.

No walk would be complete without a visit to Greyfriars Kirkyard and the statue of Greyfriar’s Bobby at the corner of Candlemaker’s Row, celebrating one of Edinburgh’s most famous tales about the tiny 19th-century skye terrier who spent 14 years guarding the grave of his owner.

Go for a walk

Arthur’s Seat

Art galleries Museums

Edinburgh is full of free museums within a short walk of each other, including the National Museum of Scotland and its vast array of artifacts from across the world.

Nearby the Edinburgh Writers Museum celebrates the lives of famous Scots writers such as Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson while the Museum of Childhood, Museum of Edinburgh and The People’s Story provide an informative and entertaining history of the city and its people.

For those with a slightly more macabre interest, the Police In-

Edinburgh is ideal to explore independently but for those who prefer a guide there are

For the more energetic, Arthur’s Seat, a dormant volcano which sits 251 metres (825

feet) above sea level, offers a unique vantage point. No other city in the world has an extinct volcano in its limits and as the highest point in the 640-acre (260-hectare) Royal Park adjacent to Holyrood Palace, it also offers a chance to explore the remains of a 2,000-year-old hill fort.

Scottish Parliament

At the foot of the Royal Mile, in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat, is the award-winning building of the Scottish Parliament.

Designed by Catalonian architect Enric Miralles, it has been hailed as both a modern architectural marvel and an overpriced blot on the landscape.

You can make up your own mind with a free guided tour and access to a permanent exhibition about the Parliament or even sit in on the debates and watch democracy in action. ■

Travel

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

41

Minalungon Island: A hidden paradise in Eastern Samar

BY VALERIE COLE C. LIBARIOS Philippine News Agency GENERAL MACARTHUR, Eastern Samar — If one wants to get away from a tiring work overload, there’s no better sweet escapade than a soothing stay at Minalungon Island, soon to become the most famous tourism destination in Samar.

The four-hectare paradise, hidden for quite some time, is one and a half kilometers away from the mainland of General MacArthur, a small town along the east coast of the province.

The town of General MacArthur is 118 kilometers away from the city of Tacloban, which may take a two-hour long drive.

Experiencing the sweet touch of paradise can finally be embraced within 18 minutes of a motor boat ride from the coastline of the town proper.

Fare from Tacloban City to General MacArthur through van-for-hire costs Php 200 and the rented motor boat between Php 350 to Php 500.

From afar, the island looks like a surfing board and the coconut trees like mushrooms

Minalungon Island.

standing on it.

With the island’s enchanting beauty, people will surely get tempted to throw themselves on its crystal clear waters while the white sand may bring back childhood memories of building castles.

Minalungon, as blessed with natural exotic beauty, usually receives short visits for special gatherings such as family

reunions or get-together. But their 10 small cottages are now gone because of super typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan).

Bill Garcia, caretaker of Minalungon Island, said the island will soon become a tourism destination as a beach resort because their place is now undergoing renovation.

“We will rebuild the cottages and put a swimming pool in the

middle of the Island. The owner is also planning to put a helipad here,” said Garcia.

He said the renovation might be finished before 2017.

The island will not only take a visitor to an adventure but will drive one back to its intriguing history.

According to old folklore, the cave found within the Island is where the bodies of native Fili-

pinos and Spanish conquerors were buried during the Spanish era that is why it is called “Minalungon” because the term “Lungon” means coffin.

Many people believe, but the caretaker seemed to disagree saying the owner is about to change the island’s name, in a bid to make the place the pride of Samar as perfect destination for tourists. ■

or any spiritual journey will make your weekends and work breaks productive.

Virgo (August 24-September 22) You might be experiencing cloudy days this week. You will feel too much pressure from your family, but don’t let this hinder you from doing your best in your work. Taking a walk and clearing your head before you enter your office will be a good way to start the day right!

of challenges in your work this week. Remember that ignoring the tension for once, will allow you to avoid getting into trouble. Avoid involving yourself with conversations that might later cause you harm.

Give yourself a break from the pain you’ve been keeping. Let it all go and move forward with peace of mind.

HOROSCOPE Aries (March 21-April 19) Persistence is what will drive you to your lucky days this week! There might be some bumpy road ahead but you have enough fuel to drive you further so don’t give up! You’ll make it to the end of the road if you believe that you can.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) You feel a sudden passionate attraction with someone who will challenge your beliefs and would discuss with you some deep issues in the society. Be careful not to be swayed by colourful words. Stand firm and remain loyal to your views.

Gemini (May 21-June 21) This is the best time to invest on activities that will improve the spiritual aspect of your life. Going out on a retreat

Cancer (June 22-July 23) Meet new friends this week and explore the advantaged of extending your networks. Do not hesitate to start a conversation with people whom you just met. The best way to build strong relationships is by taking the first move and saying, “hi.”

Leo (July 24-August 23) Do not let the problems in your work place hinder you from performing your personal obligations to your family.

Maintain that work-life balance by balancing your time between work, friends, family and loved ones.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Formulate your plans by drawing conclusions from your past experiences. The coming days will require you decisions that will be effective only if you start creating a timetable of your future goals.

Scorpio (October 23November 21)

You will be faced with a bunch www.canadianinquirer.net

Sagittarius (November 22December 21)

The weekend will be a perfect timing for a social gathering.

Calling some old friends for a meeting will allow you to meet new people. Extending your network will be helpful in the coming weeks, so go ahead and find friends!

Capricorn (December 22January 19)

Now is the best time to let go of all the ill emotions you’ve been hiding inside. Do not be too hard on yourself, Capricorn.

Aquarius (January 20February 18)

The rain will pour to shower you with goodness, Aquarius, and when it rains, it pours. So, fill your containers well and start conserving for the coming drought. The key to your success is “save.”

Pisces (February 19-March 20) You will learn the value of patience the hard way this week, if your will not be very watchful of your reactions. Remember that sometimes the best strategy is to hold it and keep hanging on. Good things come to those who wait so keep your spirit up!

42

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Sports

As doping gets more sophisticated, more unwitting violators, not hard core cheats, get caught

BY ERIC TALMADGE The Associated Press INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA — Dope testing at this year’s Asian Games has been more stringent than ever — and so far only two of the more than 9,500 athletes taking part in the regional Olympic-style event have tested positive.

No big names, no gold medals taken away, no world records stricken from the books.

But is that a good thing?

Officials administering the anti-doping regime at the games acknowledge that as hard-core dopers grow more sophisticated and better versed in how to avoid detection, incompetition doping tests at events like the Asian Games are often catching only the smallest of the small fry athletes who may well have not even known they were breaking any rules.

“Today, more and more, we are getting athletes in the ignorant category,” said Manikasavagam Jegathesan, the chairman of the Medical Committee and Anti-Doping Commission of the Olympic Council of Asia.

He added that the two cases of banned stimulant use that have surfaced in the Asian Games are typical.

“I don’t think there was ever any intention to use these to cheat,” he said. “But we cannot make an exception to the rule simply because we are sympathetic. We have a job to do, to protect the clean athlete.”

Jegathesan said there are three kinds of athletes who fail doping tests. First are the hardcore cheats, who dope deliberately and methodically because they think it will help them to win. Next are competitors who are pushed into doping by their coaches or trainers.

Then there are athletes like Yi Sophany, an 18-year-old soft tennis player from Cambodia.

A Korean fencer training in the Korean National Training Center before the 2014 Asian Games. Out of the 9,500 athletes taking part in these games, only 2 were found to have failed drug tests.

COURTESY OF REPUBLIC OF KOREA / FLICKR

In the parlance of doping experts, she is an “innocent.”

Sophany was found to have taken sibutramine, a stimulant listed on the World Anti-Doping Association’s prohibited list. According to her team, she had no idea it would get her in trouble.

“She was just surprised.

She really didn’t know,” said Nhan Sokvisal, the head of the 20-member Cambodian team at the games. “She took it as a beauty thing, to keep her weight down. It wasn’t about winning or anything. Sometimes what we eat, what we drink, we don’t know that it can cause a problem with the doping test.”

It is unlikely that the sub-

stance would have significantly benefited her on the court.

Even so, the punishment was swift.

She was disqualified, sent home in disgrace and her case kicked up to the highest levels of her sport and her national Olympic committee for deliberation and possible further action. Because the Asian Games are a high-profile international event, her positive test was reported around the world.

“We sent her to the airport and we tried to comfort her,” Sokvisal said. “This was the biggest event of her life.”

Jegathesan warned against judging athletes like Sophany too harshly.

“If you look at the sport, you look at the nature of the athlete and you look at the substance, I think you can make your own call and you can then give an appropriate label,” he said.

He acknowledged that finding the intentional cheats, meanwhile, is as difficult as ever.

“These are athletes who have studied the subject and they know more than me,” he said.

“They are very well versed in all these measures, they know how to take the basic action and they know when to stop.”

To catch the hard-core group, doping officials at the Asian Games are deploying a test distribution system that fo-

cuses the 1,900 tests they will conduct on athletes in what are considered high risk sports or who come from countries where there are higher suspicions of doping activity.

Jegathesan said the system involves intelligence gleaned from international sports organizations and is kept highly confidential so that suspected cheaters will not know they are being scrutinized.

“There are certain sports where still believe in the axiom that if you don’t take it, you don’t make it. That’s the game,” he said.

But he added the OCA only has the authority to check for doping during the games. ■

Sports

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

China sends Gilas home with another loss

Newcomer families... new learning environment”, said Khim Tan, Mosaic’s Senior Manager of Settlement Services.

Mosaic was awarded the contract to operate the SWIS Program in School District 40 in August 2014 and is only one of four non-school district providers to deliver SWIS services to newcomer families in BC. It is the organization’s expertise in working with immigrants and refugees which contributed to securing the contract from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

New Westminster has a rapidly growing population of newcomer immigrants, with 61 percent of growth between 2006 and 2011 being attributed to new immigrants. Immigrants make up a total of one-third of New Westminster’s total population.

For greatest accessibility and convenience, families can meet with SWIS staff at any one of the twelve schools in the district, or at the Mosaic SWIS office at Fraserside Community ❰❰ 26

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — After making history with its first World Cup win in four decades, Gilas Pilipinas slumped in its worst basketball finish in the Asian Games.

China survived win a 78-71 win over Gilas during the 17th Asian Games on Monday afternoon at Hwaseong Sports Gymnasium.

This left the nationals with the only change of landing in the seventh place against Mongolia. The country has not won the gold medal for more than five decades.

Gilas started off well even without the presence of key players Jimmy Alapag and Marc Pingris. Unfortunately, towards the end they surrendered to China resulting to their lowest finish in the Games.

Prior to the 17th Asian Games, the country’s lowest finish was at sixth place in Thailand (1966) and in China (2010).

“The guys put the best effort out there possible,” said Gabe

43

PHOTO COURTESY OF SMART GILAS BASKETBALL ON FACEBOOK

Norwood. “We came up a little short again.”

China led by as much as 19, but Gilas was able to trim it down to four points at 66-70 with LA Tenorio’s three-pointer. However, the Chinese squad rallied to take the lead at 78-68.

According to Gilas Coach Chot Reyes, China had a good defense during the game. However, he said that a questionable call against them helped in their opponent’s run.

“We were able to adapt to their man-to-man,” said Reyes.

“They did a good job switching to a zone to stop our comeback.

When LA hit that three-pointer to cut the lead to four, the ref called a questionable foul.”

Aside from this, Reyes also expressed his frustrations on the officiating.

“When we played Korea, the refs were from Iran and China.

When we played China, the referees were from Korea and Iran. When we played Iran, the refs were from China and Korea and [Alamiri]. I find it odd that they are the same referees when there are other referees.”

China is now looking at the fifth place slot on Wednesday against Qatar. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

Services Society.

Sherman Chan, Mosaic Director of Family and Settlement Services, is looking forward to the opportunities provided by the contract. “We’re excited to partner with the New Westminster School District and will work hard to ensure that the needs of newcomer families will be met. Mosaic has a long history of empowering newcomers and we will work hard to support immigrant parents/ families in navigating the BC school system so that their children achieve their full potential at school.” ■

44

Seen and Scenes

OCTOBER 3, 2014

FRIDAY

CONSULAR MISSION IN CRANBROOK

Filipino-Canadians from British Columbia and Edmonton wait to be served (Photo by Lourdes Butalid).

Filipinos from East Kootenay and nearby areas (photo by Lourdes Butalid).

(From L) Pat Bowron - director, International Department, College of the Rockies; Dr. David Walls - President, College of the Rockies; Consul General Neil Ferrer; and Deputy Consul General Anton Mandap at the College of Rockies.

The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver recently held a Consular Outreach Mission in Cranbrook, B.C. (Photo by Lourdes Butalid).

The consular team headed by Consul General Neil Ferrer (2nd from R) with community organizer and volunteer Lourdes Roxas-Butalid.

IT'S SHOWTIME IN EDMONTON

VICTORIA SENIORS' DAY AT BAYANIHAN CENTRE

It’s Showtime hosts Anne Curtis, Vice Ganda, Vhong Navarro, Billy Crawford, Karylle, Teddy Corpuz, Jugs Jugueta, Jhong Hilario, Kim Atienza, Coleen Garcia, Ryan Bang and Eric Tal entertained the Edmonton crowd on Sept. 21. Dr. Vicki Bello made a special guest appearance during the sold-out show at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, AB.

Andrea Mitchell, Norma Duy and Cora LeeKlimowicz

(From L) Terrie Wigg; Mary Jetko president of Victoria Filipino Canadian Seniors Association; Shoney Cabellon; Bethy Layo - 1st VP; (seated) Tita Araquel and Norma Duy.

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

Victoria Seniors having a fun day at the Bayanihan Centre. Victoria Seniors having a fun day at the Bayanihan Centre.

Events

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

Bamboo Live Concert in Toronto

By PDM Productions WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Oct. 4 at Kool Haus, 132 Queens Quay E, Toronto, ON San’ To’

By Philippine Consulate General in Toronto WHEN/WHERE: ongoing till Oct. 28 at PCG-Toronto 7th Flr., 160 Eglinton Ave., East Toronto, On. MORE INFO: featuring the works of Romeo Masalunga and Antonio Afable, Jr. Star Magic’s One Magical Night

By Berce Enterprises WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m., Oct. 24 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Exhibition Place 190 Princes’YUKON Blvd., Toronto, On. MORE INFO: Call Neneng @ 647-4015818; Rene @ 647-995-1746; NORTHWEST Clarisse @ 416-939-8594 TERRITORIES

45

Consular Outreach Mission

By Philippine Embassy WHEN/WHERE: 10 to 5 p.m, Oct. 21; 9 to 12 nn, Oct. 22, at St. Pius X Church, Smithville Crescent, St. John’s Newfoundland & Labrador MORE INFO: Cecilia Abuque 709-728-8871 caabuque5740@gmail.com Consular Outreach Mission

By Philippine Embassy WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 23 to 25, Cambridge Suites Hotel, Brunswick Rm., 1583 Brunswick St., Halifax MORE INFO: Call Elizabeth Domondon – 902-445-3998 or email at elizabeth.eustaquio1@gmail.com

View all events by scanning this QR code or visiting

http://bit.ly/ PCI-Events

NEWFOUNDLAND

MANITOBA

SASKATCHEWAN

Pinoy Kid Ako Workshop Series for Filipino Families

By Little Mountain Neighborhood House WHEN/WHERE: 12:45 to 3 p.m., at LMNH 3981 Main St. @ E. 24th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: to register, call: 604-879-7104 ext. 309 or email alma_saplala@lmnhs.bc.ca Peer Support Training in Coquitlam

By Immigrant Women’s Peer Support Program and Citizenship and Immigration Canada WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., till Dec. 13, at Immigrant Services Society of BC - Coquitlam Settlement Services, 200C-504 Cottonwood Ave., Coquitlam B.C. Jed Madela 10th Anniversary Tour 2014

By Pinoy Buzz, VIP Remit, Umac, TFC and Philippine Airlines WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., Oct. 4, Edgewater Casino, 750 Pacific Blvd. South, # 311 Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Ticket prices $100 VIP (Limited) General $50.

Masskara Festival 2014 Celebration

By Masskara Festival Society of Canada (Vancouver, B.C.) WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., Oct. 4, at Polish Community Centre 4015 Fraser St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: For tickets call: Agnes (604) 401-3115; Lucita (778) 994-3988; Daisy (604) 376-2799 4th World Poetry Canada Intl. Peace Festival

By World Poetry Reading Series Society WHEN/WHERE: Oct. 6 to 26, grand opening 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., Oct. 19, at Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Room 7000, Vancouver, B.C.

EVENTS

NUNAVUT

BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA

CANADA

ONTARIO

QUEBEC

Free Lantern Making Workshop PiM Foundation WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 4 at T & T Pacific Place Mall (NE) MORE INFO: Register at 587-700-1047. This is a family event, open to all ages.

Elder Abuse: What Is It and How Do We Deal With It?

By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 3 p.m., Oct. 7, Mosaic Vancouver, 2nd floor, 1720 Grant St. Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Mustafa 604-254-9626 ext 265

Hotdog Concert & Dance Party

By Juarez Management WHEN/WHERE: Dinner – 6-7 p.m., Concert – 8 p.m., Oct. 4, at Ramada Plaza Calgary, 3515 26 St. NE, Calgary, AB. MORE INFO: Tickets $80 includes dinner and show. Email marvinsjuarez@yahoo.ca

2014 Filipino Canadian Construction Society Assembly Meeting

By FCCS WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Oct. 8, MHHS Meeting Rm., Multicultural Helping House Society, 4802 Fraser St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Jun Custodio – 604-374-3000; Buddy Villamin – 604-355-9586

Bamboo Live in Edmonton World Tour 2014

By PDM Productions WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Oct. 5, Ramada Edmonton Hotel & Conference Centre MORE INFO: For tickets, call: Lorena Alcantara (780)906-2127; Bayani Alcantara (780)9354376; Panciteria de Manila at 9653 102 Ave., Edmonton, AB (780) 425-5757

Charity Celebrity Basketball WHEN/WHERE: 6 to 10 p.m., Oct. 10, UBC War Memorial Gymnasium, UBC Point Grey Campus, 6081 University Blvd., Vancouver B.C. MORE INFO: Ticket price - $25

Celebrity All-Stars Basketball Shootout

By SR Cash Remit and EMedia WHEN/WHERE: 4 p.m. Oct. 12 at Saville Community Sports Centre MORE INFO: Half-time performance: Mariposa and Keanna Reeves. Call 587-709-8818

2014 Professional Development Event

By Association of Filipino Canadian Accountants in British Columbia WHEN/WHERE: 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Oct. 11, at the Holiday Inn Express, Metrotown 4405 Central Blvd., Burnaby, B.C. MORE INFO: Presentations on E-services; Tax Updates; and Wills, Estates and Succession Act Fees - $40 for members; $50 non-members including breakfast. Register at www.afca-bc.org by Oct. 8.

Grand Coronation Night Ms. MHHS 2014

By Sampaguita Seniors WHEN/WHERE: 5 p.m. to 12 mn @ St. Patrick’s Gymnasium 140 W. 11th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call Angie Igonia @ 604-879-3277 www.canadianinquirer.net

Star Magic’s One Magical Night

By Palabok House in cooperation with Berce Enterprises WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Oct. 25 at River Cree Resort & Casino 300 E. Lapalac Blvd., 179 Enoch, AB. MORE INFO: Call 780-995-6907

To have your events featured on PCI, please email events@canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

46

CANADA

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 3, 2014

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