RELEVANT SKILLS. MEANINGFUL JOBS. CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER VOL. 10 NO. 136
www.canadianinquirer.net
310.HIRE (4473) SPROTTSHAW.COM
OCTOBER 10, 2014
3
10
13
18
19
Mayon has no other direction but towards eruption
Pinoy cuisine goes to Harvard
Aquino will always listen to his 'bosses'
US welcomes Canadian help in ISIL fight
Hong Kong protests dwindle
Sue Marcoses for keeping 156 paintings, solons urge
FIRST PHILIPPINE GOLD
BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer
Daniel Patrick Caluag finally strikes gold for the Philippines on Wednesday by winning the men's BMX race at the Ganghwa Asiad BMX Track during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. NINO JESUS ORBETA
‘Binay farm 350-ha estate’
Mercado: Batangas property in dummies’ names BY NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES–Not nine but 350 hectares. A 350-hectare agricultural estate in Barangay (village) Maligaya, Rosario town, Batangas province, that has a piggery, a flower orchard and a cock farm is
currently owned by a corporation whose shareholders are reportedly dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay, according to former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado. Mercado, a geodetic engineer by profession, said he had proof the farm in Batangas measured 350 hectares and
❱❱ PAGE 7 Sue Marcoses
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
Philippine Sports Commission: Dismal Finish at Asian Games ❱❱ PAGE 42
❱❱ PAGE 26 'Binay farm'
MILITANT LAWMAKERS in interviews with the INQUIRER last week called on the Aquino administration to turn the screws on the Marcoses for refusing to turn over 156 artworks, including paintings of Van Gogh, Monet and Michelangelo that were allegedly part of their ill-gotten wealth. “I think we should end this kid gloves’ treatment of the Marcoses. If the government wants to confiscate those paintings, it can do it and use the law to do it,” said Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello. The Presidential Commission on
m info@canadianinquirer.net A (888) 668-6059 facebook.com/ Philippine CanadianInquirer twitter: @philcaninquirer
2
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION BENEFITS OF TRAINING WITH SPROTT SHAW - Ministry of Children & Family Development approved - Continuous intakes - Classes start monthly - Become an entrepreneur - open your own daycare at home - Qualified employees can obtain their ECE Assistant Certificate by taking only one course
BASIC & POST BASIC 13 CAMPUSES IN BC
CALL 604.310.HIRE (4473) OR VISIT SPROTTSHAW.COM
PRACTICAL NURSING For those with a desire to help others and make the world a better place, Sprott Shaw gives you the skills to actually do it. Our nursing program will put you on a path to a rewarding career. New Provincially Recognized PN Program - Career Placement Assistance - Financial Options Available - FREE Biology, Math & English Upgrade*
13 CAMPUSES IN BC
CALL 604.310.HIRE (4473) OR VISIT SPROTTSHAW.COM
ONE OF BC’s LARGEST PRACTICAL NURSING TRAINERS
www.canadianinquirer.net
110 -
*conditions apply
Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
3
Mayon has no other direction but towards eruption PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY LEGAZPI CITY — Mayon has no other direction but towards eruption. This was stressed by the Dr. Eduardo Laguerta, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology resident volcanolgist, during a Mayon Volcano Media Briefing at the operations room of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) this past Monday. The briefing was conducted by Laguerta, Dr. Cedric Daep APSEMO head; Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Raffy Alejandro and Dr. Antonio Basanta, Albay Provincial Veterinary Services officer. Laguerta said the possibility of lowering the alarm status of the volcano is remote even though no quake and rockfall event were recorded although the Phivolcs’ geodetic at geochemical records showed otherwise. He said the edifice of the volcano continues to swell, based on the latest ground deformation survey done by the Phivolcs geodetic team, which is still ongoing. Aside from this, the expert volcanologist said, the volume of sulfur dioxide emission continues to decrease from more than 1,000 metric tons to only more than 100 metric tons per day during the past 24-hour observation period. "This means that the volcano’s crater is continuously sealed and the magmatic force cannot come as it continues to ascend," Laguerta noted, adding that "Mayon has been showing various signs compared to other volcanoes." He said what is absent now in order for the million of tons
of magma to come out are continuous harmonic tremors or quakes in the volcano. “This is the major event that is lacking for Mayon to erupt,” Laguerta said, adding that this is due to the force of magma from underneath the volcano. Another external factor for Mayon to erupt is the rainwater that might seep into the lava dome that could cause a phreatic explosion, he said. The veteran volcanologist said there could be two kinds of eruption that might occur – one is the proclastic flow collapse type that may flow down the southeast portion of the volcano and affect Legazpi City and the towns of Sto. Domingo and Daraga. There is also a possibility that ash may fall at the northern portion or the whole surroundings of Mayon if a vulcanian eruption will occur, where there will be ash column and pyroclastic flow. Laguerta said the pyroclastic materials are superheated at least 1,000 degrees Celsius while the flow’s speed is 100 kilometers per hour, which, he claimed, will increase due to the steepness of Mayon. The Phivolcs official said anybody who will be hit by the superheated proclastic materials will be dead. “It will take years before the volcanic materials will cool down,” he said. Laguerta said the lava dome at the crater of Mayon is already as high as a 41-story building and when it collapse, its direction is not yet determinable as it is still soft, although the first possibility will be at the southeast quadrant of the volcano. He added that once the magma collapses, this would lead to eruption. Rainwater that would seep into an opening in the dome
towards the magma chamber might also cause a phreatic explosion. As of now, Laguerta said, time is important in determining all the parameters they are monitoring. He reiterated that the major factor that could cause an eruption is the continuous harmon-
Mount Mayon in eruption on July 21, 1928. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
www.canadianinquirer.net
ic tremors or continuous vibration of the ground. He appealed to those living around the volcano to be always on alert at the present condition of Mayon. Meanwhile, Daep said all the preparations and plans of the the provincial government are always geared towards and
worst-case scenario as ordered by Govenor Joey Sarte Salceda as chief disaster officer. Daep said he is focused on disaster operation while the governor is sourcing for calamity funds to meet the requirements of the 2014 Mayon Volcano Eruption Operation to attain their zero-casualty goal. ■
4
Philippine News
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
EU ambassador: Peace must come to Mindanao through Bangsamoro BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDANO Philippine Daily Inquirer EUROPEAN UNION (EU) Ambassador Guy Ledoux has pressed for the full implementation of the Bangsamoro peace pact to prevent new violence, radicalism and terrorism in Mindanao. “So long as armed violence is a way of life in Mindanao, there will always be a threat of a radical terrorist group using the region to further their cause,” Ledoux said in a forum at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel last week. The EU-supported forum on Oct. 2, titled “The Current Dynamics of Radicalism in Southeast Asia: Peacebuilding Challenges and Opportunities,” was organized by the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, and the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue. In his speech opening the event, Ledoux said the forum came at a time of new develop-
ments in the Middle East regarding a new radical threat to security, as well as reports that Southeast Asia was “not immune to the influence of the Islamic State (IS), particularly in the area of movement of personnel and channeling of resources.” Noting the EU’s belief that terrorism should be eradicated at its source, Ledoux said the EU’s priority was to address and stop the menace of radicalization, violent extremism and recruitment by terrorist organizations. “Terrorist radicalization in this sense is understood as a complex phenomenon of people embracing radical ideology that could lead to the commitment of terrorist acts,” he said. To effectively prevent terrorist radicalization and recruitment, Ledoux raised the need to “respect fundamental rights, promote diversity, integration and cultural dialogue, and fight discrimination.” The EU ambassador said the new threat of radicalism related to the IS in the Philippines came at a time when the Aqui-
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
no administration was moving toward implementation of its peace pact, the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which it signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in March. Under deliberation
Congress is now deliberating the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law that will pave the way for a new Bangsamoro autono-
www.canadianinquirer.net
mous political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and address issues such as poverty. Ledoux said the peace pact did not only signal an end to decades of conflict in Mindanao but also “the settlement of a historic grievance that could easily fuel radicalism and lead to violent extremism and acts of terrorism if not addressed.” He said the EU and a number
of its member states backed the Mindanao peace process and that they must also remain vigilant by “making sure the CAB is implemented in full.” “Particular attention needs to be paid to the elements of normalization that aims to turn the region, communities and individuals away from using violence to achieve political ends,” Ledoux said. The Philippines, he said, was “equipped to meet this challenge” of containing radicalization that can lead to acts of terrorism. He noted how the peace process had developed the “peace architecture, skills and capacity of the parties to engage peacefully in negotiation” as well as the climate of dialogue within civil society. While there would be some people who would adhere to radical views or be susceptible to recruitment, Ledoux said the Philippine could address this by ensuring that “commitments to peace are honored, and that the mechanisms for peace building and normalization are developed and activated smoothly.” ■
5
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 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.
www.canadianinquirer.net
6
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
Magnitude 5.7 earthquake jolts central Philippines; no immediate reports of casualties THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A magnitude 5.7 earthquake jolted the central Philippines last Friday, sending workers out of their offices and causing cracks on a building’s wall. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The quake’s epicenter was Antique province’s Culasi municipality, 360 kilometres (224 miles) south of Manila, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said. It added that some damage and aftershocks were expected. The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude at 5.4. John Paul Fallarme of the
Philippine institute said field personnel reported cracks on the wall of a building in Culasi. Police said there were no immediate reports of damage in other areas. “Almost all of us ran out,” said Culasi police officer Richard Sombiloni. He said employees of the nearby municipal hall rushed out of the two-story building and gathered in parking areas and a square when the ground started shaking. The Philippine archipelago lies in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activities are common. A magnitude-7.2 earthquake in central Bohol province killed 200 people last year. ■
P-Noy or Mar in ’16, says LP solon BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer EITHER PRESIDENT Aquino or Interior Secretary Mar Roxas is the only “viable choice” as the administration’s presidential candidate in the 2016 elections against Vice President Jejomar Binay, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, a Liberal Party (LP) member, said in a radio interview this past Sunday. Erice said Malacañang’s candidate would have the edge against Binay, who has started to lose steam 19 months before the May 2016 balloting amid allegations of widespread corruption when he was mayor of Makati City. “If the President will be allowed to run again, he and Mar Roxas are the only choices we have in the LP,” Erice said in an interview over dzBB radio.
According to Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, either President Aquino or Interior Secretary Mar Roxas (pictured above) would be a viable candidate to defeat Vice President Jejomar Binay in the 2016 elections. MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO
Climbs but still behind
A Pulse Asia survey from Sept. 8 on presidential preference for the 2016 elections showed Roxas climbing to the second spot with 13 percent
from 7 percent in the previous survey. But Roxas was still way behind Binay even after the op-
HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS > PRACTICAL NURSING - 75 Weeks (Biology, Math, & English Upgrade Available*) > HEALTH CARE ASSISTANT - 29 Weeks > MEDICAL OFFICE ASSISTANT - 33 Weeks > COMMUNITY SUPPORT WORKER - 49 Weeks > HEALTH UNIT CLERK - 12 Weeks*
LEARNING WITH PURPOSE SINCE 1903
7 LOWER MAINLAND CAMPUSES / 13 CAMPUSES IN BC CALL 310.HIRE (4473) OR VISIT SPROTTSHAW.COM www.canadianinquirer.net
*conditions apply
❱❱ PAGE 9 P-Noy or Mar
Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
7
Sue Marcoses... Good Government (PCGG) announced last week that in a series of raids, agents of the National Bureau of Investigation had seized 15 paintings from the Marcos residences. Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon told the INQUIRER that the PCGG should be bold enough to file contempt charges against Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos. “The Marcoses should have the good sense to just surrender the paintings to the government,” Ridon said. Skirting a lawful order does not bode well for the presidential ambitions of the family,” he said, referring to Senator Marcos’ avowed interest in running for President or Vice President in the 2016 elections. Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said: “It has been decades since the former dictator had been ousted from power but we barely skimmed the surface of his ill-gotten wealth and his family is again creeping into power. The government should go all out in retrieving the Marcos loot.”
we want to convey a strong message that we have not forgotten about the Marcoses,” Bautista said.
❰❰ 1
Tipped off
Imelda Marcos. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Only now
PCGG Chair Andres Bautista yesterday said it was only now that the government was acting on the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in favor of the government’s forfeiture of the Marcos family’s estimated ill-gotten wealth of $10 billion, including $658 million in Swiss bank deposits, priceless artworks and prime properties abroad. He said the decision was penned by then Justice Renato Corona who com-
puted the Marcos family’s wealth at only $304,000 with anything above that considered disproportionate to the late Ferdinand Marcos’ salary as President from 1965 to 1986. The raids were carried out last week after the Sandiganbayan ruled that eight paintings owned by Imelda were purchased using money stolen from the government. “At least now we are acting on it and
Miriam wants tighter security for Heidi BY TJ BURGONIO AND NIÑA P. CALLEJA Philippine Daily Inquirer ACING THREATS to her life, Audit Commissioner Heidi Mendoza should be accorded VIP protection by the national police, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said last Friday. Santiago said she wrote Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II to provide “heightened” VIP police protection for Mendoza. “If we let this pass, no other significant witness will be willing to testify in any congressional hearing because of fear. Let’s put our boots on the ground and stomp out fear sown by hooligans,” she said in a statement. At last Thursday’s Senate hearing on
the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II, Mendoza said she had received threats and came under intense pressure during the trial of corruption charges against former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay. Having led the team that audited medical supply purchases under Binay’s watch that showed an overprice of P61-million out of the P70-million total purchase price, Mendoza has testified at the case against the former mayor at the Sandiganbayan. She told the senators that she got a call at 6 a.m. Thursday, hours before her testimony, and had experienced two breakins in her home early this year. “We’re being threatened. We’re being pressured. Who knows they may even
He said the Marcoses were obviously tipped off by the Sandiganbayan’s issuance of a “writ of attachment” on 156 paintings believed to be held by the Marcoses in their family home in San Juan City, Imelda’s condominium at Fort Bonifacio Global City, Imelda’s office at the Batasan Pambansa complex in Quezon City and the ancestral house in Ilocos Norte. Bautista said last week’s series of raids yielded only 15 paintings of which four were reproductions with the rest done by European painters and not by the old masters. “We still think it will generate millions in value but not in the level of the old masters we are still hunting for,” Bautista said. He noted that the frames found in the Marcos homes contained different paintings while some walls had only hooks where he believed the old masters were displayed. “We should act quickly and ask for the cooperation of the public to find these paintings before they disappear or are spirited [away],” he said.
Public hearing
Bautista suggested that the Senate or the House of Representatives conduct a public hearing on the 156 paintings where the PCGG would present evidence that the Marcoses possessed these valuable artworks. “We want to increase public awareness on these paintings, that these are all the property of the country, and we believe that a congressional hearing will help in achieving these goals,” he said. The paintings included Pablo Picasso’s “Femme Couchee VI (Reclining Woman VI)”; Michelangelo’s “Madonna and Child”; a still life by Paul Gauguin; Marquesa de Santa Cruz, Pierre Bonnard’s “La Baignade Au Grand Temps”; Bernard Buffet’s “Vase of Red Chrysanthemums”; Joan Miro’s “L’Aube”; and one of Camille Pissarro’s “Jardin de Kew” series. Bautista said the 156 artworks the PCGG was looking for also included masterpieces by Old Masters Van Gogh, Monet and Michelangelo. Bautista said earlier this year that Philippine authorities had recovered more than $4 billion of an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion amassed illegally by the Marcoses. That included $712 million from Marcos’ secret Swiss bank accounts, he said. ■
East Fraser Fiber Co. Ltd.
Full Time General Labourer (NOC 7452) Needed Start Date: As soon as Possible, Starting Wage $17.00/hour East Fraser Fiber Co. Ltd, a secondary wood manufacturing facility, located at 1000 Sheppard Road, Mackenzie, B.C., is in immediate need of General Labourers who are physically able to complete production line work. With the use of conveyors, monitors, scanners, and ripsaws, responsibilities include handling and sorting trim blocks to separate and/or direct usable and unusable pieces. Responsibilities also include general clean-up. The company offers comprehensive on-the-job training. The starting wage is $17.00/hr during the 90 working day probationary period. After the probationary period, a shared benefit package commences and employees become eligible for an additional $1.00/hr attendance and safety bonus. After one year of employment, the wage increases to $18.00/hr. Experience is an asset but not a requirement. Successful applicants will have strong interpersonal skills and be safety and quality oriented, while working in a production environment. The position requiresgood eye/hand coordination andinvolves lengthy periods of hand/arm/wrist use, and standing. Accommodation Assistance: Available under conditions To apply, submit your resume to: Email to: jobs@parallel55.com Fax to: 250-563-6598 Mail to: East Fraser Fiber Co. Ltd. Attention: J. Lang 260-1990 S. Ogilvie Street Prince George, BC, V2N 1X1
❱❱ PAGE 9 Miriam wants
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
8
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
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
Clockwise from top left: Constantino Jaraula, Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, Samuel Dangwa, Rodolfo Plaza. Center: Janet Lim-Napoles.
Ombudsman indicts 4 ex-solons in Napoles pork scam BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer
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. Copies are distributed free throughout Metro Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto. The views and opinions expressed in the articles (including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team. PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which it considers to contain false or misleading information or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of error in any advertisement.
Member
THE OMBUDSMAN late last week filed the second batch of criminal cases in the P10billion congressional pork barrel scam against a second group of lawmakers and the alleged scam mastermind, Janet Lim-Napoles. Charged before the Sandiganbayan were former House members Rodolfo Plaza (Agusan del Sur), Rizalina Seachon-Lanete (Masbate), Samuel Dangwa (Benguet) and Constantino Jaraula (Cagayan de Oro City). Napoles—already detained in a first batch of plunder charges in connection with the diversion of the the pork barrel allotments of Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, who are similarly detained—is facing another plunder charge, accused this time of diverting more than P244 million of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations of her coaccused four former House members to her fake foundations from 2007 to 2009. Graft, plunder Of the four former lawmakers, only Lanete, who is now the governor of Masbate province, was charged with plunder and graft for allegedly appropriating for herself through Napoles’ scheme P112.29 million of her PDAF allotments. Plaza, Dangwa and Jaraula were indicted for several counts of malversation and graft. Also included in the criminal complaints filed by the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
were the chiefs of staff of the former lawmakers, Napoles’ former employees and several government officials. In a statement, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said the FIO investigators found that the names which appeared in the list of beneficiaries of the projects financed by the former lawmakers’ pork barrel were “neither residents nor registered voters of the place where they were listed as beneficiaries.” She said the names of other supposed beneficiaries submitted by the four Napoles-owned nongovernment organizations “were fictitious or had jumbled surnames while others were already deceased.” “In other words, these livelihood projects were ghost projects,” Morales said. “Almost all the NGOs that received PDAF releases did not have track records in implementing government projects and that their addresses were dubious,” she added. According to Morales, the multimillion-peso projects were awarded to the fictitious foundations and the items were purchased without public bidding. Some of the suppliers of the livelihood kits told the graft investigators that they did not have any transactions with the NGOs, she said. Citing the audit reports of the Commission on Audit (COA), Morales said the implementing agencies that served as conduits in the release of the lawmakers’ pork barrel “did not actually implement the PDAF-funded projects and merely released the funds to the NGOs after charging a management fee.” The Ombudsman said the direct releases of government funds to the foundations violated the policies of the De-
www.canadianinquirer.net
partment of Budget and Management “since they were not preceded by endorsements from the executive departments.” “The releases were made essentially at the behest of the sponsoring legislator.” Also named in the complaints were John Raymund de Asis, a brother of Napoles, and Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos and three members of his staff—Rosario Nuñez, Lalaine Paule and Marilou Bare. Also facing criminal charges are the following government officials: Technology Resource Center (TRC) Director General Antonio Ortiz, his deputy Dennis Cunanan, TRC department manager Francisco Figura, TRC chief accountant Marivic Jover, former National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) president Alan Javellana, Nabcor paralegal officer Victor Roman Cacal, Nabcor general services unit chief Romulo Relevo, Nabcor bookkeeper Maria Ninez Guañizo, Nabcor chief accountant Ma. Julie Villaralvo-Johnson, Nabcor financial management services chief Rhodora Mendoza, National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC) president Gondelina Amata, NLDC division chief Gregoria Buenaventura, NLDC director Emmanuel Alexis Sevidal, NLDC chief financial specialist Sofia Cruz, and NLDC department manager Chita Jalandoni. Also indicted were the officers of the following foundations and NGOs: Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation, Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc., Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. and the Social Development Program for Farmer Foundation Inc. ■
Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Miriam wants...
P-Noy or Mar...
file cases against us,” she said. Santiago, a member of the blue ribbon committee, said she would also file a resolution seeking intensified security for Mendoza. Her resolution would call for heightened 24-hour VIP police protection for Mendoza.
❰❰ 6
❰❰ 7
‘Demolition job’
But the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay played down the testimony of Mendoza, accusing her of being part of a “demolition job.” Juan Carlos Mendoza, a lawyer for Binay, said the commissioner misled the Senate and the public by presenting audit findings that had been discredited and thrown out by the Sandiganbayan in 2011. “It was expected that as a high ranking public official, Ms Heidi Mendoza would have been candid enough to admit to the Senate that the audit report she was testifying on yesterday was already discredited by the Sandiganbayan,” lawyer Mendoza said in a statement issued yesterday. Binay’s lawyer noted that the Second Division of the Sandiganbayan on April 7, 2011, found that the audit procedures adopted by the Commission on Audit (COA) under Commissioner Mendoza suffers “fundamental issues of arbitrariness.” This was the reason the case against Binay and the other members of the bids and awards committee was dismissed by the antigraft court. The resolution was also affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012, Binay’s lawyer said. Mendoza became a witness in the cases filed against the wife of the Vice President in the Sandiganbayan. Lawyer JV Bautista, interim secretary general of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance, on the other hand, said the testimony of Mendoza was clearly part of the demolition job against Vice President Jejomar Binay and his family. “There was apparent malice on the part of Heidi Mendoza. She knew that the Sandiganbayan had already thrown out her supposed findings, yet she went ahead with her presentation,” he said. “Malinaw na malinaw na kasabwat si Mendoza sa demolition job na ito dahil niloko niya ang taumbayan (It is crystal clear she is in cahoots with those doing the demolition job because she had fooled the public),” he said. On the Ospital ng Makati findings, Binay’s lawyer said the allegations were already assessed by the Ombudsman during a preliminary investigation and Mrs. Binay was cleared of liability in 2011. Ombudsman refiles case
However, the lawyer said the Ombudsman refiled the case in 2014, in violation of Mrs. Binay’s constitutional rights. “The recent attempt to revive these
Heidi Mendoza. MERCK MAGUDDAYAO / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
cases is now the subject of a petition filed in the Supreme Court,” he said. The camp of Binay plans to bring the matter of Mendoza’s “irregular conduct” before the the proper forum, lawyer Mendoza said. Earlier, the city of Makati described as unfair and a violation of COA rules the directive of the subcommittee for COA to reveal their preliminary audit report on Makati City Hall Building II. The city said that as a rule, COA audits are confidential because the office being audited has the right to reply and explain the findings and that preliminary findings are not conclusive. Makati City officials also maintained that based on the preliminary report, there were mentions of alleged lapses in the procurement process but no overpricing.
position United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) candidate saw his share fall to 31 percent in September from 41 percent in June. Two other LP members in the presidential survey—Senate President Franklin Drilon and Presidential Assistant on Food Security Francis Pangilinan—each had less than 1 percent share. Erice said he was open to pushing for constitutional amendments that would allow the President to run for a second term. The Constitution only allows a single six-year term for the president. The Pulse Asia survey last month showed that 62 percent of respondents were not in favor of President Aquino running again. ‘Mere guide’
Erice said the Pulse Asia survey results should be taken as a “mere guide” for lawmakers who should continue to discuss Charter change whether in this administration or the next. He said the Liberal Party would hold a caucus this month on its plans for 2016, and he expected a straightforward declaration from President Aquino about his political plans.
Safeguarding witnesses
Invoking the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act, Santiago urged the blue ribbon committee and the subcommittee to recommend Mendoza’s admission into the Witness Protection Program (WPP). Santiago called on Senate President Franklin Drilon to approve the recommendation regarding Mendoza’s admission into the WPP. The senator vowed to file two measures making the WPP more effective in safeguarding witnesses and whistleblowers and protecting state auditors. Santiago said the present WPP lacked an organic intelligence and security force. Its security force is composed of contractual personnel and sometimes augmented by Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation personnel. Citing a United Nations report, she said the government’s failure concerning the WPP’s implementation was “the prime cause of the lack of witnesses and therefore convictions” in high-profile cases. The senator also said a separate law was needed to protect state auditors who risk their lives investigating irregular government transactions involving powerful politicians. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
9
Erice said the party was not concerned about Binay’s massive lead over other candidates because he believed the Vice President’s decline in the surveys would continue as the elections draw closer. “I don’t think the opposition has any chance of winning in 2016. Vice President Binay is from the opposition and I don’t think there will be another candidate coming from the opposition,” said Erice. Campaigning since 2010
Erice explained that Binay had been on campaign mode since he was sworn into office in 2010, which would explain his early lead. “They promised all promises that they could make, they danced all dances that they could make, that’s why they have a big lead this early. But in time, the people will realize that all they are talking about is all hot air. I believe in the power of the public to discern who is serious and who is not. This is why we believe that the opposition will continue to fall as more people realize how serious this administration is in its reform agenda and they will want it to continue,” said Erice. ■
10
Philippine News
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
Pinoy cuisine goes to Harvard with ‘kinilaw’ on the menu BY MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — Now, the Harvard community can have a taste of Filipino cuisine. Rolando Abaquin, who has been the Harvard Faculty Club’s executive chef for the last three years, is enriching the taste buds of the university’s faculty, students and their guests as he whips up traditional Filipino specialties such as kinilaw (ceviche), lumpia (spring rolls), pancit bihon guisado (sautéed rice noodles) and chicken barbecue. These dishes, which Filipinos the world over have been enjoying for generations, are becoming popular at the university’s faculty club. Abaquin, the first-ever Filipino to become the private club’s executive chef, has been steadily introducing dishes with an exquisite and distinctive Filipino taste to the club’s menu. Club patrons have responded approvingly to his new fine dining offerings, as they enhance the club—and Harvard’s— image as a premier institution that embraces intellectual, artistic and cultural diversity in all its forms. Last summer (around June to August in the United States), the club changed its menu to include four Filipino dishes that, at first glance, could be mistaken for oriental (Chinese or Japanese) recipes: Lemongrass chicken spring roll with Yuzu sauce (translation: lumpia with tanglad); Makati-style chicken skewers (chicken barbecue); and seafood ceviche (kinilaw). Now on the menu, but available upon special request, is pancit bihon guisado. The Filipino-style skewers have become a favorite among the faculty club’s patrons. Marriage of East and West
For kinilaw, Abaquin mixes shrimps, scallops and halibut with avocado, onions, tomatoes and greens; lumpiang manok is basically spring roll stuffed with chicken, ground carrots, shallot, onions, celery and lemongrass; chicken barbecue is marinated in lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, pepper and brown sugar, and served with banana ketchup. Other mouth-watering specialties of Abaquin include lobster salad with caviar on cucumber cups, crab cakes (with garlic chilly and aioli), diver scallops (with cauliflower puree and brunoise vegetable), long island duck (with five-spice plum sauce, broccoli rabe, polenta cake and candied kumquats or calamansi) and seared halibut (served with grape-lime relish, baby bok choy and saffron rice). The ingredients—mainly meat, seafood and vegetables—are locally sourced produce. However, he makes it a point to use condiments like ketchup and soy sauce imported from the Philippines to preserve the original taste. Powers-that-be
Abaquin is no stranger to feeding the A-list crowd, having been the executive chef of Columbia University in New York for 10 years before moving to Harvard in 2011. He had regular patrons outside the academe, having served his recipes to the powers-that-be in American politics and show biz, as well as world leaders. US President Barack Obama is a regular patron of the faculty club, he said. His latest well-heeled guest was Miss World 2013 Megan Young, who visited Harvard upon the invitation of Cambridge community leaders for a fund-raising event to benefit victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” While at Columbia University, he also fed the late pop
pans gave him ready access to executive chef Jorge Collazo. (Collazo is now the executive chef of the New York City public school system.) Collazo, perhaps intrigued by Abaquin’s perseverance and uncompromising work ethic, gave him an offer he could not refuse. Learning on the job
Rolando Abaquin.
icon Michael Jackson, TV host Oprah Winfrey, singer Lady Gaga, actors Matt Damon and Brooke Shields, and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. One of the owners of Samuel Adams, an American beer brand, is also a regular client. “If the customer is satisfied, I am fulfilled,” he said, when asked what kept him motivated. Farm-to-table
Whether in New York or in Cambridge, Abaquin has maintained the same consistency when it comes to food taste and customer service. “It’s the quality of food that we serve, the flavor. We have very good customer service,” he said, echoing the feedback of patrons who leave the faculty club satisfied. But Abaquin’s rise to the helm of the highly competitive American food industry did not happen overnight. His journey from an impoverished existence in the Bicol region to the US gourmet world proves that talent counts. But on the whole, his life is a story of pure tenacity, dogged determination and enduring optimism—much-needed personal traits he had to learn and cultivate along the way.
www.canadianinquirer.net
To begin with, he was not even a cook, much less a graduate of any culinary school. When he left Bulan town, Sorsogon province, in 1983, he had just obtained from Bicol University a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree, with a major in animal husbandry. ‘CIA’ chef
“I’m not a cook. I’m an agriculturist,” he sheepishly admitted. Leaving his mother and two siblings, he followed his father who, at the time, was working in Hawaii. He soon found himself enlisting in the US military but his stint was unremarkable. After his training, he decided to leave the service for lack of an appropriate position that would best suit his skills and interests. He then traveled to New York, where he was offered a job as a dishwasher at the dining hall of Skadden Arps, one of the world’s biggest law firms. The position, although at the bottom rung of the culinary profession, was just the missing spice that would work wonders into a career that particularly caters to the refined taste and fine dining passions of moneyed clients. Long hours washing pots and
“He asked me if I want to learn how to cook, then gave me his books from CIA,” said Abaquin, referring to Culinary Institute of America, the world’s premier culinary college based in upstate New York. “He was very kind. He gave me all his books. I learned on the job,” Abaquin said. But what endeared him to Collazo was his dedication to his tasks, as he made sure the kitchen would be “spotless” every day. With sheer tenacity and hunger for learning, Abaquin became executive sous chef, the second in command, in just a year. The two chefs worked in tandem for about three decades, a partnership that saw the duo transferring to Columbia University in 2001. He also attributed his success to pakikisama (camaraderie), a trait instilled in him by his parents while he was growing up in Bulan. Abaquin married a Kapampangan, Flo, with whom he has two children, Adrian, 20, and Shayanne, 18. Despite this feat, Abaquin still goes out with his kitchen staff to touch base and unwind from time to time. Down the road, he is looking forward to having his own gourmet restaurant in New York, where Filipino-Americans could expect a gastronomic experience that would remind them of the recipes Filipino families have come to love back home. ■
Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
11
Department of Social Welfare and Development targets ‘near-poor’ Pinoys BY JULIE M. AURELIO Philippine Daily Inquirer WHO ARE “near-poor” Filipino families? The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will define “nearpoor” families to be able to come up with social protection programs to prevent them from becoming poor altogether. The DSWD this week presented the results of a study by Vicente Paqueo, an economist and public policy expert of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. His study, “Analysis of the Near-Poor Challenge and Strategy Development Ideas,” will be the highlight of the agency’s forum dubbed “People at the Edge: Defining the Near-Poor of the Philippines.” One of the salient points of his study is the proposed definition and threshold of being
“near-poor.” Near-poor are “nonpoor” families who have little or no buffer against economic shocks and can easily become poor in case of crisis. There are now a little more than 100 million Filipinos, a quarter of whom are considered poor. The study on the national policy on near-poor families will be presented in a forum at Sulo Riviera Hotel in Quezon City and was initiated by the DSWD with support from the Asian Development Bank. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said the DSWD would initiate and implement social protection programs to keep near-poor families from becoming poor altogether. “This policy will allow us to define and identify members of this sector in the ‘Listahanan’ second round of assessment and find ways to effectively address their concerns,” Soliman said. Identifying poor, near-poor
Listahanan is the DSWD’s information management system that identifies poor families who will benefit from social protection programs. This project will be used to identify near-poor families as well.
In the first semester of 2013, a family of five needed at least P8,022 a month to meet basic food and nonfood needs, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). For the same period in 2012, the poverty line averaged P7,821 a month for a family of five. It was at P7,040 for the first semester of 2009. In April this year, the PSA reported that one in every four (24.9 percent) Filipinos was considered poor, based on their average income in the first semester of 2013. This was down from 27.9 percent of Filipinos below the poverty line in the same period the year before. The figure also showed a slight improvement from the poverty incidence of 28.6 percent in 2009 and 28.8 percent in 2006. Extremely poor
For the first time in the country’s history, the number of people considered “extremely poor” also dropped to a single-digit rate of 7.7 percent from 10.7 percent. Apart from the reduction in the
The estimates of poverty incidence in the Philippines per province as of 2012. The national average is 22.3%, virtually unchanged from 2006's 23.4%. NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD, PHILIPPINES
www.canadianinquirer.net
number of poor people, the number of households below the poverty line also dipped to 19.1 percent from 22.3 percent. The PSA report also marked the start of more frequent reports on the poverty level in the country. The government, through the PSA, now uses the Annual Poverty Indicator Survey, which replaced the Family Income and Expenditure Survey conducted every three years. The better monitoring of poverty data is expected to help the government tweak its policies to more effectively help the poor. At the DSWD forum, the panel of reactors will include Mahar Mangahas of Social Weather Stations, Ana Maria Tabunda of Pulse Asia and Romeo Recide, interim deputy national statistician of the PSA. The forum is part of the month-long celebration of the 25th National Statistics Month with the theme, “25 and Beyond: Solid and Responsive Philippine Statistical System in Support of Globalization and Regional Economic Integration.” ■
12
Philippine News
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
PH suit vs China on sea row ‘not bad idea’ BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer BRUSSELS, BELGIUM—The decision by a United Nations tribunal on the case that the Philippines brought before it concerning disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea will serve as a guide for how the Philippines can negotiate with China on the issue, according to a maritime security expert. While the Chinese government and commentators have denounced the move, the Philippines’ filing of a case against China with the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (Itlos) was not a “bad idea,” said Jane Chan Git Yin. After all, international law acts as a “leveling ground” for puny countries dealing with bigger neighbors, said Yin, research fellow-coordinator of the maritime security program at Nanyang Technological Uni-
versity. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have the tribunal rule on the application of Unclos (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea),” she said in an interview. “The fact of the matter is that Unclos is intentionally vague on some of these issues.” Yin spoke at a forum on European UnionAsia cooperation on maritime security organized by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung on Sept. 18 here, which a group of journalists from Asia attended. But more important, any ruling by Itlos would serve as a guide for future negotiations between the Philippines and China, Yin said. Clarity on proceeding
“If you say it’s a good idea, it may still be because it will give you [the Philippines] some clarity as to how you can proceed with your negotiations with China,” she said.
“To have this tribunal give some guidance as to how some of these provisions can be interpreted could be potentially used when you’re negotiating with China,” she added. “The fact of the matter is that they (Itlos) may not rule in favor of the Philippines at all,” Yin said. The Philippines last March filed a memorandum with Itlos, asking it to rule on China’s claims over most of the South China Sea. (The Philippines refers to the portion of the South China Sea within its exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.) The tribunal has asked Beijing to respond to the memorandum, but it has refused to do so. Shortly before the filing of the memorandum, China blockaded a Philippine resupply mission to the Filipino troops stationed on the disputed Ayungin Shoal in late March. China
seized the Scarborough Shoal, another Philippine-claimed territory, in 2012. China claims 90 percent of the 1.35-million square mile South China Sea, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, and non-Asean member Taiwan claim parts of it. In a separate briefing for Asian journalists here, Michael Reiterer, senior advisor at the
Asia Pacific department of the European External Action Service, acknowledged the key role that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) could play as a forum for a dialogue with China. Otherwise, an Asean that is not solid would give China more leeway to deal with each claimant country on a one-onone basis, said Reiterer. ■
PHILIPPINE NATIONAL Police (PNP) Director General Alan Purisima opens his 204-square meter, 5-bedroom house to media members on October 6, 2014 to dispel reports that he has a luxurious mansion in San Leonardo town, Nueva Ecija. (PNA photos by Lloyd Caliwan) ■
www.canadianinquirer.net
Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
13
‘Aquino will always listen to his ‘bosses’ BY TJ BURGONIO AND JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer
bishops for the President to resign. “We obviously differ from their assessment,” Lacierda said. “We go about in conducting the business of governance. We live in a pluralistic society.” At an assembly in Cebu, the National Transformation Council asked Mr. Aquino to step down for supposely losing the moral ascendancy to lead the country. Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Batangas, and Bishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao City led the meeting. “He [Aquino] has damaged the moral fabric of the society and has therefore lost the moral right to lead the nation. The assembly calls upon the incumbent to relinquish his position now,” Vidal said. Armed Forces Chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said the bishops were expressing their opinion, and this should not be seen as an attempt at destabilization. “That’s not destabilization, that is freedom of the press. That’s what I’m telling you that wehave a vibrant democracy, a vibrant politics. So everybody is free to say what he feels for as long as they will not bear arms,” said Catapang, who was met with questions from reporters as he emerged from a Senate hearing on the defense department’s proposed 2015 budget.
PRESIDENT AQUINO will see the writing on the wall and heed what would seem to be the emerging will of the people in the surveys showing that six out of 10 Filipinos oppose his asyet-unannounced plan to seek a second term, according to Senate President Franklin Drilon. “I’m sure the President is reading the surveys,” said Drilon, a close political ally of the President when asked if the survey results would make Mr. Aquino stop entertaining thoughts of reelection. A Pulse Asia survey, conducted from Sept. 8 to 15, showed that 62 percent of respondents were not in favor of Mr. Aquino’s seeking reelection. “The President said he’d listen to the people ... He always listens to the voice of the people, his bosses. On this matter, he will listen,” he said. Besides, Drilon said, Mr. Aquino is opposed to the idea of amending the Constitution just to lift presidential term limits—an essential step for him to qualify to run again. “As far as I know, the President is averse to any constitutional amendment which will give him an opportunity to run again,” he said. More2Come
However, the group responsible for this week’s “mysterious” newspaper advertisements calling on Mr. Aquino to seek a second term emerged yesterday to announce that it was launching a signature campaign to that end. At a press conference at the Quezon Memorial Circle, the Movement for Reform, Continuity and Momentum (More2Come) vowed to gather eight million signatures petitioning the President to run again. The group said it hopes to gather two million signatures by Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day. “We are committed to gather eight million signatures to convince President Aquino to say, ‘My boss orders me to run again,’” said More2Come lead convenor lawyer Melvin Matibag. “We urge others who believe
President Benigno Aquino III.
in President Aquino, if you have felt the benefits of his administration, to join our advocacy,” he said. Also at the briefing, which was hosted by Matibag, RJ Echiverri and his son Mico, of the Echiverri political clan of Caloocan City, were law students from San Sebastian College led by Gerlyn Oyos. The group hopes the signature campaign will prod President Aquino into broaching to Congress the possibility of calling a constitutional assembly for amending the Constitution to lift presidential term limits that would allow the reelection of an incumbent President. Mr. Aquino first broached the idea of seeking a second term in a TV interview last August. Last month, speaking before admin-
LAURO MONTELLANO JR. / MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU
istration allies, he hinted that he might not be leaving at the end of his term after all, saying he hoped he would not be the Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate in 2016. Soon after, in an exclusive interview with the INQUIRER, Mr. Aquino said he was “slightly open” to the idea of seeking a second term and outlined the reasons why he would, if he does decide to run again. Mr. Aquino said he did not want his administration’s gains to go to waste. On top of this, he said he wanted to fend off those wishing to destabilize the government, flush out the aspirants for the presidency in 2016, and fight those who wanted to make him a lame duck. “If I close the door [to term extension] now, it will emboldwww.canadianinquirer.net
en these people who want to destabilize [the government],” he said. Bishops: Resign
The President’s spokespersons would not comment on the results of the survey. Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma referred the INQUIRER to his statement on the matter the previous day. Reacting to the survey last week, Coloma said the President continued to listen to the views of the people in a bid “to strengthen reforms” in government. He did not say categorically if Mr. Aquino would heed the results of the survey. Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda merely shrugged off a call from a multisectoral group led by Catholic
No Palace links
At the very first press conference it called late last week, More2Come, which counts some 100 members, found itself fielding questions on whether it had links with Malacañang or the ruling LP. “We are not backed or funded by Malacañang. Not a single centavo from government funds is being used for our cause. This is our own advocacy. RJ and I started pooling funds from our own pockets,” Matibag said. According to Matibag, some of the group’s first supporters were the clients of his law firm, and the San Sebastian law community, since he was a former teacher in the school. The older Echiverri was a former student, he said. ❱❱ PAGE 29 'Aquino will'
14
Philippine News
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
PH eagles’ keepers called heroes of vanishing breed BY NIÑA P. CALLEJA Philippine Daily Inquirer DAVAO CITY — Unlike men, Philippine eagles are monogamous. “Philippine eagles stand out from other birds because they are monogamous. They choose only one mate for life,” said Mario Entrolizo, keeper of six Philippine eagles and a dozen other raptors at the 8.4-hectare Philippine Eagle Center located at the far southwest of Davao’s city proper. The foundation considers Entrolizo and its five other keepers heroes of the vanishing Philippine eagle along with its teams in the field, which are protecting the habitats of Philippine eagles in the wild. The sanctuary is under the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), a nongovernment organization on the front lines of the country’s forest conservation efforts since 1987. Thirteen-year-old Mindanao, an offspring of two eagles captured in the wild, has found not just a keeper in Entrolizo but a surrogate mate and partner, who has been his caretaker since the day he was hatched. He is the only person who can train the eagle to deliver sperm samples for the center’s artificial insemination program. Mindanao would not copulate with another eagle since he had already become attached to Entrolizo and chosen him as his mate. Odd as it may sound, there is a scientific explanation to that, according to PEF officials. Through the process of sexual imprinting, the eagle chooses a keeper—even a human—as its mate, enabling PEF personnel to use the eagle’s semen samples for its breeding programs. Courtship
During the breeding season from June to January, Entrolizo, clad in a protective leather jacket and gloves, engages in courtship with his eagles. To Mindanao, the animal keeper is a female but to the other female eagles, he is a male. Courtship, which includes bringing twigs and leaves to the eagle to make a nest, is part of
a process called imprinting—a necessary component in artificial insemination. Entrolizo would collect the semen from Mindanao and inseminate this into a female eagle. How the eagles behave never fails to amuse Entrolizo. He recounted one instance when he saw leaves neatly placed around a young eagle in the nest, apparently done by the parent to protect it from ants. “You will also often see them leaving a portion of their food for me,” Entrolizo said. The keeper spends almost an hour in the morning and in the afternoon to feed the eagle assigned to him, a job he cannot pass on to others. “You have to be good to him all the time because he will never forget you if you have caused him harm,” said Entrolizo, 46, who has been an employee of PEF for nearly three decades now. The PEF takes care of 35 Philippine eagles, most of which are bred in captivity. One of them is iconic Pagasa, the first Philippine eagle successfully hatched in captivity in 1991. Its only offspring Mabuhay, a product of artificial insemination last year, is also reared in one of the enclosures at the center. Holistic approach
The PEF employs a holistic approach in protecting the population of the eagle, a 0.9-meter-tall rainforest raptor looking so regal with its wingspan of 2.1 meters—the broadest in the world—and its blue-gray eyes. It strives to protect the areas where these species live and, at the same time, makes sure that through its breeding center, they are saved from extinction in the event of a wild population crash. “It is the largest predator we have. And over the years, it has become the symbol of Philippine wildlife conservation,” Dennis Salvador, executive director of PEF, told the Inquirer. The Philippine eagle, locally known as “haribon,” has been the indicator of a forest’s health, being the largest predator in the Philippines’ ecosystem.
“By saving it, you provide an umbrella of protection for all other species living in the same habitat,” Salvador said. According to records, the country has less than 400 pairs of Philippine eagles, with more than half of them found in Mindanao. Other forests in Sierra Madre in Luzon and in Samar and Leyte provinces in the Visayas are also known as hosts to the Philippine eagles. But PEF officials said the number could be even less due to incidents of human persecution. Raising the alarm
PEF has been raising the alarm on the dwindling number of Philippine eagles in the wild and humans are the ones to be blamed. “Our data suggests more than 90 percent of juvenile eagles die before they reach maturity. A large part of this is caused www.canadianinquirer.net
The current range of the Philippine Eagle [shaded area]. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
The Philippine Eagle, the national bird of the Philippines, is one of the largest and most powerful birds in the world. SHANKARS / FLICKR
by humans. Eagles were shot, trapped and hunted,” Salvador said. On Aug. 14, a mother Philippine eagle being monitored by PEF was found decomposing some 10 kilometers away from its nesting site in Sitio Mitondo in Barangay Subulan, Davao City. A crack at its keel bone indicated that the mother eagle had been shot. Officials of PEF suspected that the killing could be a result of the conflict between a tribal group and barangay officials in Sibulan, which has become a favorite spot of wild bird
photographers. Jayson Ybanez, research director of PEF, said their research team wanted to know how endangered the Philippine eagles are, as it was updating the current data on eagles by surveying the population. One method it uses to track the movement of eagles from a distance is through telemetry. A team, usually composed of a veterinarian, a biologist and volunteers, is tasked to watch the eagle for hours from the edge of a cliff with their field scopes. The team sets up trapping
sites in forests to capture Philippine eagles and attach transmitters to their bodies so it could track down their movements. Ybanez said a pair of Philippine eagles would usually take 800 ha of forests as its nesting site, where they would keep its young, apart from its home range over which it can freely fly.
out of their home range, mainly because of the presence of humans in the areas, he said. Salvador said that apart from the fact that a pair of eagles lays one egg per nesting cycle and it takes the young 17 months to fledge from the nest, preserving their habitat is a major challenge. Roughly 90 percent of Philippine forests have been denuded due to human activities, Salvador said, citing data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. “In each territory, the eagles are faithful to their nests and they like to live in large and oldgrowth trees. Unfortunately, based on deforestation data since the early 1900s, when nearly everything was green, now we are left with few old growth forests,” Salvador said. Avian flu
Denuded forests
“Bringing them closer to humans is dangerous for them,” he said. Some eagles are forced to fly
www.canadianinquirer.net
Another danger to the population of the Philippine eagle is the avian influenza, or bird flu, which is caused by viruses adapted to birds. This is a threat
15
to the eagles, as the country remains a bird-flu free zone, according to PEF. “Our worry is that when it begins to strike us, the population of the Philippine eagles will crash,” Salvador said. The PEF’s proposal is for the country not to wait for that to happen and divide the captive gene pool of this critically endangered species. Some of these should be sent to countries like the United States, where another Philippine Eagle Center could be set up for a separate breeding program. This, Salvador said, would ensure that the Philippine eagle, despite the presence of avian flu, would not be extinct. He noted that to preserve the country’s pride, PEF, with its army of eagle keepers and field researchers, is willing to go the extra mile. ■
Opinion
16
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
ANALYSIS
Is Roxas a viable dark horse? By Amando Doronila Philippine Daily Inquirer SINCE 2010 Vice President Jejomar Binay has had an unbroken run in the poll surveys as the front-runner in the 2016 presidential election, until his momentum was jolted by the results of the Pulse Asia survey showing that his presidential voter preference had plunged from 41 percent in June to 31 percent in September—an unprecedented 10-point drop. The decline sent gloom to the Vice President’s supporters. But it cheered the cohorts of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in the Liberal Party, whose preference ratings improved only marginally although the survey results showed him taking second place to Binay, who still topped the list of 15 presidential candidates in 2016. Roxas took 13 percent of the voters’ preference, up from 7 percent in July. The rest of the list took less than 11 percent each. The survey respondents were asked: “Of the people in this list, whom would you vote for President?” The results of the latest Pulse Asia survey indicate that: 1) the charges concerning the Makati City Hall parking building, which was built during Binay’s term as mayor, have
taken a damaging toll on his planned than Roxas as the Vice President is interview. But the figures can still run for the presidency; and 2) Roxas reeling from the charges of corruption change as the election is more than cannot be ruled out as a viable oppo- now under investigation by a Senate a year away. Still, with more Senate nent of Binay in a face-off in 2016. blue ribbon subcommittee. The hear- hearings scheduled, it appears probBut the results raise questions on ings are believed to have produced lematic how Binay would overcome how Roxas would reinvigorate his evidence responsible for the plunge in evidence already heard beyond dispresidential aspiration—that is, wheth- Binay’s voter preference ratings. missing them as “hearsay” and sayer he would move out of the shadow of The Pulse Asia survey was conduct- ing he would fight tooth and nail to President Aquino, whose approval and ed a few weeks after the Senate hear- prove his innocence. He is facing an trust ratings have also been declining. ings started. In one hearing, on Sept. uphill battle. While Roxas is presumed to be the of- 11, former Makati vice mayor Ernesto Binay, head of the opposition Unitficial LP candidate in 2016, Mr. Aquino Mercado testified that Binay received ed Nationalist Alliance, has declared has yet to make an endorsement con- standard 13-percent kickbacks from himself as its presidential candidate, cerning his heir to the presidency, and all infrastructure projects in the city, and its spokesperson said the allegahas admitted that he tions against him is open to a proposal were part of a plot Roxas has a rich experience in government, and his honby some of his allies of the administraesty in public service has not been assailed. He does not need Mr. to stand for a section’s allies to disAquino’s “daang matuwid” preaching as a crutch for running ond term to ensure credit him and his the country. the continuity of his family in a smear political reforms recampaign. But a lated to good governance. not just from the construction of the Malacañang official warned that BiThe President’s openness—or am- parking building. Other witnesses nay’s ratings would continue to unbivalence—to term extension has put testified that Binay funneled illegal ravel as long as he continues to dodge Roxas in a bind as it raises the pros- commissions through three channels, the allegation that he and his fampect that another Aquino term would including his son Junjun, now the ily received kickbacks, rigged public undercut or kill a Roxas bid for the mayor of Makati. bidding, and used dummies in hiding presidency. If Mr. Aquino eventually Pulse Asia’s Ronald Holmes said their true wealth. decides to run for reelection, Roxas the controversy over the Makati Still, the Liberal Party should be would be pushed out on a limb. This parking building was to blame for warned against cheering prematureis why the survey results opened the the 10-point fall in Binay’s ratings. ly on the basis of the survey results possibility of an Aquino-Binay, rath- “The biggest factor is the negative that showed Roxas almost doubling er than a Binay-Roxas, encounter. reports from the Senate investiga- his share to 13 percent from 7 perBinay faces more serious problems tion hearings,” Holmes said in a TV cent. A party official claimed that
Roxas’ gain in the survey without doing any campaign was remarkable and also suggested that the 2016 presidential election will be between Binay and Roxas—the old “trapo” ways vs. the “daang matuwid,” and “between black and white.” According to another LP member, the survey results showed that Roxas’ numbers were improving while Binay’s ratings were declining significantly: “It only shows Mar is a viable candidate for president. The election is still far but I always see the endorsement by President Aquino as a strong support to whoever gets it.” But that expectation rests on the uncertain assumption that the endorsement is an asset rather a liability, coming as it would from a President whose popularity has dipped precipitously over the past few months. The contrary view is that Roxas’ viability depends how much he can distance himself from Mr. Aquino—the sooner the better. Without being too clamorous and selfpromoting, Roxas has a rich experience in government, and his honesty in public service has not been assailed. He does not need Mr. Aquino’s “daang matuwid” preaching as a crutch for running the country. He can be a contrast to Binay. ■
PUBLIC LIVES
Faith and family in the modern world By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer STARTING Oct. 5, Catholic bishops from all over the world are congregating in Rome to discuss for the next two weeks the situation of the family in the contemporary world and the pastoral challenges this poses for the Church “in the context of evangelization.” This extraordinary synod reflects the substance and style of Pope Francis’ leadership of the Catholic Church. It is expressly consultative and collegial. And, judging from the working documents and discussion papers that have been circulated ahead of the synod, the sessions appear to throw open for discussion many Church teachings and practices that have alienated large numbers of the Catholic faithful. Some have unfairly caricatured this gathering as the “synod for giving communion to the divorced.” But, as Francis pointed out in an interview he gave on his return flight from the Holy Land last May, the issues to be covered are deeper and broader. “Today, everyone knows it, the family is in crisis; it is in a global crisis. Young people don’t want to marry or they don’t marry but live together. Marriage is in crisis and so too the family.”
He is correct. The Church cannot tion, marital vows lose all meaning. children are able to bear the stresses stand still while the rest of the world Common-law marriages break apart of such prolonged separation is a mirchanges. However, what form this as casually as they are formed. acle in itself. The kinds of adjustments crisis of the family takes varies in evIn this context, children are not that families make and the invenery society. The West has long had to planned. They come into the family tive strategies they develop to keep a contend with the growing number of purely as a consequence of the sexual semblance of wholeness across long failed marriages and divorces, and of act, triggering little parental respon- distances are worthy of recognition. couples who explicitly avoid the com- sibility, if any, to ensure their growth. Surely, no portrayal of the situation of plications of marriage even as they Extreme poverty forces these chil- the family in the modern world would may live together. Families in these dren to leave their homes and fend be complete without an account of the societies have indeed shrunk consid- for themselves at an early age. Home- complex challenges that overseas Filierably. Single-person households are less kids roaming the streets and no- pino workers have had to face. common, and suiIt would be a pity cides are unabated. if the bishops now Those who bother meeting in Rome The Church cannot stand still while the rest of the to get married tend used their time world changes. to have no more merely to exchange than one child. Busy couples whose madic families living in the margins notes on various pastoral approachwork takes them to different places of our cities call into question not es appropriate to a changing world, completely forego having any chil- just the presence of government but, while skirting the question of the reldren. Gay relationships are finding as well, of the Church. evance of existing Church practices increasing acceptance in many famiBut, neglect and abuse take many and teachings. The two concerns lies. Yet Church teachings remain in- forms. Overseas employment has are inseparable and can only be distolerant of homosexual unions. forced countless parents to leave their cussed in the same breath. But this is The problems of the average Fili- young behind. Certainly, this, too, is easier said than done. pino family are of a wholly different a form of abuse. The impact of their While Francis has demonstrated an order. Mass poverty underlines most prolonged absence on their children’s uncommon boldness in opening up of these problems. Many couples lives is not as easily measured as the doctrinal questions to debate, there form families without the benefit of money they send home. Today, 10 mil- are many in the Church who would marriage, not because they fear the lion Filipinos, or roughly 10 percent tread cautiously, preferring to project commitments that go with marriage of the total population, work abroad, the Church as a beacon of certitude but because they couldn’t afford the making the Filipino nation one of the in a confused world rather than as a wedding itself. Thus equated with most highly dispersed in the modern mirror of that confusion. These conthe ritual and the wedding celebra- world. How husbands and wives and tradictory attitudes, I think, proceed
www.canadianinquirer.net
from two divergent conceptions of the task of evangelization. The first sees evangelization as fearless engagement with a changing world through dialogue. The other views it solely as the exercise of the magisterial authority of a teaching Church. Francis famously said: “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.” His greatest fear, he said, is not of being led astray as a Church, but of being shut out of the lives of its flock. Perhaps the bishops in our country have no reason to fear the growing irrelevance of faith in the everyday lives of Filipinos. Here, the churches are full, and piety is strangely palpable even in Sunday Masses at the malls. But it would be a mistake to equate this with the community of faith that Francis is talking about. This Pope challenges us all to look more closely: “[A]t our door, people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: ‘Give them something to eat.’” ■
Opinion
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
17
AS I SEE IT
Binay has become the ‘Artful Dodger’ By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer FOR SOMEBODY who claims to be innocent of the corruption charges leveled against him and his wife and son, Vice President Jejomar Binay certainly is acting like a guilty person. An innocent person will want to confront his accusers so that he can clear himself quickly, but Binay keeps dodging and evading them. He refuses to defend himself before the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee investigating the charges against him, although he has been politely invited several times by the senators. He defends himself by delivering speeches but refuses to answer questions from reporters and hides behind his two mouthpieces who issue statements in his stead. When questioned by reporters, his answers are evasive: “I will answer that at the right time and at the right forum.” Asked why he does not defend himself in the Senate committee, he replies: “Magtatrabaho muna ako (I will attend to my work first).” He conveniently goes out of town to give relief supplies to evacuees or land titles to former squatters at the same time
that he is supposed to be appearing They obviously want to use the noBut the Senate cannot imprison before the Senate. toriously slow legal system to delay the Binays if it finds them guilty. To In another speech before squatters the unfolding of the truth. As witness repeat, its investigation is in aid of last Wednesday, he said of his accusers, the case against his wife Elenita, also legislation. The biggest motive of the “Hindi ko sila uurungan, lalaban tayo for overpricing—in her case, of hos- Binay camp is to prevent the people (I won’t run away from them, we will pital supplies when she was mayor of from knowing the truth. Because the fight),” making sure he puts the people Makati. The case is already decades- ultimate judge of the cases against the in his corner to gain their sympathy. old in the Sandiganbayan and there is Binays will be the people, public opinYet that is exactly what he is doing, still no end in sight. ion. On the other hand, the investigarunning away. He is not fighting, he is Son Mayor Junjun is also using tion of the Ombudsman and the heardodging, evading and hiding. He has the legal system to dodge the Sen- ings at the Sandiganbayan will not be become the Filipino version of the ate’s subpoena for him to answer as public as the Senate investigation. Artful Dodger. questions on the overpriced parking Already the latest Pulse Asia survey The latest gamshows a steep drop bit of his camp is to in the approval ratOne does not have to be a lawyer to see that Binay is desquestion the jurising of Binay, from perately clutching at straws to prevent the Senate and the people diction of the Senate 41 percent to 31 perfrom knowing the truth of what the Binays have been accused of blue ribbon commitcent, a 10-percent doing in Makati. tee. The Ombudsdrop. Popularity ratman is already inings do not remain vestigating the case, his camp says, and building. His lawyers are question- fixed for long. They are either on the therefore the Senate has no jurisdic- ing the jurisdiction of the Senate to way up or on the way down. His camp tion over it and should stop its inves- investigate the case. claims that he is still the leading presitigation. If the Senate doesn’t do that, There can be no question of juris- dential candidate. But the drop is not Binay’s camp threatens to take the case diction. The Ombudsman is looking only by a few percentage points. The all the way up to the Supreme Court. into the criminal liability of the Binays drop is too steep. That is the start of One does not have to be a lawyer to in the overpricing of the multistory a free fall. And it is due to something see that Binay is desperately clutch- garage they built. The Senate is in- that goes straight to the heart of the ing at straws to prevent the Senate vestigating in aid of future legislation 2016 presidential poll—the moral fitand the people from knowing the to prevent a repetition of the same. ness of a candidate to govern. truth of what the Binays have been Nobody, not even the Supreme Court, On the other hand, the rating of accused of doing in Makati. can stop the process of legislation. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who
is untainted by corruption, almost doubled from 7 percent to 13 percent. And Roxas is not even campaigning as Binay has been doing soon after he became vice president. Roxas has not even declared his candidacy, but he is already number 2 in the ratings. The blue ribbon committee started its hearings only last Aug. 20. Therefore, the sordid details recounted by a parade of witnesses on the grand larceny have not yet sunk in on the collective consciousness of the people. Corruption was an issue in the 2010 presidential election. That explains the loss of Joseph Estrada and former senator Manuel Villar. The latter suffered from perceptions that he had used his position as senator to advance the interests of his real estate companies. Although Villar reportedly spent billions of pesos for his election campaign, the biggest spender, he finished a poor third in the race. Unfortunately for Binay, because of the corruption being unearthed in the PDAF and DAP scams, corruption would be the biggest issue in the 2016 polls. The people will be afraid to let the Binay dynasty ascend to Malacañang. Imagine what they can do there. ■
AT LARGE
Contradictions in Beijing By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer THERE IS, judging from appearances, a palpable sense of things loosening up in Beijing. There are flashy cars aplenty on the streets (and an accompanying recklessness in driving habits, echoing Manila), men and women walk about clad in the latest in fashion, and the number of shopping centers, stores, restaurants, and coffee shops has bloomed in a dizzying array. In his desire to show how the economic boom has also given way to a blossoming of creativity and contemporary art, CNN bureau chief and Pinoy expat Jimmy FlorCruz brought us to the 798 Art District. It can best be described as Cubao X on steroids— a few blocks of once-drab industrial buildings composed of warehouses and factories, that have been transformed into a warren of art galleries, artists’ studios, stores, cafés, and restaurants. One can espy on random walls a welter of graffiti as well as of installation art. We spotted two huge “headless” Maos, which could be interpreted variously as a commentary on the “headless” political leadership, the collective leadership of the people, or the yawning emptiness of a system teetering between capitalism and communism. In one gallery, we met a self-described “artist of the screen” who
said he creates montages of images in the Chaoyang District that is in it- miniature basket mimicking those gathered from the web and projected self a work of art by world-renowned used by fishermen. A special menu on screens of all sizes and media. An designer Philippe Starck. item was the hairy crabs, an autumn ephemeral art form, indeed! One walks into a labyrinthine space seasonal specialty served in bamboo On the other extreme, we encoun- of long corridors dominated by tables baskets and accompanied by water tered a street artist vending “bottle flanked by silver high chairs, elaborate scented with lemon. And dessert was art,” artistic images painted inside chandeliers, and walls occupied by no less than rolls with durian filling! miniature bottles where one could glass cabinets of curiosities that hark Lan Restaurant used to be filled to have the name of the recipient in Chi- back to old-fashioned Chinese mer- capacity every meal time, we were told, nese or Roman script written inside. chant shops and apothecaries: bottles but the recent anticorruption camStraddling the middle ground was and vats of various teas, Mao memora- paign had served to dampen the “apa store devoted to “Mao era” arti- bilia, Chinese herbs and concoctions, petites” of the ostentatious elite who facts, including enamel mugs bearing porcelain and painted fans. must have found the place’s whimsical such retro images as Mao’s visage imThere is a restaurant to one side, as interiors the best place to display their printed with a revolutionary slogan, well as private function rooms domi- evolving taste. Well, those days are or even a defiant gone, it seems. Che Guevara. I also *** Information is the lifeblood of business, as well as spotted copies of the IF THERE’S one of responsible citizenship. But if people are deprived of iniconic Red Book. realization that formation which they need to form opinions and make deciThere was a paldawned on me on sions, then its economic—and social and cultural—life will be pable energy and this recent trip to limited in scope and narrow in perspective. restless vibe in the China, it’s that I can 798 Art District, really only live in a populated mainly by slouchy student nated by huge murals and paintings of democracy. types and curious tourists, attesting to both Chinese and European themes as By the second day of the Hong Kong the artistic energy unleashed by ma- well as crystal light fixtures. Even the re- “Umbrella Revolution,” authorities in terial prosperity. Indeed, said a gallery strooms are destinations in themselves: Beijing had taken to literally “blackowner, prices for contemporary Chi- One enters a room with a spacious wing ing out” every report on CNN on the nese art these days are “ridiculous,” chair flanking a square, modern com- Hong Kong protests. Every time the such as one “headless Mao” in his mode with a marbletopped table that words “Hong Kong protests” were courtyard whose value had risen over bears a sink over which hovers a silver said, the TV screen would go black, 10 times in the last few years alone. swan that serves as the faucet. returning to normal only after the *** Even the way the food was served report or feature shifted to other QUITE a world away from the 798 and arranged evoked artistry and topics. Sometimes, an entire show Art District is “Lan,” a club/restau- whimsy. A dish of fish in a sweet- would be blacked out, telling me that rant located at the LG Twin Towers ish sauce had the slices housed in a it had been devoted to the tumultuous
www.canadianinquirer.net
events in the former Crown Colony. Ironically, on Bloomberg Channel, the only other English-news channel aired in our hotel, I chanced upon a roundtable discussion of the implications of the events in Hong Kong. But since there weren’t any street scenes or dramatic footage, the show was allowed to proceed. But even before the news blackout on Hong Kong, we all had a hell of a time logging on to most Internet sites—Google, Gmail, YouTube, even Facebook! Only Yahoo was accessible, aside from Chinese sites which, so I was told, were heavily monitored. Which is why, despite all its ambitions to be a major economic power (which it is), China, I believe, will always be constrained in doing business. Information is the lifeblood of business, as well as of responsible citizenship. But if people are deprived of information which they need to form opinions and make decisions, then its economic—and social and cultural—life will be limited in scope and narrow in perspective. And as a journalist and believer in free thought and speech, I know I can never live under a system where access to information is so severely limited. In this, and their desire for more say in choosing their leaders, I stand with the “Occupy Central” protesters of Hong Kong. ■
18
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Canada News NEWS BRIEFS
FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS
CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT LAUNCHED OVER CAPACITORS
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Haiti Ministerial Preparatory Conference in Montreal, January 25, 2010. Clinton spoke at a Canada2020 think tank event this week, saying that the US "will welcome and respect whatever level of support Canada decides is appropriate to help meet this shared challenge." US EMBASSY CANADA / FLICKR
U.S. will welcome more Canadian help in ISIL fight, says Hillary Clinton BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The United States will welcome whatever Canada decides to contribute to the fight against the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Monday. Clinton said she’s aware of the debate in Parliament about Canada’s future contribution to the mission against ISIL, saying Canada has been an “indispensable” ally in the past. Clinton indicated no preference in her speech at a Canada2020 think tank event, even as the debate on a combat mission to Iraq continued in the Commons. “The United States, I’m sure, will welcome and respect whatever level of support Canada decides is appropriate to help meet this shared challenge.” Clinton said it will be a long-term struggle that will take a military contribution — she called that “essential” — as well as a propaganda war
because ISIL is so savvy on social media. “We need to fight an information war, as well as an air war,” Clinton said afterwards, in question-and-answer session. In steering clear of Canada’s ongoing debate, Clinton was making a break with past. On earlier visits, she expressed outspoken opinions on Canadian policy in the Arctic and the need to stay the course militarily in Afghanistan, which rankled the Harper Conservatives. As the Obama administration continues to build its anti-ISIL coalition, the Harper government plans to commit fighter planes, surveillance aircraft and support personnel for up to six months. The mission faces opposition from the NDP and Liberals. The NDP proposes a different mission. It would give the air force a three-month mandate to fly in weapons to local fighters who are facing ISIL. It would also stress humanitarian aid and investigation and prosecution of war crimes cases.
The Liberals supported Canada’s initial military contribution of up to 69 special forces advisers for 30 days. In the U.S., Clinton said, there is bipartisan agreement on how to deal with ISIL, which is to degrade their capabilities and defeat them. “The goal itself, that this is a threat, is agreed to in our political system,” said Clinton. “It is a long game. We turn away from it at our peril.” Clinton made waves this past summer when she told a U.S. magazine that the Obama administration should have acted sooner to stop ISIL’s advance. Clinton is widely seen as the potential Democratic front-runner for the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. Asked about that, Clinton smiled and said: “I’ve been dodging this question for a year and half and I’m going to keep dodging it.” She said she is “thinking hard” about a presidential run but won’t make her decision until after the upcoming midterm Congressional elections. ■
VANCOUVER — A class-action lawsuit has been filed in four provinces claiming that suppliers of the tiny electronic capacitors found in everything from cellular phones to kitchen stoves have been working together to inflate prices. The suit filed in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec claims Samsung, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sanyo, TDK and others have colluded since at least 2005 inflating prices by as much as $480 million. NEWEST SCOC JUSTICE JOINS THE BENCH OTTAWA — Quebec judge Clement Gascon became the newest member of the Supreme Court of Canada on Monday, formally taking his seat on the country’s highest court, but without the usual parliamentary scrutiny. Gascon is the first judge since 2006 to join the panel without appearing before an ad hoc committee of parliamentarians. GROUND SEARCH FOR BODIES WINDS DOWN IN WINNIPEG WINNIPEG — Volunteers searching along the banks of the Red River for clues about the fate of missing and murdered aboriginal women are winding down their search as temperatures drop and leaves blanket the muddy ground. A group has been searching along the river in Winnipeg ever since the body of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was pulled from the water in August. TWO CANADIANS SHOT DEAD IN HONDURAS VIRDEN — Two men with ties to the southwestern Manitoba community of Virden have been shot and killed in Honduras. Gerry Beltz says his brother, Wayne, was gunned down Sunday in a small beach community where he had owned a bar and restaurant for the last 20 years.
Canada News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
19
Hong Kong civil servants return to work as prodemocracy protests dwindle BY ELAINE KURTENBACH AND WENDY TANG The Associated Press HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s civil servants returned to work and schools were reopening Monday as a massive pro-democracy protest that has occupied much of the city centre for the week dwindled. Student demonstrators say they have taken early steps to begin talks with the government on their demands for wider political reforms, but actual negotiations have not started and many disagreements remain. At the government headquarters, where some protesters agreed to remove barriers blocking roads Sunday ahead of the government’s deadline to scale back their protests, the scene was orderly as government officials arrived for work. About 25 or so remaining protesters, mostly young students, looked on as a dozen police stood guard nearby. The crowds had thinned markedly after a week that saw tens of thousands of people fill the streets in peaceful protest. In Mong Kok, another protest site across the harbour where protesters had clashed violently with their opponents, a few hundred activists were staying put at the sit-in site. Some activists disagree with the partial withdrawal at government headquarters, and an alliance of students say they will keep up their protests until details of the talks are worked out. They say they will walk away from the talks as soon as the government uses force to clear away the remaining protesters.
Alex Chow, a student leader, said he was not worried about the crowd dwindling. “Because people need rest, but they will come out again. It doesn’t mean the movement is diminishing. Many people still support it,” Chow said. But Louis Chan, who still plans to stay at the government headquarters for “as long as he can,” is not sure achieving universal suffrage — the students’ original goal — is now likely. “I think it was possible, but now I don’t think so because they (the Hong Kong government) don’t give any response and China is also very much against this,” he said. Students occupying an area just outside city government headquarters agreed to remove some barricades that were blocking the building’s entrance, after the government said it would do whatever was necessary to ensure 3,000 civil servants would have full access to their offices on Monday. The partial withdrawal appeared to be part of a strategy to regroup in another part of town, as protesters were urged to shift from other areas to Hong Kong’s Admiralty shopping and business district, a central location near the government’s main offices that has served as an informal headquarters for the protests. Protesters had feared that officials may clear the streets by force, but by Monday it’s clear the government was settling for a partial victory in clearing some roads. A main road on the Hong Kong Island remains partly closed, and the government indicated some disruptions were likely to continue.
“To restore order, we are determined, and we are confident we have the capability to take any necessary action,” police spokesman Steve Hui said. “There should not be any unreasonable, unnecessary obstruction by any members of the public.” Television footage showed a man shaking hands with a police officer outside government headquarters and the two sides removing some barricades to-
A protester flees from tear gas at last week's protest demonstrations in Hong Kong. The protests died down this week as protesters went back to work and school. PASU AU YEUNG / FLICKR
www.canadianinquirer.net
gether. About 300 demonstrators stood by outside the government building’s main entrance, but then many sat back down and refused to leave. “I’m against any kind of withdrawal or tendency to surrender,” said Do Chan, a protester in his 30s. “I think withdrawing, I mean shaking hands with the police, is a very ugly gesture of surrender.” Tens of thousands of people, many of them students, have poured into the streets of the semi-autonomous city since Sept. 28 to peacefully protest China’s restrictions on the first-ever direct election for Hong Kong’s leader, promised by Beijing for 2017. The protests are the strongest challenge to authorities in Hong Kong — and in Beijing — since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. China has promised that Hong Kong can have universal suffrage by 2017, but it says a committee of mostly pro-Beijing figures must screen candidates for the top job. The protesters also are demanding the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, the city’s current leader. He has refused to step down. Police said they had arrested 30 people since the start of the protests. Protesters, meanwhile, complained the police were failing to protect them from attacks by mobs intent on driving them away. ■
20
World News
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
Delegates discuss the ongoing Ebola crisis at the "Defeating Ebola in Sierra Leone Conference" in London, UK last week. Ebola has made its way out of mainland Africa, with recently confirmed cases in the US and Spain. UK DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT / FLICKR
Nurse in Spain sick with Ebola, likely infected while caring for missionary priest who died BY MIKE STOBBE The Associated Press NEW YORK — In a case underscoring the perils of caring for Ebola patients, a nurse in Spain has come down with the disease — the first time someone has caught the disease outside West Africa during the current epidemic. The nurse’s illness illustrates the danger that health care workers face not only in poorly equipped West African clinics, but also in the more sophisticated medical centres of Europe and the United States, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “At greatest risk in all Ebola outbreaks are health care workers,” he said. The development came Monday as another American sick with the disease arrived back in the U.S. for treatment and President Barack Obama said the government was considering ordering more careful screening of airline passengers travelling from the outbreak region. The unprecedented Ebola outbreak this year has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa, and become an escalat-
ing concern to the rest of the world. It has taken an especially devastating toll on health care workers, sickening or killing more than 370 in the hardesthit countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — places that already were short on doctors and nurses. The Spanish nurse was part of the medical team that treated a 69-year-old Spanish priest, Manuel Garcia Viejo, who died in a Madrid hospital late last month, Spain’s health minister said Monday. The sick priest had been flown home from his post in Sierra Leone; the nurse is believed to have contracted the virus from him. She went to a Madrid hospital with a fever Sunday, 10 days after the priest died, and was placed in isolation. She was transferred early Tuesday to Madrid’s Carlos III hospital, where the priest — and a second missionary priest sick with Ebola — were cared for until they died. The World Health Organization confirmed there has not been a previous transmission outside West Africa in the current outbreak. In the U.S., video journalist Ashoka Mukpo, who became infected while working in Liberia,
arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where another Ebola patient had been treated. It’s not clear how he was infected. It may have happened when he helped clean a vehicle someone died in, said his father, Dr. Mitchell Levy. On Monday, his symptoms of fever and nausea still appeared mild, Levy said. “It was really wonderful to see his face,” said Levy, who talked to his son over a video chat system. Mukpo is the fifth American sick with Ebola brought back from West Africa for medical care. The others were aid workers — three have recovered and one remains hospitalized. There are no approved drugs for Ebola, so doctors have tried experimental treatments in a few cases. The critically ill Liberian man hospitalized in Dallas is also getting an experimental treatment, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said Monday. Thomas Eric Duncan is the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S.; he was admitted to the hospital Sept. 28, about a week after arriving in Texas. The hospital said Duncan was receiving an experimental www.canadianinquirer.net
medication called brincidofovir, which was developed to treat other types of viruses. Laboratory tests suggested it may also work against Ebola. Two other experimental drugs developed specifically for Ebola have been used, though it’s unclear whether they had any effect. The small supply of ZMapp was exhausted after being used on a few patients, though government officials say more should be available in the next two months. A second drug, TKMEbola from Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, has been used in at least one patient and is said to be in limited supply. Schaffner noted there are many questions about the experimental medications, but their use is understandable — especially in a patient like Duncan who may be deteriorating. “They’re trying to do anything they can to benefit the patient,” he said. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Rick Perry urged the U.S. government to begin screening air passengers arriving from Ebola-affected nations, including taking their temperatures. Perry stopped short of joining some conservatives who have backed bans on travel from
those countries. Federal health officials say a travel ban could make the desperate situation worse in those countries, and White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was not currently under consideration. Passengers leaving the outbreak zone are checked for fevers at the airport. Duncan was screened in Liberia, but he had no symptoms then, health officials have said. He also apparently had no symptoms when he arrived the next day, so a screening in the United States would not have detected his infection. Health officials have said he didn’t get sick until four or five days later. The disease’s incubation period is 21 days. Airline crews and border agents already watch for sick passengers, and in a high-level meeting Monday at the White House, officials discussed potential options for screening passengers when they arrive in the U.S. as well. Obama said the U.S. will be “working on protocols to do additional passenger screening both at the source and here in the United States.” He did not outline any details or offer a timeline. ■
21
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
The hidden trap of mortgage penalties at the big banks THE MORTGAGE penalty applies if you ever have to break your mortgage and will cost you thousands of extra dollars if your mortgage is held by the big banks. The “intention” of the penalty is to compensate a bank for the interest payment it loses out on when you break the mortgage contract, however it overcompensate the banks and it’s punitive in many cases. With houses as expensive as they are today, it’s crucial to get the lowest mortgage rate you can qualify for, therefore you should keep the same level of focus when inquiring about mortgage penalties. Statistically 70% of people adjust their five year fixed mortgage rate before maturity date due to refinance for a better rate or pay out debts or to move to a bigger house. When you are shopping for
ANDREIA BRAZIL
Mortgage Broker Specialist in Mortgage Programs for New Immigrants Cell 778-928-0406 andreia.guariento@gmail.com www.andreiabrazil.ca
mortgage, besides the rate you should ask your bank if they use discounted or posted rate to calculate you penalty in case something happens and you have to break your contract. This is important because if your contract is based on posted rate you will have a much higher penalty. Look beyond the interest rate, negotiate your penalty, if you don’t ask for discounted rate, the banks will give you the posted. Look for a reliable mortgage broker to work for you, you don’t pay for our services and you will have someone qualified on your side to deal with the banks on your behalf. Don’t hesitate to call me for a consultation, I will be happy to answer your questions. Andreia Brazil: 778-928-0406 andreia.guariento@gmail.com www.andreiabrazil.ca ■
HOW CAN I HELP YOU? • No cost information and more competitive rates • One stop shopping, with all of the major banks, credit unions and over 100 Canadian lenders • Professional negotiations and credit protection on your behalf, I work for YOU! • Time saving processes, in order to obtain your mortgage faster. • Expert advice, so you can make confident decisions
Think big! Everything is possible!
The world needs you. To be the best you can be, to make a difference, to grow. So we create an environment where you can triumph.
Open House Come and explore exciting careers in business, health care, justice, human services, and administration. Saturday, October 18 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Downtown campus (345 – 6th Ave SE) bowvalleycollege.ca/openhouse
www.canadianinquirer.net
• Ongoing support and education, my intention is to become your mortgage broker for life.
Call me for your free consultation: (778) 928-0406
22
Seen & Scenes: Vancouver
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
THE SINGER & THE SONGWRITER Vancouver-based Filipino artist Joey Albert and 12-time Grammy nominee Dennis Lambert performed together during a recent two-night concert titled, “The Singer and the Songwriter” in Vancouver and Abottsford. Special guests during the show included Ray-An Fuentes, Kimwell Del Rosario and the Manila Band. (Photos c/o Ms. Joey Albert’s FB)
BAMBOO WORLD TOUR Bamboo, a Filipino singer, performer and artist rose to fame as the lead vocalist of Rivermaya but later went solo. Currently, he is one of the coaches of ‘Voice of the Philippines’ with Sarah Geronimo, Leah Salonga and Apl de Ap. He recently had sold-out concerts in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Toronto and Edmonton. (Photos by Angelo Siglos)
JED MADELA 10TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT Dubbed the Singer’s Singer, Jed Madela, three-time Male Recording Artist of the Year, marked his 10th year in the music industry with an amazing performance during the ‘Jed Madela 10th Anniversary Tour 2014’ at Edgewater Casino in Vancouver, B.C. (Photos by Randy Ordinario under MDSnapshots Photography).
HOTDOG LIVE IN VANCOUVER Juan Radio, Times Tel and Even8 recently co-sponsored, “Hotdog Live in Vancover,” at the Edgewater Casino. The band brought back the highly popular Manila Sound Phenomenon of the ‘70s and ‘80s. The show’s front acts featured Goldie, Chiquitita dancers and more. (Photos c/o Freddie Bagunu)
For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net. www.canadianinquirer.net
Seen & Scenes: Toronto
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
23
HERITAGE BAND'S 34TH ANNIVERSARY Senator Enverga was a special guest of the Philippine Heritage Band during their 34th anniversary at the Holiday Inn Pearson International Airport Hotel in Toronto, On. (photo courtesy of Senator Enverga’s FB). Senator Enverga congratulated the multi-awarded group, speaking of his fond memories of watching marching bands in his hometown of Lucena City in the Philippines during his youth. He praised the Philippine Heritage Band for keeping their musical legacy alive, passing it down from generation to generation. He encouraged the group to continue inspiring Canadians with their wonderful music, and wished them all the best on their 34th anniversary (photo courtesy of Senator Enverga’s FB).
RUN FOR THE CURE On Oct. 5, several Filipino runners participated in the 2014 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. The breast cancer cause is the largest single-day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, education, and advocacy initiatives.
WINTER ESCAPADE 2 LAUNCH
Toronto Consul General Junever Mahilum-West explains the advantages of joining the Winter Tour (photo by Joaquin T. Taduran Jr.)
LOPEZ, QUEZON CLUB SOCIAL EVENT The Lopez Quezon Association of Ontario recently held a fund-raising dinner-dance and celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at the L’Amoreaux Community Centre in Scarborough, On. The event was spearheaded by Sena Flores, the association president. (Photos by Dindo Orbeso, St. Jamestown News Service)
PCG Toronto showing off the no. 1 undisputed cracker brand in the Philippines during the Winter Escapade launch at the Philippine Consulate (photo from Ludy Manalo’s FB).
www.canadianinquirer.net
24
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
THE CENTRE OF THE C 3 Bike Routes for a green commute
12 Boutiques with must-have accessories Over 30 Places to Head for Dinner
14 places to find your favourite caffeine fix
CR AFTED LIVI N G CO M I N G EARLY 2015
REGISTER TODAY • INDEPENDENTatMAIN.COM
The Developer reserves the right to make changes and modifications to the information contained herein without prior notice. This is not an offering for sale, any such offering may only be made by way of a Disclosure Statement. E&OE.
www.canadianinquirer.net
25
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
CITY JUST SHIFTED 99 B-Line every 1.5–3 minutes
12 Parks to Chill with Friends
www.canadianinquirer.net
26
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
‘Binay farm’... was owned by the Vice President’s family. He promised to present at the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on Wednesday not only the proof of Binay’s ownership of the property but also of photos of other Binay assets, such as three properties in Tagaytay City. Mercado, who showed the Inquirer aerial photos of the agriculture estate in Batangas, described the property as a “highend hacienda.” The farm has “an air-conditioned piggery and a flower farm that grows orchids of the imported variety,” he said. ❰❰ 1
Kew Gardens
It also has a cock farm, a manmade lagoon, a swimming pool and a huge house. The former vice mayor added that it also had a “maze garden” patterned after the Kew Gardens in London, one of the city’s top attractions. Mercado said that when he traveled to London in 2007 with the Vice President and Dr. Elenita Binay to attend the 100th Boy Scouts Jamboree, they went to the Kew Gardens in consideration of the Vice President’s wife, who likes orchids and gardens. Mercado said the Binays visited the Kew Gardens between July 27 and Aug. 8, 2007. The farm is six times the size of the 58-hectare Rizal Park in Manila and is 14 times bigger than the 25-hectare Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City. Citing records of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mercado told the Inquirer that among the shareholders of Agrifortuna Inc., the registered owner of the estate, were Gerardo S. Limlingan, longtime aide of the Vice President, and Tomas B. Lopez, president of University of Makati. Mercado earlier declared in a Senate hearing on the allegedly overpriced P2.3-billion Makati City Hall Building II that Limlingan was also a shareholder of Meriras Realty and Development Corp., owner of the 8,877-square-meter property on J.P. Rizal Extension and Sampaguita Street in Makati. The property was once part of the Philippine Army’s headquarters in Fort Bonifacio. The shareholders of Meriras
An aerial view of the 350-hectare agriculture estate in Rosario, Batangas province, that has a garden patterned after London’s Kew Gardens. Former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, who was on a helicopter when the photo was taken last week, claims that the property is in the name of dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay. CONTRIBUTED BY ERNESTO MERCADO
are fronts of Binay, according to Mercado. Helicopter survey
Mercado on Tuesday said it was he who was on board the helicopter that flew around the Binay property in Batangas on Thursday last week and took photos and video footage of the farm. “I’m glad the spokesperson of the Vice President admitted that the farm is owned by the Vice President, but the whole farm is 350 hectares and not 9 hectares as they claimed,” Mercado said. Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesman and head of his media office, said in a statement issued on Monday that a helicopter flew over a piggery and a flower farm in Rosario, Batangas, which, he said, was formerly owned by the Vice President. When he won the vice presidency in 2010, Binay divested himself of his interest in JCB Farms, a lessee of the 9-hectare property, according to Salgado. The spokesman, however, did not disclose who bought the stake of the Vice President. “We will not be surprised that if in the coming days, video footage or photos of the property will be circulated in media and perhaps even presented in the Senate subcommittee hearing alleging that Vice President Binay is the owner of the said property,” Salgado said. Mercado said the farm referred to by Salgado as JCB Farms was registered in the SEC as Agrifortuna that was established in 1993.
Based in Davao City
A check with the SEC shows that a certain JCB Development Corp. is based in Davao City. SEC records of Agrifortuna showed that in 1994 Binay and his wife Elenita of No. 8514 Kaong St. in San Antonio Village, Makati; Ruben Balane of E. Abada Loyola Heights, Quezon City; Victor Gelia of Sgt. Bumatay, Plainview Mandaluyong City; and Nestor D. Alampay Jr. of South Greenpark in Parañaque City were the board of directors of the corporation classified as an agricultural company. The SEC records also showed that the Binays were no longer incorporators of the agricultural company since 2008. The current incorporators of Agrifortuna Inc. are: — Gerardo S. Limlingan of 2125 A. Luna Street, Pasay City — Tomas B. Lopez of Chateau Verde Condo Gate 2 in Valle Verde 1, Pasig City — Laureano R. Gregorio Jr. of Quirino Roxas Street in Xavierville Loyola Heights, Quezon City — Mindanila Barlis of Valle Verde Bliss 1 at E. Rodriguez Avenue in Pasig City — Mitzi O. Sedillo of Makati Homes on Milkwood Street, Barangay Rizal, Makati City Agrifortuna has its principal office on the 7th floor, Alpap 1 Building, on Alfaro Street in Salcedo Village, Makati. The company has assets valued at P29.75 million, based on its 2013 audited financial statements. www.canadianinquirer.net
Purpose of Agrifortuna
Agrifortuna was set up “to develop, manage, own, lease and operate agricultural lands, farms, pasture lands, ranches, fish pens, foreshore lands and fishing rights or concessions; to engage in the planting and cultivation of coffee, cocoa, pepper, rice corn and other farm products,” said its articles of incorporation. The corporation can also engage in the raising, breeding and fattening of cattle, goats, sheep, chicken, pigs and similar stocks. “In general, undertake or carry on all kinds of studies, experiments in the cultivation, storage and trading of all kinds of agricultural livestock, and fishery products and its byproducts in the Philippines or elsewhere,” its incorporation papers showed. Real character
“The high-end hacienda of the Binays show the real character of the couple, who posed as a poor couple,” Mercado said. The Vice President said he was willing to undergo a lifestyle check amid speculations that he had amassed massive wealth during his stint as mayor. In his statement, Salgado said Binay went into the piggery business in 1994 as a sole proprietor under the name JCB Farms. He said the business was duly registered in the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s office in Rosario, Batangas. Salgado said JCB Farms brought additional income of
P44,350,921.99 to Binay from 1994 to 2010 for which he paid taxes amounting to P15.88 million. Sunchamp park
On Tuesday night, Salgado said the piggery farm in a leased property in Batangas was operated by Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park. “Based on records we have gathered, the lessor of the property is Sunchamp Real Estate Development Corp., operator of Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park,” he said in a statement. Salgado said the Inquirer had featured Sunchamp Park on Sept. 28. “The PDI article even has an aerial shot of the park and it would most likely be no different from the photos to be peddled by the Vice President’s detractors in the subcommittee hearing,” he said. He said that Sunchamp had photos of the park on its website and that most likely these would be presented to the Senate by Mercado. Salgado reiterated that JCB Farms was just a lessee of the 9-hectare property. “It is unfortunate that legitimate businesses of private individuals are being dragged into this political circus,” he said. At press time on Tuesday night, Salgado was still inquiring from Binay’s lawyers to whom the Vice President sold his stake in the piggery farm in 2010. ■ With a report from Christine O. Avendaño
27
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
SC orders Pacquiaos to answer BIR bid to collect P3.2B BY JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES–The Supreme Court has ordered boxing champion Manny Paquiao to comment on a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) motion seeking the lifting of a temporary restraining order on the agency’s efforts to collect P3.2 billion in taxes from him. In a resolution issued last week, the Supreme Court’s Third Division gave Pacquiao and his wife, Jinkee, 10 days to answer the motion for reconsideration filed by the BIR contesting the court’s Aug. 18 order temporarily stopping the enforcement of a Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) order requiring them to post a P3.2-billion cash bond or a P4.9-billion surety bond in exchange for the lifting of the warrants of distraint and levy and of garnishment issued by the BIR in April on their properties. The Pacquiaos went to the Supreme Court after the CTA rejected their plea to reduce the amount of the bond. The BIR has been trying to collect taxes from the couple on the basis of alleged deficiencies in the income taxes and value-added taxes they paid in 2008 and 2009. Pacquiao’s alleged tax liability was P2.2 billion. The required bond includes the accumulated surcharges and penalties.
Manny Pacquiao.
The BIR also asked the Supreme Court to conduct a hearing on the agency’s motion for reconsideration. In the petition for review they filed in the Supreme Court in August, the Pacquiaos accused the CTA of making “oppressive” assessments and described the bond as “astronomical.” The couple claimed that the bond was no longer necessary since they were able to show during the CTA hearings that the BIR violated their right to due process and that the agency’s collection method was unlawful. “Without such proof having been offered in evidence, the [CTA] should have dispensed with the bond requirement since the validity of the grand assessments [is] placed in doubt and the government’s right to collect the assessed taxes is uncertain to say the least,” the couple said. The Pacquiaos sought a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court because if the CTA revoked the lifting of the garnishment order due to the their inability to post the bond, the BIR would have proceeded to collect the tax liabilities by imposing a levy on their properties and bank accounts even while the CTA was still hearing the tax suit. Pacquiao’s tax woes stemmed from his winnings and other earnings in the United States. The boxer claimed he paid the taxes in the United States. ■
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
www.canadianinquirer.net
28
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:
Carmen Dimaapi Founder of Nurses Education Inc.
BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer Education is the key to a better life and this Filipino-Canadian woman is the perfect example of that. Carmen Dimaapi used education to bring her from the Philippines to North America. Her education helped set up her career in Canada where she established Nurses Education Inc., a school that helps nursing students pass their licensure exams. Now, she helps people through her business by giving them an education so they can set up their own lives and pursue their dreams. Perhaps Carmen's journey started as early as her university days in the Philippines. She had dreams of becoming a doctor, but they were postponed for a while because of her age. "I always wanted to come to North America. When I was in university, I was offered two scholarships to study in the USA. I had to forego both of them as my parents thought I was too young to leave home," she said.
But that didn't stop her for long. Right after graduation, she took the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) qualifying exam and passed. That was her ticket to New York and her future. However, upon arriving, she found herself faced with another road block. This time, it was financial in nature. "The primary reason why I went to New York City was to get into medical school to pursue my dream of becoming a physician, but the financial constraints made me go to graduate school instead to pursue a Masters in Business Nursing." Carmen took this challenge as an opportunity and she made necessary adjustments to take advantage of it. She was hired by a hospital in New York and after three months of working, she was promoted to Nurse Manager. The hospital ended up sending her to graduate school. She was offered a scholarship to Columbia University - New York for a second Master's degree. While she was building up her experience and education, she found time to
IELTS English Language Testing BVC is now offering IELTS English language testing, the world’s most widely recognized English language test.
Starts September 27, 2014. Registration is now open.
For more info, visit bowvalleycollege.ca/IELTS
start a family with her husband, Ben Jr. In 1992, the family made the decision to bring their growing family to Canada. "My husband and I thought that Canada is a better place to raise young children, compared to New York," she said. It was also at this time that she decided to establish Nurses Education, Inc. (NEI). Throughout the 90s and up until today, NEI has helped train and place thousands of nurses throughout Canada, the US, and even to overseas destinations such as Australia. NEI started with just a simple course for students to review for their nursing licensure exams. Over the years, more and more courses have been added. Today, NEI features a full suite of preparatory, comprehensive, and continuing education courses for nurses and healthcare professionals. Just recently, courses have been made available online. In addition, the company has grown from a single campus to three: Toronto, Mississauga, and Montreal, with plans to open a fourth campus in Scarborough. Carmen wants to share the story of the success of NEI so that it may inspire others to reach for their own dreams. "My professional journey was quite
www.canadianinquirer.net
exciting and I want to share it primarily to empower other Filipinos who are equally ambitious," she said. She acknowledged that there were some risks involved in her journey and she suffered some setbacks, but strong and loving support from her husband, family, and friends helped her get through the challenges. "I was not afraid to fall. Actually, I had ‘hard falls’ which hurt me [a lot]. It was difficult to get up. But my husband was my walking stick,” she said. “I also intentionally surrounded myself with friends, relatives, and intellectual people, and learned from them as much as I could.” For those who have the desire to follow in her footsteps, Carmen has some advice for them. "Formulate your goals and objectives very carefully. Equip yourself with a good education - good schools always help you land a better job. Don't be afraid to make mistakes—[it will] strengthen and improve your intellectual muscles. Don't compromise quality. Be honest and generous.” Lastly, Carmen shared, “Don't be afraid to share. It's such a blessing to give.” ■ With files from Mary Ann Reyes-Mandap
Immigration
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
29
B.C. premier chides federal overhaul of temporary foreign worker program BY TAMSYN BURGMANN The Canadian Press
secondary programs to ensure young people are properly trained for skillsintensive work. But even wooing workers from other provinces will not be VANCOUVER — British Columbia Pre- enough to meet the demand, she warned mier Christy Clark has accused federal the gathering. The only option will be to politicians of “tragically misdirected” look overseas, she said. policies over the issue of temporary According to the federal immigraforeign workers, as she pushes for the tion department, the temporary foreign thousands of skilled labourers needed workers program is meant to help emfor her envisioned liquefied natural gas ployers fill “short-term gaps” in the laindustry. bour market. Clark took a bold stand in a speech “Most temporary foreign workers are to the province’s business community limited to working in Canada for four on October 2, just ahead of her govern- years before having to return to their ment’s return to home country,” the legislature states the Citiand planned inzenship and Imtroduction of migration Cananew LNG laws. The fact is that as we’re da website. She told the building (LNG), there’s It says such Vancouver going to be a spurt in the workers would Board of Trade number of workers that are have the opporluncheon that as required. Those jobs will be tunity to apply federal election temporary in nature. for permanent campaigning residence using unfolds, leaders other programs, in Ottawa must like the provinstop playing politics over the controver- cial nominee program. sial program. It’s not clear how Clark’s comments “We should not think about people square with the temporary nature of the who come from across the world to Brit- program. ish Columbia to work as being someShe told reporters after her speech thing less than the rest of us,” she said, she couldn’t give figures on what proafter laying out her Liberal govern- portion of the economy will need to rely ment’s priorities. on temporary workers. “So my advice to federal politicians “The fact is that as we’re building is this: If you want to fix the temporary (LNG), there’s going to be a spurt in the foreign workers program, maybe they number of workers that are required. should start with changing the name. Those jobs will be temporary in nature,” “Call them ‘potential new Canadians,’ she said. because they’re coming here to help us “We’ve done some work on estimating build our country.” what that might look like.” The premier added her voice to other Asked for specifics about the discrepwestern leaders critical of the federal ancy, Clark’s office failed to provide a digovernment’s program overhaul, argu- rect response. ing new rules are too onerous for provA B.C.-based immigration lawyer said inces facing genuine labour shortages. he’s impressed with the premier’s pasIn June, Federal Employment Minis- sion and hopes she follows through on ter Jason Kenney laid out plans to limit finding a labour solution. how many foreign workers can be hired Richard Kurland said B.C. already has by large- and medium-sized companies. one of the best provincial nominee proKenney also included tougher penalties for grams in Canada, but trails behind when companies found in violation of the rules it comes to selecting economic immiand ordered inspections to deter abuses. grants. Alberta Premier Jim Prentice said “There is a genuine need for tempolast week that labour policy will top his rary foreign workers,” he said, while agenda when he gets his first meeting noting that taking a stand could come at with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. a political cost. The B.C. Liberals also want to mitigate “The premier has to have the political an expected dearth of labour, which will courage to be able to say ‘No’ for foreign only grow larger if their LNG plans are workers that are wanted by big business successful. and for saying ‘Yes’ to foreign workClark said her government is attempt- ers who are not wanted by the labour ing to re-engineer secondary and post- unions.” ■
‘Aquino will’... The younger Echiverri, Mico, is a management student at Ateneo de Manila University, and a former Sangguniang Kabataan Federation vice president. Matibag, who served as general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority during the Arroyo administration, invited the public to “look at my affiliations.” “This is a clean advocacy. I got RJ, who is my friend, because of his national exposure [as national president of the Association of Barangay Captains] and because he believes in the advocacy. He will help when we go around the Philippines [for our signature campaign],” Matibag said. “But I would be happy if Malacañang supported our cause,” Matibag said. “If they talk to us, we will talk to them. But we won’t do anything outside democratic processes or laws.” RJ Echiverri, meanwhile, was put on the defensive by questions about his More2Come undertaking’s links to his father, Caloocan Rep. and LP member Enrico Echiverri. “Can’t I be my own man? Can’t a son be independent from his father? I’m not a minor that I need to consult my father about everything, or that everything I do must be linked to him?” Echiverri said. He said he did not meddle in his father’s ❰❰ 13
www.canadianinquirer.net
political affairs. “[My father] was in the States with my mother when he found out about this. Hecalled and asked what this movement was about and I said Pa, this is something personal, my convictions.’ He just laughed it off,” Echiverri recalled. Echiverri, who lost in the 2013 mayoral elections in Caloocan, also denied any links with the LP. “Remember, as barangay captain, you should not be affiliated with any political party. When I lost as mayor, I returned to being a barangay captain, and as national president of all barangays, I’m barred from joining any political party,” he explained. However, he admitted to having been affiliated in the past with the PDP-Laban and the LP. “This is a small private group .... to know the real sentiment of citizens. What if we’re right that most Filipinos still believe in Aquino’s administration and in his ‘right path?’ For as long as he can prove that he is sincere in serving the country, we will continue this. Taxpayers only want to see that their taxes are not being stolen. And is Aquino corrupt? No, he’s not,” Echiverri pointed out. Matibag said the group will be taking the signature campaign around the Philippines, starting with Metro Manila. ■
30
Immigration
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
Feds say reversing refugee health care program complex and costly Do you have a question about God? Faith? Salvation? Ask Bro. Eli and the Bible will answer
BY STEPHANIE LEVITZ The Canadian Press
back to the old one. With a month left to go, the federal government filed its appeal this week and with it, a request for a stay of the deOTTAWA — The health care system cision, arguing for more time. serving thousands of refugee claimants “The order of Justice Mactavish does will be thrown into chaos next month if not provide any guidance as to what there’s a rush to create a new program, form of interim policy would be constithe federal government says. tutionally compliant,” Craig Shankar, But the lawyer representing the refu- who oversaw the program for the Immigees who took the government to court gration Department, said in an affidavit. www.angdatingdaan.org / www.mcgi.org / www.theoldpath.tv over the issue says the government had “The government must presumably www.truthcaster.com / www.esoriano.wordpress.com plenty of time to devise a plan. implement a new policy which requires www.untvweb.com / tweet @ broelisoriano / fb broeliseosoriano Now all sides are being forced to strategic review and cabinet approval. scramble in the face of a Nov. 4 deadline Once approved, this new policy, whatevwww.elisoriano.com / www.danielrazon.com for the government to either create a er it may be, would represent the second www.untvradio.com / fb kuyadanielrazon new, charter-complisubstantive change #Tweetanong Mo Kay Soriano, Biblia ang Sasagot! ant system of funding to the program in two refugee health care years. If the governor return to the one ment is successful on in place before 2012. The order of Justice appeal, there is the Justice Anne MacMactavish does not potential for a third tavish of the Federal provide any guidance major change in the Court ruled in July as to what form of program.” that the existing interinterim policy would Negotiating new im federal health probe constitutionally contracts and breakPsalms 34:7: The angel of the LORD gram, which restricts compliant. ing old ones at sigencampeth round about them that fear him, how much the governnificant cost, getting and delivereth them. ment will pay for refuregulations passed, gee claimants’ health care, amounted to even software upgrades and the time reVisit us at the Old Path Calgary Coordinating Center cruel and unusual treatment. quired to communicate with provinces The ruling came two years after the and territories are stumbling blocks to Conservative government implemented coming up with a new system in time, he sweeping changes to the program, which said. had been in place since the 1950s. Training staff to process files would The government argued that refugee take at least a month on its own. claimants were getting better care than “Should changes be implemented Nov. most Canadians 4, 2014, the training process will likely and program costs be incomplete, potentially resulting in were ballooning eligible clients being without IFHP ceras refugees ar- tificates or being given incorrect IFHP rived specifically coverage,” said Shankar. to take advantage “Clients without certificates or withof health care ben- out the correct coverage will not have efits. access to covered services.” Advocates and Lorne Waldman, the lawyer who took claimants were the case to Federal Court on behalf of caught off guard refugee claimants and advocacy groups, by the change, wondered why the government waited which they argued until the last minute. put the health of “If this was going to create chaos, why untold numbers didn’t they move forward quickly, so of refugee claim- that there could be a determination on ants at risk as they all of the issues in a timely fashion and could no longer not a determination at the last possible afford treatments minute?” he asked in an interview. such as prenatal The reason the judge imposed such a care and diabetes tight deadline was because of the urgenmedication. cy of people’s health needs, he said. They went to “The government chose to wait three court, arguing months before they served us with the the changes vio- appeal papers and so it’s putting us all in lated the charter. an extremely difficult position as we try Commited to delivering value, speed, transparency, They won and the to respond effectively and in a fair maninnovation and convenience government was ner and give the court sufficient time to given four months adjudicate this,” he said. to change the pro“So I’m obviously very concerned gram again or go about the delays.” ■
?
3839 B Burnsland Rd. SE Calgary AB T2G 3Z4 e-mail: mcgi.calgary@gmail .com 403-975-3079 or 403-402-1126
www.canadianinquirer.net
31
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Entertainment Age gap helps, says Vic on relationship with Pauleen BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Veteran actor and comedian Vic Sotto believes that the age gap between him and girlfriend Pauleen Luna helps in keeping their relationship strong. “There’s no problem with our age difference. Age is just a number,” said Sotto during a taped interview with Cinema News on Friday. He added, “As a matter of fact, I think it’s what makes our relationship work. Pauleen may be young, but she thinks like an adult, while I think like a kid sometimes. So we meet halfway.” The age difference between them is 35 years. Sotto is 60, while Luna is 25.
Vic Sotto and Pauleen Luna.
Earlier, Sotto already expressed that he feels that his relationship with Luna is not ideal. “You have a lot to go through in dealing with me. Because if you deal with me, you deal with all these people,” he said to his girlfriend during his 60th birthday celebration. When asked about whether he plans to propose to Luna, he said that he does not want to be labelled as “copycat” given the number of celebrity engagements happening this year. “When you least expect it, that’s the time when you should expect,” said Soto. The “Eat Bulaga” main host is currently working on “My Big Bossing’s Adventures,” an entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival. ■
PHOTO COURTESY OF @THEREALMARIAN ON INSTAGRAM
Marian Rivera makes over P100K in auction BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Marian Rivera on Sunday auctioned her preloved clothes to raise funds for Adopt-a-Bangka, a campaign wherein she is an ambassadress. The said auction was also the final fund-raising activity for the campaign. “This will be the last fund raising activity for Bantayan Island. We are able to provide them with their needs already. In short, mission accomplished!” said Rivera. The Adopt-a-Bangka Project was launched in January of this
year. It aims to provide longterm and holistic rehabilitation of the fishing communities at Bantayan Island, Northern Cebu. Rivera, together with the GMA Regional TV and GMA TV Central and Eastern Visayas/ Cebu Station, helped in raising money for the communities by auctioning off her dresses. The said outfits were memorable for Rivera. Some of them were worn during tapings of her shows, awards nights, TV commercials, movies, and even during the FHM Victory Party. Rivera was joined by GMA Regional TV AVP for Integrated Marketing Services Oliver Amoroso, GMA Cebu Station Man-
ager Ann Marie Tan, and friend Boobay. Rivera was able to raise more than P100,000 during the soldout benefit auction. She added that she will be revealing her latest campaign next month. Dubbed “Yan ang Smile,” it is a project in partnership with Smile Train that aims to provide free corrective cleft lip and palate surgery. “We want people with cleft lip and palate to enjoy their lives by boosting their self-confidence,” said Rivera. Aside from the clothes auction, Rivera also hosted the Kapuso Fans Day at SM Clark Pampanga. ■
32
Entertainment
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
Alfred Vargas and his life as an actor and congressman BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Rep. Alfred Vargas of Quezon City’s District 5 gives his best in as a public servant, just like how he gives his 100 percent when he acts. In his first year in public office, he already has 85 principally authored and co-authored bills. During his first Congressional Report to the district, he shared in front of more than 1,200 people that he and his colleagues proposed five out of the 10 landmark bills passed to the Lower House on its first regular session. These include the mandatory PhilHealth coverage for all senior citizens, the unified student financial assistance system, national land use and management, the creation of special education centers in every public school division, and the Go Negosyo Act. Aside from these, Vargas also filed a
resolution that mandates the establishment of passport issuance office in Novaliches, Quezon City. The said office will start operating during the last quarter of the year. “I focused on the basics,” shared Vargas. “These include livelihood, housing and education. Of course, two of my advocacies include the senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).” He added that he still has pending projects for approval of the Lower House. These are the creation of national high schools in five barangays of District 5 and establishment of Novaliches State University. Vargas also mentioned that his project agenda include the following: creating a national cancer institute, campaign to prevent teenage pregnancy, granting of benefits to OFWs, banning the detention of cadavers in hospitals and funerals, promotion of local arts and entertainment industry, and creation of mass transport system in District 5. ■
Heart Evangelista and Chiz Escudero at SONA 2014.
Heart Evangelista plans to be a young mom BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Actress Heart Evangelista has already set her heart out on being a young mom During her interview, she expressed that she is ready to have a baby in a couple of year’s time after her wedding with fiancé Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero. “I will have a baby when I’m 31 or 32,” said the 29-year-old actress on Sunday. Earlier, Evangelista said that she wants to spend three to four years with Escudero before trying to conceive. But based on her posts in her Instagam account, seems like Evangelista is already considering of becoming a “young mom.” “Today, I went to the doctor…I realized how health should be first and how
blessed I am to be healthy…made me seriously think of preparing to be a young mom…having a baby at 35 is harder compared to 31…let’s see what happens,” she posted on her social media account. Evangelista explained during her interview at “Startalk” that she realized that it may be easier for her to get pregnant early rather than delay it. “I already went through a lot with life; likewise I already did a lot for myself. It’s such a waste to keep it all to myself when I can pass it on to my child,” said Evangelista. Does this mean that there is a possibility that she might be pregnant before her wedding next year? “I don’t see any problem with that because it is a blessing. But as much as possible, we want to practice family planning and responsible parenthood,” Evangelista stressed. ■
Nova Villa – On last meeting with Tia Pusit BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Forgiveness — that’s what happened during the last meeting of Nova Villa with sibling Tia Pusit who recently succumbed to multiple organ failure last week. “To set the record straight, we are not www.canadianinquirer.net
mad at each other. We only had a gap in our relationship,” said Villa. “You know, how normal siblings will have their fair share of misunderstanding. That’s what happened to us.” She added, “When I heard news that she is sick, I set aside all our misunderstandings and just went to visit her.” “Our last meeting was very beautiful and memorable.” ■
Entertainment
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
33
Coco Martin vows to never again portray insensitive roles as in ‘The Naked Truth’ BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Actor Coco Martin has repeatedly expressed his profuse regret
The Naked Truth with a model on a leash like a dog. FACEBOOK
www.canadianinquirer.net
over having taken part in “The Naked Truth” fashion show of clothing and underwear label, Bench. Martin said on Tuesday that he was “extremely sorry” for his involvement in the segment for which he was highly criticized for playing the part of a master pulling his “pet” woman on a leash. His lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, issued a statement on his behalf: “Mr. Martin feels extremely sorry for what transpired and admitted that this incident taught him a major lesson to be more sensitive and mindful of the repercussions of his portrayals,” the statement said. The actor clarified that he had no part in the conceptualization of that segment, or any other part of “The Naked Truth.” He likewise noted that he was only informed of his one day before the actual show. Even at that late stage of preparation, however, Martin added that he wanted air his
concerns about the role. But he felt insecure about communicating properly with the Canadian model appearing with him on the segment, due to language differences. Furthermore, he thought it best to keep quiet about it “because it was impressed upon him that the whole show was already finalized and he felt insignificant as to cause a scene and demand an overhaul of the entire segment,” the statement explained. Martin has promised that he will never again portray a role as insensitive as that one; stressing his high regard for women, “just as he respects and loves his mother, his grandmother, and his three sisters.” “Mr. Martin humbly asks for the public’s understanding and assures the public that he will no longer allow himself to be obliged to participate in a similar insensitive portrayal,” the statement said. ■
34
Entertainment
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
Chinese cub lands starring role in upcoming Canadian polar bear flick BY STEVE RENNIE The Canadian Press OTTAWA — If Canadian polar bears had an actor’s union, they might be a bit miffed that a bear from China snagged a starring role in an upcoming Hollywood flick. Filmmakers brought a threeand-a-half-month-old polar bear from a Chinese theme park to Canada last year to star in a movie about a young boy who tries to reunite an abandoned cub with its mother. Some might wonder why homegrown talent got passed over for the part in “Midnight Sun,” starring former “ER” actor Goran Visnjic. After all, Canada is home to most of the world’s polar bears — It seems like the kind of role they were born to play. But it’s not as simple as just plucking a polar bear from Canada’s North, said Mark Dumas, who
worked with the Chinese cub. “The Inuit have a say in what happens with their baby polar bears. You can’t just take it for no reason. Someone has to have killed the mother,” Dumas said. “When you’re raising a baby polar bear, you want to get them as young as you can, because you want to teach them all the good things in life as opposed to some of the bad things, like biting and stuff like that.” Zoos won’t let their polar bears out of captivity to shoot movies, added Dumas, who has worked with all kinds of bears — including a polar bear — for decades. He has another polar bear named Agee that he plays and swims with in a special enclosure at his home in British Columbia. The Chinese cub — named Pisau or Pizau, Dumas isn’t quite sure of the spelling — travelled a long way to appear in the movie, which is slated for release this year. Documents obtained under
the Access to Information Act show the cub’s gruelling travel itinerary: Beijing to Frankfurt to Toronto to Vancouver to Abbotsford, B.C., where Dumas is based. All told, the trip was supposed to take 45 hours, including layovers. The bear arrived in a foul mood, Dumas said, and was quite aggressive. “They had an animal that had a really crummy attitude,” he said. “Oh yeah, he had a crummy attitude. But he was the only one they had, so you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.” The cub returned to the Polar Ocean World theme park once filming wrapped. The filmmakers aren’t the only ones who have tried to bring polar bears to Canada from other countries. A polar bear habitat in the northeastern Ontario town of Cochrane tried to bring over an animal that achieved a modi-
www.canadianinquirer.net
TABLEATNY / FLICKR
cum of Internet fame by sticking its head in a tube. Milak became something of a YouTube sensation when the Aalborg Zoo in Denmark posted clips of the polar bear splashing around his enclosure with the plastic tube stuck on his head. When Milak reached a certain age, however, the zoo started its search for a new home for the bear. It looked like that home would be the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat. But there was just one small problem: it turned out Milak
was actually a female. “Since they are very short of females in Europe, (Milak) was transferred to another facility there,” said Karen Cummings, manager of the habitat. There was also a polar bear swap between Canada and the Netherlands in 2011. The Zoo sauvage de St.-Felicien, about 300 kilometres north of Quebec City, acquired a then five-year-old male named Yelle from a zoo in the Netherlands in exchange for an eight-year-old female. ■
35
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Lifestyle Drivers can be distracted by voice activated smartphones, dashboard infotainment systems BY JOAN LOWY The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Just because you can talk to your car doesn’t mean you should. Two new studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse instead of better. The systems let drivers do things like tune the radio, send a text message or make a phone call while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, but many of these systems are so error-prone or complex that they require more concentration from drivers rather than less, according to studies released Tuesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah. One study examined infotainment systems in some of the most common auto brands on the road: Chevrolet, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai and Mercedes. The second study tested the Apple iPhone’s Siri voice system to navigate, send texts, make Facebook and Twitter posts and use the calendar without handling or looking at the phone. Apple and Google are working with automakers to mesh smartphones with infotainment systems so drivers can bring their apps, navigation and music files into their cars. The voice-activated systems were graded on a distraction scale of 1 to 5, with 1 representing no distraction and 5 comparable to doing complex math problems and word memorization. The systems were tested by 162 university students and other volunteers in three settings: a laboratory, a driving simulator and in cars while driving through a Salt Lake City neighbourhood. Apple’s Siri received the
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
worst rating, 4.14. Twice, test drivers using Siri in a driving simulator rear-ended another car. Chevrolet’s MyLink received the worst rating, 3.7, among the infotainment systems. Infotainment systems from three other automakers — Mercedes, Ford and Chrysler — also were rated more distracting for drivers than simply talking on a hand-held cellphone. “What we continue to see from customers is that they demand this level of technology in their vehicles, that access to music and access to calls is now a critical part of the driving experience and so we’re looking at innovative ways to provide that,” Chevrolet spokeswoman Annalisa Bluhm said. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment. The systems with the worst ratings were those that made
errors even though drivers’ voice commands were clear and distinct, said David Strayer, the University of Utah psychology professor who led the two studies. Drivers had to concentrate on exactly what words they wanted to use and in what order to get the systems to follow their commands, creating a great deal of frustration. For example, an infotainment system might recognize a command to change a radio station to “103.5 FM,” but not “FM 103.5” or simply “103.5,” he said. Siri sometimes garbled text messages or selected wrong phone numbers from personal phonebooks, Strayer said. During one test, Siri called 911 instead of the phone number requested by the volunteer driver and the driver had to scramble to end the call before it went through. Siri found the num-
ber in the driver’s phonebook because the driver had called it once before. “When these systems become more complex, like sending text messages or posting to Facebook, it pushes the workloads to pretty high levels and may be dangerous while driving,” Strayer said. The studies contradict claims by automakers, who have been pitching the voice systems to car buyers as a way they can safely enjoy social media and connectivity. Safety advocates say drivers assume that such systems are safe because they are incorporated into vehicles and are hands-free. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which regulates vehicle safety, has issued guidelines to automakers for dashboard systems and is working on similar guidelines for cellphones and
voice-activated systems, but the guidelines are voluntary. “Infotainment systems are unregulated,” said Deborah Hersman, president of the National Safety Council and former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. “It is like the Wild West, where the most critical safety feature in the vehicle — the driver — is being treated like a guinea pig in human trials with new technologies.” Two of the infotainment systems were rated relatively low for distraction. Toyota’s Entune received a 1.7, the distraction equivalent of listening to an audiobook, and Hyundai’s Blue Link Telematic System received a 2.2. “The good news is that really well-designed systems offer us the possibility to interact in ways that aren’t so distracting,” Strayer said. ■
36
Lifestyle
OCTOBER 10, 2014 FRIDAY
1 in 10 ER patients face lengthy waits for beds, especially seniors: report BY SHERYL UBELACKER The Canadian Press TORONTO — Visiting a hospital emergency department often conjures up an image of hours of cooling one’s heels before being assessed by a doctor, treated and released. For most patients, that process takes long enough 7.5 hours or less on average, says a report released Tuesday. But for the 10 per cent of patients who need to be admitted, those waits can be much longer, with one in 10 of those requiring an in-hospital stay waiting in an emergency department more than 28 hours before getting transferred to a bed. The report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) found seniors are among those with the longest wait times: one-quarter of those aged 65 and older who visit an ER need to be admitted, and one in 10 of them are kept in the emergency department more than 31 hours before getting a bed. “For seniors, they’re more likely to have one or more chronic conditions and other related health issues; they’re more likely to need admission when they do go to the emergency department,” said Greg Webster, director of acute and ambulatory care information services at CIHI. “So that means that there are more seniors in that admitted category that tends to have the longest emergency department waits.” Chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis are more prevalent among older Canadians and often require hospitalization, he said. But the report also found the leading conditions for which people need admis-
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
sion are respiratory conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, heart failure and pneumonia, which can require urgent and often complex care. Reacting to Tuesday’s report, Dr. Alan Drummond of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, or CAEP, suggested it’s shameful that ER patients who are considered sick enough to need admission “have to spend an inordinate amount of time getting inadequate care in the emergency department.” In a 2013 position statement, CAEP set out a number of targets for admission, including a mean time of two hours for most patients to get transferred to a bed, with a maximum of
eight hours for 10 per cent of those needing hospitalization. But as the CIHI report shows, that’s far from the reality. Drummond said patients can spend 12, 24, even 36 hours in the ER waiting to be transferred to a ward or the ICU. “I can promise you that despite the best efforts of nursing staff to keep people comfortable, we don’t do a good job,” he said of hospital ERs. “(Patients) are put in a back hallway, brightly lit. They have no privacy, no toileting facilities. Their basic human needs are unmet, largely because emerg staff are trained to deal with the constant flow of sick people, and so they get poor quality of care, they get inadequate pain management, they
www.canadianinquirer.net
get inadequate administration of appropriate drugs. “They get lousy care. And they suffer.” Drummond, who practises emergency medicine in Perth, Ont., said studies have shown that older patients, especially, who languish on stretchers in the ER can suffer complications due to delayed medical attention. “And we now know and it’s very clear that they have a higher death rate,” he added. The CIHI study, using data from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, analyzed 10 million ER visits, which represents about 60 per cent of all trips made to hospital emergency departments across the country between April 2013 and March 2014.
The report found waits for admission vary by severity: patients who need an operating room or critical care bed have stays in the ER almost three times shorter than those who need a bed in another ward. While there has been some improvement in ER wait times in the last few years, research suggests bed-blocking by patients who don’t require acute care but can’t get into a longterm care facility are leading to backups in hospital emergency departments, said Webster. “That lack of availability is in part seen to be due to a lack of long-term care beds,” he said. “So you have people in in-patient beds who could perhaps be equally well-served and treated in a long-term care bed. “But because they can’t get out to those beds, they’re stuck in hospital and then it takes longer for the patients to get out of the emergency department.” Drummond agreed, saying that overcrowding in the emergency department is a reflection of what goes on in the hospital as a whole. In many hospitals, up to 20 per cent of beds can be occupied by “alternative-level care” patients, who would be better managed in long-term care facilities or in their own homes with community support programs, he said. “Because those beds are occupied, that means people who come to the emergency department who need to be admitted don’t get in, so they occupy stretchers in the emergency department and they also cause backlogs to patients waiting,” said Drummond, calling it a domino effect. “The reality is we need to improve bed capacity, particularly at the time when the population is getting substantially older.” ■
Lifestyle
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
37
Shallow containers best to store leftovers in fridge to prevent bacteria growth BY MEGAN COLE The Canadian Press
Huge study identifies genetic influences over how much coffee people drink BY MALCOLM RITTER The Associated Press NEW YORK — How much coffee do you drink every day? One cup in the morning? Or do you gulp it all day? Scientists have long known that your DNA influences how much java you consume. Now a huge study has identified some genes that may play a role. Their apparent effect is quite small. But variations in such genes may modify coffee’s effect on a person’s health, and so genetic research may help scientists explore that, said Marilyn Cornelis of the Harvard School of Public Health. She led the research. The project analyzed the results of about two dozen previous studies with a combined total of more than 120,000 participants. Those participants had described how much coffee they drink a day, and allowed their DNA to be scanned. The new work looked for minute differences in their DNA that were associated with drinking more or less coffee. Researchers found eight such variants, two of which had already been linked to coffee consumption.
Four of the six new variants implicate genes that are involved with caffeine, either in how the body breaks it down or in its stimulating effects, the researchers said in a paper released Tuesday by the journal Molecular Psychiatry. The two other newly implicated genes were a surprise because there’s no clear biological link to coffee or caffeine, Cornelis said. They are instead involved with cholesterol levels and blood sugar. Marian Neuhouser, a nutrition researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and study coauthor, said identifying genes related to consumption may one day help doctors identify patients who need extra help in cutting down on coffee if recommended. For example, pregnant women are advised to consume only moderate amounts of caffeine because of risk of miscarriage and preterm birth, she said. None of the identified genetic variants was related to how intensely a person tastes coffee, and Cornelis said that surprised her. She doesn’t drink coffee, she said, because she can’t stand the stuff. ■
VICTORIA — Love them or hate them, leftovers have a place in most Canadian kitchens. But they need to be stored correctly to prevent food-borne illnesses. Storing food properly also helps get the longest life out of groceries. “Bacteria occurs naturally in our environment, so all food needs to be handled with respect and common sense,” says Brenda Watson, executive director of Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education. “Anything you cook that ends up as leftovers like casseroles, meat loaf, pork chops or even the lowly baked potato, you want to make sure they are in the refrigerator in a shallow container within two hours of being prepared and cooked,” she said from Kitchener, Ont. An easy method Watson recommends for selecting food storage containers is using your fist to measure the depth. They shouldn’t be deeper than your fist.
“You don’t want to try and chill anything in a deep container because it will be too difficult for that dish to chill quickly. Once it is cool you could put it in something deeper,” she says. In addition to using the correct storage vessel, Watson says it is important not to pack too much in the refrigerator. Allowing good air circulation will make sure the fridge isn’t working too hard to keep the contents cold. Portioning items including produce and seafood is integral to keeping items both fresh and cold. Lino Oliviera, chef at Sabor Restaurant in Edmonton, says putting vegetables like lettuce in small breathable containers will ensure you are able to enjoy them for many days. “Remove the produce from the original packaging, shake it out, loosen it and put some life back into it,” says Oliviera. “Then put it in containers that have space and store them in the coldest part of your fridge.” When unpacking groceries Oliviera advises taking the time to handle, clean and store everything from fruit and veg-
etables to salmon and shrimp. “You handle produce the same way as fish or meat,” he says. “You should handle it right away and remove it from its original packaging, portion it and, with some seafood, even freeze it.” At Sabor Restaurant Oliviera deals with seafood daily, and he takes care of each piece as soon as it arrives to ensure the items he has received are fresh and that they are stored correctly. “We make sure to store it as cold as possible without freezing it,” says Oliviera. “We portion it right away if it is fish and put it in smaller containers so it gets cold quickly.” Even though Sabor doesn’t often freeze its seafood, Oliviera recommends homeowners freeze fish immediately if they aren’t planning to cook it right away. “Seafood keeps really well if it is individually wrapped and frozen,” he says. “I actually advise that for a lot of people, because if seafood is cut up small and wrapped tight and frozen right away, it will be fresher than the fish you have in your fridge for a couple days.” ■
KATHLEENFRANKLIN / FLICKR
www.canadianinquirer.net
38
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Business Postmedia pays $316 million for Sun Media assets as it fights social media BY DAVID FRIEND The Canadian Press TORONTO — Postmedia is bulking up its ammunition against Facebook and Twitter by spending more than $316 million to purchase most of Sun Media, an effort it hopes will help stop the steady erosion of its advertising business. The move will make the owner of the National Post, and a slate of other digital news properties, a significantly larger national media player and allow it to tap further into the struggling newspaper industry as it builds its online network of websites. “We need this scale, and of course time, to be able to compete with the giant foreignowned, digital-only companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, etc.,” Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey said in a news conference on Monday. Buying Quebecor’s Englishlanguage operations puts a lot of options at Postmedia’s disposal, including 175 traditional newspapers and publications, like the Sun chain of dailies, the London Free Press and the 24 Hours dailies in Toronto and Vancouver. Postmedia also pockets valuable real estate that could soon be on the sales block, as it focuses on assets like the Canoe.ca national news website, which is part of the acquired properties. “Digital audiences are unbelievably valuable to this strategic acquisition,” Godfrey said. “Over time, our hope is that Canoe and all of the other related websites may very well become the jewel of the deal.” The sale is subject to approval by the Competition Bureau. However, even with the purchase, Postmedia will still be dwarfed by the reach of its Silicon Valley competitors in the social media world. Google’s advertising division,
for example, allows an advertiser to purchase banner ads that run on thousands of popular websites, as well as video spots featured on YouTube. Facebook and Twitter both sell ads that are seamlessly integrated into each user’s news feeds. Some of the country’s biggest media outlets have complained that advertisers, who were once devoted to buying space on their newspapers and websites, are now taking their money to social media operators because of their more favourable rates and massive reach. Postmedia (TSX:PNC.B) is one of the most aggressive Canadian media companies in the digital space. The company launched a redesigned version of the Ottawa Citizen earlier this year, which included a new look for the newspaper and website as well as new apps for smartphones and tablets. It also expects to redesign most of its other newspapers, except the National Post and Vancouver Province, by next summer. All of these ventures have been expensive and merging its content with the new Sun Media assets will almost certainly cost Postmedia more. The company, however, said it expects to find annual savings of $6 million to $10 million from the Sun Media deal within two years, but did not say where it hopes to economize. Godfrey said the company has been aggressively cutting some business areas to save money, such as centralizing the editorial production of newspaper pages at a facility in Hamilton, Ont., and closing printing plants across the country. Postmedia has also ended the publication of many Sunday newspapers and sold its original headquarters in Toronto. There are no immediate plans for layoffs, though Godfrey didn’t rule them out either. Despite its efforts, Postmedia
Postmedia has purchased Sun Media for $316 million in an effort to fight against the rise of online forms of news consumption. Newspapers and news outlets around the globe are fighting the same battle. PURDMAN1 / FLICKR
is still deep in debt, owing nearly half a billion dollars and posting a loss of $20.6 million in the last quarter. “The newspaper business is pretty much a mug’s game right now, and you have to have awfully deep pockets to make a newspaper work,” said Jeffrey Dvorkin, director of journalism at the University of Toronto Scarborough. “My worry is that stripping out assets from Sun Media might be one way of doing that.” Selling off parts of Sun Media could help Postmedia’s generate cash for its debts. Sun Media owns 34 real estate properties in Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba, which include a Toronto printing plant and a pagination centre in Barrie, Ont., which handles all of its Ontario newspapers. Both are prime candidates to be merged with Postmedia’s existing operations. Sun Media has undergone its own changes in recent years, including the sale of the Toronto Sun’s building in downtown Toronto to a developer, which has
turned it into mixed retail and office space. Quebecor president and chief executive Pierre Dion said the deal comes at a time when the Canadian newspaper business needs consolidation to remain viable and to compete with digital media. “The transaction will also keep Sun Media Corp.’s properties in the hands of a wellestablished Canadian group,” Dion said in a statement. Earlier this year Quebecor (TSX:QBR.B) sold 74 weekly newspapers in Quebec to Transcontinental for $75 million. Quebecor Media still has Le Journal de Montreal, Le Journal de Quebec and the 24 Heures free daily as well as Internet, television, telecommunications and retail operations. Quebecor will retain ownership of Sun News Network, the conservative-angled news channel that has struggled in the ratings, and been the centre of various political controversies. Sun News will licence the rights for its existing logo for a
year before Postmedia requires them to distance it from the Sun newspaper, Godfrey said. Postmedia said the Sun Media acquisition will be financed by issuing an additional $140 million in senior secured notes by Postmedia and a rights offering of subscriptions receipts for shares in the company. The purchase price is subject to a $10-million adjustment related primarily to properties to be sold by Sun Media prior to closing, and other customary adjustments. Postmedia’s largest shareholder, New York-based GoldenTree Asset Management LP, has agreed to a standby agreement to buy any subscription receipts not otherwise subscribed for under the rights offering. GoldenTree has also signed a voting restriction agreement with Postmedia that will limit the number of votes that it will be entitled to cast at any meeting of Postmedia’s shareholders to one-third, less one share, of the total number of outstanding voting rights. ■
Business
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
39
How to stop retirement anxiety syndrome BY BRUCE LOEPPKY DRIVEN BY the aging Baby Boomer demographic, some strong currents are having huge implications for retirement planning in Canada and the U.S. Everything from investment returns, to healthcare, to quality of life will be affected. If you’re not even slightly nervous, then you probably already have a sizeable nest-egg, and a workable retirement plan, including health and care contingencies as you age. But if this doesn’t describe you, then you’re probably suffering from retirement anxiety syndrome. But read on. You might still have time to get on the right track for retirement planning. Aging population
The wave of Baby Boomers who will retire in the next decade may have several negative implications for North America, and this will affect stock markets as well. Primarily, when people decide (or are forced) to retire, they will cease contributions to government coffers and instead start what could be a lengthy period on CPP/OAS while using doctors and all things medical, much more so than in their working years. This impact will be massive as government revenues shrink and expenses increase. If people think wait times for operations are long now, just think to where they could go in 10 to 15 years. Multinational companies
operating in this environment may do okay, because as retirees in their North American markets consume less, they may offset this decline with growth in emerging markets, which have more favourable demographics, so your stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds may still do fine. Note, however, that they will have to do fine, because with interest rates hovering at, and expected to remain at, historic lows, you simply must have money in equities. GICs and bonds may offer a return of only 1%-3%, which isn’t much when inflation and taxation are factored in. In fact, the real return may in fact be a loss, so you would need a massive amount of capital for this strategy to work for longer periods of time. When considering your portfolio, make sure you are diversified by asset class and geography, which will help smooth out the ride. Getting advice helps, because it’s hard to be objective and easy to be emotional when it’s your own money. Plan your retirement
Being optimistic people, we all think we can plan our retirement and decide the day/ month/year to say goodbye to corporate Canada. This would also be when our investments and assets are exactly where we want them to be for our individual comfort levels. The facts tell a different story. According to research done by mutual fund company Fidelity,
50% of retirees leave their jobs early. The reasons are many but include health issues, elimination of a job, and loss of enthusiasm for job. What does this mean for you? It means don’t push off retirement planning until you’re 55, thinking that with kids gone, you can save huge dollars for 10 years. None of us knows what the future will bring, and risks increase as you get into your late 50s. You may only have only three or four years left before retirement is forced on you one way or another. Start early
Start early, even if you’re only adding $100 or $200 a month into an RRSP or TFSA. When life circumstances allow you to increase the amount, do so. Sticking with this strategy will allow compounding to work for you, so at age 55 you will already be sitting on a good-sized nest egg. At that poing you can add the “gravy.” Procrastinate and you increase the risk exponentially that even little bad luck or health problems could have you looking to family and friends to support you, and none of us wants that. Once you get to pre-retirement age, you can look more closely at how much money you will need and when is an opportune time to stop working if you one of the lucky ones who can decide the date. As long as you keep investing (monthly is best) and don’t get overly aggressive or overly conservative, over time you will likely be among the population who are
401KCALCULATOR.ORG
comfortably retired as opposed to just scraping by. Who wants to work 30-plus years to be counting pennies (nickels now) in retirement? If you love to travel and golf, then you will require more assets. If gardening and walking in the park with your dog suit you, then you can get by with less. None of knows what our health will be like in retirement and what the financial implications of poor health may be. Going into long-term care isn’t cheap, especially if it’s for a decade or longer. For many, selling a principal residence could pay for this care if required, providing your spouse isn’t still living in it. Professional planning can help
These are but a few of the many factors involved in this marathon to transition from working full time to either part-time work or comfortable full-time retirement. Inflation, issues with children asking for assistance, investment returns,
family relations and estate issues within that dynamic, your own longevity, and many other factors driven by your personal circumstances will affect how well you fare in retirement. That’s why it’s important to start early, build a plan if you know how, or get professional financial help if you don’t. ■ Bruce Loeppky is a financial advisor based in Surrey, B.C., and a regular contributor to the Fund Library. He can be reached at sloeppky-1@shaw.ca. The foregoing is for general information purposes only and is the opinion of the writer. No guarantee of performance is made or implied. This information is not intended to provide specific personalized advice including, without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice. However, please contact the author to discuss your particular circumstances.
Solid growth for Philippine manufacturing — Moody’s Analytics BY KRIS M. CRISMUNDO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Solid growth for the Philippines’ manufacturing sector will continue, stated Moody’s Analytics, the economic research and analysis division of Moody’s Corporation. Moody’s Analytics has forecasted that the Philippine industrial production for August will expand by 11 percent. “Philippine manufacturing continues to grow solidly. Domestic demand has recovered since last year’s typhoon, and export demand continued to
improve through the third quarter,” Moody’s Analytics said. In an interview last week with Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Export Trade Promotion (DTI-BETP) Director Senen M. Perlada, he said export demand has perked up this year; thus he projected exports revenue to grow beyond the 8.0 percent outlook of the Development Budget Coordinating Council (DBCC). Also last week, Semiconductor and Electronics Industry of the Philippines Inc. (SEIPI) President Dan Lachica adjusted the electronics revenue growth from 5.0 percent to a range of
MICHAEL CAVEN / FLICKR
5.0 to 8.0 percent growth mainly due to robust demand. Further, Moody’s Analaytics www.canadianinquirer.net
also noted that investments of the private sector will continue to back the solid manufacturing
growth. Base on PSA data, industrial production in July expanded by 7.7 percent after growing double-digit for three consecutive months from April to June. The government has continued its support for the manufacturing industry and is targeting for the resurgence of the sector which is expected to deliver decent jobs and will address inclusive growth. In the second quarter of the year, industry -- led by the 10.8 percent manufacturing growth — has fueled the 6.4 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the country. ■
40
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Travel BY PENG PENG AND JACK CHANG The Associated Press ON A cruise more about politics than pleasure, Zhang Jing watched the grey shells of the Paracel Islands emerge from the purple, pre-dawn South China Sea. Cheers erupted on board at the sight of the distant land, and Zhang and the other passengers scurried to take pictures of each other at the railing holding China’s bright red flag. A few miles away, a Chinese navy frigate cruised by silently, part of the country’s continuing watch over the tiny islands it has long claimed as part of its territory. “This is the southern frontier of China,” Zhang, a policeman, said when he had reached one of the islands. “As a Chinese, I feel proud to come here and declare sovereignty.” With the Tangshan resident and 167 other Chinese tourists on board, the ship had travelled more than 200 miles south of Hainan Island off China’s southern coast to what they said was an indisputable outpost of their country. Each had waited months for permission to join the five-day tour, and spent from $1,200 to about $2,000 to visit these barren patches of sand, making do with the bland cabbage and noodles on board and blackouts of cellphone service. The passengers came to celebrate China’s growing power in the region, and to help press its claim to the 130 coral islands and reefs of the Paracels, known to the Chinese as the Xishas. China is locked in disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and other neighbours over much of the strategically crucial South China Sea, which holds important shipping lanes, rich fishing waters and — possibly — billions of barrels of oil. Patriotic tourists have become the region’s latest territorial chess pieces. China has stationed hundreds of troops on the Paracels and even built a massive government headquarters in the
Cruises to disputed islands offer bland food, grey views and a chance to press China’s claims
An aerial view of one of the Xisha islands in the South China Sea. STEVEIKSAN / FLICKR
northern islands, though Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the territory. The tour company that Zhang used visits the southern Paracels. Since starting the tours in May 2013, it has ferried some 3,000 people to the islands, which are no bigger than a square mile. Videographers from The Associated Press were the first foreign journalists to join one of the tours. The cruises are useful to China because under international law, it must prove a civilian and not just a military use for the islands to claim sovereignty, said Kang Lin, a researcher at China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies. “Tourism to Xisha is a very good civilian tool to declare our sovereignty over the islands, and it is supported by international laws,” Kang said. “China will speed up its exploration in the Xisha Islands.”
The dispute has at times become heated, and there are concerns it could escalate. Over the summer, Vietnamese and Chinese boats repeatedly rammed each other in the Spratly Islands, several hundred miles south of the Paracels, after the Chinese moved an oil rig into contested waters. Bernard Loo Fook Weng, a military studies professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said stoking nationalist fervour could backfire on leaders in Beijing if they eventually opt for a more conciliatory approach with China’s neighbours. “Playing the popular card is always potentially dangerous because you may unleash forces you can’t control,” Weng said. “But if the Chinese really want to reinforce its claims to the Paracels and if necessary resort to military force, it helps to get
the population on its side.” Other than the passing navy frigate and a few sailors hitching a ride on the Coconut Princess, the tour group saw few signs of territorial tensions. At dawn on the second day, the ship anchored a few miles off the coast of what the Chinese call Quanfu Island. Later, motorized inflatable boats took the visitors to three different islands where they snorkeled, swam and posed for pictures with their ever-present flags. Chen Junxiang, an environmental agency official from the central Chinese province of Sichuan, donned an oxygen tank and dove among the coral and fish off Yagong Island. He said coming here was a lifelong dream, though he could have taken a more luxurious cruise somewhere else for the same money. “I am here for tourism, but also to declare sovereignty and
advocate for environmental protection,” Chen said. “We really should protect the environment here, otherwise we have nothing to leave for our next generations.” Fisherman Fan Qiusheng waited for the group on the beach of Yingyu Island outside the wood-and-tarp shack where he lives nine months of the year. He and 18 other people are paid to live on the island; he said the central government gives him 1,350 yuan ($220) a month plus food, water, electricity and other supplies. His wife and five children live on Hainan, and he visits them about every two months. “Making money is important, but keeping the islands is also important,” Fan said. “If we don’t live on these islands, other people like the Vietnamese will come and stay here. We are living here, so these islands are our territory.” ■
Travel
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
41
Shinkansen at 50: How Japan’s bullet train revolutionized rail travel, and what’s next BY EMILY WANG AND KEN MORITSUGU The Associated Press TOKYO—It was, retired Japanese railway engineer Fumihiro Araki recalls, “like flying in the sky.” Zipping cross-country in a super-high-speed train has become commonplace in many countries these days, but it was unheard of when Japan launched its bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka 50 years ago Wednesday. The Shinkansen, as it’s called in Japan, gave a boost to train travel in Europe and Asia at a time when the rise of the automobile and the airplane threated to eclipse it. It also was a symbol of pride for Japan, less than two decades after the end of World War II, and a precursor of the economic “miracle” to come. The Oct. 1, 1964, inauguration ceremony was re-enacted at Tokyo Station on Wednesday at 6 a.m., complete with ribbon cutting. The first bullet train, with its almost cute bulbous round nose, travelled from Tokyo to Osaka in four hours, shaving two and a half hours off the 513-kilometre (319-mile) journey. The latest model, with a space-age-
an average speed of 200 kph, according to Railway Gazette. South Korea and Taiwan also operate high-speed systems in Asia. The United States is an exception, though there are proposals to build lines in California and Texas. The fastest train in the U.S., Amtrak’s Acela Express, averages 169 kph (105 mph) on a short stretch between Baltimore and Wilmington, Delaware, the speed survey says. A bullet train (Shinkansen) zooms past Mount Fuji in Japan.
like elongated nose, takes just two hours and 25 minutes. Araki, now 73, drove the Shinkansen briefly in the summer of 1967 as part of his training as a railway operations engineer. Last week, he slipped back in time as he sat in the driver’s seat of one of the early model bullet trains at a railway museum outside of Tokyo. He pulled a lever on the control panel, looking straight ahead as he was trained, though all he could see were other museum exhibits. “It was like flying in the sky, it was that kind of feeling,” said Araki, the acting director of the museum. “On a clear day, you could see Mount Fuji, and riding atop the railway bridge at Hamanako lake was very pleas-
ant. It felt like you were sailing above the sea.”
productive. Now is the best time to open your eyes. Don’t let that best chance step out of your doorstep.
ing a mental note of what needs urgent attention and prioritize what’s on the top list.
Cancer (June 22-July 23) The stars want you to re-assess your goals and priorities. You have been running in a mazelike direction in the past months and now is your chance to turn the arrow to the right corner. The best map is inside you. Ask yourself what you really want to do, set your goals and align your directions to those goals.
Virgo (August 24-September 22) There might be future financial concerns that may need your skill in budgeting your funds and resources. Avoid spending money for things that you really don’t need this week. There will be greater financial challenges in the coming days, so start preparing for it today.
A controversial project
Japan started building a highspeed line during World War II, but construction was halted in 1943 as funds ran out. The idea was revived in the 1950s, but many questioned undertaking such a costly project, particularly with the expansion of air travel and highways. Criticism turned to pride when construction, financed partly by an $80 million World Bank loan, was completed in time for the Tokyo Olympics in October 1964. How fast?
The first Shinkansen had a maximum speed of 210 kilome-
KOSHOOWA / FLICKR
tres (130 miles) per hour. The fastest trains previously, in Europe, could reach 160 kph. Today’s bullet trains, in Japan and elsewhere, have reached and in some cases exceeded 300 kph (186 mph). By average speed, China has the fastest train in the world, averaging 284 kph on a route between Shijiazhuang and Zhengshou Dong, according to a biennial World Speed Survey by Railway Gazette. Europe, Asia, but not the U.S.
The Shinkansen renewed interest in high-speed rail elsewhere, notably in Europe. France and Spain are among the leaders in Europe, and Turkey last year became the ninth country to operate a train at
What’s next
Magnetic levitation. Shanghai launched a German-built maglev train in 2004 on a 30-kilometre route between the city and the airport. It can hit 430 kph (267 mph). A Japanese maglev train in development has topped 500 kph (310 mph) in tests. If built, it could reduce the travel time between Tokyo and Osaka to just over one hour. With speed, though, some of the romance is lost. A faster Shinkansen has eliminated its dining car. “The problem is that Japan is such a small country,” said Araki, the retired engineer. “If you go too fast, you’ll get there in no time. No time to enjoy an onboard meal.” ■ Associated Press writer Noriko Kitano contributed.
HOROSCOPE Aries (March 21-April 19) The absence of patience will create conflict in the coming days. Make sure to load up your sleeve with enough understanding and open-mind to avoid any unnecessary confrontations. Your lucky days will begin with extra tolerance! Taurus (April 20-May 20) Too much emotion has been hampering your ability to make the right choices. This week, your days will be extra lucky if you try to look at things rationally and deal with major decisions using logic and sound reason. Gemini (May 21-June 21) Do not deprive yourself of the chance to grow. You may not know it but you have been missing greater opportunities because of hanging on to something very un-
Leo (July 24-August 23) You will be experiencing time management problems in the coming days. Watch out for heavier deadlines and more demanding tasks and schedules both in the professional and personal aspect of your life. Avoid these problems by keep-
Libra (September 23-October 22) Free yourself from any emotional stress this week by developing that “let go” attitude. Let go of the things you can’t change. Let go of the unnecessary complaints and demands. And most importantly, let go of the grudge that hinders you from the goodness of positivity. www.canadianinquirer.net
Scorpio (October 23November 21)
You need to develop that sense of urgency to keep your professional goals going. You will be faced with loads of work in the coming weeks, so, the best thing to do is speed-up every phase by doubling your efforts. Sagittarius (November 22December 21)
Going out and spending time with friends will be a nice way to take a break on the loads of work in the past weeks. You will be given a chance to meet new faces this week, so go ahead and do not hesitate to welcome them in your circle of friends! Capricorn (December 22January 19)
A make-or-break situation will move you in the days to
come. Your friends may try to influence your decision, but keep in mind that you are the writer of your own story. Aquarius (January 20February 18)
Meeting new friends will work better this week. Go out and socialize with new people. This will help you build the kind of confidence you need in your work. It will also help expand your networks—something you really need to work on. Pisces (February 19-March 20) Do not be moved by the negative notes you’ll be hearing from your family, friends and workmates in the coming days. Take their words as a challenge to improve on your work and your personality. Remember that whatever they say, you still hold the key for change, so change for the better.
42
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
Sports Philippine Sports Commission chief shares Palace’s sentiment over dismal finish of Filipino athletes in Asian Games PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Like Malacanang, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Ritchie Garcia said on Tuesday he is also disappointed over the country’s dismal performance in the recent Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. “I share the sentiment of Malacanang. I’m sure they are disappointed and we are all disappointed,” Garcia said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Shakey's Restaurant in Malate, Manila. Garcia said the PSC will continue with the prioritization program that was personally brought up by President Benigno S. Aquino III. “We will prioritize the sports where we can win. Two years ago we came up with 10 priority sports but we have dropped a few (swimming and weightlifting) because they did not perform in the last SEA Games,” said Garcia. Last Sunday, Malacanang, through Presidential Commu-
The medalists from the Women's 49kg taekwondo event at the 2014 Asian Games (L-R): Li Zhaoyi, China; Chanatip Sonkham, Thailand; Sun Nuei-ning, Chinese Taipei; Levita Ronna Ilao, Philippines. REPUBLIC OF KOREA / FLICKR
nications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., expressed its disappointment over the results of the Incheon Asian Games and called on the PSC to do a better job preparing the athletes. Coloma also reiterated President Aquino’s idea of focusing government resources in sports where Filipinos have greater chances of winning.
Garcia said it is not the PSC’s mandate to train the athletes and prepare them for battle, and that its primary role is only to fund the 52 national sports associations (NSAs). The PSC chief said the athletes are not to blame but called on the various NSAs to look into their program, particularly when it comes to coaching. Following a disappointing
finish in the Incheon Games, Garcia said it is time to look forward to the 2015 SEA Games. The next SEA Games is scheduled in June in Singapore, meaning there’s only eight months left to prepare the Filipino athletes for the biennial competition. Garcia said the Philippines will try its best to redeem itself with a better finish in the SEA
Games. In the last staging of the SEA Games in Myanmar, the Philippines finished seventh overall. It was the lowest finish for the Philippines in the SEA Games. After winning the overall title as hosts in 2005, the Filipinos have dropped to sixth, fifth, sixth and seventh in the succeeding years. “In this SEA Games, we have to focus and really push for a better performance of at least number three or number four,” Garcia said. “It can’t be sixth or seventh,” added Garcia, who served as chef-de-mission of the Philippine delegation to Incheon, where it won only one gold, three silver and 11 bronze medals. It was a disappointing finish for the Philippines which had hoped to win as many as seven gold medals but failed to cash in on favored sports like boxing, taekwondo, bowling wushu and basketball. Daniel Caluag, a Fil-American BMX rider, delivered the lone gold medal for the Philippines. ■
Leaning to the West: Kings, Blackhawks lead power conference in the healthy, happy NHL BY GREG BEACHAM The Associated Press HOCKEY IS a booming business right now. After an attention-grabbing Olympic trip and an exciting post-season for the scandal-free NHL, revenue and television ratings have risen to record levels across a largely healthy, happy league. Yet the NHL ice is tilted decidedly to the West, and the continental divide might even
grow this season. A few months after Chicago and Los Angeles staged an epic conference finals won by the Stanley Cup champion Kings, nearly every team on the Western side of hockey’s unbalanced standings made significant offseason additions to chase the league’s twin post-season powers. Anaheim added Ryan Kesler. Dallas snared Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky. St. Louis signed Paul Stastny. Minnesota
snagged Thomas Vanek. Colorado got Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere. Even Chicago picked up Brad Richards. Only the champs essentially stood pat, daring the West to catch them. “It seems like the West is loading up again,” Kings centre Anze Kopitar said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s going to matter too much what the other teams do. It’s going to matter what we do.” The Blackhawks and the
Kings each have two titles in the last five years, and they’re both the widely considered favourites to play for the Stanley Cup again. But when Los Angeles beat the New York Rangers in five games in the Stanley Cup finals last year, many prognosticators scoffed that five West teams could have beaten any East representative — and the theoretical math appears much the same this fall. The Western Conference has won six of the last eight Cups,
and the two East winners were stretched to a full seven games in the finals. In another indication of the NHL’s health, the league got indirect publicity shortly before training camps with scattered media reports of the league’s plans for another round of expansion. Hockey fans in Seattle, Quebec City, Las Vegas and the Toronto suburbs got understandably excited, even while Commissioner Gary Bettman called the stories bogus. ■
Sports
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
2014 Asian Games Final Standings
43
Final Standings
Philippine Medalists
Daniel Caluag Cycling / BMX Race
➊ CHINA
➋ SOUTH KOREA
➌ JAPAN
Daniel Parantac Wushu / Men's Taijijian/Taijiquan All-Around Jean Claude Saclag Wushu / Men's Sanda -60kg Charly Suarez Boxing / Men's Lightweight
Gold Silver Bronze
151 109 83
79 71 84
47 76 76
TOTAL
343
234
199
Franciso Solis Wushu / Men's Sanda -56kg Paul Marton Dela Cruz Archery / Men's individual compound Levita Ronna Ilao Taekwondo / Women's -49kg Samuel Thomas Harper Morrison Taekwondo / Men's -74kg Mary Anjelay Pelaez Taekwondo / Women's -46kg Benjamin Keith Sembrano Taekwondo / Men's -68kg
Kazakhstan
28
23
33
84
Iran
21
18
18
57
Thailand
12
7
28
47
North Korea
11
11
14
36
India
11
9
37
57
Taiwan
10
18
23
51
Qatar
10
0
4
14
Philippines
1
3
11
15
TOTAL
Kirstie Elaine Alora Taekwondo / Women's -73kg Mark Anthony Barriga Boxing / Men's Light Flyweight Mario Fernandez Boxing / Men's Bantamweight Wilfredo Lopez Boxing / Men's Middleweight Mae Soriano Karate / Women's kumite -55kg
www.canadianinquirer.net
44
Seen and Scenes
OCTOBER 10, 2014
FRIDAY
FIRST OTTAWA INTL. EXPO With the support of the Department of Tourism’s New York Office, the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa showed off Philippine tourist destinations as well as an assortment of Philippine crafts and food products at the First Ottawa International Expo (OIE) – International Food and Drink Soirée on Oct.4, at the Ottawa Convention Centre.
BAMBOO IN CALGARY Bamboo belts out his latest hit songs.
Bamboo with backup singer Yosha Honasan, pianist Ria Osorio, and promoter Evelyn Lopez.
BAMBOO IN EDMONTON Filipino rock music came to life in Edmonton with the recent concert of Bamboo, today’s hottest Philippine rock sensation.
ENVERGA IN VANCOUVER ISLAND Senator Enverga joined other members of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples during fact-finding activities in British Columbia on Oct. 6 to 10. They visited Vancouver Island University and the Tsartlip, Nanoose, We Wai Kai, Ahousaht, Osoyoos, Westbank, and Tk’emlúps First Nations communities.
For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net. www.canadianinquirer.net
Events
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
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 587-7098818 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
YUKON
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
CANADA EVENTS
View all events by scanning this QR code or visiting
http://bit.ly/ PCI-Events
NUNAVUT
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA
45
NEWFOUNDLAND
MANITOBA
SASKATCHEWAN
Free Tagalog Lessons By Philippine Language School WHEN/WHERE: ongoing every Saturday, 2 p.m., at Sprott Shaw College (walking distance from Rupert Station). MORE INFO: Learn conversational Tagalog for free. Course will lead to regular Tagalog curriculum from K-12 in 2015. Call 694-551-3360 or 778-239-0500. 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. 4th World Poetry Canada Intl. Peace Festival By World Poetry Reading Series Society WHEN/WHERE: up to Oct. 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. Fright Nites at PNE By Playland at the PNE WHEN/WHERE: Oct. 10 to Nov. 1 at East Hastings and Windermere Sts. Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: For ticketing-related questions, please call TicketOps at 1-888-236-2947 or email help@ticketops.ca. 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
ONTARIO
QUEBEC
Jed Madela 10th Anniversary Tour 2014 By TFC, Mabuhay Enterprise, LP Larawan Photography, VFCCA WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., Oct. 11, Mary Winspear Centre, 2243 Beacon Ave., Sidney, B.C. MORE INFO: For tickets, call Annette (250)5159599; Mai (250)884-2497; Helen (250)580-4205. October Fest Dinner & Dance By Negrenses Association of B.C. WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m. to 12 midnight, Oct. 11, at St. Patrick’s Hall, 2881 Main St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Tickets at $25/pax. Proceeds go to medical missions in Negros Occidental. 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, Oct. 11 @ St. Patrick’s Gymnasium 140 W. 11th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call Angie Igonia @ 604-879-3277 Food Skills for Filipino Families By Little Mountain Neighbourhood House (LMNH) and Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) WHEN/WHERE: (afternoon) Oct 11 and 25, LMNH, 3981 Main St. Vancouver, B.C. www.canadianinquirer.net
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. Restaurants for Change By Community Food Centres WHEN/WHERE: Oct. 22, participating restaurants include: Buca, Edulis, Jacob’s Steakhouse, Richmond Station, Ruby Watchco, The Drake 150, The Saint Tavern, THR+Co, Bar Buca, Buca Yorkville all in Toronto. MORE INFO: 25 restaurants in nine cities will join together in donating the proceeds from one dinner service to Community Food Centres Canada. Funds raised will support local Community Food Centres and other partners to offer programs that bring people together to grow, cook, share and advocate for good food for all. For the full list of participating restaurants, visit www.restaurantsforchange.ca Star Magic’s One Magical Night By Berce Enterprises WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m., Oct. 24 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Exhibition Place 190 Princes’ Blvd., Toronto, On. MORE INFO: Call Neneng @ 647-401-5818; Rene @ 647-995-1746; Clarisse @ 416-9398594
To have your events featured on PCI, please email events@canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
46
CANADA
AD SALES The Philippine Canadian Inquirer—Canada’s first and only nationwide Filipino-Canadian newspaper, is looking for dynamic sales executives from Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. Each sales executive must be a dynamic self starter who will treat this opportunity as their own exclusive business with the potential to earn serious money. That’s just Step 1. Wait till you hear about Step 2.
Be part of an amazing in-store team!
Interested? Send us your resume now and let’s change your life!
We are currently recruiting for Sales Associate and Customer Service Representative to join us in Promenade, Toronto.
Email your resume to info@canadianinquirer.net
We’re looking for confident, sales and customer service oriented team players with: · Passion for telecom products and services · High standards of customer service · Excellent English communication skills · Previous retail experience You will be responsible for: In return, we will provide you with: · Selling long distance, · Professional sales training homephone, Filipino TV · Ideal pay package with channels commission and incentive · Providing an opportunities* exceptional customer · Career growth with service experience internal promotional · Sharing product opportunities knowledge information · Flexible hours
3 3 3 3 3
Interested candidates please submit your resume with cover letter to hr@timestelecom.ca.
Save Cash More Exposure New Customers Get A Competitive Edge Enhance Your Lifestyle Does this appeal to you? Contact us today to learn more: 604.759.3223 info@barterfirst.com www.barterfirst.com
www.canadianinquirer.net
VISIT
ONLINE! Scan this QR code
47
FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2014
www.canadianinquirer.net
48
OCTOBER 10, 2014
www.canadianinquirer.net
FRIDAY