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Double security reflect sore spot in PH, US relations
Palace: Binay's feud is with solons, not us
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Murder suspect transferred to Philippine camp, guarded by fellow US Marines after deal reached BY JIM GOMEZ The Associated Press
LIKE ITS OWNERSHIP, the so-called Binay estate is a labyrinth of pathways leading and misleading there and everywhere. This is the central part of
the maze garden in the 350-hectare property in Rosario town, Batangas province, that former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado says belongs to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who has vehemently denied ownership. Mercado says the maze garden is patterned after but larger than the Kew Gardens in London which was developed and used for members of British royalty. RAFFY LERMA
Tiu warned he faces possible plunder charges BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer BUSINESSMAN ANTONIO Tiu could face charges in court if he fails to prove that he really owns the immense farm in Batangas province that witnesses have claimed is actually owned by Vice President Jejomar Binay, according to Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
“It can be as simple as obstruction of justice, but it can be as complicated as plunder,” Cayetano told reporters this week. Cayetano said Tiu could be either covering up for Binay as the owner of the farm in Rosario, Batangas, or is himself part of a possible plunder operation.
❱❱ PAGE 9 Murder suspect
Philippine Canadian Inquirer
Tatay Tom receives Paul Yuzyk Award ❱❱ PAGE 28
❱❱ PAGE 13 Tiu warned
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A U.S. Marine suspected in the gruesome killing of a transgender Filipino was flown last Wednesday from his warship to the Philippine military’s main camp, where he will continue to be guarded by fellow Marines, in a compromise that eased a looming irritant over his custody. The emotional case involving Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton and Jennifer Laude, whose former name was Jeffrey, came as the Philippines and the United States were strengthening ties with the
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President Benigno S. Aquino III, speaking at a forum with foreign correspondents last Wednesday, said the Philippines is seeking an internationally recognized settlement of the disputes in the South China Sea. RYAN LIM / MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU
Philippine president says arbitration is only peaceful way to settle sea dispute with China BY OLIVER TEVES The Associated Press MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Philippine president said last Wednesday that the international arbitration Manila has initiated to challenge China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea and a legally binding “Code of Conduct” are the only ways to settle the long-raging disputes peacefully. The Philippines says that China has been intruding into its exclusive economic zone, including deploying two hydrographic ships in June near an offshore oil well inside Philippine waters. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has said Manila is uncertain of the purpose of the ships’ presence at the Reed Bank. Aquino said that Chinese reclaimed land in the disputed waters, if used militarily, could be a “game changer” in the future settlement of the dispute. Countries in the region and those that use the busy sea lanes that straddle the South China Sea and the disputed Spratly island chain are concerned that the conflict could erupt into violent clashes. Speaking at a forum with foreign correspondents, Aquino said the Philippines is seeking an internationally recognized settlement of the disputes. “This affects not just countries in the region, but countries that have to traverse this particular ocean,” he said. Manila has filed a case with an international tribunal in The Hague challenging China’s territorial claims over most of the South China Sea, but Beijing has refused to take part. The Philippines and some other countries in the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are pushing for the approval of a legally binding Code of Conduct to replace the non-binding 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. “Beyond that, I don’t know what else we could do,” Aquino said. “The focus is to achieve a solution through peaceful means bound by international law.” China has said that the Philippines’ filing of the case could damage relations between the two countries and that it would prefer to settle the dispute bilaterally. Aquino said Chinese actions in the South China Sea were “not in conformity” with the 2002 agreement signed by Beijing and ASEAN calling on all claimants over parts or the whole of the regional waters not to exacerbate their dispute. “We have issues about the reclamations, about rocks, in so far as rocks being turned into islands,” he said, referring to Chinese land reclamations in at least three shoals claimed by both China and the Philippines. “Is it a game changer? Obviously it’s a game changer,” he said in response to a question on whether the reclaimed land could be used to install military facilities such as an airstrip, posing a security threat to the Philippines. China’s conflicts with Vietnam and the Philippines have been intensifying over the past two years. The most serious confrontation was in May between Chinese and Vietnamese ships near an oil rig deployed by Beijing in waters claimed by Hanoi. Aside from China, the Philippines and Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims in the South China Sea. ■
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2 rings of security 1 US, 1 Filipino around arrested Marine reflect sore spot in relations BY JIM GOMEZ The Associated Press
has been shaped over the decades by war, terrorism and now, jitters over China’s rise:
MANILA, PHILIPPINES— American forces are guarding Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, yet a ring of Filipino troops surrounds them. The seemingly redundant security effort around the suspect in aPhilippine murder case reflects Manila’s uneasy ties with Washington, its former colonial master. Pemberton, 19, is accused of killing Jennifer Laude, a 26-year-old transgender Filipino, in a motel room Oct. 11 in the city of Olongapo. He was initially held on a U.S. Navy warship at the Subic Bay Freeport, northwest of Manila, but on Wednesday he was transferred to the Philippine military’s main camp, where Filipino troops and two of his fellow Marines continue to guard him. Here are some questions and answers about the tensions that result when U.S. troops are accused of serious crimes in the Philippines, whose love-hate relationship with Washington
Q: What are the rules when a U.S. Service member is accused of a crime in the Philippines? A: Under the Visiting Forces Agreement, which the treaty allies signed in 1998, the Philippines can prosecute U.S. troops accused of crimes there. But the accord grants the U.S. custody over those troops “from the commission of the offence until completion of all judicial proceedings.” Left-wing groups and nationalists have demanded that the Philippine government take immediate custody of Pemberton, saying Americans continue to impinge on their country’s sovereignty nearly 70 years after it gained independence. In a compromise between the two countries, the U.S. transferred Pemberton to Philippine soil but continues to guard him and officially has not given up custody. Q: How did the agreement come about?
Philippine army Lt. Col. Henry Bellan, left, and U.S. Army Lt. Col. John Garrity bury a time capsule during the construction of a footbridge in San Narciso, Zambales, Balikatan. MC1 CHRIS FAHEY / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A: After World War II, the U.S. maintained huge military bases in the Philippines for nearly a half-century, but those were shuttered in the early 1990s amid rising nationalism,
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virtually freezing military ties. China’s 1995 seizure of a contested reef, however, prompted Manila to reach out to Washington again. Three years later, the allies signed the Visiting Forces Agreement, allowing large-scale military exercises to resume in the country. It also gave the Philippines a clear right to prosecute U.S. troops who commit crimes, something it lacked previously. Territorial disputes continue to simmer between China and the Philippines over islands in the South China Sea, and occasionally spark direct confrontations. In April, Manila and Washington signed a 10-year defence accord that will give American forces greater access to Philippine military camps. With its anemic military, the Philippines aims to bolster ties with the U.S. to try to deter China. Washington, meanwhile, is strengthening its military in Asia after years of heavy engagement in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Q: What role has the visiting forces agreement played in past cases? A: The highest-profile, and to many Filipinos most infamous, case was against Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who was found guilty and sentenced to life in
prison on charges of raping a Filipino woman in 2005. He was held at the U.S. Embassy in Manila until a Philippine appeals court overturned his conviction in 2009, allowing him to leave the country amid antiU.S. protests. In 2009, then-U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney advised Washington about the dilemma Smith’s case created. “It is imperative that we recognize that more than a legal case, the accusation against L. Cpl. Smith struck at the very heart of Philippine historical animus toward its colonial past,” Kenney wrote in a confidential diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks. “For the last three years, no story … matched the headlines in column inches devoted to the sordid details” of his case, she wrote. With Philippine officials dead set against a repeat of the circumstances of the Smith case, they reached a deal with the U.S. that allows both sides to say they have control over Pemberton. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Wednesday that Washington “is fully aware that for the Philippine government, it will be totally unacceptable for them to detain Pemberton within the premises of the U.S. Embassy, as was done in the Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith case.” Q: How else does history affect the U.S. military’s relationship with the Philippines? A: America’s foray into the Philippines started when it defeated the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898, ending more than three centuries of Spanish colonization. But the Philippines was ceded shortly after to the United States and only gained independence in 1946, a colonization that was disrupted by the Japanese imperial army’s invasion. Following U.S. forces’ exit and return in the 1990s, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks brought the two militaries closer. Filipino officials allowed hundreds of American counterterrorism troops to train Filipino ❱❱ PAGE 14 2 rings of
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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.
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Philippine News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Palace: Binay’s feud is with solons, not us BY CHRISTIAN V. ESGUERRA AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer
solutions to these problems, they chose to advance their own interests by destroying my name and those of my loved ones,” he said.
IN DEFENDING himself against allegations of corruption, Vice President Jejomar Binay is attacking administration lawmakers, not President Aquino, Malacañang said last week. Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, who is identified with the Binay faction in the Palace, made the distinction clear, but did not comment when asked whether the Vice President should finally show his “true colors.” Binay, who has long disclosed his plan to run for President in 2016, is under Senate investigation for alleged corruption when he was mayor of Makati City. He has denied the charges, saying they are politically motivated, and called the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee that is looking into the allegations a “kangaroo court.” President Aquino’s allies have criticized him for choosing to stay with the administration but attacking it in defending himself against the corruption charges. Binay’s latest offensive came on Saturday at a Lions Club gathering at the Manila Hotel where, in a speech, he criticized Mr. Aquino’s allies in the Senate for wasting time by investigating “recycled” charges against him instead of dealing with the country’s pressing problems. “There is a power crisis, the rising prices of oil and other commodities, the rampant crime plaguing the country, the hellish traffic jams, unsafe MRT and LRT, the recurrent flooding and the wrath of nature that we must all prepare for,” he said. “But instead of giving all their time and thoughts to achieve
P-Noy not target
Apparently referring to the INQUIRER report, Coloma said Binay was not speaking against the President but against “administration allies in the Senate who have mounted an inquiry into alleged corruption in Makati during his term as Makati mayor.” “Since the subject of the newspaper story was the issue between Vice President Binay and the legislators he was referring to, we have nothing more to add,” Coloma said on staterun radio. The Senate blue ribbon subcommittee has invited Binay to the inquiry to air his side on the accusations against him, but he has rejected the invitation and his camp has said he preferred to bring the issue “directly to the people.” Instead of facing the charges against him in the Senate, Binay has also challenged Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who had filed the resolution seeking an inquiry into the allegations against the Vice President, to a debate. Challenge accepted
Trillanes accepted the challenge and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas is now arranging the debate with its member stations. The Palace welcomed the debate, saying it was part of a “healthy democracy.” “Let the discussions that will give our people additional knowledge take place,” Coloma said. Reacting to Binay’s speech to the members of the Lions Club District 301-D2 on Saturday night, Trillanes yesterday said the Vice President was trying
to divert public attention from the inquiry into the mounting charges against him. “The attacks are just attempts of VP Binay to misdirect or divert public attention from corruption allegations against him. While the issues may be valid, the timing is suspect,” Trillanes said in a text message. Issues remain unexplained
For Sen. Francis Escudero, going on such an offensive still does not explain the issues hounding Binay. Speaking on dzBB radio, Escudero said Binay was only human and likely hurting from the allegations coming from former Makati officials. He may have been advised that the best defense is a good offense, Escudero said. “The problem with such a defense is the issue is still not explained, the controversy is not cleared up and the many questions remain unanswered,” Escudero said. Among the charges against Binay is overpricing in the construction of the P2.28-billion Makati City Hall Building II, taking kickbacks from municipal infrastructure projects, and using dummies to conceal his ownership of an 8,877-squaremeter real estate property in Comembo village in Makati and a 350-hectare farm in Rosario town, Batangas province. Binay and his press officers insist the charges are aimed at derailing his plan to run for the presidency in the 2016 elections. Styling himself as a servant of the poor, Binay has also called the Senate inquiry a plot by the rich to prevent a man from low beginnings like him from attaining the highest office in the land. Committee invitation
Escudero reiterated his sup-
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Vice President Jejomar Binay.
port for the Senate move to invite Binay to respond to the allegations against him, saying it was the legislature’s obligation to give him the chance to defend himself. The blue ribbon committee has accepted the Binay camp’s condition that the invitation should come from the mother committee and not from the subcommittee conducting the inquiry. The chair of the committee, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, has said he would send an invitation to Binay. If Binay thinks the allegations will not affect him, he can ignore them, Escudero said. But if he believes the charges affect his numbers, he should study what he should do next, he added. As to whether Binay should leave the Aquino Cabinet, Escudero said the decision should be left to the Vice President or to the President. At this point, he said, both seem to want to continue working together. Trillanes, who earlier said Binay should resign from the Cabinet if he disagreed with the administration’s policies, said he would not rule out the possibility that the Vice President, after his speech on Sat-
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
urday, would try to appease Mr. Aquino by saying the President wasn’t his target. “VP Binay is truly a politician of the worst kind,” Trillanes said. He also said he believed Binay had plans to go on a “massive propaganda campaign” employing media and public relations operations to respond to the allegations against him. Pretending to be poor
In an interview on dzBB, Trillanes criticized Binay for trying to paint his crisis as an issue between the rich and the poor. He said Binay was wealthier than he, and the Vice President’s son had an elevator in his house. But Binay likes to pretend he’s one of the poor, Trillanes said. “You’re fooling the people again. You’re pretending to be poor, but you’re living like a king in Hacienda Binay,” he said. Trillanes said that at the next hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, evidence would be presented to show that Binay owned the farm in Batangas. He said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano would present the evidence. ■
Philippine News
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OCTOBER 31, 2014 FRIDAY
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Experts are worried that crowded cities and poor health care systems in major Asian cities will make it difficult to contain the Ebola virus, should it spread there. SUSANA SECRETARIAT / FLICKR
Is Asia prepared for Ebola? Crowded cities, poor health care systems worry experts BY CHRIS BRUMMITT The Associated Press
outbreak of the disease with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There have also been cases in three other West African countries, Spain and the United States. Early symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, body aches, cough, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, and patients aren’t contagious until those begin. The virus requires close contact with body fluids to spread so health care workers and family members caring for loved ones are most at risk. Asia, home to 60 per cent of the
countries, but doesn’t know how it will pay for that, said spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy. “The DOH is doing its part, but it SINGAPORE — The longer the Ebola is downstream, it is on the receiving outbreak rages in West Africa, the greatend,” said Dr. Antony Leachon, presier chance a traveller infected with the dent of the Philippine College of Physivirus touches down in an Asian city. cians. “What is important is that Ebola How quickly any case is detected — shouldn’t be able to enter. Since we have and the measures taken once it is — will 10 million migrant workers, we have determine whether the virus takes hold problems containing that.” in a region where billions live in povIndonesia has put 100 hospitals that erty and public health systems are often have experience of treating patients sufvery weak. Governments are ramping fering from bird flu on standby for Eboup response plans, la, said Tjandra Yoga stepping up surveilAditama, head of the lance at airports and Health Ministry’s reconsidering quaransearch and developtine measures. Still, This is a non-treatable disease with a very high ment board. health experts in the mortality rate. And even a country like the The only way of enregion’s less develUnited States has not been able to suring that the virus oped countries fear completely prevent it. doesn’t spread into a any outbreak would country is enforced be deadly and hard to quarantine for peocontain. world’s population, scores higher than ple coming from countries with an out“This is a non-treatable disease with West Africa on most development in- break or — even more effective — a total a very high mortality rate. And even a dexes and includes emerging or devel- travel ban. But those measures would country like the United States has not oped countries like Singapore, Malaysia, mean that doctors and other experts trybeen able to completely prevent it,” said South Korea and Japan. But countries ing to beat the virus at its source in West Yatin Mehta, a critical care specialist like India, China, the Philippines and Africa would be less willing or unable to at the Medanta Medicity hospital near Indonesia have vast numbers of poor, help, making the outbreak worse. New Delhi. “The government is trying. many of whom live in crowded slums, Airports in Asia have stepped up their They are preparing and they are train- and underfunded health systems. defences: screening passengers who ing, but our record of disaster manageThe Philippine government estimates have travelled from affected countries, ment has been very poor in the past.” there are up to 1,700 Filipino workers in taking any with high temperature for More than 10,000 people have been Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, plus observation and trying to keep contact infected with Ebola and nearly half of more than 100 peacekeeping troops them with for 21 days — the incubation them have died, according to the World in Liberia. The Department of Health period. Even assuming these measures Health Organization. The Ebola epi- is suggesting a 21-day quarantine pedemic in West Africa is the largest ever riod before its citizens leave those three ❱❱ PAGE 22 Is Asia www.canadianinquirer.net
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Murder suspect... recent signing of a defence accord that allows greater U.S. access to Philippine military camps. The accord would help Washington’s bid to reassert its presence in Asia and Manila to deter what it calls China’s aggressive moves to reinforce its claims in contested South China Sea territories. Left-wing activists and nationalist Filipinos have cited the custody provision of the accord — which says American military suspects shall remain in U.S. custody until legal processes are completed — as proof that the accord undermines the sovereignty of the Philippines, which was an American colony until 1946. Pemberton’s transfer by helicopter to Manila was agreed by the U.S. and the Philippines, military chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told a news conference. The 19-year-old Marine, who arrived in handcuffs, was detained in an air-conditioned container van with grilled windows, directly guarded by ❰❰ 1
U.S. Marines while Philippine military police will be posted outside the fenced compound, Catapang said. President Benigno Aquino III welcomed the U.S. decision to transfer the suspect, telling a news forum with foreign correspondents that the Americans “are responding to our needs and our sensitivities.” Appearing before a Senate foreign relations committee hearing on Laude’s killing, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the Philippine government would never have agreed if U.S. officials decided to detain Pemberton at the American embassy in Manila, where a Marine rape suspect was held years ago, describing such a prospect as “totally unacceptable.” Hours after the U.S. Marine’s transfer, Laude’s mother, two sisters, German boyfriend and the family’s lawyer — trailed by a throng of journalists and TV cameramen — managed to come close to the military camp compound, where Pemberton was being held, and demanded
Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton.
that they be let in. “This is the family of the woman he killed. Come here,” family lawyer Harry Roque yelled from outside the locked gate. “Mr. American, how come you haven’t even condoled?” When the Filipino guards refused to open the gate, one of Laude’s sisters and German boyfriend climbed over the fence into the compound but were prevented by the guards from getting close to Pemberton’s van a few meters away. Other military officials arrived and Laude’s family and lawyer later left.
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While the suspect has been moved to a Philippine camp, he remains in U.S. custody, the U.S. Marine Corps said, citing the Visiting Forces Agreement, which stipulates treatment of American military personnel suspected of breaking law. The Marine Corps takes allegations of illegal acts by its forces seriously, Marine Corps Pacific spokesman Col. Brad Bartelt said, but added: “It is important to remember that anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.” U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry said Monday that Washington seeks no special privilege for the suspect but only protection of his rights. Philippine and U.S. authorities engaged in a high-profile custody battle over another U.S. Marine, Daniel Smith, who was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison on charges of raping a Filipino woman in 2005. A Philippine appeals court overturned his conviction in 2009, allowing him to leave the country amid anti-U.S. protests. In the latest case, Philippine police and witnesses said Pemberton and Laude, 26, met at a disco bar in Olongapo city on Oct. 11, then went to a motel room where Laude’s body was later found. She had apparently been drowned in the toilet bowl. The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu, where Pemberton initially was detained, had been ordered to stay in Subic during the investigation. But on Wednesday, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Locklear cleared the Peleliu to leave the Philippines. ■
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OCTOBER 31, 2014 FRIDAY
Philippines, US want Visiting Forces Agreement to work, not amend it BY TJ BURGONIO AND CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES and the United States are not amenable to renegotiating the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said this week amid angry calls for the revision or abrogation of the bilateral deal following the killing of a transgender Filipino allegedly by a US Marine two weeks ago. Del Rosario told a Senate hearing that both parties had been reviewing the VFA, including its touchy provisions for jurisdiction and custody, long before the gruesome killing of Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude on Oct. 11. But the review did not reach the level of “negotiation,” Del Rosario said. “I’m not sure the US would agree [to an amendment],” he said in reply to a question from Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the finance subcommittee conducting hearings on the budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for 2015. Del Rosario later told reporters that both parties were not amenable to renegotiating the 1999 agreement, and were more interested in making it work. The VFA governs the conduct of US forces while visiting the Philippines for joint exercises with Filipino troops. “We’re looking at the smooth implementation of the [agreement]. At this time, we’re not for renegotiation because if there is a material change, then we have to resubmit the whole thing ... to the Senate,” he said. ‘As it is’
US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg said the VFA should be applied “as it is” in the case of Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton of the US Marine Corps, the suspect in the killing of Laude. Speaking to reporters as groups demanding justice for Laude picketed the US Embassy in Manila, Goldberg said revisiting the VFA “should not be done in the middle of something that we have to handle through the rule of law.”
President Benigno S. Aquino III observes the re-enactment presentation during the 70th Anniversary of the Leyte Gulf Landing at the MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park in Candahug, Palo, Leyte on Monday October 20. The killing of a transgender Filipino by a U.S. Marine two weeks ago has both the Philippines and the US giving a close examination of their legal relationships to each other. GIL NARTEA / MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU
Goldberg was reacting to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s statement on Thursday that the government was drafting implementation guidelines that would deal with ambiguities in the text of the VFA, such as custody of US servicemen involved in crimes in the Philippines. US and Philippine foreign and military officials have been engaged in talks “over time” to clarify VFA provisions, Goldberg said. He said any suggestions for clarification needed to be mutually agreed upon by the two countries so that these would “suit both our interests and objectives.” “But I think we should separate that from the current situation. The current situation is that we have to apply VFA as it is and we have enough clarity in the step under VFA,” he said.
For instance, he said, custody of a suspect goes to the United States, while jurisdiction goes to the Philippines. “We have to follow the VFA at the moment,” he said. Rule of law to prevail
Goldberg gave assurance that both the United States and the Philippines would make sure the rule of law would prevail in Pemberton’s case. He said the United States “went beyond” its obligations under the VFA by allowing Pemberton to be moved to “Philippine sovereign soil,” referring to the Marine’s transfer from his warship, the USS Peleliu, to the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday. “We also did it in a way sympathetic to public opinion here, www.canadianinquirer.net
that is sympathetic to the government and the judicial process here, assuring people here that the suspect will be here for the length of hearings, and possibly, if it comes to that, a trial,” Goldberg said. Goldberg reiterated that Pemberton remained under US custody, and dismissed talks that the Marine was being accorded special treatment at the Joint US Military Assistance Group (Jusmag) compound in Camp Aguinaldo, where he is held in a 28-cubic-meter freight container that has been converted into an air-conditioned detention cell. Justice for Laude
“We are interested in justice for Jennifer Laude, for her family and her friends, and for the Filipino public. But we must also protect the rights of a suspect at this point,” Goldberg
said. Also “out of respect for the sentiments of Filipinos,” Goldberg said, the United States did not allow liberty time for the 5,500-strong crew of the USS George Washington, which made an overnight call in Manila on Thursday. The Nimitzclass aircraft carrier left yesterday. On calls for the abrogation of the VFA, Goldberg said the United States did not think the agreement should be scrapped, as it was important to the two countries’ mutual security as well as to conducting joint exercises. Goldberg noted that President Aquino himself has said he is opposed to junking the VFA. VFA review
He said he did not want to get involved in a political debate on
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
the abrogation of the VFA because “that’s your debate.” In the Senate, Del Rosario said the DFA and US government officials had been reviewing the VFA “in its entirety” since last year, with a view to fine-tuning it. “I think the level of consultation now is not negotiations. It’s a review by both parties,” he said when asked by Legarda if the agreement could be amended. Del Rosario expressed doubt that the United States would agree to an amendment. The review covered “sticking points” such as jurisdiction, custody and official duty, he told reporters later. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, civil society groups and transgender groups have called for the termination of the VFA because of its onerous provisions. Santiago has argued that the provisions for jurisdiction and custody tend to favor the United States. Del Rosario assured critics that Pemberton is not a flight risk, as the United States has vowed to cooperate with the Philippines to make the VFA work in the Marine’s case. “You can be sure that he will
not leave the country, and you can be [sure], the VFA ... we intend to show the public that it works, and that justice will be served,” he told the subcommittee.
“Jurisdiction is proceeding with the legal process. Jurisdiction lies with the Philippines. And custody, everywhere you go, there is a difference in terms of how men in uniform are treated worldwide. Even in the Philippines, Philippine [soldiers] are treated differently. So custody is in accordance with the VFA. Legal custody remains with the United States,” he said.
raping a Filipino woman in 2005 but was freed after the victim recanted her accusation. “As an offshoot of that, we needed talks, further negotiations on the proper interpretation of those provisions under PH will seek custody the VFA,” De Lima said. Del Rosario reiterated that “The VFA has been around the Philippine government for a long time, but there are no will seek custody of Pemberton [implementation] guidelines. once the charges are filed and a So [we need that] to be clear in warrant for his arrest is issued. the implementation. It’s just He explained unfortunate that that the govern[this happened],” ment did not ask she said, referfor custody afring to the killing ter Laude’s killThe problem with drafting new of Laude. ing because the [implementation] guidelines is that De Lima deUnited States it gives Washington the opportunity clined to comhad already takto sneak in new provisions and ment on calls for en custody of interpretations that are favorable the abrogation of Pemberton. [to] them. the VFA, saying “Technically decision on the speaking, we did matter belonged not ask because to higher authorthe US already had custody of Offshoot of Smith case ities. Pemberton. We also did not ask At the Department of Justice, “What I’m only confirming for custody at this particular De Lima told reporters that right now is that [the Philiptime because he has not been the review of the VFA for the pines and the United States] are charged,” he said. preparation of implementation talking about [implementation Once charged, “wewill for- guidelines had been going on guidelines],” she said. mally ask, and we said to them for a year. Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon already we would be asking,” he She said talks started after said De Lima should recomadded. the controversy involving cus- mend the termination of the Del Rosario made a distinc- tody of another US Marine, VFA. tion between jurisdiction and Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, who “The problem with drafting custody. was convicted on charges of new [implementation] guide-
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11 lines is that it gives Washington the opportunity to sneak in new provisions and interpretations that are favorable [to] them,” Ridon said in a statement. “What’s more dangerous in Secretary De Lima’s proposal is that it opens an opportunity for the US to further undermine our sovereignty through the expansion of VFA coverage,” he said. ‘One-sided love affair’
In a separate statement, Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian said the VFA is a “one-sided love affair” between the Philippines, which ratified it, and the United States, which did not. “It’s like an American national promising to marry his Filipin[o] girlfriend on condition that the [girlfriend] help pay his debts in the US. And after everything has been settled, the American will tell his Filipin[o] bride to forget about the wedding and they just live together as common-law spouses,” he said. “This is clearly a one-sided love affair since the [Filipino woman] is willing to do everything to show her love, while her American boyfriend takes everything for granted,” Gatchalian said. ■
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OCTOBER 31, 2014 FRIDAY
Clark airport authorities coordinate with DOH in preparing against Ebola threat BY AZER N. PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC), in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), has begun implementing strict monitoring measures to prevent the possible entry of the deadly Ebola virus disease through the Clark International Airport (CRK) in Pampanga. CIAC President and CEO Atty. Emigdio Tanjuatco III said on Monday they already directed the CIAC emergency response personnel to coordinate with the DOH and the Bureau of Quarantine in the preparations against the Ebola threat. “The safety of the passengers and of the country from the threat posed by the deadly Ebola disease is of utmost importance. We must prevent it from entering our country through strict monitoring,” Tanjuatco said in a statement. “Although the Clark airport has no direct flights from the West African region, we will still implement preventive measures to ensure the disease does not make its way into the Philippines through passengers suspected to have been exposed
to the Ebola virus,” he added. Clark has no airline with direct flights coming from Ebolaplagued countries. However, its thermal scanner operates 24 hours a day as part of the strict monitoring of arriving passengers. CIAC Vice President for Airport Operations Management Group Reynaldo Catacutan, meanwhile, assured that measures are being undertaken by CIAC, DOH and Quarantine personnel to monitor any passenger suspected to be afflicted with Ebola. Once a passenger is suspected of having the disease, the Emergency Response Team will restrict the patient in an isolation facility at the aviation area while awaiting transfer to the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Hospital in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. Catacutan said that all personnel composing the emergency response team will be provided with personal protective equipment to protect them from contamination. He also said that the Bureau of Quarantine has already been distributing a health checklist to passengers arriving at the Clark airport as part of the awareness campaign for Ebola. ■
‘Medical cannabis better than some analgesics’ —former DOH secretary BY TESSA R. SALAZAR Philippine Daily Inquirer LAST WEEK, several medical associations expressed their resistance to House Bill No. 4477, or the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Bill authored by Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III. These medical associations declared that the bill ran “contrary to the policy of the state to safeguard the wellbeing of its citizenry, particularly the youth, from the harmful effects of dangerous drugs,” and that opposing the bill would be part of their “moral and ethical responsibility” to ensure the safety of their patients. However, some medical experts would beg to disagree. Former health secretary Jaime Z. Galvez Tan, MD, MPH, said during the Sept. 29 launch of the book “The Best 100 Philippine Medicinal Plants” he coauthored with Dr. Isidro C. Sia, MD, PhD, that he would support more intensive medicinal cannabis research before passing judgment on the banned plant commonly known as marijuana. Keen interest
INQUIRER Science/Health asked Galvez Tan if the cannabis plant would be included in the next editions of his book. He revealed that he has expressed a keen interest on studying the plant. “While there are many synthetic drugs available for chronic pain, for patients in search of natural sources of relief from www.canadianinquirer.net
persistent pain, medical marijuana provides a safe, effective and efficacious alternative,” said Galvez Tan during a separate interview last Thursday. “Devoid of severe toxic effects on the kidneys and liver [even with] prolonged use versus synthetic analgesics, medical cannabis becomes an even better choice,” he added. “The fear of abuse or increased addiction is unfounded, given the good history of the regulated use of morphine in pain management [of ] cancer and other chronic diseases in the Philippines. In a compassionate society and within a universal framework, it would be worth considering to include cannabis as part of our National Drug Formulary,” Galvez Tan recommended. United in the view
In a Sept 30 breakfast forum held in Club Filipino organized by the Office of Representative Albano and the members of the Philippine Cannabis Compassion Society and the Medical Cannabis Research Center, patients, parents, family members, advocates, invited doctors and academicians were united in the view that cannabis does have medical, palliative and therapeutic effects. “The discussion on medical cannabis is now focused on efficacy, safety, dosing, allowable products and regulatory control. HB 4477 is a comprehensive law that aims to make medical cannabis accessible to Filipinos who suffer from debilitating conditions. The bill
adopts the full meaning of compassion, i.e., feeling or showing concern for someone who is sick, hurt and poor. It is not limited to the narrow meaning and use of the compassionate special permit,” said PCCS and MCRC in a joint statement. “We see that the bill is focused on the care and well-being of the patient, of the many sick people who are in desperate need of relief from suffering. Patients with epilepsy, cancer, HIV-AIDS, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain are among the many who will benefit from the bill. The bill prescribes a highly regulated and safe environment under the supervision of the Medical Cannabis Regulatory Authority (MCRA). Patients and doctors are required to have a bonafide relationship. Patients are closely supervised by qualified and licensed doctors to manage their medical condition,” it said. Strict regulations
The joint statement also noted that “for cultivation and dispensing, the bill provides strict regulations for licensed Medical Cannabis Compassionate Centers (MCCC) and installs security mechanisms to prevent abuse and illicit use.” In a statement sent by the PCCS and MCRC, the 10 medical organizations who oppose the bill are proposing for “the regulated importation of oral cannabis extract and/or synthetic analogues with proven efficacy for specific symp❱❱ PAGE 21 ‘Medical cannabis’
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President Aquino seeks business sector’s help BY NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT AQUINO this week acknowledged that a lot of work has to be done in reforming the power sector and decongesting the Manila port, both pressing concerns that the business sector raised at an annual gathering of local and international industry and government leaders. At the 40th Philippine Business Conference and Expo (PBC), business leaders presented Mr. Aquino their wish list—which they call “resolutions”—for the government to address problems concerning energy and power, education and human resources development, the 2015 integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the port and traffic congestion, transportation and infrastructure, agriculture and the rehabilitation of Eastern Visayas, which was battered by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” last year. In his speech, the President said the resolutions “represent your sector’s vision of building a more progressive nation,” and expressed appreciation for bringing them to the attention of the government. However, he also urged the business sector to do its part while gov-
weekends to facilitate movement of cargo but data from the Philippine Ports Authority showed that very few business entities have taken advantage of the extended working hours. The President said only “an average 1,100 containers are moved on Sundays, which represent less than a third of the average number of containers moved on other days of the week.” “The government can only do so much: Our main purpose is to be an enabler. That being the case, solutions require the enabled—in this case the private sector—to reciprocate through active participation,” he said. ‘Change the business model’
President Aquino this week acknowledged that a lot of work has to be done in reforming the power sector and decongesting the Manila port. GIL NARTEA / MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU
ernment “strategizes for the future.” President Aquino noted that while the government’s solutions to the Manila port congestion has relatively been effective, “in reality, the situation is far more complex.” He said the Bureau of Customs and the port operators have been open on
One PBC resolution urged the national government “to formulate an integrated and sustainable energy and power development roadmap with a clear, definite target level of power supply capacity and rate.” “Efforts to reform the power industry, as embodied in Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act), are still a work in progress, and this is understandable, given the fact that our power industry is really a unique industry,” the President said. He urged the private sector to follow
Tiu warned... ❰❰ 1
Tax audit
This will come to light once Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares looks into whether Tiu has been paying taxes for his real estate properties, including the 145-hectare Sunchamp Agri-Tourism Park, which is what Tiu calls the alleged Binay property. Tiu, who faced the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee last Wednesday, said he paid P11 million for the property that is worth close to P450 million. He admitted he had no title to it. The businessman claimed he acquired the property from a certain Laureano Gregorio under a P446-million deal, but subject to certain conditions. He said he issued postdated checks to pay for the balance of P435 million. And while he did not hold any transfer certificate of title to the property, Tiu said he purchased the usufruct, or the right to enjoy the use and advantages of the property. 5 times down payment
It was former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado who tipped off the subcommittee on the lavish estate, furnishing the senators with an aerial video and photos of its luxurious facilities. Mercado claimed the estate reached as many
as 350 hectares. Cayetano also expressed skepticism over Tiu’s claim that he had spent P50 million to improve the amenities of the estate. “Based on the report of the TV stations, Mr. Tiu said he already added P50 million worth of improvements since he bought it. But how could you spend five times more than your down payment when you don’t have the title yet?” he said. “What if Mr. Laureano didn’t own it? So you were throwing away P50 million,” he added. No tourism park
Tiu last Thursday opened the estate, after hours of delay, for Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and a pack of journalists to tour. Seeing its paved roads, manicured gardens and pavilions, Trillanes concluded that it was not a tourism park but a private resthouse of the Binay family. Cayetano challenged Tiu to produce the land title, among other documents, to prove his ownership of the estate. “So far he has not done so. And we have pictures, taken between 2010 and before the scandal, showing that the Binays continued to treat it as their personal playground,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
the lead of some “major entities” which have invested in the power sector “without long-term power purchase agreements or power supply contracts.” He said this was unlike the industry practice where power plants “have typically sold all of their output” even before the facility has been constructed. “Just-in-time supplies of energy do not engender more investments. Therefore, there is a need to change the business model, and that is also a work in progress. The work will be infinitely faster and more efficient with the cooperation of the business sector,” he said. One of the PBC’s resolutions included urging the national government to have strategies and programs to allow Philippine brands and small and medium enterprises to become competitive as the Asean integration takes place next year. Emphasizing the need to solve the traffic congestion in the country’s capital, the businessmen suggested that the national government, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the local governments in Metro Manila instill discipline among road users, promote road-use efficiency and safety, enforce pick-up and drop-off points for passengers and designate terminals for public utility vehicles. ■
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OCTOBER 31, 2014 FRIDAY
2 rings of... forces fighting al-Qaida-linked militants in the south. U.S. counterterrorism forces began to scale down their presence in the south this year after helping weaken Abu Sayyaf extremists.
will be indicted and face trial. Amid yells of “justice for Jennifer” by left-wing activists, Laude’s remains were transported Friday by her family and dozens of mourners from a Roman Catholic church to a cemetery in Olongapo where she was Q: Could the In a compromise between the two laid to rest. Philippines decountries, the U.S. transferred Meanwhile, cide to scrap the Pemberton to Philippine soil the Marine will visiting forces but . . . officially has not given likely remain deagreement? up custody. tained in an airA: The murconditioned van, der case has reequipped with a ignited calls, even among some sink and a cot, at a U.S.-Filipino Philippine senators, for the reQ: Where does Pemberton’s compound in the Philippine peal of the agreement. But that case go from here? military’s Camp Aguinaldo in is unlikely because of the secuA: Laude’s family has filed metropolitan Manila. ■ rity implications: Abrogating a murder complaint against the deal could effectively halt Pemberton before prosecutors Jim Gomez, chief correspondent current U.S. troop presence in Olongapo, the city northwest of The Associated Press in Maand large-scale exercises in the of Manila where she was killed. nila, has focused on security and Philippines. President Benigno If prosecutors assess there is terrorism issues in the PhilipAquino III has strongly op- strong evidence, Pemberton pines for the AP since 2001. ❰❰ 4
posed calls from left-wing activists to scrap the pact, but the government is open to a review of the agreement, including provisions on criminal jurisdiction and custody.
US agrees to pay for damage caused by US Navy ship to protected Philippine coral reef THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The United States will pay the Philippines 87 million pesos ($1.9 million) for damage caused by a U.S. Navy minesweeper that ran aground on a protected coral reef last year, an official said last week. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told a legislative hearing that the U.S. had agreed to pay the compensation. The minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground in the Tubbataha National Marine Park in January last year and was removed two months later after being dismantled and lifted piece by piece by a crane to prevent more damage to the reef. The reef has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A joint assessment by the park’s management, the World Wide Fund for Nature and other experts found that 2,345 square meters (25,240 square feet) of coral was damaged. The ship’s grounding was em-
U.S. NAVY PHOTO / WIKI COMMONS
barrassing for Washington as it attempts to reassert its presence in Asia amid China’s rise, and the Navy and the U.S. ambassador to Manila apologized. The U.S. Pacific Fleet relieved the ship’s commanding officer,
executive officer and navigator, assistant navigator and officer of the deck after initial findings indicated they had failed to adhere to standard navigation procedures at the time of the grounding. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
The most likely copied, though still valuable paintings siezed from the Marcos family last month will need special care to avoid being damaged, in order to retain their market value. NCPTT
BSP declines custody of Marcos paintings BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) this week refused to be the custodian of the expensive artworks by the “Old Masters” which were ordered seized by the Sandiganbayan from the Marcos family. Appearing before the antigraft court’s Special Division, BSP acting director Regina Mercedes Cruz disclosed that only 11 of the 15 world-renowned paintings appeared to be authentic “at first glance.” Cruz also submitted a judicial affidavit and stated that the art pieces had been kept inside “Compartment No. 12,” a highly-secured vault of the BSP’s currency management subsector. The paintings were turned over to the BSP on Sept. 30 after they were seized by court personnel led by Sandiganbayan acting sheriff Albert dela Cruz. Among those confiscated by the court sheriff were three similar “Madonna and Child” paintings by Michelangelo; “Femme Au Chapeau,” “Paysage,” “Jeune Femme En Rouge,” “Coupe De Fleurs,” five “Vase De Fleurs,” “Panier De Fleurs” and “Jeune Femme Shabilant” by Paule Gobillard; and a Picasso replica brass strokes. Cruz, who is in-charge of keeping the collection of paintings, sculptures, numismatics and other art pieces deposited in the BSP, said she immediately examined the paintings and prepared a report.
When asked about the condition of the vault where the artworks are being kept, she said the condition of the storage area was “neither suitable nor ideal for paintings.” “Given the fluctuation in temperature and relative humidity in the (vault), the present condition of the paintings will most likely worsen in six months and will affect their market value,” Cruz said in her affidavit. She said the materials of the paintings would “continually react to changes in temperature and humidity.” “A stable environment for paintings would be a constant temperature of 20 degree Celsius and a relative humidity of 40 percent and 55 percent. These conditions are not present in Compartment No. 12,” she explained. If the government wants to protect the paintings, she said it was “necessary to transfer them to another storage compartment with conditions that are more suitable for its proper preservation and care.” Citing Cruz’s affidavit, the BSP said it could not “vouch for the authenticity and genuineness of the 15 paintings.” Besides, the BSP said it did not have a conservator to ensure that the paintings would not deteriorate. “Considering the foregoing circumstances, the BSP respectfully moves that it be relieved from its responsibility and liability as ‘custodian’ or ‘depository’ to preserve and take care of the paintings,” the BSP said. ■
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Bangsamoro Law to benefit all — solons PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY TACURONG CITY, Sultan Kudarat — Lawmakers hope to pass the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) swiftly, saying it is beneficial to people from all sectors — whether they are Christians, Muslims, or indigenous peoples (IPs) — and will bring peace and progress in Mindanao and the rest of the country. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs the House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL, said during a public hearing in this city, that “the BBL (hopes to bring peace and progress to) all Bangsamoro and Filipinos. It is not only for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).” The BBL is the legal iteration of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) signed by the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation front
(MILF) as the final political settlement of the armed conflict in the south. The BBL will entrench the Bangsamoro political entity that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by 2016. “This (proposed BBL) is good for all ethnic and religious groups in Mindanao, including indigenous peoples and Christians,” said Rodriguez. He explained that this is because the BBL will provide for genuine autonomy with enhanced fiscal and political powers that will empower the people in the proposed Bangsamoro region. Rodriguez noted that in the BBL, “there will be no (religious) discrimination of Christians” and “vested property rights will be recognized and protected.” According to Rodriguez, cases of unjust dispossession of lands or land-grabbing cases will have to be settled through the proper justice mechanisms.
Lawmakers tackle position papers on House Bill No. 4994 or the Bangsamoro Basic Law this week. JESSMES CAROS JR / PNA
This is in accordance with the CAB under the section on transitional justice and reconciliation, as part of the normalization process. At the same time, he noted that peace and progress in the Bangsamoro will positively affect its neighbouring areas, including Sultan Kudarat, even if they are not part of the proposed territory of the Bangsamoro.
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On the concerns of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Sulu Rep. Tupay Loong said the House Ad Hoc Committee is undertaking an initiative for “the MNLF and the MILF to come together and come up with a common position to be put in the BBL, as both groups advance the same cause for the Bangsamoro people.” Loong shared that this is paral-
lel to the efforts of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to consolidate the concerns of both Moro fronts through the recently activated Bangsamoro Coordination Forum. Aside from Rodriguez and Loong, other lawmakers who are part of the 75-member House Ad Hoc Committee on the BBL that were also present during the public hearing last week here include: Sultan Kudarat 2nd Dist. Rep. Arnulfo Go, Maguindanao 2nd Dist. Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu, North Cotabato 1st Dist. Rep. Jesus Sacdalan, Maguindanao 1st Dist. and Cotabato City Rep. Bai Sandra Sema, Zamboanga City 1st Dist. Rep. Celso Lobregat; Anak Mindanao party-list Rep. Djalia Hataman, Misamis Occidental 1st Dist. Rep. Jorge Almonte; and ACT Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio. Simultaneous public hearings were also held in Koronadal City and General Santos City with other members of the committee. ■
Opinion
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OCTOBER 31, 2014 FRIDAY
PUBLIC LIVES
Pope Francis and social movements By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer ROME, UNDER Pope Francis’ watch, never ceases to amaze the world. Coming on the heels of an extraordinary Synod on the family, a “World Meeting of Popular Movements” is being convened this week by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. This fascinating gathering aims to tackle the causes of worldwide inequality and social exclusion, to propose concrete solutions to the chronic problems of landlessness, homelessness, and joblessness, and to discuss what is to be done in the long term to create a more just world. The meeting’s lead organizers are Cardinal Peter Turkson, Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, and Juan Grabois. Turkson is the president of the Justice and Peace Pontifical Council, Sorondo is the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, and Grabois, an Argentinean, is the founder of the Movement of Excluded Workers and is a close friend of Pope Francis. Turkson is a familiar name to Vatican watchers. If Rome had been ready for a black pope, Turkson might have become pope after Benedict XVI’s unprecedented resignation. John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2003. Bene-
dict appointed him president of jus- leading social revolutions against speak out against it when it was imtice and peace in 2009, and a member imperialism and oppressive regimes portant to do so. of the formidable Congregation for throughout the underdeveloped The trauma of those years anthe Doctrine of the Faith in 2010. world. While giving his blessings to guished the future pope so much The subject of this world meeting, Poland’s workers in their struggle that he felt a need to make penance. which brings together leaders of mar- against Soviet domination, he pub- In 2000, when he was already archginalized sectors and communities licly chided the Nicaraguan priests bishop of Buenos Aires, he called on from the “peripheries” of five con- who had joined the Sandinistas’ war the Argentinean Catholic Church “to tinents, is right up this 66-year-old against the Somoza dictatorship and put on garments of public penance Ghanaian cardinal’s alley. Turkson its American sponsors. This seeming for the sins committed during the is a vocal critic of neoliberal think- contradiction confused many. years of the dictatorship.” As head ing and of what he calls the “idolatry It was a problem that very much of the Argentinean Catholic Bishops of the market.” Two Conference, he isyears ago, he capsued a “collective tured world attenapology” for the So long as the Church actively bears witness to the tion by proposing Church’s failure to oppression and marginalization of the poor, so long will it the establishment protect the people find itself playing a prophetic role in the public sphere. of a “global public from the atrocities authority” that would tax and regu- haunted Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the of the military junta during the years late global financial transactions. future Pope Francis, when he was of the Dirty War. This distressing exHe and Francis are today restoring the young provincial superior of Ar- perience appears to have radicalized to public consciousness the core gentina’s Jesuits (1973-1979). He was Bergoglio. He became critical of state themes of structural injustice and accused of complicity in the kidnap- power, and his relations with the emancipation that were at the top ping and torture of two of his brother post-dictatorship Argentinean govof the Church’s agenda in the Third Jesuits who had been organizing in ernment under the Kirchner presiWorld during the revolutionary de- the slums. One of them, Orlando Yo- dential couple were strained. cades of the 1970s and 1980s. rio, accused Bergoglio of abandoning The issue seems to me inescapThat period of radical political fer- them by refusing to endorse their able: So long as the Church actively ment made Christianity the epicen- work with the poor. Refusing to de- bears witness to the oppression and ter of the explosive mixture of faith fend himself at the time, Bergoglio marginalization of the poor, so long and politics—precisely where Islam instead quietly worked for the two will it find itself playing a prophetic finds itself today. John Paul II had to priests’ release by pleading with the role in the public sphere. It is not grapple with the complex realities of dictator, Jorge Rafael Videla. People easy to speak out against any form of a Church that, instead of just catalyz- who had known him said he was criti- social injustice and exclusion withing the quest for justice, found itself cal of the dictatorship but failed to out, at some point, feeling compelled
to lead the struggle of the oppressed. At the press conference on the eve of the world meeting of popular movements, Juan Grabois declared: “Francis summons us again today…; he calls to the poor, organized in thousands of popular movements, to fight, without arrogance but with courage, without violence but with tenacity, for this dignity that has been taken from us, and for social justice.” This is a political statement that draws heavily from the resources of religious faith. One wonders how it would square with Benedict XVI’s May 13, 2007, message to the 5th General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean: “The political task is not the immediate competence of the Church. Respect for healthy secularity, including the pluralism of political opinions, is essential in the authentic Christian tradition.” In careful language, Benedict defines the “fundamental vocation” of the Church in politics to be: “To form consciences, to be the advocate of justice and truth, to educate in individual and political virtues.” He places the onus of the actual day-to-day struggle against injustice on the lay faithful. Does Francis, who has been a pastor in the Third World, have a different view? ■
LOOKING BACK
Secret of the Virgin Queen By Ambeth R. Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer GROWING UP Catholic meant that I immediately associated the words “Virgin” and “Queen” with Mary, Mother of God, but anyone who has read some British history would associate the same words with Elizabeth I and the image of a strong face, paled by heavy white makeup, set in an elaborate costume, wig and jeweled finery befitting a great monarch. Over the years I have seen different representations of the same Queen in film: Bette Davis (1955), Glenda Jackson (1971), Helen Mirren (2005), and Cate Blanchett (1998 and 2007). The makeup and production design were a marvel. Somehow, the image of Elizabeth I reminded me of the venerated 16th-century ivory image of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, better known as “La Naval de Manila” or even “La Japonesa,” celebrated with novena and procession each year in October. The secret of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, is the urban legend that she was actually a man; that in 1588, when she rallied her troops at Tilbury against the Spanish Armada and declared, “I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman, but I have the
heart and stomach of a king, and of a body of a small girl discovered in the ing hidden the body, rushed off to the king of England, too,” she was speak- Cotswolds wearing fine Tudor cloth- village to try to find some other child ing literally, not in metaphor. ing embellished with gems. Stoker whose body could be substituted for Elizabeth I was unmarried and wrote: “The Tradition is that the little that of the dead princess so that the had no children. She had favorites in Princess Elizabeth, during her child- evil disclosure of the sad fact might her court but no physical lovers. It is hood, was sent away with her govern- be delayed till after His Majesty’s desaid that nobody but her governess ess for a change of air to Bisley where parture. had ever seen her naked. And here the strong sweet air of the Cotswold “Throughout the little village and we have all the pros and cons through Hills would brace her up. The healthy its surroundings was to be found no primary sources. One contemporary qualities of the place were known to girl child of an age reasonably suitable source reported that Elizabeth I her father and many others of those for the purpose required. More than could not bear chilever distracted, for dren and could not time was flying by, produce an heir to she determined to How could the pretty boy sustain the act when the throne. Another take the greater risk changes in his voice and physique took place in adulthood? source, a spy plantof a boy substitute— ed by the Spanish if a boy could be King, reported that she was a normal around her. Whilst she was at Over- found. Happily for the poor woman’s woman with a regular habit—mean- court, word was sent to her govern- safety, for her very life now hung in the ing she was menstruating—and she ess that the King was coming to see balance, this venture was easy enough was, in principle, fertile. his little daughter; but shortly before to begin. There was a boy available, The main source for this engaging the time fixed, and whilst his arrival and just such a boy as would suit the historical question is the concluding was expected at any hour, a frighten- special purpose for which he was reessay, titled “The Bisley Boy,” in a ing catastrophe happened. The child, quired—a boy well known to the govbook of nonfiction, “Famous Impos- who had been ailing in a new way, erness, for the little princess had taken tors.” The book was published in 1910 however, developed acute fever, and a fancy to him and had lately been acby Bram Stoker, more famous as the before steps could be taken even to customed to play with him. Moreover, author of the novel “Dracula” which arrange for her proper attendance he was a pretty boy, as might have was first published in 1897 and which and nursing, she died. The govern- been expected from the circumstance has since spawned many representa- ess feared to tell her father—Henry of the little Lady Elizabeth having tions of the vampire in the past cen- VIII had the sort of temper that did chosen him as her playmate. He was tury. Stoker followed up what in his not make for the happiness of those close at hand and available. So he was time was an urban legend about a around him. In her despair she, hav- clothed in the dress of the dead child,
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they being of about equal stature; and when the King’s fore-rider appeared the poor overwrought governess was able to breathe freely. “The visit passed off successfully. Henry suspected nothing; as the whole thing had happened so swiftly, there had been no antecedent anxiety. Elizabeth had been brought up in such dread of her father that he had not, at the rare intervals of his seeing her, been accustomed to any affectionate effusiveness on her part; and in his hurried visit he had no time for baseless conjecture.” Stoker says this switch happened sometime in 1543 or 1544 and that the red-haired boy who impersonated the Princess and future Queen was named Neville. Naturally, historians have demolished Stoker’s arguments and evidence over the past century and it seems so improbable that Henry VIII would not have seen through the ruse. How could the pretty boy sustain the act when changes in his voice and physique took place in adulthood? The Bisley Boy story, unbelievable as it is, has turned out to be more engaging than history and truth. It has taken on a life of its own, just as Dracula has developed so differently from that created by Stoker in 1897. ■
Opinion
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
17
AS I SEE IT
Mayor being railroaded out of his seat? By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINE National Railways (PNR) is being criticized for not being able to transport the needed number of commuters fast enough in and around Metro Manila. It does not have enough trains and coaches so that commuters are crammed like sardines in the train coaches, and those left behind at the stations have to wait at least a half-hour for the next train to arrive. The national government and the PNR management have neglected our railroad which can do much to help ease Metro’s transport problems. I have a candidate for PNR manager. His name is Agapito Laoagan. He is a judge, but he is very good at running railroads as proven by what happened to an election case in Paniqui, Tarlac (home province of President Aquino), that Judge Laoagan decided. Here are the facts: Miguel C. Rivilla is the incumbent mayor of Paniqui, Tarlac. In the election of 2013, Rivilla ran for a third term (he won in the 2007 and 2010 elections) as an independent candidate. He was opposed by Rommel David, a candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition. Rivilla won by a margin of 3,233 votes and was proclaimed mayor on May 14, 2013.
David filed an election protest on come final and executory when David gated his decision, David filed a motion for May 24, 2013, before the Regional Trial did not file an appeal. He added that execution of judgment pending appeal Court (RTC) of Paniqui, which was then David erred when he filed a motion for which Laoagan heard also on the same presided over by Judge Serafin Cruz. Af- reconsideration instead of an appeal day—still well within the 60-day TRO ter several hearings, the court dismissed because the motion did not stop the period. On Sept. 24, 2014, Laoagan issued the protest on June 6, 2013, “for being period within which to appeal and that, a special order installing David as mayor insufficient in form and content.” in any case, such motion for reconsid- and ordering Rivilla to vacate his post— David received a copy of the dis- eration is a prohibited pleading. again within the 60-day TRO period. missal order on June 23, 2013. InOn July 25, 2014, the Comelec, The vice mayor, Genevieve Linsao, stead of filing a notice of appeal with- through its First Division chaired by had taken over as acting mayor. in five days as required by the Rules Commissioner Lucinito Tagle, issued a Rivilla again went to the Comelec of Court, David filed a motion for temporary restraining order (TRO) val- with another petition, assailing the reconsideration through registered id for 60 days ordering Judge Laoagan special order of Judge Laoagan. Howmail on July 8, 2013. ever, the First DiviThe court dismissed sion, which is hanThe national government and the PNR management the motion for redling the case and is have neglected our railroad which can do much to help ease consideration on chaired by Lucinito Metro’s transport problems. Sept. 17, 2013. Tagle, has not acted David filed a second motion for re- “to cease and desist from enforcing… his until today when the 60-day TRO consideration. orders… as well as performing other acts expires. Vice Mayor Linsao also filed Meantime, Judge Cruz was trans- incident to the above-mentioned case.” another petition for the issuance of a ferred by the Supreme Court to anothJudge Laoagan received the TRO on TRO because she would be unseated er sala. Enter Judge Agapito Laoagan. July 28, 2014. Thus, he was prohibited as mayor if David assumes the post of Laoagan was previously assigned from “performing other acts relating to mayor today as ordered by Judge Laoto faraway Buguias, Benguet, before the… case” until Sept. 26, 2014. agan. The Comelec has not acted on he was appointed as assisting judge On July 30, 2014, within the 60- both petitions. Is the Comelec under of the Paniqui RTC. Inexplicably, he day TRO period, Judge Laoagan Tagle “dribbling the ball” so that Dagranted the second motion for re- wrote the decision on the election vid can assume the mayorship today? consideration on Dec. 23, 2013, and protest, finding David winner over Is the case being railroaded? What is ordered a recount of the ballots. Rivilla by 607 votes. wrong with Laoagan’s order? The RTC Rivilla went to the Commission on On Sept. 4, 2014, and still within decision of June 6, 2013, became final Elections on July 4, 2014, to question the 60-day period, Judge Laoagan when David did not appeal, yet the the actuations of the assisting judge. promulgated his decision. new assistant judge, imported from He argued that the case had long beOn the same day that Laoagan promul- faraway Benguet, reopened it.
The rules of the Comelec are clear: A decision of the RTC dismissing an election protest must be appealed within five days from receipt by the defeated party. Otherwise, the decision becomes final and executory. Judge Laoagan seemed determined to railroad the case and favor David: He granted the second motion for reconsideration, finished his questioned decision, promulgated it and granted its execution while a TRO against him was in effect. One more thing: If the decision of Laoagan is not struck down, it would mean the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) ballot machines were wrong 87 percent in the 15 precincts that were contested by defeated candidate David. Otherwise put, Laoagan declared the PCOS machines wrong 245 times per precinct, out of 283 voters (on the average) per precinct. In the 20 clustered precincts that are uncontested, Rivilla got 6,618 votes, or an average of 330 votes per precinct. How did it happen then that in the contested 15 precincts, Rivilla averaged only 32 votes per precinct, yet in the uncontested precincts he averaged 330 votes? The Comelec must look into the case because Laoagan’s decision discredited the PCOS. The Supreme Court should also look into the actuations of Judge Laoagan. ■
AT LARGE
No picnic By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer THE “vertical violence” of insurgency and of separatist elements in Mindanao may be disappearing with the conclusion of the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the pending creation of the Bangsamoro authority. But, said peace advisor Teresita Quintos Deles, the “horizontal violence” of feuds and disputes and other low-level conflicts remains. Indeed, said Deles at a recent roundtable for the media on the peace process, there remain “pockets of ridoinfested areas” in Mindanao, referring to the cross-generational interfamilial patterns of revenge killings. Also, said Deles, kidnapping for ransom remains a major concern, as do random acts of violence fueled by anything from criminality to land disputes. So even if the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law is passed by Congress, and the planned referendum goes off without a major hitch, “many land mines [remain] along the way.” As Deles reminded everyone: “No peace table is a walk in the park.” For now, as foreseen in the BBL, the nagging peace-and-order issues will be in the hands of a police force
which may include former MILF a separatist existence to those hold- down people instead of alarming them” combatants, but which will be directly ing a Bangsamoro identity? in this delicate run-up to the passage of under the authority of the Philippine Certainly it is, asserted Deles. “The the BBL and the establishment of the National Police. Likewise, the peace [1986] Constitution recognizes the ‘asym- Bangsamoro authority. agreement calls for the surrender or metrical’ or uneven relationship between Key to that effort is helping to decommissioning of large weapons the rest of the country and two autono- “provide context”—that is, locating (such as mortar or cannons) at the mous regions” which, by reasons of his- reporting within what she called “the hands of the MILF, but individual torical experience and ethnic identity, big picture,” instead of focusing on former combatants will be allowed “need to be treated in a different way.” narrow, self-serving concerns. to keep their small arms provided These two regions are the Cordillera For instance, coverage of the ongoing they seek licenses for them, a right Administrative Region and proposed congressional hearings on the BBL tends bestowed on all Filipino citizens. If Bangsamoro, and Deles stressed that to focus solely on the contrary questions some should persist on holding on to autonomy for these regions “doesn’t and issues raised by legislators with unlicensed firearms, said Deles, they take sovereignty away from the State.” scant—or no—attention paid to the rewould be persecuted plies of the members according to law. of the peace panels Even if the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law is passed *** and of government ofby Congress, and the planned referendum goes off without a SPEAKING on cerficials testifying at the major hitch, “many land mines [remain] along the way. tain “fundamental/ hearings. conceptual” issues The result, Deles that promise to derail the passage of But why does the BBL call for the complained, is a lopsided view of the the proposed law, Deles said the most establishment of a parliamentary form ongoing hearings, with the public basic issue that some might still have of government when the prevailing na- getting the impression that the negoa problem with is the very term (and tional system is presidential? Though tiations are far more troubled or rife concept of ) “Bangsamoro.” The term, she didn’t go into the reasons for the with questions than they truly are. she said, is all at the same time a sym- insistence of the MILF panel on a parThen, too, there is the stubborn misbol, an area, a government, people and liamentary system, Deles asserted that trust on both sides—for instance, the identity. Its use is a way of “honoring” indeed, a different system operating view among the majority that Moro the history of the Moro people, their in an autonomous region is consti- leaders are either incompetent or incorlegacy of struggle and their distinct tutional and could very well dovetail rigibly corrupt, and the persistent fears cultural and ethnic identity, she said. seamlessly with the presidential form among Moros that the government and But is it constitutional? Is the use applicable elsewhere in the country. private business interests are intent on of the term “Bangsamoro” somehow *** exploiting their land and resources. a step closer to granting autonomy or DELES appealed to the media to “calm There is also the sensitive issue of
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what to do with employees and officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) which will be phased out once the Bangsamoro Transition Authority is established. Deles said the various national departments are in the process of ironing out the Bangsamoro Development Plan, and a rational integration of ARMM and Bangsamoro personnel is part of that. *** ONE thing Deles wished to make clear: “It is my conviction that there is no [sense of ] entitlement among the MILF leadership in 2016.” It’s not as if they’re expecting to merely stroll into the Bangsamoro Assembly, it seems. But would former military strategists and combatants have the “smarts” to mount a political campaign and survive as political actors? “I think there is enough political smartness among them,” said Deles, noting that even now there are efforts to provide training to the former MILF on “the building of coalitions and alliances,” if not the transformation of an army and insurgent force into a political party and mass-based force. Indeed, “bullets to ballots” may sound like an attractive prospect, but the line between the two points is far from straight and unimpeded, and will be drawn only with lots of goodwill and trust-building on all sides. ■
18
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Canada News Religion, foreign policy formed basis for Zehaf Bibeau’s attack says RCMP Commissioner
NEWS BRIEFS
FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS
BY JIM BRONSKILL The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The man who killed an honour guard at the National War Memorial before storming Parliament Hill was “lucid” and “purposeful” in spelling out his motives, which were rooted in his religious beliefs and opinion of Canada’s foreign policy, the head of the RCMP says. And RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson wants Canadians to see the evidence for themselves. Michael Zehaf Bibeau’s rationale for staging last week’s deadly rampage in Ottawa was contained in a self-made video that investigators recovered in the wake of the shooting, Paulson told a Senate committee hearing Monday. “He was quite deliberate, he was quite lucid and he was quite purposeful in articulating the basis for his actions,” Paulson said after the hearing when asked to describe the video. “They were in respect, broadly, to Canada’s foreign policy and in respect of his religious beliefs.” While the video is still being analyzed by police in order to ensure they can extract all of its evidentiary value, Paulson said it’s his hope the footage will eventually be released to the public. “We’re interested in getting that before the public, but we’re interested in making sure that we have secured — and are confident in — its intelligence and evidence value,” he testified. “It will certainly someday be released . . . I really am inclined to overcome those challenges and get it released as soon as possible.” In the video, Zehaf Bibeau says he will act in the name of Allah in response to Canada’s foreign policy, a source close to the investigation told The Canadian Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. Paulson said the video was made by Zehaf Bibeau himself and was recovered from a device belonging to the gunman, but he did not elaborate. Paulson also said investigators don’t yet know if the gunman shared his intentions to launch a violent attack. “Our belief is that it has not gone anywhere else, but it may have gone elsewhere,” he said of the video.
JOHN KERRY TO VISIT CANADA FOLLOWING ATTACKS
Michael Zehaf Bibeau.
“We want to be able to satisfy ourselves whether or not there were individuals who were contributing to this person’s radicalization and his jihadist views.” News of the video first emerged late Sunday when the RCMP issued a statement announcing its existence and describing it as evidence that Zehaf Bibeau was “driven by ideological and political motives.” Since the day of the attack, the Conservative government has characterized it as an act of terror. In the House of Commons on Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney described Zehaf Bibeau as one of two “radical Islamic terrorists” to target Canadian soldiers last week. The other was Martin CoutureRouleau, who was behind the wheel of a car that mowed down two Canadian soldiers last week in St-Jeansur-Richelieu, Que., taking the life of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. Zehaf Bibeau died in a hail of gunfire in the halls of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block after taking the life of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial. Couture-Rouleau was shot and killed when he emerged from his car, which flipped over and crashed in a ditch after a brief police chase. Blaney introduced a long-awaited bill Monday aimed at strengthening the powers of Canada’s spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, to track people overseas suspected of involvement in terrorism. The NDP said it would study the bill carefully.
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More legislation is coming, the government says. During Monday’s hearing, Paulson said investigators would welcome changes that would lower the threshold for certain enforcement tools, such as peace bonds, to better allow police to take preventative action. “I think it’s a reasonable area where we can examine on these peace bonds and other assistance orders,” he said afterward. “In other areas, I think Canadians would expect that the privacy rights of an individual should be protected and we should be able to meet the threshold test in order to infringe on people’s privacy to the varying levels that we would, say, in search warrants or in wiretaps.” Conservative Sen. Daniel Lang, the chairman of the Senate national security committee, said afterward that it would fall to Parliament to debate the merits — and dangers — of such changes. “He indicated to us he wanted to lower the threshold in a number of areas, so that he — the RCMP — could conceivably detain, constrain or incarcerate some of those individuals who have been identified as highrisk,” Lang said. “I think most Canadians are asking that question: why would they be allowed to be out there doing what they are doing without at least being detained for a period of time. So that’s going to be a question that Parliament is going to have to ask themselves.” ■
WASHINGTON — The U.S. secretary of state will be in Ottawa this week, expressing condolences for the deaths last week of two Canadian soldiers. John Kerry will attend a series of meetings in the nation’s capital, and a spokeswoman says he intends to use the occasion to address the tragic consequences of the recent attacks in Quebec and on Parliament Hill. CSIS OBSTRUCTED SPY WATCHDOG, REPORT SAYS OTTAWA — Just as the federal government is poised to boost the powers of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the national spy watchdog says it has had to push CSIS to hand over crucial information. The Security Intelligence Review Committee says it faced “significant delays” in receiving requested documentation over the last year and had to press CSIS to obtain complete and consistent answers to several questions. PERJURY BEGINS FOR OFFICER INVOLVED IN DZIEKANSKI’S DEATH VANCOUVER — The perjury trial for a former RCMP officer who was involved in Robert Dziekanski’s death at Vancouver’s airport began Monday, with the Crown saying it planned to prove four Mounties lied about what happened to investigators and then again at a public inquiry. Former corporal Benjamin (Monty) Robinson was charged along with the other officers for their testimony at the public inquiry. CUSTOMER SAFETY NOT PRIORITY: SMART METERS REPORT REGINA — An investigation into a smart-meter program linked to at least eight fires in Saskatchewan says customer safety wasn’t enough of a priority for SaskPower. The government’s power company was ordered to remove more than 100,000 of the utility meters installed in homes after the devices caught fire in June and July.
Canada News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
19
Slain soldier riding Highway of Heroes on last trip to Hamilton hometown BY COLIN PERKEL The Canadian Press TORONTO — The body of a reservist gunned down at the National War Memorial this week in a shooting that all but paralyzed the nation’s capital arrived in his hometown of Hamilton via the Highway of Heroes last week. Scores of people turned out at the war memorial as it re-opened for the first time since the tragedy. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was present, shaking hands with those in attendance. The motorcade carrying Cpl. Nathan Cirillo left the funeral home in Ottawa in the early afternoon to start the trip, which was expected to last about six hours. The Highway of Heroes, which has frequently seen the repatriation of soldiers killed in Afghanistan, is the stretch of Ontario’s Highway 401 between Canadian Forces Base Trenton and Toronto. As has happened in the past when Canadians holding supportive signs or waving the Maple Leaf filled the overpasses to show their respects to slain soldiers as they were driven by, hundreds gathered along the route. Hamilton police and members of Cirillo’s regiment, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, were accompanying the casket. Cirillo, 24, the father of a young son and described as a happy-go-lucky, al-
ways smiling man who loved dogs, the outdoors and fitness, is to get a full regimental funeral on Tuesday. He and his partner, Cpl. Branden Stevenson, were on ceremonial sentry duty at the war memorial last Wednesday when a gunman shot him in the back with a shotgun before storming into the Centre Block on Parliament Hill. The gunman, identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, was shot dead, apparently by Kevin Vickers, the sergeant-atarms of the House of Commons. While a motive remains unclear, authorities have said Zehaf-Bibeau was trying to get a passport to travel to Syria and may have had some contact with a known Islamist extremist. Books of condolence for Cirillo have been set up in Hamilton and Ottawa and there’s been an outpouring of supportive messages and grief at his home, his regiment and online. Cirillo’s grieving parents and sisters have so far not spoken publicly. Visitation for the soldier is to be held at a funeral home in Hamilton on Sunday and Monday, with the funeral to be held at Christ’s Church Cathedral at noon on Tuesday. The killing was the second of a soldier this week. Last Monday, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, 53, was fatally injured when a man identified as Martin Rouleau used his vehicle to run him and a colleague down in a parking lot of a federal building south of Montreal.
Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, shot in last week's terrorist attack on Parliament Hill, leaves behind a son and a dog.
Rouleau, 25, fled the scene but was later shot dead after a pursuit in which his car rolled over. Friends said he had become increasingly radicalized. There’s been no word on funeral arrangements for Vincent. However, the Department of National Defence said it was inviting Canadians to pay respects to both soldiers as the Cirillo procession passes.
A fundraising campaign for the families of both soldiers had raised almost $190,000 of a hoped—for $200,000 — including $100,000 from the country’s five big banks — as of early Friday afternoon. The country’s political leaders last Thursday made a show of unity in light of what was branded as a terrorist attack and security at military bases has been stepped up. ■
The Highway of Heroes beween Canadian Forces Base Trenton and Toronto is often lined up with Canadian patriots who pay their respects to fallen soldiers being driven along the route.
INSTAGRAM PHOTO
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CHRISTINA MATHESON / FLICKR
Canada News
20
OCTOBER 31, 2014
FRIDAY
Fil-Can Candidates win some, lose some in Ontario Municipal Election BY EARL VON TAPIA Philippine Canadian Inquirer IN WHAT was no doubt a big day for all involved, the 2014 Ontario Municipal Elections saw a few winners and lots of room for improvement among the 15 Filipino-Canadian entrants. Of the 5 Fil-Can candidates running for Councillor positions in Toronto, Mississauga, and Markham, only one Alex Chiu, from Markham - was elected. The non-elected Fil-Can candidates lost by significant margins, pulling in only a single-digit percentage of votes, aside from Louroz Mercader (Mississauga Ward 7 Councillor) who managed to grab a respectable 26.5% of votes from among 4 candidates in the race for that position. Willie Reodica, running for Mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville, received only 205 votes (1.57% of the total votes in that race) for his campaign. The other 9 Fil-Can candidates were
NAME
AREA
running for positions as Catholic District School Board trustees. 3 of the candidates - Garry Tanuan from Toronto (Scarborough, Ward 8), Marlene Mogado from York (Markham 4/5/7/8) and Luz Del Rosario from Dufferin-Peel (Mississauga Wards 6/11) - were elected. The only bit of potential drama came when Ace Alvarez ran against Paulina Corpuz in Toronto Ward 12 for a CDSB Trustee position. Alvarez is originally from Ward 8, but he did not want to square off against Garry Tanuan who was already running in that Ward (and was elected). Election rules permitted Alvarez to run in any other Ward, though he would only be able to vote in his home Ward. In the end, it did not matter, as nither he nor Corpuz were elected from among the field of 5 in their race. The vote totals for CDSB trustee positions were not published, so it is unclear if Alvarez and Corpuz had split the vote in that Ward and caused them both to lose. A full table of election results is displayed below. â–
WARD
RUNNING FOR
ELECTED
VOTES
% OF VOTES
# OF CANDIDATES IN RACE
Randy Bucao James Pasternak
Toronto Toronto
York Centre Ward 10 York Centre Ward 10
Councillor Councillor
N Y
1040 11183
5.40% 57.80%
6
Maria RemerataGarcia Mary-Margaret McMahon
Toronto
Beaches East York Ward 32 Beaches East York Ward 32
Councillor
N
402
1.60%
12
Councillor
Y
15762
60.90%
Louroz Mercader Nando Lannicca
Mississauga Mississauga
7 7
Councillor Councillor
N Y
3693 8421
26.50% 60.50%
4
Barbara Tabuno Frank Dale
Mississauga Mississauga
4 4
Councillor Councillor
N Y
1096 10353
7.50% 70.90%
6
Alex Chiu
Markham
8
Councillor
Y
2828
30.54%
5
Willie Reodica
WhitchurchStouffville WhitchurchStouffville
Mayor
N
205
1.57%
5
Mayor
Y
4363
33.34%
CDSB Trustee CDSB Trustee CDSB Trustee
Y Y Y
3 2 5
CDSB Trustee CDSB Trustee
N N
5 4
CDSB Trustee CDSB Trustee CDSB Trustee CDSB Trustee
N N N N
Justin Altmann
Toronto
Garry Tanuan Marlene Mogado Luz Del Rosario
Toronto York Dufferin-Peel
Joey Abrenilla Emmanuel Yanga Manuel Mendoza Ching Ace Alvarez Paulina Corpuz Erlina Insigne
Toronto Toronto Toronto Toronto Toronto York
Scarborough, Ward 8 Markham 4/5/7/8 Mississauga Wards 6/11 North York Ward 5 Scarborough, North York Ward 7 Toronto Ward 9 Toronto Ward 12 Toronto Ward 12 Vaughan 4/5
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Fil-Can Candidates are listed on top, winners' names are set in bold.
3 5 5 2
Canada News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Rob Ford mayoral era ends as brother loses to businessman John Tory BY COLIN PERKEL The Canadian Press TORONTO — A Hail Mary attempt by scandal-plagued Rob Ford to pass the torch to his older brother Doug Ford failed Monday, when businessman and former provincial politician John Tory handily won Toronto’s mayoral election. The notorious but ailing outgoing mayor did manage to be easily elected as a councillor in his west-end ward, taking close to 60 per cent of the votes cast. Former MP Olivia Chow, the widow of former New Democrat Leader Jack Layton and one—time front—runner, placed well back in third place. In hopes of keeping the “Ford Nation” flag flying over city hall, Doug Ford stepped into the mayoral race last month after cancer forced his disgraced brother to give up his bid for re-election. “My brother did an absolutely phenomenal job,” the mayor told supporters. “I guarantee: In four more years, you’re going to see another example of the Ford family never ever giving up.” Although millions of people cast ballots in civic elections across Ontario, most eyes were on the vote in the country’s largest city thanks to Ford, who remains in office until Tory is sworn in Dec. 1. Ford’s admissions of smoking crack cocaine in a drunken stupor, his profanities and offensive behaviour garnered national and international headlines. The antics also made him the butt of late—night television jokes and the pending end of his reign at city hall did not go unnoticed in the comedy realm. Ford, who is returning to hospital for another round of tests on Wednesday, spent much of the day stumping for votes in his ward. In all, 65 candidates had vied to succeed Ford as mayor, but polls consistently showed voters would choose a winner from among Tory, Chow, and Doug Ford. Tory, 60, had campaigned on the promise of a new era of co-operation and consultation after the divisive Ford years. The former CFL chairman and senior telecommunications executive and ex-provincial politician has pledged a return to stability and civility at city hall. Chow, 57, who began the race as perceived front-runner and campaigned as the “only progressive” candidate failed to capitalize on her initial popularity and appeared to fall victim to those determined to ensure the end of the Ford era. “So many people, they’ve just had it with Rob Ford. It’s just really...a vote for
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Doug Ford.
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anybody but Rob or Doug Ford,” said city resident, Jon Arnold. “If we’re going to be a serious majorleague city, we can’t have a guy like that in office.” Doug Ford, 49, who only joined council four years ago, had tried to cast himself as the natural successor to his brother — while also distancing himself from the excesses. Myer Siemiatycki, a political science professor at Ryerson University, said Tory’s victory signals a city returning to political normalcy after several years of unprecedented scandals that will live on now in “lore and legend.” As for the newly minted councillor, Siemiatycki said, the next election will start almost immediately. “It will be permanent election season as far as he is concerned,” Siemiatycki said of Rob Ford. “His prime mission in sitting on city council will be to position himself for a mayoralty run in 2018. There may be yet another sequel coming in this political drama — or farce.” In all, about 1.6 million city residents were eligible to vote at 1,679 polling stations. Preliminary figures suggest a heavy turnout. While the race to replace Ford drew the most attention, Toronto wasn’t the only city replacing a controversial incumbent. In London, Matt Brown appeared poised to succeed Joe Fontana, who resigned as mayor this summer after he was convicted of government fraud for forging a cheque when he was a Liberal MP. In Brampton, Susan Fennell lost her job as mayor to Linda Jeffrey after an audit found more than $172,000 dollars in expenses that breached city policies. Meanwhile, Mississauga’s 93-yearold mayor — “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion, winner of 12 consecutive mayoral elections before opting against running again, was replaced by the woman she supported, Bonnie Crombie. ■
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‘Medical cannabis’... toms” and “the importation of the plant for research purposes”. These will be done under current regulations of the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Food and Drug Administration. The medical organizations plan to invoke the Compassionate Special Permit and “to create a task force composed of specialists, scientists, ethics and regulatory authorities.” “We implore all concerned not to put our patients and their families in an un❰❰ 12
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comfortable position where they have to choose between HB 4477 and the proposal of the opposing medical organizations. We will continue to work for the passing of HB 4477. We uphold the interest of all Filipinos suffering from debilitating diseases. Our bias is for the patients and their families. We support their exclusive right to choose what is best for them. We recognize their right to participate in the management of their own health,” said the statement of PCCS and MCRC. ■
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Canada News
OCTOBER 31, 2014
FRIDAY
Liberals cheer mayoral gains, but not all races divide neatly on partisan lines BY JENNIFER DITCHBURN The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Ontario’s municipal elections are being seen as a win of sorts for Liberals in key areas, although not every victor fits neatly into a political category. In races in Ottawa, Brampton, Markham, Mississauga and Vaughan mayoral candidates with backgrounds in federal or provincial Liberal positions beat out the competition. In other cities such as Sault Ste Marie and Kitchener, the new mayors are also regarded as Liberals. Jim Watson, a former Liberal provincial cabinet minister, won re-election handily in Ottawa. In the greater Toronto area, a key landscape in federal elections, former Liberal MPs Bonnie Crombie and Maurizio Bevilacqua won in Mississauga and Vaughan respectively and
former Liberal MPP Linda Jeffrey won in Brampton. “I think people are looking for balance, they’re looking for progressive approaches,” said Liberal MP David McGuinty, pointing to former colleagues Denis Coderre, now mayor of Montreal and Mike Savage, mayor of Halifax. “I think they know that cities need investments ... and they are, I suspect, not happy with what they’re hearing with other voices, but the voice of austerity and the voice of not investing in our infrastructure is not a voice that’s breaking through.” Some Conservatives have concerns that mayors with Liberal ties will actively work to undermine the federal party. MP Rick Dykstra said he’s happy with the result in his city of St. Catharines, where businessman Walter Sendzik won, but acknowledges it’s not easy when a city’s leadership clashes with a federal or provincial government.
“You tend to work much better when you’re on the same page and working towards the same objectives and I’m pretty confident that’s going to happen in the city of St. Catharines,” Dykstra said Tuesday. Still, municipal politics doesn’t always overlap perfectly with the allegiances and power dynamics of provincial and federal politics. In Toronto, the victor John Tory, former Ontario PC leader, has fans in both Conservative and Liberal camps. Many Ontario cabinet ministers backed his run. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said “Hallelujah” upon hearing Tory had won, the Toronto Star reported. Meanwhile, some Conservatives vigorously supported Mississauga candidate Steve Mahoney, while others backed Crombie — both former Liberal MPs. Jeffrey was joined onstage in Brampton by former Tory premier Bill Davis.
Ministry, involves medical staff visiting or calling them morning and evening for 21 days to ask them about their temperature. People whose temperature is above normal should be immediately quarantined for three weeks. In Hong Kong, around 15 passengers a day arrive from the affected region, chief port health officer Dr. Edwin Tsui Lok-kin said. Prior to the Ebola outbreak, Singapore had an average of about 30 people arriving a month collectively from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the government says. Dale Fisher, the head of the infectious diseases’ division at
the Singapore National University Hospital, said governments in the region should be educating health workers about the disease and the need to ask anyone presenting with a fever at a medical facility about their travel history. “Asia is very diverse in its capacity, and there are some countries with people that travel a lot that may not have the best infrastructure and are at greater risk,” said Fisher, who has twice been to Liberia to assist in the WHO’s response. “If an index case arrived back in a large Asian city and they were to sit in an open ward vomiting, then you would have a pretty
MP Rick Dykstra.
PUBLIC WORKS AND GOVERNMENT SERVICES CANADA
Chad Rogers, a Torontobased Conservative strategist, said Wynne is likely pleased with the overall result, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a negative for the federal Tories — particularly as the cities com-
pete for infrastructure cash. “A whole lot of people are going to try to be friendly with the finance minister,” Rogers said. “It’s going to be a great period of peace followed by a great period of war.” ■
big job on your hands.” He said that an outbreak could be brought under control with quick isolation and effective tracing of anyone who might have been in contact with the patient, citing the example of Nigeria, African’s most populous country. It was declared Ebola free after confirming 19 cases, seven of them fatal. Asian health systems and workers have experience in countering infectious diseases, including severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which first appeared in Hong Kong in 2003, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing about 800. The region grappled a
highly pathogenic strain of bird flu around the same time that killed about 800 people in 12 countries, and new strains continue to crop up. Sujatha Rao, a former Indian health secretary, said India’s health system kicked into overdrive when confronted with a health crisis, as was seen during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. “In India we’re very good at crisis management, but we are hopeless at routine care,” Rao said. Asked whether the country was prepared for Ebola, she added: “We are not ready. But that said, there is only so much preparation that any country can do.” ■
Is Asia... are carried out effectively, people can and do lie about their travel history, and common drugs like Paracetamol are effective in reducing fever. Authorities in China say 8,672 people have entered southern Guangdong province from Ebola-ridden areas since Aug. 23. There are more than 160 direct flights per month from Africa to the region’s capital, Guangzhou, a reflection of the booming economic ties between China and Africa. All arrivals are subject to medical observation, which, according to guidelines from the Health ❰❰ 8
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Canada News
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Wildrose’s Smith wants leadership review in light of Alberta byelection defeats BY BILL GRAVELAND The Canadian Press CALGARY — Alberta Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith is putting her leadership on the line in the light of four byelection losses. Smith said Tuesday she has asked to have a leadership review put on the agenda when the party holds its annual general meeting in Red Deer in mid-November. “I have to take responsibility in the result,” said Smith. “I don’t have to face another leadership review until after the next election, but I think it’s important for me to know that going forward as leader of this party that I’ve got my members behind me.” The Opposition Wildrose was beaten in three byelections in Calgary and one in Edmonton this past Monday night. All the seats were won by the governing Progressive Conservatives. The Wildrose finished third in two of the races.
The party under Smith was seen by many as a contender to form government in the 2012 general election, but came up well short against the Tories. “This just seems to be the right way to go about it,” she said of the review. “I’ve had two opportunities now to contest elections, both of them having not gone the way we planned. It seems to me this is a good opportunity for my members to make that choice once again.” Smith received 90 per cent support at her last leadership review in 2013. On Tuesday, she said she would require more than the 77 per cent the PCs gave to former premier Alison Redford before she resigned earlier this year. “A 77 per cent seems to be the kiss of death, so I would say you probably need more than 77 per cent to stay on as party leader,” Smith said. Her decision to seek a review is a good pre-emptive strike, said a Calgary political scientist. “She’s getting ahead of the
Danielle Smith, leader of Alberta's Wildrose party.
curve,” said David Taras from Mount Royal University. “I would be really surprised if she lost a leadership review and she has good political instincts. Part of her good political instincts is probably to call a leadership review. I’m sure she will get over the high-jump bar quite easily, unless there’s something going on in the party that most people aren’t seeing.” Taras said the Wildrose needs to make the transition from being a “fierce opposition” party to a “government in waiting” in
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the eyes of voters. PC Premier Jim Prentice has lived up to his billing in helping to restart that party, Taras said, and Wildrose has been underestimating its opponent. “She’s not dealing with a stumblebum. She’s dealing with people who are tacticians, major political chess players, who are aware of what the next move is and the next move after that. “It’s a much higher-level game than was the case previously.” Earlier this last Tuesday, Prentice was in Cochrane to an-
nounce new funding to assist farmers, cattle feeders and business people in rural Alberta. Rural areas, particularly in southern Alberta, represent the Wildrose party’s bedrock support. Prentice dismissed a suggestion that he was taking the political fight to the Wildrose back yard. “The next election is a long way away (in 2016),” said Prentice. “What this is about is the rural economic action plan that matters across this province. “We’re now moving forward.” Smith said her party needs to re-examine its messaging to earn the support of urban voters. “It’s very clear from what I’ve heard from my members already that they feel we don’t have the right balance in talking about what the other guys are doing and what we would do right,” said Smith. “We want to make sure that our members have the opportunity to give that full feedback to me and the party leadership about what it is we need to do on a go forward.” ■
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FRIDAY
FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:
Anita Aguirre-Nieveras: A woman for all seasons Teacher, Poet
BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer
Adapting to change
And survive, Anita did. In fact, she did more than survive this season of change; she flourished in it. “I became more experienced than my sister who came here in 1971. Because I had to take the buses – I worked everywhere – so I learned. The Canadian experience, I was able to write so many things about my Canadian experience,” shared Anita. And – unlike so many other Filipino immigrants – Anita says that she actually enjoys Canada’s cold weather. Truth be told, it was one of the things that influenced her decision to stay for good. “[In the Philippines] the hot weather, the dust and the gas, three days in a row, sometimes in the faculty room, I would lie down on the couch, and I would throw up; terrible headache. When I came here I lost the migraine because of the weather I think . . . so I said ‘I will stay permanently’,” she said.
INTO EACH life, a little rain must fall. True as that adage holds, some people experience more than what would seem their fair share. While many only know the occasional drizzle or sudden shower, there are those who endure a deluge. A downpour of such proportions – a rain so torrential – that it would threaten to engulf the less stalwart soul. Such are the seasons of life. And there is perhaps no one better acquainted with this than Filipino-Canadian teacher-poet, Anita Aguirre-Nieveras. To everything, a season
“I love to write about the seasons, not only because there is so much beauty in them, but also because the seasons are symbolic of the stages of man’s life,” Anita said when she penned her poignant poem, Leaves Fall One by One. In this poem, she asks the heart-wrenching question: Is it a sacrilege to mirror / the season of grace, of passion / Now that the leaves are falling one by one / and the first cold breath of Winter is imminent? Those of us who have truly lived life, with all its hills and vales; its triumphs and trials, can surely relate and find ourselves pondering this philosophical query. In this one question lies the essence of our very human condition; our existential dilemma, if you will. And how we respond determines the grace with which we adapt from season to season. Anita is well-versed with living life, from one season to the next. She has endured the most bitter of winters, and has reveled in the rebirth at its end. The winds of change
Anita recounts her journey to Canada’s shores in 1994. It was a year of change for the woman who already enjoyed a career as an established teacher (with an MA in School Education) in Manila. “I was actually teaching, and
A very bitter winter
I owned a nursery school. I was teaching English and Literature at the Philippine State College of Aeronautics and the PATS School of Aeronautics in Pasay City, as well as the Karilagan Finishing School in Makati,” she said. But when her sister – who was already living in Canada with their mother – fell ill, Anita laid everything aside to be with her family. This was one factor in her move to the Great White North.
“When my sister had a kidney transplant in 1994, and my mom was here (In Canada) and nobody will take care of them, I had to resign from my job and come here. But I came through working as a caregiver.” The winds of change blew fiercely into Anita’s life, and this professional molder-andshaper of young minds found a new line of work as a caregiver in order to gain her immigrant status. “I went through the caregiver www.canadianinquirer.net
program to get my status because when I came they asked me ‘do you want to stay for good now?’ And they said ‘Oh there's only one way you can get permanent status, work as a caregiver,’ and I said no problem. My mom said ‘aha, she has two yayas (nannies) in the Philippines, how can she do this?’ I said to her, ‘I can manage, I am a survivor, and I want to learn about things that you don't know here’.”
As agreeable as she finds the cold, Anita has had to endure a different kind of chill; one that proved so biting, it gnawed through the core of her very being. It was the bitterest winter of her life. While in the Philippines, Anita lost both her sons – one, at the age of 22; the other, at 19 – in separate tragedies. “ . . . He was in Far Eastern University, and he met an accident; it was an accident. And the other one had a brain aneurism; he was taking Veterinary Medicine in Araneta University. I got poems for them here . . . ” she disclosed, trailing off as she showed the poetry written for her beloved boys. “Some people say, I should have been crazy already! But me, my poetry is my outlet, so you can write something beautiful out of something ugly or bad,” she added. Time of rebirth
This attitude is what kept Anita from succumbing to despair and hopelessness. She sought to create beauty out of something so hideous by pick-
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
ing up her pen once again, and immortalizing her emotions through words. This was Anita’s season of rebirth. “When I was 9 years old I already had so much poetry written; but you know, in the Philippines, they said ‘blah, blah… you write poetry?’ They were trying to tease me, like poetry is just ‘like that’,” she said, as she gestured with her finger, making small circles at the side of head to signify someone who had lost their marbles. Still, she continued to write, mainly for school publications. Fast forward to 1997, when Anita (who was working as a chambermaid in what she describes as a “dilapidated” Vancouver hotel) decided to write again. Inspired by another hotel employee who also wrote poetry, Anita had her old, versefilled notebooks sent over from the Philippines. She revisited her old pieces, and wrote some new ones, as well. The writing on the walls
Anita saw poetry everywhere, in the most ordinary of places. “I saw poetry on the walls; I began writing. One time I was eating something at a restaurant and a crumb fell and this bird comes to take the crumb, I was able to write a poem about that. One time I was sitting on the bus, I saw a Chinese man
her to the World Poetry Group, with whom she has stayed ever since. “I am the oldest member of the group,” she confessed; a fact that does not hinder her audience from enjoying her poetry, whether written or read by Anita before a group. Golden age
Anita, who describes herself as “super retired” at the age of 76, is not one to let life pass her by. Aside from writing and reading poetry, and giving lectures and lessons in this field, she also finds the time to entertain with the Golden Age group at a home for the elderly. “I do dancing you know; we entertain in the nursing homes. Like, I do the hula, I do the Filipino dance, and then I do the castanets . . . Yeah, we entertain, we sing,” Anita said. These, too, are her outlets. Her sister has once more fallen ill, and Anita has again assumed the role of caregiver. “I'm good, because it keeps me going, you know. When I’m doing my dancing, my singing, I’m letting off the steam,” she noted. These are some of her secrets to living her golden age to the fullest.
Leaves fall One by One Isa-Isa, Ang Mga Dahon Ay Nalalagas
Poem and Tagalog Translation by Anita Aguirre-Nieveras The diary of summer memories long gone Blotted ink on parched, yellow paper Now, the autumn wind blows the leaves away from the sky the moon is free to roam the bare garden with only traces of summer sun kissing the lilies in the pond. Is it a sacrilege to mirror the season of grace, of passion Now that the leaves are falling one by one and the first cold breath of Winter is imminent? In my autumn, I still feel The warmth of Summer on my skin, and in your autumn, still, you summer megently…softly…gently
Words of (and for) inspiration
***
For those wishing to try their hand at poetry Anita gives these
Nalumua na ang aklat ng alaala Ng isang Tag-init, Kupas na ang mga talata sa naninilaw na papel; umihip ang hanging Tag-lagas at isa-isa, ang mga dahon ay nalaglag.
I think . . . everyone is a poet in their own right. When you cry, when you say words . . . poetry is only composed of words.
with a beard like this (as she gestures to her chin) and I already compared it to seaweed on a rock, so I was able to write a haiku about it. And then I saw this old lady, bony cheeks and really old and I tried to imagine how did she look when she was young? So I tried to push back the time and I see a face, a young face, and imagining the eyes still beautiful, so I was able to write a poem about that too,” she shared. “Poetry is one of my outlets for the pain; you see the pain is gone! Voice it out!,” Anita emphatically shared. The teacher-poet was more prolific than she had ever been, and this surge in creativity led
Malayang naglakbay sa halamanan ang ulilang buwan at dumampi ang halik ng manipis na sinag ng araw sa talulot ng mga bulaklak.
words of inspiration: “I think . . . everyone is a poet in their own right. When you cry, when you say words . . . poetry is only composed of words. So it’s not that difficult,” she said. “Maybe (find out) how to get the inspiration, because you cannot write really without the inspiration. But when you are inspired . . . sometimes I can write 3 poems in one sitting if the inspiration comes,” Anita added. Poetry is Anita’s lifeline; it is what keeps her going and inspires her to keep on keeping on. We leave you with Anita’s words. Let these inspire you, too:
Kasalanan bang aninagin ang nagdaan panahon ng ibyaya, at damhin ang init ng silakbo ngayong ang mga dahon ay isa-isang nalagas sa mga sanga at ang unang simoy ng hanging Tag-lamig ay nalalanghap na? Sa Panahon ng ating Tag-lagas ang init ng Amang Araw ay patuloy na gumigising, dumampi, at humahaplos sa ngayo'y malamig nating pisngi. ***
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Seen & Scenes: Vancouver
OCTOBER 31, 2014
FRIDAY
CAKE DECORATING T & T Supermarket held a Halloween cake decorating contest for kids to showcase their creativity.
ATENEO SPIKERS Ateneo alumni during the Spike for the Blue & White Indoor Beach Volleyball Event. Ateneo Alumni Association of BC (AAABC) Board Members for 2014-2015 (from L) Ace Algas, Tony Invento, Don Alinea, Mike Pestano, Paolo Alonzo, Amado Mercado, Carlo Ramirez, Gino Echavez, Alya Manansala, Jake Deveras, Anna Ramirez
FOND FAREWELL Members of the UP Alumni Association of British Columbia held last Oct. 24, a farewell party for Consul Melanie and family at the home of Art and Elizabeth Fabian in Richmond, B.C.
AAABC Board 2014-2015 and Advisory Group: Front (from L) Anna Ramirez, Tony Invento, Amado Mercado, Mike Calingo, GG Francisco, Alya Manansala, Anja Echavez, Carlo Ramirez, Gino Echavez / Back (from L) Ace Algas, Allen Espejo, Don Alinea, Ian Choa, Mike Pestano, Paolo Alonzo
MEET & GREET Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism, and Agriculture) Maxime Bernier meets businessmen from Richmond, B.C. at Quilchena Golf and Country Club.
PAUL YUZYK AWARD
For photo submissions, please email info@canadianinquirer.net.
Tomas ‘Tatay” Avendano receives the 2014 Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism from Minister Jason Kenney. ‘Tatay’ is the sixth recipient of the annual award, which is bestowed on an individual or group that demonstrates dedication to pluralism and the integration of newcomers into Canadian society. (Photo by Gigi Astudillo).
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Seen & Scenes: Toronto
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
LOPEZ ASSOCIATION Members of the Lopez Association of Ontario receive a Certificate of Appreciation from Filipino-Canadian Senator Tobias C. Enverga, Jr. for their continuing participation in various Filipino events. (St. Jamestown News Service, Dindo Orbeso)
OTTAWA SHOOTING Senator Enverga and fellow parliamentarians honoured Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, On. on Oct. 23. (Photos from Senator Enverga’s FB page.)
PRO PATRIA George R. Poblete received the coveted Rizal Pro Patria Award from Knights of Rizal Supreme Commander, Jeremias ‘Jerry’ Singson in Cleveland, Ohio, during the KOR 5th USA General Assembly recently. This award is given by the President of the Philippines to an individual who has rendered outstanding work in stimulating and encouraging works towards the Rizalian concept of love of country and fulfillment of our duties of citizenship, among other things.
TZU CHI ANNIVERSARY Senator Enverga was at 20th Anniversary of the Tzu Chi Foundation in the Greater Toronto Area in North York, On. on Oct. 25. The foundation provides aid in 69 countries, including the Philippines. Enverga, who was born in the Philippines, was appreciative of the relief efforts Tzu Chi undertook in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. (Photos from Senator Enverga’s FB page.)
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Community News
OCTOBER 31, 2014
FRIDAY
Kenney gives Paul Yuzyk Award to Tatay Tom
Toronto celebrates Paskuhan Festival BY DINDO ORBESO St. Jamestown News Service THE TORONTO Paskuhan Festival Canada is slated to hold its festivities on Nov. 16, in three different locations in the Greater Toronto Area. The city ushers in the holiday season, with a kick-off activity at the award-winning Artscape Wychwood Barns. Holding the festival for the first time at the Barns, Paskuhan promises to be another exciting event, transforming the Barns into a Paskuhan village filled with the smell, sounds and sights reminiscent of a Filipino Christmas. Some of the highlights of the said festivities will be twinkling parols taking the center stage at the Barns together with a traditional Christmas tree and life-sized belen (nativity scene). Savor Christmas favorites like puto bumbong and bibingka then warm up with a cup of tablea hot chocolate while soaking in the banduria music filling the Barns with traditional Filipino Christmas carols. Adding to the festive mood of the day, Paskuhan will end the evening with the Christmas Party ng Bayan. Everyone is invited to join the organizers and community leaders in dancing the night away to OPM music hits to be performed by Analog Pixels, Maria Panaligan and more surprise local performers. If you miss the fun at the Barns, catch the festivities in Mississauga City on Nov. 29. The doors of Gateway Centre for New Canadians will open
for Paskuhan’s celebration at 11 a.m. to welcome families and treat them for a day of entertainment, dancing, play and food galore. The festivities include a Kids’ Zone, the Hip Hop Krismas Dance Competition Grand Finals in collaboration with Culture Shock, and Gateway Centre’s First Canadian Christmas. Don’t miss another showcase of amazing young talents featuring Culture Shock, I Rock with the One, JDL performers and other guests. Toronto Paskuhan Festival 2014 concludes this year’s festivities at Our Lady of the Assumption Church (OLA), the home of the Archdiocesan Filipino Catholic Mission (AFCM). This is the first collaboration between OLA, AFCM and TPF Canada. OLA and AFCM, through Zeny Uy, is looking forward to the collaboration. “The basis of our unity is clear - the perpetuation of deeply-seated, rich Filipino religious value-system rooted in our God-given faith, preparing for the coming of Jesus and welcoming his Birth among us is indeed celebratory,” Uy said. Paskuhan Festival will cosponsor the 8 p.m. simbang gabi (Filipino for “Night Mass”) on Dec. 20. 2014. The festival is sponsored by LBC, TFC Canada, PharmaCia Drugstore, Cedar Dental Care, Rhonrose Printing and SunLife. Artscape Wychwood Barns is located at 601 Christie St., Toronto, while the Gateway Centre for New Canadians is at 3450 Wolfedale Rd., Mississauga. Our Lady of the Assumption Church is located at 2565 Bathurst Street, Toronto. ■
TOMAS “TATAY” Avendano is the recipient of the 2014 Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism, recognized in the Lifetime Achievement category, Jason Kenney, minister for Multiculturalism announced recently. Kenney added that in the coming year, the award categories will be expanded to allow a wider range of Canadians to be recognized for their work in multiculturalism. “As Canadians, we recognize the importance of multiculturalism, and of the contributions that newcomers make to Canadian society. It is thanks to Mr. Avendano and others like him that so many of these individuals have been able to fully integrate into Canadian life socially, economically and culturally. I am happy to announce him as the recipient of the 2014 Paul
Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism,” Kenney said. Avendano immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 1982. In 2001, he helped found the Multicultural Helping House Society (MHHS), which helps immigrants integrate fully into Canadian society. Avendano has acted as a bridge between Vancouver’s Filipino community and other cultural communities in the city. His efforts to rally the community behind the establishment of the MHHS earned him a Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in August 2002. For his continued work growing and developing the MHHS, he also received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in February 2012. This was conferred on Avendano by Governor General David John-
ston and Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a special ceremony in Ottawa. Avendano is the sixth recipient of the annual Paul Yuzyk Award, which is bestowed on an individual or group that demonstrates dedication to pluralism and the integration of newcomers into Canadian society. Since 2009, individuals have been nominated for Outstanding Achievement or Lifetime Achievement. In the coming year, the Paul Yuzyk Award categories and criteria will be expanded to create two additional award categories: one for youth who have demonstrated leadership in promoting a welcoming and inclusive multicultural society in Canada, and one for organizations that have actively contributed to advancing Canadian multiculturalism. ■
MINISTER for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney (L) raises the hand of Jojo Quimpo, during Quimpo’s fundraising and official launch as candidate for member of parliament for KingswayVancouver. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
Immigration
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Rights group says Asian, African female migrants abused in UAE homes, excluded from labour law BY TERESA CEROJANO The Associated Press MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Many Asian and African women working as domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates have reported being overworked, beaten or sexually abused by their employers but are often trapped in slave-like conditions because they’re excluded from the country’s labour law protections, a rights group said last week. The abuse complaints are rampant throughout the wealthy Persian Gulf region that relies on foreign labour. Human Rights Watch said in a report that the migrant workers’ residency is tied to their employers through a sponsorship system that prevents them from changing jobs and opens them to charges if they run away. It cited passport confiscation, non-payment of wages, long hours of work, forced confinement, food deprivation and psychological, physical and sexual abuse. The New York-based advocacy group said the report was based on interviews late last year with 99 female domestic workers, recruitment agents and employers in the United Arab Emirates. Twenty-two of the women said their employers physically abused them, beating them with sticks or cables, punching or slapping their faces, kicking or choking them. Six said their employers or members of the household sexually assaulted or harassed them. “The UAE’s sponsorship system chains domestic workers to their employers and then leaves them isolated and at risk of abuse behind the closed doors
Filipinos hold up some of the garbage that was sent to Manila by shipping container last month.
of private homes,” said Rothna Begum, Middle East women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “With no labour law protection for domestic workers, employers can, and many do, overwork, underpay, and abuse these women.” At least 146,000 migrant women work as domestic helpers in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s 10 richest countries. Most of them come from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Ethiopia. The report said authorities in June began requiring a weekly day off and 8 hours of rest within 24 hours for domestic workers. But the changes are weaker than labour protections for other workers that are enforceable
by judicial authorities. A 28-year-old Indonesian quoted in the report said her employer beat her every day and in March last year twisted her right arm behind her back so severely that it broke. Another Indonesian worker said her employer raped her last year when he took her to clean a second house he bought. A Filipino worker said her employers would slap or punch her to make her “work harder.” Almost all workers interviewed complained of long hours and many complained of not being paid on time or in full, the report said. One said she was never paid for almost three years. The report said workers often endure months of abuse
due to fear of deportation, of being banned for future employment or being charged with “absconding.” Two Filipino former domestic workers recounted their suffering in the United Arab Emirates during the report’s launch in Manila. Marelie Brua, 24, said she escaped from her employer after two months of 22 to 23 hours of work a day, being fed rotten food, paid half of what was stipulated in her contract and collapsing twice due to exhaustion. When she complained, her employer said, “We bought you for 10,000 dirhams ($2,700), do you know that?” Marina Sarno, a 39-year-old mother of four, said she worked
from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day and was fed stale bread. Her employer, who kept her cellphone and documents, scolded her when she was too sick to work. “I told her not to treat me like an animal,” Sarno said. When Sarno’s husband contacted Philippine authorities, her bosses allowed her to go home. But her recruiter made her sign a quit claim in exchange for her air ticket, and the employer confiscated Sarno’s savings, she said. Philippine Labor Secretary Erlinda Baldoz said Manila has stopped processing contracts for domestic helpers bound for the United Arab Emirates because it won’t let Philippine labour officials verify contracts. ■
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Immigration
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OCTOBER 31, 2014
FRIDAY
PANGARAP : SO, OUR JOURNEY BEGINS
So, When Was the Last Time You Wrote a Resume? BY BOLET AREVALO IT IS so amazing how resume writing can be so much an art, even a science, in this job hunting jungle. Yet, the simplest written resume can be the key to that first job opportunity. Everything starts with a resume. But in a very competitive job jungle, the resume that you wrote long ago or even have recently rewritten will not stand much of a chance to be read at all. I never realized that there could be so many lessons to learn and techniques to acquire in writing even the simplest resume. To even more of my amazement, I never knew that anybody can have at least 50100 versions or more of his own resume. I will not attempt to teach you how to write a good resume because, again, there are thousands of books and articles that can teach you that, and hundreds of organizations willing to take you on to “case-manage” and help you with your resume. When you come in to one of these organizations, you are given a case manager and your name is entered into a central database. Case management includes teaching you how to do your resume. I still could not pinpoint which of my resume versions was the best and guaranteed me a job. It turns out that the shortest and simplest one I wrote got me my first job. The resume version that got me my second job was the one I so quickly put together because in thirty minutes I had to leave the house to be able to get to the company’s recruitment venue on time. It was not because I was brilliant that I did that. The key is
to be able to have a Word file of your core competencies and for each of these competencies, a maximum five-point enumeration of your transferrable skills. Depending on the position you are applying for, you pick from your tree of skills, and plant them into your resume. In that way, you will be able to do your appropriate resume version as fast and as customized every time you need one. They say that your resume has only fifteen seconds of a reviewer’s time to be read. In that case, even a standard two-page resume may not even be lucky to be read to the bottom of the first page. This is why, resume experts advise that you should be able to summarize both your skills and attributes in a maximum of seven bullet points at
the top of your first page, with the heading “Profile Summary” or “Summary of Skills and Attributes” at the top of the page. You may even need to omit the usual first heading “Objective” where you actually just type in the position applied for because that will take two or three of the recruiter’s fifteen seconds. Such a profile summary may be the only portion that is read right then and there, and a decision is quickly made whether to proceed to the subsequent headings and information. You may have the chance to hop from one job search organization to another just as I did, with four different ones in the twelve months that I was trying to look for a job. But you will realize, as I did, that each of
them will teach a different format, a new strategy, or a totally unheard of technique for doing that resume and getting it noticed, including a way to hide your age if you are re-entering the workforce as a second career or a comeback star. But after four job search programs and twelve months of feeling my way around the job market, I would say there is no real guarantee except when you start to make up your mind and focus on what you want to do, or how you want to proceed with your job search. The least expected version of your resume may be the one that will get you your first job. When you move to a new country, you will realize how important a well-composed resume is in the job jungle. Yet,
there is no hard and fast rule in writing a good one except perhaps that you should be able to capture the reviewer’s attention within fifteen seconds from the moment he picks up your resume to read. Only when you start to focus on the fact that you need to get a job will even the simplest version of your resume guarantee getting you back into the workforce. ■ Bolet is a marketing communications practitioner and dabbles in writing as a personal passion. She is author-publisher of the book: The Most Practical Immigrating and Job Hunting Survival Guide, proven simple steps to success without the fears and the doubts. Please check out https:// www.amazon.com/author/ boletarevalo
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Immigration
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
31
Tanong Mo Kay Kuya Boy DANNY from Surrey, B.C. emailed me this question:
in Canada, so it is very important.
KUYA BOY, I have been scheduled by the Immigration and Refugee Board to attend an inadmissibility hearing next month. What does this mean and what can I do?
What happens if they refer me for an admissibility hearing anyways?
Danny, I consulted this topic with an immigration lawyer whom I hold in high regard, MS. ERICA OLMSTEAD. She has been practicing Immigration Law for several years and she may be contacted at her law firm EDELMANN & COMPANY at 604 646 4684. The following answers are not legal advice. They are being provided by Ms. Olmstead for informational purposes only. What is inadmissibility and what would make me inadmissible to Canada?
A person who is found to be inadmissible receives a removal order and is required to leave Canada. Temporary or permanent residents in Canada can be found to be inadmissible for having done things that are prohibited by Canada’s Immigration Act. This includes a wide range of things: from giving false information on an immigration application or engaging in organized crime or activities that present a security threat to Canada or violate international rights, or having a criminal record. This does not affect citizens of Canada. It does affect people who may have lived here for almost their whole life though, if they have not obtained citizenship. How can my criminal record affect my status in Canada?
A criminal record can affect your ability to apply to come Canada in the first place and it can also affect your ability to stay here if you are a temporary or permanent resident. This comes up when you are convicted in Canada OR outside of Canada. It can also come up for persons who commit criminal acts outside of Canada even if they are not convicted or even charged, for example during a trip across the border to Seattle. What kind of criminal record
CBSA not to bring them to an admissibility hearing (by writIt is different for temporary ing what is called a s. 44 report) and permanent residents. because of exceptional humaniFor temporary residents, altarian and compassionate facmost all offences will make you tors in their case. It is very iminadmissible: if you are conportant that you update CBSA victed of any serious offence or with your address because they more than one less serious ofwill send you a letter allowing fence (a ‘summary’ offence like you explain your case. possession of marijuana) you You can explain the mitiwill be found to be inadmisgating circumstances of your sible. conviction and Most offences show remorse are ‘hybrid’ offor your actions, fences which talk about your means they are If an immigration officer finds ties to the comautomatically there are reasonable grounds to munity and to considered to be believe you committed a crime in Canada, the reserious. Thefts another country - even if you are not habilitation efunder or over charged or convicted - you can also forts you have $5,000, are constill be found inadmissible here. undertaken, the sidered serious best interests offences. of any children You can also you have here, have your status taken away if – even if you are not charged or any physical, psychological or CBSA learns of criminal charg- convicted - you can also still be medical issues you have, or any es that you received before found inadmissible here. hardship you would experience coming to Canada that you did if you are deported. You should not disclose. Are there any exceptions? gather as much documentaFor a permanent resident If you are given an absolute tion as you can to corroborate you will be found inadmissible or conditional discharge – this the things you write, including if you are convicted of an of- is not considered a conviction letters of support from friends fence which could be punished so you would not be inadmis- and family. by 10 years or more in Canada, sible. If you are found to be You can retain a lawyer to regardless of what sentence you innocent or Crown ‘stays’ the help you do this, which legal actually get, or if you actually charges and does not pursue a aid may help fund if you have a receive a sentence of more than conviction, you also fall outside strong case and qualify as lowsix months. these provisions. income. For many people, this Offences which could be Permanent residents are also may be your only opportunity punished by 10 years or more given an opportunity to ask to request to be allowed to stay would make me inadmissible/ removable from Canada?
include things like assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, trafficking in cocaine or more than 3 kg of marijuana, fraud or theft over $5,000, perjury, robbery, extortion, sexual assault, impaired driving causing bodily harm, etc. If an immigration officer finds there are reasonable grounds to believe you committed a crime in another country
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The Immigration and Refugee Board will send you a notice of a hearing date which you are required to attend. If you have the conviction that CBSA has alleged and its meets this criteria – the Board will find you inadmissible. Certain people will have a right to appeal, to again have the humanitarian and compassionate circumstance of their case considered by the Immigration Appeal Division. In June 2013, the Canadian Government restricted the availability of this appeal process – it used to be accessible to anyone who was given a sentence that was shorter than 2 years. Now it is only accessible to people who have a sentence shorter than 6 months and it is not available to people who committed criminal acts outside of Canada. At an appeal, you can ask the Board to ‘stay’ your removal, which is similar to an immigration probation where you are required to abide by terms & conditions. If you can do this, your removal order will be set aside and your permanent residency restored. If you do not comply, the Board may reconsider your case or, if another serious offence is committed, removal order may become enforceable. Are there consequences?
any
other
If you do not appear for or engage with the admissibility process once it has begun, a warrant may be issued and you can be arrested. Your right to present your case to CBSA or the Immigration Appeal will be forfeited and a removal order will be issued and then enforced. ■ We invite you to tune in to our weekly legal advice program “Tanong Mo Kay Kuya Boy” every Saturday from 1230 pm to 1pm on JUAN RADIO 96.1 FM. Every week, we will feature various professional lawyers who will discuss and give advice about different legal topics. If you have any legal questions, send an email to kuyaboycanada@gmail.com
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Entertainment MISS B’S ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS
Ballet Philippines’ “Master Pieces”: Celebrating 45 years of Filipino global excellence BY BABES CASTRONEWLAND
‘MASTER PIECES’ by Southeast Asia’s long-time running premier ballet group, Ballet Philippines, ended on a high note at the River Rock Casino Resort on Oct. 26. BP celebrated its 45th year with a four-week tour in North America. The Vancouver presentation was the company’s last stop, before heading back to Manila that night. For nearly a month, the renowned company toured California, followed by performances in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. Their performances coincided with the commemoration of Filipino-American Heritage month in October. ‘Master Pieces’ showcased awardwinning, notable works that highlighted the Filipino invulnerable spirit and multifarious culture. Traipsing from traditional folksongs to the most contemporary expressions, the anniversary presentation brought nostalgic memories to many Filipinos. They likewise enticed the audience to engage in the fun and eclectic energy of the Philippines. It was indeed a celebration of 45 years of mastery and commitment to multicultural diversity that depict Filipino spirit. The show also featured some of BP’s best works to-date, and highlighted the company’s dual mastery of classical and contemporary dance by most celebrated masterpieces from notable choreographers. The repertoire included George Birkadze’s Farandole, Alden Lugnasin’s Aku, Denisa Reyes’ For the Gods, and Agnes Locsin’s Moriones. The company likewise performed The Bungkos Suite,
HYDEE U. ABRAHAN
a classic work of Ballet Philippines founder, artistic director emeritus and just-proclaimed Philippine National Artist for Dance, Alice Reyes. In typical BP melting pot fashion of neoclassical, neo-ethnic, modern and contemporary dance forms, “Master Pieces” depicted mimesis of rich Filipino culture in works such as Moriones, Minamahan Sinasamba, Halik and Shifting Wait. BP president is the former Miss Universe-turned-philanthropist, Margie Moran-Floirendo. She was accompanied by the company’s artistic director, Paul Alexander Morales, as they both carried the banner of the Cultural Center of the
Philippines all throughout their West Coast cities tour. “It’s such an honor to be able to host Ballet Philippines perform in Washington (Olympia and Burien) and thankful to our good friends, Babes Newland, Lita Nuguid and Alan Yong for line producing/hosting BP in British Columbia. Not many Filipinos in North America are aware that we truly have our own legitimate, world-class premier dance company,” quipped Washington-based lead producer, Vallie Pavino of Pavison Worldwide Enterprises.
In the spirit of multiculturalism, part of the proceeds from the show in B.C. will be donated to the Multicultural Helping House Society or MHHS Charitable Foundation for its continuing efforts in supporting new migrants and/or foreign skilled workers in British Columbia. In California, receiving charities are the ABS-CBN Foundation International and Habitat for Humanity for their ongoing rebuilding initiatives to victims of super Typhoon Haiyan. ■ With files from Mary Ann R. Mandap
Entertainment
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Jolina Magdangal makes ‘Kapamilya’ comeback BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer
PHOTO FROM JOLINA MAGDANGAL’S FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA — Actress Jolina Magdangal has officially returned to “Kapamilya” network ABS-CBN to be part of the drama series “Flordeliza” with Marvin Agustin. Agustin and Magdangal were once an onscreen love-team. “Flordeliza” — which will be under the direction of Wenn Deramas — will replace the daytime drama series “Be Careful With My Heart.”
Jake Cuenca wins first international acting award BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Jake Cuenca recently won the Best Actor Feature for the independent film “Mulat” at the 2014 International Film Festival Manhattan in New York. Dianne Ventura, the film director, also won the award for Best Director for Global Feature. “This is an amazing thing. You express something that you really believe in. Regardless of the fact that it makes money, regardless of the fact that people watch it,” said Cuenca in his acceptance speech. He also posted this message in his personal Twitter account, “Never won
Diane Ventura and Jake Cuenca.
best actor in the Philippines. But certainly felt
PHOTO FROM JAKE’S INSTAGRAM.
sweet winning it here in the States.” ■
MANILA — Mariah Carey described the reception she received from her fans in Manila as an “incredible welcome.”
The international diva arrived on Monday at 3 a.m. She is in the country for a concern slated on October 28 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Carey posted a short video on Instagram with the caption: “Just arrived in Manila at 3
a.m.” Later on she posted, “Thank you #Manila #lambily for the incredible welcome. I love you much!!! Can’t wait to see you at the show!!” The last time that Carey was in the Philippines was in 2003. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net
lya” network, but transferred to rival “Kapuso” GMA-7etwrok in 2002. Last month, after Magdnagal and Husband Mark escueta attended the Star Magic ball, rumours circulated among fans and on social media that the actress was coming back to her home network. “Flordeliza” is Magdangal’s first project with ABS-CBN since she transferred to GMA over 10 years ago. It is also her comeback project with Agustin, with whom she was paired from the late 90s until the early 2000s. ■
Yeng Constantino shares plans for upcoming wedding BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer
Mariah Carey thanks Filipinos for “incredible welcome” BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer
“I’m so happy. Kakaibang feeling. Hanggang ngayon, parang di pa rin ako makapaniwala. (I’m so happy. It’s a different feeling. Until now, I can hardly believe it.),” the actress said in an interview on TV Patrol. “Lahat nung mga di ko nagagawa dati, parang ipagagawa sa akin ni direk dito, (Everything I was unable to do in the past, it’s as though I am being asked to do these things by the director of this series.),” Jolina added. The actress began her showbiz career with the “Kapami-
MANILA — Pop-rock singer Yeng Constantino is all set to ties the knot on Valentine’s Day next year. On Monday’s episode of television talk show “Kris TV”, Constantino shared that she is set to marry fiancé Victor “Yan” Asuncion in Tagaytay City on February 14, 2015. “Sa Tagaytay po… Valentine’s Day,” the singer said, adding that she and Asuncion will honeymoon on the island paradise of Maldives. “Yes, sa Maldives. Personally, kasi gusto ko siya. Tapos may nag-gift sa amin. Pinapili
Yeng Constantino and Victor Asuncion.
kami either Switzerland o Maldives, so we chose Maldives. Yes, ninang namin sa kasal [ang nagregalo] (Yes, in Maldives. Personally, I like it. And then someone gifted us and asked us to choose between Switzerland or Maldives, so we chose Maldives. Yes, it was our godmother (for the wedding) who gave the gift.),” Yeng gushed. Constantino, who took the local pop scene by storm after she won ABS-CBN’s “Pinoy Dream Academy” in 2006, met Asuncion in 2013 through an introduction by a common friend. This is the first serious and official relationship for both Constantino and Asuncion, who is a worship director at a Christian church. ■
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Entertainment
OCTOBER 31, 2014 FRIDAY
The ‘Queen of Posing’ shows how it’s done
High-fashion supermodel Coco Rocha is set to launch her book of 1,000 poses–and advises aspiring models to ‘bring something’ to the job BY CHECHE V. MORAL Philippine Daily Inquirer WHEN COCO Rocha began modeling at age 14, the willowy young Canadian’s career didn’t take off right away. At least, not in New York. Rocha’s agency decided to bring her to Asia, where she worked for two months in Taipei, and another two months in Singapore. In Taipei, the teen did a lot of catalog work, some 25 to 75 images a day. At castings, the client would ask two models to do a kind of pose-off—“Vogueing,” as Rocha calls it. “Today, it may be ‘sexy pose.’ Or ‘confident pose,’ whatever that means,” she said in an interview in Hong Kong last week, where she was the celebrity judge at the imagemodel search of American direct-selling company, Mary Kay, called “Mary Kay Dream Beautiful.” Three Filipinas competed in the finals. “So you just kept going,” the 26-year-old added. “If they liked
you, you got the job. When I went back to New York, I thought that’s how you did it. So when I went to my first few shoots, they were kinda laughing at me. They thought it was interesting, they thought it was weird. But I kept doing it. Over the years, it just became ‘Coco’s thing.’” This week, the supermodel dubbed the “Queen of Posing” will release via Amazon “Study of Pose,” a thick tome containing 1,000 unique poses celebrating her signature modeling style, her schtick, if you will. Advance signed copies of the book, photographed by Steven Sebring, were given out to Asian media attending the Mary Kay event. It’s published by Harper Design. Jean Paul Gaultier, the designer who made Rocha perform the Irish jig—another of her signature moves—on the runway for his Celtic-themed collection in 2007, wrote the foreword. Rocha, a trained dancer, was in fact scouted at an Irish dance competition. When she walked,
er, danced for Gaultier’s runway, she had only been doing runway shows for a year and a half. It was such an astounding performance that on YouTube videos of that show, you could hear the audience cheering their approval. Only a few months after, Vogue put her on its cover. Gaultier calls Rocha “the premier model when it comes to pose and movement.” Rocha said she and collaborator-photographer Sebring envisioned the book for aspiring models “to show that there isn’t just three ways of posing.” They referenced art history, film and pop culture, the supermodel added. “It works for models, artists, sculptors, and people who just love the point of view of models as muses,” Rocha said. It’s a heavy tome, 2,032 pages thick, with black-andwhite photographs numbered 1 to 1,000, showing the nuances of the human form and facial expressions. A digital app will also be released, where the poses are shown 360 degrees.
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It took a mere three days to photograph over 1000 poses, but a full two years to edit and put them all together into a book.
It took them a mere three days to shoot, but a full two years to edit and put together into a book. “Even the smallest gestures are important,” Gaultier writes. “To convey those kinds of feelings effortlessly is the primary job of a model, which makes it a vital and, at the same time, difficult job.” “Sometimes I try real hard to not do [the many poses,] and they say, ‘Do your thing!’” Rocha said with a laugh. “It became a schtick. Then people just learned to love how I do it. I decided to perfect it, and it became the thing I do.
“Also, that’s the thing that I bring to the job. That’s what I tell models: bring something. I don’t know what you’re good at. Maybe you’re very flexible, show them. Maybe you can make funny faces, show them. Don’t be scared to be different. A lot of models, they come to a competition or a casting, and they think, ‘Look beautiful, look glamorous, sit up straight,’ and then everything’s good. That’s not it. “Do something that makes them say, ‘She’s not the prettiest, she’s not the cutest, but she is amazing,’ whatever that is. For me, it’s posing.” ■
Entertainment
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Scandal plagued radio host Jian Ghomeshi was becoming an international star BY NICK PATCH The Canadian Press TORONTO — The Canadawide response to the weekend saga between CBC and Jian Ghomeshi was so thunderous, our neighbours to the south felt the reverberations. With his soothing tone and gently insistent interview style, Ghomeshi won a devoted national following and a fledgling international audience with his insightful CBC-Radio chat show “Q.” Sunday’s news that the CBC had cut ties with Ghomeshi — over his “sexual behaviour,” he alleges — and that a hefty lawsuit would follow thus made news beyond Canada’s borders. The Sydney Morning Herald, Hollywood Reporter and Billboard were among the outlets to quickly provide coverage of the developing story. Other organizations took an educational approach: Gawker ran an article headlined “Jian Ghomeshi: A Guide For Puzzled Americans,” while the top story on the New York Magazine site was titled “Why Canadians Are So Upset Over the CBC Sex Scandal.” If nothing else, the earth-shaking nature of the news in Canada laid bare that Ghomeshi had become one of the most prominent personalities on the CBC. Born in England to Iranian parents, Ghomeshi moved to the Toronto suburb of Thornhill at nine years old. He attended York University before first finding public attention with the founding of the satirical folk-pop outfit Moxy Fruvous in the late ‘80s. Ghomeshi (then sometimes
credited as “Jean”) played drums and sang, and over the ‘90s the band found modest success in Canada by mixing cheeky social commentary and winsome-if-slight pop songwriting redolent of They Might Be Giants. They were nominated for group of the year at the 1994 Juno Awards alongside Rush and Blue Rodeo (the Rankin Family won). The band was winding down as the millennium turned and in 2002 Ghomeshi shifted into broadcasting, becoming host of an arts-oriented CBC Newsworld program. His rise at the public broadcaster was swift: he hosted several more music-related CBC shows including “50 Tracks” and “The National Playlist” before landing a temporary gig filling in for “Sounds Like Canada” host Shelagh Rogers. As the Globe and Mail reported in 2012, Ghomeshi “ruffled feathers” during his 11-week stint as host by making changes intended to draw in a younger audience. Nevertheless, Ghomeshi also struck a chord, and accumulated the currency to launch a show of his own in April 2007: “Q.” The live, usually 90-minute cultural chat program soon became a centrepiece of CBCRadio’s lineup, a showcase for A-list guests and catnip for a younger generation that otherwise proved elusive for CBC. Beyond possessing a dulcet voice, Ghomeshi was a sophisticated and decidedly hip presence on CBC’s airwaves. He possessed a cultural facility aided by a long career in music and a finger-on-the-pulse knack to spin
Former CBC star Jian Ghomeshi is now embroiled in a sex scandal involving three anonymous women who claim he sexually abused them without consent. FACEBOOK PHOTO
opening “essays” with much viral value. His Twitter account had roughly 284,000 followers as of Monday afternoon — CBC’s own had only 103,000. Notably, Ghomeshi also had a knack for making celebrity guests feel comfortably swaddled in admiration while nudging them toward acknowledgements of criticism or personal revelations they might have been disinclined to share in other interviews. An award-winning interview with Leonard Cohen probed mortality, love and sex, with Cohen answering an intensely personal question about whether he regretted not committing to a lifelong partner by singing: “Non, je ne regrette rien.” With Ghomeshi, Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson once re-
flected on his troubled life and a father who was “nothing but mean,” Joni Mitchell discussed giving up a child and suffering from “disease after disease,” while Neil Young, in the midst of personal turbulence, stopped by recently to discuss a lifetime of “quick decisions.” Other rare guests to visit the “Q” studios included Jay Z, Paul McCartney and, recently, Barbra Streisand. Most infamous, of course, was Ghomeshi’s 2009 interview with Oscar-winning actor-turned-musician Billy Bob Thornton. The Arkansas native didn’t like that Ghomeshi referenced his film career and as a result petulantly murmured his way through the rest of the interview, barely answering any questions except to most notably complain about Canadian
audiences. Here, the awkward interview only seemed to intensify the public’s admiration for Ghomeshi. And as other CBC personalities migrated for richer, private pastures, Ghomeshi became increasingly integral to the public broadcaster, a cross-platform star (“Q” also airs on CBC-TV) who supplied the face and voice of the Canada Reads literacy campaign and also steered the annual Scotiabank Giller Prize gala. (Organizers have announced they will turn to someone else this year). He authored a book of his own as well, the non-fiction tome “1982.” The Thornton incident also earned much international attention — to this day, it constitutes a section of Thornton’s Wikipedia entry — and Ghomeshi’s profile has grown steadily outside of Canada. In 2010, “Q” achieved syndication Stateside care of Public Radio International. The show now airs on more than 180 stations. The U.S. press took notice. A 2012 New York Times feature detailed Ghomeshi’s rise with the headline “A Wild Mix of Culture By Way of Canada,” while the Washington Post ran a thorough profile last year that touted Ghomeshi’s “magnetism.” The Washington Post ran another story on Ghomeshi on Monday, of a much different nature of course. Its website also featured Ghomeshi’s name in a banner of the five marquee topics currently of urgent interest to Post readers. “Jian Ghomeshi” was sandwiched between “Ebola quarantines” and “World Series.” ■
Flip ’N Comedy Presents Rex Navarrete VANCOUVER’S FLIP ’N Comedy presents Premiere FilipinoAmerican comedian Rex Navarrete at the historic Columbia Theatre in New Westminster on Friday November 7th. It’s been over four years since Rex has performed in Vancouver, but the two local Filipino-Canadian comedians who make up Vancouver’s Flip ’N Comedy, Dennis Litonjua and Art Factora, are
bringing him back for two shows in one night. Navarrete remains to be a one of the hardest working Fil-Am comedians and he’s performed alongside some of comedy’s heavy hitters like George Lopez and DL Hughley. He has also had the distinction of becoming the most celebrated stand-up comic to perform to multiple sold-out shows in Manila, Hong
Kong, Singapore and Australia since 2002. Navarrete gathers all of his material from what he calls “Real Rex Moments” – his reality and shared life experiences that all Pinoys can relate to. “Even though most of my material is geared for a Filipino audience, if you’re smart enough you’ll understand the universality of it. Look at the comedy traditions of Jewish www.canadianinquirer.net
and African American comics, which are now the mainstream through Seinfeld, Rock and Pryor. Our struggles become our comedy.” General admission seats are
$20 in advance ($25 at the door) and VIP tickets are $35. Tickets can be purchased by phone at 604.720.1940 (Art Factora) or online at www.tinyurl.com/ RexInVan2014. ■
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 THE COLUMBIA THEATRE - NEW WESTMINGER Doors: 7:00PM and 10:00PM Show: 8:00PM and 10:30PM TICKETS ON SALE NOW
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Lifestyle
Canadian task force advises against screening for prostate cancer using PSA test BY SHERYL UBELACKER The Canadian Press TORONTO — A national task force that produces guidelines for doctors says PSA testing should not be used to screen men for possible prostate cancer because it can lead to more harms than benefit. In guidelines issued Monday, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care says prostate specific antigen, or PSA, testing is not an effective screening tool because it often produces false-positive results that lead to unnecessary treatments and potentially adverse side-effects. That conclusion brought swift and mostly negative reaction from some medical and advocacy groups, which disagree with the task force’s recommendation that PSA testing be eliminated as a screening tool for prostate cancer. PSA is a protein produced in the prostate, the walnut-sized gland located below a man’s bladder. Elevated levels of PSA in the blood may indicate the presence of prostate cancer. “Our recommendation is against PSA screening,” said Dr. Neil Bell, who heads the working group on prostate cancer screening for the 14-member task force established by the Public Health Agency of Canada. “We have a stronger recommendation for men over 69 and under 55, and a little less strong recommendation for men between 55 and 69,” said Bell, noting that the advice is based on a review of large international clinical trials that compared outcomes for men who got PSA screening and those who didn’t over more than a decade. The evidence suggests that among men aged 55 to 69, almost one in five had at least one false-positive PSA test, and about 17 per cent ended up with unnecessary biopsies of the prostate as a result, Bell said from Edmonton, where he is a
Micrograph of prostate adenocarcinoma, acinar type, the most common type of prostate cancer.
professor of family medicine at the University of Alberta. Furthermore, more than half of detected prostate cancers are overdiagnosed — meaning they won’t cause symptoms or death during a man’s lifetime. Such overdiagnosis often leads to treatments that can cause impotence, incontinence, infection and bleeding. “So what’s the benefit in that age group? If you screen men based on the protocol in those trials, every two to four years for 13 years, five out of 1,000 will die from prostate cancer. If you don’t screen, six out of 1,000 men will die from prostate cancer,” Bell said. “So the reduction in prostate cancer mortality is one in 1,000 or about 0.1 per cent.” “To get the benefit, you’re diagnosing about 27 or 28 men with prostate cancer who would never benefit from the treatment related to prostate cancer because they would never suffer any difficulty from it,” he said. “They could be investigated or treated and suffer the consequences of that treatment without actually benefiting from it.” “Physicians and patients need
to be aware of the fact that in prostate cancer, early diagnosis doesn’t always mean you’re going to get a better benefit.” The task force guidelines, published in Monday’s edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, apply only to using PSA testing to see if a man might have prostate cancer, not for checking whether treatment is working in men already diagnosed with the disease. The advocacy group Prostate Cancer Canada was among those that disputed the recommendation, insisting that when performed appropriately, the benefits of PSA screening far outweigh potential harms. “It’s the approach of one size fits all and that doesn’t work for health care,” said Stuart Edmonds, vice-president of research, health promotion and survivorship at Prostate Cancer Canada. Edmonds said that based on recently published modelling estimates, doing away with regular PSA screening would double the number of advanced cases — in which the malignancy spreads beyond the prostate gland — resulting in an estimated 13 per cent to 20 per cent
jump in prostate cancer deaths each year. Prostate Cancer Canada suggests PSA testing should be used as part of “smart screening,” a personalized approach in which men are tested at age 40 to establish a baseline number; subsequent tests would be performed over time to monitor any changes in that measurement. “The PSA test, we believe, has an important role in diagnosing prostate cancer early, and that’s why we suggest a smart screening approach whereby men get a PSA test and that’s added to their risk profile along with their age, their ethnicity and their family history,” he said. “And then that determines when the next PSA test takes place. It could be two years, it could be 10 years . . . We really believe the benefits of the PSA test far outweigh the risk of not doing it.” Dr. Rodney Breau, a spokesman for the Canadian Urological Association, said the new advice is concerning to prostate specialists who believe a lot of good has arisen from PSA screening over the last couple of decades.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
In the past, about 20 per cent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer already had metastasis to other parts of the body, reducing the options for successful treatment, said Breau, a uro-oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital. “That’s a very rare presentation nowadays, thankfully.” “And the reason for that is PSA screening, there’s no doubt about it.” Since PSA testing was first introduced in the early 1990s, the death rate from prostate cancer has dropped by about 40 per cent in Canada, which Breau also attributes to regular screening. (Bell of the task force said there also may be other reasons, including improved treatments.) “There’s no doubt that it has helped many men,” said Breau, though he agreed there are also harms that can arise from PSA screening. “We want to keep the benefits of screening, but we want to reduce the harms,” he said, noting that doctors are more judicious about performing biopsies and treating only those men who are likely to benefit. “There’s risks and benefits associated with (screening),
Lifestyle
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Doctors prescribe exercise as medicine BY JOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer IF YOUR doctor prescribes exercise as medicine, don’t be surprised. A number of primary care physicians and healthcare providers in the country have undergone a prescription training course under the Exercise is Medicine (EIM) Philippines initiative, according to doctor Rosa Allen Sy, endocrinologist and past president of the Philippine Association Society for the Study of Overweight and Obesity (Passoo). Launched last year by Passoo, EIM is a campaign focused on encouraging doctors to include exercise when designing treatment plans for their patients. At a health forum in Quezon City last week, Sy said Filipinos must include exercise in their daily routine to help curb the growing prevalence of obesity in the country. Obesity, due to lack of physical activity and unhealthy diet, is a risk factor for a wide range of chronic diseases. Citing the latest National
Nutrition Survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, she said the number of overweight and obese Filipinos has jumped from 16.6 percent in 1993 to 29.9 percent in 2013. This even if there was a decreasing trend in the prevalence of chronic energy deficiency in the country, from 13.9 percent to 10.3 percent over the last 20 years. Based on the study, three in every 10 Filipinos are overweight or obese, with more Filipino women having bigger waistlines. The survey, conducted from June 2013 to April 2014, showed that 34.4 percent of Filipino women were obese while 27.6 percent of their male counterpart fall under the category. More women also have high waist circumference at 23.1 percent compared to the men at 3.8 percent, according to the study. Sy said Filipinos must overcome obesity to prevent premature deaths due to noncommunicable
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diseases, and this can be done through dietary intervention and exercise with the help and guidance of their doctors. She noted that several d o c tors
have just finished the training in July. Another batch will be trained later this year or early next year. ■
FBELLON / FLICKR
but there are ways of mitigating many of those risks.” The conflicting stances on PSA screening will likely lead to confusion, with some men wondering if they should or shouldn’t get testing, agreed Edmonds of Prostate Cancer Canada, whose bigger concern is that many men might be less likely to see their family doctor about prostate health in general. “There’s also other aspects to prostate health, with prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia also indicated by a high PSA level,” he said. While Bell said task force members are recommending against routine PSA screening, they understand that some men will want the test anyway. “Men who are concerned about prostate screening should have a discussion with their physician ... to come up with the decision that’s appropriate for that person,” he said. An estimated 23,600 Canadian men will be diagnosed this year with prostate cancer, the most common cancer among Canadian men and the third leading cause of death from cancer, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, and about 4,000 Canadian men will die from the disease in 2014. ■
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Business
Convenience of downtown living leads 2015 real estate trends: PwC report BY LINDA NGUYEN The Canadian Press TORONTO — Homeowners who choose the convenience of city life over the more generous living space in suburbia are driving Canada’s real estate market, according to a new report jointly produced by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers and the non-profit Urban Land Institute. The annual outlook on emerging real estate trends says the move downtown, which has emerged in the past few years, will continue as more Canadians decide to stay in or move back to urban cores. Much of this is due to changing demographics as young families and millennials forgo the white picket fence and house in the suburbs to take advantage of downtown living, where properties are smaller but offer more conveniences, said the 112-page report released Tuesday. According to Statistics Canada, the most recent numbers available show that the population of urban centres grew 7.1 per cent between 2006 and 2011. Frank Magliocco, Canadian real estate leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said there are a number of factors behind the urban growth, including that Canadians are more aware of the environmental costs associated with urban sprawl as well as the cost in time and money of lengthy commutes. As well, provincial land use
Canadian cities will either go the way of New York, where families are willing to sacrifice space to live in the city, or the way of London, where families are used to living outside the city and commuting downtown for work, says PricewaterhouseCoopers. ADAWN / FLICKR
regulations that protect green spaces — for example Toronto’s Greenbelt involving about 800,000 hectares of protected land from Peterborough, Ont., to Niagara Falls, Ont. — have made it more difficult to find land to develop and has pushed an explosion of condominium growth in major cities. But one of the concerns is what will happen to these urban properties once the younger generation grows out of them. “This continuing urbanization trend has fuelled the condo boom in Toronto and other cit-
ies, but some question what will happen as the lifestyles of today’s young urban singles and couples change. Will they move out of the city core in search of larger homes, schools and services, or will they — like their counterparts in other parts of the world — simply adapt to smaller living spaces?” the report asks. Magliocco said Canadian cities will either go the way of New York, where families are willing to sacrifice space to live in the city, or the way of London, where families are used to living outside the city and com-
muting downtown for work. The rapidly growing condo markets in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver have also raised concerns about an oversupply of units and whether the boom is overly weighted towards wealthy, foreign investors who lease the units to others. Meanwhile, an expected rise next year in interest rates from historically low levels may also influence demand in the housing market. However, among the 1,400 people interviewed and surveyed for the report, which
included private property investors and developers, commercial developers and real estate service firms, the consensus was that the Canadian market is strong enough to weather a bump in mortgage rates. “The improvement in the U.S. economy indicates that higher rates could be coming, but the economic stability in Canada and the United States will continue to attract foreign capital,” said the report. “In addition, retiring baby boomers are likely to flood the market with private capital as they look to turn stock options and retirement packages into stable, incomegenerating assets.” Overall, the report sees developers responding to the needs of downtown dwellers by building more mixed-used properties, which include residential and retail space. “Looking ahead, we can expect to see more and more retail and services along the streets of Canada’s city cores and along major transit arteries, especially where new developments predominate. Major brands are likely to move into these new spaces, too — though with new formats and smaller footprints,” said the report. The report also noted that Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, will see the most residential growth in 2015, a trend that has been helped by more jobs becoming available in the West than in Central Canada, while Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area will hold the most potential for retail growth. ■
Business
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
EXCHANGE RATES
39
As of October 29, 2014, from finance.yahoo.com
PRICE
CHANGE
% CHANGE
CND / USD
1.1168
-0.0002
-0.0152%
CND / PHP
40.0842
+0.0036
0.0089%
CND / EUR
1.4224
-0.0002
-0.0141%
21 countries initiate new China backed Asian bank opposed by US as rival to existing lenders BY CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press BEIJING — Twenty-one Asian nations have signed on to a China-driven initiative to create a new development bank for Asia that’s aimed at boosting infrastructure investment of all kinds. Beijing sees that as a way to raise its international standing, but Washington opposes the move as an unnecessary and potentially damaging rival to established institutions such as the World Bank. Who’s in the group?
Members are overwhelmingly developing nations, with Singapore the only advanced economy. The others range from economic powerhouses India and China to smaller but economically dynamic nations such as Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Mongolia. A few are drawn from among the poorest nations including Laos, Cambodia and Oman. Others taking part are Uzbekistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Qatar, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia and Myanmar. Just as important is who’s not in the group: Solid American allies Japan, South Korea and Australia, although they, along with the U.S. may enter at a later date if the venture proves to be a success. Although Singapore is a close U.S. ally, its officials say entering now will give them a chance to make a positive impact on the way the bank plans to do business.
and human rights. Washington worries that could undercut existing institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank that have sought to impose standards to promote good governance, fair labour practices and a clean environment. Naturally, Washington is also concerned about any move by China to shift attention away from institutions that it and its allies dominate. The world’s first and second biggest economies deeply distrust each other and are locked in a ceaseless competition for pre-eminence in Asia, where the U.S. is the dominant military power but China’s massive economy carries enormous heft.
So what’s Washington’s view?
How much can it lend?
The U.S. is concerned that the new bank will introduce laxer standards for lending when it comes to environmental and labour protection, transparency of the project bidding process,
China says it’s willing to pony up just about all of the $50 billion to capitalize the bank, while other institutions and private lenders are expected to provide another $50 billion. That $100
billion is still relatively small compared with existing institutions. The World Bank’s capital is about $220 billion, while the Asian Development Bank has $175 billion capital. However, China appears inclined to streamline the lending process, meaning countries may not have to wait as long or jump through as many hoops to get their money. That could stimulate borrowing all-around if it ends up competing with existing institutions for business. What’s in it for China?
The bank is in large part China’s reaction to being constantly relegated to second-class status at existing institutions. China is also backing another alternative institution, the New Development Bank, sponsored by the so-called BRICS countries that also include Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa. The idea is that if the U.S. and other major powers won’t make room for China at the table, then Beijing will make its own. www.canadianinquirer.net
China also hopes the bank will improve its global stature and end what it views as the West’s bullying and discrimination in the political and economic spheres. In addition, the bank is expected to bring solid economic benefits to China, whose companies already benefit massively from policy loans offered abroad by the country’s state banks. They can expect to pick up port, railway and telecommunications contracts for projects tied to China’s oftmentioned dream of restoring ancient Silk Road trade links to Europe. The bank could also absorb some of China’s $3.89 trillion in foreign currency reserves. What need does it serve?
Asia needs infrastructure development. A lot of it. The world bank estimates that $8 trillion in spending is required between 2010 and 2020 just to keep Asian economies humming along. Only a tiny slice of
that can now be provided by the Asian Development Bank and other institutional lenders, so the AIIB hopes to help fill some of those enormous gaps. At the very least, the AIIB ought to give borrowers more options and could put pressure on the World Bank and others to streamline their heavily bureaucratic operations, which often take years to process loan requests. By its multinational nature, it could also pressure China’s banks to shape up their operations and help defray some of the resentment that has built up toward Beijing among borrowers who feel burned by the terms of their loans from Chinese state banks. “In China we have a folk saying. If you would like to get rich, build roads first, and I believe that is a very vivid description of the very importance of infrastructure to economic development,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told participants after the signing ceremony. ■
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Travel
Climbers navigate up a slope on Mount Everest. Extreme treks can be dangerous, but proper planning, local knowledge, and common sense can help eliminate virtually all the risks involved, leading to fantastic and memorable trips. PIXABAY
Risks of trekking tours can be mitigated with research, preparation, experts say BY MICHELLE MCQUIGGE The Canadian Press TORONTO — Mohamed Khaki watched with shock and horror as the news flooded in from Nepal in the past couple of weeks. Media reports of deadly avalanches on the Annapurna trail he had hiked just a few years ago chronicled unprecedented levels of tragedy for the area he had always seen as relatively safe. But even as the death toll climbed to a historic high of 43 and four Canadians were listed among the victims, Khaki didn’t even consider cancelling his next trip to Nepal, slated for next month. The 64-year-old from Toronto has visited the Himalayas half a dozen times and feels that the Oct. 14 disaster was an anomaly caused by unusual weather conditions, a factor which savvy trekkers can prepare for. “If you’re driving along (a highway) in November and
there’s a freaky ice storm that just happens and there’s multiple car crashes, it doesn’t stop you from going along (the highway) a week later,” Khaki said in a telephone interview. Although Statistics Canada does not track the number of Canadians who leave the country for adventure-travel excursions each year, some companies that offer such trips report that customers are showing growing interest in trekking vacations. The Intrepid Group, whose member companies provide various forms of adventure travel, says at least 10 per cent of its total business comes from Canadian trekkers. Deputy general manager Christian Wolters said such trips are generally considered very safe and can be enjoyed by anyone with a reasonable level of fitness. The most successful trekkers, he said, research the region they’re planning to explore and have a healthy respect for the sometimes fickle weather conditions in moun-
tain ranges. “I think the people that really enjoy trekking have an appreciation for where they’re going and realize there are some risks, but they can definitely mitigate them by either going with a group or with a guide, travelling at the right times and obeying certain rules and commonsense guidelines,” Wolters said. Wolters said weather conditions are usually considered most stable in October or November while spring treks are considered safest in April or May. Trekkers should also advance cautiously to avoid falling victim to altitude sickness and be willing to keep their itineraries flexible in case things go wrong. Preparation is the key to a successful expedition, and Wolters said tour operators worth their salt offer clients detailed lists of clothing, medicines and other gear to pack. Michael Dudeck, operations manager at Canadian Himalayan Expeditions, said tour
providers also have a duty to ensure their clients are signing up for trips that suit both their expectations and their physical strength. This should involve frank discussions with potential travellers before they so much as pack a bag, he said. “We like to deal with every person, deal with contingencies, explain the realities, be harsh, be brutal if we have to,” Dudeck said. “We don’t sugarcoat the trip, but we also know that in most cases, people are safe and capable of doing these trips.” Dudeck also stressed the importance of hiring tour leaders with the local knowledge to pick up on cues that technology might miss. In August 2010, for instance, Dudeck said tour guides leading a group through northern India became alarmed when their horses began acting highly agitated. Interpreting the animals’ distress as a sign of impending bad weather, the guides led the travellers to high ground
and avoided being caught in an unexpected cloudburst that caused massive flooding and killed more than 150 people. Nepal’s government has also emphasized the importance of local knowledge, announcing on Tuesday that trekkers venturing to mountain trails will be required to take trained guides and will have to rent a GPS tracking unit to help authorities trace them in case of an emergency. Khaki said the risks associated with trekking are greatly outweighed by the chance to walk through what he described as some of the world’s most beautiful scenery. Dudeck said most of the trekkers he’s known would agree. “While the trips can be challenging depending on weather, most all clients come back saying it was the best trip of their life,” he said. “It was sometimes ‘life-affirming’ or ‘life-changing.’ This is why we still do these trips. We’re making dreams happen.” ■
Travel
FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
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Dubai selling fun, sun and plastic surgery to wealthy vacationers in new medical tourism bid BY AYA BATRAWY The Associated Press DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Dubai, the emirate known for its celebration of over-the-top glamour and luxury, is racing ahead to dominate the Middle East’s plastic surgery market with plans to attract half a million medical tourists in six years. Where cosmopolitan Beirut was once the region’s best known city for going under the knife, turmoil in Syria and violence often spilling into Lebanon is driving away wealthy Arab tourists. After splashing out on medical infrastructure over the past years, Dubai already ranks globally and aims to move up the list of top international destinations for medical tourism. It plans to attract 20 million tourists by 2020 — with half a million medical tourists bringing in revenues of 2.6 billion dirhams ($710 million). The Dubai Health Authority says that around 120,000 medical tourists came last year, generating revenue of around $200 million — a 12 per cent boost from the previous year. That already puts it ahead of Turkey, with 110,000 medical travellers, and Costa Rica, with 40,000 to 65,000, according to 2013 figures from Patients Beyond Borders, a U.S. group that collects data on the industry. Lebanon does not rank among top countries for medical travel, but Beirut was once the region’s premier spot for nips and tucks, notably drawing many Arab celebrities. Globally, medical tourism is big business. It is estimated to generate $50 billion to $60 billion a year and grow to an annual $100 billion in the next
Dubai hopes to become a major hotspot for medical tourism by the end of this decade.
decade. To cash in on the boom, Dubai has rolled out three-month renewable visas for medical tourists and their companions and launched a campaign to brand itself as the Middle East’s top destination for wellness and plastic surgery. Vasilica Baltateanu, who started up the United Arab Emirates’ first plastic surgery consultancy, Vasilica Aesthetics, said Dubai’s glamour factor is driving the trend among the region’s well-heeled tourists who want to shop, indulge in spas and relax in opulent hotels. “You don’t find them going anymore to Beirut and (they) are coming to Dubai. Why? It’s much safer in Dubai,” she said. “I think they also choose Dubai because there are the best restaurants here, the best hotels. So you do a surgery and at the same time you can have a nice
holiday.” The World Travel & Tourism Council said in its annual 2014 report that the UAE was expected to attract 12.2 million international tourists this year, with Lebanon welcoming just 1.3 million. A company specialized in laser treatments, Silkor, says it brought its business to Dubai instead of waiting for Gulf clients to come to Lebanon, where it has opened eight branches since its founding 15 years ago. In less than half that time, the company established six branches in the UAE and has plans to open two more. “Gulf clients would come to Lebanon in the past,” said Owner Representative Sylva Wayzany, adding that now “unfortunately the situation in Lebanon doesn’t help” to make it attractive for medical tourists. To cater to the Gulf’s demand
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for cosmetic procedures, Dr. Luiz Toledo, one of the world’s most famous plastic surgeons in liposuction and the “Brazilian butt lift,” closed his practice in Brazil and moved to Dubai in 2006 because he saw less competition in the Gulf and an opportunity to keep quality and prices up. “If you think about 20 years ago, nobody in the world heard about Dubai. And today there is not a person in the world that hasn’t heard about it,” said Toledo. Last year, he saw patients from 73 different countries. His new practice has a private wing for high-rolling Arab clientele. Dubai has rapidly become home to one of the world’s highest saturations of plastic surgeons. Toledo says that in the U.S. there are 20 plastic surgeons for every 1 million people, compared to 52 per million
PIXABAY
in Dubai. The Emirates Plastic Surgery Society, a professional group where he is a board member, says its membership has more than doubled to 150 in the past eight years. The Dubai Health Authority says there are around 150 licensed plastic surgeons in Dubai alone. Emma Jordan, a 33 year-old British resident of Dubai and mother of three, chose to undergo breast augmentation and stretch mark removal here instead of in London, because while the price was similar at around $9,200, waiting times were shorter and the procedure more personal. “I think possibly back home, it’s more clinical. You have a consultation; you don’t always see the surgeon before and after. Sometimes you see a nurse (instead),” she said. “It’s a huge difference.” ■
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
Sports
De Jong quits Azkals ahead of Suzuki Cup BY CEDELF P. TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer
Manny Pacquiao.
FACEBOOK PHOTO
PacMan keeping ‘fingers crossed’ for Mayweather bout in 2015 BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer
about that issue is after the fight,” he added. Boxing fans the world over have long awaited the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather; largely considered as this generation’s greatest boxers. The former is an
tures of Pacquiao’s losses; and Pacquiao retorting that his rival was just an “okay” fighter, and that he should stop “blabbing” MANNY PACQUIAO, Filipino and face him in the ring. boxing legend, is keeping his The fight has been hindered fingers crossed to finally have by differences between the prothe chance next year to duke moters of both sides. it out in the ring When asked with his rival, if he plans to American boxretire anytime er Floyd Maysoon, Pacquiao, weather. 35, said: “I’m “I’m crossI’m crossing my fingers that not thinking yet ing my fingers, that fight will happen but right about retirehopefully that now my mind is already set to ment. I will confight will hapfocus on my next fight with Algieri. tinue my boxing pen by next career, the jouryear,” PacMan ney will continue told reporters in my boxing cafrom AFP durreer and we’ll see ing a promotional trip to Hong eight-division world cham- what happens,” he said. Kong. pion, while the latter remains Meanwhile, Pacquiao is busy “I’m crossing my fingers that undefeated. training for his November 23 that fight will happen but right The rivalry between the two World Boxing Organization now my mind is already set to fighters has gotten heated in welterweight title defence focus on my next fight with Al- the past months, with May- against former kickboxer Crisgieri. I think the time to talk weather recently posting pic- topher Algieri. ■
CITING “personal reasons,” midfielder Jason de Jong, one of the most improved players under national football team coach Thomas Dooley, yesterday announced his retirement from the Azkals. The 24-year-old De Jong, the reigning Golden Ball winner in the United Football League, said he has already informed Dooley of his decision not to play for the national team’s next major tournament, the AFF Suzuki Cup. The move comes as a shock as De Jong has been an integral part of the team being developed by Dooley. It also leaves a big hole in the Azkals midfield as they prepare for the Suzuki Cup. “My heart is not in it anymore and I want to spend more time with my family,” said the Filipino-Dutch standout, who has played 49 times for the Azkals
Jason de Jong.
since 2008. De Jong told the INQUIRER that, unlike the “resignation” of Stephan Schrock and Dennis Cagara early this year, his move to quit the team wasn’t because of a falling out with Dooley. “I thank boss Dan (Palami) and coach Dooley for the opportunity they gave me,” said De Jong. “It was certainly an honor playing for the national team.” De Jong has been part of almost every PH side that achieved milestones the past four years. He played in the AFF Suzuki Cup side in 2010 and 2012 as well as the AFC Challenge Cup squad that reached the final against Palestine early this year. Meanwhile, the Azkals will face Thailand on Nov. 10 as part of their buildup for the Suzuki Cup. The Azkals will no longer play Malaysia on Nov. 8 and instead will fly to Nakhon Ratchasima for the duel with the Thais, the losing finalists to Singapore in the 2012 Suzuki Cup. ■
FACEBOOK PHOTO
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 31, 2014
WEATHER FORECAST
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Sat
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Mon
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Tues
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Wed
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Thurs
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Fri
Long term forecast taken from: www.weathernetwork.com
VANCOUVER
CALGARY
EDMONTON
WINNIPEG
11°C
5°C
7°C
6°C
4°C
10°C
8°C
7°C
8°C
7°C
10°C
7°C
6°C
5°C
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12°C
6°C
5°C
5°C
11°C
11°C
7°C
6°C
6°C
10°C
10°C
6°C
5°C
6°C
9°C
9°C
5°C
4°C
6°C
8°C
HOROSCOPE
CAPRICORN (DEC 22 - JAN 19)
ARIES
CANCER
LIBRA
(MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)
(JUNE 22 - JULY 22)
(SEPT 23 - OCT 22)
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)
The stars want you to re-assess your goals and priorities. You have been running in a maze-like direction in the past months and now is your chance to turn the arrow to the right corner. Ask yourself what you really want to do and align your directions to those goals.
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.
SCORPIO
LEO
(OCT 23 - NOV 21)
(JULY 23 - AUGUST 22) 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)
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 aspects. Keep a mental note of what needs urgent attention.
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
VIRGO
(NOV 22 - DEC 21)
(AUG 23 - SEPT 22) 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 unproductive. Don’t let that best chance step out of your doorstep.
TORONTO
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.
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!
www.canadianinquirer.net
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. No one else but you holds the pen, so write it right!
AQUARIUS (JAN 20 - FEB 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 (FEB 19 - MAR 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. You still hold the key for change, so change for the better.
44
Seen and Scenes
OCTOBER 31, 2014
FRIDAY
HALLOWEEN PARTY FIRST AID COURSE Shown in photo are participants of the recent First Aid Course organized by Victoria Filipino Canadian Caregivers Association (Photo by Annette Beech)
Costumed party goers had fun at the Victoria Filipino Canadian Seniors Association’s spooky Halloween party at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre in Victoria, B.C.
HISTORAMA Historama, a cultural show depicting Philippine history, held a successful run in Seattle, Wa. on Oct. 25. The play, which originated from Vancouver, B.C., is jointly directed by Lu Lauron, Dante Aviso and Cliff Belgica and co-written by former Labor Attache Bernie Julve and Carmelita Tapia.
STAR MAGIC Star Magic’s One Magical Night featuring Philippine television stars Daniel Padilla, Kathryn Bernardo, John Lapus, Marcelito Pomoy, and Kim Chiu held a series of shows in Canada to the delight of Filipino audiences nationwide.
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Events
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Haluwin Kostyum Patlak Party By Pinoy Without Borders WHERE/WHEN: 6 p.m., Nov. 1, at Calgary Marlborough Community Centre (Upper Hall), 636 Marlborough Way NE MORE INFO: RSVP by Oct. 24, Mabeth at 403-614-1030. Darren the Homecoming Concert By ABEC Promotions and Greatway Financial WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Nov. 7, Grey Eagle Resort and Casino 377 Grey Eagle Dr., Calgary, AB MORE INFO: Tickets 1-888-943-8849
CANADA EVENTS
Community Forum By Ethno-Cultural Council of Calgary YUKON WHEN/WHERE: Nov. 8, Coast Plaza Hotel & Conference Centre, 1316 33 St. NE, Calgary, AB
Retroductive Disco Night WHEN/WHERE: Nov. 15, at Isaac Brock Community Centre 715 Telfer Ave., WinNUNAVUT nipeg, MB MORE INFO: For tickets call Kathy or Vhong 204-898-3586 or 204-509-8502.
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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. Culture Smart By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., every Monday till Nov. 24 at Mosaic 1720 Grant St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Contact Mike at 604-254-9626 ext. 484. Registration is required. All Saints University Information Seminar By All Saints University School of Medicine WHEN/WHERE: 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 1, Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, Surrey, B.C. MORE INFO: International Medical Graduates welcome to apply. Fright Nites at PNE By Playland at the PNE WHEN/WHERE: till 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
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Regina Outreach By Philippine Consulate General Toronto WHEN/WHERE: 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Nov. 1 to 4 at St. Anthony’s Parish Hall, 1825 Winnipeg St., Regina SK MORE INFO: For inquiries, visit consularmatters@philcongen-toronto.com 2014 Toronto Paskuhan Festival (3 locations) By Toronto Paskuhan Festival Canada, Our NEWFOUNDLAND Lady of Assumption Church and Archdiocesan Filipino Catholic Mission WHEN/WHERE: Artscape Wychwood Barns at 601 Christie St., Toronto, On.; Gateway Centre for New Canadians at 3450 Wolfedale Rd., Mississauga; Our Lady of the Assumption Church at 2565 Bathurst St., Toronto.
Goldie Retro Halloween Party By Astral Entertainment with Lucky Box and Juan Radio WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m., Nov. 1 at Hippo’s Bar 725 SE Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Saturday night concert and ballroom dance Becoming a Permanent Resident By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 3 p.m., Nov. 1 at the Burnaby Community Resource Centre, 2055 Rosser Ave., Burnaby, B.C. MORE INFO: Call Yumi – 604-292-3907 Drop-In English Conversation Circle for Work Permit Holders By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Nov. 3, Mosaic Community Room, 1720 Grant St., Vancouver MORE INFO: Call Girlly – 604-254-9626
Rex Navarrete By Litonjua and Factora WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 and 10 p.m., at The Columbia Theatre 530 Columbia St., Vancouver MORE INFO: $25 general admission/ $35 VIP. For tickets: Flipnfunny@hotmail.com 40th Anniversary Gala By Vancouver Multicultural Society WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m. to 12 mn, Nov. 8 at Floata Seafood Restaurant 400-180 Keefer St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: $40 per person (dinner-dance-entertainment-live band-free parking). For tickets, contact 604-687-6631. www.canadianinquirer.net
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Right Here Write Now By Ancop Canada WHEN/WHERE: 2:30 and 7 p.m., River Rock Show Theatre, 5811 River Rd., Richmond, B.C. My Tween & Me Multicultural Mom’s Support Group By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Thursdays, Dunbar Hts. Church 3320 Crown St., Vancouver MORE INFO: call Daisy 604-254-9626 ext 273 Candlelight Conservation Dinner By Max’s Restaurant and BCHydro WHEN/WHERE: 5 to 9 p.m., every Wednesday until Nov. 26 at Max’s Restaurant, 3546 Kingsway, Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call 604-435-3505 Young Prodigies Concerto Concert By Music Without Borders WHEN/WHERE: 2 p.m., Nov. 23 at The Chan Centre of Performing Arts 6252 Crescemt Rd., Vancouver MORE INFO: Tickets – www.chancentre.com
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CANADA
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