Philippine Canadian Inquirer #184

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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VOL. 9 NO. 184

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DFA: funding for consular office in Alberta

Duterte: I won’t run for president

4 COA execs tied to scam

Canada less welcoming to refugees under Harper

Drowned Syrian boys’ aunt: bring family to Canada

YELLOW LINES

Toronto police arrests Filipina for multiple airline fraud charges

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

A worker repaints the yellow lines on the stretch of Edsa in Guadalupe, Makati City, on Sunday to clearly mark lanes for public vehicles. The Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group moves in on Monday to help manage traffic at choke points on the perennially congested belt highway MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / PDI

How traffic is making Filipinos poorer

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer WITH OVER 5.043 million workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone, according to the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) “About Us” webpage, it’s no wonder

FILIPINA AIRLINE fraud suspect Lorna Natalie Arcega, 38, was arrested by the police in Toronto, Canada for allegedly pretending to be an authorized travel agent but never gave tickets to her clients who booked cheap flights to the Philippines.

Arcega was able to lure her customers from the Filipino community by offering more affordable flights to the Philippines. She accepted credit card payments, but victims never received tickets and later on find out having ❱❱ PAGE 5 Toronto police

commuting around Metro Manila is a challenge in itself.

During his visit to the Filipino community in Spain in September 2014, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III (P-Noy) gave the audience an update on the traffic situation in the Philippines.

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Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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Malacañang denies INC’s claims, asserts no special attention on probe

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — The Malacañang Palace denied Iglesia Ni Cristo’s (INC) claims that the ‘extraordinary attention’ given on the criminal charges filed against the church’s Sanggunian was due to the religious group’s reluctance to support the administration’s candidate in next year’s national elections.

Although undisclosed, INC was apparently referring to President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s preferred successor, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas.

“They were breaking the unity of the INC. When it became evident that the administration candidate would not get support, they looked for a way to break us,” INC member Ferdinand Topacio said, adding that this prompted the church’s protest last week.

The Malacañang, however, quickly denied INC’s claims and asserted that the government had no involvement in the ongoing division in the said church. “[The administration] is firmly committed to upholding the rule of law without fear or favor, unfettered by political considerations,” Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.

“We reiterate that the government does not interfere in the internal affairs of any legitimate organization. We have conveyed to the INC that these are guiding principles informing all actions of government,” he added.

The Malacañang also assured that there will be no harassment in the case involving the INC council and that it will be treated the same way any other previous complaints were treated.

President Aquino meets with his Cabinet members to discuss the INC situation MANUEL QUEZON III / FACEBOOK

“The complaint filed by Mr. Isaias Samson Jr. will be treated like any other case and that we believe is the essence of fairness,” Coloma said.

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Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, for her part, stressed that she was just fulfilling her duties as the head of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“My motive always is fealty to my sworn duty. I don’t have any other motive,” De Lima told reporters, adding that the DOJ will start the preliminary investigation on the charges filed against the INC’s Sanggunian. “[We] are simply implementing the standard procedures in accordance with law and this is the same procedure followed by the NPS (National Prosecution Office) in processing all complaints submitted to its offices,” she explained.

Samson, who was an expelled minister and former editor-inchief of Pasugo, filed charges of serious illegal detention, harassment and coercion against eight members of the Sanggunian’s 10-member administrative council.

He claimed that he and his family were prohibited from leaving their house while he was accused of being the writer behind “Antonio Ebanghelista,” a blogger who criticized INC. ■

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Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Poe presents papers proving citizenship

BY JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer SHE IS not only a Filipino citizen. She is a natural born Filipino as well.

These were manifested in government documents— including a Bureau of Immigration certification and several Supreme Court rulings—submitted to the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET)

by Sen. Grace Poe to prove her assertion that she is a Filipino.

One of the documents is an July 18, 2006, order issued by then Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr., through Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro, declaring that Poe, having been born

to Filipino parents, was “presumed to be a natural-born Philippine citizen.”

The order approved Poe’s application for the cancellation of the alien and immigrant certificates and the issuance of certificates for the retention and reacquisition of Filipino citizenship to her and her three children pursuant to Republic Act No. 9225 or the Dual Citizenship Law. They submitted their application on July 10, 2006.

Defeated 2013 senatorial candidate Rizalito David has urged the SET to unseat Poe for not being a natural-born Filipino citizen and for failing to meet the two-year residency requirement prior to the May 2013 polls, which she topped.

Sen. Grace Poe was the Keynote Speaker for the Printing Industries Association of the Philippines' 17th National Printers Convention, September 7, 2015 FACEBOOK

1935 Constitution

In her comment to David’s

petition, Poe said that during deliberations by the 1934 Constitutional Convention during the crafting of the 1935 Constitution, the framers had the intention to include foundlings in the term “citizens of the Philippines” and that they clearly adopted the international principle that children or people born in a country of unknown parents were citizens of the country where they were found.

“During the debates on this provision, delegate [Nicolas] Rafols presented an amendment to include as Filipino citizens… foundlings but this amendment was defeated because the convention believed the cases being too few to warrant the inclusion of a provision…. Moreover, it was believed that the rules of international law were already clear to the effect that… foundlings followed the nationality of the place where they were found, thereby making unnecessary the inclusion in the Constitution of the proposed amendment,” Poe said, quoting noted authority on the 1935 Constitution Jose Aruego.

Poe also cited a Department of Justice opinion issued in 1951 which ruled in favor of a boy who survived an air raid in the Philippines during World War II but whose parents had been killed, rendering the ascertaining of their identities impossible.

In PH since 2005

The DOJ granted the boy’s application for a Philippine passport as it declared that www.canadianinquirer.net

foundlings were citizens of the country in which they were found by virtue of principles of international law.

In an apparent bid to address the issues questioning her lack of the required 10-year residency to run for President in 2016, Poe said she had been in the country since May 2005 when she decided to live here for good after the death of her father, movie star Fernando Poe Jr. Poe said she pulled her children out of their schools in the United States and enrolled them in Philippine schools in June 2005. They sold their house in the US in April 2006 and her husband found employment in a local company in May 2006.

The documentation procedures the senator underwent, including obtaining a taxpayer identification number and voter registration, her acceptance of the position of Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chair and her candidacy for senator in 2013 also added up to her decision to stay in the Philippines.

Through her lawyers, Poe pointed out the David petition should be dismissed for forum shopping as he had lodged the same complaint on the alleged offense with the Commission on Elections.

The senator asked the SET to cite petitioner David in direct contempt for “willful and deliberate forum shopping” and as provided for in the rules of court, be fined P2,000 and jailed for 10 days. ■

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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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Philippine News

Court to decide Mayor Binay case without hearings

BY JEROME ANING Philippine Daily Inquirer THE COURT of Appeals (CA) is set to rule on the petition filed

by Makati City Mayor Junjun Binay questioning his suspension by the Ombudsman last June in connection with alleged overprice in the construction of the Makati Science High School Building.

In a two-page resolution dated Sept. 3 and released on Friday, the appellate court’s Special Ninth Division submitted the case for resolution without conducting a hearing because the parties did not submit memorandums summing up their arguments and positions in the case. The parties were therefore deemed to have waived their right to file a pleading.

The court recalled that in a resolution dated Aug. 11, the parties were directed to simultaneously file their respective memoranda within five days. The resolution said the parties that failed to submit a memorandum would be deemed to have waived their right to file pleadings.

“Accordingly, this case is deemed submitted for decision,” read the resolution written by Justice Melchor Sadang.

The other division members, Justices Amy LazaroJavier and Rodil Zalameda, concurred.

The court also lifted its Aug. 5 order requiring the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to manifest when Binay’s camp received its copy of the DILG comment. The court noted that Binay’s camp had yet to reply to the comment.

On Aug. 27, the OSG asked

the court to give it 10 days to comply with the order.

DILG: Just doing our job

The DILG, in its comment, merely alleged that it should not have been impleaded because it was its ministerial duty on its part to serve the Ombudsman’s preventive suspension order on Binay.

Binay’s lawyer, Claro Certeza, welcomed the latest development as a positive sign the court may once again side with them, considering the similarity in circumstances to Binay’s first and second suspension orders.

“The application of the doctrine of condonation is undeniable. We hope the Special Ninth Division views this case the same way the Sixth Division did,” Certeza said.

In his petition, Binay again invoked the so-called condonation doctrine, saying the alleged illegal acts pertaining to the seven-phase high school building project were committed when he was not yet the city mayor.

The appellate court’s Sixth Division earlier issued a temporary restraining order and writ of preliminary injunction stopping the Ombudsman from implementing a similar six-month suspension order on the mayor in connection with another alleged anomaly in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building II. The Ombudsman has elevated that case to the Supreme Court for review.

On July 23, Binay had asked the court to resolve his prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and writ of preliminary injunction on his second suspension. ■

Makati Mayor Erwin Binay show a minor bruise and pacifies supporters after he was brought to the Senate plenary when he refused to testify at the Senate hearing.

AVITO C. DALAN / PNA

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Foreign Malampaya contractors set to sue PH over taxes

BY RIZA T. OLCHONDRA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE FOREIGN operators of the Malampaya natural gas platform led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe’s top oil firm, are seeking international arbitration over the Commission on Audit’s (COA) recalculation of what they should be paying the Philippine government.

In a letter to President Aquino, Royal Dutch Shell chief financial officer Simon Henry said recent COA decisions billing the Malampaya consortium $2.9 billion in income taxes on top of the government’s 60 percent share of net proceeds had become a “cause for concern” because they go against the terms of the service contract covering the multibillion dollar natural gas development project.

The COA, in decisions dated April 6 and May 11 this year, ordered the Department of Energy to collect the back taxes from the Malampaya consortium, which operates in the waters off Palawan. The DOE appealed the COA’s decisions but this was denied.

Royal Dutch Shell, PLC.

LLC (45 percent) and PNOC Exploration Corp. (10 percent).

Other recent arbitration cases faced by the Philippine government were initiated by water service providers Manila Water Co. Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc. in response to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s (MWSS) reinterpretation of their concession contract disallowing them from recovering COA order corporate in‘erroneous’ come tax.

Henry said “Sanctity of contracts,” as well as Maynilad won the COA’s order good regulatory and investment in local arbitrawas “erroneclimates, are needed to sustain tion and has ous” since the investor interest in the Philippines. moved to the inincome taxes ternational court payable over in Singapore to the period 2002 claim losses as to 2014 were the MWSS drags to be deemed paid by the DeIn an exclusive interview, its feet in implementing a water partment of Energy out of the Royal Dutch Shell’s upstream rate hike incorporating provi60-percent government share international director Andy sions for income tax payments. of net proceeds.

Brown said, “I do believe that Manila Water lost and was dis“This is expressly provided we are going to get a fair hear- allowed to tuck in corporate for under Service Contract No. ing.” He declined to get into de- income tax provisions from its 38,” Henry said. tails but added, “Our ambition water rates.

“I wanted to let you know that is to resolve that amicably.”

Meanwhile, the Philippines in order to preserve our rights has yet to fully investigate alunder the Service Contract No. Sanctity of contracts legations that some P900 mil38, Shell Philippines ExploraBrown, who leads Shell’s lion of the government’s share tion B.V. (SPEX), together with oil exploration, production of Malampaya funds ended up the other foreign investor in the and natural gas business, also lining the pockets of lawmakers consortium, intend to initiate stressed that “sanctity of con- and executives in cahoots with international arbitration short- tracts,” as well as good regula- fake nongovernment organizaly,” Henry said in the letter. tory and investment climates, tions in 2009 alone.

“The last thing desired by are needed to sustain investor This is separate from the Shell after more than 100 years interest in the Philippines. scandals involving the alleged of productive partnership is to The Malampaya consortium diversion of up to P10 billion of find that our approaches con- includes Shell Philippines Ex- the legislative pork barrel (Priflict, but the scale and nature of ploration B.V. (SPEX; 45 per- ority Development Assistance this challenge is such that I be- cent), Chevron Malampaya Funds), also using fake NGOs. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

lieve we have no choice.”

Various sources from both sides confirmed that the Shellled investors had “served notice” that they were initiating international arbitration.

Back-channel talks are ongoing, however, to try to resolve the issue “in a collaborative way” between the consortium and the Philippine government, the sources said.

VYTAUTAS KIELAITIS / SHUTTERSTOCK

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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‘Wrong to fault Mar for Yolanda housing’

BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government yesterday disputed reports that Secretary Mar Roxas had avoided answering questions about the government’s housing program for the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” during his recent visit to Iloilo and Bacolod cities.

Roxas’ allies in the ruling Liberal Party also came to his defense, saying it was wrong to fault Roxas, the LP presidential candidate in 2016, for the controversies surrounding the emergency shelter assistance (ESA) program.

The DILG stressed that the ESA was a program directly under supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, as Roxas had pointed out in an ambush interview with Iloilobased reporters. “[Roxas] has never evaded questions on assistance [to victims of Yolanda]. In fact, he has spoken and given interviews in the past regarding Yolanda-related assistance and answered questions on issues under his watch,” the DILG said.

It said the department was specifically tasked with overseeing the rehabilitation of public markets, town halls and civic centers damaged by the strongest typhoon ever to hit land.

Almost complete

The DILG said the projects were now 94.5-percent complete while the rest of the rehabilitation work was expected to be finished within the year.

“That’s 281 out of 309 civic centers,

Mar Roxas meeting with Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez about ‘Yolanda’ relief in 2013.

SCREENSHOT FROM VIDEO RELEASED BY JOSEMARI GONZALES

municipal halls and public markets repaired,” the DILG said.

Roxas tendered his resignation following President Aquino’s endorsement of his presidential bid on July 31, but was he asked by Mr. Aquino to stay put pending the appointment of his successor.

In a text message, Quezon City Rep. Kit Belmonte said he was with Roxas when he visited Western Visayas a few days ago.

Belmonte said he thought it was inappropriate of members of the media to ask Roxas about the ESA when it was not under his department.

He also asked the media to be circumspect in writing about matters of national concern, pointing out that even the ABS-CBN reporter who asked Roxas about issues regarding the ESA admitted that the shelter program was a

INC brouhaha showed Poe a ‘trapo,’ says erstwhile mentor

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer SEN. SERGE Osmeña yesterday said Sen. Grace Poe’s lead in presidential polls may be affected after she supported the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) mass action against the Department of Justice, making her appear to be a traditional politician ( trapo).

Speaking on dzIQ or Radyo Inquirer, Osmeña, who always gave Poe advice, this time offered no help when asked how she could correct her “mistake.”

“She has strategists. She should ask her strategists,” Osmeña said. Poe, he

said, had already teamed up with Sen. Francis Escudero against his advice.

“She was wrong there, she appeared to be a trapo,” Osmeña said of Poe’s statement justifying the INC’s five-day mass action that started at the DOJ office and culminated on Edsa.

Poe received flak for saying the politically influential INC was just exercising its rights and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima should explain the merits of the case filed by a former INC minister.

Osmeña reiterated his disapproval of Poe’s team-up with Escudero, saying the latter brings with him “more minuses” than pluses. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

DSWD project.

“It really amazes me how simple words and straightforward circumstances can be spun. In the interest of fair play, I humbly request that my statement be published,” Belmonte said.

“I think it was unfair that he was asked questions on projects that were not his turf,” he said.

“It would have been improper for him to comment on a matter that was outside his mandate,” Belmonte said.

Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez described as “plainly ridiculous” the allegations that Roxas tried to dodge Yolanda-related questions because he was careful not to jeopardize his presidential bid.

“Just last weekend, [Roxas] stood firmly for the rule of law on the INC (Iglesia Ni Cristo) issue despite the possible adverse effect on his candidacy while politicians like [Vice President Jejomar] Binay and Senators [Grace] Poe, [Francis] Escudero and [Ferdinand] Marcos issued statements pandering shamelessly to the group,” Gutierrez said.

“The simple fact is the ESA is under [the] DSWD. The reporter clearly knew this, but proceeded to ask the question anyway. We’re all free to speculate as to why,” he said. ■

Philippine News

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

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President Benigno Aquino III at the Major Infrastructure Projects briefing in Misamis Occidental.

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P-Noy OKs 5 big projects P131-B infra, power works through PPP

BY NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer WITH JUST nine months to go before he leaves Malacañang, President Aquino has approved five new projects worth P131.4 billion to improve the country’s transportation and power generation systems.

Mr. Aquino presided over an eighthour National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board meeting on Friday that approved private-public partnership (PPP) projects, including mass transport.

“President Aquino emphasized the importance of improving the infrastructure for sustaining long-term economic growth,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement yesterday.

The big-ticket projects include Light Rail Transit (LRT) 6, a 19-kilometer elevated railway that will service the Cavite area. This PPP is worth P64.71 billion.

LRT 6 will extend LRT Line 1 from Bacoor to Dasmariñas on a route following Aguinaldo Highway through Imus.

“This will pass through a heavily populated area and present travel of up to one and a half hours is expected to be reduced drastically,” Coloma said.

Within Metro Manila, LRT Line 4 will be an elevated railway covering 11 km from Edsa-Ortigas to Taytay City in Rizal. This is another PPP and costs P42.89 billion.

Also approved were the P15.35-billion new passenger terminal building for Clark International Airport and

the Naga airport development project worth P3.53 billion. Both projects will be funded from the national budget.

Naga’s airfield “will be reoriented to enable dual-approach landing and takeoff, and new airside and landside facilities will be established to meet the growing tourism demand,” Coloma said.

The Neda board also approved the Access to Sustainable Energy Program of the Department of Energy (DOE), a project that costs P4.89 billion. Of the amount, P2.82 billion will be funded by the official development assistance from the European Union while the rest will be shouldered by the national government.

The DOE program provides grants for solar home systems and rural power generation, as well as technical assistance to the National Electrification Administration, Energy Regulatory Commission and electric cooperatives.

“Focal point for capacity building is the development of pro-poor, disasterresilient solutions,” Coloma said.

Other projects

The NEDA board meeting also tackled the development of Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Manila-Quezon Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Project, the inclusive partnership programs of the Department of Agrarian Reform for agricultural competitiveness and the National Irrigation Authority Chico River Pump Irrigation Project.

Speaking on government-run Radyo ng Bayan yesterday, Coloma said the projects had yet to be approved and were now subject to further studies and could be tackled at the next Neda board

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meeting.

“Because these are major and complicated projects, there were discussions on various aspects of the projects that need to be studied or slightly revised so that they could be implemented better,” Coloma said.

For example, the Manila-Quezon Avenue Bus Rapid Transit Project was discussed in relation to the government’s “focus to ease the traffic congestion in Metro Manila,” Coloma said.

“It has to be studied how this could be made appropriate or be properly integrated with the nearby MRT lines” to become part of the solution to traffic congestion in the metropolis, he said.

Coloma noted that MRT 3 runs on Edsa and MRT 7 will run from Commonwealth Avenue to San Jose del Monte in Bulacan.

On Monday, he said, the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (HPG) will start to take on the role of “lead enforcer of traffic rules,” mainly to decongest six major chokepoints at Edsa: Balintawak, Cubao, Ortigas, Shaw Boulevard, Guadalupe and Taft Avenue.

But the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will still deploy its own traffic enforcers to these chokepoints to augment the HPG, Coloma said.

Traffic enforcers of the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board will also be posted at the chokepoints, he said.

Other MMDA enforcers will be “transferred” to Roxas Boulevard, C-5 Road and other thoroughfares in the metropolis, he said. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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Bill seeks equality of the House seeks lowering income sexes under adultery law tax rates amid inflation

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

tal infidelity is committed by any married person who shall have sexual intercourse with another person not his or her WOULD ADULTEROUS wom- spouse, and by the person who en welcome this bill? has carnal knowledge of him or Two Magdalo representatives her knowing him or her to be seeking to remove discrimina- married, even if the marriage tion between men and women be subsequently declared void.” when it comes to existing laws Article 334 would be amendon adultery have proposed an ed by changing the word “conamendment that could allow cubinage” to “maintaining a women more leeway in their paramour,” whom the lawbreach of marriage vows. makers defined as any person The proposed amendment who “cohabits with a married defines “maintaining a par- person of either sex, under ciramour” as grounds for adultery cumstances where they assume in the case of both spouses. and exercise toward each other Under Article 333 and 334 of the rights and privileges which the Revised Penal Code, adul- properly belong to persons tery is defined differently for married to each other.” men and women.

The lawmakWhile a marers noted as well ried woman can that the Revised be penalized Penal Code profor having sexvides the same ual intercourse Both (Articles penalty to perwith a man not 333 and sons found guilty her husband, a 334) seek of adultery or married man is to punish concubinage, similarly liable if the marital which is the mehe “keeps a misinfidelity of dium or maxitress in the conspouses but mum periods of jugal dwelling provide a prision correcor (has) sexual higher burden cional, ranging intercourse, unon wives than from two to six der scandalous on husbands. years. circumstances, Their prowith a woman posed amendnot his wife, or ment carries the shall cohabit same penalty. with her in any Acedillo cited other place.”

Article 2(g) of In their explanatory note, the Convention on the EliminaHouse Bill No. 6010 authors tion of All Forms of DiscriminaMagdalo Representatives Fran- tion Against Women (Cedaw), cisco Ashley Acedillo and Gary to which the Philippines is a Alejano said the distinctions in signatory, in proposing to do Articles 333 and 334 are dis- away with existing laws, regucriminatory “despite laws pro- lations, customs and practices moting equality between men that constitute discrimination and women.” against women.

“The proposed amendment Concubinage (overturns) the traditional es“Both (Articles 333 and 334) sence of adultery, that is, the seek to punish the marital infi- danger of introducing spurious delity of spouses but provide a heirs into the family,” the partyhigher burden on wives than on list representative added. husbands,” Acedillo said.

Similar bills seeking to reUnder Article 334, the bill’s move distinctions in the definiauthors pointed out, the hus- tion of adultery between men band is liable for adultery when and women have been prohe commits concubinage, de- posed in previous Congresses. fined by law as “(keeping) a Gabriela Rep. Lisa Maza promistress in the conjugal dwell- posed one during the 13th Coning.” gress, and so did Ifugao Rep. In their proposed law, Ar- Teddy Brawner Baguilat during ticle 333 would read: “Mari- the 15th Congress. ■

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — The House of Representatives continued seeking the passage of the income tax reform bill, which would lower the personal and corporate income tax rates to address the impact of inflation on fixed-income workers.

“We’re just giving the applicable value of things when the tax code was approved [in 1997]. In other words, inflation is the problem — it’s eating up income and revenues,” Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. told radio station dzBB. “The value of money is going down but the rates not only of

income tax but also the penalties, like those for crimes for instance that are based on the amounts involved, they haven’t been resolved in a long time,” Belmonte said in a separate interview.

The House Ways and Means Committee has been deliberating proposals which sought to adjust income tax brackets to inflation. If approved, these would significantly reduce the dues of taxpayers.

Aware of the revenue losses the reform would entail, lawmakers have also been coming up with ‘compensatory measures.’

But with no clear and feasible measures proposed yet, the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue

(BIR) have outright rejected adjusting income tax rates.

They also asserted that the reform would lower government revenues.

Marikina Representative Romero Quimbo, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, however, would not settle with the ‘status quo’ because ‘that means no change for our overburdened workers.’

Quimbo earlier called on Malacañang to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) ‘to sit down and see what the points of agreement and disagreements are’ regarding the House bill.

The Malacañang, however, repeatedly ignored his calls. ■

PAL beefing up airport security

BY JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE Philippine Daily Inquirer PHILIPPINE AIRLINES (PAL) will install over 150 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2 to improve security.

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Jose Angel Honrado welcomed the initiative of the nation’s flag carrier, although he probably won’t be around when the highly advanced CCTV system is installed.

Honrado explained that the planned purchase by the MIAA of new cameras had suffered a hitch due to delays in the bidding process.

The second lowest bidder was disqualified during post-qualification evaluation for the supply, installation and commissioning of a CCTV system at the Naia complex for P486 million.

Honrado said that after the second lowest bidder’s motion for reconsideration was denied, the firm filed a protest—an optional relief under Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act— which has yet to be resolved by the MIAA board of directors.

The CCTV project is intendwww.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine Airlines, the flagship carrier of the Philippines.

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ed to upgrade the Naia’s surveillance system and leave no blind spot in the entire 4-terminal airport complex with the installation of 719 cameras. Currently, the Naia complex has 422 security cameras scattered over the four terminals.

Under the terms of reference the new CCTV system must have an analytical function which includes facial recognition and visual enhancement, and an intrusion detection function which reads heat signatures. The P486million project also involves the setup of independent monitoring hubs for each terminal which will then be hooked up to a command operations center.

Honrado revealed that PAL’s

proposal to finance the installation of 152 CCTV cameras specifically at Terminal 2 was approved on Monday last week by the MIAA board of directors.

The 152 security cameras, according to Honrado, will augment the 93 already installed at Naia 2, which is the PAL terminal.

“PAL will be shouldering the cost of procurement and installation of the cameras which will be placed primarily at the check-in counters and baggage buildup areas,” Honrado said, adding that the airline will also shoulder the utility, operation and maintenance costs.

He said that under the agreement, the MIAA will have access to the new CCTV system. ■

10

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

‘LP to build up Roxas rather than rely on Poe’

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE LIBERAL Party (LP) will continue its efforts to bolster the chances of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in 2016, even as it looks for a new running mate for him, according to Senate President Franklin Drilon.

Drilon, the LP’s vice chair, earlier advised the party to stop pursuing Sen. Grace Poe to be the vice presidential running mate of Roxas as he was convinced she would run for the presidency as indicated by her recent actions.

Drilon, in a radio interview yesterday, said the LP was not counting on Poe to boost Roxas’ chances.

“We do not rely on Sen. Grace Poe, with all due respect, to strengthen Secretary Mar,” Drilon said when asked how the LP could boost Roxas’ chances without Poe. “We will really focus on strengthening [Roxas]. That

has been our objective from the very start, we need to build up our candidate rather than rely on anybody,” he said.

It is believed that there were some in the LP who were of the opinion that recruiting Poe to be Roxas’ running mate could help improve his “winnability,” as the junior senator has been topping the recent voter preference surveys.

Drilon did not go into details about the LP’s strategy for Roxas, but he said the party would present to voters Roxas’ policy of continuing the “daang matuwid” (straight path) governance of the Aquino administration. “[It would be] more on that rather than personalities. Secretary Roxas, indisputably, will continue this principle,” he added.

Drilon said that rather than looking at one survey, it was important to consider the trend in a candidate’s numbers.

An upward trajectory over several surveys is a good thing, while a decline or a plateau in

one’s numbers would be a bad sign, he said.

“An increase in your survey [ratings], even if in small increments as long as it’s upward, that is better. You must see the trend, if there is one. What is bad is a downward trend,” he said.

Roxas has yet to take the lead in Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations surveys of voters’ preferred presidential candidates—where he has placed third or fourth—but his numbers have been improving.

The LP believes President Aquino’s official endorsement of Roxas as his successor would help improve his acceptability with voters.

In a survey commissioned by the party, Roxas emerged as No. 1 in a one-on-one race with Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Poe was not included in the survey because she has yet to officially declare her candidacy, unlike Roxas and Binay.

Drilon said there was still enough time to select a running mate for Roxas and build a

TIME TO MOVE ON? LP finally letting go of Sen. Grace Poe being Mar Roxas'

running mate for 2016.

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strong LP ticket.

While some of those suggested as his running mate had expressed reluctance at running

for vice president, he noted that a week was a long time in politics and many things could still happen. ■

Duterte: I won’t run House to probe Customs, for president importer over luxe cars

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — After speculations of a possible presidential bid, Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte officially announced today that he will not be joining the presidential race in next year’s national elections as he will be retiring from public service instead.

“After talking to my family and to all persons who are interested in my career as a politician, I would like to categorically state now, hindi ako tatakbo ng presidente. Wala akong ambisyon maging presidente. In 2016, I will retire [ from] public life for good,” Duterte said in a press conference.

(After talking to my family and to all persons who are interested in my career as a politician, I would like to categori-

cally state now, I will not run for president. I have no ambition to become a president. In 2016, I will retire from public life for good.)

The tough-talking mayor ranked high in presidential preferences surveys, starting rumors that this would compel him to seek higher office in the coming general elections.

In the latest Pulse Asia survey, Duterte placed third after Senator Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay. In the recent Social Weather Stations polls, on the other hand, he also placed fairly at the fourth spot following Poe, Binay and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. But after mixed signals and months of consideration, Duterte finally gave a resounding no to the country’s highest post. ■

BY GIL CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer THE HOUSE of Representatives will summon to an inquiry officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the owners of Monacat Trading, which illegally brought 14 luxury vehicles into the country through the Port of Batangas.

Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo filed House Resolution No. 2269 asking the House committee on ways and means to investigate Monacat, which brought in rare and high-priced cars but paid just a fraction of the duties and taxes on the vehicles by declaring them as lower-priced variants of the same models.

Gunigundo said Monacat could be in “cahoots” with customs officials, which would explain the company’s boldness in misdeclaring the expensive cars.

On Aug. 5, the customs buwww.canadianinquirer.net

reau seized 14 cars shipped in from the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Hong Kong.

The vehicles, now held in a customs warehouse, were a McLaren 450C, a Land Rover LR2, two Land Rover Defender 90s, two Mercedez Benz C200s, two Mercedez Benz GLK350s, a Toyota Prado, a 2015 Ferrari California and four Toyota Land Cruiser GXs. The vehicles were consigned to Monacat Trading, but the little-known company was believed to merely be a conduit of a big car smuggling ring involving an official of a major religious organization, a jewel trader and a trader of tax receipts.

The cars were seized for gross undervaluation and for lack of clearance from the customs bureau’s Import Assessment Service (IAS), which valuates car imports not sold by members of the Car Assemblers and Manu-

facturers of the Philippines (Campi) and the Association of Vehicle Importers and Dealers/ Distributors (Avid).

“We cannot afford to lose millions of [pesos in] taxes due to technical smuggling [involving] these unscrupulous smugglers and corrupt customs officials despite the intensified drive against the illegal importation of vehicles,” Gunigundo said.

He said it was ironic that car smuggling had flourished despite reforms introduced by the Aquino administration.

“Unless and until these furtive activities are addressed and the smugglers and BOC officials are not exposed, charged and punished accordingly, the much-ballyhooed [straight path] government campaign to eradicate smuggling will not just be a shot in the wilderness but, worse, a laughingstock,” Gunigundo said. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

11

Belmonte: Passage soon of BBL an ‘impossible dream’

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

PNP Chief, PDG Ricardo Marquez inspected the deployment of Highway Patrol Group (HPG) personnel and the traffic situation in EDSA Cubao on September 8, following the unit's first day of manning the EDSA traffic. He also talked to street vendors and pedestrians about road safety measures.

PNP-PIO PHOTO

PNP-HPG cops deployed on EDSA as traffic marshals

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) officers were fielded on the 23-kilometer EDSA today, with the goal of easing traffic congestion in one of Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino noted that it would not be easy for the PNP-HPG to oversee EDSA, especially its six major choke points — Balintawak, Cubao, Guadalupe, Shaw Boulevard, Ortigas Avenue and Taft Avenue.

Years ago, there were only about 120,000 vehicles per lane per hour on EDSA. But with the increase of vehicle sales and number of residents in the metropolis, there has already been over 145,000 vehicle load on the highway.

With the worsening traffic

condition taking a daily economic loss estimated at 2.4 billion from the country, the national government and departments involved in traffic management have been looking for solutions to the problem.

Aside from deploying more men as traffic marshals on EDSA, the government also planned for road engineering, rerouting of provincial buses and clearing of obstructions and illegal vending activities on the highway.

The administration asked motorists and commuters to do their part and observe traffic rules.

“We are asking motorists for their full cooperation in observing discipline on the road and to follow traffic laws,” Communications Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said.

Should there be unruly traffic violators on EDSA, the PNPHPG might resolve to use force, especially during ‘extreme scenarios’ where violators even assault traffic enforcers.

“Noong nakaraan, meron pang mga nasasaktang mga traffic enforcers, hindi ba ‘yung binubundol pa sila o pinagbubuhatan ng kamay,” Coloma said.

(Before, there have been injured traffic enforcers, rammed and hit.)

“Siguro iyon ang tinutukoy na in extreme cases dahil sila naman ay awtorisado na gumamit ng pwersa kung kinakailangan pero gumagamit pa rin sila ng katwiran sa kanilang pagganap sa tungkulin,” he added.

(Maybe those can be referred to as extreme cases [where] they are authorized to use force when needed but they still draw on reasoning first while fulfilling their duties.)

Last week, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III assigned the HPG as the lead traffic law enforcement agency on EDSA. They will be assisted by the MMDA, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB). ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

in Congress and elsewhere, and the draft of the law has undergone drastic revisions in both the House and the Senate.

THE POSSIBILITY that Congress would arrive at an agreed 2016 budget first version of the Bangsamoro Congress leaders had hoped Basic Law (BBL) before the to pass the BBL by late Septemstart of plenary debates on the ber or it would have to give way 2016 national budget later this to the plenary debates on the month was becoming “an im- 2016 budget. possible dream,” according to Belmonte said that “theoretiSpeaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. cally” it was possible to resume Belmonte yesterday said the the deliberations on the BBL after current deliberathe work on the tions on the BBL budget had been were taking too completed. “Maylong, especially be we will have at the House, and The real to do that,” he the time allotted problem is said. This means for its passage time is running the timetable for would likely overout because the BBL would lap with the demany people be extended yet bates on the 2016 still want to again, complicatbudget, which by interpellate, ing the schedule tradition is on top which is their for the plebiscite of the legislative right. required to ratify agenda. the measure in “The notion the affected rethat you can get gions. the Senate and the House to The deliberations on the BBL agree on a version before we had been delayed by a numconcentrate on the budget is ber of factors, chief among really becoming an impossible them, the failure to muster dream now,” Belmonte said in a a sustained quorum in the radio interview.

291-strong chamber.

“But we still have to go at it to After weeks of low attenshow that peace in Mindanao, asa dance, the House was able to exemplified by the BBL, is a con- muster a quorum consistently tinuing concern. It will still get a last week, but progress on the big chunk of our time,” he said.

BBL remained slow.

The BBL would create a new “The real problem is time is self-governing region for the running out because many people Bangsamoro people and hope- still want to interpellate, which is fully end decades of armed con- their right,” Belmonte said. flict in Mindanao. It will seal He said it was also the right of the peace agreement signed the House leadership to decide by the government with the whether or not to terminate Moro Islamic Liberation Front the BBL debate or limit it, “if (MILF) last year. they have the votes, if they have Opposition to the BBL in its the numbers,” referring to the original form, however, erupted House members. ■

12

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Gov’t braces for El Niño’s worst

BY GIL CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer PREPARING FOR the worst-case scenario, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is asking for almost P2 billion in supplemental funds to be able to respond to the El Niño weather phenomenon which could adversely affect the country’s rice supply.

Francis Pangilinan, Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization, backed the request of the agriculture department, recalling that the El Niño, a weather phenomenon linked to drought and strong typhoons, affected the country in 1997-98 and resulted in a 25-percent drop in the country’s rice yield.

“So we need to prepare for the worstcase scenario in the event it will affect the (rice) supply,” Pangilinan told reporters at the Senate.

Weather forecasters have warned that the current El Niño, characterized by the unusual warming of the Pacific Ocean’s surface, was expected to be the

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same, if not more severe than the one experienced 17 years ago.

But Pangilinan said one difference between then and now was that the government was “better prepared” and would intervene to mitigate the impact of El Niño, expected to peak from September this year to the first quarter of 2016.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, at the hearing on the proposed 2016 budget for his department, brought out the need for the P1.9-billion El Niño fund on top of its regular budget.

Senate President Franklin Drilon initially said this appeared to be too minuscule based on the previous production loss of P3.3 billion.

But Drilon, after noting that the DA still had P16.7 billion in unobligated funds from its 2015 budget, said there may be no need for the agency to seek the supplemental budget. It could accommodate the P1.9 billion from its unobligated funds.

Alcala had replied that the DA could not just realign funds because its budget had line items.

But Drilon said the DA had been “ultra-conservative” and was implementing a “very, very conservative” reading of the Supreme Court decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the realignment of savings.

He believed the DA could realign items within its own department with the approval of the President. Congress could pass a resolution authorizing the DA to use its savings to address the El Niño phenomenon. This could be done easily because there would be no need for additional funds, he added.

“My reading of your budget is you have enough to respond to the P1.9-billion budget you’re looking for as an El Niño fund by realigning,” he said. ■

Congress opposes VAT increase, claims working class will suffer

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — The House of Representatives yesterday opposed the Malacañang Palace’ proposal to increase the valueadded tax (VAT) and criticized its refusal to cut income taxes.

Several lawmakers instead urged the Aquino administration to ‘show compassion’ towards the middle-class and the poor who would likely suffer the proposed increase from 12 to 14 percent VAT. “Magpakita naman sila ng malasakit (they should show compassion). It is Malacañang that should see the bigger picture,” Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said.

“The rich would not mind a two-percentage-point increase in VAT. It is the middle class, employees and the poor who will suffer,” Isabela Representative Rodolfo Albano lll said.

“Increasing VAT to 14 percent will be an added burden to the working class, especially to the poor, which comprises the bigger chunk of society since it will mean corresponding increases in the cost of goods and services,” Pasig Representative Roman Romulo added.

The House instead considered passing bills that would modernize the tax collection system, scrap tax incentives and www.canadianinquirer.net

impose tax on soft drinks.

“I have trust in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Commissioner Kim Henares. They have been improving their collections every year. It is the Bureau of Customs that is wanting in performance, but I know that Commissioner Alberto Lina is doing his best to improve it,” Albano said.

Some lawmakers also asked if there was a need to increase VAT. “There is clearly something wrong if despite having the highest tax rates in the ASEAN region, the Philippines has one of the lowest tax collection efficiency,” Marikina Representative Miro Quimbo said.

“I think the DOF (Department of Finance) and BIR should really look at the numbers and not just see this as plus and minus thing… Increasing the VAT will hit even those exempt from income taxes, that makes it a cruel proposal,” Valenzuela City Representative Sherwin Gatchalian said.

The Malacañang, for its part, welcomed improving tax collection instead of changing tax rates.

“According to Commissioner Henares, government is not proposing higher VAT rates. We are for status quo,” Communications Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said.

“No change in tax rates, and no new or higher taxes, and also no income tax cuts. Government will just focus on improving collection,” Coloma added. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

13

LP told: Forget Grace, move on

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer SHE IS a lost cause so let’s just get on with it.

Sen. Grace Poe has given all indications that she will be the rival of administration standard-bearer Interior Secretary Mar Roxas for the presidency in 2016, so the Liberal Party (LP) should already stop trying to recruit her as Roxas’ running mate, Senate President Franklin Drilon said.

“In my view, Grace Poe is already a candidate for President. So, you know, the writing is on the wall. She will run,” Drilon told reporters yesterday.

The LP should look for another partner for Roxas, said Drilon, the party’s vice chair.

Though Poe’s line has been that she is still making up her mind whether to run for higher office in 2016, Drilon is convinced that, judging from her recent actions, she will seek the presidency in 2016. “First, she has been going around making speeches to various schools and organizations. You would not do that if you would not be a candidate. It’s not easy to go around,” he said.

Though Drilon did not mention it, there have also been TV advertisements featuring snapshots of Poe at work. The commercial uses the same song featured in the advertisements of her late father, Fernando Poe Jr., when he ran for President in 2004.

Roxas and some LP leaders have been wooing Poe, who has been topping the voter preference surveys, to be Roxas’ running mate.

But Poe has been lukewarm to the overtures, and has said besides that she is more comfortable teaming up with Sen. Francis Escudero, who is a likely candidate for Vice President.

Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, and Trillanes and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party (NP).

He said there were other names that could be considered, the four being his “initial thought.”

As for Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Drilon said that as far as he knew, De Lima would be a candidate for the Senate.

Santos and Robredo have already expressed their reluctance to run for Vice President.

De Lima, who was not even mentioned

by Drilon, told reporters yesterday that she was not interested to be Roxas’ running mate.

“I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t know. No one has talked to me and definitely I’m not interested,” she told reporters in an ambush interview during the Bureau of Immigration’s 75th anniversary celebration.

“I’m just considering a senatorial [run]. Anything beyond that will not happen. Anything beyond that, I’m not

To announce next week?

In Iloilo City yesterday, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV told a news conference that Poe would announce her bid for the presidency next week, but declined to say how he came by such information.

“I know for a fact that she is running for President. I’m inside. Off the record, I will tell you why I am sure. But for now just take my word for it,” he said.

LP should prepare

Drilon said he would ask the LP’s national executive council and acting president Joseph Emilio Abaya to convene as soon as possible to nominate and approve the party’s vice presidential candidate.

“So we prepare and complete our slate for 2016, including the senators,” he said.

He mentioned four names who could be potential partners of Roxas in 2016: Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, Camarines www.canadianinquirer.net

ready. Definitely out of my psyche, so no,” she added.

“If somebody will ask me, even from within the Liberal Party, I will definitely say no,” said De Lima whose star power rose in social media sites when she was targeted by protesting Iglesia ni Cristo members over her handling of an illegal detention suit against the sect’s leaders.

Drilon said that in possibly recruiting Cayetano and Trillanes to run with Rox❱❱ PAGE 14 LP told

Philippine News

14

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

How traffic...

“Even traffic, it changed. It worsened,” Aquino said.

“When you come home and you’re caught in traffic, just remember that people are running errands, not just loitering around. That is a sign of economic growth.”

P-Noy’s number two guy– Liberal Party presidential bet and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas–believes the same thing.

“This is a problem in a sense that arises from prosperity, because there is money, because there is economic activity,” Roxas said in front of the Philippine Sugar Technologists Association just last month in Cebu.

But is this really the case? Is worsening traffic really a sign of a thriving economy? Most Filipinos will beg to differ. Here are some points on how the traffic situation in the Philippines is making us poorer. ❰❰ 1

71%

In 2014, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) released a report saying that public transport accounts for roughly 69% of Metro Manila’s daily trips. And about 71% of the traveling population relies on buses and jeepneys everyday.

With these values in mind, JICA officially presented the “Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metro Manila and Its Surrounding Areas” in June 2014.

A few months later, JICA released a statement saying Aquino has approved said roadmap.

In its statement, JICA point-

ed out that the roadmap aims to realize five NOs: 1. NO traffic congestion, 2. NO households living in high hazard risk areas, 3. NO barriers for seamless mobility, 4. NO excessive transport cost burden for low-income groups, and 5. NO air pollution.

9th to 5th

According to Numbeo, “the world’s largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide,” the Philippines has the 5th worst traffic situation in the entire world as of September 2015.

This is a 4-point slump for the worst from being in 9th place just roughly eight months ago (January 2015).

In Asia, this is a one-point decline from being the 4th worst traffic to being the 3rd worst.

This author still fails to see how the country with the third worst traffic congestion in Asia can attract more foreign investors.

201.31

In its mid-year report released early September 2015, Numbeo provided data on overall time consumed in traffic, inefficiencies in the traffic system, dissatisfaction of commuters, and even carbon dioxide emission or consumption due to traffic time.

Out of the 88 countries surveyed, the Philippines ranked 5th with a score of 201.31 based on Numbeo’s Traffic Index for Country. For comparison, the perfect score is 1. The Philippines is more than 200 points off target. Although, to be fair,

Manila’s hellish traffic is getting worse.

no country got a perfect score.

Austria topped the list with a score of 71.

PHUONG D. NGUYEN / SHUTTERSTOCK

you’re an entry-level employee or the CEO, the hellish Metro Manila traffic acts as the great equalizer.

46.09

According to Numbeo’s data, the average one-way commute or travel time in the Philippines is about 46.09 minutes. That’s almost an hour of work missed because you’re still stuck somewhere along EDSA Cubao, praying to the traffic gods to get moving.

If we put a monetary value on those minutes in terms of minimum daily wage in NCR of PhP 481.00 (as of April 2015, US $10.26), that will translate to a deduction of at least PhP46.19 (US $0.99) every day or roughly 9.6% of one day’s wage.

Thankfully, some companies are becoming more and more sympathetic to their employees’ transpo plight and foregoes deductions on tardiness altogether. Mostly because whether

2,400,000,000,000

Iloilo, as a guest of the Hablon Festival, said he would not team up with anybody in his vice presidential bid, but thanked Drilon for considering him.

“I am grateful for the statements of Senator Drilon but I am running for Vice President as an independent,” he said.

He also said that his partylist group, the Magdalo, had already decided to support Poe for President and that he had informed Roxas of this.

Trillanes said the Magdalo believes that Poe has the qualifications and capability to become the next President.

He said Poe had bested Roxas

during the Magdalo selection on whom to support for President in 2016.

He admitted that Poe would not be picking him as a running mate because she has already selected Escudero, a close family friend.

Still, this would not stop him from carrying Poe as the Magdalo’s bet for President, he said.

He is banking on the strength of the Magdalo which he claimed has “massive grassroots” membership across the country.

As for NP party mate Cayetano being a possible vice presidential candidate, he said the

Yes, that’s 11 zeroes after 2 and 4.

In August 2013, JICA released a report saying that the Philippines is already losing PhP 2.4 billion everyday, which is “the estimated economic and financial losses to traffic congestion.”

JICA computed this amount by factoring in the value of time lost (due to delays because of traffic), fuel and operating costs, traffic’s impact on health, and even greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a report by JICA in 2014, the Philippines is on its way to losing PhP 6 billion everyday by 2030 if this traffic problem isn’t solved.

Some say the roads of Met-

ro Manila have given birth to modern day urban warriors— ready for any transportation battle. Everyday, thousands (if not millions) of workers have to compete for a few inches of space just to ride a bus, a jeepney, or a train. In this war called Metro Manila Traffic, everyday is a battle.

At the end of the day, all those who are stuck in traffic are poorer in some way. Less salary due to tardiness deductions, less patience for your family when you get home, less energy to attend to your second job waiting for you at home. In a way, this horrible traffic in the Philippines is making us poorer. And if the government continues to see this traffic as a sign of economic growth, then we are in for harder, poorer times. ■ Exchange rates as of September 7, 2015.

LP told... as, a teamup between the LP and the NP would be necessary.

“We cannot possibly nominate them because they are not LP. But that means we will coalesce with the other parties,” he added.

The LP and the NP became partners for the 2013 midterm elections, fielding senatorial candidates under one slate.

Drilon said the deadline for filling up the administration ticket was fast approaching, and the party should help Roxas choose his running mate.

“Maybe we should help Secretary Roxas complete the ❰❰ 13

ticket. According to our constitution in the LP, the [national executive council] would be the one to nominate. Of course, we will consult Secretary Roxas,” he said, when told about earlier statements from the party that Roxas would be allowed to select his preferred running mate.

He also said President Aquino has yet to be informed of his plan.

“I’m just talking in accordance with our LP constitution,” he added.

Running for Vice President

Trillanes, who was in Miagao,

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NP would declare a free zone if two of their members or allies run for one position.

Aside from Poe, Vice President Jejomar Binay will be another rival of Roxas for the presidency.

There are also groups pushing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to run for President.

Before Poe surged to the top of the surveys, Binay had enjoyed the No. 1 spot for many months.

But a recent LP-commissioned survey placed Roxas as the most preferred candidate in a one-on-one race with Binay. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

15

4 COA execs tied to scam Witnesses blame mess on Nabcor president

BY NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer

2010, audit observation memoranda for fiscal years 20072009 were received by Nabcor with discovered irregularities.

However, Nabcor merely sent reports to the COA saying it would comply with the audit observations,” witnesses Vic Cacal and Rhodora Mendoza said in a joint statement submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman by their lawyer, Levito Baligod.

“Mr. Javellana blatantly disregarded rules and regulations and allowed the malversation of the PDAF because of his connections with certain officials of the COA,” the witnesses said.

“True enough, DA-COA had regularly issued credit notices to Nabcor to clear the latter’s payments to NGOs (nongovernment organizations) even if no supporting documents were submitted,” they said.

Cacal and Mendoza said the COA officials “assisted and coached [us] how to go around adverse audit observations that would result in the issuance of credit notices clearing Nabcor

bribes in exchange for their assistance in going around questionable liquidations of NGOs and issuance of clear credit notices.

“GM (referring to Espino) meets directly with Javellana apart from being a recipient of one lot of Saanen Breed goats that I facilitated,” Cacal said in an interview.

At that time, a Saanen Breed goat cost around P10,000 and one lot consisted of 10 goats, he said.

“Nabua was the beneficiary of a P15-million loan from an Acef (Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund) funded project and was the one who coached us how to remedy adverse findings by auditors,” Mendoza said in a separate interview.

“Based on our records, Nabua did not pay a centavo for his loan for a project in San Fabian, Pangasinan,” she said.

FOUR OFFICIALS of the Commission on Audit (COA), including a now retired commissioner and state auditors, did not only look the other way but also helped officials of National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) go around adverse reports involving spurious liquidation papers in exchange for cash and gifts, according to witnesses in the new P500-million pork barrel scam case.

The witnesses, former employees of Nabcor, told the INQUIRER in separate interviews they had personal knowledge that former COA Commissioner Juanito Espino Jr., former Director Tito Nabua and state auditors Herminia Aquino and Carmelita Sanchez benefited from Nabcor through its president, Alan Javellana.

The INQUIRER asked the COA public information ofCar for Aquino fice yesterday for comment. It Mendoza also said that Aquisaid Espino and Nabua retired no, being the supervising audiin 2013 and that tor, received “a Aquino died earcar under her lier this year. It son’s name but had no informathe monthly tion about SanMr. Javellana blatantly disregarded amortization chez. rules and regulations and allowed the was paid by NabJavellana, one malversation of the PDAF because of cor through Jaof the accused his connections with certain officials vellana.” in the P10-bilof the COA. She added that lion pork barrel she knew about scam allegedly the gift because orchestrated by it was she who businesswoman Janet Lim-Na- payments to NGOs even with- purchased the car and she arpoles, could not be contacted out sufficient documents.” ranged for a parking allocation for comment.

The witnesses said they knew for it at the Nabcor office at The witnesses also said that about the irregularities because Tektite Towers. the implementation of proj- of their positions at Nabcor: Ca“She (Aquino) was given a car ects financed with legislators’ cal was head of the general ser- through speedway electronics shares of the Priority Develop- vices department and Mendoza and was always given allowancment Assistance Fund (PDAF) was vice president for finance. es when she traveled abroad,” through Nabcor was marred Mendoza said. with irregularities with the im- Bribes She added that Aquino reprimatur of Javellana.

Mendoza and Cacal narrated mained the supervising auditor “Every year from 2008 to how the COA officials received of Nabcor even after she was as-

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Commission on Audit building in Quezon City.

QUEZON CITY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

signed as auditor of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA).

According to Mendoza, Sanchez “facilitated the sale of a lot in Tagaytay, which was bought

by Javellana in exchange for not releasing the special audit report.”

In a telephone interview, Cacal said that in 2009 he was asked by Javellana to accompany him to a meeting with some high-ranking COA officials so “that I could address my questions to [them] regarding how to remedy the audit observations on the liquidation of the PDAF of certain legislators.”

“Javellana introduced me to Espino and another auditor in a restaurant near SM Fairview where I was prompted to state questions regarding negative audit observations of the liquidations submitted by the NGOs,” Cacal said.

“The COA officials instead of answering any of my questions just told me to receive the documents submitted by the NGOs and not to validate them anymore. They said that what was important was that the documentary requirements appeared to be complete and they would take care of the rest,” Ca-

cal said.

Remedial measures

Since then, Cacal said he, on Javellana’s orders, “frequently met with the COA officials to purposely discuss remedial measures in the audit observations concerning Nabcor.”

He added that whenever he and Mendoza brought to Javellana’s attention the liquidation papers of the NGOs, which were “manufactured and contained highly questionable names of beneficiaries,” but Javellana told them to just follow the instructions of the COA officials.

“The goods or merchandise submitted by the NGO for inspection by Nabcor prior to delivery is the same merchandise submitted for inspection by the same NGO in other PDAF-funded projects. The NGO would only change the tarpaulin to fit a particular project. The NGO takes pictures reflecting different tarpaulins to show that these goods are for different projects,” Cacal and Mendoza said in their joint statement. ■

Opinion

16

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

PUBLIC LIVES

Migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer BEING AN island nation, we tend to be indifferent to the great human tragedies that are happening in the rest of the world. Our national media reflect and reinforce this insularity.

These past few weeks, for instance, while Europe has been at its wits’ end trying to find a way to deal with the massive influx of migrants from the failed nation-states of North Africa and the Middle East, there has hardly been a stir over this in our media.

The early evening news on Philippine television typically begins with a litany of reports on the latest killing, rape, abduction, robbery, abuse of minors, and fatal road accidents. This is usually followed by a breathless lamentation on the rush-hour traffic in Metro Manila’s main thoroughfares and the helplessness of motorists caught in monstrous traffic jams.

I normally switch channels after barely 10 minutes, unable to bear the inordinate agitation and anger we pour into our daily troubles even as we give the scantest attention to what is happening elsewhere in the world. Having anchored the early eve-

ning news for the then newly-opened Channel 5, I amfully aware that getting viewers to stay with one’s program until the end is the name of the game. But I have always wondered why the news lineup should always open with shocking crime reports.

One reason given is that threats to personal security and wellbeing (like crime, disease, scams and high prices) are uppermost in the consciousness of the ordinary Filipino family. I don’t buy this explanation, but this seems to be the orthodoxy across all networks.

I used to think that deploying 10 million Filipino workers to all corners of the world would somehow break this parochialism. Perhaps, it has, but, alas, only to a very limited extent. If a bomb exploded in Syria, Libya, or Iraq, or in Paris, London, or Boston, the first question we would ask, typically, is whether any Filipinos were hurt—not how many ordinary people were killed or maimed.

When millions of displaced Syrians, Iraqis and Libyans leave their strife-torn homelands and head for sanctuaries in Europe, the event conjures ancient images of the biblical exodus. Yet this powerful human drama fails to move or impress us in any

meaningful way. We hear of Filipinos who continue to work in these countries, undaunted by the civil wars that have destroyed them, and we wonder how bad things can really be.

They are bad and, for the young parents with little children to look after, beyond endurance. Take a quick look at the faces of the thousands of refugees now stranded in Budapest, Hungary, waiting to board trains that would take them to Germany. It is difficult to miss the fact that these are mostly young men and women with a lot of years in their lives, and young families who are fighting to secure a bright and peaceful future for their children. Very few old people are among them because, obviously, they do not have the strength one needs to make the perilous journey across rough seas on rickety boats, or by land across the vast mass of land that links Asia to Europe.

They are Europe’s “other,” the figure of the stranger that triggers the most virulent forms of ethno-cultural racism. Europeans cannot agree among themselves how to deal with the strangers that are knocking at their door. Governments are wary of the political backlash these migrants

could trigger whenever they are welcomed. Ironically, it is Germany, the country that once served as the capital of a deluded ideology of racial purity and superiority that is now showing the rest of Europe what it means to be part of a common humanity. Last year, Germany took in almost 200,000 refugees into its borders, giving them jobs, allowances and homes. Its nononsense chancellor, Angela Merkel, has announced that her country is prepared to accept another 800,000.

Merkel’s unequivocal stand on the issue of refugees is putting to shame the rest of Western Europe, where politicians continue to debate the content of a so-called comprehensive policy on the refugee crisis. People view the latter as shameless stalling.

The other night, I watched Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron explain the need for a comprehensive solution and why, in effect, his country cannot support the approach taken by Germany.

Though his remarks initially struck me as a pathetic attempt to show that the United Kingdom is a moral nation that takes its responsibilities to the human community seriously, Cameron did make some valid points. He

insisted that priority must be given to people displaced by war and to victims of persecution in need of protection.

These are the genuine refugees and asylum-seekers, whose situation, he said, must be differentiated from that of economic migrants. He argued that priority for resettlement in Europe must be extended to those that have been living in refugee camps for years, instead of favoring those that, on their own, have trooped to Europe’s backdoor. To prioritize the latter, he said, as Germany’s Merkel proposes, only invites more people to take risks and pay human traffickers to ferry them to Europe.

Both positions are praiseworthy for different reasons. Merkel’s appropriately responds to the urgency of the problem. Cameron’s highlights its scale and complexity. But one wishes this problem would incite deeper soulsearching in Europe and in America. I can’t help wondering, in light of this humanitarian crisis, if the people of Libya and Syria, and for that matter Iraq, might not have been better off if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United States had left them alone to deal with their own dictators. ■

ANALYSIS

Gov’t tries to restore road sanity

By Amando Doronila Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINE National Police starts to restore today government control of key streets in Metro Manila following the withdrawal last Monday of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) fanatical followers who paralyzed the capital for four days with their tumultuous occupation of Edsa, the foremost highway of the country where massive people power uprisings toppled two regimes in 1986 and 2001.

Pushed to the edge by the unruly mobs of a minority religious sect, the INC, the evidently traumatized administration of President Aquino dispatched the well-armed crack troops of the national police—the PNP Highway Patrol Group (HPG)—to take the lead role in reasserting the state’s presence and authority in the streets.

Acting on orders of the President, PNP Director General Ricardo Marquez sent HPG patrols prowling the choke points of Edsa, with instructions to “restore some level of sanity” in the streets, where the police were hardly visible while INC mobs went on a rampage to terrorize hapless inhabitants of the metropolis.

To make up for the invisibility of the government during the INC’s reign of terror, HPG patrols started showing up in the streets to demonstrate that it was again in charge after the INC announced

the end of its siege of Edsa, ordering its mobs to pull out from Edsa and return to the neighboring provinces.

Starting today, Marquez announced, HPG patrols would be seen in usually congested sections of Edsa to lead “a traffic law enforcement operations solving the perennial problem in the metropolis.”

EDSA’s glorious days He said he received instructions from the President at an emergency meeting at the height of the INC siege to bring back the “glorious days of Edsa” when cops were the “king of Edsa,” meaning that the mere presence of the constables was enough to bring order in the streets.

Marquez downgraded the intervention of the PNP-HPG to just a traffic management issue, involving solving traffic jams, getting rid of illegal terminals and apprehending undisciplined motorists.

HPG officials said up to 100 police officers armed with handguns would be deployed at six choke points on Edsa— Balintawak in Quezon City, Cubao also in Quezon City, Ortigas Avenue in Pasig City, Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City, Guadalupe in Makati City, and Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

Marquez has acknowledged that the deployment of the HPG as the lead agency in traffic control operations at Edsa

was in response to widespread public clamor to ease the traffic bottlenecks on the strategic highway, saying that “we could only level to the expectation of the public. We cannot fail. Traffic has impacted the lives of people already and we owe it to them. So we expect the HPG will do its best to make sure that we restore some level of sanity at Edsa.”

But we are afraid that showing off the HPG patrols will not achieve this objective because the PNP is understating the gravity of the occupation of the streets by INC mobs, discounting it as an ordinary traffic management issue.

The monstrous gridlock at Edsa during the siege was more than that. It was aggravated by the INC protest actions, which started on Padre Faura Street in Manila, where INC mobs stormed the premises of the Department of Justice.

They demanded the resignation of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for opening a preliminary investigation of criminal charges lodged by an expelled INC minister against eight senior officials of the INC’s governing council in connection with the alleged corruption in the sect’s financial affairs exposed by the minister.

They also demanded the quashing of De Lima’s investigation.

In refocusing public attention to the deployment of the HPG patrols, the Aquino administration and PNP leadership took the heat off the INC for the

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disruption of public order and economic havoc wrought by the INC’s destructive protest actions.

the preliminary investigation of INC ex-minister Isaias Samson Jr.’s complaint against ranking INC officials.

Slap on wrist Administration officials did nothing more stern to discipline the INC and instill in it respect for the law of the land beyond giving it a slap on the wrist. Despite the fact that the INC’s defiance in the occupation of the streets escalated the confrontation between the government and the sect into an issue involving national security— not merely an issue of traffic management enforcement in bottleneck areas.

The administration, including De Lima, has insisted there is no agreement between it and the INC that led to the abrupt end of the five-day protests on the morning of Aug. 31. All that we know is there was a meeting between senior Cabinet secretaries and INC representatives, which, according Malacañang spokespersons, heard both sides clarifying “developments on the status of the INC rally and post-expiration permit scenarios.”

INC leaders have claimed an “agreement” between them and the administration. Whether there was a deal and what trade-offs took place, or which side capitulated, will remain secret for sometime, but there are verifiable results to make some conjectures.

First, De Lima stays as secretary of justice. Second, she will proceed with

Not credible force Third, the INC beat a hasty retreat and dismantled its mobs after it apparently became clear in the meeting that the administration cannot be blackmailed into bowing to INC demands without risking a powerful public backlash, fueled by public outrage over the disruptive rampage in Metro Manila.

Fourth, it was clear to all that the INC failed to mobilize mass support for a people power demonstration capable of toppling the administration.

Fifth, the INC is not a credible political force as a rallying point of another Edsa because it was not part of the Edsa I movement that overthrew the Marcos dictatorship. It boycotted the Edsa popular movement. Sixth, the outrage from the streets reduced INC’s clout in using its block-voting potential to influence election results in 2016.

There’s an important lesson highlighted by the INC’s siege of Edsa. It is that the Filipino people loathe weak administrations that capitulate to bullying or blackmail by minority pressure groups, especially religious sects. Such spineless administrations earn the contempt of the people and lose their legitimacy to govern.” ■

Opinion

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

17

LOOKING BACK

Torre de Manila: Heritage laws require updating

By Ambeth R. Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer SEEING beyond the unrelenting social media commentary on the Torre de Manila (TDM) controversy requires historical context on the Rizal Monument, which was designed by Swiss sculptor Richard Kissling and inaugurated at the Luneta in 1913.

It is not well known that the national hero had left detailed instructions regarding his burial: He preferred to be buried in what is now the Manila North Cemetery, and wanted a simple grave topped with a cross and a tombstone inscribed with nothing more than his name and the dates of his birth and death. “No anniversaries,” he added. That these instructions were disregarded underscores the fact that the TDM controversy is less about Rizal and more about us, and the way we express our respect and admiration for him.

Controversy related to Rizal’s Monument is not new either. To celebrate his birth centennial in 1961, the government had planned a National Cultural Center composed of a National Theater, a National Museum, and a National Library to rise behind the monument to create a modern skyline for the distinguished and ever loyal city of Manila. Architect (and later, National Artist) Juan F. Nakpil updated the classical Rizal Monument with a stainless steel pylon to increase its height to match the style and proportion of the proposed Cultural Center.

But adverse public opinion led then Education Secretary Alejandro Roces to have the offensive shaft removed

during Holy Week of 1962 to avoid a temporary restraining order. The pylon was relocated to Roxas Boulevard where it marked the boundary between Pasay and Manila, till it was taken down and disappeared in the 1990s.

Not a World Heritage Site The INQUIRER recently published two articles by Edgar Allan M. Sembrano, which were drawn from the position paper of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Philippines that demand the demolition of TDM as a “serious visual disruption to the solemnity of the Rizal Monument.”

One of the article cited the demolition of several high-rise condominium buildings that ruined the view of a heritage zone that includes the Hagia Sofia, Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. But the example does not apply to the view of the Rizal Monument, which is not a World Heritage Site.

Sembrano’s second article carried the misleading headline: “Unesco advisory body urges ‘removal’ of Torre de Manila,” an extreme recommendation that might have been implied but not stated in the ICOMOS Resolution of November 2014. The shrill position of the some heritage advocates contrasts with the sober transmittal letter from ICOMOS president Gustavo Araoz dated January 2015 that reads as follows: “ICOMOS calls upon all the national authorities in charge of the management, protection and conservation of the Philippines’ heritage to reinforce their com-

mitment and to ensure, with vigor, that precedence is given to the protection and conservation of cultural heritage and to implement policies and best practices for the benefit of Rizal Monument and other such sites, and in particular to work in cooperation with ICOMOS Philippines to develop and implement conservation measures for the protection of the Rizal Monument and its setting.”

From the above, it is clear that existing heritage laws have to be revisited and amended to adjust to the changing times.

Current guidelines from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) cover the physical integrity of the Rizal Monument and its traditional and juridical setting, and provides “for unobstructed viewing appreciation and photographic opportunities.”

can and cannot be built, as well as height and design restrictions. Fortunately, hearings on the TDM controversy conducted in aid of legislation by both houses of Congress have resulted in amendments to the heritage law proposed by Sen. Pia Cayetano, as present laws and guidelines do not include sight line.

Sight line should be defined But the TDM does not obstruct the view because it is built 780 meters behind the monument and 400 m outside Rizal Park, a National Historical Landmark considered the traditional and juridical setting of the monument. If setting, sight line and visual corridors are to be protected, corresponding legislation should be enacted that cannot be applied retroactively. Sight line should also be defined and its limits clearly spelled out in amendments to current building, zoning, land use and heritage laws.

Often overlooked in the NHCP guidelines is the need for local government units to enact regulations for areas behind or around a monument, specifying what

Not World Heritage Site Heritage advocates often cite the Venice Charter of 1964 against TDM, but conveniently leave out the fact that the Philippines is not a signatory to this document laying out the basic principles for heritage preservation. In 2012, the Unesco World Heritage Committee and experts proposed updating guidelines for sites and monuments declared as Unesco World Heritage Sites to include visual setting. Unesco has yet to adopt a rule on sight lines. In fact, NHCP legal counsel Jose Manuel I. Diokno has cited over 40 international documents on World Heritage that illustrate how important views or sights are not yet specifically protected.

As a declared National Monument and National Cultural Treasure situated in a National Historical Landmark, the Rizal Monument is under the jurisdiction of the NHCP and the National Museum, which are mandated by law to issue a cease and desist order (CDO).

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), on the other hand, is mandated to protect World Heritage sites at risk in the Philippines.

It therefore overstepped its authority when it issued a CDO on TDM to

in her family, Ricki stops mid-song to ruminate about the unfairness of life. Why is it, she wonders aloud, when a man leaves his comfort zone to fulfill his dreams, he is cheered on by most everybody, but when a woman and a mother does that, she is condemned as a “bad” parent who sacrificed her children to the altar of her dreams?

The trouble is that the end-result seems such a paltry reward for all that Ricki has given up, not least of which is her children’s own sense of happiness and security. She flies to Indiana to be by the side of her daughter Julie (played by Streep’s real-life daughter Mamie Gummer), who is going through a personal crisis after her own divorce, only to find Julie resentful and suicidal. The sins of the past are further resurrected when Ricki meets with her sons Josh and Adam and Josh’s fiancée, when all the bitterness and sadness of the past bubbles to the surface. And when she meets the woman who raised her own children, the second wife of her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline), the bitter truths about everything she had given up to chase her rock star dreams come raining down on Ricki. ***

OF course a happy ending is called for, and it comes in a rather predictable manner. If only all dark family disputes were settled so easily!

While “Ricki and the Flash” edges toward the darker bits of lost childhoods, reckless choices, selfish dreams—the dialogue all too often skitters away, avoiding confrontations in a movie that is supposed to be all about the clash between the sins of the past and the recriminations of the present.

The result is a film that continually circles the edges of darkness and despair but refuses ultimately to plunge into the pit of human weakness.

For one, I can’t imagine Ricki chasing her rock star dreams and mining the anger and angst that lie in the center of most of rock’s anthems, without even so much as a flirtation with drugs, booze and other temptations. The relationship between Ricki and her lead guitarist Greg (the authentic rocker Rick Springfield) is supposed to have been platonic for years, but the spark is lit only after Ricki comes home on the verge of despair after Indiana. Seems more like a sanitized version of rock romance retrofitted for a general audience.

protect the Rizal Monument, since the monument is not a World Heritage Site.

It is unfortunate that social media as well as an editorial in this paper had branded NHCP Chair Maria Serena Diokno “unhistorical” for acting within the mandate and guidelines of her agency. Her adherence to the rule of law was derided by the solicitor general as “narrow and legalistic,” but going beyond the letter of the law can be a recipe for confusion.

Hopefully, the demolition or completion of TDM would give rise to legal guidelines that would end the debate between heritage preservation and progress. What does the future hold for monuments and landmarks similarly situated? Do we demolish all the buildings that have mushroomed around the Bonifacio monument in Caloocan?

What about the skyscrapers rising in Fort Bonifacio and changing the serene landscape of the American Cemetery and Libingan ng mga Bayani? Shall we remain imprisoned in the past or can we move into a future where old and new coexist, where the present can create its own heritage instead of being pegged to existing ones?

In the end we return to Jose Rizal whose monument and memory lie at the center of this controversy. His advice said it loud and clear: “Con el recuerdo del pasado entro en el porvenir (I enter the future remembering the past).” ■ Editor’s Note: The columnist is the former chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, then called National Historical Institute.

AT LARGE

Impunity

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer IF A woman of a certain age ran off to California to pursue a rock star career, perhaps the matron’s version of running off to join the circus, would she grab at a chance for redemption?

Maybe only if she were like Ricki Rendazzo (Linda in her previous life), who gave her rock star dreams everything she had, only to end up playing nights at a small California club with a loyal but small following, and earning her keep by day as a cashier at an upscale food emporium.

It isn’t exactly stardom but it’s clear, performing with her band rocks Ricki’s world. But when time comes to weigh the joys and dubious rewards of following her dreams, versus the sacrifices she and those she loves have had to pay, the equation becomes a bit more complicated.

The contrast and confrontation between the family black sheep and those she left behind have been a staple of family dramas.

And in “Ricki and the Flash,” which will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting Wednesday, Sept. 9, all

the stock characters make an appearance.

There’s the kind, bemused ex-husband, the cool second wife, the troubled daughter, the remote older son, the resentful gay younger brother. Throw in the rocker boyfriend and you have the perfect recipe for a “TV-movie of the month.”

Fortunately, there is Meryl Streep essaying the role of Ricki, sticking out in the midst of the pastel-and-polyester crowd in her old hometown in her allblack, leather-and-fringe outfits.

She could so easily have played her rocker-mother as broadly as possible—alledge or all-remorse. But Streep, who once declared that every actor has an obligation to “stand up for your character,” gives us Ricki in all her complication and contradiction. She is lovable and loathsome, remorseful but also defiant. As a character, she is written (by writer Diablo Cody) with rather shallow insights into life. It is only Streep’s staunch championing of Ricki that keeps us paying attention. *** AT one point in the movie, just back from a disastrous reunion in Indiana where she managed to alienate almost everyone

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*** THERE is a bonus for the audience, though. And that is watching and listening to Streep and Springfield perform, “reading” Ricki interpret rock anthems even as she reflects on the things she had had to do, to do what she loves most in the world.

To play Ricki, we are told, Streep had to learn to play the guitar, and although she had already sung in previous movies, rock was never part of that repertoire. What an achievement it is, then, for Streep to credibly portray an aging rocker with not-bad moves. The performances, in fact, are the real highlights of “Ricki and the Flash” (especially a scintillating guitar solo by Springfield), and watching Streep step out so far from her acting comfort zone and still carry the day is a genuine joy.

So it is possible, it seems, to find redemption even after a life of debauchery and, let’s face it, self-indulgence. By all rights, by the conventions of family drama, Ricki should have been made to repent her sins. But instead, Ricki rocks, and in the very rocking, shows us that her dreams, despite the disappointments, were worth all the heartache. ■

18

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Canada News

Provincial calls for more Syrian refugees misses money question: expert

BY GEORDON OMAND The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — As British Columbia joins other provinces pledging support for displaced Syrians, an immigration expert says that calls for Canada to accept more refugees fail to address the crucial question of who would foot the bill.

University of Toronto sociology professor Monica Boyd said such requests amount to asking the federal government to pay the tab — about $35,000 per refugee family in the first year.

But the topic of funding is absent from the discussion taking place publicly between a growing list of provinces and Ot-

tawa, she noted.

“They’re having a conversation in the middle of a marshmallow,” said Boyd, who is also the Canada Research Chair in Immigration, Inequality and Public Policy. “What that means is there are certain things that aren’t being said, namely: ‘Where’s the money coming from?’”

Under current regulations, provinces are legally not allowed to sponsor refugees — only the federal government and private citizens have that power. But that hasn’t stopped provinces from chiming in with announcements ranging from demands to boost immigration numbers to provincial funding for refugee support ❱❱ PAGE 21 Provincial calls

Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival with T&T THE Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional harvest festival that is celebrated annually by Chinese people around the world, similar to Thanksgiving in Western cultures.

It is a time for families to get together to enjoy moon cakes and fruits such as persimmon and pomelo, while appreciating the beautiful moon on the night of the Festival. Colourfully lit paper lanterns are put up as decorations as well as paraded by children as part of the celebration.

Riddles are often written on the lanterns and solving them is a favourite Festival pastimes.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth full moon of the Chinese lunar calendar. This year the festival will take place on Sunday, September 27. It is one of the most spectacular and picturesque nights of the calendar when the moon is large and full.

Wide Variety of Moon Cakes To celebrate the Festival, T & T Supermarket brings in a wide variety of moon cakes from Asia. At our bakery section, we also serve some specialty pastries freshly baked by our pastry chefs. Customer can mix and match selected pastries and buy them in special gift boxes.

T&T Bakery through a new breed of creative makes moon cake not just monotonous egg yolk, lotus seed paste and other flavors. Sweet with savory with salty, multi-layered sensation, it’s a must try item!

Among these selections, our Hong Kong style moon cakes, such as the white lotus seed paste with egg yolks moon cake are one of the more

popular choices. Also available, is our premium selection of Peninsula moon cakes. These moon cakes are extremely popular and a top selling product in Hong Kong. The Peninsula moon cakes will only be available in selected stores while supplies last.

T&T has also brought in famous brands from Taiwan (shipped by air), such as Chia Te Pineapple Cake which will be available from September 14, 2015 at selected stores. Hurry in as they are only available for a short period of time and while supplies last.

Meals for Your Festival Party!

T & T Supermarket is pleased to introduce a wide selection of mouthwatering festive meal combos and dishes for your party or family gathering.

This year, the featured dishes include Fortune Golden Duck with Eight Treasure, Deluxe Sushi & Sashimi Boat, Cold Appetizer Party Platter, just to name a few. All Mid-Autumn Festival Dishes are only available at T & T Gourmet section.

(Order Period: 09/11/2015-09/27/2015, Pick Up Period: 09/13/2015-09/27/2015). Don’t miss out the chance to try these delicious meals!

Savings on the Moon Cakes!

Receive 15% discount when you purchase the selected moon cakes. Please visit your local T&T and Osaka Supermarket or log on to www. tntsupermarket.com for more information.

Special discount to Groups Sales! See in-store Customer Service for details.

SHUTTERSTOCK

Four of 5 missing persons reported in Winnipeg are kids in Manitoba care: police

BY CHINTA PUXLEY The Canadian Press WINNIPEG — Police in Winnipeg say four out of five missing persons reports they receive every month involve kids in the care of Manitoba Child and Family Services.

A report prepared for the city’s police board says officers deal with an average of about 550 missing persons reports a month.

Of those, 83 per cent involve kids in government care and 71 per cent are female.

Another police report prepared for the same board meeting shows the top 19 addresses associated with missing persons reports are Child and Family Services facilities.

“The vast majority of missing persons reported are short-term chronic runaways,” the report says. “Most are vulnerable indigenous youth who are in the care of Child and Family Services.”

The police figures also show that “habitual/chronic” missing persons accounted for almost 70 per cent of all 709 missing persons reported between April and June and that 22 people accounted for 20 per cent of the reports during those three months.

Winnipeg police are refusing to comment on the numbers until they are formally presented to the city Friday.

Federal government statistics show Manitoba had the highest number of missing persons reports involving children and youth per capita in Canada last year. There were just over 6,400 missing persons reports involving young people — nearly twice that of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

One of them was 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, who ran away from a hotel where she was in the care of Child and Family Services. Her body was found

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wrapped in a bag in the Red River.

Manitoba has been grappling with its troubled child-welfare system for years.

The province has over 10,000 kids in care and the vast majority of them are aboriginal. The province recently came under fire from Manitoba’s First Nations children’s advocate for seizing an average of one newborn a day.

Family Services Minister Kerri IrvinRoss said the high number of missing persons reports from government facilities says more about the complex needs of the children in care than it does about the care they receive. Sometimes a handful of “frequent flyers” can make up a large percentage of missing persons reports, she said.

But Irvin-Ross said the numbers are a worry, especially in light of ongoing concerns around the number of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.

“Am I concerned about those numbers? Yes, I am, and everybody within child welfare is too,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “We need to develop relationships with these young people so if they’re in crisis, they have someone to talk to. They don’t have to run away.”

Critics say the high numbers should be a wake-up call.

Ian Wishart, critic for the Opposition Conservatives, said a shortage of foster placements has led the province to house children in hotels for years, making it easy for them to “walk in one door and out another.”

Kids, especially girls, are running away because they aren’t being properly supported, he said.

“Those are often ones that are at risk of being sexually exploited. We simply cannot allow that to continue to happen as easily. We become a feeding ground for sexual predators.” ■

Canada News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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Mulcair says power to deal with Syrian crisis is in Harper’s hands

BY PETER HENDERSON The Canadian Press TORONTO — NDP Leader Tom Mulcair may have reached out, but Stephen Harper has effectively dismissed pleas of dialogue among federal leaders over the Syrian refugee crisis.

On Monday, Mulcair told a crowd at Toronto’s Labour Day parade that only Harper has the power to address the matter.

“The person who can take these decisions is the prime minister,” he said. “My chief of staff has reached out to his to try and get a discussion rapidly.”

Mulcair said it’s important for party leaders to rise above politics and talk to one another about Canada’s policy towards Syrian refugees. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has also called for party leaders to meet to discuss the crisis, but the NDP leader said he’s been there all

along.

“That’s the type of thing I was calling for last week when I said we should be a little bit less partisan and start concentrating on helping people who are in desperate need,” said Mulcair.

He underlined that the NDP wants a commissioner to deal specifically with the issue of Syrians fleeing the chaos in their country.

But at a campaign event in nearby Mississauga, Harper rejected the overtures as “partisan games” at a time when the federal government is already taking action.

“The government is seized with this issue. I already made announcements before these headlines,” Harper said.

The Syrian crisis gained renewed prominence last Wednesday after the widely publicized drowning deaths of two young Syrian boys and their mother, who apparently wanted to join family in British

Columbia.

Shocking photographs of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a Turkish beach drew reaction from around the world and prompted refugee and human rights advocates to call on the federal government to ease paperwork barriers and boost resources to help Syrian refugees settle in Canada.

New Democrats have said the government should bring than 46,000 government-sponsored refugees to Canada by 2019, while the Liberals say Canada should take in 25,000 Syrian refugees before next year.

The Conservatives have committed to 10,000 Syrian refugees over the next three years.

“I’ve already announced that we’re increasing that number and we are working to expedite this,” Harper said. “We’re obviously very pleased Canadian are seized with this issue and Canadians want us to respond.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair.

That’s what we’re doing.”

But Harper cautioned that the government will take the necessary time to vet the refugees coming from that war-torn region.

“Let me also assure Canadians that we’ll make sure we have the processes in place so that we make sure we help the most vulnerable first. This is not first come, first serve,” he said. “We make sure we know who everybody is. We help

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those who are most vulnerable. Let me also assure Canadians that when we’re bringing people from a war zone, an area controlled by terrorists, we’ll make sure Canadian security is properly protected.”

Millions have fled war-ravaged Syria since 2011, but fewer than 2,400 Syrians have been resettled in Canada during the last two years as part of an overall commitment to accept 11,300 people. ■

Harper absolves all his staff except Wright in Duffy affair: Interview THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — Stephen Harper says only one member of his staff in the Prime Minister’s Office acted irresponsibly or unethically during the Mike Duffy affair.

And the Conservative leader admitted he phoned the one employee he did blame — former chief of staff Nigel Wright — to wish him well last year.

Harper made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge, broadcast Monday night.

Details of the scandal surrounding Sen. Duffy’s expenses, and chief of staff Nigel Wright’s clandestine repayment of $90,000 of them, monopolized the first stretch of the election campaign.

Duffy’s trial is on hiatus until November, but the dramatic testimony of Wright, former PMO lawyer Benjamin Perrin, and former issues manager Chris Woodcock stole the headlines last month.

Emails entered into evidence at Duffy’s fraud, breach of trust, and bribery trial show several of Harper’s staff were involved in

coaching Duffy on media lines, executive position with private “I’ve been — I’ve been very managing the actions of a Senate equity firm Onex Corp.’s Lon- upset about it and you know, committee, or aware of the nego- don office last summer. A year you ask yourself, what could tiations to repay Duffy’s claims. earlier, he said he felt “anger, we do differently in the future,” Mansbridge asked Harper if betrayal, disappointment, de- Harper responded. he at any point went to them ception,” with Wright.

“But you know, look, at some and said, “why didn’t you tell Around the same time in 2014, point I would say this. I went me about this?”

Wright had been feted at a din- through a period where I was very Harper responded that some ner at the Speaker of the House of angry. But you’ve just gotta let of the facts of the trial were in Commons residence, attended by that anger go. You have to move dispute — most on.” likely referring to If Harper was the fact that Perever angry at rin had testified others in the ofthat Harper’s curBut you know, look, at some point fice, it was never rent chief of staff I would say this. I went through a publicly apparRay Novak knew period where I was very angry. But ent. of Wright’s repayyou’ve just gotta let that anger go.

Of the figment. Novak has You have to move on. ures who were said he did not. involved in the Harper repeatDuffy affair, ed his position most went on to that Wright bore the sole responsi- other top Conservative figures. get other senior positions in bility for the matter, as the person Wright testified that he had the Conservative government. directly below him in the PMO. been in contact with Novak as Novak is still Harper’s chief of “There’s no person on my recently as a few weeks before staff, and a senior campaign distaff that I believe deceived his August testimony. Woodcock rector. me or acted unethically or, or was seen speaking to a ConserDuring the rare one-on-one irresponsibly...other than Mr. vative campaign worker in the interview, the Conservative Wright, yes,” Harper said. corridors of the courthouse. party leader repeated several Harper also revealed that he “Did you get mad at those messages he has been deliverhad telephoned Wright to wish around you when this happened?” ing on the campaign trail over him well on taking his latest Mansbridge asked Harper. the last several weeks, particuwww.canadianinquirer.net

larly that his is the only political party that will steer the economy back to prosperity.

Harper also repeated his stance on military involvement fighting ISIL in the Middle East, saying Canada must be “in for the long haul,” and pulling out of the region would add even more displaced persons to the current refugee crisis.

Mansbridge plans to interview the other party leaders in the coming days. The veteran journalist told Harper he plans to ask each politician what makes them, as an individual, a good candidate for prime minister.

Harper’s answer largely stuck to his major campaign points, leadership and the economy, but the notoriously closed-off Conservative leader also touched on what leading Canada has meant to him, personally.

“I love the job. It’s an honour to serve this country,” he said.

“I’m hopeful that we’ll get another mandate. But if we don’t, look, all I say is that it’s been an honour to serve. And I think we’ve done a good job and we can continue doing a good job.” ■

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Canada News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Canada less welcoming to refugees under Harper’s leadership

BY ROB GILLIES The Associated Press TORONTO — Canada has long prided itself for opening its doors wider than any nation to asylum seekers, but the number it welcomes has waned since Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper took power almost 10 years ago.

Harper has rejected calls to take immediate action to resettle more Syrian refugees, despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old washed up on a Turkish beach that has focused the world’s attention on the largest refugee crisis since World War II. Canada denied initial, inaccurate reports that it had rejected a refugee application for the boy’s immediate family, but the story landed in the middle of an election campaign and forced Harper’s party to cancel events and address what Canada is doing for asylum seekers.

In times of crisis in decades past, Canada resettled refugees quickly and in large numbers.

It airlifted more than 5,000 people from Kosovo in the late 1990s and more than 5,000 from Uganda in 1972 and resettled 60,000 Vietnamese in 1979-80. More than 1.2 million refugees have arrived in Cana-

Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

da since World War II. forces soldiers in a training to the iconic Pulitzer PrizeBut the number of refugees role in northern Iraq. Canada’s winning photograph from the has declined since Harper be- opposition parties oppose the Vietnam War of the young girl came prime minister in 2006. In military action. who was severely burned by 2005, Canada received 35,775 Opposition Liberal leader napalm. That photograph came refugees. Canada welcomed Justin Trudeau said Canada to symbolize the horrors of the 23,286 last year. According to should take in 25,000 Syrian Vietnam War and, ultimately, the United Nations, Canada has refugees immediately. helped end it. Canada years latdropped from the fifth-highest “We have it done in the past, er granted political asylum to refugee-receiving country in and we can do that again,” Kim Phuc, who was just 9 years 2000 to 15th last year.

Trudeau told a campaign event old when the photo was taken.

The Harper government says Friday. “It is something that has Catherine Dauvergne, an imit has resettled 2,374 Syrian ref- made Canada the country that migration expert and the dean ugees since January 2014. More we are.” of law at the University of Britthan 4 million ish Columbia in Syrians have fled Vancouver, said their country that with counsince the conflict tries like Turkey began in 2011.

Our message is also that we need to taking in 1.59 mil“Our view has help people that are actually there lion Syrians, Canbeen on refugees and who can’t get away, and part ada should take in we should be doof the way we need to help them is 50,000 this year ing what we’re to stop awful violence that is being and 100,000 next doing,” Harper, directed at them, displacing and year, considering who is facing rekilling them. the scope of the election Oct. 19, crisis. told a campaign Conservative event Thursday. cabinet minister “Our message is also that we Opposition leader Tom Mul- and former immigration minneed to help people that are cair said military action would ister Jason Kenney disputed actually there and who can’t not have saved the little boy on criticism that Canada needs get away, and part of the way the beach. to be more welcoming, tweetwe need to help them is to stop “Canadians that I meet with ing that since 2006 Canada has awful violence that is being di- across this country want Cana- welcomed 1.6 million new citirected at them, displacing and da to do its share,” Mulcair said. zens and 240,000 refugees. killing them.”

“If we’re elected, there will be But Dauvergne said Harper Canada has six fighter jets 10,000 people brought to Can- has made it harder for refugee bombing Islamic State group ada before the end of this year.” applicants to arrive and stay targets in Syria and Iraq and Mulcair compared the pic- in Canada. The measures inhas a small number of special ture of the boy on the beach clude a stronger ability to dewww.canadianinquirer.net

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tain. She said that while Canada does take in more immigrants overall, the vast majority are economic immigrants, meaning they’ll help the Canadian economy or the government is confident they won’t need assistance.

Less than 10 percent of newcomers to Canada are refugees.

“To say that the number of newcomers has gone up when in fact the number of refugees has gone down is really just to say we’re completely prepared to use immigration for our own needs but absolutely unprepared to allow people to move here for human rights reasons,” Dauvergne said.

Alex Neve of Amnesty International’s Canada branch said the country is not the welcoming place it once was for refugees.

“What we’ve seen from the Canadian government is a pittance, especially for a country that has a long and proud record of pursuing bold refugee resettlements in the past. We’ve seen nothing that matches what we’ve done in the past. And we’ve done nothing that rises to the enormity of the need in the world,” Neve said. ■ Associated Press Writer Charmaine Noronha in Toronto contributed to this report.

Canada News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Ontario schools resume with less turmoil, but some labour strife remains

BY ALLISON JONES The Canadian Press TORONTO — Ontario schools resume this week in a more stable state than when they closed in June amid the threat of massive teachers’ strikes, but it will not be entirely problem-free with work-to-rule campaigns and controversy over a new sex-education curriculum lingering.

Over the summer the Liberal government was able to negotiate contracts with high school teachers and English Catholic teachers, but deals with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, Francophone teachers and education workers are still outstanding.

Elementary teachers will not be planning fundraising activities or field trips or attending open houses after regular school hours. The union is calling the administrative strike Phase 2 of its work-to-rule campaign they started in the spring.

But where talks broke down several times in the spring, the parties are now back at the bargaining table. The Education Ministry said progress has been made and talks continue Tuesday.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees said the support staff it represents across all boards will be staging their own work-to-rule campaign.

Staff won’t be working through their lunches, taking work home or attending unpaid meetings, CUPE said. But they too have bargaining dates with the government — five so far over the next two weeks — and hope in that time they can reach a deal.

The last school year wrapped amid talk of all major teachers’ unions being on some form of strike in the fall, but deals were recently reached with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and the Ontario’s English Catholic Teachers Association.

Where tensions don’t seem to have eased is among parents upset by a new sex-education curriculum being implemented in schools this year.

Feras Marish, with Parents Against Ontario’s Sex-Ed Curriculum, said over the summer parents belonging to his group have become more informed on the “dangers” of the curriculum.

“It started by being emotional, parents worried about their kids because the topic itself is taboo and it’s known to be dangerous,” he said.

Now he said the group wants to debate

the government on the scientific merits of the curriculum, saying the curriculum forces children to make sexual decisions before they are capable.

“We are 100 per cent sure if they agree to it... they are going to be exposed,” he said.

In at least one school board, the sexual education lessons will not be taught until next spring. That’s in part to allow for the elementary teachers’ labour strife to be resolved, as their work-to-rule involves not participating in ministrydirected training, such as on the new curriculum, but also to allow for more communication with parents, said Jeff deFreitas with the Peel District School Board.

“Not to belittle the conversation, but the actual components of the curriculum that people are concerned about are such a small part of a very large curriculum document,” he said.

Marish likened it to “a drop of poison in a cup of water.”

“That drop of poison will still kill you even if 99 per cent is just pure water,” he said. “That part of the curriculum is very poisonous, is very dangerous.”

Some parents have threatened to pull their kids from school over the curriculum, and Marish said home schooling is being encouraged among his group.

But at a Toronto school that saw a more than 90-per-cent absentee rate on a day parents kept their kids home to protest the curriculum, the superintendent has not received any more home schooling requests than she has in previous years, said a spokesman for the Toronto District School Board.

Education Minister Liz Sandals has staunchly defended the curriculum, saying it was last updated in 1998, “long before Facebook and Snapchat became part of everyday life” and now it gives kids information that can help keep them safe and healthy.

Under the changes, Grade 3 students will learn about same-sex relationships, kids in Grades 4 and up will learn more about the dangers of online bullying, while the perils of sexting will come in Grade 7.

Lessons about puberty will move from Grade 5 to Grade 4, while masturbation and “gender expression” are mentioned in the Grade 6 curriculum.

Anal sex is part of the Grade 7 curriculum, in the context of choosing to abstain from or delay certain activities in order to avoid sexually transmitted infections. ■

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Provincial calls... programs.

On Tuesday, Premier Christy Clark announced a $1-million “readiness fund” to help refugees from war-torn Syria settle in B.C. The one-time investment will provide trauma counselling, assist professional associations to recognize foreign credentials, support job placement programs and help private sponsors navigate the refugee-sponsorship process.

On Monday, Quebec announced it was prepared to take in 3,650 Syrian refugees by the end of the year — 2,450 more than initially planned.

The province promised $29 million to assist in that effort, with most of the money going towards language training, job aid, education and health care.

Late last week, Ontario called on the federal government to accept 5,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015, while Manitoba committed $40,000 to help settlement service providers accommodate hundreds additional refugees in the coming months.

“The provinces are saying, ‘Listen, we can support a lot more than what you’re currently bringing in. We can absorb these people. We have the transportation infrastructure; we have the schooling infrastructure; we have assisted housing infrastructure.’” Boyd said. “(The provinces) are not saying, ‘We will pay for these individuals to come,’ and in part they can’t because that is not ❰❰ 18

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their political mandate.”

During Tuesday’s announcement in Vancouver, Clark emphasized that it wasn’t British Columbia’s job to decide refugee admission numbers.

“That’s (Ottawa’s) job,” she said. “Our job is to make sure we’re ready.”

Clark eyes brimmed with tears as she spoke about the death of three-year-old Syrian refugee Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body on a Mediterranean beach was captured in a photo that sparked grief around the world.

“Alan Kurdi and his family didn’t die because they were anything but unlucky enough to live in a country wracked by war,” Clark said, pausing to regain her composure.

“We are lucky. Alan Kurdi was unlucky. And our task ? is to make sure that we take more opportunities to share the great luck that we have as Canadians.”

Municipal leaders have also added their voices to the mix, with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson calling for Ottawa to adopt a national baseline of accepting 20,000 government-supported refugees annually by 2020.

“It’s clear that the government of Canada has not been meeting our international obligations in this continuing humanitarian crisis,” said Robertson in a statement.

Canada’s Big City Mayors Caucus will meet later this week to co-ordinate further action, he said. ■

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World News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Merkel demands EU partners share burden of migrant influx

BY FRANK JORDANS AND GEORGE JAHN The Associated Press BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reflecting on “a moving, in some parts breathtaking weekend behind us,” said Monday that all EU countries could help to accommodate the human tide from the Middle East and Africa.

French President Francois Hollande announced that his country would welcome 24,000 refugees, and that he and Merkel had agreed on a mechanism to spread the migrant load across Europe.

But Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, said he wasn’t prepared to pitch in and questioned how any EU quota system for migrants could work.

Even as calm returned Monday to the main border point between Austria and Hungary after more than 14,000 people used it over the weekend to enter Austria, Hungary’s leader hit back at EU counterparts who blamed his country for the chaos.

Merkel told reporters in Berlin that Germany will ensure that those who need protection receive it, but that those who

stand no chance of getting asylum will have to return to their homes swiftly. Germany is preparing to receive by far the largest number of immigrants, but Merkel called for help from EU partners.

“Germany is a country willing to take people in, but refugees can be received in all countries of the European Union in such a way that they can find refuge from civil war and from persecution,” she said.

Orban mocked the European Union’s efforts to distribute migrants through a quota system and comments by some EU leaders that cast Hungary as the bloc’s “black sheep.”

Any EU migrant quota among the bloc’s 28 countries, makes no sense in a system where the free movement of people would make it impossible to enforce, he said.

Austria’s Chancellor Werner and other EU leaders have blamed Orban for the chaos they say left Austria and Germany no choice but to essentially open their borders for thousands of migrants and refugees who complained of neglect and human rights violations in Hungary.

Most of those crossing into Austria over the weekend pro-

ceeded by train to Germany.

Austrian officials said only about 90 people asked for asylum in Austria.

In a late-night meeting lasting until early Monday in Berlin, the Germany government agreed to spend 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) next year to support the hundreds of thousands of new arrivals. At the same time, it also agreed to introduce legal measures making it easier to deport-asylum seekers from countries considered “secure states” like Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. Asylumseekers will also get less cash in the future and more non-cash benefits.

German officials recently predicted that up to 800,000 migrants will arrive by the end of the year, many of them refugees fleeing war and persecution in Syria, Iraq and Eritrea.

The government’s aid package will include improved housing, more federal police and language classes.

Merkel’s deputy, Sigmar Gabriel, said integrating the migrants into German society would require confronting the fears of the country’s native population.

“I say this quite openly, there will be conflicts,” the economy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

minister told reporters. “The more openly we talk about the fact that people are worried, that there’s fear in the country and that there may be conflicts, will I think help us deal with this realistically and confront reality.”

Five asylum seekers were injured in a fire early Monday in Rottenburg in southwest Germany, the German news agency dpa reported. Three of them were injured when they jumped out of the burning building, while two others had to be treated for smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Austrian police spokesman Helmut Marban said that no migrants had arrived at the Nickelsdorf border point since before midnight, when 260 people crossed into Austria and left shortly afterward by train

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to Vienna.

Beyond the Red Cross tent set up near the crossing and the stores of food, empty cots set up in a parking lot, hygiene articles and other goods stacked up for any new arrivals, there was little to indicate Monday morning that the border had served over the weekend for the dramatic influx of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others.

An AP reporter counted about five vehicles driving into Austria over two minutes, and slightly fewer in the other direction. The truck lane, which was backed up on the Austrian side after being blocked off over the weekend, was empty. ■ Jahn reported from Vienna. Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed.

Town near damaged Japan nuclear plant lifts evacuation order

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI The Associated Press NARAHA, JAPAN — Japan’s government on Saturday lifted a 4 1/2-year-old evacuation order for the northeastern town of Naraha that had sent all of the town’s 7,400 residents away following the disaster at the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant.

Naraha became the first to get the order lifted among seven municipalities forced to empty entirely due to radiation contamination following the massive earthquake and tsunami that sent the plant’s reactors into triple meltdowns in March 2011.

The central government has said radiation levels in Naraha have fallen to levels deemed safe following decontamination

efforts.

According to a government survey, however, 53 percent of the evacuees from Naraha, which is 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the nuclear plant, say they’re either not ready to return home permanently or are undecided.

Naraha represents a test case, as most residents remain cautious amid lingering health concerns and a lack of infrastructure. In the onceabandoned town, a segment of a national railway is still out of service, with the tracks covered with grass. Some houses are falling down and wild bores roam around at night.

Only about 100 of the nearly 2,600 households have returned since a trial period began in April. Last year, the

government lifted evacuation orders for parts of two nearby towns, but only about half of their former residents have returned.

Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said that Saturday marked an important milestone.

“Our clock started moving again,” he said during a ceremony held at a children’s park.

“The lifting of the evacuation order is one key step, but this is just a start.”

Matsumoto said he hoped Naraha could set a good example of a recovering town for the other affected municipalities. About 100,000 people from about 10 municipalities around the wrecked plant still cannot go home.

Matsumoto said that fear of radiation and nuclear safety was still present, and that the town www.canadianinquirer.net

had a long way to go in its recovery. Naraha will be without a medical clinic until October, and a new prefectural hospital won’t be ready until February.

A grocery store started free delivery services in July, and a shopping center will open next year. Still, many residents, especially those who don’t drive, face limited options for their daily necessities.

Residents are given personal dosimeters to check their own radiation levels. To accommodate their concerns, the town is also running 24-hour monitoring at a water filtration plant, testing tap water for radioactive materials.

Toshiko Yokota, a 53-yearold homemaker who had to leave her Naraha house after the disaster, said Saturday that

she came back to attend the ceremony and clean her home, and that she eventually wants to move back with her husband.

Their house was damaged by rats, bugs and rainwater leaks in their absence, and still needs to be fully renovated, but she hopes to return in a few years.

“My friends are all in different places because of the nuclear accident, and the town doesn’t even look the same, but this is still my hometown and it really feels good to be back,” said Yokota, who currently lives in another town in Fukushima prefecture.

“I still feel uneasy about some things, like radiation levels and the lack of a medical facility,” she said. “In order to come back, I have to keep up my hope and stay healthy.” ■

World News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Hungary bus fleet delivers 4,000 migrants to Austria welcome

BY MARI YAMAGUCHI The Associated Press BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — Thousands of exhausted, elated migrants reached their dream destinations of Germany and Austria on Saturday, completing epic journeys by boat, bus, train and foot to escape war and poverty.

Before dawn, they clambered off a fleet of Hungarian buses at the Austrian border to find a warm welcome from charity workers offering beds and hot tea. Within a few more hours of rapid-fire aid, many found themselves whisked by train to the Austrian capital, Vienna, and the southern German city of Munich.

The surprise overnight effort eased immediate pressure on Hungary, which has struggled to manage the flow of thousands of migrants arriving daily from non-EU member Serbia. But officials warned that the human tide south of Hungary still was rising, and more westward-bound travelers arrived in Budapest within hours of the mass evacuation of the capital’s central rail station.

About 4,000 migrants crossed into Austria from Hungary by mid-morning, according to Austrian police spokesman Helmut Marban. Vienna city official Roman Hahslinger said 2,300 had arrived in Vienna by midday, and 1,500 had boarded trains for Salzburg.

Hungary’s nationalist government had spent most of the week trying to force migrants to report to governmentrun refugee centers, but thousands refused and demanded free passage chiefly to Germany.

After a three-day standoff with police, thousands marched west Friday from the Keleti train station along Hungary’s major motorway and camped overnight in the rain by the roadside. Hundreds more broke through police lines at a train station in the western town of Bicske, where police were trying to take them to a refugee camp, and blocked the main rail line as they, too, marched west.

Austria and Germany made the breakthrough possible by announcing they would take responsibility for the mass of humanity that was already on the move west or camped out in their thousands at Keleti. Hungary on Tuesday had suspended train services from that station to Austria and Germany, compounding the build-up there in a futile bid to try to make the visitors file asylum papers in Hungary.

Austrian Federal Railways said the ar-

rivals, once they passed through hastily assembled border shelters and enjoyed refreshments, were being placed on trains to both Vienna and the western city of Salzburg and, for those who requested it, links onward to German cities.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International welcomed the initiative to clear Hungary’s humanitarian traffic jam.

“After endless examples of shameful treatment by governments of refugees and migrants in Europe, it is a relief to finally see a sliver of humanity. But this is far from over, both in Hungary and in Europe as a whole,” said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty’s deputy director for Europe.

“The pragmatic and humane approach finally applied here should become the rule, not the exception.”

When the first 400 migrants and refugees arrived in Vienna, charity workers offered a wide choice of supplies displayed in separately labeled shopping carts containing food, water and packages of hygiene products for men and women. A mixed crowd of friends and Austrian onlookers cheered their arrival, with many shouting “Welcome!” in both German and Arabic. One Austrian woman pulled from her handbag a pair of children’s rubber rain boots and handed them to a Middle Eastern woman carrying a small boy.

“Austria is very good,” said Merhan Harshiri, a 23-year-old Iraqi who smiled broadly as he walked toward the supply line, where newcomers munched on fresh fruit. “We have been treated very well by Austrian police.”

“I am very happy,” said Firas Al Tahan, 38, a laundry worker from the Syrian capital, Damascus. Seated beside him on the train station’s concrete pavement were his 33-year-old wife, Baneaa, in her lap 1-month-old daughter Dahab, and beside them four other children aged 5 to 12, all smiling beside a cart containing green and red apples.

Earlier in jubilant scenes on the border, about 100 busloads of migrants and refugees disembarked on the Hungarian side of the border and walked a short distance into Austria, where volunteers at a roadside Red Cross shelter welcomed them with tea and handshakes. Many of the travelers slumped in exhaustion on the floor, evident relief etched on their faces.

Many had been awoken by friends at Keleti around midnight with news many didn’t believe after days of deadlock: ❱❱ PAGE 28 Hungary bus

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World News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Three-year-old Aylan (left) and five-year-old Ghalib (right) who drowned during the crossing of refugees.

PHOTO FROM ABDULLAH KURDI'S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

Drowned Syrian boys’ aunt fights to bring family to Canada THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COQUITLAM, BRITISH COLUMBIA — The aunt of a drowned Syrian boy whose death has sparked global outrage about the plight of refugees in Europe says she still hopes to bring the rest of her family to Canada.

Tima Kurdi said through tears outside her home in Coquitlam, British Columbia, that she plans to help her brother, Abdullah, and her other siblings immigrate to the country she made home more than two decades ago.

Abdullah isn’t ready to leave his Syrian hometown of Kobani, where his sons, 3-year-old Aylan and 5-year-old Ghalib, and wife Rehanna were buried on Friday, she said. They drowned earlier this week after piling into an overloaded boat in Bodrum, Turkey, headed for the Greek island of Kos. Her brother was among the few survivors.

“We’re all emotionally affected by what happened right now,” Kurdi said, surrounded by framed photos of her nephews. “I’m sure he (will) refuse and he doesn’t want to leave Kobani.”

She added: “But one day, I will bring him here. He cannot be by himself there.”

Kurdi has previously said she wanted to bring both her brothers to Canada, but she applied first for her eldest sibling Mohammed, whose application was rejected because it was incomplete.

She said that Mohammed’s failed application prompted Abdullah to embark on the risky journey with his family. She said she sent him $5,000 to pay smugglers to take them in a boat.

Asked whether her brother blames himself, Kurdi said no.

“I am the one who should be at blame,” she said. “I blame myself because my brother does not have money. I sent him the money to pay the smuggler. If I didn’t send him the money, those people still (would be) alive.”

She said the trip was the “only option” www.canadianinquirer.net

left for the family to have a better life in a European country, possibly Germany or Sweden.

They were fleeing horrors in Syria, where militants from the Islamic State group had beheaded one of her sisterin-law’s relatives. Kurdi said her brother had emailed her a photo of the killing but she deleted it because it was too horrific.

Abdullah knew of the dangers, including the risk of smugglers using fake lifejackets, she said, adding he had planned to pay 2,000 euros ($2,230) each for him and his wife to board a safer jet boat, compared to 1,200 euros ($1,338) for a rubber boat. There was no fee for the two boys.

Photos of Aylan’s lifeless body on a beach in Turkey have put Canada’s refugee policy in the spotlight, though Kurdi said she doesn’t blame the Canadian government.

She said she hopes Citizenship and Immigration Canada stops requiring a document missing from Mohammed’s application because it’s impossible for people to secure the necessary paperwork amid a crisis in Syria.

Kurdi spoke to both her brothers by phone on Friday and watched emotional video on CNN of her two young nephews being buried in Kobani.

She said she desperately wished she could be there with her brother to say goodbye.

“Abdullah said to me, `I don’t want you to come. It’s dangerous,’“ she said, weeping. “I (could) stay there for the rest of my life, sitting beside their grave, feed them, give them water.”

Her grieving brother is proud of his kids for becoming a symbol of the dire situation facing Syrian refugees, and hopes to see leaders step in to end human smuggling, Kurdi said.

“He said, `I don’t need anything from this world anymore. What I have is gone.’ But my kids, and my wife, it’s a wake-up call for the world. And hopefully they step in and help others.” ■

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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Northern B.C. aboriginal leaders speak in unified voice for ‘fair’ consultation

BY TAMSYN BURGMANN The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — People once paddled great distances to set up fishing camps on the land where Liz Logan’s family has lived for generations in northern British Columbia. Now Tsinhia Lake has yellowed, the fish have died and her family must carry in bottled water to drink.

The damage from oil and gas industries has prompted Logan, chief of the Fort Nelson First Nation, to help form an alliance with other aboriginal leaders against the provincial government. The signatories say concerns about massive developments in their territories are not being addressed.

The group, composed of leaders from the B.C. coast to the Alberta boundary, announced its formation on Tuesday with the release of an open letter to Premier Christy Clark.

“We’re trying to get their at-

tention. We’re calling for this government to come back and (agree to) a relationship, because right now there is no relationship,” Logan said.

It would be as if the government came and took out someone’s backyard pool without asking, she said.

Chiefs of 10 northern B.C. First Nations have signed the letter, which says the province has ignored significant legal victories by aboriginals and is blocking them from managing their own territories.

The letter was sent ahead of talks this week in Vancouver between First Nations and B.C. politicians on the topic of the historic Tsilhqot’in land deal.

The June 2014 court ruling granted aboriginal title to more than 1,700 square kilometres of land, but the chiefs say they’ve seen little change in how the province deals with their claims.

“This government is basically refusing to look at the big picture of all the developments

SHUTTERSTOCK

that are happening in all of our respective territories,” Logan said.

Among the projects of concern are proposed liquefied natural gas facilities and the Site C hydroelectric dam, which entered its first phase of construction in July.

The open letter lists three major reasons the alliance believes First Nations’ interests

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are threatened: no “new relationship” despite successful court challenges, the government’s refusal to assess potential industrial impacts on the environment, and a provincial review process that allows industry to set the agenda for development.

“We are not opposed to development,” reads the letter, which calls on the government

for a more civil, legally consistent and logical approach to project implementation.

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said its members are being given “lip service” and will raise those concerns at meetings over the coming days, said vice-president Bob Chamberlin.

He said First Nations have given up enough benefits for British Columbians.

“When will their rights finally be first and foremost?” he asked.

Chamberlin said the alliance’s formation is a strong signal that no progress has been made despite repeated meetings with government officials.

Clark said Tuesday she would refrain from addressing the issues until after this week’s talks.

“It is always our goal to make sure we are consulting and accommodating First Nations fairly, in a way that even goes above and beyond the law of the country,” she said at an unrelated news conference. ■

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Payroll Survey: Canadian workers pessimistic about future; expect to work longer

BY ROSS MAROWITS The Canadian Press MONTREAL — A new survey suggests many Canadians are pessimistic about their financial futures and expect to work longer than originally planned before retiring.

According to the survey, released by the Canadian Payroll Association, three-quarters of working Canadians polled reporting having put aside less than 25 per cent of the money they expect to need in retirement.

And it says less than half of people even 50 and older have reached that threshold.

The survey, the association’s seventh annual to mark National Payroll Week, also found that 35 per cent of respondents expect to work longer According to the survey, the average expected retirement age has risen to 63 years from 58 five years ago.

More than one in five employees surveyed said they will need to work four years or more than they originally expected before retiring, citing a lack of sufficient savings as the main reason.

“They are not sounding very promising of what (their) future is going to look like,” said association vice-chairwoman Lucy Zambon.

SHUTTERSTOCK

She said the outlook depends on individual circumstances but saving for the future is a key factor which can be helped by automatic deductions from paycheques to a savings plan or retirement program.

Although about half of workers expect to need more than $1 million for retirement, 47 per cent are putting away just five per cent or less of their net pay.

That’s well below the 10 per cent minimum savings rate recommended by financial plan-

ning experts, the association said.

Almost half of Canadians polled said they are living paycheque to paycheque and would find it difficult to meet their financial obligations if their pay was delayed by just a week.

The situation is worst in Ontario, British Columbia and Atlantic Canada.

Less than one quarter of respondents said they could probably not come up with $2,000 if an emergency arose within the

next month. Some 36 per cent of working Canadians said they felt overwhelmed by their level of debt and 12 per cent doubted they’ll ever be debt-free.

Overall, the survey results are stable from last year, but suggested that employees are losing confidence in the economy. Just 33 per cent expect it to improve in the next year, down from an average of 41 per cent over the past three years. The percentage of those who feel it will worsen has increased 10 percentage

points to 27 per cent.

The countrywide online survey of 3,065 employees from a variety of industry sectors was conducted between June 29 and Aug. 7 by market research and strategic planning firm Framework Partners. The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. ■

to Budapest’s subway system.

Only about 10 police remained to supervise a much-thinned presence of approximately 500 campers sleeping in pup tents or on blankets and carpets.

Many travelers have spent months in Turkish refugee camps, taken long and risky journeys by boat, train and foot through Greece and the Balkans, and crawled under barbed wire on Hungary’s southern frontier to a generally frosty welcome in this country with strong anti-immigrant sentiments.

Since Tuesday morning, Hungarian authorities had refused to let them board trains to the west, and the migrants balked

at going to processing centers, fearing they would face deportation or indefinite detention in Hungary. Government officials said they changed course because Hungary’s systems were becoming overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

In Berlin, German officials said they felt it was necessary to take responsibility given Hungary’s apparent inability to manage the challenge. But they emphasized that Hungary, as an EU member and first port of call for many migrants, needed to do more to ensure that new arrivals filed for asylum there rather than travel deeper into Europe.

“Because of the emergency

situation on the Hungarian border, Austria and Germany have agreed to allow the refugees to travel onward in this case,” German government spokesman Georg Streiter told The Associated Press. “It’s an attempt to help solve an emergency situation. But we continue to expect Hungary to meet its European obligations.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has led calls for other EU members to shelter migrants as potential refugees, particularly those fleeing civil war in Syria, said in comments published Saturday that her country would observe no legal limit on the number of asylum seekers it might take.

Merkel told the Funke consortium of newspapers that “the right to political asylum has no limits on the number of asylum seekers.”

“As a strong, economically healthy country we have the strength to do what is necessary” and ensure that every asylum seeker gets a fair hearing, she was quoted as saying. ■

Hungary bus...

Hungary was granting their demand to be allowed to reach Austria and, for many, onward travel to Germany. Many feared that the scores of buses assembling at the terminal instead would take them to Hungarian camps for asylum-seekers, as the government previously insisted must happen. At times, it took extended negotiation at the bus doors to persuade people to climb aboard.

Keleti appeared transformed Saturday as cleaners used power washers to clear what had become a squalid urban refugee camp of approximately 3,000 residents sprawled about every courtyard and tunnel leading ❰❰ 23

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Associated Press reporters Alexander Kuli in Budapest; Bela Szandelszky and Frank Augstein in Hegyeshalom, Hungary; Balint Szlanko and Petr Josek in Nickelsdorf, Austria; George Jahn in Vienna and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:

Rediscovering Passion: Josie de Leon

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer JOSIE DE Leon has always been a performer.

When Josie immigrated to Canada in 1997, she left her family and a promising singing career in the Philippines.

“Giving up that career was a tough decision for me, but love won,” Josie said, referring to her Filipino-Canadian husband.

Fast forward to today, Josie is now a celebrated member of the Filipino-Canadian community, being a champion of women empowerment, Filipino heritage, and the importance of performing arts.

Life in Canada

weather… I am not a lover of winter.”

Josie adds that she misses Filipino food and the relaxed pace of Pinoy life. At times she can’t help but miss her friends back home, too.

Josie admitted that moving to Canada was far from easy.

Rediscovering Passion and The mere fact of uproot- Purpose ing one’s self from her home “When I [immigrated] to country was hard enough, but Canada in ‘97, I concentrated to start a whole new life thou- on raising my family. Theresands of miles away in a foreign fore , I gave up something that land was a whole other story.

I loved so much, which is per“Being in the showbiz world forming,” Josie shared with the in the Philippines, I was used to Philippine Canadian Inquirer. the glitz and glamour. I was also “It’s like putting it inside a box used to having household help and storing it away.” in doing almost everything,” But when she and her husJosie shared. “So, having a hus- band divorced in 2005, she band and a baby and living in a “started to go through all the new country became very over- stuff that [she] put away.” whelming for me.”

“I then decided to start per- Josie de Leon.

But as they say, everything forming [again] and was embecomes better with time. Josie braced by the Filipino-Cana- pino, Most Beautiful Filipino, started adjusting to life in the dian community with open Courage for Women’s Awards, Great White North and began arms,” she said. “I was humbled and she became one of the enjoying her new life. and blessed with all the support Absolutely Fabulous Women “I started to get used to the I got.” awardees. life here, taking it one day at a Performing opened a lot of Josie got invited to perform time,” she recalled. “I realized opportunities for Josie to share back home in the Philippines, Canada is a great country to her talents in concerts and in the United States, and other raise your family. locations in CanBeing hands on ada. Her many in taking care of invitations led my son was the her to re-discovmost priceless We Filipinos are good workers. We er more than her thing.” are very conscientious of our job, passion for the Despite havwe are very considerate, we are very performing arts, ing fully adapted giving and thoughtful, we are very but it gave her a to the Canadian responsible. second chance at lifestyle Josie love as well. admits she still “That re-born misses a few career led me to things about the Philippines. shows. She was even featured meet a Filipino-Canadian Mu“I miss my family the most on a weekly television show sic Producer Mark Crescini. in the Philippines,” she said, and became the Ambassadress Not only did he support me in pointing out that both of her of Gawad Kalinga. She became my career, but we both had the parents and three of her sib- a a multi-awarded Filipino-Ca- same vision in music,” Josie lings are still in the Philip- nadian, having received awards shared. “Marrying him was not pines. “I also miss the [tropical] such as Most Outstanding Fili- a hard decision for me at all.” www.canadianinquirer.net

Mark and Josie decided that it’s time to focus more on their school, so they gave up their full-time jobs.

“Mark and I love teaching the kids,” Josie said. “I am happy to see the kids improve whenever they perform on stage and become better and better every time. We love what we do and I think that’s what makes it work.”

The school focuses on kids who want to develop their confidence on stage in singing, dancing, and acting. Their decision to focus on their school has proven worthwhile. Today, they have two campuses—one in Mississauga and one in Scarborough—a few branches now on its way to being a reality.

Preserving Filipino Heritage

The couple got married in March 2011.

School of Performing Arts

Just a few months after the couple got married, they decided to open a performing arts school.

Josie shared, “A lot of people urged me to put a school and teach and with the support of my husband—who pretty much speaks the same language—we both decided to put up the Josie de Leon School of Performing Arts in October 2011.”

Josie and Mark knew that putting up a business will have its own set of challenges, but according to Josie, they “look at it as good challenges.” Their passion for performing arts and teaching is more than enough to keep them going.

When they started receiving tons of support for the JDL School of Performing Arts,

Filipinos are born performers and for Josie, this is part of her Filipino heritage.

“Being Filipino in the work environment is something I am very proud of,” she pointed out.

“We Filipinos are good workers. We are very conscientious of our job, we are very considerate, we are very giving and thoughtful, we are very responsible. We also love to laug, [so] it usually brightens up other people’s day when we share a good laugh or two.”

Josie never fails to share her Filipino heritage with her friends and students, and her performances stay true to her roots.

“I enjoyed working with the Filipino-Canadian community and [I am] humbled by [their] love and support,” she said.

Having been in Canada for over 18 years, Josie shares that moving to Canada has been one of the best decisions she’s ever made. ■

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Community News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Veterans celebrate Heroes’ Day THE PHILVETS Memorial & Cultural Society of BC (originally the Philippine War Veterans & Ex-Servicemen Society of B.C) celebrated Philippine National Heroes’ Day, “Araw ng mga Bayani ” on Aug. 30, at the Vancouver Alpen Club.

It was a significant occasion to remember the life and work of all the great men and women in Philippine history whose acts of courage enabled the Philippines to grow as a nation.

Vice Consul Charmaine Guevara of the Philippine Consulate, Vancouver, was the guest of honor in this historic event.

Also present were the leaders of the Confederation of Filipino

Canadian Associations (Confica); Romy Mercado (Forever Young Seniors Society), Perla B. de Peralta (Filcanes), Celyna Sia Sherst (Filipino Seniors Club of BC), and Ching Hipol (Filipino Zodiac Circle of BC Society).

Philvets President Fernando Salanga said, “This celebration is in line with our aims and objectives in preserving the memories of our noble heroes who fought for freedom, liberty and democracy and respect for human life. These are the values we honor.”

Highlights of the celebration was the coronation of Philvets Summer Queen 2015, Ligaya

Vesita, escorted by Jojo Quimpo, Conservative Candidate for MP, Vancouver-Kingsway.

Also featured in the celebration was a mini pageant dubbed “Philippine Heroines-Women of the Revolution” participated in by members and supporters of Philvets.

The MHHS Sampaguita Dancers opened the program with an invigorating dance number. The “Singing Nannies” and Cheri Ibrada entertained the birthday celebrants namely, Fernando P. Salanga, Rose Taruc, Rodrigo and Perlita Agsaoay, Giovanni Pasqua, Nancy Abaloyan and Caridad Villanueva. ■

LBC extends service hours

Overseas Filipinos sending a balikbayan box home.

FILIPINOS FLY abroad to seek greener pastures and support their families back home. But sometimes, in their pursuit to work hard to provide better opportunities for the loved ones they leave behind, they miss the operating hours of their trusted courier services.

LBC Express, Inc., the Philippines’ trusted payments, remittance, courier products, mail, parcels, and cargo logistics service is giving Filipinos in North America bigger reasons to smile as they’re extending their pick-up hours in Canada, California, New York, New Jersey, and Chicago.

As part of its improved services, branches will offer box pick-up services as early as 7:30 a.m. up to as late as 8:30 p.m.

“As part of our pledge to move the lives of Filipinos in North America, we decided to

extend our pick-up hours in order to accommodate more customers and make sure they can send their packages,” says Hugo Bonilla, senior vice president of LBC North America. “We understand that many of them are here so they can support their family in the Philippines, so we want to make it more convenient for them to send their padama.”

The move to extend hours is part of LBC’s commitment to providing clear, certain, and convenient service. To date, Filipinos around the world rely on its 6,400 branches, partners, and agents in over 30 countries. In North America alone, LBC has 176 branches, partners and agents. For added convenience, customers can simply call the nearest branch, partner, or agent to schedule a pick-up, or log on at www.lb-

chome.com.

To ensure the proper delivery of balikbayan boxes, LBC advises customers to select the right box based on the size and items to be packed. Heavier items must be put at the bottom, while fragile and easilydamaged items have to be secured in bubble wrap.

Sharp items must be padded and empty spaces be filled with crumpled newspaper or Styrofoam. It is also important to not overstuff the box and sneak in undeclared items, as these will not be insured.

LBC also advises customers not to bring prohibited items like illegal and prohibited drugs, firearms, jewelry, pornographic materials, fake and counterfeit goods, perishable goods, toxic and flammable items, and other items that may be held by the Bureau of Customs. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Syrian refugees.

MASHABLE.COM

Mosaic ready to help 1,000 refugees IN RESPONSE to the calls for action resulting from the story of the Syrian family who lost three members at sea as they fled to Greece, Eyob Naizghi, executive director of Mosaic, said, “Canada and Canadians must act now, and should not stay silent on the issue of refugees. Historically, we have shown our compassion with the Vietnamese Boat People in the late 70’s, and more recently with the Kosovar refugees.”

“We need to act immediately, once again, to exemplify the compassion of Canadians on the world stage. We at Mosaic are ready and prepared to provide settlement support for up to 1,000 refugees in Metro Vancouver.”

The tragedy of the European refugee crisis came to a collective head earlier this week when the world saw the image of the three-year-old boy who drowned and was washed ashore a Turkish beach. Locally, the story has even greater poignancy as it was revealed that grieving relatives of Alan Kurdi had hoped to sponsor the family to come and live in Canada.

The mass exodus of Syrians from their homeland is just one of the crises in an unprecedented global humanitarian catastrophe. According to the UNHCR, there is currently close to 60 million documented cases of displaced individuals who need safe refuge. ■

AT THE 2015 Robert and Lily Lee S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Foundation Charity Golf Tournament tee-off ceremony (from L) Jonathan Lai and Jason Lam, co-chairs, Golf 2015; Graham and Lily Lee, Title Sponsor; Maggie Wu, 1st runner-up of Miss Chinese Vancouver Pageant 2014; Linda Wong, co-chairs, Golf 2015; and Sing Lim Yeo, chair, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Foundation. ■

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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

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30

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Entertainment Willie Revillame signs a record deal with GMA Records WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

ABS-CBN, GMA claims ratings lead

BY LEI FONTAMILLAS Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Both ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc. claimed television (TV) ratings lead last August.

Quoting data from Kantar Media, ABS-CBN revealed in a statement that their station got 45 percent in TV viewership ratings last month, higher than GMA’s 35 percent.

The Kapamilya Network also claimed that they dominated key territories in Luzon with 48 percent versus GMA’s 35 percent; 58 percent in Visayas against 26 percent of GMA; and 58 percent in Mindanao against 27 percent of GMA. The same data further shows

that ABS-CBN had the most viewers during the primetime block with 52 percent, compared to GMA’s 29 percent.

“The supremacy of the Kapamilya network for the month of August was bolstered by the launch of new teleseryes and the highly anticipated finales of primetime programs,” said ABS-CBN. On the other hand, GMA said that they are the top channel in key areas of Urban Luzon and Mega Manila. The network used Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

In Urban Luzon, the Kapuso Network received 77 percent of viewership, with 59 percent share in Mega Manila.

GMA further stressed that their total day audience share

reached 39.8 percent in Urban Luzon, way ahead of ABSCBN’s 32.2 percent and TV5’s 7.5 percent.

Likewise, the network said that they dominated the other networks in terms of audience share with 42 percent versus ABS-CBN’s 28.4 percent, and TV5’s 7.9 percent. GMA also triumphed over the other networks in the afternoon block with its 42.9 percent share against ABS-CBN’s 31.6 percent.

“Relative to competition, majority of the top regular programs that entered the list in NUTAM (National Urban Television Audience Measurement), Urban Luzon and Mega Manila came from GMA,” said GMA. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

KAPUSO NOONTIME show host Willie Revillame inked a record deal with GMA Records last September 4.

The contract signing was attended by GMA Records Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Felipe S. Yalong, GMA Records Managing Director Rene A. Salta, album producer and award-winning composer Vehnee Saturno.

Willie feels grateful for the opportunity to share his music with his supporters all over the world. “Matagal na ito eh, almost two years ago noong gumawa kami ng mga songs at nakatago lang. Hinihintay lang namin ang tamang panahon. Now, it’s the right time at ito na nga ang tamang panahon sa GMA Records. Right time, right songs, with the right people. Ire-release na po ito malapit na, ang carrier single ay Nando'n Ako.” The Kapuso host reveals that the carrier single is about how love conquers all, “It’s a beautiful song para sa mga nakahiwalay sa mga mahal niya sa buhay pero ang spirit nito, lahat ng pagmamahal ay nandoon. Ka-

hit anong mangyari, kahit may unos o bagyo, nandoon siya.”

He will be singing the song on Wowowin this Sunday. Willie says this is one way of showing his gratitude towards the people who continue to support him and his program which consistently wins over competition in nationwide ratings.

From August 9 to 30 (with the date of August 30 based on overnight data), Wowowin marked an average household TV rating of 18.0% and ruled over its counterpart programs ASAP 20 and Kapamilya Mega Blockbusters, which both garnered 14% in National Urban TV Audience Measurement (NUTAM) ratings.

This is according to the more widely recognized TV ratings supplier, Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

Moreover, the undisputed program Wowowin was also consistently ahead of its competitors in the viewer-rich areas of Mega Manila and Urban Luzon.

Wowowin airs worldwide on GMA’s flagship international channel, GMA Pinoy TV. ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

31

Studio Cloud 30’s Warren Flandez did it again

BY BABES CASTRONEWLAND

THIS YEAR’S Red Carpet Concert Series held on August 29th at state of the art venue, Pyatt Hall was nothing short of opulent. It showcased Studio Cloud 30’s crème de la crème of budding talents.

Studio Cloud 30 is a “for–artists, by-artists” talent development hub founded and headed by accomplished recording artist/songwriter/producer/entrepreneur—Warren Flandez.

Now running on its 5th year, Studio Cloud 30 continues to become Vancouver’s premier training studio for aspiring local artists and musicians. Programs include training in voice, songwriting, guitar, piano, percussions and many more. The Studio also boasts of several divisions including boutique imprint label 30 Records, SC30 Talent and the Top Line Vocal Collective.

In-class training programs are culminated by annual show stopping live performances in a cocktails gala dubbed as Red Carpet Series at the Pyatt Hall.

This year’s celebration boasted sterling performance deliveries by certified gold graduates: YOUTH SHOWCASE--Talia Lal, Kitty Wang, Leah Twiddy, Aliia Fearnley, Chyenne Mae, Nehlia Jillings; ADULT SHOWCASE-- Connor Nelson,

Rosemary Siemens & Eli Bennet.

Amanda Lim, Claudia Scholton, Alexis Lynn, Christina Olson, Katrina Leung, Keni Ng, Claire Pickard, Audrey DeBoer, Sonya Jorgensen-Martin, Tamara Naleway, Chinwe Cushing, Kathy Ford, Jerry Chang, Phillippa Rowe Adams, Amanda Angus, Renay Ismail, Sophia Messado, Daniel Frankel and Joanne Yen. As if those weren’t enough, better-known local performers were invited to perform and provide moral support and inspiration to the “graduates”.

Top-billed by internationally renowned violinist who became the first musician to play at the Sistine Chapel and performed twice at Carnegie Hall—Rosemary Siemens. Followed by celebrated jazz saxophonist and film composer, Eli Bennet, whose instrumental album is currently the top of the charts.

Powerful trio collectively called

Warren & Kathy Flandez.

essa Rama Belland, Jerrica Santos & author Miss B,

Solontra comprising crisp vocals of Katherine Flandez, Karolyn Volbek and Kristen Biegel was a force to reckon with. The palpable and soulful vocal ren-

ditions of Powerhouse Station Entertainment artist, Jerrica Santos, was unmistakably one of the best and most enjoyable.

Filipino R&B Crooner, Dante

Jovillar, and Taylor-Rae did not disappoint either.

Performances so pristine couldn’t have been held in a venue of lesser standard. The prestigious Pyatt Hall has provided justice to an evening of soulful musical renditions.

Audio quality was impeccably balanced between vocals and musical instruments. Not even a snag nor accidental sound distortion. What an ultimate setting to showcase rich tapestry of emerging artists. Kudos to Filipino-Canadian Warren and his pool of indefatigable teachers/mentors. Keep up the great work! ■ For more information on Studio Cloud 30, please check out the following website: www.studiocloud30.com. babescastronewland@gmail.com

FINALLY: Alden, Yaya Dub meet in person!

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

EAT BULAGA / INSTAGRAM

MANILA — Eat Bulaga host Alden Richards and Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza) have finally seen each other face to face as they both performed in the noontime show’s “Bulaga Pa More” segment, Wildcard Edition.

Alden’s performance was inspired by “Mr. Pogi,” while Yaya Dub’s number was inspired by the “Fatalbugan.” Although performing in the same stage, Lola Nidora (Wally Bayola) prohibited the on-screen couple from seeing each other. She www.canadianinquirer.net

even reminded Alden about their condition after his performance.

After the two performed, however, both were confused whether they should take the chance to see each other or keep their promise not to meet personally.

Alden and Yaya Dub, later on, decided to try to get a glimpse of each other. But after meeting briefly, a wall immediately hindered them from approaching the other as Lola Nidora once again got in the way.

“Paano pa ako magtitiwala sa inyo kung sa simpleng pangako, hindi mo pa matupad (How can I trust you if you can’t keep a simple promise),” Lola Nidora

said, disappointed that the couple did not keep their promise.

Two men immediately took Yaya Dub from the stage, then the barrier was removed. Alden tried to look for her but she was already gone.

Although their brief meeting did not end well, Alden and Yaya Dub seemed happy and remained hopeful that they would see each other again.

Alden and Yaya Dub first met through television screens during the show’s “Juan for All, All for Juan” segment. Eventually, they began falling in love. Lola Nidora, however, has always been against the couple being together. ■

Entertainment

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Bieber bests One Direction’s Spotify record with new single THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kristen Stewart, Drake Doremus and Nicholas Hoult attend a photocall for 'Equals' during the 72nd Venice Film Festival at Palazzo del Casino.

TANIAVOLOBUEVA / SHUTTERSTOCK

Kristen Stewart, Nicholas Hoult get emotional in ‘Equals’

BY JILL LAWLESS The Associated Press OCK PRESS LINE PHOTOS / SHUTTERST

NEW YORK — Justin Bieber is making a comeback: The singer set a new record on Spotify, besting One Direction.

Spotify said Thursday that Bieber’s “What Do You Mean” was streamed more than 21 million streams in just five days.

The song sets a new record in the U.S. and globally, and surpassed the 20 million streams that One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” launched in its debut week.

Bieber performed the song at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards and cried after the performance.

The 21-year-old said in an interview on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday that the performance was “so overwhelming for me ... I just

wasn’t expecting them to support me in the way they did.”

Bieber will release his new album on Nov. 13. ■

VENICE, ITALY — The movie business: What’s love got to do with it? For director Drake Doremus, everything.

The American filmmaker behind troubled-love stories “Like Crazy” and “Breathe In” is back with “Equals,” a sciencefiction romance that puts Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult into a future society where emotions — messy, disruptive things — have been genetically suppressed for the good of humanity.

Their characters, Nia and

Silas, develop feelings which blossom into a secret love that shakes their identities and endangers their lives.

Doremus — a self-declared romantic — says the film grew from wanting to explore “a world where love is not essential to human beings ... and whether love will always find a way or whether it won’t.”

“Cynically finding my way to hope, really,” the director said Saturday at the Venice Film Festival, where “Equals” is one of 21 films competing for the top Golden Lion prize.

Stewart shares her director’s passion for feelings, and thinks the film’s anti-emotional soci-

ety isn’t too far from our own.

“There are aspects of our world that are entirely subdued,” Stewart said during an interview a few hours before the film’s red-carpet world premiere. “Why can’t we be a little f------ crazy some of the time? Why can’t we just feel unabashedly?

“Even if you’re a little bit crazy, even if you make mistakes, OK, fine — at least you’re living.”

Even so, Stewart acknowledges making this film was “daunting.” She and Hoult are onscreen much of the time, often in close-up, and must bare

Johnny Depp with wife Amber Heard.

JOE SEER / SHUTTERSTOCK

anized if they weren’t. The dogs boarded a flight to the U.S. just hours before the deadline.

The prosecutor’s office has declined to explain why Depp wasn’t charged, citing the ongoing nature of the case.

Last week, Depp poked fun at the ordeal during a news confer-

ence in Venice, where he is promoting his latest movie. Asked if he was planning to take the dogs for a gondola ride, he responded: “No. I killed my dogs and ate them, under direct orders from some kind of, I don’t know, sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia.” ■

❱❱ PAGE 37 Kristen Stewart

Australian court hearing over Johnny Depp’s dogs adjourned THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SYDNEY — A court hearing dealing with allegations that Johnny Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, illegally brought the couple’s dogs to Australia was adjourned on Monday until November.

Heard was charged in July with two counts of illegally importing Pistol and Boo into Australia and one count of producing a false document. She could face heavy fines and up to 10 years in prison if convicted, though legal experts have said it’s unlikely she’ll face a lengthy

jail term since the dogs were flown back to the U.S. before a government deadline.

Heard did not appear at the Southport Magistrates Court in Queensland state on Monday. The case was adjourned until Nov. 2.

The doggie drama began in May, after Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce accused Depp of smuggling the Yorkshire terriers aboard his private jet when he returned to Australia to resume filming of the fifth movie in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.

“If we start letting movie stars — even though they’ve been the sexiest man alive twice

— to come into our nation (with pets), then why don’t we just break the laws for everybody?”

Joyce said at the time. “It’s time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.”

Australia has strict quarantine regulations to prevent diseases such as rabies from spreading to its shores. Bringing pets into the country involves applying for a permit and quarantine on arrival of at least 10 days.

Officials gave Depp and Heard 72 hours to send Pistol and Boo back to the U.S., warning that the dogs would be euthwww.canadianinquirer.net

33

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Lifestyle

Queen surpasses Victoria for length of time on throne, but similarities endure

BY MICHELLE MCQUIGGE The Canadian Press TORONTO — They grew up in the shadow of a throne they were never intended to occupy, then went on to carve unique and revered places in British history.

They bucked royal traditions by marrying their cousins for love, raised broods of children that thrust them into an unwelcome spotlight, and coped with public criticism about their aloofness and emotional reserve.

But among the many parallels that exist between Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, one looms larger than the rest — longevity.

On Sept. 9, the current Queen will succeed Victoria as the United Kingdom’s longestreigning monarch after 63 years and 218 days on the throne.

The years from 1837 to 1901 when Victoria ruled were markedly different from Elizabeth’s era, heralding the United Kingdom’s transformation into an industrial and colonial superpower.

The women who presided over more than half of their respective centuries, however, are strikingly alike.

Royal commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo said the two share similar temperaments and values, something the British public was quick to grasp.

Although a teenaged Victoria ascended to the throne after decades of previous scandalplagued rulers and Elizabeth became queen as a young married woman, he said Britons quickly came to view them in similar lights.

“They brought in a new spirit of hope — Victoria, after all the scandals of her uncles, and Elizabeth after all the problems of the Depression and the Second World War and the post-colonial devastation of Britain and the British economy,” he said in a telephone interview from

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II in Toronto in 2010.

London.

“They both basically offered hope and a new, bright future.”

The two queens led strikingly different lives in early childhood, with Victoria’s life rigidly under the control of a domineering single mother and Elizabeth enjoying a more conventional family life with loving parents and an adored younger sister.

That changed for both after the age of 10, however, when twists of fate decreed that they would each have to assume the throne.

Victoria became heir presumptive after a number of royal deaths left her as the only legitimate member of the family in the line of succession.

The present-day Queen’s fate was decided after her father, George VI, took the throne after it was abdicated by his elder brother.

Historian Barbara Rusch said both future queens learned of their pending responsibilities as pre-teens, and neither one shied away from the daunting futures before them.

The then-Princess Elizabeth emerged as a poised public presence at age 14 with a radio address to British children sent away from home at the height of the Second World War. Rusch said the confidence she expressed in that speech

with the line “in the end all will be well” was echoed more than a century earlier by Victoria, who greeted the news of her eventual accession to the throne with the declaration: “I will be good.”

They both also showed early signs of tenacity, Rusch said, particularly when it came to their future husbands.

Although relatives had more than one prospective suitor in mind for Victoria, she fell hard for her German cousin Prince Albert and wrote rapturously in her diary about her excitement to marry him.

Elizabeth had to fight harder to make Prince Philip the future Duke of Edinburgh, Rusch said, adding her parents initially balked at her choice of the dashing naval officer longrumoured to have a roving eye.

Rusch said Elizabeth’s parents made her wait a year to see if her ardour cooled before they’d give their blessing to the union. It did not, and historians agree that Philip went on to occupy the place once held by Albert as a central force in a reigning queen’s life.

Historians said both families led comparatively modest lives by royal standards in a bid to be in closer touch with traditional middle-class values. When Elizabeth married Prince Philwww.canadianinquirer.net

ZORAN KARAPANCEV / SHUTTERSTOCK

ip, for instance, Rusch said she followed the post-war norms of the day and collected clothing coupons to buy material for her wedding gown.

Although both monarchs valued their marriages, historians say that Victoria seemed more emotionally reliant on her husband.

Albert, who fathered her nine children, virtually co-ruled alongside his wife before his death in 1861. That event, Rusch said, changed Victoria’s life and English society permanently.

“It was an obsession, and she created a cult of mourning which extended to the entire empire around her sadness and her loss,” she said, adding Victoria ordered hot water and shaving gear brought to her husband’s room for years after his death.

The monarch who once revelled in court social functions and dabbled in amateur painting soon became a recluse, largely withdrawing from public life and earning a reputation of rigid aloofness that has shaped her image in popular culture.

Her reserve did not extend to the political realm, however.

Rusch said Victoria’s personal journals are filled with clear descriptions of which British prime ministers she did and did

not favour. She played a quiet but active role in shaping the politics of her time, he added.

The current queen has taken the opposite path, said royal historian Carolyn Harris.

Elizabeth has always taken her role as a non-partisan constitutional monarch “very seriously,” Harris said, adding that her lack of political involvement and unflappable poise have redefined the public image of what a queen should be.

“Because she’s been on the throne for so long, her approach has become synonymous with how a constitutional monarch should behave,” Harris said.

Such exemplary behaviour didn’t always trickle down to the next generation in either case.

Both queens had first-born sons whose sexual proclivities and extra-marital antics shone uncomfortable spotlights on lives they preferred to keep private. Their parenting techniques were both questioned in similar ways.

Rusch said Victoria’s documented remarks describing herself as “no admirer of babies” can easily be compared to video footage of the Queen shaking hands with her four children after being away from them for weeks.

But public images can be deceiving. Heydel-Mankoo said both women, frequently depicted as everything from stoic to joyless, both had strong senses of humour that didn’t always shy away from the off-colour.

Heydel-Mankoo believes the parallels that run through their respective reigns were no accident, saying Victoria’s example helped mould the current queen into someone who could carry on the traditions she began.

“Queen Victoria really shaped the idea of middle-class monarchy in terms of its morality and its lifestyle,” he said.

“One could argue that Queen Elizabeth is the last heir of that tradition.” ■

34

Real Estate

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Banks: Canadian housing markets mostly stable; hot pockets in Toronto, Vancouver THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO — The cost of owning a home has been holding steady in most parts of Canada, but affordability declined during the second quarter in the two most expensive markets, Vancouver and Toronto, a report by Royal Bank says.

In its latest analysis of housing trends, RBC also said Monday it expects prices will continue to rise in Toronto and Vancouver in the short term because of tight supplies of detached homes for sale.

The bank said supply and demand are more balanced in other Canadian markets and affordability has been close to the long-term average since 1985.

In a separate report, TD Bank said it expects a decline in Canadian borrowing rates in the first half of 2015 will likely boost demand into the early fall, but then have a waning effect in the late stages of this year.

It says the low-rate environment has helped to keep markets “humming” in hot markets and reduce the impact of low commodity prices in other

markets, particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

TD said commodity-dependent regions such as Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon “have weakened considerably so far this year, but to a lesser degree than was originally anticipated.”

“Elsewhere, markets that had embarked on soft landings over the last few years, including Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, have seen activity either stabilize or perk up,” TD said.

The RBC quarterly report takes into account income, property prices and the typical

costs of home ownership, such as mortgage payments, utilities, taxes and fees when calculating its affordability measure.

“The central theme for housing affordability in Canada continues to be the wide divide between stretched conditions in Toronto and Vancouver, and fairly neutral conditions in the rest of the country,” RBC said in its report.

“The split, in fact, widened during the second quarter of 2015, with strong price increases for single-detached homes in Toronto and Vancouver squeezing affordability further in these markets, whereas a slow pace of appreciation--at best--kept the cost of home ownership mostly stable in the majority of other markets.”

RBC said there was evidence

that buyers were more confident in Alberta than they had been in the previous two quarters as a result of the dramatic decline in oil prices, but “prices still remained under slight downward pressure for the most part . . .”

“The picture was a little different in Saskatchewan where a recovery in single-detached home prices negatively affected the affordability of bungalows and two-storey homes.”

In Quebec, RBC said home prices were “quite stagnant” and that contributed to improved housing affordability.

“Widespread improvements similarly took place in Atlantic Canada, although there remain few indications that housing demand is turning a corner in the region.” ■

Calgary home sales plunge in August as energy downturn weighs on sector THE CANADIAN PRESS

INFOGRAPHIC COURTESY OF RENTSEEKER.CA (PUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION)

www.canadianinquirer.net

CALGARY HOME sales plunged in August compared with last year as weakness in the energy sector continued to weigh on the housing market.

Home sales dropped almost 27 per cent in the month compared with a year ago to 1,643 units sold, a figure that was about 12 per cent below the 10year average, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.

“Persistent weakness in the energy sector weighed on sales activity this month, which once again retracted to levels well below the norm for the city,” CREB chief economist AnnMarie Lurie said in a statement.

Over the summer, sales were down significantly compared with last year’s strong figures, but they were only a few percentage points below the longterm average.

The city saw a similar drop in April, when home sales were 22 per cent lower than last year and nearly 15 per cent below

the long-term average.

Inventories of homes climbed in August to 3.1 months of supply, compared with 2.5 months at the end of July.

Houses selling for more than $600,000 made up a higher proportion of listings compared with last year, but the higher-end homes saw a drop in the share of total sales.

“With more options in the higher-end of the market, sellers will need to consider their competition as well as their goals regarding a sell date,” said Lurie.

With fewer sales in higherend homes, the average sale price dropped 1.94 per cent to $466,462 in August, while the benchmark price was down less than 0.1 per cent from a year ago at $456,300.

The condo sector has been harder hit as increasing competition has pushed inventories up to 4.3 months of supply.

That has put pressure on prices, with the benchmark price down 1.4 per cent compared with last year at $294,100. ■

35

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Travel

The Laurentian Forest in the fall with reflections on a lake in Quebec.

RICHARD CAVALLERI / SHUTTERSTOCK

Quebec countryside getting ready to burst into the colours of fall

BY MICHELLE MCQUIGGE The Canadian Press MONTREAL — September may signal the end of summer vacation time as people get back to their daily routines and school classes, but enjoying the outdoors doesn’t need to end.

In fact, there’s just enough time to catch your breath and prepare for an explosion of colour throughout Quebec.

Tourism Quebec’s Claudette Lacombe says bursts of red, yellow and orange will soon begin to appear as leaves change colours with the approach of fall.

“The peak is from the end of September up to mid-October, but if visitors don’t want to miss the colours they should come in mid-September until the end of September,” she said in a recent interview.

Lacombe says Quebecers who live in and around Montreal usually take day trips to the Laurentians north of the city or the Eastern Townships to view the colours.

“It’s in regions south of the St. Lawrence River, where you have the presence of maple trees, where it will be interesting because the accumulation of sugar in the sap brings out the red colour in the leaves,” she said.

“There are also (maples) in the Laurentians, but there are fewer maples there when compared with the Eastern Townships and the Beauce region, south of Quebec City.”

Lacombe also suggests visiting areas near Quebec City, like the Charlevoix region, where Mont-Ste-Anne and the St. Lawrence River add a spectacular back-

drop to the changing colours.

Tourists may want to do some birdwatching while they are in the area.

“In the region of Quebec City, there’s a place called Cap Tourmente where you can observe thousands of (Canada) geese,” Lacombe notes. “They are migratory birds that leave Quebec and go south.”

Anyone planning a fall colour tour in the province should check the bilingual website Quebecoriginal.com starting in mid-September.

Lacombe says the website will include a report on the evolution of fall colours for all regions of Quebec. It will indicate whether the foliage has begun to change colour, whether it’s in the midst of changing colour or will soon be peaking.

She stresses that the changing colours do not happen during Indian summer, a period of unseasonably warm dry weather, which occurs after a frost or cold weather.

“Contrary to what people believe, the tree colours are not caused by temperature but rather the diminution of light when days start to get shorter,” she said.

Lacombe recommends visitors set aside a weekend to give themselves extra time to take in various activities that also take place in the regions.

It may be too early to head for the slopes to ski, but many centres open on the weekends for visitors to use their ski lifts to go up the mountains to observe the fall colours.

Danie Beliveau, who is with Tourism Eastern Townships, says four ski centres in her region put their lifts in operation, but it’s not free.

“It could vary, but it’s around $10,” she

Fall Season in Mont-Tremblant in Quebec.

said, adding that barbecues and wine tasting are also offered.

“It varies from one ski centre to the other, but there are activities at all four: Mont Sutton, Ski Bromont, Mont Orford and Owl’s Head.”

Activities are held in towns around the ski slopes: farms are open to the public and there’s also a tour of artists’ studios.

“Not only will you visit the studios, you can drop in on a cheese factory or a vineyard,” she said, noting that there are 28 vineyards along the region’s so-called wine route.

Beliveau says all the events are listed on Easterntownships.org and the website is bilingual.

A search engine is available to help hikers who may want to tackle some of the region’s 140 trails.

“If they want to climb a mountain, they put in the criteria and the search

www.canadianinquirer.net

DENIS PEPIN / SHUTTERSTOCK

engine will provide the trails that satisfy their needs,” she said.

There’s a variety of options when it comes to lodging: small hotels with 40 rooms, large hotels with 100 rooms, campsites, small tree houses and outdoor teepees.

“We even have a hobbit house—like ‘Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit,’“ she added.

The unique dwelling is located in the town of Eastman.

Beliveau said the average rate for a hotel room is about $130 because it’s still the peak tourist season during the fall colours.

If You Go...

- Tourism Quebec: 1-877-266-5687.

- Online: www.quebecoriginal.com/ - Directions: From Montreal to the Eastern Townships, head east on Highway 10; for the Laurentians region, head north on Highway 15. ■

36

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Business

Canada pension funds buy stake in South Korean grocer as part of $6 billion deal THE CANADIAN PRESS

Peso weakness to hit more sectors

BY PAOLO G. MONTECILLO Philippine Daily Inquirer MORE PEOPLE should fear rather than cheer the peso’s recent weakness, a senior economic manager said, citing the wide-ranging effects of inflation versus the benefits that reach only certain sectors.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa C. Guinigundo refuted assertions that a weak peso would provide additional support for the Philippine economy.

Since the start of the year, the peso has lost more than 4 percent of its value against the dollar, with most of the decline coming in the last two weeks.

“A weak currency benefits certain sectors. But inflation hits everybody,” Guinigundo

told reporters.

Among the winners from a weak peso are families that receive overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) remittances, exporters and companies in the business process outsourcing (BPO) and tourism sectors. A weaker currency means more money in peso terms for every dollar these sectors earn.

University of Asia and the Pacific economist Victor Abola earlier estimated that as much as 75 percent of the economy could benefit from a weaker currency. OFW remittances and BPO revenues are the country’s biggest sources of dollar income.

Together, the two sectors contributed more than $40 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) last year. In 2016, this contribution will rise to a combined $50 billion, according to

official projections.

Guinigundo, however, said there were still more companies in other sectors that stand to lose as the peso loses value.

“For importers of oil, raw materials, intermediate products, there will be a direct hit on their cost structure. Once there’s an issue there, there could be some impact on domestic inflation,” Guinigundo said.

The government’s own fiscal position may come under pressure as the peso weakens. The state has a sizable foreign debt stock, the cost of paying for which rises when the currency heads downward.

At the end of last year, the public sector’s total foreign debt stood at $39.3 billion or about a third of all the money the government owes, according to data from the BSP. ■

EXCHANGE RATES CDN/USD CDN/PHP CDN/EUR CDN/GBP EUR/USD AUD/USD USD/JPY

Homeplus is South Korea's second-largest retailer, with more than 1,000 outlets across TWO CANADIAN pension the country. It was originally plans are part of a consortium founded as a joint venture bethat purchased South Korean tween Samsung and Tesco in supermarket chain Homeplus 1999. from British retailer Tesco for South Korean private equity around US$6 billion on Mon- firm MBK Partners led the deal day. and said the consortium will inThe Canadian vest US$831 milPension Plan Inlion in the busivestment Board ness over the said it spent next two years.

US$534 million Canada's nafor a 21.5 per The deal is tional pension cent stake in the expected to plan makes more company. close in the than it currently The Public fourth quarter pays out in benSector Pension of 2015, efits, and the CPInvestment pending PIB invests the Board, which approval excess money. At manages investfrom the the end of June, ments for the South Korean the fund totalled federal public government $268.6 billion. service and the and Tesco's Homeplus is Canadian Forces shareholders. facing criminal among others, and civil lawsuits was also a part of in South Korea the deal but did after company not disclose its executives incontribution. cluding CEO Do The deal is expected to close Sung-hwan were indicted in in the fourth quarter of 2015, February for selling the personpending approval from the al data of millions of customSouth Korean government and ers to insurance companies for Tesco's shareholders. marketing purposes. ■ As of September 9, 2015 from ca.finance.yahoo.com

PRICE

CHANGE

% CHANGE

1.3238 35.4451 1.4752 2.0329 1.1144 0.7037 120.8755

+0.0027 -0.0023 -0.0049 -0.0002 -0.0060 +0.0021 +0.9905

+0.2074% -0.0063% -0.3318% -0.0091% -0.5386% +0.2936% +0.8262%

www.canadianinquirer.net

Business

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

37

Creating DICT will be ‘death knell’ of IT-BPO

BY AMY R. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer A RANKING government official warned the creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) may only result in the eventual regulation of the IT business process outsourcing industry, a move that will be the “death knell” of the biggest driver of the services sector.

The official, who requested anonymity, said in an interview with the INQUIRER that the opposition stemmed from the possibility that the DICT will have as one of its functions the power to regulate the IT-BPO industry. There won’t be any problem if the DICT will only serve as an entity that will consolidate all related ICT functions currently under various

agencies such as the National inside the organization and I ing the IT-BPO industry,” the Telecommunications Commis- know what can happen,” the of- official warned. sion and the Department of ficial told the INQUIRER. The official also said the tax Science and Technology, the of“What if the DICT official regulations are not clear, thus ficial said. decides that we should curtail there is a “huge risk that looms But with the way the gov- access to certain information from a tax perspective with the ernment works, it’s likely that due to security risks? What if creation of a DICT.” the DICT’s functions will be that official questions the difThe official said these possiexpanded to beble consequenccoming an ines were already dustry regulator, discussed with the official said. the local and Worse, the deRegulatory bodies are not promotive foreign business partment may bodies. We must ensure that this communities. find itself being [proposed] agency will not end up Even the Informanned by an ofregulating the IT-BPO industry. mation Technolficial bent on imogy and Business posing controls Process Associarather than betion of the Philing “promotive,” ippines (IBPAP) the official added. ferent standards being imple- has been warned as well.

“Proponents of the DICT told mented by the IT-BPO indusThe IBPAP expects the inme that they have already stud- try? Regulatory bodies are not dustry to generate $21.2 billion ied the law, but I already told promotive bodies. We must in revenues this year, up 12 perthem to be very careful. I told ensure that this [proposed] cent from the $18.9 billion rethem that they are naive. I’m agency will not end up regulat- corded last year. The industry is

Kristen Stewart... their emotions with subtle conviction.

“I was really scared of it,” she said. The story “was so simple and so basic that it could have been absolute trite, messy nothing — or it could be everything. It could be the most moving emotional experience.”

“Equals” has a screenplay

by Nathan Parker — who also wrote low-budget lunar hit “Moon” — and is the first film Doremus has shot from a finished script rather than developed through improvisation.

He rehearsed the actors for a week before filming, an experience Hoult said he found liberating.

“Often in a script you’ll see (that) your character cries,” the actor said. “And you turn up on the set that day and you think, everyone knows I’m meant to cry now. And it’s suddenly so much pressure.

“Drake doesn’t do any of those things. He’s like, just be — and be vulnerable and honest.”

The result is a sleek, subdued film that won praise from some viewers in Venice but left others cold.

Most agreed that both the leads and the landscape look gorgeous. The film was shot largely in Japan, using the minimalist modern buildings of architect Tadao Ando as a ❰❰ 32

believed to overtake the remittances from overseas Filipino workers.

Next year, the IT-BPO industry is seen to generate $25 billion in revenues and directly employ 1.3 million workers.

Last month, the foreign business community made a renewed pitch for the passage of a measure that will see the establishment of a DICT, as this is seen to boost the Philippines’ position as a globally competitive investment destination.

In a letter to House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) cited the benefits of a DICT, such as a more effective implementation of e-governance, data protection and cybersecurity measures. The creation of the DICT formed part of House Bill (HB) 4667. ■

IMF urges PH gov’t to speed up spending backdrop. The effect is dystopia crossed with Dwell magazine.

“It was so functional and beautiful, but so stifling,” Stewart said of the architecture.

“You’re like, `It’s gorgeous. I just want to stare at everything, yet I want to run away from it.’“ Despite its future setting, the movie’s tale of forbidden young love is as old as time, and the film shares plot points with Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Like that play, “Equals” seems likely to appeal to the young, especially given the big teen fan bases of Stewart and Hoult.

Both are now 25, with years of fame behind them. Stewart began starring in the “Twilight” films as a teenager, while Hoult has been in the spotlight since he was the awkward child hero of 2002’s “About a Boy.” Both have thrived by going in unexpected directions, making smaller art-house films alongside more mainstream fare.

“I think that’s the trick — for people to not quite know what’s going to happen next,” said Hoult, recently seen in the much scruffier sci-fi world of “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

“I so lead with my gut that there’s never anything too tactical,” added Stewart. “I’m never tactically maneuvering my career.” ■

BY PAOLO G. MONTECILLO Philippine Daily Inquirer ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS were once again urged to act with urgency in spending the country’s entire budget, to help ensure that the economy stays on its current growth path.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended the government’s medium-term plan for significant yearly increases in spending, noting this would promote development and insulate the country from cyclical economic forces that may lead to a slump.

However, the multilateral lender said the government should prove its ability to consistently stick to what it promised to spend every year. “[We] encourage further efforts to strengthen public financial management and budget execution, and to mobilize revenue to meet the large social and infrastructure needs,” the IMF said in a report.

The IMF report was released at the completion of the multilateral’s annual Article IV consultation with Philippine officials. All IMF member countries go through Article IV consultations. www.canadianinquirer.net

SHUTTERSTOCK

The Fund’s prescription for the Philippines comes amid the government’s spotty record in budget execution. In the first quarter of the year, government spending fell far short of the state’s target, dragging economic growth to a three-year low of 5 percent.

Spending picked up in the second quarter of 2015, pulling gross domestic product (GDP) growth up to 5.6 percent. The IMF sees the Philippines growing by 6.2 percent this year and 6.5 percent in 2015.

Other prescriptions in the IMF’s Article IV report include the passage of a proposed law that would give the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) more powers, particularly the ability

to issue its own IOUs and increase its capitalization.

IMF said the outlook for the Philippine economy remains favorable, “despite uneven and generally weaker global growth prospects.”

Lower fuel prices, partly offset by somewhat higher food prices due to assumed moderate El Niño conditions, should help keep inflation in the bottom half of the BSP’s target band.

Likewise, the current account surplus, which accounts for recurring sources of foreign exchange revenue, is expected to rise in 2015 due to lower oil prices and continued inflows from business process outsourcing and remittances. ■

38

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Sports

Skipper Phil ready to ‘lead by example’

BY CEDELF P. TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer WITH DEFENDER Rob Gier recuperating from a knee injury, the Philippine Azkals will turn to Phil Younghusband for leadership in their next two matches, including the crucial World Cup Qualifying duel with Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old Younghusband, who was appointed captain last year when Gier was relegated to a substitute, said he’s gotten comfortable with his role for a side that has undergone several lineup changes in recent years.

Younghusband, Gier and Neil Etheridge are the remnants from the squad that stunned Vietnam in the 2010 Suzuki Cup which catapulted football back to the country’s consciousness.

As the team’s spiritual leader, Gier organized the defense

Azkals superstar Phil Younghusband.

while providing encouragement for a side known for its resilience.

But as Gier recovers from the injury he suffered in the match with Bahrain, Younghusband’s job now goes beyond scoring goals and providing the attacking threat at midfield.

It’s a role which he said should come naturally for him being the most capped player in the team with 72 matches for the PH team.

“I try to lead by example,” said Younghusband, who made his first senior appearance way back in 2006.

“I’m fortunate to have teammates who always know ... what needs to be done for the team to be successful.”

Coach Thomas Dooley described the attacking midfielder as an “outstanding player.”

“He has the qualities of a good leader and I think he is the right man to be the captain.” ■

@PHILYOUNGHUSBAND10 / INSTAGRAM

FATHER & SON: Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Jr.

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Mayweather Sr.: Pacquiao only made up excuses over loss

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

was tearing him up. He couldn’t do nothing. Pacquiao is just a liar with no skills,” he added.

Mayweather Sr. also believed STILL UNDEFEATED Amerithat his son’s next opponent, can boxer Floyd “Money” American boxer Andre Berto, Mayweather Jr. and Filipino would likely put up a better fight. boxing icon Manny “Pacman” “I think Berto will probably Pacquiao’s megabout may have give a better fight than Pacquiao already been because didn’t do done months ago, nothing at all,” he but Mayweathsaid in the same er’s father has interview. still been throwPacquiao is just a liar with no skills.

The former ing verbal jabs boxer cited a preagainst his forvious interview mer opponent. where Coach Mayweather Freddie Roach won the megafight via unani“He (Pacquiao) want to make admitted that he thought Maymous decision. Pacquiao, how- up excuses, talking about his weather Jr. did beat Pacquiao. ever, later on admitted suffer- arm and... there wasn’t noth“Did he finally say that he ing a torn rotator cuff in his ing wrong with his arm, wasn’t thought that my son won? Oh right shoulder prior the boxing nothing wrong with his eyes, man, me and Freddie Roach match. wasn’t nothing wrong with his might get to be the best friends Although he healed weeks lips. Something was wrong with in the world,” he added, menbefore the bout, the Filipino his heart,” he said in an inter- tioning that it was probably the boxer claimed that his shoulder view with FightHype.com first time that Roach said someinjury recurred during the ear“He couldn’t cruise. Floyd thing true. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

ly rounds of the fight and this caused him to slow down with his punches.

Floyd Mayweather Sr., however, only dismissed Pacquiao’s injury and insisted that there was nothing wrong with him physically but his loss was only due to his lack of heart.

Sports

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

39

Pressure-free Azkals shut down Maldives

BY CEDELF P. TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer

Philippine Azkals.

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THE PERFORMANCE was far from sharp and incisive, but such is the depth of the Philippine side that it still strolled to a comfortable 2-0 win over the Maldives in a friendly Thursday night at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

An own goal from Mohamed Samdhooh three minutes into the second half and Jerry Lucena’s precise header 10 minutes later was enough for the Azkals to put away a youthful Maldives side.

With one eye on the crucial World Cup Qualifying duel against Uzbekistan on Tuesday,

Azkals coach Thomas Dooley rested Manny Ott and Martin Steuble while giving young players OJ Porteria, Dennis Villanueva, Kenshiro Daniels, Kevin Ingreso, Paolo Bugas and Amani Aguinaldo runouts.

“It’s not the kind of game that you would put everything in,” said Dooley. “The most important game is Uzbekistan. We gave everybody a chance to play and the positive energy we had in the first two games.”

Uzbekistan notched its first win of qualifying after a 1-0 decision over Yemen in Tashkent on Thursday while North Korea tightened its hold of the Group lead with a 10 nipping of Bahrain in Manama.

Stephan Schröck showed

flashes of fine form as right wingback and later as a winger while Patrick Reichelt had his moments but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Iain Ramsay proved a threat on the left before he made way for Javier Patino, who managed a shot on target in a 15-minute cameo.

Paul Mulders came out with an energetic display at midfield, justifying his inclusion in the squad after being left out in the wins over Bahrain and Yemen.

Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was mostly untroubled.

“The most important thing is we get the victory, nobody gets injured and everybody gets confidence,” said Dooley. ■

Gilas Pilipinas MVP still gets butterflies bags silver in Jones Cup, defeats Chinese-Taipei B

BY JASMINE W. PAYO Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas beat Chinese-Taipei B team, 96-67, securing the national team a silver medal from the William Jones Cup basketball tournament on Sunday, September 6.

Gilas started with a 7-0 lead and continued to have a 24-21 standing after the first quarter.

The team was able to pull off a 50-32 lead at half time and fin-

ished the game unmatched.

The Philippines’ final record was at 6-2, with the losses from South Korea and Iran. The latter won the tournament’s gold with a 7-1 record.

Returning to the country on Monday, September 7, Gilas will be gearing up for the FIBA Asia Championship this month — with the hope of getting a slot in the Olympic basketball tournament next year.

Prior FIBA, the national team will also compete in the MVP Cup. ■

Gilas Pilipinas beats Russia by 14 points, led by Ranidel de Ocampo with 13 points.

PHOTO FROM GILAS PILIPINAS' TWITTER ACCOUNT

EVEN ONE of the world’s best still gets the jitters.

Stephen Curry, the reigning NBA MVP, admits nervousness still hits him during games. Yet surprisingly, the sweet-shooting guard thinks it’s a good thing.

“I get butterflies, for sure,” Curry said during a one-on-one interview with the INQUIRER. “I want so badly to be successful, so all that kind of comes out. But when you talk about butterflies and all that, it means you’re prepared for the moment ... that you want to be successful.”

It was all fun, though, in his first trip to the Philippines.

Curry—who led the Golden State Warriors this season to their first NBA championship in 40 years—showed a glimpse of his sharp form and charming ways during his festive one-day visit in Manila on Saturday.

“I learned a lot about Filipino culture and how much you love the game of basketball,” said Curry. “Your hospitality has been amazing. This is better than expected.”

The tour, dubbed as “The UA Roadshow featuring Stephen Curry,” had Curry thrilling fans with his prolific shooting and dunks, as well as leading selected high school players in on-court www.canadianinquirer.net

Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry.

drills at Mall of Asia Arena.

“It’s okay if you mess up,” Curry told the kids. “It means we’re getting better.”

The 27-year-old Curry said he also has his own share of bashers despite a banner year.

“You hear [criticisms], but you do your best not to hear it,” he said. “There’s always going to be somebody talking

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negative about you—saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that.

But you’re the one out there playing, so you’re the only one who can control that. So you go out there and do it.”

The 6-foot-3 Curry said there’s no satisfying him yet: “I can always get better, I don’t think I’ve reached my full potential yet.” ■

40

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Technology

Wave of new Windows 10 devices on show at Berlin Tech Fair

BY FRANK JORDANS The Associated Press BERLIN — Computer manufacturers are unveiling the first big batch of devices running Windows 10 at the IFA home electronics show opening in Berlin on Friday.

The industry has seen sluggish sales in recent years as consumers opt to spend their money on smartphones and tablets instead, so many companies are pinning their hopes for a revival in the PC market on the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system.

Among them is Toshiba, which launched its new Satellite Radius 12 this week, priced at 1,449 euros ($1,627) in Europe. The 12-inch laptop comes with a 4K screen designed to make the most of Windows 10’s graphics ability. It also features a special microphone and a dedicated button for Cortana — Microsoft’s voice-controlled digital assistant — as well as infrared cameras to identify users by their faces.

“We expect to see lots of new sales from October onward thanks to Windows 10,” said Tony Alderson, a senior product manager at Toshiba.

Windows 10 devices.

The Japanese company also launched its new Satellite Click 10, whose screen can be detached and used as a tablet. It, too, is optimized for Windows 10 and will appear on shelves next month for about 499 euros.

Experts say the bet on Windows 10 could pay off, as consumers finally loosen their purse strings.

“Last few years, many people bought Android tablets instead of buying a new computer, but that market is saturated now,” said Rudolf Aunkofer, global director IT at consumer research firm GfK. “At the same time laptops are getting quite old, so

BLOG.WINDOWS.COM

Windows 10 is likely to kick off a wave of replacements.”

Aunkofer said the drop in sales seen in recent years may have been exacerbated by Microsoft’s announcement about the new operating system, which prompted some consumers to hold back. Before that, buyers may have simply been unconvinced that upgrading their devices for Windows 8 — widely seen as more of a cosmetic enhancement than a real improvement — was worthwhile.

One problem for computer manufacturers is that Windows 10 is remarkably tolerant of old hardware, and upgrades are

free. Microsoft says Windows 10 has already been installed on 75 million devices since its debut at the end of July.

“Many people who have a computer that’s 1 to 3 years old will go for the free upgrade,” said Aunkofer. “But there’s a big base of machines that’s 5 to 7 years old and those will be replaced.”

The trend, he said, is toward so-called two-in-one devices which can serve as laptops or tablets, such as the Satellite Click 10, or tablets with a separate keyboard.

Microsoft is urging software designers to embrace its Uni-

versal Application Platform, so that desktop software and apps designed for other operating systems will run on Windows 10.

This strategy demonstrates one way in which Microsoft has learned from its recent missteps in the smartphone market. A lack of apps and the relative novelty of its operating system have been cited as a hurdle to consumer uptake, compared to more established smartphone systems such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Nick Parker, vice president of Microsoft’s OEM division, said the free upgrade for older Windows computers should help stimulate interest across devices, since it’s designed to look the same on laptops, tablets and smartphones.

“Windows 10 lets you try new things and maybe accelerate purchase of new hardware,” he said.

The same might be true for one of the low-cost educational computers launched at IFA this week. Acer’s Aspire 1 Cloudbook is a fully functional PC for the price of $169, giving Windows 10 the chance to take back market share in the sub$200 segment from Google’s Chromebooks. ■

Blackberry to buy security company Good Tech for $425M THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BlackBerry Z10.

ROMAZUR / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

NEW YORK — BlackBerry said Friday that it will make another security-related acquisition, buying Good Technology for $425 million in cash.

BlackBerry, once known for making smartphones, is now trying to focus on software that lets IT departments manage mobile devices. The company said Good Technology will help it offer a unified secure platform for mobile devices that runs on any operating system. www.canadianinquirer.net

It said Good Technology has about $160 million in annual revenue, while BlackBerry has reported about $3 billion in revenue in its last four fiscal quarters.

The Canadian company expects to complete the purchase by the end of November.

Earlier this year BlackBerry Ltd. bought WatchDox, a provider of secure enterprise filesync-and-share technology, and agreed to buy AtHoc, a software company that develops emergency alert systems for govern-

ment agencies, military bodies, and other organizations.

The company also announced a round of job cuts earlier this year as it restructures its business and deals with weak smartphone sales. BlackBerry has eliminated thousands of jobs in the last few years under CEO John Chen, who and has focused on reducing costs and increasing innovation.

U.S. shares of BlackBerry rose 10 cents to $7.56 in midday trading Friday. The stock has fallen 28 percent over the past year. ■

Technology

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

41

Samsung, others seek piece of nascent smartwatch market

BY ANICK JESDANUN The Associated Press NEW YORK — Samsung and other tech companies showcased new computerized wristwatches this week — all aimed at challenging Apple, a relative newcomer to selling smartwatches.

Apple Watch was the leading smartwatch in the second quarter, with an estimated 4 million shipped worldwide, for a market share of more than 75 percent, according to Strategy Analytics. Samsung was a distant second with 400,000 shipped and a 7.5 percent market share.

However, the market is still nascent, and Apple Watch isn’t an option for people who use Android smartphones.

Samsung’s Gear S2 will work on Android — and for the first time, not just Samsung’s Android phones. Meanwhile, watches running Google’s Android Wear software will now work with Apple’s iPhones.

Here’s a look at how the watches compare and how the marketplace is shaping up in light of this week’s develop-

ments at the IFA tech show in Berlin.

Samsung

Although Samsung has been making smartwatches for about two years, its previous models have felt like miniature phones.

Apps are presented on the rectangular screen the way they are on phones. You swipe on the screen to flip through pages of apps.

The Gear S2’s interface is more fitting for a watch. The S2 has a circular frame that can be rotated to scroll through notifications and apps, so your fingers won’t tire out from endless swiping. The watch itself is also smaller — roughly the size of the larger version of Apple Watch. The original Gear S felt huge around wrists.

Samsung says about 1,000 apps should be available when the S2 launches. That’s promising, though less than Apple Watch’s 8,500 and Android Wear’s 4,000. So far, many leading app developers have focused on Apple Watch and Android Wear instead, as Samsung watches use a little-known system called Tizen. Samsung

is letting app developers customize watch faces, so you can see baseball scores from ESPN or the latest posts from Twitter.

Availability: early October in the U.S., with prices to be announced. Later, Samsung will have a version with 3G cellular capabilities, which will let the watch do more without a companion phone nearby.

Requirements: In a surprise move, Samsung is making the S2 work with a range of Android smartphones, though some features, such as setting alarms, might not work with all phones.

Google

Several manufacturers (but not Samsung or Apple) are making smartwatches based on Android Wear. Manufacturers can focus on designing the hardware, while letting Google worry about the functionality.

Consumers get choice, without compromising on app selection, as developers can write apps just once for multiple devices.

Among the choices: - Motorola’s latest Moto 360 watches come in three lines — men’s, women’s and a premium

Apple Watch.

“Sport” version for fitness enthusiasts. Sport will have GPS built-in, along with a screen that can adapt to bright sunlight, with high-contrast text and graphics for better visibility in glare. Mix and match sizes, bands and bodies for $300 to $430. The men’s and women’s watches will come out in late September. Prices and release plans for the Sport version will come later.

- Huawei Watch will have luxury versions, with bodies plated with rose gold, for $699 or $799.

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The bodies won’t be entirely made of gold, as Apple Watch’s Edition models are. But those go for $10,000 to $17,000. The Huawei Watch and the Apple Watch both start at $349.

- On the flip side, Asus’s new ZenWatch 2 will be notable for its price — starting at 149 euros ($167) when it comes out in October.

Requirements: Though these will now work with an iPhone, you get more functionality with ❱❱ PAGE 47 Samsung, others

Long term forecast from www.theweathernetwork.com CALGARY

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www.canadianinquirer.net

Events

42

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Freestyle

By Below Zero WHEN/WHERE: Sept. 18, Century Casino Calgary, 1010 42 Ave., SE Calgary, AB

CANADA EVENTS

To have your events featured on PCI, please email events@canadianinquirer.net

YUKON NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

View all events by scanning this QR code or visiting

http://bit.ly/ PCI-Events

NUNAVUT

BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA

FRIDAY

MANITOBA

SASKATCHEWAN

Artist Chito Maravilla Solo Exhibit WHEN/WHERE: Exhibit run: Up to Sept. 30, Newton Cultural Centre 13530- 72Ave., Surrey, B.C. MORE INFO: www.chitomaravilla.com or call 604716-9143 Vancouver Bead and Jewellery Show WHEN/WHERE: 4 to 8:30 p.m., Sept. 11; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 12 & 13; Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Drive,Vancouver B.C. MORE INFO: $8 for 1-day pass; $10 for weekend pass. Cash only at the door. Free demos and make n’ takes, hands-on jewellery classes; exhibitors from across Canada; local artisan jewellery; beads, gems, tools, supplies, kits and more. For more information visit www.vbjs.ca Free Drop-In English Conversation Circle

By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., up to Sept. 21, Vancouver Community Room, 1720 Grand St., Grd. Flr. MORE INFO: Call Pia at 604-254-9626 ext 487 Temporary Foreign Workers Uncontested Divorce Clinic

By Law Courts Center WHEN/WHERE: Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Justice Education Society at the Provincial Court of

ONTARIO

New WelcomePack Canada WHEN/WHERE: 11a.m. to 12 nn, Distribution Centre every Saturday, Filipino Centre

By WelcomePack Canada Inc. Toronto, 597 Parliament St., Suite WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 5 p.m., Mon, 103, Toronto, ON Tues, Thu & Fri at the Filipino MORE INFO: For registrations, call Centre Bldg., 597 Parliament St., 416-928-9355. The office, at 597 NEWFOUNDLAND Suite 103, Toronto, On Parliament St., Suite 103, Toronto, MORE INFO: Call (416) 928-9355 is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, QUEBEC Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m.

Tagalog Class

By FCT Winter Escapade 3 WHEN/WHERE: 10 to 11 a.m., By the Philippine Consulate General every Saturday, Filipino Centre in Toronto Toronto, Toronto NOVA WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m., Sept.

SCOTIA 10, PCG Toronto reception area, 7th Homework/Tutorial Class Flr, 160 Eglinton Ave., East, Toronto,

By FCT On.

BC Room 260 800 Hornby St., Vancouver B.C. MORE INFO: To book an appointment, call/text 778-322-2839 or email: tfw.divorce@gmail.com Seniors Book Club By the Richmond Public Library WHEN/WHERE: Thursdays, 10:30 a.m. to 12 nn, at the Brighouse Main Branch, the Living Rm., 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond, B.C. MORE INFO: Seniors ages 55 and older are invited to read books and exchange ideas with likeminded. To register visit any branch of Richmond Public Library, call 604-231-6413 or register online at www.yourlibrary.ca/events Grouse Grind Challenge 2015 By the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in B.C. WHEN/WHERE: 8:30 a.m., Sept. 12, Grouse Grind, Vancouver, B.C. Practise Your English at the Richmond Public Library

By Richmond Public Library WHEN/WHERE: 10 to 12 nn, Sept. 18 to Dec. 11, the English Corner, Richmond Public Library, Brighouse (Main) Branch, 2nd floor Community Place Room, 7700 Minoru Gate. www.canadianinquirer.net

Dinner Dance By the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants Vancouver WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., Sept. 19 at St. Patrick’s Recreation Hall, 2881 Main St., Vancouver, B.C. Dr. Holmes on Life, Love & Lust

By Vancouver Public Library and the U.P. Alumni Association in B.C. WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 to 8 p.m., Sept. 24, Vancouver Public Library Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: The subject of sex remains deeply personal--even taboo--in this day and age. It is a social minefield capable of inducing both distress and hysterical laughter. Sex therapist, clinical psychologist, and author Dr. Margarita 'Margie' Holmes, a popular no-nonsense sex therapist in the Philippines, tells us why through her dazzling humour and straightforward answers to the provocative questions.

Afternoon Delight with Margie

By UPAABC WHEN/WHERE: 4 p.m., Sept. 26, at the Frat House (2800 No. 4 Rd., Richmond, B.C.) MORE INFO: Potluck Dinner

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

43

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44

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

Food RECIPES

Apples and Honeycomb Ice Cream

BY AARTI SEQUEIRA The Associated Press THESE DAYS, the ubiquitous honey bear may not cause us to stop and give thanks.

Sure, it may sweeten our tea or Greek yogurt, but that pales in comparison to the reaction the golden nectar may have inspired in the hearts of ancient peoples when sweetness of this magnitude was incredibly rare.

Imagine how wide their eyes opened at just one drop of the intense syrup on their tongues, especially after risking the stingers of angry bees protecting their hives!

Perhaps the best indication of honey’s lofty position in the ancient world is its significance in religion. Hindus consider it an elixir of immortality. Buddha is said to have been fed honey by a monkey on one of his forest retreats. And the god of the Bible describes the promised land to Moses as one of free-flowing milk and honey, a symbol of both abundance and completion.

It is for this reason that at this time of year, Jews commemorate the new year (by the Jewish calendar) by nibbling on apples dipped in honey.

While the honey contained in that little plastic bear is perfectly fine for your morning cup of tea, might I suggest you seek out some good old fashioned raw honey for this Rosh Hashanah-themed ice cream? The former is an amalgam of myriad nectars that are boiled down to a uniform flavour and sweetness. But raw honey tells a story of what one particular colony of bees may have feasted on, from orange blossoms to cactus flowers, buckwheat to clover.

These dynamic honeys are complex in flavour, perfect when making something as simple as a honeycomb candy ice cream. They have the power to transport us back to the days when squeezing a dollop of honey on your tongue was an act of pure luxury and gratitude.

SHUTTERSTOCK

APPLES AND HONEYCOMB ICE CREAM

Start to finish: 5 hours (1 hour active), plus freezing Servings: 6 For the custard: • 2 cups heavy cream • 1 cup whole milk • 2 tablespoons skim milk powder • 2/3 cup sugar, divided • 6 large egg yolks • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract • Pinch of salt • For the honeycomb candy: • 3/4 cup sugar • 1/4 cup water • 1 1/2 tablespoons raw honey • 2 tablespoons corn syrup • 2 teaspoons baking soda For the apples: • 3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced into 1/2-

inch cubes • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar • 1/4 cup raw honey • Splash of bourbon (optional) • Pinch of salt To make the custard, in a medium saucepan over medium, bring the heavy cream, milk, milk powder and half of the sugar to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining half of the sugar. Whisk in 1/3 of the hot cream mixture, then pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan. Place the saucepan back on low heat and stir until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 170 F). Remove from the heat, stir in vanilla and salt, then strain into a heat-safe container. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. www.canadianinquirer.net

To make the honeycomb candy, line a large baking sheet with kitchen parchment.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, honey and corn syrup. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain an enthusiastic simmer and cook until the mixture registers 296 F on a candy thermometer. Remove the pan from the heat and gently sprinkle in the baking soda. It will start to double and triple in volume. Don’t be alarmed!

Pour onto the prepared baking sheet and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.

Break the candy into pieces, then put them in a large zipclose plastic bag. Bash the candy with a rolling pin until you get small pieces, about the size of granola. Store in the freezer.

To make the honeyed apples, in a small saucepan over medium-high, bring the apples, sugar and honey to a boil. Cook the apples until softened but not mushy, about 10 minutes.

Add the bourbon, if using, and salt. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

To churn the ice cream, set up your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to churn the custard.

Spoon the ice cream into a container. Fold in half of the honeycomb candy and the apples until evenly distributed. Spoon into bowls or cups, then offer remaining candy to sprinkle over the tops. ■ Food Network star Aarti Sequeira is the author of “Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul.” She blogs at www.

AartiPaarti.com.

Seen & Scenes: Vancouver

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

MHHS-BANGLADESH MOA SIGNING A partnership to help immigrants and newcomers prepare for successful settlement and integration in Canada was forged between Tom Avendano, president & CEO of Multicultural Helping House Society and Dr. Abu Ali, president of Greater Vancouver Bangladesh Cultural Association.

FUN GOLF NATIONAL HEROES' DAY PhilVets pageant participants (front row from L) Giovanni Pasqua, Juanita Santos, Lulu Watson, Mirasol Kahila, Perlita Agsaoay (standing from L) Janita Lamothe, Prosing Costiniano, Debit Garcia, Norie Constantino, Severa Mengua, Daring Baosafra, Cora Inniger, Ligaya Garcia, Genie Laotao, Ligaya Vesita (queen), Jojo Quimpo, Lina Doneza, Nene Linsangan, Daria David, Jovita Alviar, Nene Gimena, Medy Evangelista, Rose Tedie, Josie Garcia, Paoita de la Rosa, Pur Asperin and Caridad Villanueva.

The UP Alumni Association in B.C. raised funds for the Iskolar ng Bayan by holding a fun golf tournament at Rob Cordero’s Sunshine Woods Golf Centre on Sept. 5. The event was organized by the dynamic duo Tony and Anita Aytona (Photos by Anita Aytona).

FIESTA FILIPINO Calgary’s first Fiesta Filipino attracted about 8,000 visitors despite the heavy rains. The event drew in over 500 volunteers and was attended by representatives from the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver, politicians and performers including TFC star Matteo Guidicelli. (Photos from Fiesta Filipino 2015).

PhilVets guests of honor (from L) Celyna Sherst, Ching Hipol, Romy Mercado, Vice Consul Charmaine Guevarra, Fernando Salanga, Perla de Peralta and Felipa Garcia.

Vice Consul Charmaine Guevarra, Carolina Dublanko, Philvets Queen 2014, Queen Ligaya, Fernando P. Salanga, Philvets President & Jojo Quimpo

SPORTSFEST The Fort McMurray Hive showcased traditional games for the younger generation and the rest of the community to enjoy at the Filipino Family Sportsfest held recently at Borealis Park, Fort McMurray (Photos by Angel White).

www.canadianinquirer.net

45

46

Seen and Scenes: Toronto

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

FRIDAY

DIGNITARIES GRACE THE TASTE OF MANILA FEST As over 200,000 visitors gathered at the Taste of Manila food festival in Toronto’s Bathurst and Wilson neighborhood, a flock of dignitaries graced the event to greet the community and chat on the set of PMNTV’s taping of Cloud Patrol. Headliner and crowd magnet, Jericho Rosales flew in from the Philippines to entertain his loyal fans. In his interview with PMNTV, he shared some advice for young aspiring performers in the community looking to try their luck in showbiz. For Jericho’s interview visit www. pmntv.ca.

Sam Herrera, Paul Valdez, Michelle Chermaine, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Ophelia Valdez and Melo Villanueva on the PMNTV set at the Taste of Manila

PMNTV host Michelle Chermaine (far left) and producer Ophelia Valdez (far right) with Philippine Ambassador Leslie Gatan and Mrs. Debbie Gatan who came all the way from New Jersey to attend the festival.

PMNTV host Michelle Chermaine with Jericho Rosales. In his interview, Jericho shared some words of encouragement and advice for aspiring young performers.

CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION

PMNTV host Michelle Chermaine, Consul General Rosalita Prospero, Ambassador Petronila Garcia, PMNTV host Ruchi Kumar and producer Ophelia Valdez on the PMNTV set at the Taste of Manila

PMNTV host Michelle Chermaine interviews former Toronto police chief and Scarborough Southwest Liberal MP candidate Bill Blair on the PMNTV set at the Taste of Manila with producer Ophelia Valdez.

PMNTV host Michelle Chermaine, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, PMNTV host Ruchi Kumar and producer Ophelia Valdez.

Kathleen Wynne joined the festivities wearing a traditional turquoise Filipino kimona.

LANG-AY FEST Members of the Mountain Province Associations celebrated their rich cultural heritage during the Lang-Ay Festival 2015 at Earle Bales Park in Toronto, on Sept. 5. The event was organized by Cleofe Wadasen (Photos by Amelia Insigne).

The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto booth at the recent Canadian National Exhibition (Photos from Ludy Manalo’s FB).

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

Food

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

47

RECIPES

Lamb Chops with Warm Caesar Salad

BY AARTI SEQUEIRA The Associated Press THIS RECIPE is a template for topping sauteed steaks or chops of most any kind with a wilted salad, a splendid dish for a late summer dinner.

Mostly, I’m taking my cues here from the Italians. In Florence, they like to pep up their grilled steaks with a drizzle of olive and a spritz of lemon, which cuts through the meat’s fattiness. Then there’s veal Milanese, a breaded chop with a salad on top. But the latter dish doesn’t marry the salad dressing to the chops, as I do here, and my chop isn’t breaded. Also, Caesar dressing is rooted in Mexico, not Italy. All of which is to say I guess my inspirations were pretty diverse.

How to marry the meat to the salad?

By taking advantage of the concentrated bits of reduced meat juices at the bottom of the pan, as well as the juices from the resting chops after they have been cooked. It’s then that the salad’s flavours — anchovies, garlic and shallots — are added to the skillet, followed by chicken broth, lemon juice and olive oil.

As noted, these are basically the ingredients for a Caesar dressing with a little chicken broth added. (The broth amps up the meat flavour while cutting down on the need for more olive oil.)

If the very thought of anchovies sends you screaming for the exit, steel yourself and add them to the recipe as called for. Try it that way just once. You assume that the little devils are going to overwhelm the dish, adding nothing but fishiness. Not true. In this context, the anchovies are surprisingly modest; they provide salt and depth of flavour, but no obvious fishiness.

As for the greens, feel free to experiment. If you prefer them to be more crispy and less wilted, don’t add them to the pan; just toss them with the warm dressing.

Finally, I have called for lamb shoulder chops because they’re more affordable than rib or loin chops. They’re every bit as tasty as the pricier chops, even

SHUTTERSTOCK

if they’re also marginally chewier. Of course, if you feel like splurging, reach for the more expensive cuts. And know that this recipe works just as well with steak, pork chops and chicken on the bone as it does with lamb chops.

LAMB CHOPS WITH WARM CAESAR SALAD

Start to finish: 35 minutes (15 minutes active) Servings: 4 • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided • Four 1/2-inch-thick lamb shoulder or round bone chops • Kosher salt and ground black pepper • 4 anchovy fillets, chopped • 2 tablespoons minced shallots • 1 teaspoon minced garlic • 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 4 cups chopped escarole, dandelion greens (tough stems removed) or romaine • 1 ounce shaved Parmesan cheese In a large skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Reduce the heat to medium and add 2 of the lamb chops, sprinkled with salt and pepper.

Cook until lightly browned on both sides, 5 to 6 minutes total for mediumrare. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining 2 chops in the oil remaining in the pan.

Return the skillet to the heat and reduce to medium-low. Add 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil, the anchovies, shallots and garlic, then cook, stirring, for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the broth and lemon juice and cook, scraping up the brown

Samsung, others... ❰❰ 41

Android.

Apple

Despite its late start, Apple Watch has been the one to beat in terms of design, functionality and app selection. Its 18 hours of battery life is still short of what others promise, though. The new Gear S2, for instance, promises two to three days on a single charge.

Some of the Apple Watch’s limitations will be addressed with a free software update this fall. With that, it will be possible for outside companies to write games and other apps that won’t need a phone nearby. Apps will also be able to interact directly with sensors on Apple Watch — permitting apps that analyze golf swings, for instance.

Requirements: You need an iPhone. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

bits on the bottom, for 1 minute. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, the greens, and a hefty pinch each of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until the greens are slightly wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the juices from the resting lamb and remove from the heat.

To serve, transfer the chops to each of 4 plates and top each chop with a quarter of the dressed wilted greens and the cheese. ■ Sara Moulton was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years, and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows. She currently stars in public television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals” and has written three cookbooks, including “Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners.”

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SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS Every week, the Philippine Canadian Inquirer celebrates the unwavering Filipino spirit through a feature called “Filipino-Canadian in Focus.”

The feature recognizes the achievements of Filipinos living in Canada who have shown concern for the community, success in spite of trials, and the uniquely Pinoy practice of “bayanihan.”

This year, we are welcoming nominations for the next subject of “Filipino-Canadian in Focus.”

MECHANICS: - All nominees must have (a) Filipino heritage/ancestry - All nominees must be residing in Canada at the time of nomination - Nominees from all industries are welcome (e.g. medical/health, politics, community service, business, entertainment, charity institutions, etc.)

- Who can nominate? Anybody.

Fill up the nomination form online by scanning the code with your smartphone or by visiting InFocus.canadianinquirer.net.

www.canadianinquirer.net

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