Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #93

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DECEMBER 6, 2013

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Pacman vs. Taxman

JPE breaks silence, hits Miriam in speech

Fil-Canadians launch Learning Center on Wheels

Filipino-Canadian in Focus: Dr. Mark Casafrancisco

Holiday parties!

Envoy says China has right to establish air defence zone in another disputed region

BY JIM GOMEZ The Associated Press

FEELING THE PAIN ARTIST WITH A BIG HEART. Fil-Am singer and songwriter apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas feels the pain of those who lost loved ones, homes and

livelihoods as he surveys the damage wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Tacloban City.

PHOTO BY RAFFY LERMA

2 P-Noy allies on pork list 34, including 7 ex-solons, tagged for prosecution

BY JEROME ANING, GIL C. CABACUNGAN AND NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer TWO HIGH-RANKING Aquino administration officials are in the second batch of 34 individuals that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended for prosecution for alleged involvement in the P10-billion pork

barrel scam allegedly masterminded by detained businesswoman Janet LimNapoles.

Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon and Zenaida Cruz-Ducut, the chair of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), were among those charged yesterday in the Office of the Ombudsman, along with Napoles and 26 others, including several former mem-

❱❱ PAGE 14 Envoy says

Bonifacio pushed as nat’l hero ❱❱ PAGE 14

❱❱ PAGE 12 2 P-Noy

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—China has a sovereign right to establish a maritime air defence zone over another region as it did in the East China Sea, the Chinese envoy to the Philippines said.

The United States and key Asian allies have not honoured the East China Sea zone, which was announced Nov. 23 and is seen primarily as a bid to bolster China’s claim over uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The

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Philippine News

3 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

Pacman vs Taxman BIR: Manny misdeclared ‘09 income

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer WORLD BOXING superstar Manny Pacquiao “technically misdeclared” his income in 2009 when he stated in his tax return that he earned only less than P50 million in the Philippines and when he failed to include his earnings from his two fights in the United States that year, Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said.

His gross income should have been closer or even more than P1 billion, Henares said as she defended her agency from public criticisms, especially those hurled by his camp, after it froze his bank accounts for failing to settle P2.2 billion in tax deficiencies.

The head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) stopped short of confirming that Pacquiao, one of the world’s richest athletes, could later be held liable for tax evasion and left the door open for him if he wanted to talk about his tax problems with the agency.

When he returned to his hometown in General Santos City after a convincing victory over American Brandon Rios in a welterweight match in Macau, Pacquiao has protested the BIR’s move to freeze his bank accounts pending his submission of proof that he had already paid taxes from his earnings in the United States in 2009.

Pacquiao, who is also the Sarangani representative and the country’s richest lawmaker, has insisted he had given to the BIR copies of tax returns submitted to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to show that he paid his income taxes. His promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, has supported his claim.

Reached by the INQUIRER for comment in General Santos last night, Pacquiao said he was not hiding or running away from his responsibility involving his taxes. He expressed confidence that the issue would be settled soon.

In a news conference at the Department of Justice, where she files tax evasion cases every twomonths under the RATE (Run Against Tax Evaders) program of her agency, Henares said she wanted to clarify the BIR’s issue with Pacquiao, considering the “drama” and the “endless exchanges” between them.

‘Much leeway’

Contrary to what the “people’s champ” was saying that the Aquino administration was singling him out, Henares stressed that the bureau had actually given him “much leeway” in dealing with his tax woes.

On his public outbursts, Pacquiao said he was just replying to what was published and denied he started the media war. He said he would stop discussing

the issue and let his lawyers and accountants do their jobs.

Henares disclosed that the BIR started to investigate and audit Pacquiao in late 2010 until early 2011 after an “abrupt” drop in his ranking among the country’s top taxpayers. From 2006 to 2008, Pacquiao was in the top 10 percent of highest taxpayers but he slid to the top 30 percent in 2009, she said.

When the BIR audited him for his 2008 and 2009 income tax returns (ITRs), Pacquiao did not submit any documents, thus prompting the agency to subpoena him. He responded by executing an affidavit declaring his US income and tax payment in his 2008 ITR but without any supporting documents.

In that instance, Henares said the BIR did not become strict in asking documentation and allowed him to claim tax deductions.

No documentation

But when Pacquiao claimed tax deductions for expenses, he was unable to provide documentation, she said. The BIR then assessed that he had P769 million in tax obligations, including valueadded tax.

On his 2009 ITR, Henares said Pacquiao did not declare any US income but only less than P50 million earned in the Philippines, thus the “underdeclaration.”

The agency computed his tax obligations for 2009 at P1.433 billion based on his income in the United States from “public information” on his bouts there and shares from pay-per-view and online ticket purchases, as well as endorsements.

“Despite having not declared his US income, we still gave him the opportunity for two years to prove he paid taxes for that. Actually, it’s too late for him tomake this declaration because it was not in his ITR … But out of respect for him, we asked him to give us his IRS copy,” Henares told reporters.

This copy should be original and certified, she added, noting that this has always been the practice.

Final notice

She said the BIR issued a notice of assessment of Pacquiao’s tax obligations in May this year. Because Pacquiao’s camp did not protest this, the notice became final in June.

On July 1, the BIR issued a warrant of levy and distraint to 35 entities. Pacquiao went to the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) to seek a review of the BIR assessment and seek the lifting of the warrant.

Pacquiao’s move to go to the CTA to file a case against the BIR in August showed that he was aware of the warrant, according to Henares. She scoffed

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“If you’re a celebrity, you cannot hide your income because it’s seen by the whole world,” Henares said, stressing that the law was made for everyone and should be applied to everyone.

The BIR, she said, was just doing its job in enforcing the law by collecting taxes so that the government could spend money for programs.

Asked whether his technical misdeclaration of his 2009 incomemade

him liable for tax evasion, Henares declined to comment.

“I don’t want to talk about what would happen in the future. As far as I am concerned, we are just collecting taxes.

Please pay us so we don’t have to go to the next decision point,” she said.

If Pacquiao pays his tax obligations within six months as stated by law, the BIR will lift the warrant of levy and distraint, she added.

Henares said she had not issued more warrants after the CTA came up with a “status quo ante” order. The court scheduled a hearing on Dec. 5. ■

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Philippine News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 4

P-Noy seeks more rehab funds

BY NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT AQUINO will ask Congress to amend the 2014 national budget to provide funds for the rehabilitation of provinces hit by disasters this year.

In an interview with the INQUIRER, Mr. Aquino said the government did not have all the money it needed for the massive rehabilitation effort to repair the damage wrought

by Typhoon “Santi,” the attack

by Moro rebels on Zamboanga City, the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol and Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“There are funding sources and it will have an impact on our budget next year. That is why I will ask Congress to amend the budget,” Mr. Aquino said.

The President declined to give a “ballpark figure” to estimate the rehabilitation cost.

“We have to be as realistic and accurate as possible [than just give] an estimate,” he said, adding that he wanted a thorough

work of determining the cost of the effort.

Senate passes budget

The Senate passed on second and third reading its version of the 2014 budget, approving P2.26 trillion in government spending, including P100 billion for the reconstruction of the provinces destroyed by the earthquake and Yolanda.

Explaining the P100- billion reconstruction fund, Sen. Francis Escudero, head of the Senate committee on finance, said P20 billion was carved out of the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund in the programmed funds, while P80 billion came from the items on infrastructure, debt management and risk management in the unprogrammed funds.

The Senate version of the budget is P3.2 billion less than the version transmitted by the House of Representatives, as the Senate deleted the pork barrel allocations for Vice President Jejomar Binay and 15 senators.

Staggering task

Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), which flattened entire communities in central Philippines and left at least 5,200 people dead on Nov. 8, is this year’s biggest disaster, and the government faces the staggering task of sustaining the provision of relief to hundreds of thousands of survivors as well as rebuilding the heavily devastated provinces.

Natural and man- made disasters struck almost every month in different parts of the country this year, killing thousands, and wiping out homes, livelihood, utilities and infrastructure.

The President acknowledged the help the Philippines had been receiving from all over the world.

He said he would likely take up the offer of a number of foreign leaders who had called him to say they were willing to help in the rehabilitation of the provinces destroyed by Yolanda.

“I want to give them the [accurate] figures. We also want to

avoid donor fatigue,” Mr. Aquino said.

Rehab plan

The President said he would address the nation again this week to speak about the government’s rehabilitation plan.

He said he expected the Cabinet-level task force to present to him today the comprehensive rehabilitation plan.

But the master plan that would include the rehabilitation of other disaster-stricken areas would take a month to complete, the President said The master plan would, among other things, include legitimate land ownership for informal settlers who lost their homes and identifying opportunities, livelihood, and environmental considerations, he said.

Mr. Aquino said millions of families were affected by the calamities that came one after the other.

“We want to give them back their lives and perhaps something better than what they used to have,” Mr. Aquino said.

The President will meet his

Cabinet today for a discussion of the government’s response to Yolanda, according to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Speaking to reporters, De Lima said she had postponed her meetings with science and disaster officials to attend the Cabinet meeting.

Death toll probe

She said she would meet officials from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) tomorrow for a discussion of an approach to the investigation of the “extraordinary” death toll from Yolanda in certain provinces.

The NDRRMC initially estimated the death toll at 2,0002,500, a figure that Mr. Aquino mentioned in an interview with CNN. But local officials estimated that up to 10,000 might have been killed, a figure that the United Nations and other international groups said they believed could be low. ■

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Philippine News

5 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

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Philippine News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 6

Typhoon rehab to cost P130B

BY TJ BURGONIO, LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND MICHELLE B. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer REBUILDING THE areas ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” and other natural calamities will cost the government a whopping P130 billion and the operation could even last beyond the end of President Aquino’s term of office, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad Jr. said.

“If you look at the experience of Aceh, Haiti, Japan, this whole process of rehabilitation and reconstruction will take years to undertake so therefore I think by the time we are able to consume all that money, you will be moving to another year of operation,” Abad said.

But with the outpouring of aid from foreign governments, the government intends to tap concessional loans to partly cover the huge cost of rehabilitation, he said.

Moving forward

“We at least will have P130

billion moving forward,” Abad told reporters after the Senate hearing yesterday on the proposed P14.6-billion supplemental budget and congressional authorization for the utilization up to the end of 2014 of P20.8 billion in calamity funds, quick response funds and other unobligated allotments for 2013.

President Aquino has certified as urgent these two measures that seek to infuse fresh funds into the rehabilitation of areas devastated not just by Supertyphoon Yolanda but by other recent calamities.

The House appropriations committee approved the measures on Wednesday, and these will be tackled on the floor next week.

The Senate finance committee approved both proposals.

No waiting period

With the President’s certification, Congress no longer has to observe the three-day waiting period between the secondand third-reading vote.

Abad explained that the P130billion estimated rehabilitation budget would be partly

covered by a P100-billion rehabilitation fund introduced by the Senate in the P2.268trillion 2014 budget, broken down into P80-billion unprogrammed funds and P20-billion programmed funds.

The P80-billion unprogrammed funds will be sourced from concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank which has committed $500million, and $900 million from the World Bank, among others, he said.

The balance of P80 billion will come from concessional loans, such as from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and other multilateral agencies, he said.

Most pressing need

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) meanwhile has pegged the cost of the initial relief and reconstruction plan for the Yolandaravaged areas at P38.8 billion.

The amount covers immediate andmost-pressing needs for relief and rehabilitation of the hardest hit areas, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ar-

www.canadianinquirer.net

The rebuilding will cost the government a whopping P130 billion and the operation could even last beyond the term of President Aquino.

PHOTO FROM MALACANANG PHOTO BUREAU

senio Balisacan said at a press briefing yesterday.

He stressed, however, that the amount could change as relevant data, such as on the number of families affected as well as their urgent needs, are still coming in.

“It is important to complete these critical actions as soon as possible. Otherwise, the already adverse impact of the disaster on poor families could be permanent and intergenerational, especially for families with children deprived of health and education services,” Balisacan said.

He said the master plan for immediate relief and reconstruction would be done over a period of one year.

Balisacan, who is also Neda director general, said that once the short-term master plan

for relief and reconstruction is rolled out, the government would release a medium- to long-term master plan that will include reconstruction of public infrastructure.

Included in the short-term master plan are construction of shelter for families who used to live in danger zones, financial assistance for the purchase of housing materials for other affected families, cash-for-work program for people who lost their livelihood, seedlings and other assistance to farmers and fishermen, and repair of damaged public schools, hospitals, government offices and public market.

The cash-for-work program involves the hiring of affected people in reconstruction activities in order to give them temporary replacement income. ■

Philippine News

7 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

COA received P143M in DAP funds last year

Damage to power co-ops: P5B

BY NORMAN BORDADORA Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY AMY R. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer

DOES BUDGET Secretary Florencio Abad’s “quick-moving projects” include fast cars and faster computers for state auditors?

The Commission on Audit (COA) in 2012 received P143.7 million from the Aquino administration’s controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to buy its officials new cars, acquire computers and hire consultants, Audit Chair Grace Pulido-Tan told the Senate.

Tan made the disclosure as the Senate allowed the COA chief to directly answer the questions posed by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada during the late night deliberations on the agency’s P7.97-billion share in the P2.26trillion national budget for 2014.

It was the second time Estrada grilled Tan during the budget deliberations—the first was during one of the hearings of the Senate committee on finance—as the COA’s special audit on the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, pointed to the opposition senator as one of the lawmakers whose fund entitlements went to dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

The DAP came to light after Estrada disclosed in a privilege speech that senator-judges, who convicted Chief Justice Renato Corona in May 2012 at his impeachment trial, received P50 million each in lump-sum allocations.

Estrada, who was subsequently charged with plunder in the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly pocketing huge amounts of his PDAF, insinuated that Malacañang had offered the additional allocations as an incentive to convict Corona.

Abad later explained that the additional lump-sum allocations came from the previously unknown DAP, a mechanism that impounds unused funds of agencies, to help pump-prime the economy. It turned out that a few senators got P100 million

from the DAP. “It appears one of the quickmoving projects referred to by [Budget] Secretary [Florencio] Abad is the purchase of cars. Is that correct? Is my interpretation correct?” Estrada asked Tan. Tan keeps mum

Tan, a lawyer, kept from making any comment as the DAP’s constitutionality was pending in the Supreme Court.

“Sir, I think the rationale for the DAP is precisely at issue in the Supreme Court. So Iwould like to decline to comment on that,” Tan said.

Several groups have questioned the constitutionality of the DAP and the PDAF in the high court. The tribunal ruled that the PDAF was unconstitutional. It has yet to rule on the DAP. Tan said the COA was allocated P143.7 million from the DAP in 2012.

This amount, she said, was broken down into P68,352,737 for information technology infrastructure; P2,079,900 for closedcircuit television systems; P4,607,000 for legal and management consultants; and P5,115,000 for new cars for its officers.

Officials that were given cars bought with DAP funds were Commissioner Heidi Mendoza and two COA directors, Estrada told reporters in an ambush interview.

Tan said the purchase of her

own service vehicle was funded by the COA’s budget, not by the government’s realigned savings from the DAP. The COA chair indicated that the balance of more than P60 million from the DAP would be used to improve the commission’s IT capabilities. “So this is where we are focusing now because this is what we really need,” Tan said.

“I requested the DBM [for funds] because when I got into COA, we found out that we were behind in terms of computerization,” Tan said when Estrada asked who had requested the executive branch for additional funds.

“Our computers are the type which still used floppy disks and so we needed to modernize in order to carry out our work efficiently and well. We found out the great backlog, so we wanted to hire some consultants. So I did request that,” Tan added.

Request for funds

She said she requested the funds in 2011. “I don’t think there was already a DAP at that time,” Tan said.

“If you ask my opinion madame chair, your agency, COA, cannot be objective in its audit on the propriety and legality of the DAP when the agency itself is a recipient and beneficiary of the DAP even if there is no irregularity in the disbursement of the DAP, and everything was in accordance with the Saro (special allotment release order) issued by the DBM,” Estrada said.

Tan said the COA wasn’t in the business of determining the legality of the DAP. “Sir, with due respect, as to the legality of the DAP as to the releases of the DBM, that is already in the Supreme Court.

We did not raise any issue on the legality. That is for the Supreme Court to decide. What we are auditing, sir, is the utilization of the DAP,” Tan said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

THE DAMAGE wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” on electric cooperatives in Luzon and the Visayas has reached P4.9 billion, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) said.

Based on initial assessments, the NEA said 34 electric cooperatives— in Luzon and 27 in the Visayas—suffered partial to total damage to their distribution lines, substations and subtransmission lines when the Category 5 hurricane slammed the middle of the country on Nov. 8.

Electric coops in Leyte, the hardesthit province, suffered the worst damage with losses topping P3.5 billion. The coops were identified as the Don Orestes Romualdez Electric Cooperative Inc., which incurred damage of P870 million; Leyte V Electric Cooperative Inc., P862 million; Capiz Electric Cooperative Inc., P670 million; Leyte II Electric Cooperative Inc., P661 million, and Leyte III Electric Cooperative Inc., P465 million.

The NEA said it had made calamity loans available to the affected electric coops and has so far disbursed P371 million to 17 coops.

The NEA said, power had been restored in areas covered by the Masbate Electric Cooperative Inc., VMC Electric Cooperative Inc., Bohol I Electric Cooperative Inc., Bohol II Electric Cooperative Inc., Cebu II Electric Cooperative Inc., Southern Leyte Electric Cooperative Inc., Leyte IV Electric Cooperative Inc., Samar I

Electric Cooperative Inc. and Northern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. Ready to receive power meanwhile are two towns covered by the Biliran Electric Cooperative Inc., 13 towns under the Samar II Electric Cooperative Inc. and nine towns under the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. Total power restoration is targeted for Dec. 24, or Christmas eve, as vowed by Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla.

In a statement, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said it had completed the restoration of a critical line in the Visayas grid.

“The Marshalling-Tabango 230kilovolt transmission line in the northern part of Leyte island was fully restored and energized at 8:53 p.m. on Nov. 21.

The line, which suffered seven toppled towers, transmits electricity to Leyte from Cebu and energizes the Ormoc substation which serves Leyeco V,” the NGCP said.

The NGCP said it mobilized its resources to facilitate the restoration of damaged transmission lines and substations in the Visayas. It estimated that more than 2,000 structures were damaged by the supertyphoon.

Around 1,400 NGCP line personnel, including contractors from all over the country, are deployed in the Visayas to focus on restoring power.

The NGCP appealed for the public’s cooperation, particularly of landowners, in allowing their line personnel to enter their properties to repair the transmission lines on their land. ■

Workers from first Bukidnon Electric Cooperatives (FIBECO) repair power lines damaged by super typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City (November 26).

PHOTO BY EXEQUIEL SUPERA / PCOO NIB

Philippine News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 8

JPE breaks silence, hits Miriam in speech

BY NORMAN BORDADORA Philippine Daily Inquirer SENATE MINORITY Leader Juan Ponce Enrile broke his silence and fought back weeks after Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago claimed that he was the mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam and that he was the financier of the Zamboanga City siege.

Enrile went all out against his most vocal critic in the Senate, calling Santiago a slew of names from “the grandmama of all falsehood fabricators” to a “peeping Tom.” In a privilege speech that he said was meant to defend his honor and those of his family and the millions who voted him into office, Enrile denied Santiago’s allegations while casting doubt on her integrity, competence and mental health.

Enrile, who is facing plunder charges in the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged misuse of hundreds of millions of pesos of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), dared Santiago to act as “a special prosecutor” in the case filed against him.

Also facing plunder charges in the so-called P10-billion pork barrel scam are Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. Enrile said “only an inane and bitterly hostile mind” could say that he was the “mastermind or brain[s] of the alleged PDAF scandal.”

“Again, all I can say is that this is an outright lie and this is just another of those baseless fabrications against me from a depraved mind,” Enrile told his colleagues.

‘Obsessive hater’

“Perhaps, my obsessive hater should appear as a special prosecutor against me to demonstrate to her admirers her knowledge of the facts of the alleged PDAF scandal and her legal skill as a trial lawyer. I am sure she will experience something she never experienced before,” Enrile added.

Enrile said he was aware that the public was waiting for what he had to say about the pork barrel scam, “but for now, suffice it to say that there will be a time and a more appropriate forum to deal in detail with the

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce-Enrile and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

alleged PDAF scam, and I will give my fullest cooperation to unearth the truth in that alleged scandal.”

Santiago, who hasn’t been attending Senate proceedings due to chronic fatigue, broke her sick leave on Nov. 7 to attend the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing that featured alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

At the hearing, Santiago tried to coax Napoles into squealing on influential politicians she conspired with to steal billions in taxpayer money, lest she be killed by the “murderous” among them.

In a press conference after she questioned Napoles, Santiago referred to Enrile as the master mind of the PDAF scam.

“Whenever an occasion arises, my bitter and obsessive hater habitually flaunts her being a former judge. With a flair for self-praise, she would normally say, ‘as a former judge etc. etc.,’” Enrile said in apparent reference to Santiago, whom he did not refer to by name in his speech.

Before joining the administration of then President Corazon Aquino in the late 1980s, Santiago was a regional trial court judge in Quezon City.

“Well, I am sorry to say that this former judge does not seem to understand the basic meaning of due process. Every law student knows that due process simply means, ‘you hear first the evidence before you condemn,’” Enrile said.

“Now I know why she nearly flunked her bar examination.

A parrot can memorize legal principles but it cannot apply them,” he added.

Santiago to respond

Minutes after Enrile’s privilege speech, Santiago sent word that she would answer “the personal attacks against her.”.

“Santiago is ill with chronic fatigue syndrome and was unable to access her enemy’s privilege speech,” read the media advisory sent to reporters by his staff.

Santiago ordered her staff to get a copy of the Senate journal, which is expected to print in full the Enrile speech, so that she can reply to it.

The Senate went on a brief break after Enrile delivered his privilege speech. Estrada then rose to interpellate Enrile, a colleague in the Senate minority and a political ally.

Christmas bonuses

Estrada asked Enrile about then Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s remarks in early 2013, tagging Santiago a “crusading crook” at the height of the controversy regarding Enrile’s yearend release of maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) funds and Christmas bonuses in late 2012.

Santiago and three other senators with whom Enrile, the then Senate President, does not see eye to eye on matters both professional and personal were given only P250,000 last Christmas and not P1.6 million in additional MOOE that 18 other senators got.

Enrile has insisted that the fund releases were aboveboard.

Lacson, who was the chair of the Senate committee on accounts at that time, defended the release of the additional MOOE to the senators’ offices.

“She rented her own buildwww.canadianinquirer.net

ing as her own office without any public building and I was included in the complaint of Senator Lacson to the Ombudsman,” Enrile said.

“I said ‘Go ahead, include me.’

I really approved the contract. I did not know that building belongs to her,” added Enrile, who was the Senate president when Santiago rented office space in a building she owns.

against the foreign invaders of our country as they fired bullets at me. I do not know if I hit any of those I shot at,” he said.

“But for someone to say with impunity that I killed someone, whether here or anywhere else, or that I am planning anyone’s murder, is the ‘grandmama’ of all falsehood fabricators,” Enrile added.

Long firearm

Cockpit in Pasig

“Second, according to Senator Lacson, and I think that was also published in themedia that she used her PDAF—if I remember correctly the figure mentioned was P200 million— to construct a cockpit in Pasig, which was disguised as a complex,” Enrile said.

“I understand they used a cockpit to hold a derby in Pasig and it’s managed by the husband,” Enrile added.

Enrile also narrated the story of a “palatial house” in Tagaytay City frequented by a senator.

He said the structure stood on two lots with separate titles and separate owners—one Augusto Pineda and “a corporation.”

“By the way, when I said senator, I did not refer to any member of the Senate. That’s what I heard,” Enrile said.

Not murderous

Enrile denied that he was “murderous” in reference to Santiago’s remarks that Napoles could be killed if she didn’t rat on the politicians she supposedly conspired with.

“I never murdered anyone during all of my almost 90 years on this planet. I was in the war during World War II as a freedom fighter. I fired bullets

Enrile also took exception to Santiago’s insinuation that he had with him a bodyguard armed with a rifle whenever he goes to the restroom in the Senate.

“I never realized until that blue ribbon hearing that we have a peeping Tom in this Senate. I never knew that someone was keeping an eye on me even when I go to the most private of places here in this building. It was, after all, supposed to be a private area,” Enrile said.

“I am sure, Mr. President, everyone in this Senate, including the fabricator of that falsehood, knows that what she said was a bald-faced lie,” he added.

He said that since he joined the Senate in 1987, he never allowed his security men to carry any long firearm in the Senate.

Enrile added, “perhaps my obsessive hater is the only one, in all these years, ever so blessed to see someone carrying a long one in the Senate restroom.”

“I do not need a firearm, long or short, to defend myself in a face-to-face combat,” Enrile said, saying that he knows arnis and taekwondo. ❱❱ PAGE 11 JPE breaks

Philippine News

9 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

More plunder cases to be filed

BY NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer PLUNDER OR malversation cases will be filed against more lawmakers in connection with the misuse of public funds using nongovernment organizations (NGOs) controlled by businesswoman Janet LimNapoles and other similar racketeers, according to lawyer Levito Baligod.

“Five more batches of cases of plunder or malversation of non-PDAF funds will be filed against lawmakers who used Napolesand non-Napoles-controlled NGOs,” Baligod, lawyer of the whistle-blowers in the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, told reporters at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters.

The PDAF refers to the Priority Development Assistance Fund, a lump-sum fund that finances pet projects of lawmakers. The Supreme Court recently declared the PDAF unconstitutional.

Baligod said that apart from the original whistle-blowers led

by Benhur Luy, who testified against their former employer, Napoles, three new whistleblowers were willing to come forward.

The new whistle-blowers had executed sworn statements against former and incumbent public officials who were their former bosses.

Baligod said there were lawmakers and local executives who also received kickbacks through funds from “congressional insertions, department budgets and as members of the Commission on Appointments.”

“Based on the records and statements of the whistleblowers, there were also nonPDAF funds that used Napoles and non-Napoles NGOs,” the lawyer said.

He described two of the three whistle-blowers as middle grade government employees and the third one as head of a general services office.

“Apart from their sworn statements, the new whistleblowers also provided several boxes of documents, some of them original copies and some were photocopies of the original,” Baligod added.

Based on the first affidavit of the whistle-blowers, they filed a complaint regarding the anomaly in the Commission on Audit (COA) “but these (what they uncovered) were dismissed and their findings set aside.”

As to the filing of the second set of charges in the Office of the Ombudsman against at least 10 lawmakers for the misuse of their PDAF allocations, it was again deferred, Baligod said.

Among the 10 to be charged are former Representatives Arthur Pingoy of South Cotabato province, Maite Defensor of Quezon City, Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur province and Isidoro Real of Zamboanga del Sur province, according to a list that Baligod earlier provided the INQUIRER. He also said four lawmakers—not six as earlier reported—were not included in the case because they are dead.

“The charges against the lawmakers would be malversation and not plunder because the government funds involved did not reach the threshold for plunder of P50 million,” Baligod earlier told the INQUIRER in an interview.

Malversation is a bailable offense unlike plunder that is nonbailable and is punishable with life imprisonment.

Auditors included

Baligod said the filing of malversation charges against at least 10 lawmakers first scheduled for Wednesday had to be

delayed due to new instructions from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to include COA resident auditors who were assigned to the implementing agencies, like Technology Resource Center (TRC), National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC) and National Agribusiness Corp.

(Nabcor).

“Justice De Lima, who is hands on in the review of the cases, pointed out that resident auditors should be included in the charges in the Ombudsman for their negligence,” Baligod said.

“These auditors have approved liquidation documents knowing well that there was no bidding involved in the projects, which itself is negligence on their part for allowing the misuse of public funds,” he said.

In his affidavit and testimonies at the Senate blue ribbon committee, Luy said the liquidation documents of Napolescontrolled NGOs were mostly forged.

Baligod declined to name the resident auditors but said certifications were being obtained from COA records.

He said that based on the statements of the whistle-blowers, “auditors received 10 percent of the 10-percent kickback of the implementing agency.”

“The whistle-blower did not personally witness delivering or handling money to these auditors unlike some lawmakers and their staff, but they are participants of the scam because they allowed questionable liquidation documents to pass, which sometimes were the basis for the release of the next tranche of cash,” Baligod said.

He said he and the others would request the COA to conduct a special audit of PDAF and non-PDAF allocations for 2004 to 2006 and then those for 2010 to 2012 in preparation for the next set of cases.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Janet Napoles, earlier this year, during the “roundtable” with PDI. PHOTO FROM INQUIRER.NET

First set

The first set of charges was filed by the NBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sept. 16 in the Office of the Ombudsman.

Plunder and other charges were filed against 38 people, including Napoles, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., former Representatives Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, Edgar Valdez, Rodolfo Plaza, Samuel Dangwa and Constantino Jaraula, and their senior staff, department heads and other agency officials for the misuse of the PDAF. On Oct. 3, former President Gloria-Macapagal-Arroyo, three of her Cabinet secretaries and 20 others were also charged with plunder in connection with the alleged theft of P900 million from the Malampaya gas fund meant for storm victims in 2009.

Among those charged in the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged theft of the Malampaya Fund were alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Napoles, her brother Reynald Lim, nephew John Lim and longtime assistant Evelyn de Leon.

Baligod said that like the first set of PDAF cases, the second set would have the NBI and DOJ use as evidence the testimonies and documentary evidence submitted by the whistle-blowers, who are former employees of Napoles, led by principal witness Luy. Others on the charge sheet were Jessica Lucila Reyes, Enrile’s former chief of staff; Richard Cambe, Revilla’s senior staffmember; Ruby Tuason, Enrile and Estrada’s liaison officer; Pauline Labayen, Estrada’s former appointments secretary; Jose Sumalpong, Lanete’s chief of staff; Jeanette de la Cruz, Lanete’s district staff member; Erwin Dangwa, former Representative Dangwa’s chief of staff, and Carlos Lozada, Dangwa’s staffmember.

The former heads of government corporations charged were Alan Javellana, former president of Nabcor; Gondelina Amata, president of NLDC; Antonio Ortiz, former director general of TRC; Dennis Cunanan, former deputy director general and now director general of TRC, and Salvador Salacup, former head of ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 10

Court orders freeze on assets of 4 ex-solons in pork scam

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer THE COURT of Appeals has ordered a freeze on the bank accounts and assets of four former congressmen and six chiefs of staff or representatives of lawmakers, led by Jessica Lucila “Gigi” G. Reyes and Ruby Chan Tuason who allegedly acted as agents for Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, for their complicity in the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam believed to be masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles. The four members of the House of Representatives are Rodolfo G. Plaza of Agusan del Sur, Samuel M. Dangwa of Benguet, Constantino G. Jaraula of Cagayan de Oro, and Edgar de Leon Valdez of the Apec party-list group.

The six individuals were Reyes (who resigned as Enrile’s chief of staff early this year), Tuason (who represented both Enrile and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada), Richard Cambe (chief of

staff of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.), Pauline Therese Mary A. Labayen (a staff member of Estrada), Jose “Joy” R. Sumalpong (chief of staff of Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete), and Erwin C. Dangwa (son and chief of staff of former Benguet Rep. Samuel M. Dangwa).

The INQUIRER obtained a copy of the notice of resolution from the appellate court which was distributed to banks and financial institutions where the 10 were believed to have kept part of their assets.

In August, the Court of Appeals issued a six-month freeze order on 344 bank accounts, 66 insurance policies and five credit card accounts held by Napoles, her family and relatives, her employees at JLN Corp. and her dubious nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

The banks that received the court order immediately sent out a memo to all their branches, directing them to submit all accounts of the 10 people (both live and dormant), including

the outstanding balance, type of monetary instrument or property, and additional information related or materially linked accounts.

The branch officers were also asked to report the historical movement of these accounts, specifically the source of funds and the recipients of the withdrawals and transfers.

Linked accounts are defined under Republic Act No. 9194, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as those belonging to the same person (whether singly or jointly); his or her “in trust for” (ITF) accounts and corporate accounts where he or she is a major stockholder.

Accounts of his or her immediate family or household members if the amount or value involved is not commensurate with the business or financial capacity of the said family or household member; and shares or units in any investment accounts and/or pooled funds.

The four former lawmakers and the six individuals were

among the 38 people the National Bureau of Investigation charged with either plunder, malversation and direct bribery or graft in the Office of the Ombudsman in September in connection with the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Among those charged were Enrile, Estrada, Revilla and Napoles.

The NBI and whistle-blowers, former employees of Napoles, said the lawmakers channeled their pork barrel,

the Priority Development Assistance Fund, into dubious NGOs that Napoles had set up to facilitate kickbacks.

Principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy, a cousin of Napoles, testified at the Senate blue ribbon committee two months ago that lawmakers pocketed up to 50 percent of the supposed cost of a ghost project.

Napoles got 40 percent and government contacts, 10 percent, according to Luy. ■

Awaiting justice, massacre widow endures hard life in HK

BY PHILIP C. TUBEZA Philippine Daily Inquirer HONG KONG—To get to their flat, one has to climb several floors on a grimy staircase.

The single-room apartment is small—a little over 100 square feet—and has a window but it is covered. The bathroom doubles as the kitchen and the ironing board doubles as the dining table.

The shower works but the heater is broken. Temperatures are expected to drop here to 14 degrees Celsius.

“Sometimes in the morning, my daughter would shout ‘it’s so cold!’ while taking a shower before going to school,” said Myrna Reblando.

Then she holds up her hands, weathered from all the washing of their clothes in rushing coldwater. The washing machine is tucked inside the bathroom but the water pipe to it is broken.

Maguindanao massacre

Such is the life of the widow of

one of the 32 journalists killed in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, which also left 26 other people dead.

Fearing for her safety, Reblando, the widow of Manila Bulletin correspondent Bong Reblando, fled to Hong Kong with her youngest daughter in May 2011 and applied for asylum with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

She also filed torture claims with the Hong Kong Immigration Department, asserting that her life would be in danger if she returned to the Philippines.

The immigration department rejected her claim in April but Reblando has filed an appeal.

“I think my appeal has a good chance of succeeding. Lawyers handling asylum cases here would drop their clients if they saw that there was no more hope,” Reblando said.

“Mine told me, ‘why do you think I haven’t dropped your case?’ It’s because I’m telling the truth,” she said.

Mother and daughter share the small bed and have to be careful not to make a splash when taking a shower.

“We hang our laundry in the bathroom and it takes almost five days to dry, so we have to be careful when we douse ourselves with water,” she said.

“I also have to place some pillows on the side of the bed to extend it a bit. It seems that we always have a cough. I’ve lost 15 kilos since we came here,” she said.

Support group Myrna Reblando PHOTO FROM INQUIRER.NET

Tiny flat

Reblando has decided to continue her fight for justice for her husband from Hong Kong, where daughter Julia is continuing her studies in a public school.

Myrna and Julia live in the tiny flat with the support of the Hong Kong government and non-government organizations. www.canadianinquirer.net

“As I told you, once you walk in, you see everything. This (room) is our bedroom and our sala. This is everything,” she said.

“The heater does not work so even if the water is so cold I have to continue washing. I stop when I feel numb. I run back to bed and cover myself with blankets,” she said.

The Hong Kong government and support groups provide for their food, water and rent of HK$2,400 (around P13,500) for the flat.

“I cannot complain because everything you see here, from the shampoo to the perfume, they were all given by (the support group) Christian Action,” she said.

“Even our food, those fruits ❱❱ PAGE 13 Awaiting justice

Philippine News

11 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

JPE breaks... ❰❰ 8

‘Psychotic paranoia’

“Besides, unlike some persons familiar to me, I do not think I suffer from any kind of schizophrenic or psychotic paranoia to be that paranoid to need someone with a firearm to visit a restroom, especially in this Senate,” Enrile said.

“Maybe what my obsessive hater mistook for a long firearm, Mr. President, was a tiny gadget that I bring with me to scratch my back when it itches and to strike down a mischievous langaw when I encounter one along the way,” he added.

Enrile said Santiago’s charge that he funded the Zamboanga City siege only showed her propensity for lying. “This senator is too much. She’s engaging in character assassination,” Enrile said.

Enrile said he was in his home province in Cagayan and didn’t know about the violence in Zamboanga City when it started, referring to the attack by hundreds of followers of Nur Misuari, former Moro National Liberation Front chair, who is protesting the proposed peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which broke away from the MNLF years ago.

Origin of animosity

Enrile said Santiago’s “deepseated animosity” must have been caused by his opposition to her appointment as secretary of agrarian reform during the first Aquino administration and his refusal to include her in the Senate majority when he became Senate President in 2008 and in 2010.

“During the hearing of the Commission on Appointments on her confirmation as secretary of agrarian reform, testing the suitability and qualifications of the nominee then, I asked her if she was ever under the care of a psychiatrist. She admitted that she was. She said that she was treated by a psychiatrist at the Makati Medical Center,” Enrile said.

Bar exam grade

Enrile said that in the same Commission on Appointments (CA) committee deliberation, he also asked what grade she got in her bar examination.

“She replied that she got 76 percent. That meant that she obtained low grades in all her

bar subjects. In fact, I remember that she got a grade of 56 percent in Ethics, the easiest bar examination subject,” Enrile said.

Enrile said that he also brought out during the CA hearings the issue of the Toyota Celica that she allegedly used and refused to return to a bank executive who supposedly was the rightful owner.

“As a consequence of my opposition, and among other concerns taken into consideration, the Committee on Agrarian Reform of the Commission on Appointments voted to reject her appointment as secretary of agrarian reform,” Enrile said.

Enrile said Santiago shunned him in 2008 before he became Senate President.

“I tried to reach her before I was voted as Senate President. She refused to answer my phone calls. She even denied my request for just five minutes to see her at her residence,” Enrile said.

“Initially, she was not part of the new majority then and, consequently, she was not assigned any committee to chair. Eventually, however, I relented and assigned to her two major committees upon the intervention of then Senator Mar Roxas,” Enrile added.

Enrile said that in 2010 when he was again elected Senate President, Sen. Manuel Villar “pleaded with me to join him and the senator with her husband in [a] dinner.”

“During the dinner, the senadora and her husband profusely made their amends to me. Because of Manny Villar, Tito Sotto, and Greg Honasan, I accepted her and her husband’s insincere apologies and took her in into the new majority,” Enrile said.

Enrile said he assigned to Santiago the committee on constitutional amendments and revision of laws, “the only remaining unassigned committee at that time.”

But Enrile said Santiago wanted to retain her former committees that had oversight committees with separate and large budgets.

“Obviously, she wanted a large pile of money at her disposal. But I could not satisfy her desire because the two committees had already been assigned to two other equally capable senators,” Enrile said. ■

US lawmakers vow more aid for typhoon survivors

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer CONCERNED ABOUT an “impending health crisis” in typhoon-ravaged Eastern Visayas, American lawmakers who saw the devastation firsthand in Tacloban City vowed to push for greater aid funding for the Philippines’ disaster response upon their return to Washington.

The British government, too, has

promised to provide sustained support for the Philippines as the country begins to rebuild stormdevastated Eastern Visayas.

British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad said that the British government is ready to boost its assistance to the Philippines and it is only waiting to receive Manila’s detailed reconstruction plan.

“We are prepared financially, and in attitude, and in our determination to do what is necessary to restore livelihoods and a more sustainable future,” Ahmad said.

“But we want to wait until the Philippine government [tomorrow] signals clear areas of focus,” he said. “That would give us a clear green signal as to where international assistance is going to be most effective.”

INQUIRER in an interview at the US Embassy in Manila.

“We came as advocates, we leave as advocates to make sure the hard work of getting the requisite amount of money and support is sustainable. We can’t guarantee success, but we will certainly try,” said Smith, who headed the bipartisan US congressional delegation on a four day visit here.

Smith, chair of the US House subcommitee on global health and human rights, said his group would mount their Philippine mission in a hearing on Dec. 3 and “we’re going to be looking for every way to support what’s being done here.”

The group will press greater aid to the Philippines despite other prevailing funding priorities—global response to the Syrian crisis is taking much of the pie for instance, said Smith—and while the American public is dealing with problems at home, most recently the Midwest tornadoes that hit less than two weeks after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: “Haiyan”) flattened entire communities in central Philippines on Nov. 8.

Bipartisan team

Republican Representatives Christopher Smith (4th District, New Jersey) and Trent Franks (8thDistrict, Arizona) and Democratic Rep. Al Green (9th District, Texas) promised to rally the Philippines’ cause in the US Congress and “get both sides of the aisle” to ensure sustained funding for increasing needs in the disaster area.

“This is a marathon more than a sprint,” Smith told the www.canadianinquirer.net

Congressional hearing

“We’ll make a report, have a hearing, which hopefully will garner some additional support. We’ll lay out exactly what the needs are. [We will then] make a report to the appropriations committee. We will physically exert an effort to get both sides of the aisle that this has to be adequately funded,” Smith said.

The United States is among

the largest foreign donors to the typhoon relief effort, providing $51.857 million in aid by far through the US Agency for International Development (Usaid) and theUS Department of Defense.

The US military has solved the relief effort’s logistical woes, with its ships and aircraft conveying much needed supplies to typhoon-ravaged villages, including those that remained isolated for days after the storm.

Smith, whose group traveled to Tacloban and met with the US team and other aid organizations, was particularly concerned about “another pending crisis”—an epidemic of diseases, including dengue and even cholera, borne by unsanitary conditions.

“Dengue is a big probability within the next two weeks, and there are other diseases that loom.... The fear is that, just like in (earthquake-hit) Haiti and in other crises around the world, second and third shoes (assistance) would need to come particularly in terms of epidemics,” Smith said.

“If an epidemic occurs, like dengue and others, you know the need for antibiotics and other kinds of interventions is going to be huge,” he said.

‘Harbinger of disease’

Smith called attention to remaining debris in much of Tacloban, referring to it as a “harbinger of disease.”

Green, who has seen the impact of hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis in different parts of the world, had as much to say about living conditions he saw in the devastated city.

“I can tell you, I have not seen in any of the conditions ❱❱ PAGE 15 US lawmakers

Philippine News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 12

2 P-Noy... bers of the House of Representatives.

Biazon is the first close ally of President Aquino to be dragged into the still continuing investigation into the theft between 2007 and 2009 of P10 billion worth of congressional pork barrel, officially known as the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which state investigators allege found their way back into senators’ and congressmen’s pockets through an elaborate kickback scheme allegedly orchestrated by Napoles involving bogus nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and ghost projects.

Biazon is a former congressman who represented the lone district of Muntinlupa City from 2001 to 2010. He is the son of former Sen. Rodolfo Biazon Jr., the incumbent Muntinlupa congressman.

The customs chief yesterday said that while he has yet to see the documents on the complaint against him, he was willing and ready to face the charges. ❰❰ 1

Conspicuously absent

The other former congressmen included in the complaint were Salacnib Baterina, first district, Ilocos Sur; Arrel Olano, first district, Davao del Sur; Arthur Pingoy Jr., second district, South Cotabato; Rodolfo Valencia, first district, Oriental Mindoro; and Douglas Cagas and his son Marc Douglas IV, both from the first district of Davao del Sur. They were charged with malversation, direct bribery, graft and corrupt practices.

Conspicuous by their absence in the second batch of pork respondents were another close Aquino ally Joel Villanueva, head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and former party-list representative for the Citizens Battle Against Crime and Corruption (Cibac); Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez; and Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing.

Agent for 5 solons

Whistle-blower Benhur Luy had earlier furnished the INQUIRER with documents showing that the three had provided part of the P580.85 million in pork funds that Napoles accessed from 2006 to 2009

using the Technology Resource Center (TRC) as the conduit— Villanueva, P4.3 million, Rodriguez, P3.5 million and Bagatsing, P1 million.

Ducut is being charged as an “agent/representative” of Baterina, Biazon, Pingoy and the two Cagas. She was a House representative for the second district of Pampanga from 1995 to 2004. In 2008, Ducut was appointed ERC chair by then President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo, who now represents Pampanga’s second district.

“Most of the former congressmen received their kickbacks from Napoles through Ducut,” the NBI said.

Repeated calls and text messages to Ducut’s mobile phone yesterday were not answered.

Celia Cuasay, the alleged agent of Valencia, was also charged with the same offenses.

Included in the complaint were 12 resident auditors at the National Agribusiness Corp.

(Nabcor) and the TRC, two government agencies that were used as conduits in siphoning off the PDAF of the former congressmen. They were Annie Recabo, Rebecca Aquino, Bella Tesorero, Susan Guardian, Elizabeth Savela, Merle Valentin, Diana Casado, Aida Villania, Laarni Lyn Torres, Herminia Aquino, Jerry Calayan and Sylvia Montes.

The auditors “failed to fulfill their duty of guarding public funds because of their deliberate failure to properly audit the anomalous transactions involved in this case,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told a press briefing.

The others facing the same charges as the former lawmakers are former Nabcor president Alan Javellana; former TRC directors general Antonio Ortiz and Dennis Cunanan; Nabcor employees Victor Cacal, Romulo Relevo, Ma. Ninez Guanizo, Ma. Julie VillaralvoJohnson and Rhodora Mendoza; and TRC employees Francisco Figura and Marivic Jover.

The presidents of two Napoles-controlled NGOs, Mylene Francisco of Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation Inc. (Cared) and Evelyn de Leon of Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. (PSDFI), were also charged.

Biazon projects

According to the NBI, Biazon

had allegedly endorsed the implementation of projects to be funded from his pork entitlement by one of the 10 NGOs set up by suspected mastermind Napoles.

Biazon allegedly used one of the Napoles NGOs, PDSFI, as a conduit in the implementation of livelihood projects chargeable to his PDAF worth P2.7 million in 2007.

Luy claimed that Biazon, or his alleged agent Ducut, collected commissions totaling P1.95 million in 2007.

According to the NBI, the Commission on Audit had found that the projects supposed to be funded from Biazon’s PDAF were not undertaken by the TRC but by PDSFI. This was a “blatant disregard” of the provisions of the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Act, as well as the issuances of the Government Procurement Policy Board, the NBI said. “[A]nomalies, such as but not limited to, ghost deliveries, short deliveries, overpricing and use of inferior materials, attended the implementation of the project. Worse, millions of taxpayer money were pocketed,” the NBI said.

“Biazon, who had control in the selection of his priority projects and programs, thus exceeded his authority in designating or endorsing the NGO when the same should be selected through competitive bidding, as mandated by government procurement laws,” it said.

In September 2011, the COA asked Biazon to confirm his signatures appearing on various documents submitted by PDSFI which implemented his projects as recorded by the TRC, the supposed implementing agency. Biazon, however, did not reply to the COA letter.

Biazon is the first close ally of President Aquino to be dragged into the still continuing investigation into the theft of the congressional pork barrel, officially known as the PDAF. PHOTO FROM PH.NEWS.YAHOO.COM

bates. Needless to say, all these anomalous transactions would not have succeeded had they performed their job.”

Biazon, Ducut, Napoles, Cunanan, Ortiz, Jover, De Leon, Calayan and Montes were all charged with malversation, direct bribery, three counts of graft and violation of the code of conduct of public officials and employees.

Napoles, De Leon and Ducut were additionally slapped with a charge of corruption of public officials and another graft charge.

P36.9million in kickbacks

Based on the records submitted by NBI to the Ombudsman, the former lawmakers received a total of P36.920 million in kickbacks.

Ninety-one percent equivalent to P33.745 million of the total kickbacks some of it went to Ducut, based on the documents attached to the NBI complaint.

The elder Cagas allegedly received the highest kickback in the amount of P9.30 million, followed by Baterina, P7.5 million; Pingoy Jr., P7.05 million; Olano, P3.1 million; Valencia, P2.4 million and Biazon, P1.9million.

The NBI also said that the kickbacks of Pingoy Jr. were deposited in the Metrobank branch in San Fernando, Pampanga province, in an account belonging to Ducut.

Huge commissions pocketed

Cunanan, Figura, Jover and Ortiz either certified that budgetary allotments were covered by documents and lawfully spent, or were signatories to the checks issued to the NGOs. As for TRC resident auditors Calayan and Montes, the NBI said: “Dubious NGOs were utilized as implementers of the projects and, worse, ghost deliveries were employed, enabling the above-named persons to pocket huge commissions or rewww.canadianinquirer.net

Probe to be expanded

In an interview, lawyer Levi Baligod, the counsel for the whistle-blowers group, said that except for Marc Cagas, all the accused former and incumbent lawmakers could face bigger penalties once the investigation expands into their pork barrel transactions as members of the 13th Congress from 2004 to 2007, the preceding years not covered by the COA report (2007 to 2010) on which the in-

vestigation is based.

“We have uncovered new information that these lawmakers had dealings with Napoles as early as the 13th Congress,” said Baligod.

Baligod said that at least four employees of the implementing agencies that were involved in the Napoles scam have agreed to testify on what they know.

Baligod said he would name them once they have executed their affidavits.

The lawyer said the probe would also expand into other pork barrel scammers that operate independently of Napoles who accounted for less than a quarter of the entire PDAF that went to fake NGOs, based on the COA report from 2007 to 2009. He expects to finalize the case against non-Napoles fake NGOs by early next year.

First set of cases

The first set of charges in the pork barrel scam was filed by the NBI and the Department of Justice last September against 38 people, including Napoles, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., former House Representatives Rizalina SeachonLanete, Edgar Valdez, Rodolfo Plaza, Samuel Dangwa and Constantino Jaraula, senior staff of the senators and congressmen, department heads and other lesser government officials.

On Oct. 3, former President Arroyo, three of her Cabinet secretaries and 20 others, Napoles included, were charged with plunder in connection with the alleged theft of P900 million from the Malampaya Fund meant for storm victims in 2009.

Baligod said that like the first set of cases, the second would be using as evidence the testimonies and documentary evidence submitted by the whistleblowers, who are former employees of Napoles, led by principal witness Luy. ■

Philippine News

13 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

Probe of DBM scam widens De Lima: Fake Saros found in 4 regions

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN AND CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE FAKE special allotment release order (Saro) scam appears to be much bigger and broader than earlier thought.

A Saro is a document issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that leads to the release of funds for government projects.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that the National Bureau of Investigation had received reports of more fake Saros from other regions in the course of its investigation of bogus Saros for P879 million worth of farm-to-market road projects that were uncovered by regional officers of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“The NBI is now tracing three more regions that alerted the main office of either the DA or the DBM. They inquired: ‘Is it true that this Saro is for us?’ Apparently, they also saw other fakes,” De Lima said in an interview with Inquirer Radio.

She identified these areas as Regions IV-A (Calabarzon), VI (Western Visayas), and XII (Soccsksargen).

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad reported that the P879 million in fake Saros meant for farm-to-market road projects were found in Regions II (Cagayan Valley) and VI. “What the NBI wants to know is where the fake Saros came from and who released them. It’s hard to imagine that there are no DBM officials involved although, of course, I cannot make such conclusive statement,” De Lima said.

Congressman’s aide

In a text message, De Lima said she was told that a staff member of a lawmaker from Region II “hand-carried” the Saro that had the fake signature of Budget Undersecretary Luz Cantor.

“We’re withholding the name of the congressman pending verification or investigation on how he or his staff came in possession of the fake Saro,” the justice secretary said.

De Lima said the NBI would invite the lawmaker’s aide who presented the fake Saro dated Oct. 10 as he dropped by the DA regional office in Cagayan Valley on Oct. 18.

She said the DA was surprised that the aide presented a Saro to the regional office as it was supposed to be the first to know about this since the department was the implementing agency.

The justice secretary said she was wondering why the fake Saro cropped up in October, the same month her office filed plunder charges against those implicated in the P10-billion pork barrel

there, they were given by the government. It’s just that you cannot choose your food. It’s always chicken, chicken, chicken. But then again, you don’t have this kind of support back home.”

Julia is taking her Form Five or fifthyear high school. She’s supposed to be in second-year college but she had to retake a year of schooling to adapt to the educational system in Hong Kong.

“It’s OK. Most of the students in my school are Indians, Pakistanis and Nepalis. Around 27 percent are Filipino.

We are 33 in class,” she said. ❰❰ 10

scam allegedly masterminded by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

“Is there an agenda on this? Are there attempts again to steal the people’s money or is there another agenda? We cannot rule out other agenda,” De Lima said.

“We need to look into what appears to be an insidious scheme or practice of Saro peddling. What is this scheme?” she said.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala earlier said that several mayors had complained about DBM personnel demanding advances for the early release of their Saros.

De Lima pointed out that both the fake and genuine Saros were identical in terms of the format, security code, date and amount.

“Where did that document come from? Only somebody in the DBM knows these particulars. We are also curious. Did this happen only now? It could be anyone or a group behind this scheme,” De Lima said.

Some DBM personnel have yet to submit sworn statements to the NBI team that was briefed on the step-by-step process in the approval of the Saro, according to the justice secretary.

The NBI agents have been told to expedite the probe, especially because President Aquino was informed of the scam.

‘Grease money’

Awaiting justice...

No funds were released because money for a Saro comes from the notice of cash allocation (NCA), Abad said in a press briefing.

But the Saro itself is considered a “currency” that could be used by crooked DBM personnel to demand grease money for its release to recipients like lawmakers and mayors who in turn could demand advances from their contractors, according to a DBM source.

The fake Saro scam was uncovered amid the public outrage over the P10billion pork barrel scam. The release of Saros triggered the payment of advances to lawmakers whose allocations from their Priority Development Assistance Fund were funneled to dubious nongovernment organizations implementing ghost livelihood projects.

The Commission on Audit has scored the DBM in its latest annual audit report for the DBM management’s poor internal control of Saros, NCAs and other official documents, citing gaps in the numbering sequence and failure to account for the spoiled or damaged Saros or NCAs. Abad did not reply to an INQUIRER query. He earlier said that the DBM had centralized the approval process of Saros. ■

Catching up

The medium of instruction is English but they are also taught Cantonese.

“I wasn’t able to start with the basic so it was hard … but I can still catch up. I have friends who are half-Chinese, halfBritish,” she said.

Asked if she considered returning to the Philippines, Reblando replied: “I want to go back but I don’t want my children to get hurt. If I’m there, the focus will again be on my family. Mainit sila… sa amin (The heat is on… us). “ “My son was shot at outside our home in General Santos City. We noticed strangers milling around. Even my relatives, when I stay at their house over-

night, they leave me there alone and only return to check on me,” she said.

And even though she is away in Hong Kong, her children and grandchildren back in the Philippines still have to take precautions. They do not stay in one place and have changed their names.

Reblando said the Philippine government also offered financial assistance but it was “not enough.”

Traumatized

“Why have I stayed here for the last two years? I don’t want my children to suffer further. They are all I have. My daughter already suffered from trauma.

She now has an anxiety disorder. Even now, they often change their names and addresses. That is not normal,” she said.

While following up her asylum application, Reblando is undergoing counseling to help her deal with her own trauma from the massacre.

“It gets worse as the anniversary approaches. Why is it that it becomes more painful as the years pass? I should have shouted it out then. I should have really cried,” Reblando said.

“But how can you cry when your children arewatching you? You have to show them that you are strong. But the more you push it back, themore painful it is eventually,” she said. ■

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Philippine News

Bonifacio pushed as nat’l hero

Envoy says...

Philippines is locked in another territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea. When asked to comment about concerns that China might set up a similar zone over the South China Sea, Ambassador Ma Keqing said in a news conference late Monday that it was the Chinese government’s right to decide “where and when to set up the new air identification zone.”

She added she could not say at this time if China would do so.

Ma said that the East China Sea zone’s designation should not spark concerns.

“This will not hinder any normal freedom of flights within this area if they’ve notified the Chinese authorities,” Ma said.

The U.S. ambassador to Manila, Philip Goldberg, described China’s move as dangerous.

“We do not believe that this is a move intended to build confidence or, in any other way, improve the situation,” Goldberg told reporters.

Instead, China’s new zone “will create tension and the possibility of miscalculations and that’s never good.”

While the U.S. has not recognized the Chinese imposition, it has advised its carriers to comply to be safe.

“We can’t, with commercial aircraft, take chances, as I mentioned, of miscalculation, so we ❰❰ 1

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 14

have recommended to our commercial airlines that they give such notification,” Goldberg said.

Philippine aviation official John Andrews said Tuesday Filipino carriers have been notified of China’s air defence zone but says it is up to them whether to comply with Chinese requirements for passing aircraft to identify themselves and submit details of their flights.

The Philippines has said the zone infringes on the freedom to fly in international airspace and compromises the safety of civil aviation.

China has said that all aircraft entering the zone of international waters between China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan must notify Chinese authorities beforehand and that it would take unspecified defensive measures against those that don’t comply.

China has been locked over increasingly-tense disputes over potentially oil- and gasrich territories in the South China Sea with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

While recent territorial spats between Beijing and Manila have particularly been antagonistic, China has extended help to the Philippines, which was devastated by a Nov. 8 typhoon that left more than 5,600 people dead and 1,700 others missing. ■

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer TO THIS day, Filipinos debate who between Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, who died opposing Spanish rule and only months apart, deserves to be revered as national hero.

Three members of the House of Representatives hope to put an end to the debate by introducing legislation that would take away the accolade from the ilustrado from Calamba, Laguna province, and hand it to the poor boy from Tondo, Manila.

The attempt at a congressional act to settle the debate comes as the nation commemorates Bonifacio’s 150th birth anniversary.

Bayan Muna Representatives Neri J. Colmenares and Carlos Isagani T. Zarate have filed House Bill No. 3431 declaring the leader of the revolutionary movement Katipunan the national hero.

“There has never been legislation declaring a national hero. Instead there was only a number of proclamations that gave recognition and honor to a few historical figures for their contribution to society, the most famous of whom are Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio,” Colmenares and Zarate said in their explanatory note.

After learning from research done by his staff that the Philippines has no official national hero, Rep. Edgar Erice reckoned it was an opportune time to give Bonifacio the honor that he had been deprived of for more than 100 years.

“It’s about time we named Bonifacio the national hero,” Erice said in an interview.

Erice has proposed the allotment of P400 million to refurbish the 80-year-old Bonifacio monument created by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino at the northern gateway to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) in Caloocan City.

“If Rizal’s monument at Luneta Park has a full-time guard, it is but fair that the Bonifacio monument should be given the same reverence,” he said.

Official acts

SECURITY CONCERN. Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing gestures as she answers

questions from reporters at the Philippine Red Cross headquarters in Manila on Monday.

PHOTO FROM INQUIRER.NET

Colmenares and Zarate pointed out that it was Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo who issued in 1898 the decree designating www.canadianinquirer.net

PHOTO FROM PBASE.COM

Dec. 30, the day of Rizal’s execution at Bagumbayan, Manila, as Rizal Day. They also said it was the American-led Taft Commission that named a Philippine province after Rizal.

Colmenares and Zarate said Congress in 1918 approved the erection of the Bonifacio monument and in 1921 declared Nov. 30 Bonifacio Day. Twenty years ago, Colmenares and Zarate said, a National Heroes Committee was created through Executive Order No. 75 to study and evaluate Filipinos of national prominence and recommend them as heroes “to recognize their sterling character and remarkable achievements for the country.”

Controversies

In 1995, the committee submitted a short list of candidates to the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), which did not act on the list, saying it could polarize the nation.

Colmenares and Zarate acknowledged that choosing one hero over another could lead to debates on controversies involving the heroes and that a lot has been said in favor of or against both Rizal and Bonifacio.

“It is true that Jose Rizal through his writings was able to put across the need for changes in the country that was dominated by Spanish colonial power. His writings influenced intellectuals who actively participated in the fight for reforms in society,” the lawmak-

ers said in their explanatory note.

“Andres Bonifacio, on the other hand, was an intellectual impassioned by the need to change the oppressive and exploitative system not merely by writing about it but also by acting on it,” they said.

Revising history

“The difference, in so far as their contribution to society is concerned, lies in the ability of Bonifacio to translate Rizal’s writings into a language understandable to the Filipino masses and to transform and develop them into practice. Because of his actual participation in the [Katipunan], Bonifacio was able to organize and mobilize thousands of [Filipinos] in a revolution that ended the [Spanish regime] and led [to the] Filipino nation’s independence,” they said.

Their bill would empower the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Department of Education, and the Commission on Higher Education to formulate policy that would make education on the life and heroism of Bonifacio part of the curriculum in elementary, secondary and tertiary schools, revise history books, and authorize dissemination of pertinent information.

The bill would also mandate the Department of Public Works and Highways to erect a Bonifacio bust in every province, city and town, apparently to equal or surpass the ubiquitous presence of Rizal’s image in the country. ■

Philippine News

15 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

US lawmakers... that far exceed what I’ve seen here. It really ranks among the most horrific natural disasters I have seen. It is difficult for the tongue to explain here what the eyes have seen.

You almost have to see it to disbelieve it,” Green said.

Smith, who counts the campaign against human trafficking among his leading advocacies, was also especially concerned about the women and children vulnerable to predators who take advantage of desperate conditions.

“Filipino women are being abused all over the world and, under cover of the chaos of the typhoon. The three of us and others [in the US Congress] remain deeply concerned that the exploiters, the pimps, the traffickers—especially now that roadways are being opened, ways by sea—could descend into the malaffected areas,” he said.

Smith said the call for greater US assistance for the Philippines will likely be taken up as “a continuing resolution to make sure that spicates of funds are adequately resourced to meet the need.” ❰❰ 11

Further US help

He said he was optimistic that the US government would send further help, adding that funding “isn’t as big a problem as it could be” on the short term as the federal government was still in the early part of its fiscal cycle.

All in awe of the faith and determination of the survivors to rise above the disaster, the lawmakers promised to back the Philippines’ aid appeal.

“This has been an astonishing trip and we hope that we can go back now and be the best witnesses of the tragedy of this

massive typhoon, how it has impacted the Filipino people, how they have responded and how it’s important for us to stand with them any way that we can,” said Franks, who spoke of having a special spot for the Philippines, his wife being a Filipino.

“It is true that we don’t have unlimited coffers, but we will do our very best...

My parents taught me that in circumstances where you can’t do enough, do all that you can. So that’s my commitment,” Green said.

British aid

The announcement by Britain’s Ahmad followed UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening’s statement, following visits to Cebu and Tacloban, about seeing how British aid had contributed in massive relief efforts in disaster-stricken areas.

“I have visited some of the worst-hit areas and heard from survivors who have lost everything. I have seen how DFID (Department for International Development) and our military are delivering UK aid supplies to the most desperate parts of the Philippines and how our help is getting these people back on their feet,” Greening said in a statement.

“In the coming months the UK will be working hard to help build a better future for all the people of the Philippines, including girls and women who are often the ones who suffer disproportionally in the wake of crises like this,” she said.

military aircraft, vehicles and heavy machinery to boost the lift capability of relief operations.

South Korea also increased its assistance, sending 540 troops to help in relief and recovery efforts in Eastern Visayas on top of its $25 million (P1.09 billion) in assistance for emergency relief and long-term reconstruction.

The Korean Armed Forces contingent, composed of medical, recovery and engineering teams, “would be the second largest overseas deployment” of South Korea since it became a member of theUnitedNations in 1991, the Korean Embassy in Manila said.

An advance assessment team arrived from South Korea to identify areas of deployment and needs to be dealt with.

“This movement of troops reflects the overwhelming sentiments of the Korean nation and people in their desire to help the typhoon survivors as they face the daunting task of rebuilding their community and their lives—a collective aspiration that has not lost intensity,” the embassy said in a statement.

The Korean government cited the Philippines’ role during the Korean War, where some 7,420 Filipino soldiers fought under the United Nations Command.

“Koreans have never forgotten the

Korea hikes aid

The UK has by far provided 55 million British pounds (P3.89 billion) for Philippine typhoon relief and deployed ships,

Slow death count stands at 5,240

BY NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer ONLY FIVE confirmed deaths have been added to the official death toll from Supertyphoon “Yolanda” which stood at 5,240 killed and 1,613 missing, according to Defense Undersecretary Eduardo del Rosario, the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The protocol followed by the government for the official tally of fatalities from calamities requires a certification from the local government units and the health department, a process that slows down the transmittal of the report to the NDRRMC headquarters based in Camp Aguinaldo.

President Aquino acknowledged that the current official death toll from Yolanda has now doubled against the figure that he announced in an inter-

view with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour almost two weeks ago.

The NDRRMC has pegged the cost of the damage to infrastructure and agriculture at P24.5million in its latest report.

In a press conference, Del Rosario said that most of those who will be affected by Mr. Aquino’s directive to keep coastlines off limits to house-building are illegal settlers.

The government wants tomove the easement to 50 meters from the shoreline.

These families will in the meantime be transferred to bunk houses, said Del Rosario.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have built 116 bunkhouses in the Eastern Visayas.

In Leyte, 10 of the bunk houses are in Tacloban and 11 in Palo. In Samar, 18 are in Basey and 18 in Marabut; in Eastern Samar, 26 in Guiuan, 39 in Hernani, and three in Giporlos. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

role that the Philippines played during the Korean War... Now that the Filipinos are in dire need, many Koreans see an opportunity to repay the sacrifice, bravery and heroism of the... Filipino soldiers. Korea is optimistic that the Philippines, especially those adversely affected by the typhoon, with the help of the international community, will quickly recover from this debacle,” the embassy said.

Canadian survey

Canada’s Minister of International Development Christian Paradis is visiting the Philippines “to witness the situation on the ground firsthand, meet with local officials as well as Canadian and international humanitarian partners.”

Paradis, who arrived and is leaving tomorrow, is expected to visit typhoonhit areas, including the cities of Tacloban, Ormoc and Roxas, “to survey the damage caused by the typhoon and visit Canadian-supported humanitarian initiatives that are assisting the most vulnerable.”

Canada has provided more than C$5 million, or P207.74 million, for the Philippine relief effort, in addition to relief supplies, including tents, blankets, shelter kits and water-purification tablets. ■

Opinion

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 16

THERE’S THE RUB

Inspired or mad?

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer P-NOY HAS appointed Ping Lacson rehabilitation czar. That is either inspired or mad. But then the line distinguishing inspiration from madness is a very fine one.

The post is specifically for the rehabilitation of Leyte and the other areas struck down by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” But you never know, it could cover other disaster areas in time. P-Noy made the offer last week, and Lacson begged for a couple of days to think it over. It seemed a little out of his depth, his expertise having more to do with fighting corruption.

But he soon overcame his reluctance and accepted the job.

I’ve always been of two minds about Lacson. His own record against fighting corruption is double-edged. On the downside, he was Erap’s fair-haired boy, the one person Erap was grooming to succeed him. For which Erap was building a treasure chest by means fair and foul, but largely foul, until fate, and Erap’s own antics, threw a monkey wrench into their plans.

Undeterred by the misfortune, Lacson ran in 2004 with little hope of victory and succeeded only in taking votes away from Fernando Poe Jr. Which

sparked suspicions he might have been persuaded to run by Gloria MacapagalArroyo. But which he dispelled by taking a staunch position against Gloria afterward and getting hounded for the murder of Bubby Dacer for his pains.

To this day, no one really knows whether it was folly or profit that impelled him to run in 2004.

Then only this year, he got into a scrape with Miriam Defensor-Santiago, showing the world he wasn’t scared of her bullying tactics, calling her a “crusading crook,” an epithet that is probably going to hound her for the rest of her life. Santiago never got to get back at him. But what took the sting out of Lacson’s own rebuke was that it was done in defense of Juan Ponce Enrile. Santiago had been bearing down on Enrile before Lacson took her to task for it. Which raised the question: Miriam might be a crusading crook, but what did that make of Johnny? And the person defending him?

From the other end, true enough Lacson hasn’t figured in any corruption scandal. More to the point, which has been of great concern of late, he hasn’t used his pork at all.

He is one of two senators to have not done so, the other being Joker Arroyo, proving that you can go through life as a legislator without ever need-

ing pork and without being remiss in your duties to your constituents. Lacson was Alan Peter Cayetano’s choice to investigate the pork barrel scam “because of his impeccable record against corruption and his unwavering stand against the pork barrel.”

Until he got steered in this direction.

That brings us to the inspired part.

Is having a record for being reasonably clean, or indeed for crusading against corruption, a necessary qualification for rebuilding Tacloban and environs?

Is having a record for being reasonably clean, or indeed for crusading against corruption, a necessary qualification for rebuilding Tacloban and environs?

It helps. After the slack has come inundation. After the period when nothing seemed to be getting to the hungry and thirsty, the grieving and desperate, relief has burst in like a, well, storm surge, wave upon wave of relief goods crashing onto Tacloban’s shores in particular. Though other places in Leyte and Samar continue to complain of little or nothing coming their way. Voices have been raised over the Department of Social Welfare and Development

stamping relief with its logo, which have not been stilled by its assurances this was done to assure the safety and quality of the goods. Or worse, relief being diverted into commerce.

Relief has turned into a fortune, and what has turned into a fortune is a potential source of corruption in this country. So, yes, it helps that the new rehabilitation czar is seen as straight and straight-talking.

It helps even more that Lacson is seen as decisive and efficient. A friend puts it this way: He may be a murderous crusader but he is not a crusading crook. He gets the job done. He should have been in Tacloban from Day One to oversee things, argues my friend, instead of Mar Roxas. Tacloban was the third time P-Noy put Roxas in charge, and it was the third time he choked.

The first was when P-Noy brought him along to Laguna and he ended up calling Napoles “Ma’am Janet.” The second was when P-Noy brought him along to Zamboanga and he couldn’t decide what to do with Nur Misuari.

The third was when P-Noy brought him along to Tacloban and he drove a wedge between the national government and the local one.

Who knows?—my friend says. Had Lacson been there, the riots might never have happened. Or they might not have

drawn in the criminal elements. Lacson’s presence might have served fair warning there was a new sheriff in town.

It helps still more that though he is not entirely politically neutral, he is not politically entrenched in P-Noy’s camp either, which Roxas is as head of the Liberal Party, as electoral foe of the Romualdezes, and as a looming presidential candidate.

He has shown he has a mind of his own, speaking out against the Disbursement Acceleration Program only a month ago, calling it a “fiscal dictatorship.” While at this, it should help P-Noy’s own cause as well that he has started looking outside of the box, or beyond the cocoon of his small and jealous circle, and trusting in the instincts or capabilities of someone who can disagree with him.

Lacson will certainly be no pushover for the individuals and groups from inside or outside who may want to push him aside, though the inside seems more threatening than the outside. Particularly as 2016 nears, and particularly given that, as climate change grinds on and more disasters follow, the post of rehabilitation czar becomes more and more powerful. Enough to rekindle the embers of moribund presidential ambitions. But for the nonce, P-Noy’s decision to appoint Lacson to the post seems, well, either inspired or mad.

Maybe inspired madness? ■

AS I SEE IT

Lacson: No red tape in rehab efforts, please

By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer IT’S A challenge, former senator Panfilo Lacson said of his appointment as rehabilitation czar in typhoon-devastated Visayas.

As the lone guest at the Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel last Monday, Lacson unveiled his plans for the provinces ravaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” He sees his greatest challenge in the politics and dynamics of the project. Politicians, especially local government officials, may want to meddle in the rehabilitation, he said. “But I will talk to them and get their cooperation.”

He fears that the notorious bureaucratic red tape may slow down rehabilitation. In the awarding of projects, the law requires public biddings which could take an excruciatingly long time and he wants to finish the job in 2016 when P-Noy’s administration goes out.

Lacson said, however, that he thinks the law is suspended in areas declared to be in a state of calamity.

To avoid the red tape in government, he wants the private sector to participate in the rehabilitation and he proposes to give them tax incentives to encourage them to participate. “What we may lose in revenue,”

he said, “we will get back in savings on reconstruction as the private contractors will fund their own projects.”

Lacson sees his job as more of a coordinator and manager of all the government agencies and private developers that will be involved in the rehabilitation efforts. His models are the reconstruction of Hiroshima, destroyed by the first atomic bomb; of Warsaw, incinerated by fire bombing during World War II; and of Banda Aceh in Indonesia which was destroyed by a tsunami. He is studying how Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Gen. George C. Marshall of the Marshall Plan, and “Mr. Fix It” of Indonesia rehabilitated these cities.

Before accepting the job, Lacson said, he consulted with urban planners, architects, engineers, environmentalists, and other experts. He said that he hesitated when the job was offered to him because his expertise is on law enforcement, not rehabilitation—“but how can you refuse a President?” He said the experts told him that the job is “daunting but doable.”

One of the biggest problems, he said, was that the land titles of property owners were washed away by the storm surge. “How do you now determine the boundaries of their properties?” he asked. He said he talked to the Land Registration Authority and they assured him

that the titles can be reconstituted.

With Tacloban, Guiuan, and other areas practically wiped off the map, Lacson sees an opportunity to build modern, well-planned cities like Canberra in Australia, Brasilia in Brazil and Islamabad in Pakistan which were built on vacant lands. “It is difficult to improve old cities because of the problems of land ownership and existing structures,” he said, “but with Tacloban and Guiuan, we are practically starting from scratch.”

Lacson said his expertise is law enforcement and that he intends to use a “mailed fist” against lawbreakers.

First, there will have to be a new building code to make the houses and buildings indestructible during typhoons. The Philippines lies in the typhoon belt, and about 20 typhoons strike it every year, and typhoons are becoming progressively stronger because of climate change, he said.

Houses made of wood or bamboo may no longer be acceptable in Tacloban and Guiuan. They have to be made of concrete. And definitely, houses have to be at least 50 meters away from the shorelines that have to be protected

www.canadianinquirer.net

with stands of mangrove.

The government can pay the owners of shoreline properties with cash or exchange them with land further inland or with units in condominiums that will be built by developers.

With new, well-planned cities, the usual problems with old cities like traffic jams and slums can be avoided. He sees them with wide streets and wide tree-shaded sidewalks to encourage people to walk. He wants a minimum of traffic intersections to avoid traffic jams common in urban areas like Metro Manila. Instead he wants maximum use of underpasses and flyovers as in the planned cities of Canberra, etc.

He wants parks to make the cities pleasant places to live in and avoid concrete jungles.

Plenty of workers—carpenters, masons, plumbers, electricians, painters, laborers—will be needed in the reconstruction and Lacson wants the people of Leyte and Samar to have first priority in the hiring. He has proposed that the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority hold crash training programs for inexperienced workers.

Residents have started rebuilding their homes. How would they fit in with the new plans, Lacson was asked.

“They will have to be temporary.

That is why speed is needed in the planning,” he answered. “The bunkhouses are also temporary. The evacuees will have to move to their new homes once these are built.”

Lacson wants businessmen who have fled the typhoon-ravaged areas to return as soon as possible to normalize the situation. But investors were discouraged by the looting and the lack of security, he told the Kapihan audience.

He said some businessmen pointed out that looters were openly selling the goods they stole from their malls and stores. “The items still have our price tags,” they told him.

Lacson said his expertise is law enforcement and that he intends to use a “mailed fist” against lawbreakers.

He proposes that loans be given to the businessmen and the property owners so that reconstruction and rehabilitation can be speeded up.

He said he has not yet visited Samar and Leyte but as soon as he receives his formal appointment papers, he will go there to see the destruction and what needs to be done. He said he needs a staff of only 10—urban planners, engineers, architects, lawyers, financial experts, etc.—and he intends to hold office in Manila, but he would have deputies stationed on the ground in the storm-hit areas. ■

Opinion

17 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

VIEWPOINT

Comments

By Juan L. Mercado Philippine Daily Inquirer A SLEW of comments, from caustic to enthusiastic, flooded in as Inquirer readers reacted to the Nov. 30 column titled “Slow suicide.” This “Viewpoint” essay tried to place Pope Francis’ letter Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) in Philippine context.

We do not live better when we refuse to share, locked up in our own comforts, Francis writes. “Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide.”

The Pope says the Church “failed to accompany women in their difficult times,” commented Eulogio Agunias. I’ll be happy to hear from our local bishops who are against the Reproductive Health Law. Beyond rhetoric, have they contributed to alleviate the women’s sufferings?

“Pope Francis came not to bring peace but a sword,” wrote TinimbangNgunitKulang. “(Some) priests were lulled into peaceful slumber, unmindful of the situation of the flock….

It’s time to make them uncomfortable so they can again think and feel.”

Was it Max Beerbohm who wrote about “disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed”? Walter Paul Komarnicki responded.

“What a breath of fresh air, this

Pope Francis is!” Evelyn Opilas emailed from Sydney, Australia. Evangelii Gaudium spurs questions like: “What steps would the Church take to limit the adverse effect(s) of extramarital liaisons such as population increase, economic hardship in many cases among ‘original’ families, etc.

“Many Filipinos don’t seem ‘disturbed’ by these anymore,” she added. “Perhaps, the survey on family life and sexual ethics will trace the roots.

That’d usher in a paradigm shift for many/most/all Filipino Catholics.”

Reading “The Joy of the Gospel” is a “must” for laymen and Church hierarchy, whose next leadership looks promising (I hope!), added Basilo Onisisa. But RyanE compared the views of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) with that of the Pope’s. “The difference is 180 degrees,” he claimed.

Not so, wrote bgcorg. A unifying theme of the “The Joy of the Gospel” is the seamless authority between bishops and pontiff. Bishops consider the local condition of their churches, and can speak. Catholics who hold fast to the CBCP’s position are not against the new “aggiornamento” of Pope Francis. “I don’t think the Bishop of Bacolod and Archbishop of Lipa, from where they stand, are out

of touch with people’s lives.”

The debate in the Philippines, sparked by Pope Francis’ letter, is welcome, Manuel de la Torre e-mailed from Idaho in the United States. Note, this debate is worldwide.

The opinion piece of history professor John Fea of Pennsylvania on 10 reasons why “evangelicals” should listen to Francis is relevant. Evangelii Gaudium offers a defense of the family that is more sophisticated than

We do not live better when we refuse to share, locked up in our own comforts. Such a life is nothing less than slow suicide.” - Pope Francis what the evangelicals of the 1970s mounted. The Pope describes a “profound cultural crisis” facing the family: from parents failing to pass the faith to their children to the erosion of marriage. “This is a pro-family message that evangelicals can believe in.”

“The letter calls for a Spirit-inspired evangelism…,” Fea continued: “Billy Graham could not have put it any better. If the Catholic Church takes Francis seriously, we evangelicals may have some competition on

the street corner.”

Evangelicals and Catholics will continue to have theological differences. But we might find some common ground in what Francis teaches, Fea concluded.

“This is another bombshell by the Pope,” e-mailed Virgo Yap. “The Church is not a tollhouse,” he says. “It is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone.” True enough.

It includes those who don’t literally follow what their bishops command but heed the dictates of their conscience. “‘Did you hear that, Bong, Johnny, Jinggoy, Bongbong and company?’ the Viewpoint column asks,” wrote Cry_ Freedom. “The answer is a resounding no. How could they? They cannot afford to listen? All they hear are the bells and whistles of ambition, and the ‘kalansing’ and jingles of monies in their pockets. And could I ask a question please? Does ‘and company’ include Jejomar’ (Binay) and extended clan?”

“Please pardon my skepticism,” added John Lagrimas. “I agree that when the Pope speaks, people listen.

But do they obey? One case is the use of contraceptives. The Pope presented some insights on their essential use (but broadened his teaching to other issues). But do our bishops heed?…”

Nobody bothers when other reli-

gious leaders speak. But the Pope disturbs the conscience of others, even non-Catholics. “This is quite mysterious yet revealing.”

Francis cautions against “ostentatious preoccupation with liturgy and doctrine.” Bishops and pastors should not listen only to those “who would tell what they would like to hear.” Use Canon Law to broaden the pastoral dialogue.

More pressing is the need to ensure that the Gospel has “a real impact” on people and engages their present needs, especially of the poorest. Pakinggan at sundin ninyo sana ito, Bruno Giordano told some “Damaso” Catholics. “It would be great if you heeded this counsel.”

“Jesus was/is down-to-earth. Pope Francis is down-to-earth,” Kino e-mailed…. “What happened in between them? Those in between them were/are in ivory towers.”

The Marcos family goes all-out against the RH Law, added RudeWell.

But do they heed conscience when it comes to ill-gotten wealth? That is true of the Arroyos, too. And wasn’t there a bishop who asked for a Pajero gift? “Should we give them mercy without justice? Or should we say: ‘May God bless you very far away from us, Filipinos?’” ■

AT LARGE

‘Win-win’ in relief and rehabilitation

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer NOW THAT former senator Ping Lacson has agreed to be the “reconstruction czar” in the “Yolanda”-affected areas of Eastern Visayas and all the way to Palawan and Mindoro, the focus is steadily shifting from rescue and relief (and counting and identifying the dead), including relocation of evacuees, to rebuilding from the ruins of the towns and cities leveled by the supertyphoon.

I am sure Lacson will not lack for advisers and experts, those whose opinions he seeks out, those who offer their unsolicited, perhaps even unwanted, advice, and those who will begin carping and complaining even now, before the work has gotten off the ground.

The criticisms and complaints may all be part of what a congressman memorably called “the noise of democracy,” for rarely is consensus observed or even created. Especially in a national project which has not only captured the imagination and sympathy of the world, but more so, attracted resources in the billions of dollars, whether in the form of actual cash, loans, grants or in donated goods and services.

Many early critics began sounding the alarm even as the world’s governments announced their intent to help

the Yolanda survivors. Commentators warned that the government should make every effort to track and account for all the money that has been directed the Philippines’ way, if only to deflect fears and speculations that much of the donations will be siphoned off into “ghost” projects and bogus nongovernment organizations.

After all, it’s not as if this is the first time that government money, even money from foreign governments, has been diverted to less-than-worthy causes, such as the budding fashion career of a daughter of Janet Napoles. Media outlets and even citizens’ groups began advising the good-hearted donors to channel their donations to private entities and institutions, warning that government channels are less-thanreliable, if not downright suspect. *** Is such skepticism justified? The Commission on Audit report on the use of funds set aside for typhoon survivors in Mindanao shows that huge amounts went to fake NGOs created by the likes of Napoles with the actual connivance of local officials and legislators.

And yet, Fil-Am political scientist Cesi Cruz, who recently received her PhD from the University of California, San Diego, and did field work and studies here during the last two elections,

comments that Filipino politicians, both local and national, may at times be useful, if not indispensable, in distributing the benefits that follow in the wake of a major disaster. (Disclosure: Cesi Cruz is a niece, the daughter of my sister Chona and her husband Willy, and her piece was recently published in the Washington Post.)

This strikes me as “counterintuitive,” so deeply cynical have we Filipinos become about our political culture and politicians.

By “incentivizing” local authorities who help in disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts, instead of constantly checking them on suspicions of corruption, perhaps we can arrive at a “win-win” solution...

Cruz doesn’t mince words. “Credit claiming” even when it is unwarranted is “so common” that it has become a dilemma for relief organizations wanting to help typhoon survivors without contributing to “dysfunctional politics in the localities.” But, she observes, “while politics can undoubtedly impede relief efforts, the solutions are not as clear-cut.” *** Local politicians, she observes,

www.canadianinquirer.net

are so adept at claiming credit for assistance, even if all they did was welcome the donors, that they “can employ a variety of techniques for claiming credit even when they have no influence on the allocation of aid.”

Bypassing local governments in relief efforts, adds Cruz, “may not necessarily be the best approach… Local politicians are well-positioned to provide logistical support and assistance on the ground. In avoiding the bad apples, relief organizations may miss out on the assistance of local politicians who are willing and able to give a hand.”

And ignoring local authorities altogether can lead to worse results, Cruz points out. “It’s possible that politicians may decide that it’s better to commandeer the relief goods or prevent relief organizations from operating in their localities in the first place.” (The imbroglio between the Bohol mayor and the Red Cross is a case in point.)

Cruz’s suggestion: “Instead of preventing politicians from claiming credit, we should focus our efforts on making sure politicians have ways to earn it in the first place.” Since politicians are able to earn credit even when it is clearly undeserved, she writes, “it may be better to give politicians an opportunity to pursue well-deserved recognition instead.”

She cites counterpart contributions, or creating incentives to support the initiatives. “Applied to disaster relief, politicians can contribute some of their campaign funds for the relief efforts or they can use their status to raise funds and provide manpower.”

By “incentivizing” local authorities who help in disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts, instead of constantly checking them on suspicions of corruption, perhaps we can arrive at a “win-win” solution that benefits disaster survivors, the government, and the politicians. *** Also, now that the major sites of Yolanda’s devastation are slowly making their way back to “the new normal,” other places similarly hit by the typhoon are clamoring for a bit of notice, and for much-needed help.

One of these places is New Washington, Aklan, best known as the hometown of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, which has largely fallen off the radar of relief efforts.

Cecile Dela Cruz, a resident of New Washington but now based in the United States, writes that she and some town mates now living abroad are pooling money for food packages to tide over the survivors during the Christmas season.

Now that we can turn our attention to other towns badly in need, she asks for everyone’s support for New Washington. ■

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

18

Canada News

Ottawa moves ahead on consumer agenda, tightens rules on prepaid credit cards

NEWS BRIEFS

FROM THE CANADIAN PRESS

BY TERRY PEDWELL The Canadian Press OTTAWA—The federal government is moving ahead with its consumer friendly agenda, unveiling new rules for prepaid credit cards, more inspections at gas pumps and plans to create a national financial code to streamline regulations and enhance consumer rights.

The measures were announced at two separate events involving three cabinet ministers Tuesday morning and appear to be tied to the throne speech pledge to make consumer protection a key policy in the two years leading up to the 2015 election campaign.

“A consumer code will help Canadians make more informed financial decisions today and in Canada’s rapidly changing, increasingly digital financial marketplace in the future,” said Maxime Bernier, minister for small business, in launching a public consultation process.

People can comment on the government’s proposed consumer code online (code.consult(at)fin.gc.ca) until the end of February.

More concretely, the government said it will introduce new regulations banning expiry dates on prepaid

BIG STORM, BIG CHILL, HIT THE PRAIRIES Blizzard-like conditions have a grip on many parts of Alberta and are bearing down on Saskatchewan as a massive storm system begins a long trek across the Prairies. Storm warnings are out for many areas as the system packs a combination of heavy snow and, in some cases, freezing drizzle.

Naughty List

credit cards, as well as ensure card issuers aren’t allowed to impose fees that eat away at a card’s balance within the first year.

The changes come after consumers complained that terms for using the

ILLUSTRATION BY NER DORMIENDO

cards were unclear and cumbersome and that card issuers imposed unfair fees.

Minister of State for Finance Kev❱❱ PAGE 35 Ottawa moves

Senate fully co operating with RCMP, handing over four senators’ emails The Canadian Press OTTAWA—THE SENATE is scrambling to provide the RCMP with all emails from four senators implicated in an alleged deal to pay off Mike Duffy’s ineligible expenses and whitewash a report on the matter.

The Mounties have obtained a court order for the emails but there was a possibility the Senate could have refused to provide them,

claiming parliamentary privilege.

However, Noel Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, says he’s decided parliamentary privilege should not be used as a shield to stymie a police investigation.

Hence, he says the Senate is cooperating fully and will provide the emails within 30 days of the Nov. 20 court order.

The RCMP wants to see the emails sent and received by Duffy, Marjory LeBreton, former government leader in the Senate, and two key mem-

bers of the Senate’s internal economy committee which oversaw the audit into Duffy’s expenses: former committee chair David Tkachuk and Carolyn Stewart Olsen.

The bureaucracy that supports the Prime Minister’s Office is also scrambling to hand over emails from former PMO legal counsel Benjamin Perrin, which the Privy Council Office says it mistakenly told the RCMP had been deleted when Perrin left the government in March. ■

LESS THAN HALF OF ELIGIBLE PEOPLE ACCEPT SOUTHERN ALBERTA FLOODWAY ZONE BUYOUT CALGARY—Less than half of the eligible people in southern Alberta who live in areas hit by floods in June have accepted a government offer to buy them out. The province says 46 of the 254 people who live in the governmentdesignated floodway zone have agreed to move. The cost so far to taxpayers under the program is $42 million.

Another 55 people expressed interest in the offer by Saturday’s deadline.

An official with Alberta’s Flood Recovery Task Force says negotiations with those people will continue in the coming months. That means 153 people are staying put, which means they won’t be eligible for disaster recovery money in the event of future floods.

SASKATCHEWAN RCMP DRIVE AHEAD WITH E-TICKETS REGINA—RCMP in Saskatchewan are using new electronic ticketing equipment to cut down on the amount of time spent on traffic offenses. A pilot project is underway that allows officers to use in-car consoles and printers to scan drivers’ licenses, digitally record the fine information and print the ticket on the spot.

World News

19 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

Fil-Canadian Team brings “Learning Center on Wheels”

BY NOEL TARRAZONA ZAMBOANGA CITY, PHILIPPINES—A team of Filipino Canadians residing in British Columbia came to Zamboanga City to introduce the Jeepney Story Mobile (JSM), a learning center on wheels to train teachers with creative approaches to efficiently teach displaced school children whose displacement was caused by the September intense exchange of gunfire between 3,000 Philippine soldiers and 400 separatist militants.

The JSM made possible for learning resources to be inside passenger jeepneys where volunteers can train school children. The JSM was officially launched in Zamboanga on November 29 at the Zamboanga State Polytechnic College with more than 300 children and partners in attendance.

In the last week of November, the mobile learning team has initially trained several teachers to make Math, English and Reading

classes more fun and entertaining to school children especially in the four villages affected by the war, namely, Sta. Catalina, Sta, Barbara, Rio Hondo and Mariki.

The three-week bloody war that erupted in September 9, claimed more than 200 lives and destroyed more than 10,000 houses.

The Fil-Canadian team included Idrenne Lim-Alparaque, a retired Research Professor in Canada, Evelyn Yadao, a hotel marketing executive, Monette Ledesma, PCI correspondent, and Patrick Elaschuk, Hope for the Nations Executive Director.

Elaschuk said that Hope for the Nations is supporting the JSM in Zamboanga City because they want to empower children of risk to become children of change.

Professor Alparaque said that while she was meeting with displaced children, these school children proactively participated in their learning games, and that they loved to sing and dance.

“These children tirelessly

keep on dancing and singing and we don’t see the scars (of war),” Alparaque said.

Meanwhile, Evelyn Yadao, the convenor of the JSM said, “God kept sending the right people to be our partners as we introduce this children’s mobile learning center to the City.” Yadao was born and raised in Zamboanga before moving to Canada.

In the launching ceremony, no less than Zamboanga Mayor Beng Climaco-Salazar was keynote speaker for the affair and she led the children to perform an action rhyme. In her speech, she said, “Let us make the children’s future a reality today.”

Project Banig coordinator Kiko Miranda, an implementing partner of JSM, said that when typhoon Haiyan hit the Visayas region, most NGOs and volunteers group flew to Tacloban but Project Banig stayed in Zamboanga to attend to the city’s humanitarian crisis.

“Zamboanga still needs our assistance and there are more tasks to be done in this City,”

A volunteer teacher of Jeepney Story Mobile spends time with schoolchildren whose village was affected by the exchanges of gunfire between 3000 soldiers and 400 armed militants.

Patrick Elaschuk, executive director of Vancouver-based Hope for the Nations, shows his souvenir token received from his local partners.

Fil Canadian Team led by Evelyn Yadao and PCI’s Monette Ledesma pose for a souvenir with their local partners and the Jeepney Mobile Learning Cente.

Miranda said.

The JSM also organized a local core volunteers group to sustain the school children project.

The Filipino-Canadian team

flew back to Canada but the local partners of this once bustling city are hopeful that the advocacies of this learning center on wheels will stay a lifetime. ■

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World News

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 20

Escalating unrest in Thailand fueled by long running societal divide over right to power

BY TODD PITMAN The Associated Press BANGKOK, THAILAND—Both the protesters on the streets of Bangkok and the Thai government pleading for them to go home say they’re on the side of democracy, but that is not what their increasingly dangerous conflict is about. This is a fight about power, and who ought to have it.

The unrest that has brought the capital to the brink of catastrophe this week has laid bare a societal schism pitting the majority rural poor against an urban-based elite establishment.

It is a divide that has led to upheaval several times in recent years, sometimes death, even though the man at the centre of it, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has not set foot in Thailand since 2008.

Thaksin is despised by millions who consider him to be a corrupt threat to the traditional status quo, but supported by millions more who welcome the populist policies that benefit them.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister, helped set the stage for Thailand’s latest protests by backing an amnesty bill that would have wiped out a corruption conviction that keeps Thaksin in self-imposed exile.

Now his longtime political foes are trying to use that public anger to seize control.

Suthep Thaugsuban, an opposition politician who resigned from Parliament to lead the protests, says he won’t stop until power is “in the people’s hands,” but his plan sounds anything but democratic. He’s calling for an unelected “people’s council” to replace a government that won a landslide victory at the polls just two years ago.

And the way his supporters have gone about it has not been entirely peaceful. They have called for Yingluck’s overthrow from the occupied halls of seized government offices.

They burst through the gates of Thailand’s army headquarters and urged the military to “take a stand.” And since the weekend, they have tried to battle their way into the prime minister’s office with slingshots and burning Molotov cocktails, and

threatened to overrun television stations that do not broadcast their message.

Thailand has endured 18 successful or attempted military coups since the 1930s, but so far the army has remained neutral.

Yingluck said Monday she will do everything she can “to bring peace back to the Thai people,” but said there is no way the government could meet Suthep’s demand under the constitution. Suthep has said Yingluck’s resignation and new elections would not be enough.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of Chulalongkorn’s Institute of Security and International Studies, said the two sides “believe in different versions of democracy.”

“It is a fight for the soul of the nation, for the future of the country,” he said. One side wants “to be heard” while the protesters “want the kind of legitimacy that stems from moral authority. Their feeling is ... if the elected majority represents the will of the corrupt, it’s not going to work.”

The unrest already may have weakened Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Thailand is a lucrative manufacturing hub whose factories produce everything from computer hard drives to cars that feed a global supply chain. The country is one of the world’s leading rice exporters. Its sapphire-blue water beaches are among the world’s most popular tourist destinations, but the government has said protests are driving tourists away.

The latest unrest began last month, after Yingluck’s ruling Pheu Thai Party tried to ram the controversial amnesty bill through. Even many traditional Thaksin supporters disliked it because it also would have pardoned top opposition leaders.

The bill failed to pass Parliament’s upper house, and emboldened protesters drew 100,000 people to a mass rally in Bangkok on Nov. 24. Over the week that followed, demonstrators seized the Finance Ministry and part of a sprawling government office complex that includes the constitutional Court. They also massed outside half a dozen other government ministries, taking over

Unidentified Thai protesters raise anti amnesty bill plates on Nov 24, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. It claims that up to million Thai people gathered on such day.

PHOTO BY BLANSCAPE / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

offices and prompting the evacuation of civil servants—some of whom had eagerly waved them inside.

The conflict escalated dramatically this weekend, and blood spilled for the first time.

At least three people were killed when anti-government demonstrators clashed with pro-Thaksin “red shirt” activists near a stadium where a pro-government rally was being held.

Outside Yingluck’s office at the now heavily fortified Government House, masked mobs launched repeated bids to storm rings of concrete barriers. The police used force there for the first time, unleashing volleys of rubber bullets and tear gas.

The protests have failed to dislodge the government so far, but it remains possible that Thailand’s history will repeat itself.

The army deposed Thaksin in a 2006 coup. Controversial court rulings that critics labeled “judicial coups” forced the resignation of two Thaksinallied prime ministers who followed. One of them was Thaksin’s brother-in-law, who saw his own office at Government House occupied by protesters for three months in 2008.

The opposition Democrat Party took over, and in 2009, pro-Thaksin protesters overran a regional summit, forcing heads of state to be hastily evacuated by helicopter from a hotel rooftop. The next year, red shirts occupied Bangkok’s glitziest shopping district for weeks in a standoff that ended with parts of the city in flames. More than 90 people died, many of them protesters gunned down in an army crackdown ordered

by Suthep, who was deputy prime minister at the time. www.canadianinquirer.net

The Democrats, who have not won a national election in more than 20 years, were soundly beaten by Pheu Thai and Yingluck in 2011. Protesters claim her ascent was only made possible with Thaksin money.

“You can’t call this a democracy,” said Sombat Benjasirimongkol, a demonstrator who stood outside a police compound this week. “This government is a dictatorship that came to power by buying votes. Yingluck’s supporters are poor. They are uneducated. And they are easily bought.”

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an associate professor at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies, said such claims form a pretext that Thaksin’s opponents are using in an attempt to seize power.

The anti-government protest movement is simply “a minority that is refusing to play the game of electoral politics. They cannot compete with Thaksin, they cannot win elections. So they come up with this discourse of village people being so uneducated they don’t know how to vote,” Pavin said. “But the reality is, these people (Thaksin supporters) are not stupid.

They are politically conscious.

They have become awakened.”

Even if the Shinawatra clan can claim electoral legitimacy, the conflict between the two sides is not black and white.

Thaksin, a billionaire who made his fortune in telecommunications during Thailand’s late 80s-early 90s boom years, was accused of manipulating government policies to benefit his business empire. His critics charged he was arrogant and intolerant of the press; at one point he went so far as to have

cronies try to buy controlling shares in two influential daily newspapers that had criticized him.

During his five years in office, Thaksin also came under fire for ham-fisted handling of a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand, and a particularly brutal “war on drugs” that left 2,300 people dead in 2003. Human rights groups complained police were turned loose to kill drug dealers and users at will.

Nevertheless, Thaksin remains hugely popular in Thailand’s rural north and northeast and among many of Bangkok’s working class for populist polices including subsidized housing and nearly free health care.

Opponents dismiss Yingluck as Thaksin’s puppet, though for most of her administration she has trod a more careful path than her brother, building a fragile detente with the army and managing to keep a lid on the nation’s divisions. But she was damaged by the amnesty bill, by a court ruling rejecting her party’s attempts to boost its power in the Senate, and by controversial policies including a rice-buying scheme that the International Monetary Fund has criticized.

Suthep told The Associated Press recently that his supporters “feel that if the country continues on this path, it will fall into pieces. ... So they come out today to fight for their country and for their children’s future.”

But Suthep’s tactics and his demands have riled even some of his own backers. Democrat lawmaker Korn Chatikavanij, a former finance minister, asked last week: “How will this so-called ‘people’s government’ happen? I still can’t quite imagine.”

Thailand’s political tensions have played out against a backdrop over fears about the future of its monarchy. Thaksin’s critics have accused him of disrespecting ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej and trying to gain influence with Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the heir to the throne.

Many hope the conflict will ease Thursday, when Bhumibol turns 86.

The fear is that any peace will only be temporary. ■

World News

21 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

Investigators seek reasons why NYC train crashed, killing 4 and injuring more than 60 others

BY VERENA DOBNIK AND KILEY ARMSTRONG The Associated Press NEW YORK—Federal authorities on Monday were beginning an exhaustive investigation into what caused a New York City commuter train rounding a riverside curve to derail, killing four people and injuring more than 60 others. Officials warned the 26,000 weekday riders on the affected line of the nation’s second-biggest commuter railroad to brace for crowded trains during the morning commute.

The locomotive of the MetroNorth train was hoisted back on the track at 4:20 a.m., and two cranes were in place to lift the rest of the toppled cars pending approval of the National Transportation and Safety Board, spokesman Aaron Donovan said.

About 150 people were on board when the train derailed Sunday morning on the Hudson

line in the Bronx. Donovan said the railroad believed everyone aboard has been accounted for.

The National Transportation Safety Board said its investigators could spend up to 10 days probing all aspects of the accident that toppled seven cars and the locomotive, leaving the lead car only inches from the water at a bend in the Bronx where the Hudson and Harlem rivers meet.

The NTSB said it would consider whether excessive speed, mechanical problems or human error played a role in the crash.

It was the latest mishap in a troubled year for Metro-North, which had never before experienced a passenger death during an accident in its 31-year history.

As deadly as the derailment was, the toll could have been far greater had it happened on a weekday, or had the lead car plunged into the water instead of nearing it. The train was about half-full at the time of the

crash, rail officials said.

Joel Zaritsky, who was dozing as he travelled to a dental convention aboard the train, woke up to feel his car overturning several times.

“Then I saw the gravel coming at me, and I heard people screaming,” he told The Associated Press, holding his bloody right hand. “There was smoke everywhere and debris. People were thrown to the other side of the train.”

The MTA was providing shuttle buses Monday morning to ferry passengers between stops and to another rail line, but it urged riders who could work from home to do so.

NTSB board member Earl Weener said at a news conference Sunday the agency had just begun its investigation and hadn’t yet spoken to the train’s engineer, who was among the injured. Authorities did not release his name.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the track did not appear to be faulty, leaving speed as a pos-

sible culprit for the crash. The speed limit on the curve is 30 mph, compared with 70 mph in the area approaching it, Weener said.

Authorities did not yet know how fast the train was travelling but had found a data recorder, he said.

One passenger, Frank Tatulli, told WABC-TV that the train appeared to be going “a lot faster” than usual as it approached the sharp curve near the Spuyten Duyvil station.

Nearby residents awoke to a building-shaking boom. Angel Gonzalez was in bed in his highrise apartment overlooking the rail curve when he heard the roar.

“I thought it was a plane that crashed,” he said.

Within minutes, dozens of emergency crews arrived and carried passengers away on stretchers, some wearing neck braces. Others, bloodied and scratched, held ice packs to their heads. In their efforts to find passengers, rescuers shat-

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tered windows, searched nearby woods and waters and used pneumatic jacks and air bags to peer under wreckage.

The MTA identified the victims as Donna L. Smith, 54, of Newburgh; James G. Lovell, 58, of Cold Spring; James M. Ferrari, 59, of Montrose; and Ahn Kisook, 35, of Queens. Three of the dead were found outside the train, and one was found inside, authorities said. Autopsies were scheduled for Monday, the New York City medical examiner’s office said.

Lovell, an audio technician, was travelling from his Cold Spring home to midtown Manhattan to work on the famed Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, longtime friend Janet Barton said. The tree-lighting ceremony is Wednesday night.

“The Today” show expressed condolences to the family of Lovell, a married father of four who had worked on the program and other NBC shows. ❱❱ PAGE 22 Investigators seek

Immigration

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 22

Nominations now being accepted for 2014 Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism OTTAWA—Jason Kenney, Minister for Multiculturalism, invited Canadians to submit nominations for the sixth annual Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism.

“Canada’s pluralism is a big part of what makes our country great, and it’s important that we continue to strengthen and promote it,” said Minister Kenney. “That is why, through the Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism, we recognize those who have shown dedication to fostering integration and social cohesion in communities across Canada.

I encourage all Canadians to nominate a friend, colleague or volunteer worker who makes outstanding efforts to build a stronger country.”

The award commemorates the legacy of the late Senator Paul Yuzyk, who was a member of the Senate of Canada from February 1963 to July 1986 and played a key role in the development of Canadian multiculturalism policy. He has been called the father of multiculturalism for his early role in achieving policy recognition for the “third force” of Canadian society; that is, those who were of neither British nor French descent.

One award is granted annually to an individual or a group who demonstrates dedication to advancing intercultural understanding and the integration of newcomers into Canadian society. Individuals are nominated in one of two

categories: Outstanding Achievement or Lifetime Achievement.

The Outstanding Achievement category recognizes an individual or group who has recently made a significant contribution to promote and embrace Canada’s long tradition of peaceful pluralism. The Lifetime Achievement category honours an individual who has demonstrated the same dedication over a period of at least ten years.

The award recipient receives a certificate of honour, signed by the Minister, as well as the privilege to select an eligible, registered, not-for-profit Canadian organization to receive a $20,000 grant from the Government of Canada. The 2013 Paul Yuzyk Award recipient for Outstanding Achievement, Mr. Bashir Ahmed of Edmonton, Alberta, selected the Somali Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization to receive the federal grant.

Nominations for the 2014 Paul Yuzyk Award for Multiculturalism must be postmarked by March 1, 2014. ■

Investigators seek...

“He always had a smile on his face and was quick to share a friendly greeting,” “Today” executive producer Don Nash said in a message to staff.

Eleven of the injured were believed to be critically wounded and six more seriously hurt, according to the Fire Department. After visiting an area hospital Sunday evening, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters that the 11 who originally were critical no longer appeared to have life-threatening injuries.

For decades, the NTSB has been urging railroads to install technology that can stop derailing caused by excessive speed, along with other problems.

A rail-safety law passed by Congress in 2008 gave commuter and freight railroads until the end of 2015 to install the systems, known as positive train control. PTC is aimed at preventing human error—the cause of about 40 per cent of train accidents. But the systems are expensive and complicated. Railroads are trying to push back the installation ❰❰ 21

www.canadianinquirer.net

deadline another five to seven years.

Metro-North is in the process of installing the technology. It now has what’s called an “automatic train control” signal system, which automatically applies the brakes if an engineer fails to respond to an alert that indicates excessive speed.

Such systems can slow trains in some circumstances but not bring them to a halt, said Grady Cothen, a former Federal Railroad Administration safety official.

Sunday’s accident came six months after an eastbound train derailed in Bridgeport, Conn., and was struck by a westbound train. The crash injured 73 passengers, two engineers and a conductor. In July, a freight train full of garbage derailed on the same Metro-North line near the site of Sunday’s wreckage. ■ Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela, Colleen Long, Jake Pearson and Jennifer Peltz in New York, Joan Lowy in Washington and Stephen Singer in Hartford, Conn., contributed to this report.

Immigration

23 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

Immigration measures in support of the Government’s response to Typhoon Haiyan OTTAWA—Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced that Canada will be prioritizing the processing of applications already in progress on request from Filipinos who are significantly and personally affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

As well, Canadians without travel documents as a result of the typhoon will have their applications expedited by the Canadian Embassy in Manila.

Requests from Filipino citizens temporarily in Canada who need to extend their stay will be assessed in a compassionate and flexible manner.

In support of these measures, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has set up special email addresses and a dedicated phone line (see below) to respond to requests from applicants and their families.

Overseas (Resident Philippines)

Existing

in

the

Application:

If

you have an existing application please fill out a form from https://dmp-portal. cic.gc.ca/enquiries-renseignements/case-cas-eng. aspx?mission=manila. Please indicate how you have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the “enquiry” section.

New Application: If you are applying electronically (visit, study work only) and requesting priority processing: • Submit your application online; then • Send an email to manila-imenquiry@international.gc.ca with the following information: o How you have been affected

by Typhoon Haiyan; o The region that you are in; o Your name (family and given); o Date of birth; o Type of application (student, worker, visitor, Permanent Residence in Canada); o Client ID; o File #; and

o Telephone number (optional).

If you are submitting an application at a Visa Application Centre (visit, study work only) please advise the client service agent that you are requesting priority processing and include the following information: • How you have been affected

by Typhoon Haiyan; • The region that you are in.

If you are submitting a paper application and requesting priority processing please write “Urgent-Philippines” on the outside of the envelope and include the following information: • How you have been affected

by Typhoon Haiyan; and • The region that you are in.

In Canada

Existing Applications: Applicants who have already submitted an application should contact situation-philippines@ cic.gc.ca or contact CIC’s Call

www.canadianinquirer.net

Centre at 1-888-242-2100.

Please include the following information: • How you have been affected

by Typhoon Haiyan; • The region that you are in; • Your name (family and given); • Date of birth; • Type of application (student, worker, visitor, Permanent Residence in Canada); • Client ID (optional); • File # (optional) and • Telephone number (optional).

New Application: If you are applying electronically (visit, study or work only) and request priority processing: • Submit your application online; then • Send an email to situationphilippines@cic.gc.ca with the following information: o How you have been affected

by Typhoon Haiyan; o The region that you are in; o Your name (family and giv-

en); o Date of birth; o Type of application (student, worker, visitor, Permanent Residence in Canada); o Client ID; o File #; and o Telephone number (optional).

If you are submitting a paper application and requesting priority processing please write “Urgent-Philippines” on the outside of the envelope and include the following information: • How you have been affected

by Typhoon Haiyan; and • The region that you are in. ■

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 24

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:

Dr. Mark Casafrancisco

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer DENTIST: A word in the English language that is able to evoke fear, intimidation, relief (ever had a brain-splitting toothache that the dentist fixed?), trepidation, and awe all at once.

I’ll admit that my personal word associations border more on fear than anything else. The dentist, to me, is akin to necessary evil. You see, like many others, I grew up in a time during which the pediatric dentist seemed a fictional character from a sci-fi future. There was no such thing, in the real world.

As such, my first memories of the dentist are rooted in anxiety and sweaty palms gripping the sides of the dental chair for dear life.

My childhood dentist was a large, heavy-handed woman, who never cracked a smile, was definitely not child-friendly, and wielded her tools more like instruments of torture than implements of health and well-being. The sound of the drill was the herald of pain and was capable of inducing panic-related palpitations, while the strange and pungent smell (kind of like fennel) of dental amalgam was enough to provoke a wave of nausea. To this day (sadly), whenever I sit in a dental chair, I have to fight the urge to bolt.

Mercifully, kids these days no longer have to deal with the trauma endured by generations past. Nowadays, a trip to the dentist generally spells adventure, fun (the clinic of my daughter’s pediatric dentist has a pretty amazing larger-thankid-size wooden playhouse), and a colourful new toothbrush at the end of the session. With a tube of flavoured toothpaste to go with it, if you’re good. A far cry from the Gestapo-type dental experience of my childhood.

Pediatric dentists are God’s gift to parents, children, and bright, healthy smiles the world over.

They are among the newer people in your neighborhood, and most definitely a welcome addition.

Filipino-Canadian pediatric dentist, Dr. Mark Casafrancisco is well-aware of the vital role he plays in today’s society.

A series of serendipitous events

Perhaps it wouldn’t be too farfetched to say that Doc Mark’s

Mark, wife Gina, mom Aurora and dad Carlo Casafrancisco

Dr. Mark Casafrancisco

Mark (far right) with Monarch co-owners

life is marked by serendipity.

His very birth was serendipitous. Mark’s mom and dad, both Filipino, had already met while in the Philippines; were, in fact, secretly being matched for each other. It wasn’t to be. Mom, a nurse by profession, and Dad, an accountant by training, both moved to Canada. Separately.

She went to Montreal; he, to Toronto.

Some years later, the two reconnected in Canada, only this time, there were sparks. They got married in the Philippines, moved back to Canada, and Mark was born shortly thereafter, in 1977.

Looking to the signs

Another major milestone in Doc Mark’s life—the call to dentistry—seemed marked by serendipity.

“I actually originally wanted to go into medicine, because I had a number of relatives who

had gone that route. But I had a little bit of an awakening in my undergrad years. And I had a little bit of challenge trying to go into medicine, because of some of the requirements.

So I had the awakening, that ‘maybe dentistry is my path.’

You look to the signs, and when I formally committed myself to that route, it seemed very easy; there were no barriers,” he said.

The only child and the empty nest

Mark describes growing up in two worlds and two cultures as “interesting, to say the least.”

An only child, he recalls how challenging it was to take a step towards independence, especially being part of a close-knit Filipino family.

“I left for Kentucky in the US, to study. It was my first time to leave home, and I was gone for two and a half years. This challenged the Filipino expectation www.canadianinquirer.net

of sometimes continuing to live with your parents until you really need to go. It was a challenge for both my parents and I. It was a bit of a heartbreaker to leave to pursue school and then return home, only to leave again and go on your own. But it was a growing point for me,” he shared. He studied, established his practice, and eventually, got married.

He adds, however, that: “Being an only child, I can understand; I see it. Even though I don’t have kids of my own yet.

My friends, would say ‘just remember, you were their (my parents) everything’.”

A godsend

The decision to specialize in pediatric dentistry was very likely a godsend. Maybe even literally.

Mark had been singing in his parish church choir for some time (throughout junior high and dental school) when it dawned on him to pursue pediatric dentistry. He developed an interest in the field because of working with children in his church choir group and early volunteer experiences particularly in dental school, and due to his desire to be of service to the community.

“Dentistry is my way to help people, to help society. I thoroughly enjoy it. My orthodontist teacher—I had braces in

dental school—he connected me to the group he belonged to, the Monarch Dental group.

When I went off to do my training, I kind of knew I had somewhere to go, after. Like I say, it was in the stars for me to go into this practice,” he said.

Through his private practice, Monarch Pediatric Dental Centre in Burnaby, Port Moody and Surrey, BC, he and three other co-owner colleagues, along with 50 staff spread over 3 branches, help make the community a better place.

Of course, the business side to owning a private practice enables Mark to meet his obligations, as well. With a chuckle bordering on laughter, he shared that: “Private practice is one of my ways to pay my bills.”

“Primarily, it is to help people hands on. I wanted to employ my skills and experience in real life, one-to-one. Secondarily, it helps me with my commitments to my needs, personally, professionally, financially” he explained.

Ever the learner

In his free time, Mark enjoys a variety of hobbies. But the one thing that is a constant is his passion for learning.

“I love singing and playing music, scuba diving, running, reading, trying to learn some❱❱ PAGE 39 Filipino-Canadian in

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

25

Holiday Parties

At holiday parties, is Party Hacks for the Holidays social media a welcome guest or a crasher?

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer

BY SAMANTHA CRITCHELL The Associated Press NEW YORK—It’s so easy to share all that holiday fun in an instant: One click and you can cover Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all your other social media accounts. Two seconds later, everyone who wasn’t included will know about it, too.

Or someone might notice that you’ve checked in at a store that holds the item at the top of their gift list. There goes that surprise.

Surely no one wants to make hurt feelings or spilled secrets part of the holiday tradition, yet it can be as tempting to post pictures as it is to grab an extra helping of pecan pie.

To avoid uncomfortable situations, take a breath, experts say, and think about how your status update will be received.

What will it say about you beyond your enjoyment of some

seasonal cheer?

Social media will be part of the holidays this year—parties, gifts, photos, shopping—in a way it was not five years ago, notes Anthony Rotolo, who teaches social media strategy at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. He thinks that’s mostly a good thing, since your followers or friends are there because they want to be.

Be mindful of others’ feelings, however, and try to grow a tougher skin yourself, he says.

Guest lists can be particularly sensitive. The very social Samantha Yanks, an avid Tweeter, Facebooker and Instagrammer and editor-in-chief of Hamptons magazine, says she uses them all to keep up to date with people she likes and admires.

She reminds herself that social media is not an accurate popularity barometer. If others are out having a good time, she ❱❱ PAGE 44 At holiday

IT’S THAT time of the year again. Time for parties cramping up your calendar and preparations taking up the rest of those days that you don’t have to go to a party.

We know it’s a chore and a half to prepare for a party. We also know a great party is worth all that effort. So here are some “life hacks” you can use to turn your party from “good” to “can you believe how awesome that party was?!”

From our good friends at BuzzFeed.com and Complex. com come a myriad of life hacks applicable to any party, whether it’s fancy or downright frat house.

First off, let’s make sure there’s enough booze to keep the party going. The safest estimate for a three-hour party is about three bottles of wine for four people and about four cocktails per guest. If you’re planning to hold a party for more than three hours, it’s a good idea to ask guests to bring drinks to share.

Now that you have libation, you should know how much to serve. Did you know that those perpetual red cups have lines to measure how much alcohol to pour? That’s right! The first line from the bottom of the cup is for liqueur (roughly 1 ounce), the second line is for wine (about 5 ounces), and the third line is for beer (about 12 ounces).

To keep your drinks cold and ready anytime, you can use frozen water balloons to keep bottles chilled without making a mess. You can also chill bottles and canned drinks at a fraction of the time by submerging the drinks into a solution of equal parts ice and water and about 2 cups of salt. Another way to chill your beer is by wrapping a wet kitchen towel around it and then put it in the freezer.

And do you hate watered down wine as much as we do? Then use frozen Grapes to chill your

Dirty Dish Bin

FLICKER / BUZZFEED

Party Lights

wine without watering it down.

For an added festive touch, use red and green Grapes together.

Want to make drinks a bit more playful? Soak gummy bears—yes, your regular gummy bears—in some vodka. Leave them in the fridge for about two to three days until they double in size. Drop ‘em in a cup and use them to spike sodas.

Once you’ve taken care of the beverage detail, it’s time for some belly stuffers.

If you plan to grill meats and vegetables, try using two skewers for each per kebab to prevent the cut-up pieces from rotating as you turn them on the grill. You can also skewer thin vegetables together, like asparagus or beans, to make them easier to handle.

To break the tradition of people hanging around the chipsand-dips area, prepare individual cups with dips and chips to keep people mobile.

Want to lessen dirty dishes?

Cool Drinks

A SUBTLE REVELRY

PHOTO FROM COMPLEX.COM

Then make your own nacho bowls by baking small tortillas in between an upside-down muffin tin. Speaking of dirty dishes, put out a bin where guests can deposit their dirty dishes to make cleanup faster and easier.

Now that your party food is taken care of, time for some dessert! We believe there’s always room for something sweet. So, if you don’t have a mixer to make some whipped cream, then pour your cream into a clean jar, close it tight and get ready to shake what your momma gave ya. Shake the jar vigorously for about three to five minutes and voila!

Whipped cream in a jar!

Lastly, if you’re planning to serve fool-proof crowd pleasers like ice cream and sherbet, scoop ‘em out beforehand and put ‘em back in the freezer.

Now they’re ready to serve anytime and you have more time to party! ■

Holiday Parties

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 26

Anti-Diet Tips to Survive the Holidays (and Look Fab All Year Round)

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer PERHAPS ONE of my all-time favorite food and diet quotes is from kitchen-goddess, Julia Child: “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”

Diet is indeed that 4-letter word most of us dread and often set-aside to the twilight zone or some other strange and slightly fearful dimension.

I find that eating in moderation at all times—and eating healthy, whenever possible—is by far a better strategy than going on that dreaded diet.

Especially as the holiday season rolls around (what with the many festive reasons to eat, eat, eat; which began with Thanksgiving—both Canadian and American—and rolling into party after holiday party) it is vital for us to remember these figure-saving tips: 1. Play with colours. When it comes to food, be adventur-

ous with colour. Take your pick of vitamin, mineral and antioxidant rich fruits and veggies from a wide spectrum of color. These make for filling and healthy in-between meal snacks, as well as served with your meal. Remember, the deeper the color, the richer the nutrition.

2. Don’t be a meal truant.

Meal-skipping, though seemingly an instant way to lose weight, actually works against you, causing your metabolism and calorie-burning to slow down. Eating small meals regularly throughout the day keeps your metabolic rate at an efficient, calorie-burning level.

The most important meal not to skip? Breakfast. It is a longknown fact— ever-gaining more scientific validity—that breakfast has a lot to do with regulating sugar levels, bodily functions, and weight maintenance.

3. Bigger is not better.

Cut down on portions. Opt for smaller meals, whether at home

or at a restaurant. Eat your meals slowly, allowing your stomach to send your brain the “full” signal.

4. Spoil your appetite. Although contrary to what most parents tell their kids, for adults, spoiling your appetite helps keep calories in check.

Arriving hungry to a party is an almost sure-fire guarantee that you will overeat. Have a small, healthy, low-fat snack (such as a piece of fruit) before a meal or before a party, and this will help you keep your meal portions down to a reasonable amount.

5. Go for the “Fresh Factor”. Opt to buy whole, fresh food over canned, processed food, thereby doing away with unhealthy, unnecessary fats, preservatives and sodium.

Most canned goods contain very high amounts of sodium, which contributes to water retention, bloating, and numerous health ailments.

6. Consider the whole picture. Fiber-rich food packed with whole grains and complex

carbohydrates not only serve to clean your system, but help you stay fuller longer while giving you the energy you need.

7. Move that body!

No matter the latest diet or weightloss supplement craze, experts will still tell you that there is no replacement for exercise to keep fit and shed some pounds.

Exercise, a l o n g with its countless health benefits, speeds up your metabolism and burns away stored fat.

It kicks your metabolism ❱❱ PAGE 31 Anti-diet

Tips to avoid legal pitfalls at office holiday parties

BY ALLISON JONES The Canadian Press TORONTO—’Tis the season of the office holiday party, a time when the combination of awkward mingling with co-workers plus alcohol creates a social minefield.

But, experts say, one faux pas can easily turn bad behaviour into a legal mess.

As the Christmas/holiday/ end-of-year party season kicks off, employment law experts offer some tips on how both employers and employees can avoid liability while still partaking in some holiday cheer.

Don’t offer alcohol

Having an alcohol-free event is the best way to minimize risk for employers, though it isn’t always a popular solution, says employment lawyer Inna Koldorf.

Court records are filled with examples of people sexually harassing co-workers and making

inappropriate or racist comments at parties. Alcohol is often involved.

Then there is perhaps the biggest concern any time alcohol is served, that an employee will drive home drunk after the party and hurt or even kill someone.

A 2006 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada found that social party hosts were not liable in that situation, Koldorf says.

But she warns that could be different for hosts who are employers.

“They do have an obligation to keep employees safe while they’re at work and there is more of a relationship of supervision and control than between a host and a guest,” she says.

Hold your party off-site

If a holiday party is held at a licensed restaurant, for example, the restaurant would be considered the provider of alcohol and therefore would assume more of the responsibility for cutting someone off when they’ve had

too much to drink, says employment lawyer Daniel Iny. But some liability could still exist for the employer, he says.

“I would think an employer still has some obligation to take steps if an employer knows an employee...is visibly intoxicated, for example, and not in a position to drive home, the employer can’t turn a blind eye,” he says.

to 4. Common sense dictates that daytime parties discourage heavy drinking or pre-drinking.

Some employers hold active events such as skiing parties or rock climbing parties, says Koldorf.

“Don’t serve any alcohol during the active part of the party,” she says. “It sounds like something that anyone should think about, but some people don’t.”

Don’t provide open access to alcohol

Have a plan for employees who have had too much to drink

If the party is in the office, or somewhere outside a licensed establishment, hire someone to serve alcohol, Koldorf says. “(It) typically causes employees to drink a little less and if those individuals are trained then they can actually flag individuals who are intoxicated and who have had too much to drink and they can actually stop serving them,” she says.

“Offer either somewhere to stay for the evening or transportation to and from the event so people don’t feel compelled to get back in their car after the event and drive themselves home,” Koldorf says.

She recommends employers offer taxi chits and/or book a few hotel rooms nearby in case people need to spend the night.

Invite spouses or families

Hold a lunch or breakfast party

At Iny’s firm the holiday party every year is a lunch from 12 www.canadianinquirer.net

Aside from excessive drinking, the most common problem scenario that likely arises from

office holiday parties is sexual harassment, says Iny, though he concedes the two are not mutually exclusive.

“I think it’s kind of well settled that the incidents of sexual harassment claims are dramatically diminished at holiday parties and the like when spouses are included,” he says.

Employees are still bound by workplace policies, even at after-hours parties

“I don’t think a holiday party gives an employee carte blanche to do or say things that would never be tolerated in the workplace, nor does it give an employer the same right,” says Iny. “If it’s an employment event... an employee can be disciplined in my view for conduct that occurs at a holiday party.”

Koldorf says the best bet is to conduct yourself as if you were at work.

“It’s not like they’re watch❱❱ PAGE 39 Tips to

27 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

The Kingdom of

JESUS CHRIST The Name Above Every Name Attendour

The

Thanksgiving and Worship Presentation all over Canada

DAY

KLC OF TORONTO

Every Sunday at 10:00 AM

of the

KINGDOM OF JESUS CHRIST COMPOUND No. 12 Hafis Rd., Toronto M3M 2C5 For inquiries, CALL: Flor Malasaga: 647 - 994 - 8025 Anna Namalata: 416 -828 -5703

LORD

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Novotel Hotel 1180 Rue dela Montagne Montreal, Quebec

PART 2

THE VISION OF PANDEMONIUM This ministry was given to me by the Father when I was still in high school. I saw a vision, a vision that is now happening in my life. I was 14 years old at that time.

I woke up, soaked in sweat, because of fear of what I had seen.

In my vision, I saw a light from heaven growing brighter and brighter until I saw a hand. I don’t know whose hand it was, but it was very, very bright. And then I saw the earth, everyone was running in despair. I did not know where they were headed, they were really in panic. Everything was in chaos.

The house that I lived in when I was in high school was in Parang, Cotabato. In front of our house were the depots of fuel companies like Shell, Esso, Caltex, Mobil; they are very huge reservoirs of gasoline. In my vision, I saw all of these explode and then the oil and gasoline spilled forth.

So this was the reason why people were running everywhere—to escape the fire. Their only escape was the beach, but when they got to the beach, the gasoline had already flowed there because even the water was flaming.

When the people emerged, I could see that their heads were burnt.

And then they would dive into the water again,

and then re-emerge.

And on dry land, the people were still being chased by the fire.

It was very dreadful. I saw children who were being carried, and I saw people carrying chickens in their arms, they kept on running everywhere without knowing where to go.

In my terror I thought that it was real, and when I woke up I was sweating profusely.

I did not understand what I had seen.

The next night, I saw the same vision; only it was worse than the first. I saw the sky spinning like clouds, or like a rolled mat, but it was on fire.

And then when I looked, I no longer saw Parang, Cotabato; what I saw was no longer just the locality, but suddenly, in an instant, I saw the whole world and the people were running. I knew it was a global chaos because there were different faces, there were different races—there were Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos; there were white, black—all were in chaos.

They ran everywhere, and were being chased by the wind, the fire, and if not fire, by water.

And then I saw the verse which I memorized. I was not yet a Bible School student then, I was only in high school. The verse that I memorized in my vision was: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into

Watch

Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy on Gospel of the Kingdom aired all over Canada on JoyTV

from 5AM-8AM (Vancouver time) 8AM-11AM (Toronto time) 8PM-11PM (Philippine time) Vancouver, Victoria and Fraser Valley Region (Channel 10 in Vancouver & Channel 7 in Victoria) Toronto, Southern Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador (Channel 11 in Winnipeg & via Rogers Digital Cable TV on their local channel 173) JoyTV is also available via Digital TV, visit: Novus (www.novusnow.ca) Shaw (www.shaw.ca) Telus (www.telus.com)

blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come.”

I memorized it. When I woke up, again, I was sweating heavily. But I set it aside this dream in my mind as I continued my studies, but I never forgot that vision.

And then, of course, my classmates and I, we made plans for our ambitions and where we were going after high school. To make the story short, I did not see myself going to secular college, but if you have a calling from God, sometimes you do not know what is happening until

it is fulfilled in your life.

I found myself going not to a non-secular college, but to Bible College.

The training was not easy—studying the Bible—until I encountered the verse which I had memorized. It was Acts 2:20-21: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord Wshall be saved.

(To be continued next week)

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For inquiries, CALL: Bro Mario Baluyo: 514 -652- 2099 Sis Liza Degamo: 514-585-9428

KLC OF EDMONTON Every Sunday at 1:00 PM

Holiday Inn 4485 Gateway Boulevard T6H5C3 For inquiries, CALL: Sis. Alma: 1(780) 695 -9416 Bro. Mario: 1(780) 2220-993

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Ramada Hotel 708 8th Ave, SW For inquiries, CALL: Sis Leah: 1(587) 888 -2974 Sis Wennie: 1 (403) 999-0940

KLC OF WINNIPEG Every Sunday at 1:00 PM

Inkster Hall # 1833 Unit 14 Inskter Mall, Winnipeg Manitoba For inquiries, CALL: Sis Abigail Nituda: 778-926-2991

Listen to CKJS Am Radio, 8PM-9PM every Sunday

KLC OF SURREY, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Every Sunday at 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Midweek Bible Study: at 6:00 PM

KINGDOM OF JESUS CHRIST, TNAEN Hall 13063 Old Yale Road Surrey, British Columbia VT3 3C3, CANADA For Inquiries, CALL: TOLL FREE NO. 604-585-2991 Bro. Dindo Makiling: 778-926-1435 Sis. Sonia Jordan: 604-771-0449 Sis. Glenda Padilla: 604-765-1768 Sis. Arlene Rillon: 778-893-2227

FREE ADMISSION! If you have been blessed by this message, or if you have any questions, comments and prayer requests, you may reach The Kingdom of Jesus Christ through:

Email: info@kingdomofjesuschrist.org www.facebook.com/ApolloQuiboloy www.twitter.com/PastorACQ www.youtube.com/sonshinemedia www.smni.com www.kingdomofjesuschrist.org Canada Toll Free: 1-888-582-3514 Winnipeg: 204-951-1842 Vancouver: 604-727-8025 Toronto: 647-867-1970

Seen & Scenes

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 28

LEADERSHIP SEMINAR & WORKSHOP FOR FSCBC EXECUTIVES AND CROWNING OF MS. WORLD

MOMENT FOR THE P

FSCBC Executives updated themselves on the Kouzes & Posner model, the mission and vision, and ‘Staying in Love’ virtue. Facilitated by Freddie Bagunu on Nov. 23, 2013 in Vancouver, BC. Filipino Seniors Club of BC Crowning its Ms. World Rowena de los Reyes was crowned by FSCBC as its Ms. World on Nov. 10, 2013 at the Vancouver Alpen Club

Hit Producer/Songwriter and Film and Canada’s Pop Princess Elise E ment For The Philippines” in the proceeds were given to The Rose and Angelo Siglos

ZOMBIE NIGHTS This year’s Toronto Zombie Walk & Halloween Parade held at the Nathan Philips Square was a fantastic success, with 8,000 souls in attendance but Mother Nature attacked the event with high kilometre winds, a torrential down pour, and icy temperatures. Hence, a fundraiser will be held on December 27, entitled the Toronto Zombie Walk FiendRaiser. For more information, please visit http://torontozombiewalk.ca/

TELETHON

Photos courtesy of Bert Morelos

ConGen Neil Frank Ferrer, shown here with Councillor Don Bell of the City of NorthVan, and the Barangay Council Leaders and volunteers of the "Bangon Kababayan!" Telethon event held 29 November at the Filipino Community Center.

Photos by Solon Licas

Member of Parliament ANDREW SAXTON, MLA Naomi Yamamoto, here shown together with the Barangay Board and Council Leaders, as well other organizers of the “Barangay Kababayan!” Telethon event.

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

Seen & Scenes

29 FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

PHILIPPINES

ROSARY APOSTOLATE CELEBRATION SCARBOROUGH The Rosary Apostolate held their annual fund raising celebration at Flippers Restaurant last weekend, to generate funds for their operation. They also prayed for the Typhoon Haiyan victims and survivors of the great disaster in the Philippines.

m/Television Producer Adam H. Hurstfield of XOXO Entertainment Estrada, with some friends and partners, hosted an event, “A Moballroom of The Shangri-La Hotel Vancouver on November 28th. All e Charities Canada. Story on page 33. Photos courtesy of Nick Darcy

SIMPLY NO DEBT BASKETBALL CHAMPION

The Rosary Apostolate of the Schools in the Archdiocese of Toronto is composed of over 600 volunteer teachers who taught the praying of the Rosary in the Elementary and high school students. This group was founded by Sister Marilina Cinelli 17 years ago in Toronto/ Scarborough area.

The volunteers taught in the schools in Metro Toronto; to Ottawa in the east; Stouffville in the North; and Bramalea / Mississauga in the South.

Sitted: volunteers Judith Peters, Winnie Yan and Ignacia Nunes.

Standing: Peter & Cecilia Chan, Dolly & George Poblete, Karen Englemann

In photo are volunteers Cecilia Baguio, Madeleine Ong, Angela Field, Nora and, Karen Englemann.

Guests Catholic School Board Trustee Garry Tanjuan, Sir George and Lady Dolly Poblete.

BR IHM BLOCK ROSARY & DOLLY PATRICIO BIRTHDAY, DON MILLS, ONTARIO The Immaculate Heart of Mary Block Rosary prayer group prayed their Rosary at the home of Dolly Patricio in Don Mills, Ontario.

Dolly was also a birthday celebrant and the group proceeded to a nearby restaurant for her birthday party celebration.

CALAMITY SHOOT FOR CAUSE The VOLUNTEER Professional Photographers of Metro Vancouver, who shared their valuable time and talent to help in the Shoot for a Cause “Bangon Kababayan!” Part II event.

ConGen NEIL FRANK FERRER visited the “Bangon Kababayan!” Shoot for a Cause at Cam An Importique, held Dec 1.

Shown here with venue owner Paul, and organizers Bert Morelos, Nicky Felipe, Narima Dela Cruz and other staff who conducted the event. www.canadianinquirer.net

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS ROW. The best camera artists of Metro Vancouver did their share in a special way to raise funds for the victims of the typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 30

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www.canadianinquirer.net

Holiday Parties

31 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

Easy Holiday Recipes

BY CHING DEE Philippine Canadian Inquirer RIGHT AFTER Halloween is a series of parties and potlucks and get-togethers and life doesn’t really stop to let you enjoy that scheduled high school reunion. With a day job (or two) to go to plus house chores to fulfill, who has the time to come up with a crowd-pleasing

contribution to that potluck dinner?

Why don’t you try out these recipes that will not just stuff their bellies but will surely put a smile on everyone’s face.

If you just came home from work with just an hour to spare to get dresses and find a potluck dish, try out smoked salmon supremes from Snack Picks and sourdough veggie dippers from Baby Center.

APPETIZER: SMOKED SALMON SUPREMES 10 Keebler® Club® Original crackers 4 ounces smoked salmon, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons sour cream 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion Coarsely ground black pepper Dill Lay a sliver of smoked salmon on a cracker, then top with some sour cream and garnish with finely chopped red onion and dill.

Sprinkle with pepper.

APPETIZER: SOURDOUGH VEGGIE DIPPERS 2 large sourdough baguettes Assortment of red and green veggies Pre-made dip, spinach or ranch Cut baguette into 2-inch slices diagonally. Scoop out most of the center of the bread from one end of each chunk and fill with dip and veggies.

PHOTO FROM BABY CENTER

MAIN DISH: BACON-WRAPPED PORK LOIN WITH CHERRIES

SIDES: BALSAMIC AND ROASTED CAULIFLOWER

PARMESAN

8 cups cauliflower florets, cut to one-inch pieces 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon dried marjoram ¼ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ½ cups parmesan cheese, finely grated Cut baguette into 2-inch slices diagonally. Scoop out most of the center of the bread from one end of each chunk and fill with dip and veggies.

1 2-pound piece boneless pork loin 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice black pepper 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard 6 slices bacon 1 tablespoon currant jelly 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar Pre-heat your oven at 350 degrees. Prepare the pork loin by seasoning it well with allspice and pepper. In a separate bowl, thrown in the cherries, parsley, and mustard. Mix well. Spread the mustard on the seasoned pork and then lay some bacon on it. Roast the pork for about 45 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the jelly and vinegar and spread the mixture over the pork loin occasionally while roasting. Before slicing, let it rest for about 15 minutes after taking out of the oven.

DESSERT: HOLIDAY BERRY PARFAIT 1-1/2 cups cranberry sauce 4 six ounce cartons strawberry yogurt 1 pint fresh raspberries, washed and sliced in half 2 packages granola (fresh or bar)

PHOTO FROM SNACKPICKS

PHOTO FROM MAMA HARRIS KITCHEN

In a glass, put some cranberry sauce, layer it with yogurt then fresh raspberries and another layer of yogurt. Finish off with granola for added texture and depth of flavor.

PHOTO FROM REAL SIMPLE

Anti-diet... into overdrive, so to speak, and enables your body to burn not only calories on hand, but also stored fat (which must be burned, in order for weight loss to take place). Work in 2030 minutes of heart-elevating exercise to your daily schedule, to achieve overall health and weight benefits. Find ways to incorporate “hidden exercise” into your daily routines: Take the stairs instead of the elevator, whenever possible. Walk or cycle whenever you can. Start a strength training program such as working out with weights.

This builds muscle, and muscle efficiently burns fat.

8. Take time to read labels. ❰❰ 26

Check product labels for hidden calories and unnecessary salt and fat. Know what you are consuming; knowledge is power. Switch to low-fat, low-salt foods wherever possible.

9. Indulge, on occasion. Go for the pleasure without the guilt. Everyone needs an occasional treat now and then.

Allow yourself your favorite pleasure every once in a while, in smaller portions, and enjoy it without the guilt. Constant deprivation will create frustration and the possibility of binge-eating.

10. Don’t drink your calories. Be mindful of liquid calories in sodas, high-sugar fruit juices, instant beverages, cock-

tails and alcoholic drinks. Eating your calories is far more satisfying than drinking them.

Stay away from sugary drinks and fatty drinks. You’d be surprised at how many calories you gulp down without even realizing it. DO drink clear green or black teas and caffeinated coffee in moderation. Both are great ways to up your metabolic rate, curb your appetite, and get rid of water retention. Drink at least 8 cups of water daily.

The brain often confuses thirst with hunger; try satisfying what you think is “hunger” by first quenching what might actually be thirst.

11. Fight fat with fat.

Sounds impossible and highly www.canadianinquirer.net

suspect, but consuming good fats and oils (as against saturated, harmful fats) can help you win your weight war. Some good fats proven beneficial in the war on weight gain: Virgin coconut oil (opt for coldpressed variants only. Hot pressing destroys many of its beneficial properties), fish oil, almond oil, among other others. Steer clear of trans fats and saturated fats, and go for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, instead.

12. Let fashion work for you. This may seem a tad trivial, but it is effective. What you wear to that Thanksgiving or holiday party may very well affect how much you put on your

plate, and in your mouth. Stay away from shapeless, loosefitting clothes, if you want to control how much you eat at the party. Generally speaking, clothes that are more contoured, body-fit or snug will make you feel full faster. If you plan on wearing that irresistibly lovely shift or tunic dress, or those oh-so-fashionable loose-fit harem pants, then consider wearing a body shaper underneath Not as a form of torture, but as an added measure towards self-control. It does work.

Cheers to the party season!

And cheers to looking—and feeling—great throughout it and all year round. ■

Holiday Parties

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 32

Let us party with good etiquette

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer CHRISTMAS SEASON is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. People around the world are busy shopping for gifts and preparing sumptuous foods for various gatherings.

And this jolly season calls for reunions—and with the Filipino extended family, this means partying all season round!

Whether you will attend a casual or a formal party, there are some party etiquettes that you should abide by: 1. Reply to RSVP ASAP. A single text or e-mail should not be much of a hassle to you. As soon as you receive an RSVP, or répondez s’il vous plait, a French word meaning “please reply”, answer back so you can help the party host get an accurate head count. Party etiquette experts consider your “no reply” as inconsiderate and rude.

2. No latecomers please.

Whether you are attending a casual or a formal party, the rule is to arrive 15 minutes before the start of the party..

3. No early birds please.

As much as you should not be late for the party, you should not also arrive way too early (like an hour before the event).

When you do, you might just catch the hosts doing last minute preparations and she would not like it very much.

4. No gatecrashers please.

Although you received an invitation, it is inappropriate and rude to bring friends or relatives who are not included in the list of guests. The chances are, the uninvited will not be allowed to enter the venue, and that’s really embarrassing right?

5. Know the dress code. If you are not sure about the dress code, it is considered acceptable to clarify this them. But party etiquette experts say it’s better to be overdressed than to be underdressed.

6. No sunglasses please.

Dress elegantly and converse sensibly instead.

7. No individual pictorials please. Yes, you bring your iPhones and cameras and you want to move around the venue to take pictures beside the bar, near the party stage and the buffet table. Two or three pho-

tos are enough for your social media posts. Parties usually appoint official photographers to take pictures of guests; you can just wait for them to approach you and ask you to say ‘cheese’.

Party experts say its impolite and a cause of distraction to see guests taking unlimited personal photos.

8. Bring something. Party etiquette experts consider bringing something to a party a sign of your appreciation for being invited. For formal parties, you can bring a bottle of wine, flowers, or gourmet treats (like chocolates). For casual parties, you can simply bring some drinks or food to share.

9. Don’t be shy. Partying is socializing so don’t be reluctant to greet the hosts and other guests as soon as you arrive. Attending parties is also a time to meet new people and it is indeed the most exciting part of partying. But there’s also a rule that you should not talk to a guest for too long so he/she can also converse with other guests and you, too can meet other guests. If you are romantically interested or you have a business proposal with a guest, schedule another meeting when you can talk all day.

10. Don’t be a stalker. So, you sighted a celebrity, your long-time crush or an interesting gal in the party. What should you do? Please don’t stalk! Wait for a mutual friend to introduce you formally. If this doesn’t happen, you can approach the person by introducing yourself and your friends—hopefully, you do it right and spark and interesting conversation.

11. Light conversation only.

As you party, you will be engaged in a conversation. The rule is to avoid talking about serious politics, religion and marriage as these topics were found to be weighty ones which can spark unnecessary debates.

One more thing, don’t gossip about other guests, you’re there to enjoy and not to destroy others’ reputation. Remember the golden rule.

12. Don’t get drunk. As you enter the party premises, you will be overwhelmed with the overflowing of drinks, but don’t drink too much and be that guest.

13. Know when to leave. A party invitation for a formal party usually includes a specific end time, you should not overstay. In the event that end time is not mentioned or listed, you can go with the flow as to when most guests are leaving the party venue. The general rule is to leave as soon as the music stops playing. Don’t wait until bartenders and crews look desperate as they await your grand exit.

14. Thank the host. For casual parties, you must approach the host to say ‘thank you’ before you leave. For formal events, it is much appropriate to send a thank-you note within one week of the party.

Practicing the abovementioned party etiquettes will not just make you a well-mannered guest, it will also open doors to more party invites this holiday season.

So party with all these in mind. Happy partying everyone! ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

Keep annual holiday parties fresh by mixing the old and the new

BY MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON The Associated Press AS PARENTS of a toddler, Miranda and Dave Anderson realized that ringing in the New Year with a late-night bash had gotten a lot harder. So they began hosting a New Year’s Day brunch.

From the start, they billed it as an annual event.

“We wanted it to be a tradition,” says Miranda Anderson, who plans to host the event again this year even though her family, which now includes two children, recently moved from Virginia to Austin, Texas.

It’s fun to have a signature party that friends and family look forward to each year, and even better if you can change things up a little over time, event planners say.

“It is always nice to keep some of the old traditions, but adding in new activities is what will spice up the party every year,” says Christina Berrios of Event Details in New York.

Don’t be afraid to tweak the guest list, food and activities.

When Karen Martin of San Diego started hosting an annual Academy Awards party about 15 years ago, she included “Camp Oscar”—crafts and snacks set up in another room for guests’ children. Adults

would watch the awards show in a different room. “We’d take turns checking on them,” says Martin. Now, her guests no longer have young children.

Likewise, Sheri StLaurent, owner of The Inn at East Hill Farm in Troy, N.H., used to include sleigh rides at the Inn’s annual Christmas party. But she stopped that when the number of kids declined and adults said they didn’t like going out in the cold.

She’s found that it’s OK to make other little changes each year. She usually has a full bar, for instance, but when the budget is tight, she may opt to serve only beer and wine. And she changes the menu from time to time—with one exception.

“I do serve shrimp,” she says.

“If I didn’t do that; that might be a big deal.”

Changing the food can help add excitement to a party each year, says Jenny Goodman, an event consultant with At Your Door Events in Los Angeles. If you typically serve a sit-down dinner, consider hearty appetizers or food stations.

Martin tries to serve food that reflects each year’s Oscarnominated movies. She made beef bourguignon when Meryl Streep was nominated for portraying Julia Child in “Julie & Julia,” and in 2013 she served ❱❱ PAGE 39 Keep annual

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

33

Entertainment

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, CANADA!

Pinoy-Canadian Pop Music Princess Shares For A Cause BY SOCORROBABES NEWLAND

CANADA’S POP R&B recording artist Elise Estrada co-organized fundraising event aptly titled, “A Moment for the Philippines” benefitting Typhoon Haiyan victims. She along with other local named artists unselfishly donated their time and talent to perform.

Last November 28th was an evening like no other. Food and drinks were overflowing with performances from Vancouver’s top performing artists. The Shangri-La Hotel and XOXO Entertainment’s Adam Hurstfield, in cooperation with Universal Records, DDB, Philippine Canadian Inquirer and All-Pinoy Network Juan TV, mounted the swankiest Wine & Cheese “By-Invite-Only” Party in town. And it’s all to solicit donations for victims of the strongest typhoon that ever hit this planet. It turned out to be one successful and fun-filled 4-hour party with overflowing delectable warm and cold delights with wine pairings. It generated approximately $60K in funds through cash donations and silent auction proceeds that will be coursed through Rose Charities of Canada. Rose Charities is a non-stock/non-profit organi-

zation comprising of Canadian doctor volunteers who personally travel to calamity-stricken areas not just to provide immediate medical assistance to victims but also basic supplies like food, clean drinking water and articles of clothing.

“A Moment for the Philippines” was attended by who’s who in Vancouver upper crust society and local entertainment stalwarts like Powerhouse Station Entertainment artists Jerrica, JP Nilo, Anezka Alvarez, JJ Cepeda and Lucky Aces dancing duo. Other entertainers who unselfishly pitched in their time and talents included recording artists Tiffany Desrosiers, dynamic young performer Ava and 2013 PNE Star Showdown Winner Tyson Venegas.

But Star of the night was no other than Pop R&B recording artist (XOXO Entertainment Corp/Universal Music Canada) and Canadian Juno Awards nominee Elise Estrada. She performed a song that she cowrote with her manager Adam H. and Jerry Wong entitled, “All It Takes Is A Moment” lovingly dedicated to the big typhoon victims. Elise has cousins in the Philippines who lost their homes at the wrath of Typhoon Haiyan. Fortunately, they all escaped and survived. “It just doesn’t feel right to release a happy song when my people are suffering,” Elise aptly said

before she performed her song.

She and Adam have decided to put a new album on hold so they could make some money for the victims in the Philippines. “Every bit of help counts,” Adam was quoted as saying. The song was written in less than a week prior to the event. It has been rushed to release by Universal Music and is now available on iTunes for $0.99. All proceeds are going to the victims in the Philippines. ■

Elise and Adam

Juan TV CEO Alan Yong with Rose Charities’ Dr. Collin Yong Jackie with the author

Miss World beauty queens with Chairman and CEO Ike Lalji (center)

Children of Rose Charities’ Dr. Collin Yong

Entertainment

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 34

Who’s that Engineer?

His may not be a familiar name, but Jon Jon Briones has a solid track record

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer “MISS SAIGON” producer Cameron Mackintosh expressed very little doubt that Jon Jon Briones would be “perfect” as The Engineer in the mammoth musical’s West End revival in May 2014.

The Filipino singer-actor has built a solid track record—beginning with the original production of “Miss Saigon” in 1989. Briones was part of the first “exodus” to theUnited Kingdom and performed with Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce.

Briones, currently based in Los Angeles, California, told the INQUIRER via e-mail: “I owe ‘Miss Saigon’ a lot. I was a kid from the slums of Quezon City … I got to travel the world, I met wonderful people, including my wife. We have two kids now.”

Salonga fondly recalled: “I always remember Jon Jon as easygoing. When we were in London, he always had a British girlfriend… to improve his English. His wife, Megan, is American.”

Briones and Salonga worked together again in the San Diego staging of “Allegiance” last year.

“He’s always had that deep baritone voice,” said Salonga.

‘Saigon’ family

In his casting announcement video, Mackintosh said Briones was “a runner” in a local production company who bluffed his way into an audition.

No stranger

He returned the compliment: “Lea is family, like the rest of the original Filipino cast, and I love them all. We started some-

thing really special.”

Briones is no stranger to the role of The Engineer (originated by Pryce) and has been playing it since 1995 in the musical’s various tours in the United Kingdom, United States and Asia, including the Philippines.

“I have so many wonderful memories of those different ‘Saigon’ productions. The best part is working with all these wonderful, talented people [and] being part of the ‘Miss Saigon’ family.”

Head of this clan is Mackintosh. “He is a perfectionist,” Briones said of the boss. “He is an artist, one of the most generous people I know. I can’t wait to work with him again.”

He welcomes playing The Engineer alongside a new set of Filipinos, led by Rachelle Ann Go as Gigi and Eva Noblezada as Kim. “Now that I’m older and hopefully wiser… there are

This Pinoy is perfect for the part, says the producer.

FACEBOOK PHOTO

more things to explore.”

He urges Go and Noblezada to embark on the journey with “child-like wonder. You should have the thirst to learn something new every day … Always do things in a state of gratitude.

Most importantly, have fun.”

Sense of joy

A sense of joy is crucial, he advises the girls. “You have to love performing in order to do eight shows a week and make it look fresh every time.”

He hopes “Saigon” goes on “for another 25 years”—especially since it continues to showcase Filipino talent on the world stage.”

Briones also top-billed the play, “The Romance of Magno Rubio,” in California, for which he got a best actor nomination from LA Weekly. He has acted in US shows like “Las Vegas,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Monk,” “Law & Order LA” and “General Hospital.”

He also hopes the good news about Filipinos in the new “Miss Saigon” brings a little ray of sunshine to the country after the recent calamities. “I can’t begin to imagine what our brave countrymen went through and are still going through,” he said.

“I can only hope to make them proud and represent them well.” ■

TomDen in US for concert tour

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer TOM RODRIGUEZ, star of the recently concluded GMA 7 series “My Husband’s Lover,” is set to spend Christmas with his family in Arizona. He is currently in the United States with fellow series leads Dennis Trillo and Carla Abellana on a concert tour.

The tour starts on Saturday, Nov. 30, in Maryland, then proceeds to New York on Dec. 1, Glendale on Dec. 7 and San Diego on Dec. 8.

Could they actually be shooting footage for an “MHL” sequel between concerts—a music video or (why not?) a wedding scene?

“That would be fun,” Dennis earlier told the INQUIRER during a media gathering to promote “TomDen,” their new CD under GMA Records.

The two played gay lovers in the hit series. A “Book Two” is reportedly on the table— whether it’s a sequel or a prequel, the boys are game. There

is even talk of a big-screen version, but nothing is final, according to GMA 7 Corporate Communication.

Separation anxiety

Has TomDen moved on from the “MHL” hoopla? “Not yet,” Tom said at the CD launch.

“Like most fans on Twitter, who gave up their night life to watch the show, we miss it.” Dennis quipped, “Separation anxiety.”

In the event of a “Book Two,” they were asked, how did they see their characters evolving?

“It depends on the story,” Tom said, “but Vincent will be softer, less uptight, since he has finally accepted himself. He will be less guarded.”

Dennis said he did wonder about their characters’ fate when the closing credits rolled.

“Wewere left hanging. I aminterested in the new dynamics of their relationship.”

Dennis would like to see how the romance between Eric and Vincent started. “Their college days are bound to be more romantic, more carefree,” he said.

Tomden tandem: Tom Rodriguez and Dennis Trillo.

Tom noted, “We didn’t get to explore that period because the show was fast-paced.”

How daring would they be in an encore series? Said Dennis, “We couldn’t show a simple kiss! But that was the beauty of ‘MHL’— we didn’t resort to super-intimate scenes for thrills.”

They were a bit disappointed that the kiss they shot wasn’t aired, though. “It was done beautifully; it would have fully supported the story,” Tom insisted. www.canadianinquirer.net

Not totally lost

Fans can still see deleted/unaired scenes in the DVDs, the first six of which have been released. Volumes 7 to 10 will be released in December.

“MHL” helped boost careers, Tom mused: “I didn’t foresee this; I was content with what I had.”

Apart from “MHL”- related projects and endorsements, they have made movies since.

After Wenn V. Deramas’ Viva comedy “Bekikang,” Tom

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GMA 7

starred in Alvin Yapan’s indie romantic comedy “GayDar.” Dennis got to work with Cannes-winning filmmaker Brillante Ma. Mendoza in the thriller “Sapi.” Dennis said of this collaboration, “It was different, improvising and shooting guerrilla-style. Intimidating, but I’m proud to have worked with him.”

“It was fun making that romcom,” said Tom, “quite refreshing after ‘MHL,’ which was draining.” ■

Entertainment

35 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

Ang Lee plans to do movie in PH

BY EMMIE G. VELARDE Philippine Daily Inquirer CHINESE-AMERICAN FILMMAKER Ang Lee is planning a movie in the Philippines.

The multi-Oscar awardee announced this last night when he faced an awed crowd of admirers, Filipino movie directors and journalists in an open forum at an upscale mall cineplex.

Lee did not give details, but a source said it could be a boxing feature in 3-D. Considered the most successful Asian director—with 12 Academy Awards (including two for best achievement in directing), nine Golden Globes (from the Hollywood foreign press) and other major citations from prestigious tribute groups around the world—Lee is in the country for the first time. He is the focus of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) in the Philippines’ two-day homage event, “A Salute to Ang Lee.” The director of such landmark productions as “Life of Pi” in 2012, “Brokeback Mountain” in 2005, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000, and “Sense and Sensibility” in 1995, was born and raised in Taiwan.

First for Teco

“Salute,” being held at SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City, is likewise a first for Teco, whose officials feel that Lee’s acceptance of the invitation toManila was a coup.

“We are very lucky,” Jack Pan, executive assistant to Ambassador Raymond Wang, told the INQUIRER. “We have not attempted anything like this until now. We invited him in February and he confirmed in late March.”

Speaking softly and looking thoughtful, almost shy, Lee fielded questions that ranged from the future of independent movies and his experiences as an Asian artist in Hollywood.

Present at the open forum wereWang and his staff, Filipino filmmakers Tikoy Aguiluz and Brillante Mendoza. The Q&A followed an invitational screening of his latest big production, “Life of Pi,” reportedly produced at a staggering US$120 million.

The movie went on to generate critical and commercial

Anne Curtis admits slapping John Lloyd Cruz and others; apologizes to all parties

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Ang Lee

success. At the time of its triumph at the Oscars early this year, it was said to have grossed nearly $600 million.

“Ang Lee has an impressive body of work from which we could have chosen any title,” Pan said. “‘Life of Pi’ was the one recommended by (distributor) 20th Century Fox.” Fox is coorganizer of the event, along with the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

At the screening, reception to the film, described by the late eminent US critic Roger Ebert as “a miraculous achievement of storytelling and of visual mastery,” was still very enthusiastic.

‘Unfilmable’

“Life of Pi” is based on a novel

by Canadian author Yann Martel about a shipwrecked teen who spends 227 days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. Before Lee took on the project, it was deemed “unfilmable.”

Apart from best director, it won best cinematography, visual effects, and musical score at this year’s Oscars. Lee is the first filmmaker to score an Oscar for helming a 3-D movie.

The director, whose movies are known for their complex themes and characters and, often, a spiritual bent, had flown in from Taipei, where he headed the jury for the Taiwan Film Festival, considered the Asian Oscars.

“Iloilo,” a drama feature about a nanny from central Philippines, directed by Singaporean director Anthony Chen, won in a three-way tie for best picture at the festival.

During the open forum, Lee was asked what he had previously heard about the Philippines.

“Quite a lot,” he said. “In fact, Manila was mentioned twice in ‘Life of Pi.’ I’m glad I made it

PHOTO BY NICOLAS GENIN / WIKIPEDIA

here at last.”

Lee’s position in global cinema is such, that his life, times and works are extensively discussed in numerous online sites.

THE NEWS that Anne Curtis slapped John Lloyd Cruz at a bar located at The Fort, Taguig City, on Nov. 23 made rounds online immediately.

And for the popular TV personality, the best way is to address it right away. On December 1, via her Twitter account, she admitted that she slapped Cruz, but said she wasn’t in the

“right state of mind.”

In her “tweet,” she mentioned that she had been “on the super popular juice cleanse for three days and attended my best friend’s bachelorette [party] that night.”

She added that she had had “one too many drinks,” which could be the reason why she was cranky.

Reports added that Curtis, from the bar’s toilet was demanding, “Who’s banging [on] ❱❱ PAGE 36 Anne Curtis

Finding his voice

His parents were Chinese immigrants from the mainland.

In previous interviews he described himself as “artistically repressed” in childhood. It took him more than 30 years, he said, to find his voice and express himself—as a filmmaker.

His first movie was “Pushing Hands,” in 1992.

“I’m happily married,” he has been quoted as saying. “I love my children, but eventually you have to deal with only yourself.”

When he talks about Taiwan, it is in nearly poetic terms. “My floating island,” he famously calls it.

He has intermittently pointed to a kinship with Pi. “Like him, I have been adrift all my life.”

His hideout

Though the United States is home now, he has said, “Everywhere can be home and everywhere is not home. I trust the elusive world created by movies more than anything else. I’m very happy when I’m making a movie. Every movie I make, that’s my hideout, the place I don’t quite understand, but feel most at home in.”

Lee, 59, has been married since 1983 to Jane Lin, a microbiologist. They have two sons— Haan, born 1984, a graphic artist (who helped out in “Life of Pi”); and Mason, born 1990, an actor.

Teco is hosting a formal dinner tonight for its guest of honor. Lee leaves tomorrow, but not before he promised Filipino fans, “We will have more communication in the near future.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK PAGE OF ANNE CURTIS

Ottawa moves... in Sorensen said the rules governing use of the cards, which will come into effect in May, will have to be spelled out clearly for consumers.

Unlike traditional credit cards, prepaid cards allow consumers to pre-load funds that can be used to make purchases or cash withdrawals.

But the fees for using the cards haven’t been spelled out as well as they should be, said Sorensen.

A big complaint from consumers has been over card expiry dates. Once the cards expire, card holders would lose the funds that were loaded onto them.

Not anymore, says Sorensen.

“Funds cannot, in general, expire,” he said.

“Nor can financial institutions impose dormancy fees or maintenance fees within the first year of the product’s activation.” ❰❰ 18

The prepaid card industry, while relatively new, has grown recently and was estimated in 2011 to be worth $850 million.

At a separate event, Industry Minister James Moore said the government will give inspectors more tools to enforce the accuracy of measurements used by retailers to charge customers, whether it’s at gas pumps or grocery stores.

The proposed regulations will call for greater frequency of inspections and increased fines for offenders.

“Canadian families expect that when they fuel up, they get what they pay for,” said Moore.

“Our new regulations will give inspectors the right enforcement tools to ensure that retailers are held accountable for the accuracy of their scales, gas pumps and other measuring devices.” ■ With files from Julian Beltrame

Entertainment

Anne Curtis... my door?”

Online reports also have it that apart from Cruz, she also slapped a magazine editor and screamed at TV host-model Phoemela Baranda, saying “I can buy you, your friends and this club!”

In her tweet, Curtis was somewhat putting the blame on an unnamed person’s “inappropriate behavior,” and continued: “That’s why they say, ‘Drink in moderation’… I will charge it to experience … A lesson learned.”

Her tweet added, “I’ve always been an open book and I don’t like to hide anything.”

Curtis explained that she had already apologized “to all parties included.” She added that she also had the apology of the ❰❰ 35

person whom she referred to as the one who triggered her anger.

In her tweet, she said that she doesn’t have any plans of revealing the identity of the offender, saying, “because I’m not the type to ruin someone else’s name.”

Curtis finished her tweet by apologizing to her over 5 million followers, “As you all see, I’m just like any other person that makes mistakes in life.”

She said that it will be the last time that she will talk about the issue.

Meanwhile, actor Sam Milby defended his ex-girlfriend, saying that Curtis is just human who also commits mistakes. He added that he admires Curtis’ courage and honesty in tackling the issue. ■

Erik Santos and Angeline Quinto say ‘I love you’ to each other

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer PLAYING GOOD music together. This could now be the relationship status of singers Erik Santos and Angeline Quinto.

And spectators based it from their terms of endearment for one another.

Just recently, reports said that Angeline received an expensive watch from Erik, which was immediately confirmed by the former via her Instagram account.

She posted along with the expensive watch, “Thank you pogs. Iloveyou always @eriksantos.” “Pogs” (short for Pogi).

The “Star Power” champ explained why she received such an expensive gift from the “Star in a Million” grand winner: “Gift niya sa akin after ko mag-guest sa concert niya. Kasi madalas kami magbibiruan niyan, eh, na, ‘So sa lagay ba ganun na lang, thank you na lang?’ Ganun talaga kami ni Erik, so nagregalo siya sa akin ng relo. (It’s his gift after I was a guest in his concert.

In the past, we are often joking around, saying, so is that really it, only a thank you? We’re really like that so he gave me a watch.)”

Just recently, Erik staged his 10th year anniversary concert and Angeline was one of his special guests.

It will be recalled that a few months ago, Erik labeled his relationship status with Angeline as “special” and “beyond the getting to know each other stage.”

Though still not sure if her fellow singer is really courting her, she admitted that Erik is very sweet to her and that they’ve became even closer after working together here and abroad.

She added, “Alam naman ni Erik na mahal ko siya. Alam niya ‘yun.” (Erik knows that I love him. He knows that.)

The last exchanges of Instagram posts between the two somewhat explained where they are now in each other’s lives.

Before Angeline leave Manila for an engagement, Erik posted a photo of himself with the female singer, “Huling hirit before umalis! Ma-mimiss kita! (Last one before you leave! I will miss you!) See you when you get back.

Safe flight Sexy! @angelineq1.”

Angeline, in response posted a photo of herself and Erik on Instagram. “Mamimiss kita pogs. (I will miss you pogs.) Thank you sa pag iintindi lagi.(Thank you for always understanding) I loveyou always. See you December.” ■

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 36

Area where ‘Fast & Furious’ star Paul Walker died in car crash known to attract street racers

BY JUSTIN PRITCHARD AND JAKE COYLE The Associated Press LOS ANGELES—The neighbourhood where “Fast & Furious” star Paul Walker died in a one-car crash is known to attract street racers, according to law enforcement officials.

Walker and his friend and fellow fast-car enthusiast Roger Rodas died Saturday when the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT they were travelling in smashed into a light pole and tree, then burst into flames.

There is no evidence they were racing another car, investigators said Monday, though speed was a factor.

The two had taken what was expected to be a brief drive away from a charity fundraiser and toy drive at Rodas’ custom car shop in the Southern California community of Valencia, about 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Walker’s publicist said the action star was Rodas’ passenger.

The crash happened on a street that forms an approximately 1-mile loop amid industrial office parks. It is rimmed by hills and relatively isolated from traffic, especially on

Paul Walker

www.canadianinquirer.net

weekends.

“It’s well-known out here that that’s a hot spot for street racers,” California Highway Patrol Sgt. Rick Miler said. “It’s a long stretch where, weekends, businesses are all closed and they feel like nobody’s going to bother them up there.”

Skid marks are a testament to past antics on the loop. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which polices the neighbourhood, said Saturday’s wreck was not the first speed-related crash there but would not reveal specifics. The department is compiling statistics to determine whether the neighbourhood has had more incidents or citations than other out-of-the-way areas.

Meanwhile, investigators are consulting video from security cameras, talking to eyewitnesses and analyzing physical evidence such as on-board computer data from the Porsche.

Eyewitnesses have said the car “was travelling alone at a high rate of speed,” the sheriff’s department said in a written statement. The posted limit was 45 mph.

Officials have not named either person found in the car. The bodies were so badly burned by the fire that engulfed

the wreck that dental records will be needed to confirm their identities.

Walker and Rodas had bonded over their shared love of fast cars.

Rodas, 38, and Walker, 40, co-owned an auto racing team named after Rodas’ shop, Always Evolving. Rodas was a financial adviser as well as a professional driver who competed in 10 Pirelli World Challenge GTS races in 2013, his first year on the circuit. He finished second in rookie of the year standings, circuit spokesman Dave Drimmie said.

Walker starred in all but one of the six “Fast & Furious” blockbusters. He had been on break from shooting the latest installment; Universal Pictures has not said what it plans to do with “Fast & Furious 7,” currently slated for a July release.

On Monday, fans of Walker continued to gather at the crash site, leaving flowers and memorabilia from the movie franchise about fast cars that made him famous. ■ Coyle reported from New York.

Associated Press researcher Barbara Sambriski in New York contributed to this report.

PHOTO BY S_BUKLEY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

37

Lifestyle

Dance/movement therapy enjoying growth spurt in Canada, but more research needed

BY ADRIAN LEE The Canadian Press TORONTO—Ever since Kelly Marie was young, she loved to dance. At four, she was learning ballet and jazz dance; by 13, she was dancing competitively.

“It became an integral part of me and it’s something that I couldn’t imagine living without,” said Marie, 24.

“Dance was always an outlet. For me, being able to go to dance every night as a teenager helped me work through a lot of stuff that I didn’t really understand.”

She pursued her love for the art form through her studies, attending York University for a bachelor’s degree in dance. But when she came across dance therapy in her fourth year, while looking to simply fulfil a thesis project, even she didn’t foresee dance being involved in helping her deal with some mental health issues that had begun to creep in.

“I didn’t come into ( d a n c e therapy) for necessarily specific therapy reasons, at first. But like anyone, they came up,” she said.

At the outset, Marie had no idea what she was getting into.

Little wonder, since within Canada, dance/movement therapy, or DMT, remains a niche practice in the realm of psychotherapy. The plot of “Silver Linings Playbook” it is not: premised around the integration of the body and mind, the practice believes that the health of one means the health of the other.

While dance does have natu-

ral therapeutic qualities, dance therapy is different: it deploys movement for a vast number of specific purposes. Sometimes, after an improvised dance while thinking of a particular element of a trauma, clients unpack the reasons behind a particular movement with their therapists; other times, it’s used to try to better access the mind among patients with Alzheimer’s.

“It’s just like what’s happening in the education system: every child does not have the same learning style or learning needs,” said Megan English, a Toronto-based private practitioner.

“So if we think of psychotherapy as a learning process, which I think it is, it’s a process of change which involves learning, then that m u s t

carry true for people engaging in therapy. There isn’t a onesize-fits-all solution.”

Practitioners say DMT is enjoying something of a growth spurt in Canada. There are now 19 registered dance therapists in Canada, a number that is still small but has grown from 14 in three years. English says she’s receiving more requests than ever to be a clinical supervisor for students, a necessary condition to complete a degree.

And in Montreal, Les Grands Ballets recently announced a new National Centre for Dance Therapy, which will undergo three first-of-their-kind pilot projects over the next few years to provide much-needed quantitative research, as well as provide

the country’s first homegrown graduate-level dance therapy training program.

Mary Moncrieff, a dance/ movement therapist at Ottawa’s Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre, recently went to a conference in New York and said she couldn’t remember the last time she saw so many young people attend.

She credits the resurgence to a change in how society as a whole looks at the body.

“People are looking at trauma, people are looking at physical health, at awareness of the body, and there’s a lot more readiness from the population to attend to the body and their life in general,” she said.

“And on top of that, dance itself appears

to have risen in profile. You can take it in a tacky way, like with shows like ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ or how Ellen (DeGeneres) dances, or with Zumba, but the fact is, people are allowing themselves to dance.”

The growth that the 60-yearold Moncrieff has seen, while slight, is particularly remarkable because of the odds stacked against dance therapy: a lack of awareness, a paucity of evidence-based research, and the lack of a coherent body to train and represent Canadian therapists.

“I think it should be in every hospital and be an everyday program, and it’s not,” said Andreah Barker, 36, who works in dance/movement therapy at Toronto’s Baycrest Centre. ❱❱ PAGE 39 Dance

Lifestyle

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 38

Baking bonanza: Tips on how to stock your pantry for holiday baking

BY LOIS ABRAHAM The Canadian Press TORONTO—If you’re making the time and effort to bake for the holidays you want to have success on your side. A few simple steps can go a long way to ensuring family and friends will be clamouring for more of your delectable goodies.

“One of the few times of the year when it’s really fun to bake is for the holidays. The things are so good and they’re a treat, so it’s really wonderful,” says Jane Rodmell, owner of specialty food business All the Best Fine Foods in Toronto, which caters and prepares foods.

Whether it’s cookies, loaves or a decadent finale for Christmas dinner, seek a new recipe you want to try from a trusted source or concoct a tested family favourite.

Read the recipe through carefully and make sure you have everything you need, including pans, utensils and ingredients.

“If you’re baking a loaf, do you have the right size loaf pan or has somebody borrowed them or used them in the garden or something as sometimes happens,” says Rodmell.

“Most of the baking I do I do at the cottage and that often happens there that people take off with my pieces of equipment to use in other ways and so I think it’s good to check the cookware you’ve got is what you need.”

Esther Brody, the Calgarybased author of “The 250 Best Cookie Recipes” (Robert Rose Inc.), suggests investing in heavy-duty baking sheets.

“Likely they will cost a bit more than some, but I think they are worth it because they won’t rust and your cookies will bake more evenly,” she writes.

“Cookie sheets differ from baking pans as they don’t have sides, which allows the heat to circulate around the cookies, helping to ensure more even baking. If you don’t have heavyduty baking sheets, I recommend lowering the temperature of your oven by 25 F (10 C).”

Serious bakers may rely on a counter stand mixer. “A goodquality hand-held mixer is what I use when I’m baking with the grandchildren and they love it.

They can handle it and it’s very easy and it works just fine,” says Rodmell.

“When I learned to bake first I used a whisk and a wooden spoon and a big bowl with my mum. You don’t need fancy equipment to bake cookies.”

Several cooling racks are ideal as is parchment paper to line pans to make getting baked items off easier and cleanup a breeze. Holiday cookie cutters come in many shapes and sizes Measuring cups and spoons with longer handles enable you to scoop ingredients out of deep containers and jars. Metal models won’t warp or melt. Spoons that are oblong rather than round will fit into the mouth of spice jars.

When it comes to ingredients, you’ll likely need flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and pure vanilla.

Rodmell suggests buying a small container of baking powder and soda and restocking as needed. Once opened, their potency begins to diminish.

Make sure you have enough eggs.

“I’ve done that before where I’ve started a recipe and then found that I only had four eggs and I needed five. That’s really annoying,” says Rodmell. “Once you’ve got into the groove you don’t want to have to rush to the store.”

Unsalted butter is preferred by many bakers since it has a

purer flavour and lets you control the amount of salt added to the recipe.

You may need good-quality semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate and cocoa.

A lot of holiday baking includes dates, figs, currants, raisins, sultanas, dried apricots or cranberries, candied citrus fruits or crystallized ginger and nuts, such as walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts.

“Make a trip somewhere that has really good turnover with quality that you know is going to be good and stock up on things like that,” suggests Rodmell. Buy just the amount you need.

“You will definitely need to look into your spice cupboard and see that that is in good shape because you will be using probably ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, anise, maybe if you’re a little bit adventurous you may need cardamom, the lovely warm spices www.canadianinquirer.net

of the fall and winter months,” says Rodmell.

Make sure the spices haven’t been languishing in the cupboard, losing flavour. “How often are people using the whole can they bought two or three years ago?

“You can get a whole nutmeg, of course, and then you grate it yourself which is even better rather than using nutmeg that’s been sitting already ground forever. The difference in taste of those two is astonishing.”

Besides use in baking or garnishing eggnog and lattes, it’s also delicious sprinkled over creamy soups.

Decorating suggestions include chocolate or coloured sprinkles, coloured sugars and silver dragees (small beads).

Edible goldleaf, though “fearfully expensive,” is used “more often to garnish chocolate confections, chocolate mousse or really lovely pots de creme,” says Rodmell.

Timing is everything when it comes to baking. Most recipes give a range of times and it’s best to check for doneness a few minutes before the time indicated in the recipe, Brody writes. She also advises against making ingredient substitutions or doubling or halving a recipe unless it states you can do so.

Rodmell says she’s all for experimenting with savoury recipes, but not when it comes to baking.

“You can’t really be too loosey-goosey with the relationship between the sugar, the fat and the liquids. You do have to keep a balance there to have a successful product,” she notes.

“You can’t just throw in an extra cup of nuts, for instance, and hope it’s going to be the same if you hadn’t put them in there because the nuts will absorb the moisture and it will be a different texture and so I think you have to be prepared to follow the recipe for the first time fairly exactly even down to the size of the pan and the heat that’s recommended and the cooking time.”

Put on some music and allow yourself some time to enjoy the activity or invite a friend to join you. But keep your mind on the task at hand.

“I don’t think baking is a very good multi-tasking activity,” says Rodmell. “Decide you’re going to have a baking time and that’s what you concentrate on.

“You can’t be talking on your cellphone and working on your iPad and being a successful baker, I don’t think.” ■

39 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

Dance...

Barker, who wrote a research thesis on the history of dance therapy, said it was first conceived in the 1940s in the United States to treat non-verbal war veterans, a tradition that explains why the practice is more common there.

Most Canadian DMT therapists take their cues from the best practices and ethics of the American Dance Therapy Association, she said; there is no such regulatory body for Canadian therapists. (A Canadian association was founded in 2011, but a spokesperson said that the creation of a regulatory body is still “in the works.”)

While it did gain some ground in Canada during the 1970s, according to Barker, it faded in large part because the country lacked a developmental pipeline: until the Grands Ballets program was announced, those interested in pursuing dance therapy had to go to places like the U.S. and England because there were no homegrown master’s degree or diploma-granting programs.

“I think it’s important to have a Canadian standard of practice,” said Barker.

“I think our system is very different from the American system, and I think that people who practise here should train ❰❰ 37

here rather than follow an American way of doing things.”

There are also questions as to whether mainstream psychologists see dance therapy as a viable complement to more traditional therapy techniques.

Dr. Martin Antony, a professor of psychology at Ryerson University, says there is a lack of evidence-based research that dance therapy really works, beyond dance’s natural therapeutic qualities.

“What we’d need to see is a study that looks at traditional therapy without dance therapy and traditional therapy with dance therapy, and there is nothing. I haven’t seen any studies like that,” he said, citing cost as a possible reason.

“My guess is that mainstream psychologists don’t know a lot about it.”

Christian Senechal, director of Les Grands Ballets’ National Centre for Dance Therapy, agrees research is needed for credibility and funding.

“We need quantitative research to have some proof, and we are trying to build our research around that,” he said.

“All the projects we have now, we are trying to create quantitative data.”

English said dance therapy is up against techniques that have been around longer, and that collecting data about some-

thing so organic has proven tricky.

“Cognitive behavioural therapy has been successful in creating almost a manual to deliver it, so there’s something concrete that can be shown, and with dance and movement, it’s often happening in the moment, so to document those things is a little bit more challenging. It’s not that it’s not possible, it’s just more challenging.”

Moncrieff agrees that the work will eventually pay off: “I often think of occupational and physical therapy and what they’ve gone through for so many years to prove themselves.”

As for Marie, whose treatment has now shifted to more traditional therapy, she says she could not have got to where she is today without dance therapy.

“I think if I sat down or just laid down on a couch like the traditional stereotype, I don’t think I would have gotten this far ... it would have been too intense,” she said.

“It really improved me as a person, in a lot of really minute ways. As long as you’re coming into it with an open mind, it’s absolutely beneficial. And I think it’s beneficial in lots of ways that someone’s not going to expect.” ■

Filipino-Canadian in... thing new again. I’m always a learner, that’s just me: a lifelong learner. I love astronomy and photography, as well.

Hanging out with good friends, travelling,” he revealed.

Mark’s interests and off-work leisure activities enable him to establish a work-life balance; something which he admits is important and not the easiest thing to do.

“You need to know how to manage your own personal and familial matters. I experienced health challenges because of all the stresses; you need to slow down a bit for yourself and the people who deserve it most.” ❰❰ 24

Reach for the stars

He encourages those in pursuit of their dreams to keep following these dreams, and to shoot for the stars.

“For any kind of successful career, follow your dream.

A lot of successful individuals go and reach for the stars, and they somehow are taken care of. Shoot for the moon and the

Tips to...

Keep annual...

ing their every move, but management is watching their behaviour,” Koldorf says. “There have been incidents in the past where employees have done some outrageous things that did not comply with the employers’ policies or the workplace policies and they were disciplined.”

❰❰ 32

❰❰ 26

Cautionary tales

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in 2011 upheld the dismissal of an employee at a plastics company after he got drunk at the company Christmas party and harassed his supervisors and made sexually inappropriate comments and physical threats to his fellow employees and their spouses.

He tried to appeal because he argued the company should have known he was an alcoholic and accomodated his disability.

Earlier this year the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal ruled that a man was in the course of his employment when he got drunk at his company’s holiday party, fell on the dance floor and fractured his shoulder. The tribunal found that even though attendance at the party was voluntary, the employer sponsored and organized the event where alcohol was provided as well as free hotel rooms “on the presumed understanding that workers would be likely to con-

sume alcohol to excess.”

A senior manager at a hotel chain went to British Columbia’s Supreme Court claiming damages for wrongful dismissal stemming from his behaviour at the company holiday party.

But the court, in a 2009 decision, dismissed his claim, ruling that his sexual harassment of a junior employee and his dishonesty during the investigation of her complaint was “fundamentally inconsistent with the continuation of the employment relationship.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

cheese steaks in honour of “Silver Linings Playbook,” set in Phil-

adelphia.

“The minute the nominations are out, that day is when I start thinking about the food,” she says.

She always puts a red carpet outside the door at her Oscars party and photographs guests as they arrive. She also prints ballots so partygoers can vote for their favourite actors and movies.

Some annual parties lend themselves to an entirely new theme every year, says Berrios.

“There are different event trends that happen each year,” she says. “It can be fun to have a new trend at your party, while figuring out how an old tradition can mesh with it.” Different themes call for different decor, design and style, she says.

stars,” he advised.

He also acknowledges the crucial role parents play in the success of their children, with parental support being “key to an individual’s success.”

Mark said that: “Parents need to help their children remove the barriers; support and empower the dreams and interests of their children; expose them to a variety of opportunities to help them find their area of interest, their gift.”

For those wanting to go into dentistry, in specific, Mark stresses the importance of exposure to the practice, and advises hopefuls to observe and learn from their community dentist.

And of course, the question we’ve all been waiting for: As a child, was Mark afraid of the dentist?

“I don’t think so. I knew I had to go, and I just hunkered down and did it. And it wasn’t a bad experience,” he said.

And right there is one statement of which I, for one, am very, very envious. ■

“You can even have a signature cocktail to match the theme of the party.”

Anderson often has a theme for her brunch. One year, it was “Dip into the New Year,” and she served fondue. For 2014, she has chosen “Texas Toast”; the menu will include French toast and sparkling juices.

She tries to keep the event informal so she can add guests as she and her husband make new friends. The party is usually an open house, and she sometimes asks people to bring a dish.

One staple of the party: a photo booth. She creates a backdrop and sets up her camera with a remote control and a tripod. Guests can snap their own photos. She also sets out a white board, and encourages guests to write down New Year’s resolutions and take a picture with them. ■

Business

The Honda... duced award-winning vehicles and products that have earned it a strong reputation in the global automotive industry.

With humble beginnings, producing just one vehicle model in 1969, Honda Canada now manufactures seven different models in several Canadian manufacturing plants.

True to its mission, Honda Canada uses top quality parts sourced from Canadian suppliers—and in some cases, components and parts including those that go into its engines and frames are also made from recycled materials. Each vehicle also goes through a specific welding process performed by highly refined and programmable robots. Once a vehicle is assembled, it undergoes a test drive and safety inspection to ensure full functionality and is fine tuned for optimized performance.

Over the years, Honda has made significant technological advances towards designing eco-friendly vehicles. In 1972, Honda debuted the CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) engine, which allowed Honda vehicles to meet the United States Clean Air Act. Not only was this innovation emissions-reducing, but it eliminated the need for a catalytic converter, which also reduced the vehicles price tag.

Following the introduction of CVCC engines, Honda designed the VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) ❰❰ 3

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013 40

YAMANG PANGKINABUKASAN engine in 1989 which increased power and further reduced fuel consumption. The company released their very first hybrid vehicle, the Insight, in 1999.

Honda Canada has also made a tremendous contribution to Canadian society: it proudly employs over 19,000 Canadians, supports Canadian-based suppliers ($1.1 billion in good purchased) and exports its products to the US, Mexico, Chinese and South American markets.

Honda also recognizes the importance of environmental sustainability, and has launched various initiatives to help reduce its carbon footprint.

Honda’s Blue Skies for Our Children initiative promotes sustainability through development of technologies that have minimize impact on the environment. Honda Canada is also headquartered in a LEED-Gold building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in Markham, Ontario.

The combination of Honda’s capability of producing highquality vehicles, while maintaining a position that supports preservation of the environment has won over the trust of thousands of Canadians. We at Kingsway Honda, a part of the Destination Auto Group, believe in the principles and values that Honda stands for— right from the vehicles they produce to their support of the environment—and are proud to be one of Vancouver’s franchised Honda retailers. ■

Why People Fail To be Financially Successful THE REASON most of us go into debt is lack of financial knowledge. It is about understanding money and how to make it work well for you.

People don’t understand the principles of personal finance and do not practice them. If you don’t have simple skills like managing money and making decisions about savings and debt, it is very hard to become financially independent and successful. We do tend to ignore the need to implement a financial plan and do not realize the impact of some of our decisions have on our financial goals—decisions that include compulsive spending, maintaining a lifestyle beyond our means, missing bill payments, etc. These kinds of mistakes have serious long-term consequences. People need to take responsibility of their spending and develop and follow a planned spending budget.

From an array of recent surveys, statistics show that onequarter of adult Canadians have no savings for the future; more than a third of credit card users don’t know their card’s annual interest rate; less than half realize that interest is charged on cash advances; and 60 percent admit that they find most financial information hard to understand.

In today’s world, information is more readily available

than it was in the past. With the growth of the internet, the knowledge we seek is a one click away. Many people make decisions base on opinion and fact, between myth and reality. It will be up to you to identify what is opinion and what is fact in your own financial lives. Rather than leaving it up to the corporate world to educate us on finance, we should take it upon ourselves to read and educate ourselves; after all financial literacy should begin from you. Wouldn’t you like to increase your net worth and decrease your debt load?

Financial knowledge is a power tool which gives important options and opportunities to us to increase our net worth.

Most of us do not know where we can get proper financial ad-

vice, so we do nothing about it.

We are rather clueless when it comes to money management as we have not learnt enough or anything at all about it. We should have a firm understanding of money management and not just the ways to earn money to sustain our life. But it is never too late to educate oneself on matters of money. Make learning a lifelong process. Consider the cost of not knowing something. ■ For more information about this topic and other valuable financial information listen to our weekly radio program— “YAMANG PANGKINABUKASAN” every Saturday from 1:30pm to 2pm on JUAN Radio 96.1 FM, hosted by Surrinder Varpaul and Kuya Boy

CIBC Mobile Banking now lets Canadians deposit cheques with their phones New feature will save individual and small business clients time and provide faster access to funds TORONTO—CIBC, THE first bank in Canada to launch a Mobile Banking App, today extended its suite of mobile banking innovations with eDeposit, a new feature that lets personal and small business clients deposit cheques to their CIBC account simply by taking a photo of the cheque with their mobile device.

“The convenience of depositwww.canadianinquirer.net

ing cheques simply by taking a picture with your phone means you can make a deposit where, how and when you would like, which will save CIBC’s 11 million clients time and provide faster access to those funds,” said David Williamson Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head, Retail and Business Banking, CIBC. “Whether you are a small business own-

er with a handful of customer cheques at the end of day or an employee getting your weekly paycheque, you can literally make a deposit within seconds.”

This innovation makes CIBC the first of the major banks in Canada to offer Canadians deposit taking where, how and when they would like - in more ❱❱ PAGE 44 CIBC Mobile

Sports/Horoscope

41 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2013

Super Liga elims sweep for PLDT

Nietes eyes KO vs Mexican foe ‘Pride’ pits Pinoys vs Latinos

BY ROY LUARCA Philippine Daily Inquirer DONNIE “AHAS” Nietes oozes with confidence while Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo takes it cautiously when they stake their respective World Boxing Organization crowns tonight in Pinoy Pride 23 at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Emboldened by his nearly seven-year reign as champion, Nietes predicted a knockout over Mexican Sammy Gutierrez.

Former Bacolod street fighter Sabillo, on the other hand, said Nicaraguan Carlos Buitrago is a worthy adversary for the minimum weight title and he isn’t promising a knockout in the doubleheader of the fight card being staged by ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN Sports.

The 31-year-old Nietes, who owns a 31-win, 1-loss-4-draw slate with 17 knockouts, and Gutierrez (33-9-2, 23 knockouts) both came in at an exact 108 pounds during the official weigh-in at Robinsons Galleria.

Sabillo, who has stopped his last five opponents en route to an immaculate 23-0 record with 12 KOs, and the 21-yearold Buitrago (27-0 with 16 knockouts) also tipped the scales at the 105-pound limit.

While Nietes and Sabillo differ in their assessment of their Latino rivals, the Ala Boxing Gym stalwarts, are one in saying that they have trained long and hard in trying to stretch the Filipinos’ romp in the international arena.

Nietes and Sabillo said they are inspired by Nonito Donaire’s ninth round stoppage of Vic Darchinyan last month

BY MARC ANTHONY REYES Philippine Daily Inquirer

and Manny Pacquiao’s recent 12-round destruction of Brandon Rios.

Other televised bouts pit Milan Melindo against Mexican Jose Alfredo Rodriguez; Jason Pagara versus Vladimir Baez of the Dominican republic; AJ Banal against Puerto Rican Lucian Gonzales and Jimrex Jaca against Indonesian Wellem Reyk.

Meanwhile, the supervising WBO donated $10,000 to help those still reeling from the devastation brought about by Supertyphoon Yolanda. ■

AMERICAN REINFORCEMENT Savannah Noyes sparkled as PLDT MyDSL downed Cagayan, 2516, 25-17, 22-25, 2624, to sweep the women’s eliminations of the Philippine Super Liga volleyball Grand Prix at Ynares Arena in Pasig City.

The statuesque Noyes erupted for 23 points, 20 of them on the attack, as the Speed Boosters clinched the No. 1 spot in the semifinals with their fifth straight victory.

Sue Roces added 15 points for PLDT, which relaxed a bit after winning the first two sets.

Coach Roger Gorayeb later said it was a calculated risk.

“I told them that we only need two sets to keep our No.

1 position in the semifinals,” Gorayeb said. “That’s why I’m so glad that the girls responded with a good performance in the first two sets. Everything went on as planned.”

When Cagayan threatened to force a fifth set after taking a 2421 lead in the fourth, PLDT quickly stopped the rally with quick kills to end the match after one hour and 40 minutes.

TMS-Philippine Army (4-1) had earlier secured the second semifinal slot.

Despite the loss, the Lady Rising Suns (3-2) are expected to eventually join the semifinal cast along with idle Cignal (23).

In the second game, Petron fought back to shock RC Cola, 20-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-12, 155, and nail its first win in five games. The Raiders fell to 0-5. ■

HOROSCOPE ARIES

CANCER

LIBRA

CAPRICORN

(MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

(JUNE 22 - JULY 22)

(SEPT 23 - OCT 22)

(DEC 22 - JAN 19)

Today will be lighthearted and just in time, too. Life was getting serious there for a while. Smile and try to go outside your normal routine. What’s the point of working so hard if you only reward yourself by slumping in a chair at home? Go for a ride in the country for an hour or two instead. It would do you good.

TAURUS (APRIL 20 - MAY 20) It’s true that you aren’t ten anymore, but who’s to say you can’t go back to your childhood now and again? Without going so far as to play hopscotch in the street or instigate a food fight in your favorite restaurant, go see some friends for some laughs. You’ve been working hard for a long time now and deserve a bit of fun. Don’t hesitate.

GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUNE 21)

New winds will begin to blow away the black clouds that have been hovering over you lately. What more could you want? Today will seem like a walk in the park compared to days past! You’ll breathe better and come home feeling rested. Try to interact more with the people around you. They will appreciate it if you express genuine interest in their opinions.

You can look forward to a bright day. What a relief it will be after the tension of the past several days.

This would be a good time to confide in a close friend. It will help relieve some of the pressure you’ve been feeling inside. Be careful not to relax completely. If you do, you may not be able to get out of bed!

The last several days have been a bit of an ordeal, so you could be surprised by the brightness of the day ahead. Although you may not be trying to assert yourself any more than usual, you’ll receive compliments and congratulations from many sources. Baffling, isn’t it? Take advantage of the joys ahead without subjecting them to too much scrutiny.

LEO

SCORPIO

AQUARIUS

(JULY 23 - AUGUST 22)

(OCT 23 - NOV 21)

(JAN 20 - FEB 18)

Drop the conclusions you’ve reached concerning your work at the moment. Like it or not, life is going to throw you a curveball. Normally, you wouldn’t consider the sorts of propositions that people will make to you now. The ideas may seem crazy and out of line with who you are. They may be crazy, yes, but they aren’t out of the question!

It’s a relief when the hostilities subside, isn’t it? It has seemed like people have repeatedly slammed doors in your face. But today a visit or encounter will unlock some mysteries for you. Will your problems finally be solved? If you’re committed to unEarthing your originality, you’ll be fulfilled.

VIRGO

You’ll enjoy the gentleness and relaxation today offers.

You’ll be more talkative than usual. This interlude will give you an opportunity to refresh yourself by spending some quality time with family. You have strong intuition. Listen to it, as it will advise you wisely.

SAGITTARIUS

PISCES

(NOV 22 - DEC 21)

(FEB 19 - MAR 20)

(AUG 23 - SEPT 22) You may be feeling way too serious at the moment.

Whether you know it or not, you’re in dire need of cheering up. If someone invites you to a comedy club, go. It may take you a while to get into it, but you’ll end the evening laughing. It will be the best night of your month. If you can, stop second-guessing yourself.

It looks like you’re making headway again. Now that you’re planning for the future, you could enroll in an educational program or take a trip. Don’t be so dazzled by today’s bright outlook that you forget the business at hand. Accept this day for what it is - a brief respite amid the chaos. Tomorrow you’ll return to your work refreshed.

There’s something blossoming inside you today. The heavy pressure of the past several days has ebbed, and you’re able to go about your business with a lighter heart. It would be a good idea to pay more attention to your body. Try to schedule more aerobic exercise and cut down on fats and sugars. Start some healthier habits.

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This may be a laid-back day for you, but a period of calm will do you a lot of good. You could lounge around in a park and let your imagination go.

Today’s astral configuration will make you dream and remember your childhood. Rather than stressing about all that isn’t getting done, why not go with the flow for a change?

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

42

Travel

Look out below: St. Augustine, Fla. attraction lets visitors zip line over alligators, crocs

BY BRENDAN FARRINGTON The Associated Press ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.—I was slowly crossing a swinging log bridge when I paused, sensing the alligator 12 feet below was staring at me.

The water around the 8-foot gator’s enormous body began rippling rapidly. A second later, Big Al let out a deep bellow, as if to say, “If you fall, you’re my lunch.”

I was grateful to be strapped in a harness.

The bridge was part of a 49-station obstacle course that includes 10 zip lines at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. It takes visitors over crocodiles, lemurs, giant tortoises, vultures and, of course, lots of alligators.

“It’s just a totally different perspective. You can go to any zoo in the world and look at them through the glass, but you can’t go anywhere and look at them over the top of the enclosures like you can here,” said Scott Brown, who designed and now manages the Crocodile Crossing at the zoo.

The alligator farm is fascinating enough on foot. At 120 years old, it’s one of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions and it is the only zoo in the world that displays all 23 crocodilian species, including the nearly extinct Philippine crocodile.

From above, it’s even more amazing. I paused on a rope bridge to watch enormous African vultures rip apart a carcass, zipped over a lagoon with dozens of alligators, watched lemurs scrambling around their cage below me and saw the surprised faces of the guests on the ground as I flew over their heads.

And it’s a good workout. I’ve zip-lined through the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts and found this to be a bigger challenge. The zip lines in

the mountains might be longer and faster, but the obstacles at the St. Augustine zoo make you work harder.

I had to climb rope ladders, traverse a high wire and struggle to maintain balance on bridges that use swinging ladders, swinging logs and boards that are placed so far apart they sometimes require a leap instead of a step. Even with temperatures in the low 70s I worked up a good sweat.

Plus, you don’t find alligators and crocodiles in the mountains of the Northeast.

“It’s just almost impossible to match what they have in other parts of the country, but what we lack in distance and speed we make up for in the scenery,” Brown said. “You have to go through the obstacles to get to the zip line. The zip line is your reward for your hard work of the obstacles. There’s a reason they call it a challenge course.

It is challenging.”

The longest zip-line on the course is 300 feet, or the length of a football field. There are some very fast lines, requiring some quick breaking. There’s also the occasional palm frond that harmlessly whacks your butt.

I didn’t stare at the alligators and crocodiles while zipping, choosing to instead focus on the landing platform ahead of

me. But I did pause often on the platforms and obstacles to look at the creatures below. The zoo spaces out the guests to ensure they aren’t rushed through the course, which takes about 90 minutes to complete.

“The most amazing, awesome thing I’ve done ever,” said Ava Martin, 53, who lives just north of St. Augustine. She and her 21-year-old son Corey were taking the course for the second time.

“Being over a big alligator is freaky!” Corey Martin said.

“You’re not rushed to do it.

While you’re doing it, you can just stop, if you like, and see everything.”

That includes behind-thescene views that other guests won’t get.

“You’ll see things that the public doesn’t get to see,” said Brown. “Whether it’s other animal enclosures, animals getting moved, animals getting a vet visit, maybe getting blood drawn. And it’s always exciting for the public to see a large alligator or even a small alligator getting caught, getting taped up and getting moved. You’re always going to see something that nobody else is looking at.”

The course is a do-it-yourself adventure. Guests are given instructions at the beginning on how to clip and unclip them-

PHOTOS FROM ALLIGATORFARM.COM AND TRIPADVISOR.COM

selves to safety lines. A guide then follows on the ground and makes sure they’re following safety rules, while at the same time providing facts about the animals they’re seeing.

“I saw the whole park. It was amazing,” said Jackson Lawson, 12, of Hahira, Ga., who was celebrating his birthday at the alligator farm. “I stopped on a zip line just to hang there for a second to look at mostly the

alligators because we were just so close to them above them. It was really pretty. It was cool.”

If You Go...

ST. AUGUSTINE ALLIGATOR FARM’S CROCODILE CROSSING: 999 Anastasia Blvd., St. Augustine, Fla. http:// www.alligatorfarm.com, 904824-3337. Open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Long course, $65; short course, $30. ■

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013

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At holiday...

CIBC Mobile...

tries to celebrate it.

And she’ll do the same. “I don’t want to feel guilty for being there,” Yanks says.

Someone might very well know they’ve been left out, says party planner Kia Martinson of Storrs, Conn., so she encourages her clients to deal with it up front. Some people spell out on the invitations whether they want social media use at the event or not, she says. Most of her hosts fall into two categories: those who embrace a public-facing party, dreaming up their own hashtags and arranging shared photo sites, and those who want to do it on the down-low and don’t want any social media “coverage” at all.

If someone calls you out for leaving them off the guest list, Martinson says it’s best not to dance around it. “If someone says, ‘Looks like you had a great party,’ just say yes, you did, thanks.”

If you’re feeling left out, remember that what people post is a selected window into their lives, not a panoramic view, says digital strategist Tamar Weinberg, author of “The New

Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web” (O’Reilly, 2009).

“While social media is a great thing, and I love to see all the kids growing up, and the engagements and marriages, but yes, sooner or later your feelings will be hurt too,” she says.

Yanks asks permission to post updates and especially photos if they involve anyone else. She doesn’t want to jeopardize someone else’s job or relationships. And, she notes, parents are sensitive about having images of their kids posted.

She had an early conversation with her sister-in-law, and now there’s a blanket deal that photos of her niece and nephew are OK. Besides hurt feelings, Rotolo is concerned about the botched surprises that can come when people check in at an airport (or even an airport coffee shop), or if they claim an online shopping deal that’s visible to their network. “At this point in time, there’s not much surprise left.

You have to go off the grid to keep a secret. ... If you want a holiday surprise, you need to plan a connection-less strat-

❰❰ 25

egy.”

However, Weinberg says that with so many people now online and comfortable using social media, there might actually be fewer faux pas going forward.

“There is a growing sensitivity on the part of the poster, but people also are growing that thicker skin,” she says.

“You don’t want it all to be fully sanitized. As long as you are not intending to be exclusionary, people will forget and forgive.”

She adds, “We are still in an age of oversharing, but it’s getting better.”

Perhaps you are digitally savvy enough to untag yourself in the photo or post you don’t want to be in, Weinberg adds.

And, if you’re the poster, consider utilizing your lists to be more selective in distribution.

Rotolo has one ground rule that he thinks will keep everyone out of trouble: “It sounds like common sense, but I don’t think people should share anything on social media they wouldn’t want their mother to see. It’s a good standard to use professionally, socially and with family.” ■

than 1100 branches, over 3500 ABMs or from the comfort of their homes using their mobile devices.

The CIBC eDeposit process is simple, quick and easy.

• Just open the CIBC Mobile Banking App and select the eDeposit feature.

• Endorse the back of the cheque.

• Take a picture of the front and back of the cheque.

• Select the account to receive the deposit and enter the amount of the cheque.

• Tap submit, wait for confirmation, and then mark the paper cheque as paid.

• Retain the cheque for 5 days, and then destroy it.

Adding a mobile cheque deposit feature was the top request identified by CIBC clients, who deposit millions of cheques each year. As with all of CIBC Mobile Banking Apps, the CIBC eDeposit feature is safe and secure. None of the financial information is stored on your device and all wireless transmissions are securely encrypted.

CIBC clients who already

have the CIBC Mobile Banking App will see the new eDeposit feature after they update the App to the newest version. New users can download the CIBC Mobile Banking App with the new eDeposit feature today from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The CIBC Mobile Banking App works with iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and all 4.x Android smartphones and tablets.

For more information or to view an online demonstration of the new CIBC cheque deposit feature on the CIBC Mobile Banking App, visit cibc.com/ edeposit. ■

❰❰ 40

CIBC is a leading North American financial institution with nearly 11 million personal banking and business clients. CIBC offers a full range of products and services through its comprehensive electronic banking network, branches and offices across Canada, and has offices in the United States and around the world. You can find other news releases and information about CIBC in our Press Centre on our corporate website at www.cibc.com.

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Philippines

FRIDAY DECEMBER 6, 2013 46

Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editor Melissa Remulla-Briones editor@canadianinquirer.net Associate Editor Laarni de Paula

Yolanda Update FROM FR. ERNIE GARCIA TUESDAY, 26 NOV, 6:30 A.M. On the 18th day since Haiyan/Yolanda made a terrifying visit to Central Philippines, the world’s solidarity with the supertyphoon’s victims has continued to manifest the depth of people’s kindness and generosity. Both mass and social media continue to report on what countries, organizations, agencies, celebrities and ordinary folks are doing to abate the pain and suffering of those severely affected by the disaster. Within the country itself, I am amazed at the initiatives being taken by the Filipino people to find ways to reach out to the needy. Yesterday, the Artists Helping Artists group in Davao City opened an art exhibit at the Abreeza Mall (just across the Redemptorist church/parish/SATMI); proceeds will go to the Relief Fund of the Redemptorists for Samar-Leyte; earlier the performing arts groups led by Kaliwat held a fund-raising at Matina Town Square.

Last night, the Cebu visual artists group who went to Bohol for the week-end to do art therapy came together at RECSEC with psychologist/art therapist Peachy Gonzalez-Fernando to process their experience and plan out for their next activity in North Cebu. Through the NCCA’s (specifically the Committee for Dramatic Arts c/o Gardy Labad) Kasing-Sining, this movement will further expand in Bohol and other parts of the Visayas.

Fr. Edwin Bacaltos CSsR, our confrere in Tacloban City who singlehandedly managed the relief operations that could take place at our church since Day One came to Cebu for a break the other day.

I was at the airport when he arrived and the first thing we did as we got out of the airport was to find a restaurant where he could eat to his heart’s content, having survived on noodles, sardines and dried fish in the last 17 days. Our social concerns group in Cebu met with him, along with Chris O’Donoghue, repre-

PHOTO FROM QZ.COM

senting SERVE, an NGO closely linked to the Redemptorists in Ireland. As I already reported, the Redemptorists of VP Manila, our partner NGOs (linked to ACCORD) and us in Cebu Province, decided to divide Samar-Leyte for our outreach programs, initially for relief and later for rehabilitation. VP Manila takes care of Eastern Samar, we take care of Tacloban City and nine towns of Eastern Leyte (Palo, Tanauan, Tabontabon, Tolosa, Julita, Dulag, Mayorga, La Paz and MacArthur). ACCORD takes care of the rest of Leyte. Despite the improved relief operations of the State agencies, adequate food aid is not reaching other towns outside Tacloban City, especially the interior barangays. For the next two weeks we will continue our relief operations to Leyte. Two towns in Iloilo (where we had missions in the past) will also be included for our relief outreach within the week as the people there have received very little food aid.

Our church/convent/compound in Tacloban City is still an Evacuation Camp, but now it is DSWD who handles the relief operations; there are DOH doctors also doing medical assistance.

More families have been encouraged to move out so they can start rebuilding their homes; from an initial list of 325 families (close to 3,000 people), there are still 280 families left; soon, they, too will be encouraged to begin their rebuilding process. A little bit of assistance for housing (e.g. tarpaulin) is starting to reach Tacloban; unfortunately, if sent through Cebu, the Custom’s bureaucracy hinders their early delivery to the needy. Fr. Edwin reported that assistance from international aid agencies (Red Cross, Unicef, private groups) continue to pour into Leyte, especially Tacloban, which is why there is need to extend relief aid outside the city.

Our social concerns team (from Cebu and Tacloban) will be visiting the nine towns of Eastern Leyte this week to assess how best we can proceed with

rehabilitation projects. We had some initial discussion on this matter yesterday. Stress debriefing, housing assistance, cash/food-or work and livelihood (income-generating) projects are the usual recommended actions. But, naturally, these will have to be initiated with maximum people’s participation at the ground as much as can be facilitated, given the extent of the devastation. We are still primarily linking ourselves with the church network, especially the parishes, but where collaboration with NGOs will be beneficial for the communities, those will be further explored. After Leyte, the team will also proceed to Bantayan Island. We have done what we could with our adopted parish in Odlot, Bogo so with the go-signal of Fr. Charles Jayme, the Archdiocesan Coordinator in Cebu for the disaster response, we are going to meet with Fr. Rere Ducao in Bantayan Island to discuss possible rehabilitation projects. It will not just involve Sta. Fe, but the islets off Bantayan which have also been severely affected and where little aid has been extended.

The next few weeks then will involve a continuation of relief operations and initial social investigation into possible rehabilitation projects. The resources that have come our way—from the Redemptorist communities across the country, international network of the congregation, friends and associates, from ACCORD and SERVE and individuals—are small compared to the big international aid agencies but we hope to be able to maximize the use of these resources for the sake of the most needy among the victims. A big thanks to those who have been our generous partners through these past 17 days for the shared spirit of compassion for our sisters and brothers who hopefully have found comfort in the kindness of strangers. May God continue to make it possible for all us to reflect on our vulnerability as an expression of the depths of the mystery of the Incarnation. ■

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