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MARCH 18, 2016

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VOL. 3 NO. 209

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Comelec hit for fearmongering

No room for doubt on Poe

People find Leila not old, plump, grouchy in person

Stay cool in Antique’s Little Baguio

Oh, what a night!

COA REPORT COMETH

UNA standard-bearer Vice President Jejomar Binay (right), with running mate Gringo Honasan, hits the campaign trail in Bulacan province. LYN RILLON / PDI

Duterte to rivals: Waive secrecy on bank accounts BY NIÑA P. CALLEJA AND NANCY C. CARVAJAL Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Rodrigo Duterte and his vice presidential running mate, Alan Peter Cayetano, have signed a waiver that will allow the opening of their bank accounts for public scrutiny, and they are daring their rivals

to do the same. “In the light of [graft and corruption] charges faced by Vice President Jejomar Binay and members of his family, we have signed a [statement] challenging other candidates to sign bank secrecy waivers in the interest of transparency and accountability and to deter corruption in any form in the government,”

Fil-Can in Focus: Mahal Hudson

Police allege soldier stabbing suspect said ‘Allah told me to come and kill people’ BY COLIN PERKEL AND DIANA MEHTA The Canadian Press TORONTO — A man who allegedly said Allah instructed him to kill was charged Tuesday with stabbing and wounding two uniformed soldiers at a north Toronto military recruitment centre a day earlier. While investigators were probing possible terror links, the city’s police chief said there didn’t appear to be any connection to terrorist groups, although it seemed the man had deliberately targeted military personnel. “To date, there is nothing to indicate the accused is working with anyone or in concert with any organization,” Chief Mark Saunders said. “It will take some time to have a complete picture.” The incident occurred mid-afternoon Monday, when a man walked

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Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Bank executive says money laundering Senate summons issue to keep industry up and around Tan, Go, Deguito BY JOANN SANTIAGO Philippines News Agency

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA — The money laundering activity that has put in the center a major Philippine universal bank should not be considered as purely negative but, on the flip side, should be taken positively. East West Banking Corp. (East West Bank) President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Antonio C. Moncupa said the advantage of this situation is that it makes people aware of their responsibilities. “Look at the positive side. It brings to the fore the issue and it reiterates the need for banks to be conscious about their efforts to control money laundering. So it’s positive,” he said. Moncupa, a former officer of the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), stressed that the issue “makes everybody aware of what we should be doing.” Yunchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) is now in the middle of controversy after its Jupiter, Makati branch was found to have been used to launder about USD 81 million of funds, remitted from the dollar account of the Bangladesh Bank, the said country’s central bank, with the Federal Reserve of New York in February 2016. During the Senate hearing on the issue Tuesday, Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Julia Abad said the Council first learned of the issue on Feb. 11, 2016 when Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman asked Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. for assistance to trace and “possi-

THE SENATE blue ribbon committee has summoned the principal characters in the alleged laundering of $81 million stolen from the US account of the central bank of Bangladesh to an investigation next week. Summoned to the inquiry that opens on Tuesday are Lorenzo Tan, president and CEO of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), and Maia Santos-Deguito, manager of RCBC’s branch on Jupiter Street in Makati City where the $81 million was transferred by unknown computer hackers who stole the money from the account of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in early February. The INQUIRER first reported the bank heist and the laundering of the stolen money through the Philippine financial system on Feb. 29. Money laundering is the process by which money obtained from crime is cleaned to make it appear as derived from legal activities so that banks and other financial institutions will accept it. Also summoned to appear at the hearing are officials of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), RCBC account holders who allegedly got the “dirty” money, and officials of casinos where $46 million was “integrated” or cleaned up, emerging as winnings. An AMLC investigation into the entry of the large amount in foreign currency into the Phil-

Funds from these four accounts were immediately withdrawn and transferred to an account said to be owned by one William So Go that was opened this year.

bly freeze” the stolen money. AMLC conducted its own investigation and preliminary results showed that remittances were indeed received by four accounts maintained with the RCBC Jupiter branch. These accounts were owned by one Michael Francisco Cruz and received USD 6.029 million; Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, USD 30.28 million; Alfred Vergara, USD 19.999 million; and one Enrico Vasquez, USD 25.001 million. These were opened in May 15, 2015 and remained untouched until last February, Abad said. Funds from these four accounts were immediately withdrawn and transferred to an account said to be owned by one William So Go that was opened only on Feb. 1 this year. During the same hearing, Go, owner of Centurytex Trading, denied owning the account and reiterated his earlier statement that it was RCBC Jupiter branch manager Maia Deguito who opened the account without his consent. Abad said results of their investigations also showed that after the funds were consoli-

dated in the account allegedly owned by Go, these were transferred and exchanged from US dollars to Philippine pesos through the remittance firm Philrem, which has an account in RCBC Greenhills, and transferred to the account of Solaire, which received USD 29 million; Midas Hotel and Casino, USD 21.245 million; and of one Win Khang Zhou, USD 30.691 million. Abad said inclusion of casinos as among the covered entities under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) could have possibly deterred this problem because unscrupulous individuals would not be able to see a gap on the law. Relatively, Moncupa said the country’s anti-money laundering law is “more than sufficient” and proof to this is the country’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) blacklist in 2005 due to measures put in place to address money laundering loopholes. “The issue is not the adequacy of the rules. I think it’s the consciousness of how we do these things. Just follow the rules and you’ll be fine,” he added. ■

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ippine financial system led to the discovery of the operation and to freeze orders from the Court of Appeals. According to the investigation, Deguito facilitated the transfer of the $81 million to five accounts in her branch. But Deguito countered that Tan instructed her to allow the transfer of the $81 million to the five accounts. Tan called Deguito’s claim an “outright lie.” Also summoned to the Senate inquiry is RCBC Compliance Unit head Fe Salmatin. William So Go, one of the account holders, was also summoned, along with other account holders Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Alfred Santos Vergara, Enrico Vasquez and Kam Sin Wong (Kim Wong). The other resource persons are Philippine National Bank president Reynaldo Maclang; East West Bank president Antonio Moncupa Jr.; Banco de Oro president Nestor Tan; Philrem Service Corp. president Salud Bautista; Solaire Resort and Casino Manila president Thomas Arasi; Leisure and Resorts World Corp./Midas Hotel and Casino chair Reynaldo Bantug; Melco Crown Philippines/City of Dreams Casino chair Clarence Chung; Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chair Cristino Naguiat; AMLC Chair and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr.; Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa; Insurance Commission Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc; and AMLC Secretariat Executive Director Julia BacayAbad. Sen. Teofisto Guingona III will preside over the inquiry. ■

Philippine News

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

President Aquino: Good governance key to PHL economic growth BY FERDINAND G. PATINIO Philippines News Agency MANILA — President Benigno S. Aquino III on Tuesday said good governance has enabled the Philippine economy to post record growths which further attract investments to the country. In his speech during the 7th League of Provinces of the Philippines General Assembly, President Aquino said many are now seeking advice from him on how the country has achieved economic growth. “Na sa panahon na masama ang ekonomiya ng buong mundo, eh tayo raw ho ay lumaki nang lumaki. Isinagot lang natin: Good governance is good economics (Despite the bad economic climate of the rest of the world, others have noted that [the Philippines’ economy] grew. We tell them: Good governance is good economics),” he said. The Chief Executive noted that the economy registered the biggest growth in the last 40 years at an average of 6.2 percent. President Aquino thus underscored the need to continue his good gover-

nance reform agenda in an effort to sustain robust economic growth. “Patakbuhin nating tama yung ekonomiya. Gawin nating environment na may level playing field talaga. Maraming potensyal ang Pilipinas. Bakit hindi gaganahan yung mga negosyanteng magtayuan ng mga negosyo nilang magpapalaki ng ating ekonomiya. At hindi panandaliang panahon yung paglaki, talagang tuloy-tuloy na yung paglaki (Let us run our economy well. Let us create fair environments with level playing field. There is so much potential in the Philippines. Why would businessmen hesitate to build businesses here and grow the economy more? And this is not temporary; the growth will continue),” he said. The President cited the modern weather monitoring system which is a result of good governance. With the system, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can ready to provide aid to those that might be affected by weather disturbances. ■

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Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte signed a waiver that will allow the opening of his bank account for public scrutiny, daring his rivals to do the same. FACEBOOK PHOTO

Duterte to... Duterte, the pugnacious mayor of Davao City, told the INQUIRER. Duterte and Cayetano, the Senate majority leader, signed the waiver last Friday and had planned to present it at a meeting with students at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños but they ran out of time. They announced the waiver through a statement released yesterday. Duterte and Cayetano are running on a platform of reforms and resolute action against criminality. They have been calling for the lifting of the bank secrecy law for public officials and the passage of an antidummy law that would prevent officials from amassing ill-gotten wealth. ❰❰ 1

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In signing the waiver, Duterte and Cayetano became the first candidates in the May 9 national elections to open themselves to financial scrutiny by the public, a blow against Binay, who is accused in the Office of the Ombudsman of graft and corruption involving overpriced contracts for infrastructure projects that he handled when he was mayor of Makati City. His son, dismissed Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, has been indicted on the same charges in the graft court Sandiganbayan. The Ombudsman has said charges will be filed against the Vice President after the end of his term. Despite the scandal, Binay remains at the top of voter preferential polls, sharing the lead with Sen. Grace Poe. Last year, during the Senate investigation of the charges against him, Binay was urged to disclose his bank accounts after the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) had secured a freeze order from the Court of Appeals on his assets, including 200 bank accounts and insurance policies. Some of the assets were in

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the names of members of his family and alleged dummies. Binay said he was willing to make a disclosure, since the AMLC had already examined his bank accounts. He, however, has yet to announce that his bank accounts are now open for public scrutiny. Duterte, the standard-bearer of Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDPLaban), is tied for second place with Mar Roxas, the presidential candidate of the ruling Liberal Party (LP). In the vice presidential race, Cayetano is in third place in the latest polls, behind Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo of the LP, who is in second place, and Sen. Francis Escudero, an independent candidate, and Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Nacionalista Party who are tied for the lead. Cayetano said the waiver declaration called on all presidential and vice presidential candidates to agree to the disclosure of their bank accounts, both local and foreign. He said the waiver was a “simple integrity check to prove who is walking the talk on the issue of corruption.” Simple message

The message is simple, he said: “If the candidates have nothing to hide, they’ll have no problem signing the document. But if they refuse to sign, they not only betray their sincerity in fighting corruption but also put to serious question how much they have accumulated and the source of their wealth.” Cayetano said public officials could easily dip their hands into the national coffers because the legal system allowed them to conceal their true wealth through dummy accounts. Corruption, according to Duterte, is an issue in the May elections. “Corruption, the victimization of poor Filipinos, has [become] a way of life. If I become President, [I will end corruption]. Try me,” Duterte said. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Army to inspect ROTC units in hopes of attracting recuits for reserves BY JULIE M. AURELIO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINE Army will conduct administrative and tactical inspections of 8,000 Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets from colleges and universities in Metro Manila today to evaluate the program and draw more citizens to join the Philippine Army Reserve Force. The 10th Centralized Regional Annual Administrative and Tactical Inspection will be held at the ROTC Hunters Guerrilla

Parade Ground in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Army spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao said the activity is held every year and involves the inspection of all activated Army ROTC units nationwide. Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año, Army commanding general, will be a guest at the day-long activity of the Army’s National Capital Regional Community Defense Group. “The inspection is part of the preanniversary activities for the 119th Philippine Army founding anniversary on March 22,” Hao said.

The inspection intends to test the units’ degree of administrative efficiency, training management, proficiency and the cadets’ quality of training. Subjects for evaluation include administrative inspection, ceremonial parade, rank inspection, operation order writing, map reading and the assembly and disassembly of M16 rifle and .45-cal. pistols. The cadets will be tested on company drills, method of instruction, small unit tactics as well as disaster response and rescue operations. Hao said the inspection is

The Philippine Army hoped to draw more citizens to join the Philippine Army Reserve Force. FACEBOOK PHOTO

also aimed at testing the operational readiness of the ROTC units and allow the cadets to experience what being a soldier is really all about. “It is also a tool to attract

freshmen college students to enroll in the ROTC program so that more Filipino citizens will join the Philippine Army Reserve Force,” the Army spokesperson said. ■

It’s better for PH to return to 2-party system–Romulo BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer POLITICIANS HAVE a weak loyalty to political parties because there are no sanctions for jumping from one party to another, according to Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo. Romulo, who is running for senator in the May elections, said it would be better if the country had just two political parties which would receive financing from the government. But while he is a member of the ruling Liberal Party (LP), he is running under the slate of independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe, saying he chose to support her because she was the only candidate who had a detailed platform for higher education. He said he had offered to resign from the LP after he decided to support Poe instead of standard-bearer Mar Roxas, but an unnamed party leader had told him it was not necessary. “The party leader I talked to within the House [of Representatives] said that he doesn’t see any reason to do so because there’s a coalition anyway within the House and I’m the chair of the committee on higher education,” he told INQUIRER editors and reporters on Thursday night. Committee chairmanships in the House are given to senior

Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo said it would be better if the country had just two political parties which would receive financing from the government. ROMANROMULO.COM

members of the majority coalition. He agreed that the country’s multiparty system and political parties are a joke, “in a way.” “Party loyalty is not strong in our country because first of all, the Constitution allows a multiparty [system]. It does not provide for any violation. You can actually go from one party to the other without penalties,” he said. He noted that there was an exodus of Lakas members to the LP and other parties in the House when President Aquino came to power in 2010. According to Romulo, a return to the two-party system might be better for the country. He said that if plans to amend the Constitution were to push

her slate. He claimed that he did not know of any LP plan to exclude him from the party’s senatorial lineup when he decided to go with Poe. According to Romulo, in August 2015, he had a chance meeting with Poe at the birthday party of Nationalist People’s Coalition member and Batangas Rep. Mark Mendoza. He had known Poe since they were high school students, but they had not seen each other for a long time. At the time of the meeting, Romulo said he was still among the 18 senatorial aspirants that the LP was considering for its lineup, based on what party members had told him. During the party, the two got to talk and Poe asked about the education laws that he had passed. She also invited him to an education forum that she

through, one of the issues that should be tackled is a review of the multiparty system. “If we have a two-party system and there is government financing for campaigning, then I think that will be Party loyalty is not strong in our a lot better than country because first of all, the the current mulConstitution allows a multiparty tiparty system,” [system]. he said. G ov e r n m e n t financing for a multiparty system would not be would be attending in Nueva feasible because the financial Ecija province the next day, and burden would be too much, he he accepted. added. They did not discuss Poe’s plan to run for President or her Why Poe? senatorial slate, Romulo said. Romulo also related how he According to Romulo, it was came to support Poe and join during Poe’s declaration of her www.canadianinquirer.net

presidential candidacy at the University of the Philippines the following month, which he attended, that he experienced a conversion. When Poe announced her 20-point agenda, this convinced him to join her, he said. Which came first?

Meanwhile, questions had arisen in the LP about Romulo’s presence at the Nueva Ecija event. “Whichever came first—maybe they had internal talks that I would not be included in the LP slate, I did not know about it—as far as I knew, they were in the process of making a decision,” he said. “But then I heard the 20-point agenda and education was high, very high in that 20-point agenda, so I decided to support Sen. Grace Poe,” he said. As to whether he was sending the wrong message by being with the LP and not supporting its candidate, he said his decision may not be easy to understand. He agreed that ideally, he should be backing the LP standard-bearer. But what is important, he said, is that he saw a platform of government that was the same as his. ■

MARCH 18, 2016

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Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Comelec hit for fear-mongering BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO AND DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

a transparent and credible election. Manual voting

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) should prove that it is impossible to follow the Supreme Court order for it to issue voter receipts on Election Day, otherwise it can be accused of engaging in “fearmongering” because it announced that it may resort to manual counting. Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III issued the challenge to the Comelec yesterday, pointing out that by his own calculations, the poll body can very well comply with the high court order. “The Comelec should show not only the Supreme Court but also the entire nation why it’s impossible, not merely difficult, for it to comply with the giving of paper receipts to voters,” Pimentel said in a text message. “Without any such well-studied time and motion study, the Comelec is merely engaging in fear-mongering and should stop such a practice,” said Pimentel, who chairs the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation. In a unanimous decision on March 8, the high court ordered the Comelec to issue voter receipts as a verification mechanism for the electorate in the May 9 elections, granting the mandamus petition that senatorial candidate Richard Gordon filed on Feb. 22. Gordon, principal author of the automated election law, said in his petition that a “physical record” like a voting receipt was necessary to ensure

The Comelec is now preparing for manual voting, among other measures, in case the high court rejects its motion for reconsideration to its ruling. Besides going manual, the Comelec is entertaining the possibility of postponing altogether the elections. Last week, Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said the poll body was considering a postponement of the May 9 elections after the Supreme Court order, which would “materially affect” the election timeline. Three-month delay

ers because of the time it would take to do so. It would take 13 seconds to print a receipt, 15 seconds to read a printout and then minutes more to change the paper roll in the vote-counting machine. Bautista said the process would add five to seven hours to the voting time on May 9. But yesterday Pimentel said the Comelec should defend its position. “I’ve made my own calculations. Assume printing receipts for 15 seconds per voter. That would amount to only 3.33 hours even if 800 voters vote [in every precinct],” said the senator, who presided over the joint hearing last month. Asked whether the issuance of voter receipt was doable, Pimentel said: “Yes. Unless Comelec convincingly shows otherwise.”

Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office at the Palacio del Gobernador Bldg., Intramuros, Manila. RAMON FVELASQUEZ / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

to file a motion for reconsideration in the Supreme Court and “explain its position.” “Manual polls should not be an option because that is against the law,” he said. The country has adopted automated elections since 2010.

The poll body said the high court’s order could set back some three months its preparations for the May balloting. Whether voter receipts could be issued by the Public poll body was confidence taken up last Postponing month by a joint the May eleccongressional Under the Omnibus Election Code, tions for any oversight comthe Comelec may postpone an reason will erode mittee hearing election “for any serious cause the public’s conon the poll prepsuch as violence, terrorism, loss or fidence in the arations. destruction of election paraphernalia electoral proAt that time, or records, force majeure (superior cess, said Rep. Bautista said the force or accident) and other Leni Robredo, poll body had analogous causes. the Liberal Party decided not to (LP) vice presiprint receipts for dential candivoters, which is date. provided for in the votecount- UNA stand The Camarines Sur represening machines, because of time Also cautioning the poll body tative said she was not in favor constraints. against holding manual polls on of moving the general elecMay 9 was Navotas Rep. Toby tions as a result of difficulties Additional 5 hours Tiangco, president of the Unit- brought about by the Supreme The Comelec chief said at ed Nationalist Alliance (UNA) Court decision compelling the the hearing that the Comelec party of Vice President Jejomar Comelec to print voter receipts. en banc had voted 7-0 against Binay. “If we postpone the elections, the printing of receipts for votTiangco urged the Comelec the people’s confidence in the

electoral process will be eroded,” Robredo said in a chance interview. The law states that national elections be held every second Monday of May, although a postponement may be permitted under certain conditions. A delay in the Comelec timeline, however, is not among those conditions. Under the Omnibus Election Code, the Comelec may postpone an election “for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure (superior force or accident) and other analogous causes.” The widow of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said a postponement would only breed suspicions of an attempt to rig the vote, among other motivations. “For me, the government must do all it can to push through with the elections. Cooperation is needed so we can meet the deadline. It is not in the country’s interest to postpone the elections,” she said. ■

SC malversation ruling wins bail for ex-solon BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer THE SANDIGANBAYAN has granted temporary liberty to former Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo in deference to a recent Supreme Court decision declaring malversation of public funds a bailable offense. Dimaporo, who was arrested in August 2013 in connection

with the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, secured his release order from the antigraft court’s Second Division posting bail of P200,000 on Friday. In allowing Dimaporo bail, the three-member Second Division said the Supreme Court’s Dec. 8, 2015, ruling “resolved convincingly… the nagging issue of whether malversation through falsification (of public documents)… is bailable or not.” “In precise and in no un-

certain terms, it has expressly ruled that an accused charged with the complex crime of malversation… is entitled to bail as a matter of right and a summary hearing on a bail application is, therefore, unnecessary,” said the Sandiganbayan’s March 10 resolution. The four-page ruling was penned by Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, Second Division chair, with Associate Justices Napoleon Inoturan www.canadianinquirer.net

and Maria Cristina Cornejo concurring. Prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman had opposed Dimaporo’s motion, arguing that the Supreme Court’s ruling was not yet final and executory. The Sandiganbayan countered that the Supreme Court had actually issued another decision on Feb. 2 which resolved the issue with finality. Dimaporo was indicted by

the Ombudsman for allegedly allocating P5 million from the Farm Inputs and Farm Implement Program of the Department of Agriculture to Lanao Foundation Inc. (LFI), a nongovernment organization he created in 1994. The money was said to be part of the hundreds of millions in fertilizer funds allegedly diverted to the presidential campaign in 1994 of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. ■

Philippine News

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Mother’s worry: Does my baby have Zika? BY JOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Inc. Correspondents Jane Moraleda Socorro Newland Bolet Arevalo Katherine Padilla Community Editor Mary Ann Mandap maryann.mandap@canadianinquirer.net Graphic Designer Shanice Garcia Photographers Angelo Siglos Solon Licas Vic Vargas For photo submissions, please send to editor@canadianinquirer.net Operations and Marketing Head Laarni Liwanag (604) 551-3360 laarni.liwanag@canadianinquirer.net Advertising Sales Alice Yong (778) 889-3518 alice.yong@canadianinquirer.net Emy Rose Figueroa salesphilippines@canadianinquirer,net emy.figueroa@canadianinquirer.net Nelson Wu (647) 521-5155 salestoronto@canadianinquirer.net nelson.wu@canadianinquirer.net Amelia Insigne 1-416-574-5121 amelia.insigne@canadianinquirer.net PHILIPPINE PUBLISHING GROUP Editorial Assistant Christelle Tolisora Associate Publisher Lurisa Villanueva In cooperation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer digital edition Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at 11951 Hammersmith Way, Suite 108 Richmond, B.C. V7A 5H9 Canada Tel. No.: +1 (888) 668-6059, +1 (604) 484-9243, +1 (778) 889-3518 | Email: info@canadianinquirer.net, sales@ canadianinquirer.net Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly every Friday. Copies are distributed free throughout Metro Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto. The views and opinions expressed in the articles (including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team. PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which it considers to contain false or misleading information or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of error in any advertisement.

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the two cases in January that were initially reported as microcephaly showed that the babies were just small for their gestational age, which made their head appear smaller as well as their body, Garin said. “But a head ultrasound performed on the babies showed that their brain size was normal,” Garin told the INQUIRER. Of the four alleged microcephaly cases recorded upon admission in February, two were actually macrocephaly, which refers to an overly large head among infants, potentially due to hydrocephalus, she said. As with the other two cases, the heads appeared initially small physically but ultrasound showed that the brain size was normal, she said. “When the babies’ head seem smaller at first, we consider it outright and examine the brain through ultrasound. All of these patients showed a normal size of the brain.” Garin, an obstetrician-gynecologist, noted that microcephaly is not just a

main symptoms are fever, rashes, joint and muscle pains and conjunctivitis or sore eyes. “I am suspect that what I had when I was pregnant was a Zika virus infection so I really need to be tested [to have answers why my son has microcephaly],” said the 23-year-old mother from Dasmariñas, Cavite province.

THE HEAD of 7-month-old Yuan Pangilinan is noticeably smaller than those of other babies his age. He cannot see, eat baby food, or roll over. His mother, Julie Ann Pangilinan, said Yuan was diagnosed with microcephaly in her sixth month of pregnancy. Raising awareness With the news report that an AmeriPangilinan, who could not recall getcan woman who visited the Philippines ting sick except getting a urinary tract in January had tested positive for the infection during her pregnancy, said Zika virus, which has been linked to the verifying if indeed she had Zika virus insame anomaly among newborns, Panfection, as well as the other mothers who gilinan cannot help but fear that her have babies with microcephaly, would youngest son’s condition has something help create awareness among pregnant do with the mosquito-borne disease. women of the potential dangers of the “If we will be given a chance to be testdisease to their unborn children. ed, I’ll go for it because I want to know “When people see my baby, they if it is the Zika virus and I also want to would ask me if we had Zika virus infecknow what is really this condition aftion. If this is really the cause of it and fecting my baby,” the 28-year-old mothit can be confirmed, I think we will help er from Pila, Laguna province, told the raise awareness among others,” she INQUIRER. Her two said. older daughters are According to both healthy. The Dehealth experts, 80 partment of Health percent of those who (DOH) said that in When people see my baby, they would ask me get infected by the the last 10 years, it if we had Zika virus infection. If this is really the Zika virus do not has recorded 332 cascause of it and it can be confirmed, I think we have any symptoms es of microcephaly, a will help raise awareness among others. at all and patients rare neurodevelopspontaneously shed mental disorder that off the virus without occurs while the baby even knowing that is still in the womb or they have been inwithin the first few years after birth, na- physical anomaly but is also accompa- fected. tionwide but none of them were caused nied by neurological problems, such Health experts say dengue is a more by the Zika virus. as seizures, developmental delays and potent disease that requires hospitalBut Dr. Willie Ong, a former consul- mental retardation. ization among many patients than Zika tant to the DOH, on Tuesday challenged virus infection. the government-run Dr. Jose Fabella Other causes But Zika virus infection, they say, posMemorial Hospital in Manila, known Aside from the Zika virus, microceph- es a serious threat to pregnant women for its high number of births per day, to aly is caused by many other factors, in- as studies have shown that they can pass release records of microcephaly cases in cluding genetics, poor nutrition among on the virus to their unborn child and the past months following information mothers, exposure to drugs or alcohol can cause microcephaly. from a “source” that the hospital has and other viral infections like rubella In Brazil, where an outbreak of the monitored a spike of the birth defect in and chickenpox. Zika virus occurred in April 2015, almost newborns this year. Ledi May Alkuino’s 7-monthold baby, 5,000 babies with microcephaly have “My source tells me that she has seen Markheinzy, was also diagnosed with been recorded. Of those cases, 583 cases two to three cases of microcephaly per microcephaly two months after his birth were confirmed to have a connection to week in a certain ward alone in Fabella. in July last year. Alkuino said she took the virus. The spike in cases was observed in 2016 her baby to his pediatrician for a checkalone,” said Ong, who declined to identi- up last September because he frequently Cleanliness fied his informant for her security. vomited his milk. In the Philippines, where dengue is “Let us compare the number of cases “We did not know that he had this endemic, health officials are rallying the this year as compared to the same pe- condition until the doctor measured his public to maintain cleanliness in their riod last year. I suspect we might see an head and noted that it was peculiarly homes and in the community and to deincrease in cases,” he said. small by 2 centimeters,” she told the IN- stroy all possible breeding sites of the In a phone interview, Health Secretary QUIRER. day-biting Aedes aegypti mosquito, also Janette Garin said that on Monday she Like Pangilinan’s son, Alkuino’s baby the main vector for the Zika virus. asked the neonatologist and pediatri- also cannot sit up and frequently has Garin said one way of preventing an cian in charge at Fabella to retrieve and convulsions. outbreak of the virus and of protecting review admission documents and other Alkuino recalled having a fever and pregnant women from infection was to hospital records starting this year after sore eyes when she was seven months eliminate all the places where mosquibeing notified about the alleged increase pregnant with her son. “I had a fever toes could lay their eggs. in microcephaly cases in the hospital. but it went away eventually but the sore She strongly advised pregnant women eyes took five days to heal,” she said. and those planning to get pregnant to Not microcephaly The symptoms of Zika virus infec- take up extreme measures to avoid getA review of the records showed that tion is similar to dengue but milder. The ting bitten by mosquitoes. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

‘She was a foreigner here as balikbayan’ BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEFEATED opinion upholding Sen. Grace Poe’s disqualification written by Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo focused on Poe’s abandonment of her homeland and characterized her return to the Philippines as tentative, while avoiding the issue of her citizenship. The 70-page draft ponencia, now a dissenting opinion after Tuesday’s 9 to 6 ruling upholding Poe’s petition against the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling disqualifying her, found that Poe had failed to prove that she had the required period of residency in the Philippines to qualify to run for President. The Del Castillo opinion, which reporters obtained through a court insider, is one of five separate opinions expected to come out now that the full ruling has been released. Associate Justice Jose Perez wrote the majority opinion that upheld Poe’s claim of grave abuse of discretion against the Comelec. Shaky grounds

Originally the assigned writer of the majority opinion, Del Castillo dealt at length with what he described to be shaky grounds on which Poe had anchored her claim of sufficient domicile in the Philippines. “The petitioner not only formally abandoned the Philippines as her domicile, but she also renounced her Philippine citizenship by becoming a naturalized American citizen,” Del Castillo wrote.

“She preferred and chose to be domiciled in the United States than in the Philippines. And she did so not out of necessity but to permanently live there with her family,” he wrote of Poe, who was found abandoned as a baby in an Iloilo church in 1968 and who became a US citizen in 2001. “Fifteen years later, she is before this court claiming that she had decided to abandon and had in fact abandoned her US domicile and that she had decided to establish and had in fact established a new domicile of choice in the Philippines,” the magistrate said. ‘A foreigner’

Del Castillo did not accept Poe’s assertion that her reestablishment of domicile in the Philippines must be reckoned from May 24, 2005, when she flew back after decades of living in the United States. He pointed out that Poe only reacquired Philippine citizenship in July 2006, or more than a year later, and that she was here visa-free as an American citizen. “She was a foreigner temporarily staying here as a balikbayan. Based on these, the petitioner’s imputation of grave abuse of discretion (against the Comelec) falls flat on its face,” Del Castillo said. He said Poe’s stay in the Philippines was “not permanent,” “merely temporary” and at most “would be only for one year.” Del Castillo also set aside Poe’s assertion that she had full intent to permanently reestablish her residence in the Philippines by uprooting her family from the United States and buying properties here. The magistrate said such property ac-

U-Hop is 3rd app-based transport service to get LTFRB nod BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer A HOMEGROWN brand has joined what remains a short list of governmentapproved app-based transport services. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Friday granted accreditation to U-Hop Transportation Network Vehicle System Inc., making it the third transportation networking company (TNC) to be allowed to operate in the country, after Uber and Grab. Last year, U-Hop’s application for accreditation hit a snag after the board pointed out that the company was offering a ride-sharing transportation model not covered by the regulations drawn up by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) for TNCs. “What U-Hop did was that they changed their business model. Now it is

similar to Uber and Grab. They’ve abandoned shuttle services with fixed routes and will now also use sedans,” LTFRB member Ariel Inton said in a phone interview with the INQUIRER on Saturday. But U-Hop offers a type of service currently not provided by the other TNCs: the use of vans under UPremiere, which allows for more passengers in one ride. U-Hop also offers a lower booking fee, according to a company official. “Our rates are the lowest in the market today and we assure our members that it will be affordable and very competitive for the commuting public,” Michael Manalaysay, U-Hop vice president for corporate communications, said in a press statement. Manalaysay added that U-Hop would have “a higher revenuesharing rate” for partner operators who will provide the transportation network vehicles or TNVs, as they are classified by the LTFRB. ■

quisition “may also very well be for investment purposes only.” He also pointed out how Poe used her US passport five times between her return to the Philippines in May 2005 to October 2010, when she renounced her US citizenship. ‘Intention to mislead’

Del Castillo also held that Poe may not invoke “honest mistake” in declaring in her 2012 certificate of candidacy (COC) for the 2013 senatorial race that she would be a Philippine resident by six years and six months by the past midterm elections. This meant that her residency by Election Day this year would only be nine years and six months. “The intention to mislead can be deduced from the fact that an aspirant, although not qualified, makes it appear in his or her COC that he or she is eligible to run for public office when in truth he or she is not. Here, petitioner made it appear that she met the 10-year residency requirement when in fact she did not,” the magistrate said. Del Castillo said Poe started her residence in the Philippines only in November 2006, as could be reckoned from her COC that she filed in 2012. He said the phrase on the COC asking for a candidate’s “period of residence in the Philippines before May 13, 2013,” was “too plain to be mistaken and too

categorical to be misinterpreted, more especially by one of her (Poe’s) education and professional stature.” Citizenship issue

Del Castillo, however, did not touch on the matter of Poe’s citizenship, citing the pendency of the separate petition assailing the Senate Electoral Tribunal’s ruling that declared Poe natural-born and hence qualified to run for the senatorial race in 2013. “[It is] … wise and prudent to withhold passing judgment at this time regarding petitioner’s citizenship. Indeed, it is tempting to seize this opportunity to sit in judgment of this issue on citizenship, which has generated so much attention, invited heated and vigorous discussion, and evoked heightened emotions… . However, loftier interest dictates that we take pause and exhaust all possible avenues and opportunities to critically study the issue,” he said. “We believe that the resolution of the issue on petitioner’s citizenship must be carefully studied and deliberated upon. We venture to say that we may not only be dealing with foundlings per se. Any hasty or ill-considered ruling on this issue could open the floodgates to abuse by certain groups and individuals looking only after their own interest to the prejudice and undoing of our motherland,” he said. ■

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Philippine News

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

SC junks petitions seeking to stop K to 12 program BY PERFECTO T. RAYMUNDO Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) En Banc on Tuesday dismissed several petitions seeking to stop the implementation of the Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K to 12) program. In a press conference, SC Public Information Office (PIO) Chief and Spokesman Atty. Theodore O. Te said that “the Court DENIED the prayer for issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction.” Among others, the petitioners were the Council for Teachers and Staff of Colleges and

Universities of the Philippines, Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV, Eduardo R. Alicias, Richard Troy A. Colmenares, Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Ma. Dolores Brillantes. Likewise, a coalition of teachers, students, parents and various organizations has asked the SC to act on their almost a yearold petition against the K-12 program, a national 12-year basic education program. In an urgent manifestation, Coalition of K-12 whose members include Council of Teachers and Staff of College and Universities of the Philippines (CoTeSCUP) told the SC that with the looming implemen-

Stay the course: Del Rosario’s parting words on S. China Sea BY NIÑA P. CALLEJA Philippine Daily Inquirer FORMER FOREIGN Secretary Albert del Rosario has one advice for the next administration on foreign policy, particularly in handling the South China Sea dispute: Stay the course. Del Rosario’s five years as head of the foreign service and his handling of the arbitration case against China’s territorial claim in the South China Sea were cited at a luncheon hosted by the Makati Business Club on Friday. Asked about his advice to the incoming administration, he said: “(It) should consider staying in the course.” Del Rosario wished the next administration would carry out the Department of Foreign Affairs’ “three pillars” in a principled manner. These pillars are “enhancement of national security, attainment of economic security and ... promotion of the interest of all Filipinos overseas.” On proposals for the Philippines to jointly develop the South China Sea with China, Del Rosario said he was amenable to that as long as “it is

in accordance with the rule of law.” Legally binding

He also told his audience of businessmen and diplomats that the ruling of the Haguebased United Nations arbitral tribunal on the South China Sea dispute, once rendered, “will be legally binding.” “We are enjoining other nations to convince China to respect the rule of law,” he said. Del Rosario said recent developments as a result of Chinese unilateral conduct of test flights and island-building activities had posed challenges to freedom of navigation, overflight operations and the livelihood of fishermen in the South China Sea. Del Rosario described his successor, Jose Rene Almendras, as “a man who gets things done.” “He will do an excellent job given that he is close to the President,” Del Rosario told reporters. “We see that he will exercise sound judgment and he is a man able to get things done,” Del Rosario said of Almendras, who has also served as energy secretary. ■

tation of the program, some higher educational institutions (HEI) have transferred their faculty members to senior high school without certainty if their wages will be reduced or not while other faculty members are in danger of losing their jobs. The petitioners attached a Jan. 16, 2016 memorandum from St. Louis University and a letter dated Aug. 28, 2015 from the University of Santo Tomas (UST). They indicated that there were school officials and employees that would be retrenched following the implementation of the K-12 program. In UST, faculty members who wish to transfer from tertiary

level to Senior High School need to undergo retooling seminars with a warning that failure to attend the seminar would mean forfeiture of any teaching slot in the Senior High School. “These are contrary to the rights to security of tenure and academic freedom of HEI faculty members. These are also contrary to the principle of non-diminution of benefits in Article 100 of the Labor Code. These also violate the HEI faculty members’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining,” the petitioners told the SC. The petitioners argued that retrenchment was only the last resort.

“Again, this violates the rights to security of tenure and to freedom of association and collective bargaining of the employees,” the petitioners said. In their original petition, the coalition already mentioned the possibility of loss of jobs, contractualization, forced retirement and constructive dismissal. The petitioners added that Republic Act No. 10533, or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013”, or the law which gave birth to K-12 failed to give “full protection to labor and promotion of full employment and equality of employment opportunities” as stated under the Constitution. ■

Poe weighs in on Binay graft case, says evidence is strong BY LEILA SALAVERRIA AND TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer SEN. GRACE Poe took a shot at her closest rival in the presidential race, saying the Commission on Audit (COA) report finding Vice President Jejomar Binay liable for irregularities in the construction of a Makati building was strong evidence against him. Binay’s camp has denied the allegations, and also hit the COA for concluding that the approval of a supplemental city budget was unlawful. Asked about the COA report on the alleged irregularity in the approval of a supplemental budget to cover the controversial building and other projects, Poe said: “If this will be the basis of filing a case in court, I think this will be strong evidence.” “I believe that, as a candidate for president, the allegations must be answered,” she added during a press conference in Malabon City on Thursday night. In political surveys, Poe and Binay are neck and neck for the lead. Poe was one of the senators who had signed a Blue Ribbon subcommittee report recomwww.canadianinquirer.net

Presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe answered questions from the press during her campaign in Laguna. FACEBOOK PHOTO

mending graft and plunder charges against Binay for the alleged overprice of the Makati City Hall Building 2. ‘Politically motivated’

Binay had never appeared before the subcommittee hearing despite numerous invitations. His camp had criticized the inquiry, saying it was politically motivated and only intended to derail Binay’s candidacy for President. On the release of the COA report, Poe said it was just right that the results of the Senate probe have equivalent proof from the audit agency. Binay’s camp criticized the

release of the report, saying it was incomplete and was released during the election campaign period which was against regulations. A special COA audit said the elder Binay father and his son had illegally approved a total of P14 billion as supplemental budgets from 2007 to 2011 for infrastructure projects, including funds to build the controversial P2.8-billion Makati City Hall Building 2. In a statement yesterday, Binay’s camp maintained that the allocation of Makati City Hall’s supplemental budgets were above board, saying “other local ❱❱ PAGE 12 Poe weighs

Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

No room for doubt on Poe Chief Justice lashes back at critics of SC ruling on DQ case BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer CHIEF JUSTICE Maria Lourdes Sereno yesterday insisted that there is no room for doubt in the Supreme Court’s majority ruling to uphold Sen. Grace Poe’s qualification to run for President, even as opponents of the landmark ruling cited a split within the majority of nine justices who voted to overturn the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision canceling Poe’s certificate of candidacy. In her extensive concurring opinion, Sereno sought to answer the questions raised on how firm the high court majority was in upholding the naturalborn status and 10-year residency of Poe. The decision said the Comelec had gravely abused its discretion in canceling Poe’s certificate of candidacy. Without naming names, Sereno cited a particular dissent that apparently made the majority ruling appear weak. “With the majority of the members of the Court declaring, by a vote of 9 as against 6, that petitioner Mary Grace Poe Llamanzares has no legal impediment to run for the presidency, it is most unfortunate that one of the dissenting opinions opens with a statement that tries to cast uncertainty on an already tense situation,” Sereno wrote. “The dissent gives excessive weight to the fact that there are five justices in the minority who believe that petitioner does not have the qualifications for the presidency, while ignoring the reality that there are at least seven justices who believe that petitioner possesses these qualifications,” she said. ‘Not binding’

Associate Justice Teresita

Leonardo-de Castro disclosed the other day that there was a “split” in the majority, saying that the nine who voted to qualify Poe differed on how to treat the citizenship and residency issues raised against her. “Even the nine who voted with the majority did not have a uniform position on the issues,” she said. Manuelito Luna, the counsel for former Sen. Francisco Tatad, one of the four petitioners for Poe’s disqualification in the Comelec, said the vote of seven meant that the ruling “binds no one.” “Only seven justices, or less than the majority, voted to declare Poe presumptively natural-born and a resident of the Philippines for 10 years immediately preceding the day of the election,” Luna said in a statement yesterday. “It binds no one; it cannot become part of the law of the land or jurisprudence,” he said. ‘Clear majority’

But Sereno insisted that there was a clear majority. By her account, out of the nine who voted to grant Poe’s petition against her disqualification, seven agreed to hold that Poe was natural-born. But only 12 of the full court of 15 justices participated in the voting on that particular question, she said, making it a clear majority of seven. “Out of the 12 members who voted on the substantive question on citizenship, a clear majority of seven voted in favor of petitioner. As to residency, seven out of 13 voted that petitioner complied with the 10year residency requirement,” Sereno said. “These votes, as explained in the extended opinions submitted by the members of the majority, must be respected,” she added.

Dissent in majority

Based on the voting sheet, Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and Diosdado Peralta were the two justices in the majority who did not want to put the citizenship question to a vote. Caguioa and Peralta argued that the decision should only go as far as ruling that Poe did not commit material misrepresentation, with the intent to deceive, in saying that she was both natural-born and a Philippine resident of at least 10 years in her certificate of candidacy. Caguioa explained his divergence from the majority on the citizenship issue. “On this point I deviate from the majority opinion when it proceeded to rule on the question of the petitioner’s citizenship. Keeping in mind the nature of this court’s limited certiorari review, I believe that this court need not have made a definitive ruling on petitioner’s status as a natural-born Filipino citizen,” he wrote in his 11-page opinion, in which he was joined by Peralta. “I concur, however, that the Comelec grossly misappreciated the evidence when it found that the petitioner deliberately intended to mislead the electorate when she stated that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen, knowing full well that she is a foundling,” he said. 6 voted to disqualify

Those who voted to uphold Poe’s disqualification on account of lacking the necessary qualifications included the three justices who also rejected Poe’s claim to natural-born status on the Senate Electoral Tribunal in a separate case: Associate Justices Antonio Carpio, De Castro and Arturo Brion. Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Mariano del Castillo also voted against Poe.

www.canadianinquirer.net

CJ Maria Lourdes Sereno insisted that there was no room for doubt in the SC’s majority ruling to uphold Sen. Grace Poe’s qualification to run for President, even as opponents of the ruling cited a split within justices who voted to overturn the Comelec decision canceling Poe’s certificate of candidacy. FACEBOOK PHOTO

Of the six, only Reyes opted not to issue his own dissenting opinion, joining Bernabe’s instead. Comelec castigated

Sereno, who was vocal in supporting the rights of foundlings during oral arguments on the case, castigated the Comelec for shifting the burden to Poe to prove her citizenship. “The standard proposed by the Comelec—physical proof of blood relation to a parent who is a citizen of the Philippines— is an impossible, oppressive and discriminatory condition,” the chief magistrate said. “To allow the imposition of this unjust and unreasonable requirement is to sanction a violation of the Constitution and our obligations under existing international law,” she said. Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., in his separate opinion, agreed with this point, saying that putting the burden of proving citizenship on foundlings “is as preposterous as rubbing salt on an open bleeding wound.” “It adds insult to injury. The state cannot allow such unconscionable interpretation of our laws. Instead, the judiciary, as the instrumentality of the State in its role of parens patriae (parent of the nation), must ensure that the abandoned children, the foundlings, those who were

forced into an unfavorable position are duly protected,” he said. ‘Discriminatory’

So did Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza, saying the Comelec held a “discriminatory interpretation of the Constitution” in requiring Poe to prove her natural-born status despite being “abandoned as an infant with unknown facts of birth and parentage.” “It (Comelec) acted with ‘an evil eye and unequal hand,’ denying foundlings equal justice guaranteed by the same fundamental law. This is grave abuse of discretion,” he said. Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said the status of foundlings as natural-born Filipinos could be inferred from the intent of the Constitution, acts of the executive and legislative branches, and the Philippines’ concurrence with international law. “Doing justice and discharging our duty to uphold the rule of law require that we conclude that foundlings are naturalborn Filipino citizens, absent any evidence that proves the contrary,” said Leonen. “This is the inescapable conclusion when we read the provisions on citizenship in the context of the entire Constitution, which likewise mandates equality, human dignity, social justice and care for abandoned children,” he added. ■

Philippine News

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Koko: Gov’t has no right to stop bank manager BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE ALLEGED laundering of $81 million through the Philippine financial system is a continuing crime, justifying the authorities’ decision to stop a Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) official from leaving the country on Friday, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said yesterday. But Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, chair of the committee on justice, said there was no reason to restrict Maia SantosDeguito’s fundamental right to travel unless there was a holddeparture order or a warrant for her arrest. In Deguito’s case, there was none, Pimentel said. Deguito, manager of the RCBC branch on Jupiter Street, Makati City, protested her removal from a Philippine Airlines flight to Tokyo on Friday, saying there was no court order barring her from traveling out of the country. The $81 million, stolen by Chinese computer hackers from the account of Bangladesh’s central bank in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in early February, was remitted to five accounts at the RCBC Jupiter branch and allegedly layered through conversion into pesos, funneling into accounts at other banks and gaming in local casinos before being moved out of the country. “It is a continuing crime because the money has not been recovered,” Osmeña, chair of the committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said in a phone interview. Suspicious timing

Osmeña, who played an indirect role in the authorities’ decision to prevent Deguito from leaving the country, said he found the timing of her trip suspicious. It came in the middle of the alleged money laundering at RCBC involving her branch, he

said. “I found her timing very strange. It’s hard to believe that she won’t run,” he said. Deguito, her husband and their son were already aboard a Philippine Airlines flight to Tokyo on Friday afternoon when immigration authorities came aboard and removed them from the plane. In a radio interview after the airport incident, Deguito said she was not fleeing but only traveling to Tokyo where she and her husband were to take their son to Disneyland as a birthday gift. AMLC investigation

She said the immigration authorities carried no hold-departure order or arrest warrant, but showed her a paper stating that she was “part of the money-laundering scheme” being investigated by the AntiMoney Laundering Council (AMLC). The AMLC and the National Bureau of Investigation are looking into the alleged money laundering. The Senate blue ribbon committee will open its own investigation on Tuesday. Deguito is also under investigation by the RCBC management. She has denied responsibility for the mess, saying the $81 million was only credited to her branch by the RCBC head office. In a statement to the RCBC investigation, Deguito said she had received instructions from RCBC president and CEO Lorenzo Tan to allow the transfer of the amount into the accounts opened by five people at her branch last year. Tan has denied knowledge of the operation, and offered to go on leave to the give the bank’s management a free hand in the investigation. Tan, Deguito and William Go, a Chinese-Filipino businessman in whose account at RCBC Jupiter the five accounts holding the $81 million were consolidated, have been summoned to

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said there was no reason to restrict RCBC official’s right to travel unless there was a holddeparture order or a warrant for her arrest. KOKOPIMENTEL.ORG

Tuesday’s Senate hearing. Osmeña said it was better to prevent Deguito from leaving the Philippines in the interest of justice. He also said there had been cases where suspects slipped out of the country in the middle of controversies and this “bad habit” had gotten in the way of the administration of justice. “In order for justice to be done, we need the information, complete information [about what happened],” he said. Right to travel

But Pimentel said a citizen’s right to travel must be respected despite the suspicious timing of the trip. “We have to be strict about this because a fundamental civil right is involved, the right of movement. There must be a compelling reason to deny somebody the right to travel or move around,” said Pimentel, who is a lawyer. He said the only basis for preventing Deguito from traveling was a hold-departure order or a warrant of arrest. Pimentel said a watchlist or a lookout order from the Department of Justice (DOJ)—by

its very name alone—could not be considered equivalent to a hold-departure order. He said there had long been a debate about whether the DOJ could issue a hold-departure order, but he contended that this is a right reserved to the courts. If Deguito is really involved in a crime, a case should have been filed against her immediately so that the state can seek her arrest and prevent her from moving around, Pimentel said. Osmeña also said it was not he who had directly called up the DOJ to ask that Deguito be prevented from leaving. He said a lawyer for RCBC called him up around 1:30 p.m. on Friday to relay the information that Deguito was about to fly out of the country. After receiving the information, he said, he directed the blue ribbon committee to get permission from its chair, Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, to seek help from the DOJ to prevent Deguito from leaving.

into the alleged use of the Philippine financial system for money laundering. Instead of being alarmed, the public should feel reassured that the country’s measures against financial crimes are working, according to Presidential Communications Undersecretary Manuel L. Quezon III. Speaking in a radio interview, Quezon said the AMLC and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas— the country’s central bank— were giving the public clarity on this case by investigating and reporting it to the press. “I think the discovery of this and its investigation is proof positive that we are a responsible member of the global banking community,” Quezon said. The INQUIRER was the first to report the discovery of the Bangladesh Bank heist, tracing the operation from the breach of the Bangladeshi central bank’s systems to the transfer of funds from the bank’s account at the New York Fed and the remittance to RCBC during holidays in Bangladesh, the United States and the Philippines in early February to the “integration” of the money into the financial system through local casinos. Doubtful part

Malacañang advised the public yesterday not to be alarmed at the widening investigation

The casino part of the integration—the final step in money laundering—is doubtful, according to the Philippine gaming regulator. Cristino Naguiat, chair and CEO of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., told the INQUIRER last week that casinos are the riskiest place to launder dirty money, as the chances of losing at the tables are quite high. He said nobody had beaten the bank at local casinos. Officials of Solaire Resort and Casino Manila, Midas Hotel and Casino and City of Dreams Casino—the three casinos mentioned in the AMLC investigation—have been summoned to Tuesday’s hearing at the Senate. ■

that enacts supplemental budgets. Please explain this, COA,” he said. He also denied that the Makati 2007 and 2008 statements of

receipts and expenditures were bloated by P1.24 billion and P2.3 bullion, respectively, at the time the controversial City Hall Building 2 was finished. ■

PH measures working

Poe weighs... governments do the same without issue.” “We are puzzled that the COA Special Audit Team is unaware that the Lo❰❰ 10

cal Government Code allows local governments to enact supplemental budgets,” United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) communications director Joey

Salgado said. “This is not the first time that Makati has enacted supplemental budgets. And Makati is not the only local government www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Past, present PNP officers face trial over rifle sales BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer

Group sets ‘pork holiday’ if smuggling not stopped BY RONNEL W. DOMINGO Philippine Daily Inquirer

“Based on the report of our trading partners, around 202 million kilos of pork were smuggled outright, or through misdeclaration, into the country from AN ALLIANCE of pork producers across 2010 to mid-2015,” the allies said. “This the country has issued an ultimatum in a translates to about P9 billion in lost revprelude to a “pork holiday,” demanding enues for the government.” that Malacañang take steps to curb pork At the same time, the hog raisers said smuggling or they would withhold their that production costs, particularly feed meat products from the market. prices, were rising steadily. The broad grouping—led by the Pork The allies demanded immediate acProducers Federation of the Philippines tion from Malacañang, including the Inc. (Pro-pork), National Federation strict enforcement of the “quarantine of Hog Farmers Inc. (NFHFI) and Sa- first policy,” and 100percent quaranmahang Industriya ng Agrikultura—is tine test and inspection at the port of supported by the Agap party-list, Abono first entry on all meat imports with departylist, Sorosoro clared 5-10 percent Ibaba Development tariff, all imports of Cooperative (Batanthe top 10 meat imgas) and 120 individporters of the previuals “plus thousands ous year, and all immore backyard hog Thousands of ports from first-time growers.” backyard hog importers. Pro-pork has beraisers are losing They also demandhind it 43 organizatheir livelihood ed more stringent tions, while NFHFI by the day as and transparent cricounts 14 groups. smuggling not teria for the accrediIn an open letter only continues, tation of importers to the President, the but is flourishing. and the strict implegroup said the inmentation of the laventory in backyard belling requirements farms shrank by 17 on expiry dates. percent to 7.95 milFinally, the hog lion head in 2015 raisers asked that from 9.54 million head in 2010 when Mr. President Aquino immediately sign into Aquino assumed office. law the approved bill that defines the “The entire livestock industry, at no smuggling of agricultural commodities point in recent years, has suffered this as an act constituting economic sabomuch loss,” they told the Chief Execu- tage. tive. “Thousands of backyard hog rais“We can no longer sit idly in the dark ers are losing their livelihood by the day and wait until our government offers as smuggling not only continues, but is solutions,” they said. “Six years is more flourishing.” than enough time. If no concrete action They said that during the six years of is taken immediately, we are ready to the Aquino administration, “close to pursue other avenues to seek redress.” 80,000 backyard hog raisers have lost The groups earlier threatened to hold their source of livelihood, and even the a “pork holiday” of at least five days. once viable commercial hog farms are When asked when, they declined to struggling” because smuggled pork is be specific but said “the countdown has flooding the local market. begun.” ■

AXED CHIEF Supt. Raul Petrasanta and 10 other active and retired police officers face arrest after the Sandiganbayan found probable cause to proceed with their trial for the alleged sale of AK-47 assault rifles to communist rebels. The decision of the antigraft court’s Fifth Division was another blow for Petrasanta, a decorated police officer and a close aide of President Aquino whowas once touted as the next chief of the Philippine National Police. A member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1984, Petrasanta was dismissed from the service by the Ombudsman last year over the allegedly fraudulent awarding of a P100million service contract to a startup courier company for the delivery of gun licenses. He was one of the directors of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office during the period when 1,004 Russianmade AK-47 assault weapons worth P52 million were supposedly sold to New People’s Army fighters from 2011 to 2013.

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In an eight-page resolution, the antigraft court did not give weight to the claims of the police officers that there was no legal ground to hold them accountable for violation of Republic Act No. 3019, the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act. Instead, the court said the separate motions filed by the accused police officers for judicial determination of probable cause was “unnecessary” as previously ruled by the Supreme Court. “After a judicious, personal and independent review of the record… the court finds that there is substantial evidence on record to support a finding of probable cause against the accused-movants,” the antigraft court said in its Feb. 29 resolution. Besides Petrasanta, ordered arrested were retired PNP Directors Gil Meneses and Napoleon Estilles, former Chief Superintendents Tomas Rentoy III and Regino Catiis, and former Senior Superintendents Eduardo Acierto and Allan Parreño. Also to be arrested were Supt. Nelson Bautista, Chief Insp. Ricardo Zapata Jr., Senior Police Officers 1 Eric Tan and Randy de Sesto, and civilian employees Nora Pirote and Sol Bargan. ■

MARCH 18, 2016

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FRIDAY

Philippine News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

People find Leila not old, plump, grouchy in person BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer APPARENTLY THE camera adds not only 10 pounds to one’s figure but also years to her age and sourness to her facial expression—or so senatorial hopeful Leila de Lima has found after a month on the campaign trail. The former justice secretary recounted how people, upon seeing her in person for the first time, would exclaim in surprise: “Hindi naman pala kayo matanda, mataba at masungit (It turns out you are not old, plump and grouchy).” Speaking at the Pandesal Forum in Quezon City, the Liberal Party senatorial candidate jokingly blamed the media for giving the public a wrong idea about her. “It’s because the media never show me when I’m smiling. The camera always catches me looking stern or angry,” she said. De Lima admitted that she had “two faces” which tended to influence public opinion and perception about her: “One is a scary face, and the other is a

not-so-scary face,” she said. But Filipinos, once they meet her up close, would realize that “I’m an ordinary woman, a mother, a grandmother, a probinsyana (someone from the province),” said De Lima, who hails from Iriga City.

high time to open the discussion on civil unions for samesex couples. “We can start to be open to it by crafting laws (that would give) benefits and the effects of a civil union (to same-sex couples),” she said.

Fearless but soft

Divorce, euthanasia

The former chair of the Commission on Human Rights has capitalized on such a duality on the stump, branding herself a fearless crime-buster hard on criminals but soft on victims. She is running on a platform of reforms in the criminal justice system and expanded government protection for victims of crime, as well as decongestion of the heavily populated penal systems, full implementation of the antitrust law and elimination of smuggling. And it appears to be working in her favor so far—she has consistently ranked among the top 10 senatorial candidates in voter preference polls. “My first month on the campaign trail is no joke,” De Lima said. “But I’m enjoying it. I find it an enriching experience. I

Senatorial hopeful Leila de Lima in her political ad wdepicting her platform of ‘justice without fear or favor.’ SCREENGRAB FROM LEILA DE LIMA’S CAMPAIGN VIDEO

deal with so many people from different sectors.” Summing up what she has learned about politics, she said it was all about “winning more friends, trying to influence others and being influenced by them in turn.” “I feel humbled by the fact that wherever I go, I see very warm, positive and enthusiastic response from the crowds,” she said. At the forum, De Lima was asked to state her views on touchy issues, from same-sex marriage to euthanasia.

“On same-sex marriage, I cannot support that yet … The Philippines is not ready,” she said. ‘That’s love’

But she added that she recognized that homosexual couples should be entitled to the same benefits accorded by the state to married people. “They also need protection and they should have same rights … because that’s love, we cannot intervene in that,” she said. Thus, De Lima said it was

On divorce, De Lima, whose marriage to her husband was annulled, said she was “not promoting” divorce or the separation of couples. “But we have to be realistic about marital life. Sometimes staying together is more oppressive,” she said. “We have to ensure we have the right process. Divorce should be based on legal grounds and not for very light reasons.” Euthanasia, or medically assisted suicide, De Lima said, is a very sensitive issue. “I’m not ready to support that. But it really depends on the situation. If there is no other way medically (to save a person), when the person concerned is really, really suffering, I’m open to looking further into that,” she said. ■

Stung by P-Noy remarks, Binay camp says people’s will must be respected BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer THE WILL of the people must be respected. The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay made the statement in response to President Aquino’s recent statement expressing regret that Binay, instead of Mar Roxas, had won the vice presidency in 2010. Mr. Aquino and Binay— whose families share a long cordial history—parted ways in June last year, after the latter resigned from the Cabinet in

the face of corruption allegations he charged were meant to derail his presidential bid. Mr. Aquino is currently campaigning for Roxas, the Liberal Party standard-bearer. “With all due respect, Mr. President, the results of the 2010 elections represented the will of the people,” Rico Quicho, Binay’s spokesperson for political concerns, said in a statement yesterday. “The people elected you to be their president and Jejomar Binay their vice president. They saw in Vice President Binay the qualities of a servant leader

who was ready and competent to perform the duties of a president. The will of the people is not something to regret, but to respect,” he said. Quicho noted how even Mr. Aquino himself had given “unsolicited commendations” to Binay during his term as chief of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and as the Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Affairs. “He (Binay) was a team player despite being treated like a pariah by most members of the Cabinet who were also your

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party mates,” Quicho said. “He chose to stay on and do his job until it was evident that the conspiracy to undermine him politically—hatched and implemented by the Liberal Party and its allies—would not stop, to the point of directly undermining the independence of government instrumentalities and independent institutions for your allies’ political interests and ambitions,” he said. As the United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer appeared to be edging Roxas out anew in preelection surveys, Quicho said the Vice President

was offering to the electorate “his track record of performance and accomplishments as [Makati City mayor] and vice president.” At a recent LP campaign rally in Cavite, Mr. Aquino said the administration could have accomplished more if Roxas had won the vice presidency. Aquino also made indirect reference to Binay’s criticism of the administration, saying he could not get this out of his mind. ■

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

ANALYSIS

Questions raised on Almendras appointment By Amando Doronila Philippine Daily Inquirer THE RESIGNATION of Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario for “health reasons” came barely two months before President Aquino steps down at the end of his six-year term and his replacement by Secretary of the Cabinet Jose Rene Almendras as interim head of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised questions about the real reasons behind this toplevel reshuffle. There apparently was no urgent reason for Del Rosario to quit immediately, as a new administration appears certain to take over after the May 9 presidential election. Mr. Aquino plugged the vacancy in the DFA, the most senior Cabinet portfolio next to the executive secretary, with a man who has scarcely any experience in foreign affairs, although he is known to be close to the President. This is the third Cabinet post for Almendras, who first served as energy secretary before being appointed secretary to the Cabinet. In the context of his inexperience in foreign affairs, it is puzzling that Almendras was named DFA interim head at a critical juncture of major Philippine diplomatic initiatives.

The Philippines is waiting for the the Philippines’ case at the UN arbi- nese unilateral conduct of test flights decision of the United Nations ar- tral tribunal, he said, “It should con- and island-building activities had bitral tribunal on its protest against sider staying the course.” posed challenges to freedom of naviChina’s claim to almost the entire He wished the next administration gation, overflight operations and the South China Sea. The decision is ex- would carry out the DFA’s “three pil- livelihood of fishermen in the South pected in May. lars” in a principled manner. These China Sea. Explaining the appointment of Al- pillars are “enhancement of national mendras, Mr. Aquino cited the most security, attainment of economic se- High expectations parochial reasons to justify it. “Why curity and … promotion of the interWhile Del Rosario described Aldid I appoint him?” he told the press. est of all Filipinos overseas.” mendras “as a man who gets things He said his Cabinet troubleshooter On proposals for the Philippines to done,” given that he is close to the was one man who would stick by him jointly develop the South China Sea, President, it will take more than and would be willing to do the diffi- Del Rosario said he was amenable to these connections to make Almencult tasks during his administration’s that so long as “it is in accordance dras get things done. remaining 113 days. with the rule of law.” We are afraid he had been bur“He has, of course, dened with high my utmost trust and expectations for his [...] it is puzzling that Almendras was named DFA interim confidence. He has limited qualificahead at a critical juncture of major Philippine diplomatic proven skills in so tions to cope with. initiatives. many different fora The continuity of and at the end of the the foreign policy day, he continues to stand by me in He also said that the ruling of the three pillars on the South China Sea the remaining 113 days,” the President UN arbitral tribunal on the South dispute under Almendras now apsaid of his boyhood friend. China Sea dispute, once rendered, pears resting precariously on his “will be legally binding.” What if Chi- fragile shoulders. Not disabled na refuses to accept the decision? He This view of foreign policy initiaOutgoing Foreign Secretary Del said, “We are enjoining other nations tives in the South China Sea dispute Rosario is not exactly a disabled man, to convince China to respect the rule designed by the DFA flies in the face as he quits the Cabinet. He had the of law.” of hardnosed assessment by the US stamina to deliver a parting shot in That mobilization of international national intelligence. a speech at a luncheon hosted by the support for the ruling poses a huge In a Feb. 23 letter to Sen. John McMakati Busines Club. challenge for Philippine diplomacy. Cain, chair of the US Senate armed Asked about his advice to the inDel Rosario acknowledged that re- services committee, James Clapper, coming administration in handling cent developments as a result of Chi- director of US national intelligence,

warned that Chinese land reclamation and construction work in the Spratlys, parts of which are also claimed by the Philippines, had established infrastructure needed “to project military capabilities in the South China Sea beyond that which is required for point defense of its outposts … Based on the pace and scope of construction at these outposts, China will be able to deploy a range of offensive and defensive military capabilities and support increased CCG (Chinese Coast Guard) presence beginning in 2016…” “Once these facilities are completed by the end of 2016 or early 2017, China will have significant capacity to quickly project significant substantial offensive military power in the region,” Clapper said. While the United States had yet to observe deployment of significant Chinese military capabilities in the Spratlys, it had built facilities able to support them, including modern fighter aircraft. China had already installed military radars at Calderon and Kagitingan Reefs (Cuarteron and Fiery Cross Reefs) and the infrastructure could also allow for the deployment of surface-to air missiles, coastal defense cruise missiles and an increased presence, Clapper said. ■

PUBLIC LIVES

Jovito Salonga, the scholar-politician By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer FORMER SENATE president Jovito Salonga, who died on March 10 at the age of 95, was one of those rare scholar-politicians who dazzled my generation with their brilliance, eloquence, and patriotism. The other figure who quickly comes to mind— because he and Salonga almost always appeared on the horizon like a pair of stars—was former senator Jose W. Diokno. Salonga and Diokno shared first place in the 1944 bar examinations with the identical score of 95.3 percent. They took the exam even before they could complete their formal law studies. Their mastery of the law was legendary, and their speeches at the Senate were pithy literary gems. Well-read and deeply spiritual in their respective ways, they championed genuine independence, basic human rights, and good governance at a time when pragmatic politicians would not hesitate to trade these to advance their careers. Both detained without charges during martial law by their contemporary, Ferdinand Marcos, Salonga and Diokno took up the cudgels for

other political detainees, including Ninoy Aquino, Marcos’ principal nemesis. Ninoy’s widow, Cory, regularly turned to these two exemplary lawyers for advice after Ninoy’s assassination. When she became president in 1986, following the Edsa Revolution, her first official acts were to create the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to which she appointed Jovito R. Salonga, and the Presidential Committee on Human Rights, to which she named Jose W. Diokno. These two presidential bodies, which Cory established while she enjoyed revolutionary powers under the Freedom Constitution, are the closest equivalent we have to a truth commission. Their shared mandate was to bring the Marcoses and their cronies and henchmen to justice. Diokno, who died of cancer in February 1987, did not live long enough to witness the gradual fading of the Edsa dream. Salonga, who had been maimed by the bomb attack at Plaza Miranda in August 1971, resigned from the PCGG to run in the 1987 senatorial elections, the first to be held under the new Constitution. As in 1965 and 1971, he went on to top the 1987 elections. The reorganized Senate then

chose him to be its president, strategically positioning him as the logical successor to President Cory once her term ended in 1992. This, however, did not happen for a host of reasons. The Senate under the leadership of Salonga was consistently supportive of Cory in her bid to restore the country’s democratic institutions throughout those turbulent years when her mandate was repeatedly challenged by a rebellious military. But, there was one thing the gentle Salonga could not grant to Cory: a new military bases treaty that would extend the presence of the American bases in the Philippines after the expiration in 1991 of the existing agreement. Salonga drew the line between him and the much-admired Cory on this single issue. He actively campaigned to ensure the defeat of this new agreement, even as he knew it could cost him the presidency. On Sept. 16, 1991, the Senate rejected the new treaty by a vote of 12-11, with Salonga himself casting the deciding vote. To him, it was the culmination of the long emancipatory struggle begun by our nation’s greatest heroes. Resisting all kinds of pressure from the Americans, who, at the strictly personal level, had been good to him,

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Salonga was prepared to give up everything just to see the American bases leave. He paid dearly for this decision. In the 1992 presidential election, President Cory was torn between two loyal allies who both wanted to be president—Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. and Defense Secretary Fidel V. Ramos. Endorsing Jovy Salonga was out of the question. The Americans could not forgive him for the humiliation he had dealt them on the bases question. Big business did not like him for the uncompromising stance he had taken against US interests. Like Diokno, he was the best president we could not have. I had the privilege of moderating the 1992 presidential debate for the Commission on Elections and television station Channel 5. Blind in one eye, his right hand a deformed mass of skin and bones, the 72-year-old statesman beamed like a professor conducting a graduate class. He was the most erudite and most accomplished person in that pack. Speaking in a measured tone in fluent Filipino and English, he never switched from one code to the other to complete a thought. But, beside the most prominent pre-martial law politicians, there

were other stars in that room that had captured the imagination of a fickle public. One of them was the feisty and outspoken Miriam Defensor Santiago, a former judge, cabinet member, and immigration commissioner. The other was businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, who had fled the country with the Marcos family in 1986. The broad support that this soft-spoken Marcos crony was getting during the campaign, just six years after the overthrow of the dictatorship, showed that the political winds were ominously shifting. In that crowded race, Ramos, Cory’s anointed successor, emerged the winner with only about 23 percent of the votes. In contrast, Joseph “Erap” Estrada, running as Cojuangco’s vice president, won by a landslide. Jovy Salonga, the Liberal Party candidate, finished sixth, behind Imelda Marcos. That would have been enough to completely crush any patriot who had worked hard to see his country flourish. But though he retired from electoral politics, Jovito R. Salonga continued the lonely struggle for ethical governance through the civil society organizations he formed, never losing hope in the Filipino people’s capacity to transform themselves. ■

Opinion

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

LOOKING BACK

Filipino kids ‘not allowed to be themselves’ By Ambeth R. Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer TEXTBOOK history tells us that Jose Rizal was shot in the back on the field of Bagumbayan (New Land) in the cool morning of Dec. 30, 1896. What would have happened to him, to us, to the nascent nation he dreamed about, if he were not executed? Would he have been involved in the Malolos Republic and in the Philippine-American War, or would he have accepted a position in the American colonial bureaucracy in the Philippines? All these questions make for daydreams to while away the time I waste in traffic. Teodoro Agoncillo once told me that it was useless to consider the what-ifs in history because we don’t even have the time to consider what actually happened. Dropping in at a 7-Eleven convenience store to make “pagpag” after visiting a wake one evening, I was reminded that Rizal was the seventh of 11 children born to Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso. There were two boys and nine girls in the family home in Calamba, and of the 10 children who survived to adulthood, two

daughters and the two sons never married, although Paciano Rizal had a daughter. At certain points in time, Rizal seriously considered marriage to three of his 12 known girlfriends, but he remained a childless bachelor to his death. If he had not been executed in 1896, I presume he would have taken care of his aging parents and overseen the education of his many nephews and nieces. Rizal’s sisters were quite productive, as can be seen in a letter from Teodora Alonso to Rizal on Nov. 23, 1883: “Now I’m going to mention to you, one by one, my new debts to the Lord. On June 6, 1882, Lucía delivered a baby boy who was named José. On 15 September 1882, Neneng gave birth to a boy who was named Alfredo. On 14 June 1883, Sisa gave birth to a girl who was given the name María Consolación; on 3 September 1883, Olimpia gave birth to a boy who was named Aristeo; on 24 November 1883, Lucía gave birth to a girl. On the 26 of this month Neneng gave birth to a girl also. Both girls are not yet baptized but they will be on Sunday. Here many die of childbirth but they went through it safely.”

It is not well-known that Rizal’s first patient when he returned to the Philippines in 1887 was his sister Olimpia, the most beautiful of his sisters, who was with child. Rizal attended to her, eventually resulting in the death of both mother and child. Of course, this was not intentional, and is never recorded in our textbooks. Narcisa, one of Rizal’s favorite sisters whose nickname “Sisa” was immortalized in “Noli Me Tangere,” wrote him on Feb. 27, 1886, to say: “I suppose you don’t know yet that I’m now the mother of six children. In this letter you will see the names of the three older ones written by themselves, and of the last ones, the older was Isabel, the deceased one, and the two, one girl and one boy, are called Consolación and Leoncio López, who is as fat as a melon. The children of Sra. Neneng are three: They are called Alfredo, Adela and Abelardo. Olimpia’s shortly will be three, like Sra. Neneng’s. The two who are not here are called Aristeo and Cesario; the older one called Aristeo, what a lively boy he is! His godfather is Sr. Paciano. He will be a useful boy when he gets older. At

the age of 2, he already knows a great deal. He is the only consolation of our parents, I tell you, because when you see this child, even if you are angry, you will be obliged to laugh, he is so funny.” One can only imagine what joy Rizal, homesick in Europe, got from snail mail. Neneng, for example, described Alfredo Porfirio, or “Freding,” in a letter dated Dec. 14, 1882, as having: “a wellshaped body, is stout, round-faced, having a sharp nose, small chin and eyes, flat head, bald on the left side.” Lucia Herbosa, in a letter of Nov. 13, 1882, described a son born to her in 1882, named Jose: “I amuse myself with Jose’s ear, which is like yours. I tell you that it is really like yours, but I pray that the likeness does not stop there, but that he may have your disposition, your goodness, and diligence in good works.” Paciano was so concerned about the education of his nephews that he wrote Rizal on July 18, 1886: “Furnish me with information of the best schools there. We have many nephews, most of them promising. It is a pity that these ones should fall into the hands of teachers who teach

unwillingly and do so only for show. It is true that they inculcate in children the very same principles, such as fear and humility, the first being the beginning of wisdom and the second of apostolic and civic virtue, but it is also true that fear and humility lead to dullness.” Mixing religion with education did not sit well with Rizal, who noted that unlike in Europe, children in the Philippines “are not allowed to be themselves, to make noise or to play. Instead they are made to recite the rosary and novena until the poor youngsters become very sleepy and understand nothing of what is going on. Consequently, when they reach the age of reason, they pray just as they have prayed when they were children, without understanding what they are saying; they fall asleep or think of nonsense. Nothing can destroy a thing more than the abuse of it, and praying can also be abused.” If Rizal were not executed in 1896, he probably would have been a very progressive schoolmaster, opening a “Colegio Moderno” to mold and train the youth he called “the fair hope of the motherland.” ■

AT LARGE

‘Ka’ Jovy: exemplar at the Senate By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer GROWING UP, I had Jovito Salonga as one of my “heroes” in the government. In the 1960s, long before he figured in the tragic Plaza Miranda bombing of 1971, Salonga had already established a reputation not just for intelligence and smarts, but also for honesty, integrity and courage. One of my most vivid memories of him was of a time, long after he sought and lost the presidency after the 1986 Edsa Revolt, when he was invited to address a citizens’ assembly on the need for reforms in the government. Organizers were waiting for a call from him or his retainers so they could assist and accompany him from his car to the assembly hall. But imagine their surprise when he suddenly walked in, unescorted and without a fuss, looking for the nearest empty chair, even if a place onstage had been reserved for him. Humility exuded from his person. This was a man who had spent decades in the service of the country, whose name alone evoked images of a storied past when the Senate was considered a chamber of the best and brightest the country had to offer. In fact, I had to chuckle and suppress a pang in my heart at a meme I saw

on Facebook. There were portraits of Salonga and two other “giants” in the Senate: the late senators Jose W. Diokno and Lorenzo Tañada. Joining them, in jarring contrast, was Manny Pacquiao, the boxing champ and “poor man from GenSan,” but also a “reformed” gambler and womanizer turned homophobic preacher who, in his stint in the House of Representatives, was hardly present and drafted a grand total of zero bills. How low have we sunk, indeed. And the fault for that lamentable development lies squarely with us, the voters, and the careless way we have squandered our legacy of democracy and good governance! *** A SPECIAL guest at the gathering of women for the National Anti-Poverty Commission’s celebration of Women’s Month was Liberal Party vicepresidential candidate Leni Robredo. Which was only proper because Robredo is the only woman running for the post of vice president in the May elections. “We wanted to listen to her agenda and how she will pursue [the women’s] agenda,” explained Celia Matea Flor, the sectoral representative for women in the NAPC Council. “Wewanted to hear what she can do to improve our participation in the

decision-making processes that the current administration has put in place.” The NAPC assembly was dubbed the “Women’s Action for Gender Equality, Peace and Development: Crafting the NAPC Basic Sectors’ Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights Agenda 2016-2022.” Women leaders from all over the country participated in assessing the efforts of the Aquino administration in promoting gender equality and women empowerment. Held on March 9-10 at the Sequioa Hotel in Quezon City, the assembly also crafted a specific policy agenda to further promote gender equality. These policies include strategies on peace, security and justice; economic empowerment; gender responsive governance; and climate change and disaster risk reduction, among others. One of the biggest accomplishments of the P-Noy administration on behalf of women, said Flor, was the President’s “determined support for one of the most contentious bills the women ever pushed: the reproductive health bill.” The legislation, she said, “became a law under his watch, amid rabid opposition from all over, most notably the Church.” Also leading discussions at the

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NAPC assembly were Emmeline Versoza, executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women, and Rosalinda Ofreneo, a professor at the University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies. *** A MAJOR concern of the women at the assembly was the need to increase the participation of women not just in civic affairs but also in the decision-making process. While measures to promote women’s participation and representation were put in place during the P-Noy administration, such as policy issuances of the Bottom-up Budgeting program that requires at least 40 percent representation of women, “we need to look at the quality of our participation and assess whether having our seats at the negotiating table has resulted in better outputs and outcomes of government programs and projects,” said Flor. *** MEANWHILE, a woman leader among the sectoral group of fishers called on the national government to “improve programs that protect and support women fisherfolk.” Issuing the challenge was Gavina Tumbaga, who chairs the Payao Credit Cooperative of the City of San Fernando in La Union and the City Fishery

and Aquatic Resources Management Council. From the outset, implied Gavina, women fishers are disadvantaged because they are often overlooked or ignored, since the common image of the “fisherman” is that of a man, even if women are just as active in helping earn income from fishing. “There are women in the fishing industry—we can see them making fishing gear, selling fish and fish products, gathering seashells, throwing nets to catch fish—but their roles and rights are often not recognized, and worse, they remain vulnerable to environmental and human-made disasters because there are no programs that address their specific needs,” Tumbaga said. The woman leader said that the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture should take into consideration the fishers’ gender so that the information can be utilized in shaping gender-sensitive fishery policies and programs. It can also serve as a gender-auditing mechanism to ensure that all programs and projects benefit both women and men in the fishing industry, she added. Recent data from the Department of Labor and Employment reveal that there are about 131,000 women fishers in the Philippines. ■

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Canada News

Wynne says she Deportations to Jamaica, worried about pitching Honduras could end up hurting tuition as free, says Canada: federal studies there are caveats BY JIM BRONSKILL The Canadian Press

BY ALLISON JONES The Canadian Press TORONTO — Premier Kathleen Wynne says she worried about her government pitching a new student grant program as providing “free” tuition, since there are caveats. The Liberal government announced in its recent budget that it is combining existing programs to create an Ontario Student Grant, which would pay for average college or university tuition for students from families with incomes of $50,000 or less. But in a question-and-answer session with student leaders today, Wynne was asked why the program is being marketed as free tuition, when students who qualify would still have to incur some costs. It is expected that students will still pay $3,000 toward their overall costs such as their living expenses, to supplement the tuition grant. “I have worried about the same thing, that it’s free with some explanation required,” she said. “I think at the same time if we’re talking about tuition, average tuition, the grant will cover that, so that will be free.” The language around the new grant will likely “evolve,” she said.

Premier Kathleen Wynne.

The $3,000 figure was arrived at because staff determined it was a “reasonable amount” that a student could make at a summer job, the premier said. Under the new program, half of students from families with incomes of $83,000 will qualify for non-repayable grants to cover their tuition and no student will receive less than they can currently receive. The government is defining average college tuition as $2,768 and average university tuition as $6,160, for arts and science programs. Wynne conceded the Ontario Student Grant is targeted at full-time, and not part-time students. “I don’t think we actually have the plan for part-time students that we need,” she said. “There are some supports in place through the Canada Student Assistance Grants, but I think that there’s more that we have to do.” She also acknowledged there are calls from some corners for free tuition for every student. Wynne said she was open to the discussion, but at the moment the government can pay for the new student grant through combining several programs and eliminating some tax credits. “In an ideal world we might actually move there,” she said. “I don’t know at this point how we would do that.” ■

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OTTAWA — Deporting convicts to Jamaica and Honduras poses a boomerang-style threat because returnees may become involved in international crime that hurts Canada, federally commissioned research says. While removing people who have committed serious crimes may be an important element of Canadian public security strategy, it places strains on law-enforcement and social services in the two destination countries and could have “unintended consequences” for Canada, say a pair of studies released under the Access to Information Act. The Security Governance Group of Kitchener, Ont., delivered the findings to Public Safety Canada in January. The studies suggest the Canadian government could do more to support programs in Jamaica and Honduras to prevent such deportees from returning to crime. Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, did not commit to more assistance but said the Liberal government believes in evidence-based policy. “We continually monitor global events, ongoing issues and research related to crime and enforcement to guide policy development.” The previous Conservative government ushered in the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act three years ago, broadening the scope of those affected and limiting their appeals. About a quarter of a million people in Canada have Jamaican ancestry, most of whom live in the Toronto area. Between 2000 and 2013, Canada deported almost 2,800 people to Jamaica. Experts in Canada and Jamaiwww.canadianinquirer.net

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ca told the researchers that the ability of deportees to obtain jobs, housing, education and health care heavily influenced their ability to reintegrate and whether criminals would continue to take part in illicit activity upon their return. “The great difficulty with properly reintegrating criminal deportees has ultimately contributed to deportee-related problems with unemployment, homelessness, inadequate housing, property crime, mental health and addiction,” one study says. Jamaica has returned to prominence as a major shipment point for cocaine originating in South America, posing concerns for Canadian police, the researchers add. The organized-crime landscape has also expanded beyond drugs to lucrative lottery scams that directly target Canadians. It’s one thing to deport someone with no real connection to Canada, but quite another to return a person who has grown up in Canada, said Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman. “It’s completely unacceptable that we’re dumping our social problems back in Jamaica,” Waldman said.

“I think the time has come for our government to really reassess this policy.” Deportees to Honduras return to a country that is facing urgent humanitarian problems, a proliferation of street gangs and organized groups involved in the hemispheric drug trade, the other study says. The extremely challenging economic conditions, social stigma and threat of violence make it difficult to build a new life. A number of Honduran organizations offer social services to deportees, but they lack resources and cannot keep up with the massive flow of returnees, particularly from the United States, the study says. “Canada can play an important role in international efforts to support deportees and the Honduran authorities, while pushing for broader security and justice reform in Honduras.” The studies also point out that privacy law limits the information about returnees the Canada Border Services Agency can share with officials in other countries, potentially hampering reintegration. However, they add the RCMP may be better placed to pass along information through its international channels. ■

Canada News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

University of Victoria silencing sexual assault victims, students say BY LAURA KANE The Canadian Press VICTORIA — A student says the University of Victoria failed her in its investigation of a sexual assault complaint and warned her to stay quiet about its findings. The student said she had to request the investigator’s report. When she received a redacted version several weeks later, an attached letter warned her not to discuss the findings with anyone other than her lawyer, family, counsellor or police. The report determined she had not been sexually assaulted because she hadn’t verbally said “No,” even though the investigator found her to be a credible complainant, she said. “I felt completely invalidated and silenced,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. “I was really frustrated.” The woman and two students who work in residences have come forward with complaints that the university is failing sexual assault victims and fostering a culture of silence. The allegations emerge as universi-

ties across Canada face criticism of their handling of campus attacks. Joel Lynn, executive director of student services, said the University of Victoria encourages the campus community to have an open dialogue about sexual violence. He said students who report assaults are connected with support workers who guide them throughout the process. He said he could not discuss specific cases, but investigations rely on the Criminal Code definition of sexual assault, in which silence is not considered a form of consent. “We do not have a ‘no means no’ policy,” he said. He said external investigator reports are first given verbally but the written report has to be requested, so that sensitive legal and privacy information about third parties can be removed. A copy of the letter received by the student states that “failure to maintain confidentiality may result in the university pursuing disciplinary actions with its applicable policies.” But Lynn said support staff

help students understand that it’s “their story to tell.” “We do caution students about ... disclosing third-party information, but we certainly don’t put any barriers around students where they can’t tell their story,” he said. Like many universities in Canada, the University of Victoria lacks a stand-alone policy to respond to sexual assaults and instead relies on a non-academic misconduct policy. The student said she was assaulted in November and immediately reported it to the school. She said she decided against going to police because she feared how she would be treated by officers. The school hired an external investigator, but the student said — in contrast with Lynn’s statements — that she was offered very little support throughout the process. In the meantime, she saw her alleged assailant nearly every day on campus, where he continued to live, she said. “It’s pretty terrifying,” she said. “It got to the point where I didn’t feel comfortable walking around on campus by myself.”

She said she later learned at a meeting with university officials that the school took some action including requiring the student to move off campus but he was not expelled. It was at that meeting she found out she had to request the report. She wants the university to create a stand-alone sexual assault policy, offer more support to complainants and to ensure staff and students have full training on sexual assault and consent. There are students who have been sexually assaulted and don’t feel safe reporting it, she said. “The safety of every student should be a priority for the university, and it’s not right now,” she said. “I think it’s really terrible that the people who are the most vulnerable are the ones who have to protect ourselves the most.” Two students who work as residence staff members also said they’ve faced pressured to stay silent about sexual assaults on campus. The staff members, who spoke anonymously because they fear repercussions, say a

supervisor recently told them to call security if journalists showed up after a male student was arrested in connection with four alleged assaults in a separate case. Asked about the allegation, the university responded that residence staff are asked not to speak to media on behalf of the university and to report anyone gaining access to student residences without permission. Residence workers often act as first responders to campus sexual assaults, referring students to campus security and to the Judicial Affairs office to report attacks. The two students said they feel frustrated and demoralized because often reports go nowhere, they said. “The assailants are allowed to remain on staff, remain on campus, remain as students indefinitely. Most of the time, nothing happens,” said one of the students. “In not having a clear policy in place, in not having consequences for the people who did this ... the university is ultimately complicit in all these sexual assaults. They’re allowing it to happen.” ■

Trudeau faces tough campaign Canada seeking UN Security Council seat BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The Liberal government faces a longer, tougher election campaign, this one worldwide, if it wants to win a UN Security Council seat, say the people who helped Canada win its last bid. It’s not enough for Canada to be “back,” the government needs a platform outlining what it wants to accomplish

on the world stage and it has to make up for a decade of UN neglect under the previous Conservative government, they say. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce Wednesday in New York that Canada plans to seek a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Trudeau will be meeting Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, whom he hosted last month in Ottawa. That’s when Trudeau first mentioned the plan to

seek a council seat. Canada lost its last bid for a seat in 2010 after a string of six terms on the council dating back to the late 1940s. It is not clear when Canada could seek a new term, because the slate of candidates in the UN’s Western and European and Others Group, to which Canada belongs, is full until at least 2020. But campaigns for the council typically take years and involve much diplomatic horse-trad-

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

ing, something the previous Harper government considered to be a compromise. “It’s important to have an

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agenda, so you’re giving people a reason to elect you,” said Paul ❱❱ PAGE 20 Trudeau faces

Canada News

MARCH 18, 2016

Trudeau faces... Heinbecker, Canada’s ambassador to the UN during its last stint on the council in 1999-2000. “It’s not enough to say we’re Canada and we’re nice and we’re back and therefore elect us.” Trudeau doesn’t have to do that Wednesday in New York, Heinbecker said, but his government has to soon “create a platform, because it is an election.” And from here on, at every meeting with a foreign leader, Trudeau will have to make a pitch for a vote for Canada, as will Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion in every meeting with counterparts, as well as other ministers and any MPs who meet a counterpart from another country, said former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy. “Canada has a lot to make up,” Axworthy said in an interview. “We had lost a lot of traction over the last 10 years in not being involved politically, not being involved in peacekeeping, reducing our foreign aid devel❰❰ 19

opment.” Heinbecker said Canada’s success in 1999 was based on Axworthy’s “human security” agenda. Its core principle held that the safety of civilians in armed conflict was paramount. Canada’s two-year term laid the foundation for the creation of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine that the UN adopted in 2005. The R2P, as it is called, set out criteria for when the world could intervene in the affairs of a country to protect its citizens. The doctrine has been criticized recently, with the Security Council unable to stop the bloodshed in Syria because it has been stonewalled by the veto of Russia, one of its permanent members. Axworthy said one of Trudeau’s campaign planks should be to reform the Security Council to do away with the veto of the five permanent members when it deliberates “humanitarian intervention” in a country.

He also said it would be a natural fit for Trudeau to declare Canada’s support for an effort to choose a woman as the next Secretary General. Canada could also offer renewed commitments to peacekeeping and international development. Trudeau has said he wants Canada to return to peacekeeping, but has not provided details. Last month, Ban gently urged the prime minister to meet the UN’s development spending goal of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income, which the Liberals have not committed to. “It’s going to take some new equipment, it’s going to take an international development strategy,” said Axworthy. “It will take resources to show that you really mean it.” Heinbecker said it is not feasible for Canada to stand for a Security Council election before Trudeau’s current mandate expires in 2019, because there will be fierce competition, especially from Europe. ■

questions. Two soldiers needed treatment for minor injuries. Police named the suspect as Montreal-born Ayanle Hassan Ali, 27, who moved to Toronto in 2011. At one point, they also spelled his first name as Ayanie, but offered no explanation for the mistake. Ali was charged with a total of nine counts, according to court documents: three attempted murder, two aggravated assault, three assault with a weapon and possession of a dangerous weapon. The accused hung his head and looked down at the floor for most of a brief court appearance Tuesday, saying his name quietly when asked to do so. He was remanded until Friday. “He just seems very scared right now and of course very, very unhappy to be in the position he finds himself in today,” his lawyer, David Burke, said outside court. “It’s a very, very difficult situation.” Burke said he might seek bail for Ali on Friday if he can find strong sureties for the man, but refused to discuss his client’s current living arrangements.

The incident at the recruiting centre evoked memories of two separate attacks in 2014 that left two soldiers dead, one in Ottawa and another in Montreal. Investigators said both accused in those cases had become radicalized. In a tweet Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s military would “not be intimidated by terror and hate.” He also wished the injured soldiers a full recovery. Although there were no details on the motives or state of mind of the accused, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said radicalization is something that Canadians “need to tackle with greater vigour, greater coordination, a much greater national effort.” “To a certain extent, you do that through the normal and proper practices of your police forces and your security agencies, like CSIS. But you also do it through the work of counterradicalization, which is reaching out to the communities that are susceptible to this .... We need to be among the very best in the world at that effort at counter-radicalization.”

FRIDAY

Canadian envoy says Russian-Syria pullout helpful, but must be watched BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — The Russian troop withdrawal from Syria is cause for some optimism at the country’s peace talks but the Kremlin’s next moves must be closely watched, says Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. Envoy Rosemary McCarney told The Canadian Press the success of the latest round of Syrian peace talks in the Swiss city will depend heavily on what Russia does next. She described the mood at UN headquarters in Geneva on Tuesday, the second day of talks, as “not full optimism, but a feeling of momentum, of a commitment.” President Vladimir Putin surprised many on Monday when

he ordered the withdrawal of Russian military personnel from Syria, saying he hoped it would stimulate the peace negotiations. Putin sent fighter jets and other assets to Syria to prop up his ally, President Bashar Assad, whose attacks on his own people sparked the civil war that marked its fifth anniversary on Tuesday. Russia’s military drawdown, combined with the reduction in violence in parts of Syria since the Feb. 27 ceasefire brokered by the U.S. and Russia, are positive developments, McCarney said. She said the ceasefire has allowed aid workers to reach “more towns than we could ever have hoped for, you couldn’t have imagined even three weeks ago.” McCarney said the situation is “imperfect but much better than it was” two weeks ago. ■

Toronto police were working with federal security and antiterrorism forces on the investigation into the incident. At the same time, Saunders warned the public against any anti-Islam sentiment in the aftermath of the attack, saying Islamic extremists are relatively tiny in number. “One of the things I want to be very careful of when it comes to the national security piece that we don’t go do that Islamophobia nonsense,” Saunders said. “I don’t want this categorizing of a large group of people; that would be very unfair and very inaccurate.” Saunders said the Canadian citizen had no previous criminal record, and he appealed for anyone who might have helpful information to contact them. Police were obtaining search warrants for the man’s west-end home. They also said he had family, but did not elaborate. A spokesman at the recruiting centre said it was the first such attack at the facility. “They are very rare, very exceptional,” Capt. Rony Khalil said, adding that staff worked

quickly to respond to the knifewielding man. “We were able to immobilize the assailant and then the police was engaged, EMS was engaged and military police was engaged as well,” he said. “We always come together.” The two injured Canadian Armed Forces members had given statements to police. “They are OK,” he said. “The injuries were very minor.” Few signs of the incident lingered at the building by Tuesday: A police car was stationed outside and a few private security guards were spotted around the building, which also houses Passport Canada and Service Canada offices. “Everything is back to normal today,” Khalil said. “We do take care of always having security measures in place to protect not only our members but, more importantly, people that come into our centre, and that hasn’t changed.” Canadian Muslim groups condemned the attack and said it should not be linked with their religion or the broader Muslim community. ■

Police allege... into the government building that houses a Canadian Armed Forces recruitment centre on the ground floor. He walked into the office with a “large knife” in hand and began striking a uniformed master corporal, who fell to the ground, Saunders said. The soldier was able to get to his feet, at which point the suspect slashed his right arm. As military personnel moved civilians to safety, investigators said the man tried and failed to slash a female soldier before other soldiers were able to subdue him and hold him for police. Another military member was injured as the suspect was apprehended. Court documents identified the victims of the attack as Ryan Kong, Jesus Castillo and Tracy Ann Gerhardt. “While at the scene, the accused stated that ‘Allah told me to do this; Allah told me to come here and kill people,”’ Saunders said. Following the arrest, the accused became “non-responsive,” Saunders said, meaning he refused to answer any police ❰❰ 1

www.canadianinquirer.net

Canada News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Ontario to introduce legislation that would boost affordable housing units THE CANADIAN PRESS

duces legislation, and the NDP says it’s time to actually move forward on inclusionary zoning, which their party has been trying to pass for eight years. “I’m glad that the government has finally recognized the need for inclusionary zoning,” New Democrat Cheri DiNovo

A by the numbers look at the worsening homeless situation in Thunder Bay 213

homeless people who identified as aboriginal

289

homeless people counted and interviewed as part of this year’s national point-in-time count

homeless people who identified as veterans

homeless people known to have died in the last year

homeless people who were immigrants

9.2

69.7

percentage of homeless people who are men

13.1

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The announcement is part of Ontario’s long-term affordable housing strategy, which inTORONTO — Ontario’s Liberal cludes $178 million over three government says it plans to inyears announced in the governtroduce legislation that would ment’s recent budget. increase the amount of affordThe budget also contained able housing in communities money for a portable housing that choose to take advantage. benefit that would give more opIt would altions to people low municipalifleeing domestic ties to establish violence and supso-called incluport for the consionary zoning Let’s see legislation, let’s get it to struction of up to policies, meancommittee, and make sure it’s good 1,500 new housing new housing enough to actually help families. ing units to help proposals would people with comrequire developplex needs such ers to include a as seniors, peocertain percentple with mental age of affordable units in order said in a statement. health issues and at-risk youth. to be approved. “But talk is easy. Let’s see acOntario is also putting $45 Municipal Affairs and Hous- tion. Let’s see legislation, let’s get million over three years to the ing Minister Ted McMeekin it to committee, and make sure Community Homelessness says the move “might well” in- it’s good enough to actually help Prevention Initiative, as the crease the price of condos. families. I’m calling on the minis- Liberal government attempts The government is launching ter to pass legislation this spring to end chronic homelessness by consultations before it intro- before the legislature breaks.” 2025. ■

percentage of homeless people who identified as transgender

17.7

homeless people who moved to Thunder Bay in the last year Percentage of homeless people who had no income percentage of homeless people who had money from employment percentage of people who relied on money from family and friends

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FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

In debate over encryption, Obama says ‘dangers are real’ BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE The Associated Press AUSTIN, TEXAS — President Barack Obama is siding with law enforcement in the debate pitting encryption and personal privacy against national security, arguing that authorities must be able to access data held on electronic devices because the “dangers are real.” Appearing Friday at an annual tech festival in the Texas capital, Obama delivered his most extensive comments to date on an issue currently being played out in federal court. Apple, one of the world’s largest technology companies, is challenging the government’s request that it help the FBI access data on a cellphone that was used in the San Bernardino, California, attack that killed 14 people. The issue has roiled the tech industry and divided Obama’s advisers, but the president appeared to side with law enforcement despite also saying the matter would not be settled by adopting an “absolutist view.” Obama restated his commitment to strong encryption but also raised the question of how would authorities catch child pornographers or disrupt terrorist plots if smartphones and other electronic devices are designed in ways that keep the data on them locked away forever. “My conclusion so far is that you cannot take an absolutist view on this,” Obama said. “So if your argument is strong encryption, no matter what, and we can and should, in fact, create black boxes, then that I think does not strike the kind of balance that we have lived with for 200, 300 years. “And it’s fetishizing our phones above every other value. And that can’t be the right answer,” he said. At the end of a nearly hourlong, question-and-answer session with Evan Smith, CEO and editor in chief of The Texas Tribune, Smith asked the president “where do you come down” on the privacy versus security debate. He was not asked to comment on specifics of the dispute with Apple. Obama said government shouldn’t be able to “just willy nilly” access smartphones that are full of very personal data. But at the same time, while asserting that he’s “way on the civil liberties side,” Obama said “there has to be some concession” to be able to get the information in certain cases. “I am not interested in overthrowing

the values that have made us an exceptional and great nation simply for expediency,” Obama added. “But the dangers are real. Maintaining law and order and a civilized society is important. Protecting our kids is important.” Apple and the federal government are embroiled in a legal fight over Apple’s refusal to help the FBI access the iPhone used in San Bernardino. The FBI has been unable on its own to unlock the phone and wants Apple to create a program specifically for that phone to help the bureau get to the data on it. But Apple has refused, and says that to do what the government is asking would set a terrible precedent. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who has sharply questioned FBI Director James Comey during congressional hearings on the matter, released a statement in which he said Obama’s comments showed his “fundamental lack of understanding of the tech community, the complexities of encryption and the importance of privacy to our safety in an increasingly digital world.” Issa said the solution, or key, that the government wants Apple to create could eventually compromised. “There’s just no way to create a special key for government that couldn’t also be taken advantage of by the Russians, the Chinese or others who want access to the sensitive information we all carry in our pockets every day,” Issa said. Obama used his appearance at the decades-old festival to encourage the audience of tech enthusiasts to step forward and use their skills and imagination to “tackle big problems in new ways.” He said the administration already is using technology to make people’s lives better, and cited as an example the streamlining of federal applications. Offering up a problem in need of a solution, he urged industry leaders and entrepreneurs to use technology to help increase voter participation. “The reason I’m here, really, is to recruit all of you. It’s to say to you, as I’m about to leave office, how can we start coming up with new platforms and new ideas, new approaches across disciplines and across skill sets, to solve some of the big problems that we’re facing today.” South by Southwest Interactive is part of South by Southwest, a movie, music and interactive media festival that has been held in Austin for the past 30 years. Obama’s appearance was the first at the festival by a sitting U.S. president. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

World News

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Trump used foreign student labour he pledges to ban BY JEFF HORWITZ The Associated Press WASHINGTON — If elected president, Donald Trump has pledged to scrap a work visa program that brings 300,000 student workers each year to the U.S. Among the businesses that would be forced to stop hiring foreign labour: Trump’s own. The visa, known as the J-1, purports to offer a “cultural exchange” and give American businesses access to guest workers’ “specialized skills,” according to the State Department. Trump says it’s a simply a conciliatory gesture aimed at corporate interests seeking cheap labour — and he’d replace it “with a resume bank for inner city youth provided to all corporate subscribers to the J-1 visa program.” Yet Trump’s hotel in Chicago has been a regular user of J-1 visas, according to workers at the hotel and Irish students who worked there. The nexus of the hiring has been the hotel’s elite Terrace Restaurant, though other J-1 students have been placed at reception and at other hotel eating establishments. “I don’t understand his mindset by saying that he’s abolishing the J-1s visa,” said Sibeal Ni Cearbhallain, a master’s student in Dublin, who met Trump during the summer of 2013 while working as a hostess on the Terrace. “I’m not sure he’s aware of the number of Irish students who go over and work for him.” In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, Trump said that his approach to J-1 visas would be different as president than it had been as a businessman. During Thursday’s

Donald Trump.

presidential debate, Trump said that his use of visa programs made him familiar with their details — and therefore the best to reform them. Describing a different category of visas to hire foreign highly skilled workers, Trump said: “It’s something that I frankly use and I shouldn’t be allowed to use it. We shouldn’t have it. Very, very bad for workers.” Trump told the AP: A businessman’s goal is to “be more profitable than your competitors who will seek every advantage in labour costs, overhead and taxes. The job of a president is to represent every single working American.” Trump’s use of foreign guest workers has conflicted with his restrictive immigration platform in the past. The celebrity businessman turned presidential front-runner has employed hundreds of temporary guest workers at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, jobs that he said American workers do not want. The New York Times found that Trump notified a workforce de-

JOSEPH SOHM / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

velopment group of only scattered job opportunities for local residents. The Trump Organization declined to say how broadly it uses student visas, though it has availed itself of such labour for many years. In 2008, an executive at Trump World Entertainment Resorts told the CourierPost newspaper in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, that Trump’s three casinos in Atlantic City had employed 75 such student workers in the past year. In Trump’s statement to the AP, he said it would be unfair to expect companies such as his to forgo participation in the J-1 program. “We can’t expect individual companies to drive up their own costs,” he said. “To do so would put that company and its workers at a competitive disadvantage against other businesses that would not follow suit.” But at least in the case of the Trump Tower in Chicago, the jobs made available to foreign workers were among the most enviable in the hotel. The Ter-

race Restaurant — which requires a $100-per-person fee simply to reserve a table — is a font of tips for the wait staff and hosts. Former employees say that servers could take home more than $500 on a good shift. “Talent agencies would send over models looking to pick up some extra cash,” one former employee recalled, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to avoid retribution in the industry where this person still works. “Ivanka Trump designed the uniforms. Half of the employees had exotic accents and everyone was thin.” Student visa holders who worked at Trump Chicago defended the program as a legitimate cultural exchange. Cearbhallain said her stint in Chicago would likely lure her back to the city in the future and served as a legitimate cultural exchange. “I got on great with all the customers. They just wanted to talk about Irish culture,” she said. “And economically, I think it works to the American advantage.”

Should Trump wish to hire Americans for those jobs in the future, he would not need to create a resume bank. “That already exists,” said Dunni Cosey Gay of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, a federally funded initiative that trains and matches job seekers with employers. Hospitality jobs are a focus for the workforce partnership: Hotels need only to stipulate a list of qualifications they seek in potential employees, and the group will line up resumes and sometimes even skills training if necessary. “What we’re trying to do is to help people build a career pathway,” she said. That goal matches Trump’s own, according to the statement provided by his campaign. “Five decades of unprecedented, record-breaking visa issuances have reduced incomes and furthered joblessness, especially in our inner cities,” he wrote in the immigration plan posted to his website. “The J-1 visa was never intended to become a backdoor work visa. Terminating the program will force companies to recruit from among the existing American workforce.” Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks declined to discuss what efforts the Trump Organization had made to hire locally. Cosey Gay declined to speak about specific employers’ use of the program but said she was confident that the Cook County Workforce Partnership could round up qualified workers. She hesitated, however, when asked if those candidates offered a strong brogue or a modeling career. “We might struggle with that,” she said. ■

Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4 BY NICOLE WINFIELD The Associated Press VATICAN CITY — Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4. Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his

yearlong focus on the Catholic Church’s merciful side. The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession — the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death. In Kolkata, the eastern Indian city where Mother Teresa

spent decades caring for the sick and homeless, there were joyous celebrations at a school and orphanage founded by her in 1949. “The news of Mother’s sainthood is a matter for joy. But Mother Teresa is already like God to us,” said Jyotsna Patra, one of the early students of the school, now in her mid-50s. Archbishop Thomas D’Souza www.canadianinquirer.net

conducted a special Mass on Tuesday, while the nuns of her order, the Missionaries of Charity, held prayers at her tomb. “Mother Teresa’s canonization means that the Mother’s message will become better known,” said Sister Christi, one of the senior nuns at the Kolkata headquarters of the order. The Vatican ceremony will draw tens of thousands to hon-

our the tiny, stooped nun who was fast-tracked for sainthood just a year after she died in 1997. St. John Paul II, who was Mother Teresa’s greatest champion, beatified her before a crowd of 300,000 in St. Peter’s Square in 2003. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, ❱❱ PAGE 28 Pope says

World News

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

From ‘welcome’ to ‘enough’: Europe’s migrant view shifts BY ANGELA CHARLTON The Associated Press

“Europe is at a critical crossroads,” said Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece, the first stop for migrants braving the sea crossing from Turkey. ExPARIS — Last fall, soccer fans celebrated treme right forces, he said, “are the real refugee children at a legendary Munich threat for Europe now.” stadium; today, European voters are Governments are cracking down, too. boosting anti-immigrant political par- The route hundreds of thousands of ties and governments are closing their migrants have taken through the Balgates to new arrivals. The refrain of Eu- kans effectively closed over the past few rope’s migrant crisis has changed from days, one nation after another shut its “welcome” to “enough already.” borders. Some 42,000 people are now Has Europe suddenly turned heartless? stranded in overwhelmed, debt-weakOr is it just waking up to the reality that it ened Greece, including 14,000 desperhas failed to collectively manage this drama? ate souls languishing in a fetid field in “It is not sustainable anymore that the border town of Idomeni. no one’s playing a common game,” said Some European leaders consider the Yves Pascouau, a migration expert at the unilateral border closures to be a threat European Policy Center. “We need to fix to a continent meant to be borderless and this and really need to move ahead.” based on consensus. But proponents say it’s But not all Europeans see this as a prob- the only way to show migrants with little lem they must share. chance of winning asyWorried about their lum that smugglers are own weak econopeddling a false dream mies, concerned that of easy prosperity in their national values Europe is Europe. are eroding, many at a critical Even Merkel now say war in the Middle crossroads. makes clear that she East and poverty in doesn’t plan a repeat Africa are someone of last September’s else’s responsibility. move to let in the miCompassion had grants who had piled the upper hand just six months ago, as up in Hungary. the number of Syrian refugees soared She still insists on a Europe-wide soand the photo of a dead 3-year-old on a lution that addresses the causes of this Turkish beach galvanized volunteers. massive migration. But her government Border guards greeted weary travellers has been tightening controls — declarwith a hearty “Welcome to Germany,” ing that several Balkan nations and and Chancellor Angela Merkel inspired North African nations are safe countries other nations to do the same. Players on of origin, making their citizens ineligithe Munich field promoted integration, ble for asylum — as it tries to reduce the holding hands with a refugee child on one influx of migrants who have little chance side and a German child on the other. of winning permission to stay. Then, the refugees kept coming, along Deterring those migrants is central to with economic migrants from Senegal, the complex EU migration plan being people fleeing repression in Sudan, and worked out this coming week. The idea is many, many others. Amid the swelling for Europe to send back to Turkey anyone tide was a handful of violent extrem- from any country who doesn’t qualify for ists, who found common cause with an- asylum or has tried to evade the rigorous gry young men whose families arrived a asylum application process. For every pergeneration earlier. son sent back, EU countries would take in Paris was attacked. Women were as- one confirmed Syrian war refugee. saulted in Cologne. Attitudes shifted, “The policy of waving (people) through creating a turning point in the crisis that is over,” German Interior Minister has dominated Europe for the past year Thomas de Maiziere told ZDF television and will define its immediate future. Thursday. “We want to reach solutions. Now, resentment of the open-arms And a solution is that we end these illegal approach is driving support for a Ger- ways to Europe, and so break the busiman nationalist party that made gains ness model of the criminal smugglers.” Sunday in three state elections. On the The coming warm season may provide margins, extreme anti-immigrant youth answers. With the Balkans route closed, in the French port of Calais torched tires others may emerge — and an even more and blocked migrants from the centre of dangerous journey from lawless Libya town this weekend, decrying a “veritable across the Mediterranean to Italy may invasion.” Sweden, which has taken in offer renewed promise. ■ more migrants per capita than any other country, has suffered a spate of arson at- Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson tacks on asylum centres and other sites. in Berlin contributed. www.canadianinquirer.net

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS:

The fierce Mahal Hudson navigates Canadian life minus the fears BY BOLET AREVALO

IF YOU think you are positive enough as a person, wait till you talk to Mahal Hudson. The lady exudes with positivity and great passion for what she does – that is, transforming people to a vibrant and empowered life. But that is honestly, going ahead of this story. Mahal came to Canada in 2001 at an age that translates to zest for success and adventure. Age 25. Life for her as a newcomer to Canada was not different from the thousands of other immigrant stories. It may not even more dramatic and tearjerking. But the usual Filipino stories of going for the greener pasture does not necessarily apply to her in terms of running away from a life of dearth back home or more simply called, poverty. There was a time and possibly, still true today, when public school kids or average school kids would know the difference between going to a state university, a co-ed and a sectarian exclusive school for girls or boys. Mahal studied behavioral sciences at Maryknoll (now Miriam College), and that is enough to say that her family had a good life in the Philippines. Upon graduation from Maryknoll and then UST for some masteral units in clinical psychology, she started to embark on a profession in psychology in home country. She was well on her way for that but dreams and possibilities in bigger realms never ceased to hang about in her imagination. Canada was open, and so she thought it was a good place to hop from on her way to even something bigger in the proverbial land of milk and honey, the great US of A. But, “I fell in love with Canada,” confessed Mahal. So what she intended to be only a bridge became home, more so after meeting Peter Hudson, her husband, in a job networking event in 2001 and whom she married in 2004. Peter is a homegrown Canadian who taught her more

about how to successfully integrate herself in the multicultural environment of this place. “Be confident, walk up to people and talk to them,” Peter would always tell her. Because just like any other newcomer, Mahal had her share of struggles and misgivings, sometimes to a point of frustration. The good ol’ lack of Canadian experience mythology also haunted her for a while that she had to take on part-time jobs doing inventory and telemarketing despite what she thought was her eligibility for something more professional and elevating. But she is not as unlucky as some who had to do more menial jobs for longer periods. Her first full-time job and big break came merely nine months after those moonlighting jobs. This was in 2002 January with the Oakdale Child and Family Services, a company and a job that was more along the line of her educational attainment, experience and interest in psychology and clinical crisis intervention work with youth and families. She rose from the ranks at Oakdale where she stayed till 2008. Next job was with Community Living Toronto, the largest non-profit organization in North America helping individuals with intellectual disability from infants to seniors. Within 5 years, she advanced to a senior management position overseeing over two-million-dollar worth of programs for children with high risk behaviors and youth with complex needs to seniors with dual diagnosis. Adventurous as she is, Mahal also successfully ventured into putting up an events management company that specialized in planning weddings, the Silver Platter Events. Why? Like any newly married couples, financial difficulties also once loomed her own marriage. Mahal focused on her strengths and capitalize on them to create resolutions. She was a wedding planner and a full-time employee between 2004-2012. In 2012, she established The Avant-Garde Company (avantgardecoach.ca), a leadership coaching firm and went free-

Mahal Hudson.

lance. More than the success and self-fulfillment, Mahal values the network, people and connections that she has gained and continues to gain while juggling her time between family, business and career. “Everything we do has to be a conscious effort,” says Mahalina Mitra Hudson, the second of 5 children of Delio and Eugenia Mitra; the others being Dennis, Mayumi, Marilag and Darwin. You can call her a go-getter and she will definitely be unapologetic about it. She confessed to making sure she goes with successful people, people who will have a positive influence in her life; purposely avoiding people who keep on complaining and whining, and not doing anything to account for their own future. “I keep on observing people, reading what their accomplishments look like, getting into conversations, looking to develop myself further, thinking of how I can make a change, and working to forge ahead.” This is the kind of mindset that Mahal has embraced for herself and hopes that others will follow or develop into. It is personal mission, set against the vision that she has set up for her Avantgarde leadership coaching venture. A colleague in the global leadwww.canadianinquirer.net

ership coaching industry, Elena Khomenko, described her as someone “Focused on transforming her clients’ lives by connecting them with their life purpose and relentlessly challenging their limiting (beliefs). Mahal’s passion for life-long learning and her firm belief in human’s birthright to live a fulfilled life has (led) to incredible transformations in careers of many entrepreneurs and business managers providing them with an effective and integral approach to leading their lives and following their true passions. Mahal is one of my favourite business partners. She is transparent, committed and fun to work with.” Mahal also recently co-authored Transform Your Life Book 2. An introduction to the book says, “Transform Your Life! is a co-creative book and has been written by an inspirational group of authors, each offering his or her unique viewpoint, expertise, and inspiration. Over 50 powerful teachers have contributed their time, energy, and love to this book– and not only does it offer a vast variety of perspectives, words of wisdom, and tools, there is something for everyone.” The book’s US-based publishing company invited Ma-

hal to be a co- author in their Book 2 when they read her “fierce” message of resilience and power identity in her 2014 blogspot at avant-gardecoach. ca. This led to the titled chapter “The Fierce Me: An Immigrant’s Journey of Self-Empowerment.” Another powerful feature article written by Mahal graced the March 2014 issue of the Canadian Immigrant magazine, entitled “Landed . . . Now What?” A member of the International Coach Federation, she was also invited to speak at the SIPO Foundation where she delivered “How to GROW as a Leader and as a Person.” SIPO or Spreading Ideas Providing Opportunities is a non-profit organization that helps young professionals become leaders through personal and professional development. And success continues to follow her positivity as she debuts in a new radio program “Get Real With Mahal” at MBCN’s Pinoy Radio in Toronto. Here, audiences will experience the power of her transformative thoughts as she shares her no “BS” insights, experiences and journeys to a more positive living and empowered existence. What is her advice to her fellow Pinoy migrants in Canada? “Don’t settle for a life of mediocrity. We don’t deserve it. I believe we can become who we want to be because we have so much potential. Continue to forge ahead. If what we have is still the mentality that we need to survive, then we are not working on our dreams. Filipinos have what it takes to dream and to achieve.” Despite her fierce achievements and avant-garde Canadian life, Mahal is by no means very Filipino when it comes to love for family. Family is very important to me, she said. She has a younger sister with special needs and she has vowed to support her to get her through her medications for the rest of her life. Her parents’ hard work and integrity have always inspired her to continue to be a role model to others. She cannot be any lesser mortal. Or she will not be the Mahal Hudson anymore. ■

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Travel

Stay cool in Antique’s Little Baguio BY LEAH MARLIE PAGUNSAN-TAMBANILLO Philippines News Agency SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, — The heat is on and summer is officially here. If you are looking for a cooler place to have an escapade during the hot summer days, this writer is recommending San Remigio. It is a hinterland municipality in the mountainous portion of this sea-horsed shape province we call Antique. San Remigio is a 3rd class municipality which has an agri-based economy. Its main agricultural products are coconut, coffee, rice, corn, banana and vegetables. Although it is an inland municipality with 70 percent of its topography best described as upland and the remaining 30 percent is flat lowland and/or rolling hills, San Remigio has lots to offer, more especially during the summer days. San Remigio takes pride in having hilly and high elevation and thus it is enjoying cooler breeze and a very cold atmosphere even as early as 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Fogs is abundant, more specifically in Brgy. Aningalan and its neighboring barangays. And because of its Bagiuo-like atmosphere, vegetables that usually are grown in Baguio and the Benguet provinces can be grown also in Aningalan, like lettuce, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, and strawberries. It is also in this upland barangay that a unique cave named Igbaclag Cave is located. It is more of a castle and not a cave. It is made of crystal — white stalactites and is protruding upwards to the skies, hence, I’d prefer it to be called a “castle.” The barangay-LGU allotted a good portion of their Internal Revenue allotment (IRA) and built an iron bridge to connect a hilly portion of the land to the crystal castle. It is a sort of hanging bridge but it’s safe. Once the visitor steps on the crystal-white grounds, one can feel an eerie feeling and if one

Farmland and mountains in Brgy Aningalan, San Remegio, Antique, Philippines. ILOILO WANDERER / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

is sensitive enough, a soft mur- watch over them at night while in the forests and mountains of mur of the wind, so refreshing they sleep. The place is gener- Antique, particularly from the yet so mystic can be felt. ally peaceful. hillsides of Tobias Fornier, farIgbaclag Cave is frequented San Remigio is also very rich ther north to San Remigio and by local and foreign tourists, in history and stories of the old on to Mt. Madja-as in Culasi. almost everyday. But more days, specifically during the One day, while carrying a large so during the Holy Week. To time of Sumakwel and the ten doe, he jumped from one side the mystics, it is a place good Bornean datus. of the mountains of San Remienough to find “pangalap” or Did you know that there is gio to go down to what is now amulets. To the weary soul, it a place in this municipality Maninila River. His foot somecan be a good what slipped on respite from the the slippery and noisy world in wet trails, and the cities. To the so he slumped a repentant, it can Everywhere you go in San Remigio, little and his tesbe a good venue people has this penchant to greet tes created a deto perform “panvisitors, to smile and to treat pression on the ata” or just to everyone like a brother. It is indeed hillside. Until reflect and find a nice place to come home to, today, one keen solace within especially during this dry and humid observer could oneself. summer. notice that deBrgy. Aninpression on the galan is just 25 hillside or the kilometers from western side of the town proper of San Remi- that is called “itlog ni Sumak- Brgy. Bugo. gio. One can hire habal-habal wel” because there is a sort of San Remigio has many touror motorcycles suited for the a depression in the mountain- ist sites beside the ones mentraverse upward. But the place side that if one looks closely, tioned. In Barangay La Union, is reachable through a good shaped like the testes of the a windy stairway was created road network, and the view is esteemed of all Datus, Datu and was patterned to the shape spectacular. Families can bring Sumakwel. of the mountains, which is surtheir tents and camp – out in In the story of old, Sumakwel prisingly, made of corrals. the open fields and have stars was a hunter who used to hunt Once one gets to the top, one www.canadianinquirer.net

has the mountains all to himself. From there he can see a grand view of the whole town, a portion of Sibalom, Patnongon and farther still, the town of San Jose de Buenavista. It is also very cold up there. And yet down below, there is a cave called Bato Cueva where the entrance is so small one has to squeeze his body to get inside. But once you are inside the cave, although it is slippery there and a lot of moss has grown, one can feel the enigmatic aura of the place. It is of common knowledge that the cave used to be a burial ground during the Japanese invasion. Old folks would tell stories that there were lots of golden statues left there by the Japanese armies. This mountainous town is also home to the larger specie of rafflesia speciosa, the world’s biggest and weirdest flower. Most of its forest cover happens to be the favorite habitat of this flower. Tourist would flock to the sites once news of its blooming period spread throughout the province. You see, rafflesia blooms only in a limited time. After two or three weeks of blooming, it starts to wither and die. But for somebody who is not a native to the place, like me, San Remigio is just like a home next to one’s home. Besides its beauty spots and therefore a good potential for tourism, its inhabitants are an epitome of a people so hospitable, so complacent and joyful. Everywhere you go in San Remigio, people has this penchant to greet visitors, to smile and to treat everyone like a brother. It is indeed a nice place to come home to, especially during this dry and humid summer. Although the town is not yet ready for a sudden influx of tourists, it has no hotel-like accommodations yet, nature lovers can find San Remigio to be the best place for an overnight stay, a good respite after a week of stressful job in the city and is surprisingly sufficient with nature’s bounty. ■

Travel

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

New virtual reality app Timelooper takes you back in history BY JAMES BROOKS The Associated Press LONDON — Imagine watching frantic shopkeepers busily extinguish the Great Fire of London, or sheltering from Nazi bombing raids during the Blitz. Now, thanks to a new virtual reality app, you can travel back in time to be immersed in these events. The Timelooper app allows users to experience key moments in London history with just a smartphone and a cardboard headset. For example, when Timelooper cofounder Andrew Feinberg visits the Tower of London, a historic castle on the banks of London’s Thames River, he doesn’t queue up with hordes of tourists to catch a glimpse of the royal family’s crown jewels. Instead, he uses Timelooper’s time travel tourism app to experience the tower over 750 years ago, in 1255. Instead of seeing a busy London tourist site, Feinberg sees a medieval marketplace, a formidable fortress, even an elephant being led down a path. “We actually overlay the current infrastructure with what the infrastructure of the tower and the surrounding environment was like in 13th century London,” explained Feinberg. “So for example, now you see a Starbucks and now you see the tower as it looks today with the moat drained. When we take you back in time, you actually see the historically accurate representation of the tower in its heyday.” Not far away at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Timelooper users travel back to the Great Fire of London 350 years ago, in 1666. The fire burned for four days, destroying over 13,000 houses. The smartphone’s built-in motion detection allows time travellers wearing a cardboard headset to move their gaze around the virtual world, seemingly ex-

ploring London centuries ago. The videos are location-based, meaning visitors must visit the sites to unlock the historical experiences. Feinberg and his cofounder, Yigit Yigiter, were frustrated with current tourism technology, which they say hasn’t evolved much since the introduction of audio guides. In 2014, Yigiter’s wife brought home a Google cardboard VR headset, and he began thinking about an immersive virtual reality tourism experience. By September 2015, he’d quit his job in private equity and moved to the British capital to begin work on the first incarnation of the app. The first version was launched in July 2015 and featured three sites. While Timelooper uses VR to offer a unique historical perspective, the technology has been exploding in many directions throughout the tourism industry. Carnival Cruise Line uses it to market cruises, the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee uses it to show off a new rollercoaster, and the Seattle Space Needle uses it to help visitors appreciate the view from its sky-high observatory. The Dali Museum in Florida created a virtual reality experience that lets visitors walk through a landscape painting by the Surrealist master Salvador Dali. And a company called YouVisit has created over 300 VR experiences for destinations from Vatican City to Mexico. Timelooper is a member of the Travel Tech Lab, an incubator space for travel technology start-ups, partly created by London & Partners, the city’s official promotional company. Following the launch last year, Feinberg and Yigiter were contacted by destinations from China to Spain. “Nothing replaces the experience of being on site, but you don’t always know what the stories are about those sights,” Yigiter said. Timelooper’s travel app is also used by those working in London’s booming

London landmarks are also finding Timelooper’s VR experience useful in giving a new-age twist to a decades-old attraction. The Thames River’s 120-year-old Tower Bridge is set to launch its own Timelooper experience in April COLIN / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

tourism industry. Blue Badge tourist guide Ruth Polling pulls her cardboard headset out as she escorts visitors to Trafalgar Square and lets them see what happened on Sept. 23, 1940, when a bomb dropped by Nazi Germany exploded near Nelson’s Column, a famous landmark and iconic part of the victory celebrations held five years later to mark the end of the war in Europe. “My job is a storyteller,” Polling said. “I’m here to conjure up what things are like and this just gives me something else I can use, particularly with small children, getting them really engaged.” London landmarks are also finding Timelooper’s VR experience useful in giving a new-age twist to a decadesold attraction. The Thames River’s 120-year-old Tower Bridge is set to launch its own Timelooper experience in April, taking visitors back

to 1666, before the bridge was even built. Instead, headset wearers view the raging Great Fire of London from a boat’s crow’s nest as it sails down the river. “When you’re here at the bridge, you are told a story of how things were but you can’t physically see that,” says Chris Earlie, the head of Tower Bridge. The app also helps immerse international visitors into the story without “translating endless amount of text.” Timelooper plans to launch in New York City this April, allowing tourists to witness the famous kiss that was photographed in Times Square in August 1945 on VJ Day, the day World War II officially ended with the surrender of Japan, and to see the iconic picture of workers eating lunch atop a skyscraper during construction of the Rockefeller Center in 1932. ■

Pope says... Macedonia, Mother Teresa joined the Loreto order of nuns in 1928. In 1946, while travelling by train from Kolkata to Darjeeling, she was inspired to found the Missionaries of Charity order. The order was established four years later and has since opened more than 130 houses worldwide to provide comfort and care for the needy, dying, sick and “poorest of the poor.” Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with Kolkata’s destitute and ill — work which continued even after she herself be❰❰ 24

www.canadianinquirer.net

came sick. She died on Sept. 5, 1997, at age 87. At the time, her Missionaries of Charity order had nearly 4,000 nuns and ran roughly 600 orphanages, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and clinics. “She built an empire of charity,” said the Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, editor of the Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency AsiaNews. “She didn’t have a plan to conquer the world. Her idea was to be obedient to God.” ■ Manik Banerjee in Kolkata, India contributed to this report.

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS Every week, the Philippine Canadian Inquirer celebrates the unwavering Filipino spirit through a feature called “Filipino-Canadian in Focus.” The feature recognizes the achievements of Filipinos living in Canada who have shown concern for the community, success in spite of trials, and the uniquely Pinoy practice of “bayanihan.” This year, we are welcoming nominations for the next subject of “Filipino-Canadian in Focus.”

MECHANICS: - All nominees must have (a) Filipino heritage/ancestry - All nominees must be residing in Canada at the time of nomination - Nominees from all industries are welcome (e.g. medical/health, politics, community service, business, entertainment, charity institutions, etc.) - Who can nominate? Anybody.

Fill up the nomination form online by scanning the code with your smartphone or by visiting InFocus.canadianinquirer.net.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Community News

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Vancouver marks Stop North York Filipino group sets Sexual Exploitation of induction and fundraiser Children and Youth week BY BOB A. SAN JUAN

ON MAR. 17, Reel Causes Society presented, “Gone. But Not Forgotten,” an artful evening of awareness and action on human trafficking in support of West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association and Children of the Street Society. The event featured photographer Tony Hoare’s “Betrayed: Portraits of Strength,” whose stunning and compassionate photographs document trafficking survivors on three continents. Hoare is a Vancouver-based photographer whose work has appeared in numerous Canadian and international publications, including National Geographic magazine. For the past three years, he has focussed his lens on humanitarian issues. Hoare travels to Asia, Africa and Latin America where he assists non-profit organizations, meeting and documenting human trafficking survivors, and creating local and global awareness about the impact of trafficking. Also featured were the premiere screening of Richie Mehta’s (Amal, 2007) multiple award-winning, “Siddharth,” a rich, multi-layered drama that

exquisitely captures both the realism of modern India and an impoverished family’s crosscountry search for their young son who may have been trafficked; displays and presentations by local anti-trafficking organizations: Children of the Street and West Coast Domestic Workers’ Association; and a moderated panel exploring actions that Canadians can take to address human trafficking both here at home and abroad. “We often think of human trafficking as something that happens in other countries,” Dana DeKoven, Reel Causes’ president said, “but it goes on everywhere, even here in our own communities. We just might not be aware of it because it can be hidden or we don’t know what it looks like. Our aim is to open a conversation and give people tools to help stop or prevent this very real human rights issue, whether it’s happening across an ocean or in our backyard.” Reel Causes’ “Gone. But Not Forgotten” event ties into BC’s Week to Stop Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth, till Mar. 20. ■

Comelec allows mailing of ballots for the 2016 elections THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) recently announced the adoption of Automated Election System Modified Postal Voting at the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver for purposes of the April 9 to May 9, 2016 overseas voting period. The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver announced in a statement that all registered overseas voters of PCG-Vancouver who desire to receive their ballots through mail are requested to submit to the Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group (SBRCG) their request on or before Apr. 22, by filing their written request personally at the Consulate or

during the consular outreach or sending the filled-up request form to the following: by email: overseasvoting@vancouverpcg. org; by fax : (604)6859945; by mail: Office for Overseas Voting Philippine Consulate General 999 Canada Place, Suite 660 Vancouver B.C. V6C 3E1 For more information, you may call 604-6851619 or post a message at the Consulate's website at www.vancouverpcg. org (message board) or send an email to overseasvoting@vancouverpcg.org. Vancouver PCG added that according to Comelec, all requests to mail the ballots filed after Apr. 22, will no longer be entertained. ■

THE NORTH York Pinoy Athletic Association (NYPAA), a popular and ever-active FilCan amateur basketball sports organization in the Greater Toronto Area, will hold its induction of officers and spring dinner event on Apr. 9. Composed mainly of volunteer parents and their basketball - playing children, relatives and friends, the 150-member organization slates the evening celebration at Our of Lady of the Assumption Church Parish Hall at No. 2565 Bathurst St., North York, Toronto. To be inducted for the 20162017 term are: President Sharonne Columbano; Vice President - Mylene Escalona; Secretary - Brenda Agoncillo; Asst. Secretary - Arlyn Perez; Treasurer - Joanne Ligsay; Sports Commissioner - Renato Columbano; Asst. Sports Commissioner - Mark Victoria; Youth Sports Development Victor Montero; Website moderator - Arnel Dipaling; Directors Ed Sotto, Vilma Tahsin,

Bob San Juan, and Roger Tarca. Also to be inducted as advisers are Tim Sinclair, Christina Fernandez and immediate past president Jimi Fernandez. Agnes Miranda, a senior executive of World Financial Group (WFG) and Toronto community leader, will be guest speaker and inducting officer. Member of Parliament for York Centre Michael Levitt is invited to grace the affair. The 16-year old organiza-

tion is a member of the North American Basketball Association (NABA) and has been sponsoring and supporting amateur basketball competitions and clinics and participating in numerous city and inter-city tournaments in Canada and the USA since 2005. ■ For tickets and further information, please call Sharonne at (289)200-8653 or check out website: www.nypaa.ca.

FilCan Catholic parents slate annual conference BY TONY A. SAN JUAN, OCT THE FILIPINO Canadian Parents Association in Catholic Education (FCPACE) will conduct its second annual conference of parents, students and teachers on May 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Catholic Education Centre at No. 80 Sheppard Ave. East North York, Toronto. FCPACE was formed in November 2013 by parents and teachers whose children are studying and /or have studied in publicly-funded Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The yearly gathering is open to all Catholic families, parents and students who are new immigrants, permanent residents or Canadian www.canadianinquirer.net

citizens alike. This year’s conference main objective is “to support student achievement and well-being by getting parents more involved in their children’s learning and school performance”. As well, the gathering aims and hopes to receive, share and discuss information and advice on best practices in parent engagement and community involvement and ways to help parents support their children’s learning at home and at school. In partnership and collaboration with the Philippine Association Through Arts & Culture (PATAC) and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), the one- day free event is expected to carry out its theme: “Enhancing Filipino Parent Engagement and Community Involvement” through

four major workshop topics. Participating FilCan parents, students and teachers, upon registration, shall be given the opportunity to join any one of the following topics: 1) Effective Parenting: Homeand-School Environment, 2) Understanding the School System: Curriculum and Teaching & Learning Styles, 3) Catholic Education and Faith Formation, and 4) Parent Advocacy and School -Community Engagement. The whole day program, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education under its Parents Reaching Out (PRO) Grants, includes: a mass service, registration, pleasantries and networking, greetings and brief messages, ❱❱ PAGE 40 FilCan Catholic

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Entertainment

Oh, what a night! BY BABES CASTRONEWLAND

AFTER 8 years since their first successful concert in Vancouver, BC in 2008, Philippine retro pop music icon The REtroSPECT mounted a highly successful reunion concert on March 11, 2016 at New Westminster’s Columbia Theatre. It was a well-attended event attended by crème de la crème personalities from various sectors of Filipino-Canadian communities. Not to be ignored are a good number of non-Filipino audience who came in tow by their Filipino spouses. Such a delight to witness an eclectic assembly of 70’s, 80’s and Original Pilipino Music (OPM) lovers. The REtroSPECT’s world tour kicked off a grand full circle show at the Cebu Waterfront Hotel and the famed Music Museum in the Philippines. Followed by sold out stints on Guam, Saipan, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Toronto and Calgary. Lead vocalists J. Martin Cas-

tro, Ogie Ramos and Goldie Castro-Dituri opened their classy act stomping and gyrating to the beats of their originals, “Chikadoo”, “It’s Party Time”, “Getaway”, “Who Will” and their better-known cover of 70’s hit “Shake Your Bootie”. The latter where original member Em-J Cabarrios took major cameo role on the song’s dance music video aired on Myx and MTV Pilipinas. Em-J was supposedly part of the group’s reunion world tour that included the Philippines, Guam, Saipan, USA and Canada. But her trip was cut short due to family reason. Italy is where she now calls home for more than a decade living with her Italian husband and two young daughters. Donned in their famous colorful costume attires, one of the phenomenal highlights of the show was REtroSPECT’s signature tribute covers of ABBA eponymous hits Super Trooper, Dancing Queen, Mama Mia, Thank You For The Music and Earth, Wind & Fire’s After The Love and Reasons. J. Martin’s soothing falsettos didn’t fail to deliver vocal justice. Very well applauded. So very well done. Bravo!

It was a fun night to remember for all of us, Vancouverites, that will linger on for a very long time. What a divine feeling watching The REtroSPECT perform back on stage together (sans Em-J) doing what they do best. They never cease to give us goose bumps listening to the music baby boomers like myself

grew up with. Wishing they’re here to stay to provide us warmth and comfort with ‘live’ retro music fix that only them can deliver. After all, the group won’t be adjudged as recipient of 23rd Philippine Aliw Awards Hall of Fame (Three-time Aliw Awardee) for Best Group Performer in live music venues for

nothing. After all these years, The REtroSPECT remains a tough act to follow. A-brewing are clamor to do repeats in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto. And looks like the stars are aligned for a continuation of their world tour in Seattle, Las Vegas, Europe and Middle East. ■

KimXi refuses to do a JaDine BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer “THERE’S A proper time and place to admit it ... not in a press conference where the move can be interpreted at different angles,” said actor Xian Lim when asked about the real score between him and his “The Story of Us” costar, Kim Chiu. At the press conference of their latest drama series on ABS-CBN, show biz scribes prodded Kim and Xian, who remained tightlipped about their relationship. This was despite the recent admission of “On the Wings of Love” stars, James Reid and Nadine Lustre, that they are officially a couple. The two announced

this during their “JaDine in Love” show at Araneta Coliseum. “Before this, I already apologized to most of you who are probably already tired of hearing us say ‘we’re happy together’ or ‘there’s something special between us,’ or that our relationship is ‘leveling up.’ But Kim and I don’t want to say anything more, for fear that this might complicate things between us,” Xian told reporters present at Tuesday’s luncheon held at the ABS-CBN studios in Quezon City. The actor added: “I’m not afraid to publicly say that I love Kim, but my personal take on this issue is that, people might react negatively (once we admit to something). We fear that the wrong story would be printed

... I just want to protect Kim. I don’t want her to get hurt.” Xian said that “since it would not be nice for Kim to talk since she is a girl,” he would simply speak on her behalf. “To those who want to know our story, yes, we love each other. We simply refuse to put a label to it,” he insisted. Kim, meanwhile, said she had long healed from her previous painful relationship. “That happened more than half a decade ago. I’ve long forgotten it. Xian and I are happy now,” she said in Filipino. Kim and Xian first worked together in the 2011 romantic comedy TV series, “My Binondo Girl.” Xian said he was amazed at how similar they are in terms of personality. “We www.canadianinquirer.net

Kim Chiu and Xian Lim.

RONN TAN / FLICKR & 001JRM / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

share the same dreams. We get along really well. When we go out, we prefer intimate chats than going to parties. We hang out in places where we can talk about our plans for the future.” According to Xian, they also have misunderstandings, “but we make sure to patch things up before the day ends.” In “The Story of Us,” Macoy Sandoval (Xian) and Tin Mana-

lo (Kim) are childhood best friends-turned lovers. Kim said she was able to relate to her character in many ways. “Like me, she is the breadwinner (of the family she grew up with in Palawan). She provides for her stepmother and brother. She prioritizes family over her love life. I can ❱❱ PAGE 33 KimXi refuses

Entertainment

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Zsa Zsa Padilla wants to be a grandmother BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer SINGER-ACTRESS ZSA Zsa Padilla is now ready to be a grandmother at age 51. However, this doesn’t mean Zsa Zsa is pressuring her eldest daughter, Karylle, into giving her a grandchild. “I want to be a lola (grandmother), but I don’t want to pressure her,” Zsa Zsa said. “It will happen when she’s ready.” Karylle is married to Sponge Cola frontman Yael Yuzon. “I don’t want to rush her, because I also experienced how hard it was when I tried to get pregnant with Zia then. It took me two years,” she recalled. At the media launch of her latest teleserye, “The Story of Us,” Zsa Zsa also answered questions about her relationship with architect Conrad Onglao. She said Conrad, her boyfriend of two years, has finally understood the nature of her work and eventually learned to appreciate it. “I was in the middle of making ‘Dyesebel’ when we started dating,” she said. “He once saw me come home really tired and said, ‘I respect

what you do.’ He watched the series, saw the finished product and was impressed.” She said making her relationship with Conrad public was a “personal choice.” She explained: “The drawback is that people have all kinds of opinions about you.” She no longer cares about bashers. She just does not read their posts. “I hired an administrator to run my Facebook account, so I don’t get to see their comments anymore.” Surprise wedding

On their coming wedding, Zsa Zsa said: “It will be a surprise, even to Conrad. I don’t want to feel pressured about it. This, after all, is not my first wedding. It’s also not a first for him. I also had a wedding that got canceled (referring to the one she had planned with the late comedian, Dolphy). I was traumatized by that experience. That’s why this time, I don’t want to plan so much.” At the same media event, Zsa Zsa expressed her wish for “Filipino TV production outfits to finally be confident of their work” and no longer allow their creativity to be influenced by the programs’ performance in

ZSA ZSA PADILLA / OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE

the ratings game. “I’m very proud of our TV shows, especially those that are now doing well in other parts of the world. It’s just that a large chunk of our work goes to waste when producers decide to revise plots in order to compete for high ratings,” she told reporters. The actress noted that television shows would often extend the length of exposure of some actors depending on how well their characters were received by the audience. “That is how we, Filipinos, work. I wish that we’d soon be

like the Koreans. Their drama series are canned. If that happens here, then no time and resources will be wasted,” she added. Zsa Zsa was last seen in a TV series, “Mars Ravelo’s Dyesebel,” where she worked with the late director Francis Xavier Pasion, who died of a heart attack last week. Many celebrities are blaming the stressful environment and long working hours on the set of TV shows not only for the death of Pasion, but also for those of directors Uro de la Cruz and Wenn V. Deramas.

“The more senior actors are fortunate, because some of them are given a cut-off time. I, for one, have 2 a.m. as my cutoff time. However, this is not observed religiously, especially when the production team is rushing to tape scenes that will be aired on the same day. We all just try to adjust,” she shared with the INQUIRER. “What most of us do is compensate by overeating. Since you’re tired and you lack sleep, you get energy from the food you eat. It’s a challenge to say no to the five meals per day that are offered,” she pointed out. “Food on the set can be unhealthy. I don’t know what the best alternative should be —maybe the caterers should serve more salads.” According to the singer-actress, she is more conscious of her health now. She had an operation for scoliosis a few years back. She also had a cancer scare four years ago. She was recently diagnosed with cervical spondylosis. “I avoid carrying heavy handbags. I stopped doing Pilates and yoga because I have metal implants,” she said. “If I could, I would accept more work. I’m such a workaholic.” ■

Gwen takes the indie plunge BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer GWEN ZAMORA is the first person to admit that her name will not be on top of the short list of a casting call for a butch lesbian role. Still, debuting director David Fabros had so much faith in Gwen that he cast her against type as Jeans, a cantankerous cashier, in the CineFilipino comedy caper, “Straight to the Heart.” “On TV, I usually play dainty princesses and diwatas (goddesses),” she owned up. Fortunately, she didn’t have to venture far for research. “My PA (production assistant) is a tomboy,” she explained. “I’ve known her for the past six years. So, I just observed the way she moved and talked. I also have a good friend who’s a lipstick lesbian. She’s very feminine, but she has a strong personality.”

She relied on her pals in sculpting her character. Still, on the eve of her first day of work, she was on pins and needles. “I was nervous because it was my first time to play a lesbian,” she recalled. “I kept practicing, but I couldn’t master my walk. I was so frustrated. I always want to be prepared when I get to the set.” She turned to her boyfriend, actor-turned-politician Jeremy Marquez, for guidance. “We kept walking around the house,” she recounted. “It was like the copycat exercise in acting workshops.” Gwen realized that men move differently. “Girls sway their hips. But when a man walks, his core is tight, and only his shoulders move.” Making things extra challenging, she had to be the lone “thorn in an ensemble of roses” that includes Carl Guevara, Kiko Matos, Ricci Chan and Vincent de

Jesus as a gang of giddy gays. She relished the fact that she didn’t have to brush her hair or put on makeup for the part. “It was liberating.” During the shoot, she would bite her tongue to stop from guffawing. “I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t because Jeans was always serious and stern… the ultimate buzz kill.” Jeans is supposed to be the “straight” guy in the cast. “While everyone is jolly, I’d be moping and weeping.” In a way, her regular stint in the GMA 7 gag show, “Bubble Gang,” came in handy. “I kept asking myself: I thought this film was a comedy, why am I always crying in my scenes,” she quipped. “But it’s really fulfilling. Tears would fall easily, because the scenes felt so natural.” Her director quipped: “I am proud of Gwen. I’ve always wanted to work with her. She is www.canadianinquirer.net

@GWENZAMORA / INSTAGRAM

ripe for this part.” “In indie films, actors are given the freedom to express themselves,” she pointed out. “In this movie, the attack was different. I was given more time to prepare and create my character. The process was very collaborative. Things were not rushed.” Prior to “Straight to the Heart,” she portrayed a surfer chick in Mario Cornejo and Monster Jimenez’s “Apocalypse Child,” which debuted

at the QCinema International Film Festival last year. “It was my most daring role, but I didn’t really bare my body,” she related. “My love scene with Timmy (costar Sid Lucero) is hardcore—it creeps under your skin.” ■ The CineFilipino film festival runs from March 16 to 22. “Straight to the Heart” premieres on March 17 at Gateway Cinema.

Entertainment

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Caitlyn Jenner’s politics spark ‘The Candy’ gains debate in transgender ranks traction as nickname BY DAVID CRARY The Associated Press NEW YORK — Since coming out a year ago, Caitlyn Jenner has not always been a unifying force in the transgender community. Her latest political remarks — underscoring her conservative outlook and praising Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz — ignited a storm of criticism from supporters of transgender rights, who view most conservative Republicans as adversaries. “Breathtakingly clueless” was the rebuke from blogger Monica Roberts. Tennis great Martina Navratilova and country singer Chely Wright were also among the many people denouncing Jenner. Yet a more nuanced conversation followed, questioning whether transgender Americans must be monolithic in broadly espousing progressive politics, or whether they can make room for differing views in their ranks. Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said she is grateful there are transgender Republicans and would like to see the issue of transgender rights addressed on a nonpartisan basis. She also said it is inevitable that the ranks of transgender Americans would grow more diverse. “Trans people need to buckle up,” she said. “With all the folks who will be coming out in the next few years, you’re not going to agree with all of them.” While Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have voiced strong support for LGBT rights, Cruz and the other Republican contenders have expressed misgivings about same-sex marriage and supported protections for people who oppose it on religious grounds. Among those wrestling with the fallout of Jenner’s remarks is Jennifer Finney Boylan, a writer and professor at Barnard College. She is a consultant and cast member on Jenner’s reality show, “I am Cait.” In one episode, Boylan — who has described Cruz as a bigot — became so aggravated with Jen-

ner’s political views that she swatted her with a rolled-up newspaper. “In terms of equality and dignity, the difference between Republicans and Democrats is night and day,” Boylan said in an interview. “I don’t really get why you’d vote against your own civil rights.” Yet Boylan remains engaged in the TV series and considers Jenner a friend. “How is it possible to communicate with people whom we want to smack with a newspaper?” Boylan asked in recent blog post. “The question, for me, is not, will Cait become a liberal? There is no operation for that, alas. But she CAN become someone who listens, who opens her heart, who has compassion. And so can I.” Jenner sparked the furor with comments in a March 2 article in The Advocate, an LGBToriented magazine. “I like Ted Cruz,” Jenner declared, even while describing the Texas senator as “one of the worst ones” in regard to transgender rights. “The Democrats are better when it comes to these types of social issues. I understand that,” Jenner told The Advocate. “So why support Republicans? Number 1, if we don’t have a country, we don’t have trans issues. We need jobs. We need a vibrant economy.” Jenner suggested lightheartedly that if Cruz is elected president, she could become his “trans ambassador” and seek to sway him on transgender issues. Jay Michaelson, a rabbi, author and gay activist, urged Jenner to backtrack. “I’m begging you to do so,” he wrote in The Daily Beast. “The Republicans’ promised actions — especially those of Ted Cruz — would be absolutely devastating to us, and even to you personally.” Transgender activist Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, said it should not be surprising that the former Olympic decathlon champion retained long-held political views. “We’re probably better off if she remains a Republican,” Beyer said. “The Republicans

for the most part won’t talk to us, and we’re not going to make progress unless we persuade some of them. We need access.” Dru Levasseur, Transgender Rights Project director of the LGBT-rights group Lambda Legal, said it would be useful if transgender-specific issues were raised in the GOP debates. He said he’d like to learn where the Republicans stand in the heated debate over transgender people’s access to public restrooms. According to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which supports LGBT political candidates, there are no transgender Republicans currently serving in elective office in the U.S. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, has a transgender son, and has cited that as a reason why she’s more supportive of LGBT rights than most of her GOP colleagues in Congress. In 2010, a transgender woman, Donna Milo, unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for a congressional seat in Florida. Being transgender “doesn’t define my values, my goals, my political ambitions, my conservative positions,” she told the Sun-Sentinel newspaper during the campaign. “Just because you are somewhat socially open-minded doesn’t mean that you’re not fiscally conservative, a strong Christian, and believe in a strong foreign policy.” In St. Paul, Minnesota, Susan Kimberly pursued a long, bipartisan political career after going public with a decision to transition from man to woman in 1984. She served as deputy mayor under Republican Mayor Norm Coleman. Kimberly, 73 and retired, says she became a Republican while serving with Coleman and remains one today. She’s not enamoured of Republican positions on LGBT rights, but believes the GOP best represents some of her core values — including self-responsibility and limited government. “It’s really hard to be a Republican, but it remains impossible for me to be a Democrat,” she said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

for the Canadian Screen Awards BY CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI The Canadian Press TORONTO — It seems the Canadian Screen Awards has a new name: the Candy. Show host Norm Macdonald suggested it during his monologue at last night’s bash as a tribute to late comic John Candy and presenters and winners embraced it. Best TV comic actress winner Catherine O’Hara said backstage “they can’t turn back now” after a slew of winners and presenters used the nickname for the televised awards gala. Best TV comic actor winner Eugene Levy also said it was a good name as he saluted his friend as “an iconic Canadian” who was “a darling guy to work with.” O’Hara, Levy and Candy worked together on the sketch comedy series “SCTV.” O’Hara and Levy’s current CBC sitcom “Schitt’s Creek” won nine awards, including best TV comedy. The drama “Room” dominated the film categories with nine wins. “It’s great. John was kind of an iconic Canadian, a funny man, a great actor, just a darling guy to work with and a great friend,” Levy said Sunday following the televised show.

“And the fact is, I think it is a good name for this award, getting a Candy. It seemed to sit well tonight — it was mentioned a few times. “It may have started out as a bit of a joke but by the end of the show it just seemed, ‘Well, that’s the name of the award. It’s called the Candy.”’ O’Hara agreed, finding it especially nice to see best film actor Jacob Tremblay — the nine-year-old star of “Room” — thank voters for the “wonderful Candy.” “It was especially sweet seeing a little boy say, ‘Thank you for the Candy,’” said O’Hara. “I’m with Eugene, I think it’s set now. I think they can’t turn back. I love John. And John, everyone who met him was just fulfilled. Because he would be exactly as you dreamed he would be.” The Canadian co-production “Room” dominated the film prizes with big wins including best picture, best director for Dublin’s Lenny Abrahamson, best actress for Brie Larson, best supporting actress for Joan Allen and best adapted screenplay for Emma Donoghue. The London, Ont-based Donoghue said Sunday’s bash in Toronto was a fitting cap to a wild year, which included nominations at the Oscars and the British Academy Film Awards. ■

KimXi refuses... ❰❰ 31

relate to her because, for me, family comes first before anything

else.” “Macoy is driven. He has dreams, which he is working hard to fulfill,” Xian shared with reporters. “While working on the series, I was able to meet interesting people like the fishermen in Palawan who earn a meager P200 a day, but are still happy. I also met people in the US who told me about their struggles there. I can relate to them because I once lived in the US with my mom.”

The production team spent 10 days in New York City, where Kim said working had been tough because of the extremely cold weather. “I feel my toes and fingers get frozen each time we’re outdoors. Xian was so kind to get me earmuffs and buy me hot drinks every so often,” she recalled, adding that it helped that Filipinos living there were so accommodating. “Some of them would ask their photos be taken with us, then come back (to our set) with boxes of pizza.” ■

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Lifestyle

Luxury retailers courting millennials one social media post at a time BY LINDA NGUYEN The Canadian Press

— view luxury as part of an experience that they can share on Instagram or Snapchat with their friends. Stephens says high-end goods can still complete the luxury lifestyle, but just owning something expensive doesn’t mean as much to the millennial as it may have to their parents — they want to experience the luxury. “It’s about being at an exclusive penthouse party or having the ability to travel and have a life that is luxurious as opposed to having simply a BMW parked in the driveway,” he said. Holt Renfrew knows how critical it is to capture the millennial market, anticipating that Gen Y-ers will make up more than half of their customer base by the end of 2017.

reers,” said Alison Simpson, senior vice-president of marketing and customer experience at the national luxury TORONTO — The recent arrivchain. al of U.S. luxury retailers Saks Capturing the attention of Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom these “digital natives” is a difhave left many wondering if Caficult task. At Holt’s, they’ve nadian shoppers are as hungry made a big effort to attract milfor high-end goods as originally lennial shoppers by engaging believed. with them over social media, Retail experts say the answer curating outfits for special onto that question is a definite yes line magazines and even driv— but it all lies with the mystifying a mobile truck around Toing millennial market. ronto to showcase the season’s “Everybody is grappling with latest looks. how to get a hold on the millenSimpson says even though nial consumer,” Doug Stephens, some millennials don’t have the an analyst with Retail Prophet, cash to splurge on luxury items said in a recent interview. everyday, they still find the “The problem is that nobody money to buy quality. can figure them out yet. They “The level of craftsmanship are very different from their is critically important to them parents in how they regard luxas well. It’s not just about ‘I ury.” can get more for That’s why it’s less money,”’ she becoming insaid. creasingly im“It’s not about portant for reA lot of them may not have the the quantity tailers to build means to be our highest-spending game for them, brand loyalty customers right now, but we especially for seamong millenabsolutely recognize that they will lect pieces like nials as early as grow in importance as they grow in a great pair of possible, before their careers. shoes, a great they enter their bag, a great coat. peak spending It’s much more years. about an investIn the past, luxury was a pair “A lot of them may not have ment and valuing the craftsof $400 Prada sunglasses or a the means to be our highest- manship and time that went $2,900 Louis Vuitton handbag. spending customers right now, into preparing it. It’s not just Now millennials — commonly but we absolutely recognize about cheap and cheerful.” defined as those born from the that they will grow in imporEarlier this month, Square early 1980s to the early 2000s tance as they grow in their ca- One Shopping Centre west of

It’s about being at an exclusive penthouse party or having the ability to travel and have a life that is luxurious as opposed to having simply a BMW parked in the driveway.

Toronto opened a new “luxury wing.” Among the personalized services, the renovated space features a concierge who can make dinner reservations for you and a valet who can park your car in one spot at the mall, then pick you up at the other end after the shopping spree is complete. Square One’s marketing director, Toni Holley, said luxury retail means being in the know with the latest fashion trends, whether that’s via popup stores or celebrity stylist blogs. “Luxury is the idea of the experience of exclusivity, authen-

ticity,” she said. “There was a time when luxury meant price .... High-priced items (were) luxury items, but nowadays, something could be $5, but if it’s rare and one of a kind, then that’s luxury.” Retail expert Farla Efros says it’s vital for luxury retailers to forge ties with millennials — and fast. “All these retailers are flooding into Canada, and millennials are the big opportunity,” said Efros, president of HRC Advisory. “Otherwise, (retailers are) going to be cannibalizing from each other because the pie is not going to grow.” ■

Canadian designer Vejas Kruszewski among finalists for lucrative LVMH Prize THE CANADIAN PRESS PARIS — Canadian designer Vejas Kruszewski is now one of eight finalists in contention for the lucrative LVMH Prize for young fashion designers. The 19-year-old behind To-

ronto-based label Vejas was among a wider field of 26 candidates originally shortlisted for the prize. The winner will be awarded a grant of 300,000 euros (C$443,000). The self-taught designer launched his eponymous label

with his first collection at New York Fashion Week last year. The LVMH Prize was created to support young fashion designers around the world. The contest is open to those under 40 who have created at least two women’s or men’s ready-to-wear collections. www.canadianinquirer.net

A separate prize is also available to three graduates from fashion schools. The prizes are awarded by the LVMH Group, the luxury goods conglomerate which includes fashion brands Louis Vuitton, Celine and Givenchy. In addition to the grant,

winners also benefit from assistance from LVMH teams in areas including intellectual property, marketing, production and distribution. London-based Canadian designer Thomas Tait won the inaugural young fashion designer prize in 2014. ■

Lifestyle

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

‘Post My Party’ host To fluoridate or not to fluoridate? Municipalities drinking up water debate offers advice on simplifying DIY crafts BY CHRIS PURDY The Canadian Press

BY LAUREN LA ROSE The Canadian Press TORONTO — With her musician parents often away from home, Lynzie Kent spent a lot of time during her childhood with her babysitters working on crafts. In the process, she was laying the groundwork for her future career. Kent is the Toronto-based creative director of Love by Lynzie Events and Design, which aims to bring a handmade touch to weddings and other shindigs she’s invited to organize. With the debut of “Post My Party” on Sunday on lifestyle channel Makeful, Kent is sharing her craft expertise with aspiring do-it-yourselfers seeking to host their own events. The series premiere sees Kent help a mother plan a ballerina-themed party for her daughter, with fluffy tutus and colourful edible treats for the bash. Kent is hoping “Post My Party” will help dispel the notion that homemade projects are only for the artistically gifted and DIY-inclined. Part of what helps simplify her approach is the use of craft staples commonplace in most kindergarten classrooms, such as construction paper, glue and glitter. “Instead of making a paperplate Christmas wreath like we all used to make in school when we were kids, we’re now just looking at those materials in a new way and seeing what new

crafts we can make with those materials — and how we can keep it sophisticated.” Kent puts her own theory into practice with visually striking DIY projects that are easy to assemble. In her office, she proudly displays a project created during filming the series: a pineapple-shaped lampshade pieced together with yellow spoons, green construction paper and glue. When asked to create a sports-themed item, she transformed old running shoes sourced from a thrift store into planters. “All we did was spray-paint the shoe a colour of choice, relace it, and then plant a jade plant inside the shoe with some soil,” said Kent. “It’s a little conversation piece. It’s really adorable, it brings some colour into your space and anyone can do this.” For individuals planning a baby or bridal shower or another themed event, Kent said she’s a big fan of party favours that are either functional or edible, such as cookies, jams, canned tomato sauce or pickled beets. Yet even for those who aren’t crafty in the kitchen, they can still put their skills to use in personalizing gifts for guests. “If Grandma’s making the jam, that’s great. But how are you presenting the jam? Are you putting some cute fabric over the top? Are you using a ribbon? Are you tying a thankyou tag on it? “You might have 100 to do, but it’s not that difficult. Anyone can do it.” ■

prices have caused layoffs in the province. “Families — they have parents that aren’t working. There DENTIST LARRY Levin has are no benefits. They’re trymade his pitch about the iming to put food on the table, let portance of adding fluoride to alone trying to squeeze togethdrinking water several times in er a few pennies to go to the recent years to city councils votdentist.” ing on the controversial issue. Colley-Urquhart believes He has won some and lost public institutions should prosome. vide all municipalities with an Levin, a past president and expert review of fluoridation, current vice-president of the since politicians don’t have the Canadian Dental Association, expertise to deal with public believes more communities are health issues. deciding against fluoridation. John Sprovieri agrees that It’s frustrating, argues the municipal councillors aren’t Hamilton dentist, because he health experts and perhaps has science on his side. shouldn’t be making the final “You scratch your head wondecision on fluoride. dering why,” Levin says. “These The councillor for both big organizations who have Brampton and the surrounding studied it have told us that it’s Peel region believes fluoride is safe. Our own physicians have a “toxic chemical.” He stopped told us that it’s safe.” drinking the area’s fluoridated Levin thinks most people water four years ago, put a wawho are against fluoridation ter filtration system in his home simply want the freedom to and started taking bottled wachoose what goes ter to work. in their water. Peel council is Fluoride is to vote this fall found in soil, waon whether to ter, some food remove fluoride and several minThese big organizations who have from its water. erals and is addstudied it have told us that it’s safe. If the federal ed to products Our own physicians have told us that and provincial such as toothit’s safe. governments paste. support fluoriResearch has dation so much, shown addSprovieri adds, ing fluoride to they should be drinking water reduces tooth sor in southern Ontario. making the decision. decay. The World Health OrAfter several plebiscites, Cal“If it’s really legitimate that ganization, Health Canada, gary removed fluoride from its water fluoridation prevents various dental associations water in 2011. But it could be cavities ... then why aren’t you and provincial medical officials back on the ballot again. taking responsibility and mansupport the effort, especially Mayor Naheed Nenshi said dating it to the whole populafor children from low-income last month that he supports tion?” families who may not have ac- fluoridation and urged people Federal Health Minister Jane cess to dental care. to petition for a plebiscite in the Philpott says that she supports Opponents argue not enough 2017 municipal election. fluoridation, but is not considis known about what they say The call came after the re- ering a change in the governare possible health risks such as lease of a University of Calgary ment’s role. cancer, bone disease and fluo- study that compared children’s Levin says it doesn’t make rosis, in which too much fluo- teeth in Calgary with those in sense that so many communiride causing teeth to discolour. Edmonton, which does fluo- ties have to debate the issue so While federal and provincial ridate. While there was an many times. governments set guidelines for increase in cavities in both He sides more with Colleyfluoridation, the decision is left groups, the increase was higher Urquhart, and believes an exup to municipalities. in Calgary. pert panel should be visiting Brantford, Ont., became the Coun. Dianne Colley-Urqu- municipalities grappling with first Canadian community to hart, a former nurse, says the the question so they get all the add fluoride in 1945 and many study has prompted her to re- information they need. others followed. Health Can- think fluoridation, which she’s “At the moment, it’s whoever ada reported in 2009, the last opposed in the past. turns up at that council meettime it counted, that about 45 She says she’s especially wor- ing to speak to it,” Levin says. per cent of the population was ried about children’s dental “There isn’t a lot of uniformity drinking fluoridated water. health now that plunging oil to those processes.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

That’s dropped to about 37 per cent, Levin estimates. Canadians Opposed to Fluoridation believes the figure is less than 30 per cent. “Belief in water fluoridation has become so ingrained in us that it’s reflex to just think that water fluoridation is good,” says an emailed statement from the group’s president, Robert Fleming. He says fluoride supporters rely on flawed studies and people shouldn’t be “medicated” against their will. “Municipal councillors and other Canadian citizens have been catching on to the fact that artificial water fluoridation is without substantiation. It won’t be long now before Canadians are fluoridation free,” says Fleming. Big cities including Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Halifax and Winnipeg fluoridate. Montreal and Vancouver don’t fluoridate. Neither do Waterloo and Wind-

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Business

Life Insurance 101 BY LAARNI LIWANAG Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Ayala eyes Indonesia

Why we need them and how will they benefit us and our loved ones. Gone are the days when we tend to shy away from insurance agents. Unlike those days where we correlate life insurance to death, nowadays we see life insurance in a much different perspective, that of a living benefit and a way of securing a better future for our loved ones even after your death. For purposes of education, life insurance policies are classified under 3 categories. 1. Term Insurance - they are sold for a definite term of 10, 20 or 30 years. Term insurance do not carry a cash value, they charged you a fixed amount for the duration of the term, cheaper at first but expensive as you age; 2. Whole Life are permanent insurance and therefore offers permanent protection

in savings component in the universal life gives you tax efficiencies while building your assets within the insurance. The I STILL vividly recall when I growth in the investment are was first offered a life insurtax free unless withdrawn. Uniance. Just like anybody else, I versal life have living benefits tried my best to postpone my and depending on the company, meeting with the agent who fisome universal life products nally caught up with me in the provides Compassionate Assisoffice. As my former Boss, I tance program. Universal life find it hard to say “No” and so policies are flexible. Again, in finally I signed the insurance view of the complexity of the application not because I need product, it is best to consult a it but because I trust the person financial advisor for the best who is selling me the insurance. product in the market. Therefore, from the start, when For whatever insurance buying an insurance, the trust product you chose, an insurfactor is important. I do not reance coverage is one way of ally understand what kind of protecting yourself and your insurance I bought, all I know loved ones against the risk of is the person who is selling me financial loss at the same time the insurance is the person I helps secure a bright future for trust and I respect. And when your loved ones. The following the policy was delivered, I just are some of the reasons why we put it in my safeprocure life inty deposit box surance: without really 1. Serve as a key understanding source for final what my cov[...] nowadays we see life insurance in expense like burierage was and a much different perspective, that of al costs, inherinever opened a living benefit and a way of securing tance costs and the policy folder a better future for our loved ones estate taxes; and – ever!. Sounds even after your death. financial support familiar? during the grievAfter 10 years, ing process; I stopped pay2. Replaceing the premium as I was told with guaranteed premium ment of lost income in view of the policy pays for itself after with payment option of 10, 20 unexpected death; 10 years. Years passed I still years or up to age 65; has cash 3. Cover mortgages and other kept the policy and until last value, earns dividend, provides debts year, I decided to surrender the a death benefit. As most per4. Supports dependents espepolicy hoping to get at least the manent insurance, whole life cially if you are the breadwincash surrender value. And so I insurance 1) provides income ner in the family went to the insurance company for your loved ones in case of 5. Provides immediate access armed with the policy. And lo death; 2) creates an inheritance to cash thru policy loan or coland behold, to my surprise, I by providing the tax free bene- lateral loan was told that there is a “return fit to your beneficities; 3) cover 6. Offers riders that accelerof premium” provision in the for final expenses, and 4) built ate the death benefits policy and that it was processed wealth which you can access 7. Ensure future insurabilthe year before and awaiting to during your retirement. In view ity – insuring yourself for your be claimed. “Grace from Heav- of the complexity of wholelife children and insuring your chilen” I exclaimed! Add to this, I insurance, it is best to consult dren is the most practical way still have a cash surrender value your financial advisor on the of pre empting the costly conin the policy which is available best product out there in the sequence of future health. to me if I surrender the policy market. 8. Provides educational funds and if not, I will be covered for 3. Universal Life Insurance thru policy loan life without further premium was created to provide more 9. Possibility of leaving a legpayment. Another plus in the flexibility by allowing the policy acy to your favorite foundation policy. I just can’t thank enough owner to shift money between or a charitable cause; my insurance agent who was insurance and savings compo10. Provides tax free benefit my mentor in the bank. nent of the policy; it is a type of to your beneficiaries at death Nowadays, we are more edu- insurance that combines pro- therefore bypassing the expencated on insurance products. tection and savings, the build sive probate process. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

New joint venture seen this year BY DORIS DUMLAOABADILLA Philippine Daily Inquirer CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. is seeking to gain a foothold in Indonesia—the most populous nation in Southeast Asia— by scouting for potential investments in water, power and real estate sectors. Ayala group head of strategy and development Paolo Borromeo said it was possible that Ayala could finally establish a footprint in Indonesia this year. “There’s a lot of relationships historically that we’ve had there, so we’ll look at it for water, power (and) for real estate where we believe we can add value,” Borromeo said, adding that the group had an existing business development team in Indonesia and also in Myanmar. Elsewhere in the region, the group has existing offshore investments in Vietnam (water) and Malaysia (real estate). In 2013, Ayala-led Manila Water Co. (MWC) planned to buy out the 51-percent stake held by French-controlled Suez Environment in PAM Lyonnase Jaya (Palyja), one of the two water utility operators in Jakarta, but the plan was foiled as the local government decided not to cede its stake to a foreign investor. In Vietnam, MWC was contracted in the mid-2000s to plug pipeline leakages and has

Ayala Avenue in Makati City.

since found opportunity to invest in a couple of water treatment plants and water distribution. MWC has now invested $100 million in Vietnam, making it the biggest foreign direct investor in that country’s water space. MWC likewise has a joint project with Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan and the Yangon City Development Council on a nonrevenue reduction program in Myanmar. Property arm Ayala Land Inc., on the other hand, entered into a partnership with Myanmar’s City Mart Holdings, the leading local retailer there, to gain access to this new frontier market. “Right now, it’s on hold because government approvals are hard to get,” Borromeo said, also pointing out to political changes in Myanmar. During last year’s parliamentary elections, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi's party won by a landslide in Myanmar, a country transitioning from over 50 years of military rule. But as the parliament now begins it presidential selection, Suu Kyi has been constitutionally barred from the presidency because she married a British citizen and her sons are British. The search for investments in Indonesia is opportunistic, Borromeo said. “We want to diversify our portfolio,” he pointed out, adding that the group would enter this new market with a local partner. ■

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Business

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Big, easy Airbnbs mushroom: sparking debate over city’s soul BY CAIN BURDEAU The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS — For years, tourists in New Orleans mostly stayed in the French Quarter. They did their drinking there, gawked at raunchy shows on Bourbon Street and gorged themselves at exquisite restaurants. But that’s changing, partly thanks to a mushrooming of short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb. Now tourists — some of whom come to party — are found in neighbourhoods around the city, and locals are divided about whether that’s a good thing. Some say the rentals help residents — including artists and young entrepreneurs — bolster income in a city where many still struggle 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. Others say the spread of tourism to residential areas hurts the quality of life. Anti-Airbnb signs declaring “neighbours, not tourists” are common. Meetings on the topic are passionate. Complaints against the rentals have doubled. Hotel and bedand-breakfast owners have joined neighbourhood groups to press for restrictions. The state is looking to tax them like motels. Brittanie Bryant is so fed up with bachelor parties at the townhouse-turned-hotel next door that she and her husband are considering moving. “Guests vomit on our cars, pee on our cars, throw up in our yard, throw trash in our yard, rip out our flowers,” said Bry-

ant, who lives on Esplanade Avenue, a charming street outside the French Quarter with gabled and balconied 19th-century Creole townhouses and sprawling live oaks hung with Spanish moss. Across the city, in predominantly black Pontchartrain Park, Baba Ken Amen says he makes ends meet renting his art-filled, solar-powered home on Airbnb. “This is how we can afford to pay the taxes,” said Amen, an artist and vegan caterer. “I’m not getting rich off this.” For $165 a night, guests can get a “down-home experience” in what he advertises as “Pontchartrain Park Paradise,” with its jazz collection, books and African masks. Amen says his guests help the area: “They support our local grocery stores ... they’re trying things in the neighbourhood.” Airbnb and other sites like HomeAway offer up to 4,000 private properties for rent nightly around New Orleans: from former slave quarters and artists’ lofts, to Cotton Kingdom-era mansions, sunny Creole cottages and brightly painted “shotgun” houses — narrow homes with rooms connected like railroad cars. Technically, most of these rentals are illegal. The City Council expects to adopt new rules this year to legalize the practice while regulating it and balancing neighbourhood needs. In January, city planners suggested limiting the rentals in some historic neighbourhoods and revoking licenses of bad operators while requiring

“The economics are very clear that we need to embrace tourists, and wherever they want to stay, we let them.” PRATHAN CHORRUANGSAK / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

insurance, property managers and guest logs. Nationally the issue isn’t new. Portland, Oregon, legalized short-term rentals in 2014. San Francisco, where Airbnb is headquartered, legalized them last year. In New York City, renting out an extra room or couch is fine, but it’s illegal to rent most apartments for fewer than 30 days. New York’s state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in 2014 that three-fourths of New York City Airbnb listings were illegal. The company said it removed many of those listings, but some New Yorkers blame Airbnb for helping to drive rents up. In New Orleans, many also blame the rentals for exacerbating post-Katrina housing shortages, skyrocketing rents and the exodus of less wealthy residents from the city centre.

“The full-time residents aren’t as plentiful as they used to be,” griped Louis Matassa, a white-haired grocer at a French Quarter grocery store that opened in 1924. “The staples: They don’t sell. The animal food, the milk, the cartons of eggs.” The store harks back to an era when the quarter was populated by artists and musicians crammed into dilapidated apartments. “My business has fallen off and for the first time in almost a century, the future is uncertain,” he wrote to the city. “The community is my customer base, and the community is dying.” But supporters say Airbnb enhances one of the city’s biggest industries: tourism. “The economics are very clear that we need to embrace tourists, and wherever they

want to stay, we let them,” said Christian Galvin, who rents out several properties nightly and serves on the Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity, a pro-Airbnb group. “Short-term renters use the post office; they use dry cleaners; they use the grocery stores; they don’t go in just for cigarettes.” Airbnb says its rentals contributed $140 million to New Orleans’ economy in a year and disputes the claim that shortterm rentals drive up housing costs. Airbnb spokeswoman Alison Schumer also said in a statement that Airbnb supports the “city’s ongoing efforts” at regulation. Whether or not Airbnb is the cause, locals say neighbourhoods are changing. Rick Mathieu, a longtime resident of Treme, said his neighbourhood is nearly empty of families. Pointing to a house, he said a woman who lives in San Francisco “bought it and made it into a money-making thing.” But he defended her right, as a property owner, “to do anything you want.” Jamie Ruth, who sells art and runs a tattoo parlour on St. Claude Avenue, a rundown corridor that’s become a hipster hangout since Katrina, says Airbnb is good for business, but can hurt neighbourhoods. “I get a lot of walk-ins staying in Airbnbs,” she said. But she called it “obnoxious” for people to buy homes and turn them into tourist rentals. “It really messes with the neighbourhood,” she said, “and also drives up the rent for people who actually live here.” ■

DA moves to ease dry spell impact on farm sector BY RONNEL W. DOMINGO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture said it had distributed to farmers seeds for planting as well as irrigation-related equipment worth a total of at least P84 million as part of government efforts to address the effects of El Niño on farms. The DA last week said dry conditions caused farmer to lose P5.3 billion worth of crops and livestock since the climate

and weather phenomenon’s onset last year. According to the DA’s field operations services office, one of the thrusts to mitigate El Niño’s effects on food production was to encourage the maximization and optimization of production in non-vulnerable areas. In light of this, the DA regional field offices over the past 12 months have given out 24,066 bags of certified rice seeds worth P32.7 million and 3,059 bags of hybrid rice seeds worth

P15.3 million. The department also provided soil ameliorants, seeds of multistress rice or Green Super Rice, as well as crop insurance coverage. For corn farmers, the DA gave out 4,164 bags of open-pollinated variety seeds worth P5 million and 1,000 bags of hybrid seeds worth P3 million. To encourage farmers to shift to other crops that are more resilient in dry conditions, the DA distributed 4,900 kilos of garlic planting materials worth P2.5 www.canadianinquirer.net

million and 3,720 peanut cuttings worth P1.9 million aside from 14,050 kilos of mungbean seeds. “To address water scarcity in vulnerable areas due to low water levels in reservoirs particularly those that are at the tail-end of the irrigations systems, the DA had distributed 284 units of pump irrigation equipment worth P24.1 million to replace broken pumps,” the department said. The DA also oversaw the installation and construction of

new small water impounding projects, diversion dams as well as the rehabilitation or repair of existing ones. “Moreover, 5,624 linear meters of irrigation canal were improved for use during the period of the El Niño cropping,” the DA said. Last week, the DA said farm damage due to El Niño had so far reached P1.9 billion, affecting 62,267 farmers working on 91,027 hectares of farms. Some 134,321 tons of produce were lost. ■

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Sports

FIFA bans 3 South Africans over pre-World Cup match fixing

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rizal Memorial Stadium.

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PH solves stadium woes, keeps Suzuki hosting rights BY CEDELF P. TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES is keeping its right to host the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup for the first time, after all. The AFF Council on Saturday agreed to retain the Philippines as host of one of the group stages of the prestigious tournament during its meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam. In a statement sent by Philippine Football Federation president Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, who attended the council meeting in Vietnam, the federation welcomed the AFF decision, saying it will be both an opportunity and challenge for Philippine football. The Suzuki Cup, which has a viewership of one billion for both live and television audience, will run from Nov. 19 to 26. It catapulted the Azkals in 2010 when the team beat Viet-

nam in Hanoi on its way to the semifinals. Unable to sort out contractual issues with the management of the Philippine Sports Stadium and with the Rizal Memorial Stadium falling short of the standard as a primary venue, the PFF was forced to seek a reprieve from the AFF, which gave the federation a March 11 deadline. The PFF, sources said, secured a stadium use contract for the PSS only last Thursday night. “Yes, the contract existence was only one issue, but there were issues that were also resolved,” said PFF general secretary Ed Gastanes. “The PFF is thankful for the robust support of the Philippine Sports Commission and the meaningful cooperation of the Philippine Sports Stadium to help promote football especially to our nation's youth,” the PFF statement read. ■

ZURICH — FIFA banned three more former South African Football Association officials on Monday over match-fixing in friendly games ahead of the country’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup. Former SAFA chief executive Leslie Sedibe was banned for five years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,200). The governing body also banned Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former officials at SAFA’s referees department, for two years each. Last year, Lindile Kika, SAFA’s head of national teams in 2010, was banned from all soccer activities for six years. FIFA believes that at least one of the South African national team’s friendly games in the weeks ahead of the continent’s first World Cup was fixed by the referee. SAFA officials were under investigation for allowing a company controlled by Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal to appoint the referees for the games. FIFA hasn’t identified the game or games in question, but South Africa’s 2-1 win over Colombia and 5-0 win over Guatemala a couple of weeks before the opening of the World Cup are under suspicion. All three goals in the South AfricaColombia game came through penalty kicks. There was a collection of bizarre refereeing decisions in the South AfricaGuatemala game. South Africa-Guatemala

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was refereed by Niger official Ibrahim Chaibou, who is being sought for involvement in other allegedly fixed games. South Africa’s game with Colombia, and an earlier 4-0 win over Thailand in another pre-World Cup friendly, were both refereed by Langat Kipngetich of Kenya. It is believed that some SAFA officials eventually suspected what was happening and prevented Perumal’s referees from taking control of later World Cup warm-up games. The South African officials banned Monday by FIFA were all found guilty of misconduct and breaching rules relating to reporting wrongdoing and cooperating with investigations. Sedibe, a high-profile figure in South Africa, is now the chief executive of Proudly South African, a company which promotes South African goods and services. SAFA said it “welcomes” the latest sanctions. The fixing in the pre-World Cup friendlies has long been

ignored by South African authorities, with no meaningful investigation into the allegations despite promises made four years ago. Then, a series of SAFA officials, including the president at the time, were suspended pending a probe but no results have been announced. Match-fixing is a criminal offence in South Africa. The fixing bans further overshadow Africa’s first World Cup, which was undermined more recently by allegations of bribery in the bidding process that won the tournament for South Africa. U.S. investigators looking at widespread corruption at FIFA believe that South Africa used $10 million of its World Cup preparations budget to pay off now-disgraced former FIFA executives for voting for it to be the host. Two unnamed but “senior” South African soccer officials have been implicated in the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment for allegedly organizing the bribes. ■

Sports

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Canadian men finish ninth but still make big mark at Canada Sevens rugby event BY NEIL DAVIDSON The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — Canada finished ninth, winning the consolation Bowl trophy, but still made a big impression Sunday at the inaugural HSBC Canada Sevens rugby tournament. After going 2-1-0 Saturday, missing out on the elite Cup quarter-finals on points difference, the Canadian men won all three games Sunday. They capped off their day by edging France 19-17 on a John Moonlight try and Nathan Hirayama conversion with no time remaining in the Bowl final. Hirayama led the Canadian attack with five tries on a day that also saw wins over Brazil and England. “I can’t criticize our performances,” said Canadian coach Liam Middleton. “We were very consistent. The Brazil game we were a little bit flatter (Sunday) morning but we’d had thrown everything into (Saturday). Mentally, physically, emotionally, we threw everything into it and got a disappointment at not making the Cup. “But you win five of six games in any World Series tournament, it’s an exceptional achievement.” New Zealand defeated South Africa 19-14 in the championship Cup final, adding to the

titles it won earlier this season in Wellington and Sydney. New Zealand, with a seemingly endless supply of strike runners on its roster, dispatched Australia 28-19 to reach the Cup final here. Series leader Fiji ran out of comebacks in a 31-19 loss to South Africa in the other semifinal, much to the disappointment of a sizable number of Fiji supporters at B.C. Place stadium. Australia defeated Fiji 19-12 to finish third. Samoa beat the U.S. 31-19 to win the Plate final and finish fifth while Russia downed Portugal 17-10 to take the Shield final and finish 13th. Fiji was on the tournament’s mind because of last month’s Cyclone Winston, a Category 5 storm which was Fiji’s worstrecorded cyclone. It left more than 40 dead in its wake. Two dollars from the sale of every tournament program went to Fiji cyclone relief efforts, with the B.C. government adding $100,000 of its own. Canada bounced back from a day of disappointment by dispatching Brazil 19-0 and England 17-7 to gain the Bowl final. The Canadians came into the tournament 12th in the season standings, compared to No. 7 for England and No. 9 for France. Brazil was an invited team at the event. Coming into the home tournament, Canada had finished

13th, 11th, 11th, ninth and 14th on the five previous stops on the circuit although it has twice missed out on the elite Cup quarter-finals on tiebreakers. Organizers said 60,418 fans took in the tournament over two days. Spectators got their money’s worth with 45 games over the weekend. There were 942 points scored Saturday alone. Sunday produced another festive crowd again, with many in costume, although the group seemed a little more subdued than Saturday’s. The roof at B.C. Place remained closed. The crowd showed plenty of class, clapping every team off the pitch at the conclusion of its schedule. It speaks volumes about the small margin of error in the sevens format that Canada had won four of five games and was playing for ninth place against a French team that had lost three of five. “It’s a funny game isn’t it,” Middleton said prior to the Bowl final. “The U.S.A. won two out of six last week and finished fourth (in Las Vegas). We’ve won four of five and we’re looking for that ninth place. “It’s a brutal game but it’s a beautiful game.” Canadian back Harry Jones was anything but a beauty, sporting a pair of black eyes after breaking a nose busted two tournaments ago on Saturday.

2009 Hong Kong Sevens.

But he did not miss a moment Sunday. Sevens is all about placing in the top two of your pool and reaching the elite Cup quarterfinals, where you are one win from finishing in the top four. Normally two wins will do that on Day 1. But Canada was denied on points difference here. The Canadians posted a dramatic 14-12 win over No. 4 Australia midway through their schedule Saturday. But an opening 26-19 loss to Wales left them behind the 8-ball and, despite a 29-12 win over No. 15 Russia, the day ended in frustration as Canadians dropped into the consolation Bowl. “It was depressing, kind of, because were so fired up to play at home,” said Hirayama. In the Cup quarter-finals Sunday, Series leader Fiji rallied from a 19-5 deficit to defeat the U.S. 31-26 in an overtime thriller while South Africa

JESÚS GORRITI / FLICKR

thumped Wales 31-0, New Zealand beat Samoa 17-12 and Australia rallied to down Scotland 24-17. Hirayama accounted for all the scoring with three tries and two conversions against Brazil. It was an ugly win as Canada dominated possession and territory but made a string of handling errors. The Brazilians, an invited team to the tournament, lost 35-5 and 40-15 in their two previous meetings with Canada in 2002. Canada then took care of No. 7 England. While the English came into the match holding a 32-4-2 career edge over Canada, they arrived in Vancouver on a poor run of form. England went 0-4-1 last week in Las Vegas and lost its first two matches here. Hirayama scored on a 75-metre run down the sideline, slamming the ball down after crossing the line, with Mike Fuailefau adding two more tries. ■

Bulls beat Raptors 109-107, Chicago’s ninth straight win over Toronto BY LORI EWING The Canadian Press TORONTO — The Chicago Bulls continue to have Toronto’s number. And moments after the Raptors lost for the ninth consecutive time to the Bulls — 109-107 on Monday — coach Dwane Casey was as visibly angry as he’s been all season, in a tense news conference that lasted all of one minute 22 seconds. “We can’t go in assuming, I don’t who care who’s not playing. If we don’t dot our I’s and cross our T’s, we’re an average team, and we showed that,”

Casey said. “We were not focused going into the game after preaching and preaching and telling them. . . I don’t care who doesn’t play, it’s the same trap game.” “And then there comes (Doug) McDermott out there and we allow him to get his rhythm in the first half and it’s hard to turn a guy’s water off when that happens.” McDermott scored 29 points to top the Bulls (33-32), who were playing without Derrick Rose (groin strain) or Pau Gasol (swollen knee). Kyle Lowry led Toronto (4421) with 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while DeMar

DeRozan had 27 points, and Patrick Patterson chipped in with 13 off the bench. The loss ended Toronto’s seven-game homestand at 5-2, and it was only the Raptors’ second loss at the Air Canada Centre in their last 17 outings. “They beat us, that’s one of them things where they have good players and they’re comfortable playing against us. We don’t do anything to make them uncomfortable,” Lowry said. “They’ve got our number, for us to change that, whenever the next time we get to play them again we have to beat them.” More bad news for the Raptors came late in the first quarwww.canadianinquirer.net

ter when Jonas Valanciunas headed to the locker-room holding his left hand — the hand he broke early this season, sidelining him for 17 games. The team said Valanciunas suffered a contusion, but he would travel with the Raptors to Milwaukee where they face the Bucks on Tuesday. Valanciunas, his hand wrapped in a brace and bandage, said the hand was swollen. He’d injured it, he said, just getting “caught up in action.” The Bulls have been tumbling down the Eastern Conference standings, and they arrived in Toronto trailing Detroit by a game for the eighth and final playoff spot.

But it seems all bets are off when it comes to playing Toronto. The Bulls have owned the Raptors, with a winning streak that stretches back to 2013 and includes an historic 115-113 victory at the ACC on Jan. 3 that saw Jimmy Butler go off for 40 second-half points to break Michael Jordan’s franchise record. “It does (matter) for me because they’ve spanked us every time we’ve walked on the floor,” Casey said pre-game, on whether beating the Bulls was of particular importance. “We’ve been here, we’ve been on a little semi-roll or whatever every time we play them then they come and spank us.” ■

MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Technology

Never tried virtual reality? Here’s what it’s like BY FRAZIER MOORE The Associated Press NEW YORK — It doesn’t take a high- tech headset to see that virtual reality is the rage. It’s being touted as the future for all things sensory, from games to film and television, from storytelling to visual art. My response as a television critic — and as a dyed-in-thewool TV viewer — is to ask what this all means to me. I am not typically an early adopter. My beat as a journalist isn’t newfangled gadgetry. I’m a TV-centric content guy, scrambling to keep up with the torrent of programs that, however more plentiful and varied their providers, still contain themselves in two dimensions. Even so, VR seems a force to be reckoned with. So I grabbed a Samsung Gear VR headset for a maiden voyage. Virtual reality is the link to an alternate reality, and instantly I’m all in! For example, I find that a wooded, birds-twittering forest on a sunny day is a far more agreeable environment than my stuffy apartment. And that’s even before Reese Witherspoon appears over a rise and, puffing with her backpack, rests herself on a nearby rock. In character from her 2014 film “Wild,” she is bedraggled but radiant and seems close enough and real enough to bother for a sip of her water. Alas, all too quickly Witherspoon resumes her solitary trek, vanishing through trees in the opposite direction too absorbed in her odyssey to have paid me any notice. But a dinosaur does. With “Jurassic World: Apatosaurus,” I am in a different kind of forest,

stationed a few yards from a co- to fix my gaze on anyone or any- in the brushstrokes of the Cafe lossal dozing reptile sprawled on thing. I literally get to call the de la Gare and its scattering of the forest floor. Then, during this shots. And after a half-dozen tables and chairs, billiard table two-minute interlude, it blinks viewings, with my attention and lone patron come to life. awake, clambers to its feet, spots leap-frogging from one direcBut there’s more to explore me and, staring me right in the tion to another, I still can’t take than the single room the paintface, takes a curious sniff. in all the revelry. ing has immortalized. Through These advena doorway in tures pale in the corner, I can wonder to Cirque stray into a nevdu Soleil’s “Kurier-before-seen os: Cabinet of Cuside room, where riosities,” which VR is a habitat of countless a pianist plays a sweeps me into a possibilities, an exhilarating refuge melancholy tune wondrous specthat yanks me from the sidelines and and — lo and tacle. Beautiful thrusts me into the action. behold — Vinand dazzlingly cent himself sits weird, the dozenlistening while and-a-half permeditatively formers cavort smoking his pipe. on a stage where they accept me If joining a famed entertainUnlike VR video captured as a spellbound intruder. They ment troupe is remarkable, an with stationary 360-degree put on quite a show. even bigger blast is gaining en- cameras, this Van Gogh tribute Or, maybe more accurately, try to a painting by Vincent Van is more like a video game, letting many shows. As I share their Gogh. me interact more authentically 360-degree space,where and Thanks to a VR reimagining with my surroundings. I can step what I look at is up to me. I am of Van Gogh’s 1888 “The Night up to a table or a person, but no free to bob and swivel my head Cafe,” I can take my place with- farther, as if these objects were

really in my way. And unlike many VR experiences, this one is open-ended. I am free to linger in this otherworldly, painterly realm to my heart’s content. At this cafe, there is no last call. And I am in no hurry to leave. Why would I? Despite the possible onset of a headache or queasiness (nothing comes without a price, including this technology in its infant stage), VR is a habitat of countless possibilities, an exhilarating refuge that yanks me from the sidelines and thrusts me into the action. Could VR ever become the default mode for its audience? I can imagine a time when immersion in VR might be as normal a state of self-imposed isolation as earbuds piping music from an iPod is now. But more pertinent to me, a television guy, is this question: As VR evolves as technology and art, what will be its impact on the act of vegging out with old-fashioned TV? Television has long reigned as the province of the couch potato, viewing passively while free to do other things: answer email, fix a snack or just nurse a beer. But lost in VR’s altered state, I could easily miss my mouth when trying to take a sip. VR demands full commitment. Could be, as VR comes of age, television will become not quite old hat, but instead what radio became with TV’s birth: an atmospheric add-on, just one part of the everyday sensory mosaic. Similarly, TV, with its grip on public consciousness downgraded, might be recast as an omnipresent supplement to real life. Not supplementing, but supplanting real life: That’s what VR aims to do. ■

snacks will be served.Those interested are encouraged to register early by contacting: Ruth Oliveros at :rutholiveros@sympatico.ca /Tel. 416- 282-7262 or Marla Tanuan at:mtanuan@

yahoo.com / Tel. 416-209-8659. and indicating their workshop topic preference. Alternatively, for Eventbrite registration, check out the links at:: https:// www.facebook.com/events

Woman tries virtual reality Samsung Gear VR headset during VRLA Expo Winter, virtual reality exposition, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. BETTO RODRIGUES / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

FilCan Catholic... keynote address, entertainment numbers, workshop process instruction, group discussions, lunch break, and a plenary session. ❰❰ 30

Each topic shall be covered for an hour of group discussion to be moderated by a professional facilitator and a resource person. The one- hour sharing shall produce a written summary of

recommended practices and strategies for parents guidance to be presented by each group during the plenary session. ■ Complimentary

lunch

and

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Technology

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

Google provides early peek at next Android operating system BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Google is previewing the next version of its Android operating system two months ahead of schedule in an effort to get the upgraded software on more mobile devices. The upgraded software, known as “Android N” for now, offers a split-screen feature so users can toggle between apps more easily. Android N also enables users to reply directly to notifications, something already available on the software that Google makes for smartwatches running on Android Wear. Another change is being made to reduce the battery power drawn by apps when the device’s screen turns off. Devices running on Android “Marshmallow,” a version released last year, shift into a battery-saving mode called “Doze” only when they’re stationary. The new edition initially is being recommended only for mobile app makers and will only work on a few smart-

phones and tablets. Google typically hasn’t released test versions of Android until its annual developers’ conference, which begins May 18 this year. The head start is designed to get Android N the hands of mobile device makers earlier than ever, according to a Google blog post , to give them more time to set up the new software on their latest models. By the time phones running on the software hit the market this fall, Android N is expected to eventually be named after a sweet food beginning with “n” in the tradition of all the previous versions that Google has made. Although other improvements could be added before the software is released to consumers later this year, Android N doesn’t appear to breaking any new ground. Both the splitscreen and reply-to-notifications features, for instance, are already offered in the operating system running Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The absence of a “gee-whiz” factor underscores the challenges facing the smartphone industry as its market matures

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and it becomes more difficult to come up with new ideas nearly a decade after Apple revolutionized mobile computing with the iPhone’s debut. The decline in innovation extends beyond the mobile software to the devices themselves, reducing the incentive for consumers to buy new smartphones. That’s one of the reasons that Apple is bracing for its first-ever quarterly decrease in iPhones sales during the opening three months of this year. Google doesn’t make smartphones, choosing instead to

give away Android to device makers. The software is designed to highlight Google’s search engine, maps and other features, giving the company more opportunities to sell the digital ads that generate most of its revenue. The strategy has established Android as the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, but it also has limited the amount of control that Google has over how the software is used. That has turned Android into a fragmented system that has

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become a source of frustration Google. Among other things, about 56 per cent of Android devices are still running on versions of the software that were released in 2013 and 2014, according to Google’s tabulations. Only 2 per cent of Android phones are on Marshmallow, last year’s model. In contrast, about 79 per cent of iPhones are already running on iOS 9, the operating system that Apple released six months ago. Unlike Google, Apple exerts sole control over the software on its mobile devices. ■

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Events

Tunog ng Pagbabago By Filipino Canadian Toronto On. Duterte Cayetano Movement and Prestige By Night WHEN/WHERE: 7 to 10 p.m., Apr. 1, at 4544 Dufferin St., Toronto, On. New WelcomePack Canada Distribution Centre By WelcomePack Canada Inc. WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 5 p.m., Mon, Tues, Thu & Fri at the Filipino Centre Bldg., 597 Parliament St., Suite 103, Toronto, On. MORE INFO: Call (416) 928-9355

MARCH 18, 2016

Homework/Tutorial Class By FCT WHEN/WHERE: 11a.m. to 12 nn, every Saturday, Filipino Centre Toronto, 597 Parliament St., Suite 103, Toronto, ON MORE INFO: For registrations, call 416928-9355. The office, at 597 Parliament St., Suite 103, Toronto, is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m. Pabasa ng Bayan 2016 in Tagalog By St. Ann’s Parish Community WHEN/WHERE: 12 nn Mar. 24; 2 p.m. Mar. 25, at St. Ann’s Parish Hall, 711 Gerrard St., East of Broadview MORE INFO: Call Sis Fe – 905-8897868 or the parish office at 416-4662127 NUNAVUT

Tagalog Class By Filipino YUKON Center Toronto WHEN/WHERE: 10 to 11 a.m., every Saturday, Filipino Centre NORTHWEST Toronto

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Recent Works by Joanne Frewer and Bert Monterona By Ferry Building Gallery WHEN/WHERE: Mar. 15 to Apr. 3; Meet the Artists: 2 to 3 p.m., Mar. 19, at Ferry Building Gallery, 1414 Argyle Ave., West Vancouver, B.C. Sexual Violence in Asian Communities in Canada By UBC Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies WHEN/WHERE: 12 to 1 p.m., Mar. 18, at Lillooet Rm. (301) IKB Learning Centre, UBC MORE INFO: Panelists are Drs. Nora Angeles, JP Catungal and CJ Rowe and K. Ho. Gala Fundraiser for Migrante BC – Moving Forward Together: Building Migrant Worker Security By Migrante BC WHEN/WHERE: 6 to 10 p.m., Mar. 18, at Holiday Inn, West Broadway, 711 W. Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Special guest speaker: Atty. Fay Faraday. Tickets $60 each; Table of 8 $450. ESL Book Club By Vancouver Public Library WHEN/WHERE: 3 to 4:30 p.m., Mar. 19, Apr. 16 and May 28, Champlain Hts. Branch 7110 Kerr St., Vancouver, B.C. Aboriginal Youth Conference: Gathering our Voices 2016 By Vancity WHEN/WHERE: Mar. 21 to 24, at the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres 551 Chatham St. Victoria, B.C. Temporary Foreign Workers Uncontested Divorce Clinic By Law Courts Center WHEN/WHERE: Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Justice Education Society at the Provincial Court of BC Room 260 800 Hornby St., Vancouver B.C. MORE INFO: To book an appointment, call/text 778-322-2839 or email: tfw.divorce@gmail.com

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Seven Oaks Neighborhood Town Hall Meeting on Filipino Bilingual Program By 71 Lab Rats Events & Production WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Mar. NEWFOUNDLAND 22, at Maples College (Commons), Winnipeg, MB

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Angellica Samson Cruz Fundraising Concert WHEN/WHERE: 5 p.m., Mar. 19, at South Pointe Community Centre 11520 Ellerslie Road, Edmonton, AB MORE INFO: with special guests Jess Valdez Switch Band and Delerium Band

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Skills Now: Project-based Training for Immigrants in Retail and Administration By ISS of BC WHEN/WHERE: Call or email at 604-684-2581 (ext 2193 Nanki) skillsnow@issbc.org MORE INFO: Receive a certificate or skills training in retail or administration; job search workshops; and strong employment opportunities. 10 Weeks of English Conversation By South Vancouver Neighbourhood House WHEN/WHERE: Feb. 1 to Apr. 9, 18 locations in Metro Vancouver, MORE INFO: Call Amie to register – 604-324-6212 ext 142 Mentoring Programme for Immigrant High School Students: Breakfast & Baon 101 By Mentorship & Leadership for Youth Programme WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 12 nn at Corpus Christi College (near UBC) 5935 Iona Dr. Vancouver BC. Free pick up and drop off service. MORE INFO: Meet young professionals plus learn to cook. Call/text Kyle Andrews at (778)896-0661 Free Counselling Support Group By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., every last Monday of the month, at Mosaic Burnaby Centre for Immigrants, 5902 Kingsway, Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call Darae (604)254-9626 Book Publishing: Everything You Need to Know! By Influence Publishing WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m., Mar. 23, at the Vancouver Public Library, 35o W. Georgia St. Vancouver, B.C. Bae in the City Canada Tour 2016 with Alden Richards By Red Productions and GMA Pinoy TV; GMA Life www.canadianinquirer.net

TV and GMA News TV International WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Mar. 24, Massey Theatre 735 8th Ave.,NOVA NWestminster, B.C. MORE INFO: SCOTIA Tickets at $80, $60 and $50 Youth Group for Education & Employment By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 1:30–3:30 p.m. every Monday until Mar. 29, at MOSAIC Burnaby Centre for Immigrants, 5902 Kingsway St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call - Solmaz at 604-438-8214 ext 120 Love, Mercy and Forgiveness: Pope Francis and the Future of the Catholic Church By St. Mark’s College and Newman Club at UBC and the Newman Association of Vancouver WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Mar. 31, at St. Mark's Chapel, 5935 Iona Dr., Vancouver (UBC) MORE INFO: Most Rev. J. Michael Miller, archbishop of Vancouver will offer his thoughts on the matter. Wine and cheese reception to follow. Seniors ESL Conversation Circle By Vancouver Public Library WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 2:30 p.m., Thursdays up to Apr. 7, Champlain Hts. Br., 7110 Kerr St., Vancouver, B.C. Greased Lightning Spring Dance By University of the Philippines Alumni Association in BC WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m. to 12 mn, Apr. 9, at St. Monica Parish Hall, Richmond, B.C. MORE INFO: Tickets at $20 includes dinner Forum on Good Governance with Loida Nicolas Lewis By Global Pinoy Diaspora Canada and Vancouver Friends for Mar and Leni WHEN/WHERE: 1:30 to 4 p.m., Apr. 10, St. Patrick’s Parish Basement, 2881 Main St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call Treenee Lopez at 604-773-9192

MARCH 18, 2016

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MARCH 18, 2016

FRIDAY

Food

Cultured meat, milk and eggs poised to become food of the future BY ALEKSANDRA SAGAN The Canadian Press TORONTO — The future of food may be the stuff of dreams for those vegans and vegetarians secretly pining for a bacon cheeseburger washed down with a creamy milkshake. Science is poised to alleviate the guilt associated with such feasts by changing how meat, milk and other animal products arrive on dinner plates, with some companies aiming to almost eliminate the need for hens, cows and other animals in the food-supply chain. Hen-less egg whites, cow-less milk and practically pig-less meat are projected to appear in grocery stores as early as five years from now in an effort to reduce factory farming via cultured food. “Animal culture right now is extremely detrimental to animals, human health and the environment,” said Isha Datar, CEO of New Harvest, a non-profit U.S. research organization that’s funding this type of innovation. Animals often suffer in factory farm conditions, humans can be exposed to viral outbreaks like swine flu from farm animals, and an abundance of land and water is required to produce a comparatively small amount of meat, the company points out in a takedown of the farming status quo on its website. “We need to start thinking about ways in which we can decrease our dependency on it,” Datar said. The solution as New Harvest sees it? Cellular agriculture or, more simply put, harvesting the animal products many

Science is poised to alleviate the guilt associated with such feasts by changing how meat, milk and other animal products arrive on dinner plates, with some companies aiming to almost eliminate the need for hens, cows and other animals in the food-supply chain.

humans drool over from cell cultures rather than whole animals. Some, like milk, can be made using microbes, like yeast or bacteria — no animals required. Others, like beef, can be grown using living or previously living cells from animals. One group of researchers made a cultured beef hamburger this way, starting by extracting muscle tissue from a cow, according to a description of cultured beef research funded by New Harvest. They separated muscle cells from the

tissue. Each cell can spawn one trillion copies, and these copies merge into microscopic myotubes and eventually form into small pieces of new muscle tissue. One piece of muscle tissue from a cow can create more than one trillion strands of replica muscle tissue. Those are layered together to create beef, like the patty these researchers cooked and tasted on live TV in August 2013. That hamburger cost about $475,000 Cdn to create, but companies are working hard to make cultured agriculture more affordable. Clara Foods, for example, is attempting to create a hen-free egg white. CEO Arturo Elizondo considers it a perfect food — lots of protein with virtually no fat, cholesterol or carbs. While the company is still tinkering with its product, Elizondo said he has sampled several prototypes. It will take some time to scale up production, he said, and the company is trying to bring its egg whites to a lower price point than what a dozen eggs typically sell for. While these futuristic groceries may seem like great science fiction fodder, some items are between five and 15 years from hitting the market, said Datar. It could happen even sooner if orga-

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nizations like New Harvest are able to secure more funding for cultured food research. The first animal-free animal product available for mass consumption will likely be milk, Datar said. Muufri recently offered its latest milk prototype, made without cows, to taste-testers, who reacted positively to the milk’s texture. The egg white creation from Clara Foods will likely be available to consumers in a few years, Elizondo projects. Another company, Memphis Meats, came up with a cultured meat meatball last month. It plans to create barbecue staples like burgers, hot dogs and sausages as well. Grocery store shoppers will be able to buy its first line of these products in fewer than five years, the company projects. “This is absolutely the future of meat,” said CEO Uma Valeti in a statement released at the meatball’s reveal. “We plan to do to animal agriculture what the car did to the horse and buggy. Cultured meat will completely replace the status quo and make raising animals to eat them simply unthinkable.” ■ Clara Foods, Muufri and Memphis Meat are affiliated with New Harvest.

Seen & Scenes: Vancouver

FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

NEW CALGARY CONSUL GENERAL New Consul General in Alberta Julius Torres (in dark blazer and baby pink shirt) meets with members of the Alberta Treasury Branch Financial and Philippine Festival Council of Alberta (Photos by Evelyn Lopez).

RETROSPECT REUNION CONCERT Vancouver’s favorite retro pop group had a reunion concert billed, “Retroworld: Reunion Concert Tour 2016,” at the Columbia Theatre in New Westminster, B.C. Seen enjoying the show were PCI’s Alan Yong and wife Jhynet; Consul General Neil Ferrer and wife Miriam; Socorro Newland Castro; UFCABC’s Joel Castillo and other fun-loving concertgoers (Photo by Angelo Siglos).

ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS The Multicultural Helping House Society led by Tatay Tom recently held its annual general meeting and election of officers. Here are some scenes during the event (Photos courtesy of Tomas Avendano Sr.) www.canadianinquirer.net

Seen and Scenes

MARCH 18, 2016

INDUCTION CEREMONY Induction ceremony of the newly-elected board of directors and executive officers of the Filipino Seniors Group of Winnipeg with inducting officer deputy mayor and councilor Mike Pagtakhan (Photos by Aida Champagne).

COURTESY CALL Pictures taken during the courtesy call on Mar. 11, of Western Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chito Gonzalez and John Chua at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto with Consul General Rosalita S. Prospero (Photos by Amelia Insigne).

STREET FESTIVAL WORKSHOP Candidates of the Queen of the Manitoba Filipino Street Festival attended their first workshop during this pageant season. Tia Provici helped the candidates develop their self-confidence in numerous ways (Photos by Aida Champagne).

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

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FRIDAY MARCH 18, 2016

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MARCH 18, 2016

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