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VOL. 8 NO. 229

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Quiapo road rage killer sorry

First day of 911 ‘generally successful’ — DILG

‘Oplan Tokhang’: 565,806 drug suspects surrender

Nations ‘monitoring everyone’

B.C. foreign buyer tax won’t make big dent

Music fest crowdfunds for drug checking machine amid fentanyl overdose crisis

DARK SIDE OF DRUG WAR Stuck in a swamp of trash in the middle of an estero is the shanty of Michael Siaron (inset) and his wife, Jennilyn Olayres, at Barangay 145 in Santo Niño, Pasay City. Siaron, a suspected drug pusher who was shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen, was the subject of a stirring INQUIRER photograph that has sparked calls for a stop to summary executions amid a government campaign against illegal drugs. Story on page 12.

RAFFY LERMA / PDI

Duterte calls off truce We won’t be bullied, says Joma Sison

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT DUTERTE last night recalled his ceasefire order after a 5 p.m. deadline he had set passed without a response from communist insurgents.

But Jose Maria Sison, founding chair of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said that although refusing to be bullied, the insurgents had planned

to declare a truce at 8 p.m.

“But since Duterte had already lifted his ceasefire order, then there’s nothing we can do,” Sison told ABS-CBN News Channel, speaking from Utrecht, the Netherlands, where he is living in selfimposed exile. The ceasefire, which Mr. Duterte declared during his inaugural State of the Nation Address to Congress on Monday, lasted less than a week.

So, where should I study?

BY TAMSYN BURGMANN The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — For the past 14 years, organizers of a giant electronic music festival on a British Columbia mountain ranch have quietly helped participants test their recreational drugs to find out what substances are inside.

Shambhala organizers will also hand out 4,000 pamphlets warning about the deadly drug fentanyl to those attending the festival that starts Wednesday.

But what they really want to increase safety is a miniature mobile mass spectrometer.

Unable to secure government funding for the sophisticated drug-testing machine, which could cost up to $250,000 or more, the harm-reduction provider for the festival has launched an online crowdfunding campaign hoping to make the purchase by next

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Solon seeks House probe on PHP70-B telco deal

BY CIELITO M. REGANIT Philippines News Agency

Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez vows to strengthen civil society participation in environmental governance.

DENR / PNA

Duterte: PH can live without mining

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES can survive without revenue from mining companies, President Duterte said on Monday as he warned the firms to strictly follow environmental rules and regulations or face closure.

Mr. Duterte said mining companies contributed about P40 billion a year to government coffers, but declared that he was willing to forego the revenue if they did not shape up.

“You obey or we will survive as a nation without you,” Mr. Duterte told a media briefing where he fielded questions from the Malacañang Press Corps for the first time.

“I can forego the P40 billion I collect from you guys and the Filipinos will survive without you. Either you follow strictly government standards or you close down,” he said.

It was the boldest statement yet from Mr. Duterte against domestic miners whom he warned before he took office on June 30 to “shape up” and to “stop spoiling the land.”

7 suspended

The government has so far suspended the operations of seven domestic nickel mines for failure to comply with environmental regulations.

Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, who began an audit of all mining sites on July 8, last week vowed to close more mining operations as public complaints mounted against those causing environmental destruction.

Leave Gina alone

Mr. Duterte also told mining companies not to attack Lopez through publicity, and described her as a bright person and a crusader.

“You try to castigate Gina Lopez for being strict and yet you destroy the land, destroy the soil. And then you get rich from it,” he said.

Lopez has been tussling with business

groups over her statements critical of the mining industry. She had said that mining had not lifted people from poverty, but that it had contributed to the poisoning of waterways and agricultural lands.

He also warned that he would look for all mining pits without licenses and order the military and the police to close them.

‘Stuff you in hole’

“If you will not follow, I will stuff you in that hole and cover you up. You want to try it, fine, let’s do it,” he said.

As the companies bore holes in the earth, landslides occurred, he said.

“And then you will say mining is a critical component of the Philippine economy. Of course it is. It’s income. But you are also causing critical damage,” he said.

Some mining executives, however, said the sector was being unfairly targeted.

“The industry is using less than 20,000 hectares out of the 30 million hectares comprising the total land area of the Philippines,” said Dante Bravo, president of Global Ferronickel Holdings Inc., the Philippines’ second biggest nickel ore miner.

“And we are contributing so much to the national economy and local development. So I think we should be treated fairly,” Bravo told Reuters.

The Philippines is the biggest supplier of nickel ore to top consumer China, taking over from Indonesia after that country banned shipments of unprocessed mineral ore in 2014.

Mining contributes less than 1 percent to the Philippine economy, with a large chunk of minerals from gold to copper and nickel remaining untapped, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

Of the 9 million hectares identified as having high mineral reserves, only 3 percent is being mined, according to the MGB. The suspension of nickel mines in the Philippines and the risk of more closures lifted global nickel prices to an 11-month high of $10,900 a ton on July 21. It peaked at $10,800 on Monday after rising nearly 13 percent in July, the biggest monthly gain since April 2014. ■

MANILA — A partylist lawmaker at the House of Representatives has filed a resolution directing Congress to conduct a probe into the PHP70-billion joint acquisition of all telecommunications interests previously owned by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Globe Telecom that he said may have simply tightened the two telco giants’ grip on the telecommunications industry.

House Resolution No. 93 authored by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin particularly directs the House Committee on Trade and Industry to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the review currently being undertaken by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on the SMC-PLDT-Globe transaction.

Villarin said that the probe aims to get to the root cause of this issue and ascertain whether or not PLDT and Globe’s joint purchase was indeed for the benefit of consumers and the public in general.

“They are already giants who charge exorbitant rates but deliver poor service. Consumers are complaining. This

is precisely one of the ill effects of their exclusive control over the telco industry,” he said.

“Now we are being led to believe that they can perform better by being bigger,” Villarin said.

The SMC buyout deal was sealed last May 30 but the PCC said it will investigate the controversial deal.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act, PCC is mandated to look into possible unfair business practices such as the creation of monopolies and cartels.

The CA denied Globe Telecom’s application for a TRO on July 23.

In the meantime, Villarin said that through the House inquiry, Congress and government regulators could assure millions of mobile phone subscribers that the government will not tolerate any uncompetitive practices in the telecommunications industry.

“The State must be able to assure consumers that the telco is free from uncompetitive practices, and all players operate based on the quality of their services, so that prices can be driven at lower and more affordable levels instead of being manipulated by a single or few corporations,” Villarin said. ■

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Philippine News

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

President Duterte to name 27 local officials linked to illegal drugs — Palace PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte will reveal “soon” the names of at least 27 local executives allegedly involved in illegal drug activities, Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said on Tuesday.

“Until now, talaga nasa kaniya iyong listahan. Pero hindi na po tatagal at ire-report na rin po niya sa publiko (The President has the list and will soon announce it to the public),” Abella said in a television interview.

Abella refused to pro-

vide further details but said: “You’ll find it very interesting after his report. Hintayin na lang po natin iyong report ni Presidente (We just have to wait for the President’s announcement).”

Earlier, presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo told mediamen in Malacanang that the list is composed of 27 local executives provided by the government intelligence group.

“My God, you will be shocked,” Panelo said.

Panelo said President Duterte might identify the local executives either Tuesday

night or Wednesday.

Much like the five generals named by the President early last month, Panelo said the local executives will also be investigated.

The five generals identified by the President include: PNP Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr.; former National Capital Region Police Office chief, Director Joel Pagdilao; Western Visayas regional director, Chief Superintendent Bernardo Diaz; Quezon City Police District director, Chief Superintendent Edgardo Tinio; and retired police general Vicente “Vic” Loot. ■

Former PDEA director Dionisio Santiago.

Ex-PDEA chief clears PNP exec Santiago: No proof linking former QC top cop Tinio to drugs

BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer THE FORMER director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Sunday came to the defense of Chief Supt. Edgardo Tinio, the former chief of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), who was accused by President Duterte of coddling illegal drug syndicates.

Dionisio Santiago, who also served as Armed Forces chief of staff, said he himself conducted a background check on Tinio after the President said that he and four other retired and active senior police officials were involved in the illegal drug trade.

A seasoned Army intelligence officer, Santiago said he did not come across Tinio’s name when he headed PDEA, the country’s primary antinarcotics agency, during the Arroyo administration.

Support from ‘mistahs’

According to him, he personally interviewed several individuals, including incumbent PDEA officials and Tinio’s “mistahs” (classmates) at the Philippine Military Academy (Class 1985), who all vouched for his integrity.

“I did a countercheck on him (Tinio) and it looks like he’s clean. They said he’s straight and has no involvement in illegal drugs,” Santiago told the INQUIRER. Tinio, however, admitted that he used to accept grease money from jueteng operations when he was assigned in Central Luzon, Santiago said. www.canadianinquirer.net

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He added that a certain Agcaoili, Tinio’s subordinate, had delivered protection money to Tinio purportedly coming from jueteng operators in Pampanga province.

Payola from jueteng

“Maybe Agcaoili told him that the payola came only from jueteng, but he was unaware that drug money was also being delivered to him,” Santiago said.

While he respected the President’s decision to name Tinio and the four other officials, he surmised that those who provided Mr. Duterte with the information were “pressured” to identify high-ranking Philippine National Police officials allegedly protecting drug lords.

“I’m sure the President has information which we do not know [about]. He’s a good operator,” Santiago said. “But those tasked to produce the names of police officials should not let politics or other motives get in the way of their work because lives are at stake here,” he added.

Santiago, whom the President supported in his failed bid for a Senate seat in the May 9 elections, said that Tinio had sought an audience with him.

“That’s why I conducted my own background check on (Tinio) because I did not want to talk to him if he was indeed into illegal drugs,” Santiago said.

Aside from Tinio, the four other PNP officials named

by Mr. Duterte were retired Deputy Director Gen. Marcelo Garbo; retired Chief Supt. now Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot; Director Joel Pagdilao and Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz. ■

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PET orders VP Robredo to answer Marcos’ poll protest

BY PERFECTO T. RAYMUNDO JR. Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), ordered Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo on Tuesday to answer the election protest filed by losing candidate former Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. Likewise, the SC granted the prayer of the protestant for a precautionary protection order (PPO) and ordered

the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to preserve and protect the integrity of all the ballot boxes and their contents used in the May 9, 2016 elections for the position of Vice President.

“The Tribunal resolved to ISSUE SUMMONS and GRANT the prayer of the protestant for a Precautionary Protection Order pursuant to Rule 36 of the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal,” SC Public Information Office (PIO) Chief and Spokesman Atty. Theodore O. Te said of the PET resolution in a press conference on Tues-

day.

“The Tribunal further resolved to NOTE the Manifestation dated July 1, 2016 by counsel for the protestant,” Te added.

The case is an election protest under Rule 15 dated June 28, 2016 filed by counsel for protestant Marcos contesting the election and proclamation of protestee Robredo as Vice President of the Philippines in the 2016 national and local elections.

In his petition, Marcos argued that the proclamation of Robredo as the duly-elected

Vice President is null and void because the certificates of canvass (COCs) generated by the consolidation and canvass system (CCS) are not authentic and may not be used as basis to determine the number of votes that the candidates for Vice President received.

He further argued that massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities such as terrorism, violence, force, threats, intimidation, pre-shading of ballots, vote-buying, substitution of voters, flying voters, pre-loaded secure digital (SD) cards, misreading of ballots,

unexplained irregular and improper rejection of ballots, malfunctioning of vote counting machines (VCMs) and abnormally high unaccounted votes/ undervotes for the position of Vice President affected the results in 25 provinces and five highly-urbanized cities consisting of 39,221 clustered precincts.

The PET’s resolution requiring the issuance of summons on the protestee Robredo, with a copy of the protest, required her to file an answer to the protest within 10 days from receipt of the summons. ■

Quiapo road rage killer sorry: He rejected biker’s handshake

BY KRISTINE FELISSE MANGUNAY Philippine Daily Inquirer “NAGDILIM LANG talaga paningin ko (I just snapped).”

This was how Vhon Martin Tanto, black-eyed and handcuffed, summed up the moment that suddenly changed the course of his life—and ended that of Mark Vincent Garalde, the man he shot dead in a road altercation in Quiapo, Manila, on the night of July 25.

Presented at the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters a day after he surrendered in Masbate province, Tanto publicly apologized to the Garalde family, whose members were present in a press conference held by Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

The 39-year-old Tanto, who was also revealed to be a reservist Army private when the MPD tagged him as the suspect in the road rage incident, later underwent inquest proceedings at the Department of Justice.

He was formally accused of murder and frustrated murder.

The second charge stemmed from the case of Rocel Bondoc, an 18-year-old college student who was hit by a stray bullet in the back when Tanto shot Garalde several times.

What video didn’t show

The incident was captured

on security camera on P. Casal Street, where the two men— Tanto driving a compact car, Garalde on a bike—crossed paths. A now viral video showed Tanto and Garalde getting into a two-minute fistfight, then walking back to their vehicles, Garalde reapproaching the car, and Tanto getting out again to shoot the biker.

Facing reporters at the MPD, Tanto gave his version of what happened, from what took place off-camera to their heated verbal exchanges.

He said he was passing through the area that night looking for a gas station after coming from Bulacan. His 4-year-old daughter was asleep in the back seat. (A Manila police investigator earlier said he was with a woman in the vehicle.)

He was exiting Vergara Street and Garalde was heading toward Ayala Bridge when they almost hit each other, causing Tanto to suddenly veer to the right and step on the brakes.

He then honked his horn at Garalde.

‘Kuya, I’m sorry’

“I thought that was just OK with him,” Tanto recalled in Filipino. “I didn’t know he chased me. When I saw him doing this, I stopped, rolled down my window and said, ‘Kuya (brother), I’m sorry.’ We didn’t hit each other, but bicycles should stick to the side, especially since they

don’t have lights.”

But Garalde, he said, snarled back with an insult—“G--o ka!”— and called him an “arrogant driver.”

They then traded invectives, which awakened Tanto’s daughter and made her cry.

“He told me that if I’m brave enough I should get out of the car. So I did…and we started fighting,” Tanto said. He conceded being knocked hard— “napuruhan ako (I was oneupped)”— and that he “almost died” when Garalde had him in a headlock.

After Garalde released the “weakened” Tanto, “I picked up my slippers and went back to the car.”

In the video, Garalde at this point was seen walking toward the car and appeared to be extending his hand inside the vehicle. According to Tanto, Garalde “was going to shake my hand because he saw the Philippine Army sticker on the car.

Perhaps he realized that I was a soldier.”

Last straw

“I rejected (his gesture). I said it’s already OK because we’ve already let off steam. I just shoved his hand away.”

He then noticed that Garalde also left his bicycle leaning against his car, so he asked him to remove it lest his car get another scratch.

Garalde purportedly responded: “How arrogant you www.canadianinquirer.net

Reservist Army private Vhon Martin Tanto.

are! If you want, I will break your windshield!”

That’s when Tanto reached for the .45-caliber pistol he was keeping in the car, stepped out to walk a few paces to get near Garalde, then pulled the trigger.

Leaving the crime scene, he said, he was initially afraid to surrender to the authorities, since “killing (crime suspects) is a trend nowadays.”

He instead brought his daughter back to their Quiapo residence and went to his brother’s house in Baliauag, Bulacan.

Fearing for family’s safety

“The following day I was in Nueva Vizcaya. I met with my brother-in-law. He picked me up. I left my car and my gun with him. I said that if there

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would be any problems, give those to the police. And then I left.”

He then met his wife and child in Cubao. From there, he took them to her hometown in Masbate to ensure their safety since he felt they were already in danger in their Quiapo neighborhood.

Tanto maintained he was never arrested and that his surrender to a village chair on Friday was coordinated with his Army reserve unit through his brother-in-law.

In a message to the Garaldes, he said: “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.

I’m really sorry. Nagdilim lang talaga paningin ko (I was not thinking straight anymore).”

“To those who are listening, I’m sorry to all of you.” ■

Philippine News

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Senator Villar eyes free rehab for indigent drug users

BY JELLY F. MUSICO Philippines News Agency

President Rodrigo R. Duterte administers the oath of office of the newly-elected officials and members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines and League of Cities of the Philippines.

KING RODRIGUEZ / PPD / PNA

Digong cracks jokes to lighten NSC meet mood

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer

Six days later, Mr. Duterte called Robredo in a nationally broadcast PTV 4 interview and offered her the housing portfolio.

IT MAY have been a long and serious meeting that mixed former leaders with unresolved issues between them, but President Duterte had a not-so-secret weapon up his sleeve to brighten up the room: his comic flair.

Known for his casual style and preference for the informal, Mr. Duterte steered the more than five-hour National Security Council meeting on Wednesday with jokes and ad libs, lightening up the atmosphere even as discussions dealt with some of the country’s gravest problems, said Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. Similar to the playful mien he showed during his first State of the Nation Address on Monday, the President unleashed antics that kept the meeting vibrant even in the presence of former officials who are no longer in speaking terms: former Presidents Benigno Aquino III and Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative.

No greeting

Exchanging jokes

“It was nice. [Those present] were very friendly. We were laughing. We exchanged jokes. But chiefly, it was President Duterte who made the jokes,” Aguirre told reporters yesterday.

Asked what some of the jokes were, the justice secretary, who was sworn to secrecy about Wednesday night’s proceedings, shared one.

Beautiful Vice President

“His joke was that our Vice President is beautiful,” said Aguirre, in reference to Vice President Leni Robredo.

It had taken a while for Mr. Duterte to meet with Robredo after their respective electoral victories in May. Things warmed up between the two when they first met at the military’s change of command ceremonies on July 1, when a seemingly smitten Mr. Duterte even offered hanky-holding Robredo his coco water.

Asked about the dynamics between Aquino and Arroyo, Aguirre said: “They didn’t say anything awkward [to each other]. They just didn’t greet each other.”

Footage of the encounter showed the cold relationship between Aquino and Arroyo. The latter was released recently after the Supreme Court dismissed plunder charges filed against her during the former’s term. Throughout his six years in Malacañang, Aquino often attributed the country’s problems to Arroyo.

MANILA — Senator Cynthia Villar has filed a bill establishing more rehabilitation centers and a socialized payment scheme that would make rehabilitation and treatment free for the indigent drug users.

In filing Senate Bill No. 718, Villar noted that the inadequate number of rehabilitation centers in the country is now more evident with the number of drug dependents seeking rehabilitation increasing day by day.

The bill also seeks to make rehabilitation expenses chargeable to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation or PhilHealth.

“The government must be ready to extend help to these drug dependents who should be treated as victims rather than criminals. Ensuring their recovery through rehabilitation and reintegration into the community will be beneficial to society as they will become productive citizens,” Villar said.

Since the implementation of the anti-illegal drugs drive “Oplan Tokhang”

No sitting order

Aguirre said there was protocol observed in the way the four leaders were seated from across Mr. Duterte, but it was clear they were not positioned according to their terms in office, as Arroyo was seated two places away from Aquino, with former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada between them.

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who was seated to Arroyo’s left, said he “did not notice” the dynamics between Arroyo and Aquino.

“The atmosphere was serious, but then the President had his way of lightening the atmosphere,” Pimentel said.

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, among those invited to the meeting, said Mr. Duterte shifted from serious to comical during the meeting.

“He can be focused one moment and funny the next. It is both educational and entertaining. This guy’s thought process is good. He knows when to summarize points and where to shepherd the discussion,” Recto said, complimenting the President.

Recto said that as much as Mr. Duterte gave “great inputs,” he was also the source of “inhouse entertainment.

“To break the monotony of long meetings, [Wednesday’s] was almost five hours long, he has this comedian’s gift of timing on when to crack jokes,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

with the assumption into office of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, over 120,000 drug suspects have surrendered to the authorities.

Villar said more rehabilitation centers where a drug dependent will be motivated to regain self-confidence, rediscover his working abilities and develop a sense of responsibility for himself, are needed.

According to the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) website, there are a total of 44 DOH-accredited rehabilitation centers nationwide, 28 of which are operated by non-government organizations, 12 are government-owned, and four are maintained by local government units.

Earlier, Villar has proposed the training of drug users in farm schools as a way of rehabilitation. She said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has allotted PHP500 million for 45,000 scholars of agriculture-related courses.

“We have heard a lot of testimonies coming from individuals whose lives have changed after participating in free trainings on agriculture. This is also a livelihood opportunity for drug users who want to start anew,” Villar said. ■

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BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN AND LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer NOW IT is clear: the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) went out of its way to control the minority bloc in the House of Representatives to railroad its plan to amend the 1987 Constitution through a constituent assembly (Con-ass).

“Only one day after the selection of the majority’s ‘minority leader,’ the leadership of the majority coalition opted to convert Congress into a constituent assembly to propose amendments to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

FACEBOOK PHOTO the Constitution, like the shift from unitary-presidential to federal-parliamenBayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate said tablishment of a purely parliamentary tary, instead of the original plan to call the Makabayan bloc had appealed to Al- system with a prime minister as head of a constitutional convention (Con-con),” varez to reconsider his Con-ass proposal. state.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yester“Con-ass will not be acceptable to the Based on preliminary discussions day. “Congress, acting as a constituent people as they perceive Congress to be among congressional leaders, Fariñas assembly, is a convenient launching pad dominated by political dynasties and said 12 states would be established: for federalism, more than the projected fear that vested and self-serving inter- Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Metconstitutional convention, which may ests would inevitably influence proposed ro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, not be easy to control,” Lagman said, changes to the Constitution. This is evi- Mimparom (Mindoro, Masbate, Paladismissing Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s dent in the public outcry against Con-ass, wan and Romblon), Eastern Visayas, claim that he preferred Con-ass to save particularly on social media, which has Western Visayas, Central Visayas, the P7-billion cost of a Con-con. been fast and furious,” Zarate said.

Northern Mindanao, Western Mindan“The order of the day is inordinate With the rich and powerful control- ao and Bangsamoro. fast-tracking with the hegemony of su- ling Congress, Zarate expected the ConFariñas said Congress would follow permajorities assured,” Lagman said. ass to “do away with its protectionist President Duterte’s suggestion to adopt Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez of the economic provisions, remove the an- the French form of parliamentary govUnited Nationalist Alliance was elected tidynasty clause and lift term limits of ernment because Filipinos preferred to on Wednesday as minority leader amid elected officials.” elect their Presidents. accusation from LibBut this will only eral Party (LP) membe transitional, as the bers in the minority main goal is to have a that PDP-Laban’s alpurely parliamentary lies in the partylist We want a democratic, deliberative, and system where repreinclusive process, not one that stifles opposition coalition allowed sentatives from each and dissent, which is what our Congress has themselves to be state elect a prime now turned into. used to win the vote minister to lead the for Suarez and beat country, Fariñas said.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy He said the modiBaguilat of the LP. fied parliamentary Baguilat had the second highest vote Akbayan party-list group also opposes form of government was adopted from in Monday’s speakership race. By tradi- Con-ass because of the lack of check and 1973 Constitution, and put into effect tion, he should have been automatically balance. and tried through the short-lived Bataelected as minority leader.

“A constitutional assembly under a sang Pambansa in 1984.

Suarez supports Alvarez’s proposal to supermajority in both chambers of Conamend the Constitution through a con- gress is like having zombies to rewrite Benefits of Con-ass stituent assembly. our Constitution,” Akbayan Rep. Tom Senate President Aquilino “Koko” PiAlvarez has denied any hand in the Villarin said. mentel III said he believed his colleagues election of Suarez.

“We want a democratic, delibera- would keep an open mind and eventually tive, and inclusive process, not one that support President Duterte’s preferred Supermajority stifles opposition and dissent, which way of amending the Constitution, espeWith PDP-Laban having a superma- is what our Congress has now turned cially since they would play the starring jority in both the House and the Senate, into,” he added. role in a constituent assembly.

Lagman said he was not surprised why Villarin said costs should not be an isPimentel, an advocate of federalism the new ruling party agreed to a Con- sue when it came to ensuring genuine who earlier pushed for a constitutional ass rather than a Con-con, which would representation in matters of national convention, said in a phone interview entail electing delegates to a convention importance, such as amending the Con- that he could see the benefits of a conthat would propose amendments to the stitution. stituent assembly and would now supConstitution. port the idea.

Even allies of President Duterte them- 12 regions In a constituent assembly, members selves were not too keen on amendIlocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, the ments through Con-ass. majority leader, said the goal was the es❱❱ PAGE 10 Solons raise www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

9

Philippines, rebels want peace talks despite feud over truce

BY JIM GOMEZ The Associated Press

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald M. Dela Rosa announces the official launching of the "911 Hotline" to reporters.

OLIVER MARQUEZ / PNA

First day of 911 ‘generally successful’ — DILG

BY SAMMY F. MARTIN Philippines News Agency MANILA — Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno on Tuesday said the first day of operation of the new national emergency hotline 911 was ‘generally successful’ despite the huge number of prank callers.

“Judging from the huge volume of calls received by 911 for the first 24 hours of operation, we can say that the public is now aware that help is within reach through 911. We definitely had a good start,” Sueno said.

The first 911 call received by the ‘national 911 center’ came in at 12:06 a.m. from Antipolo City requesting for an ambulance service.

On Monday, over 33,000 calls were received by the 911 operation center, which is almost a 1,000-percent increase from the 3,500 daily average of calls received by the previous 117 hotline center.

From a meager 15-seater call center emergency hotline operation, the 911 operation center has doubled its capacity to a 30-seat nationwide disaster hotline center.

The DILG Secretary reiterated his earlier appeal to the public to stop testing 911 because in every attempt to dial the number without the real intention to seek emergency assistance, one or more lives are put to risk.

“Anyone who dials 911 will be accepted and registered in the 911 system, however, due to increased volume in calls, particularly prank calls, we were not

able to respond accordingly to such emergencies because our system has been clogged,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, DILG Undersecretary Jesus Hinlo, Jr. said the Department has already submitted a draft Executive Order to be reviewed by the DILG Secretary for the Office of the President.

In the draft EO, Hinlo suggested that a sanction should be imposed against prank callers as an attempt to discourage future hoax callers that will play with the emergency hotline.

The draft EO originally seeks to amend the existing Executive Order No. 226 which allowed the operation of the old emergency hotline 117 under the administration of Patrol 117 Commission.

The said EO would also set the tone of the new Memorandum of Agreement that would be entered by the DILG, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Foundation for Crime Prevention (FCP), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, Philippine Association of Private Telephone Companies, ABS-CBN Convergence, Bayan Telecommunications, Inc., Digitel Telecommunications Philippines, Inc., Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., Innove Communications, Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Smart Communications, Inc. and e-PLDT. ■

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday his government would pursue peace talks with communist guerrillas despite an initial setback when he withdrew a ceasefire order after the rebels killed a militiaman in an attack.

Duterte also announced he would release a top rebel couple, Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, from detention in another move to bolster the resumption of peace negotiations scheduled for Aug. 20-27 in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.

“It’s always a rocky road.

There is no negotiation that comes easy to us, especially given the turmoil of our country,” Duterte said in a speech before swearing in new officials at the presidential palace.

“We are hoping that we could just talk, maybe we did not understand each other. And so, the best way is really is to talk again and find out whether it is reachable or beyond our reach,” he said.

Duterte declared a ceasefire on July 25 but withdrew it five days later after the rebels killed a

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militiaman in a landmine attack in southern Davao del Norte province and failed to declare their own truce by Saturday.

The president held a Cabinet meeting Monday to discuss how his government would pursue talks with the communist insurgents and two groups of Muslim rebels in the country’s south, while excluding the brutal Abu Sayyaf extremist group.

The Maoist guerrillas said in a statement on Sunday that they still fully back the resumption of long-stalled talks and were willing to declare a unilateral cease-fire simultaneously with the government when the talks resume.

Duterte withdrew his truce order before the guerrillas could announce their own ceasefire on Saturday, the rebels said, adding it was “quite capricious” for the president “to have imposed such ultimatums of a few hours or several days for the Communist Party of the Philippines to act in accordance with his whims.”

“It is advisable for (Duterte) to exercise a little more prudence and display more measured temperament ... in order to avoid such impulsive acts as imposing ultimatums by the hour on a conflict that has spanned nearly fifty

years,” the rebels said.

Following the lifting of the government ceasefire, army troops and police killed a New People’s Army rebel in a clash Monday with up 20 guerrillas who were reportedly extorting money from villagers in Malimono town in southeastern Surigao del Norte province, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said.

Duterte suggested Monday that he was open to declaring a new government ceasefire with communist insurgents.

The decades-long communist insurgency has left about 150,000 combatants and civilians dead since it broke out in the late 1960s. It also has stunted economic development, especially in the countryside, where the Maoist insurgents are active.

Under Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, peace talks stalled over the government’s refusal to heed a rebel demand for the release of some captured guerrillas. Duterte, however, has agreed to the release of detained rebels, who would be involved in peace talks, and designated two allies of the guerrillas to Cabinet posts in concessions aimed at fostering the talks. ■

10

Philippine News

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

US man cleared of rape after 5 years in PH jail

BY TERESA CEROJANO The Associated Press MANILA, PHILIPPINES — An American man jailed in the Philippines for more than five years was freed Tuesday after being acquitted of rape.

A court in metropolitan Manila cleared Scott McMahon,

of Seattle, after finding no clear evidence that he committed rape, as a Filipino woman alleged, a court official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

A jail officer, Omar Surigao, said that after the acquittal, McMahon was released from the Muntinlupa City jail in

metropolitan Manila. He said McMahon’s mother, Shelley Campanella, was among those present when McMahon was released.

McMahon, who has two children with his Filipino fiancee, had been detained since April 7, 2011.

Campanella has said that her son was wrongly accused

QC police report decrease in theft, robbery cases as murders go up

BY MARICAR B. BRIZUELA Philippine Daily Inquirer

it shows that our efforts versus drugs also affect other related crimes.”

Robbery and theft cases peaked two years ago when the QCPD recorded 84 and 182 cases, respectively, for the first semester of 2014.

However, for murder cases, Eleazar noted that the weekly average of four cases during the first half of 2016 went up to five cases in the first two weeks of July followed by eight cases each in the last two weeks. The figure, however, does not include the cases of drug-related vigilante killings carried out by still unidentified men.

No witnesses

“We are looking into these cases but most of the time, there are no witnesses who could come forward in relation to these killings,” he said.

Based on the INQUIRER “Kill List,” 29 victims of vigilante killings have been reported in Quezon City since June 30.

At the same time, Eleazar reported that they have approached more than 4,500 households in the city in line with Oplan KaPak (Katok Pakiusap), a program of the Philippine National Police which aims to encourage drug users to voluntarily surrender to the authorities.

A MONTH after the President called on authorities to wage a relentless war on criminals and drug personalities, the crime rate in Quezon City, particularly theft and robbery cases, has gone down. However, the number of murder incidents has doubled and this does not include “vigilante killings,” according to the Quezon City Police District (QCPD).

In a recent interview, QCPD chief Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, who was assigned to the post in early July, said that More surrenderors the district had noted a decrease As of July 31, in the number Sometimes, they resort to robbery the QCPD has and theft to sustain their vice. This is of crimes in the listed 5,485 drug a good sign for us since it shows that city starting in users and 456 our efforts versus drugs also affect the last week of drug pushers other related crimes.

June. who yielded to Since the end the police. The of June, the authorities have weekly average also arrested 459 of robbery cases persons linked has gone down to illegal drugs to 20 compared to 34 between “We cannot totally eliminate while 32 others were killed in December 2015 and June 2016. crime and have a zero crime what the police said were leSimilarly, theft cases have also rate for now. Some murder cas- gitimate operations after they decreased to a weekly average es could be linked to crimes of reportedly resisted. of 47 from 64. passion while qualified theft inOne of the latest fatalities Eleazar attributed the de- cidents also cannot be avoided,” in the war against drugs of the crease to their stepped-up he said.

QCPD was one of its own, narcampaign against drugs, saying Eleazar, however, stressed cotics operative Senior Supt. that almost all of the suspects that they were also investigat- Ramon Castillo, who was shot caught were under the influ- ing the cases of victims who dead in an encounter with his ence of illegal substances. were apparently tortured be- colleagues during a buy-bust fore they were killed and their operation last week. His alleged Good sign bodies dumped along with involvement in illegal drugs “Sometimes, they resort to cardboard messages accusing resulted in the transfer of 35 robbery and theft to sustain them of either being drug users members of the District Antitheir vice,” he said, adding: or criminals.

Illegal DrugsSpecial Opera“This is a good sign for us since tions Task Group. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

of rape by the woman after he filed a case against her for allegedly traumatizing his young son.

The woman, the wife of McMahon’s friend, had allegedly burst into McMahon’s home with police, shouting as she looked for her estranged husband. The incident allegedly traumatized the son.

“We are so thrilled that this part of the nightmare is over and that Scott will not be spending another day in prison,” McMahon’s sister, Jennifer, said in a video posted on Facebook, calling the rape accusation “retaliation” by the woman for the case McMahon had filed against her. ■

Solons raise... of Congress could limit the topics to be discussed, could hire experts to help them come up with proposed changes to the Constitution, and could do the job without receiving additional salaries, he said.

“Since we would set the limit for ourselves, we are expected to follow our own Con-ass resolution,” he added.

This could help deal with concerns that lawmakers may use the assembly to push for reforms that would benefit only them or lengthen their stay in power.

The public could also keep a close watch on proposed changes, and complain if they dislike what’s happening, since the process would be open and transparent, Pimentel said.

As for questions on expertise of members of Congress who have no background in law to study and propose changes to the Constitution, Pimentel said legislators could always hire experts to help them.

Even in a constitutional convention, there is no guarantee that the delegates to be elected would be experts, he said.

Malacañang also sought to ease concerns that a Con-ass would be self-serving.

“Whatever results will be from the Con-con or Con-ass, it will be to the benefit of the next generation of leaders, right?

It will not be affecting them directly. So being self-serving does not really come into play here,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella told in a press briefing. ❰❰ 8

Bone of contention

But Sen. Leila de Lima said it was not the question of a constituent assembly or a constitutional convention that she expected to be the bone of con-

tention, but the idea of shifting to a federal form government.

“There will be those for or against either mode of constitutional amendment, but I don’t think the issue alone will divide elected officials or the public.

What is potentially divisive is the issue of federalism itself,” De Lima said in a text message.

Sen. Grace Poe is open to discussions of federalism and may be inclined to support it through a constituent assembly given certain conditions.

First, Poe said Congress must pass a freedom of information law that would cover the entire government, including local governments, under a federal government. Congress must also pass an antipolitical dynasty law to ensure a level playing field for everyone.

Second, the conversion of regions into federal states must be done in phases so that those that could stand on their own economically would be the priority, she said.

Poor regions should continue to receive support from the national government until they could stand on their own, she added.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros said a constituent assembly went “against the interest of democracy and active citizenship, especially with a House where the heavy hand of the Executive was so plain to see.”

Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto said a constituent assembly was more practical or pragmatic, but the question was whether the two houses of Congress would vote jointly or separately, since the Constitution requires a three-fourths vote of all members of Congress to revise or amend the Charter.

Recto said he was not in favor of a shift to the parliamentary form of government. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

11

Duterte calls...

“Let me announce that I am hereby ordering the immediate lifting of the unilateral ceasefire that I ordered last July 25 against the communist rebels,” the President said in a statement.

Mr. Duterte also ordered the military and the police “to withdraw the operation guidelines they had issued” after his truce declaration.

He directed government forces to be on alert for threats to national security.

“I am ordering all security forces to be on high alert and continue to discharge their normal functions and mandate to neutralize all threats to national security, protect the citizenry, enforce the laws and maintain peace in the land,” the President said.

Mr. Duterte had made friendly overtures to the insurgents, then issued the ceasefire order to encourage peace talks.

Two days after his announcement, however, communist New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas ambushed militiamen returning to their base in Kapalong, Davao del Norte province, killing one and wounding four others, angering Mr. Duterte, who threatened to scuttle his ceasefire order unless the rebels showed their readiness to match his truce declaration. ❰❰ 1

Insurgents planned truce

Mr. Duterte initially threatened to recall his ceasefire order by Friday but extended his deadline after the rebels said they were investigating the guerrilla attack.

On Friday, the President gave the rebels an ultimatum, saying he would scuttle his ceasefire order if they would not declare their own truce by 5 p.m. the next day.

The deadline passed yesterday with no indication the rebels would declare a truce.

In his television interview, Sison criticized Mr. Duterte for

giving the insurgents an ultimatum.

Calling the President a “bully,” he said Mr. Duterte could never tell the revolutionary movement to do whatever he wanted.

“He is so thuggish, he immediately wants a fight. If he doesn’t want peace, so be it,” Sison said.

He said the ceasefire order from the CPP was a public notice from the information department of the party’s central committee, and was recommended by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political arm of the local communist movement.

“Four hours ago, there was an announcement of a ceasefire order from the revolutionary movement at 8 p.m. It was they who would decide whether to release or hold it,” he said.

Sison said he was not in a position to order the insurgents to declare a truce.

No real ceasefire

Even the military was not enforcing Mr. Duterte’s ceasefire order, he said.

“He should not give us an ultimatum. We asked for only a little time. What we are trying to resolve here is a real war that has lasted for decades,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, a spokesperson for the NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command said the military, militiamen and the police showed no signs they were observing a ceasefire even after President Duterte had declared a truce.

“The NPA and the people’s militia are ready to defend [themselves against] enemy troops who are actively present in almost all villages in Southern Mindanao,” Rigoberto Sanchez, the rebel spokesperson, said.

“These are not troops implementing innocuous ‘civil-military operations’ but are imple-

President Rodrigo R. Duterte and members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) do the fist gesture after delivering his speech at the AFP Medical Center.

ROBINSON NINAL / PPD / PNA

menting combat operations, surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence and psychological warfare in civilian communities,” he said.

Sanchez said government forces continued military operations in Magpet, North Cotabato, after Mr. Duterte’s truce declaration.

“On July 27, platoons of the 84th [Infantry Battalion] were deployed in far-flung communities in Toril, Davao City. In Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, troops of the 2nd Scout Rangers Battalion conducted combat operations on July 29,” he said.

Earlier, the NPA admitted the attack on militiamen in Kapalong, but said it was a counteroffensive.

Peace talks

Yesterday, Sanchez said the firefight in Kapalong was proof of continuing government operations against the NPA. He said military officials opposed to peace were spinning lies to derail the peace negotiations.

Sanchez said it would be difficult for the NPA to reciprocate Mr. Duterte’s ceasefire declaration if there were military officials who refused to follow the President’s order.

In his television interview, Sison said he remained open

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to peace talks with the government.

“As far as I’m concerned, what has been decided—that the twosides will meet for talks—is still on,” he said.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza said last night that peace talks with the insurgents would continue even with the lifting of the truce order.

Speaking on state-run Radyo ng Bayan, Dureza said there was no “intervening factor” that would affect the resumption of peace negotiations.

Earlier yesterday, Dureza said peace talks with the insurgents would proceed even if President Duterte scuttled his ceasefire order.

“We’re pushing through with it as originally scheduled,” he said.

He said the talks, to be held from Aug. 20 to 27 in Oslo, Norway, had been set before Mr. Duterte declared a ceasefire during his inaugural address to Congress last Monday. “[The lifting of the ceasefire order] will not in any way affect the peace talks because we know, even when we agreed to resume peace negotiations, we have tabled as an agenda item the discussion on the current ceasefire. At that time, we did not even consider that a unilat-

eral ceasefire would be called by the President,” he said.

“So it is not a factor at all in the planned negotiations,” he added.

A bilateral ceasefire could be discussed during the peace talks, he said.

“We can fine-tune the ceasefire arrangement there because when you come up with a bilateral negotiated ceasefire, the mechanisms and the other collateral arrangements will be discussed across the table during that particular time,” he said.

As for the statement of Sison asking the President for more time to study a ceasefire, Dureza said he respected the statement.

But Sison should also respect the position that Mr. Duterte had taken, he said.

He said that the President declared a unilateral ceasefire to bring peace, protect communities, and provide an enabling environment for peace negotiations.

But the President, he said, had also expected the communist groups to reciprocate with their own truce declaration. ■ With reports from Yuji Vincent Gonzales, Inquirer.net; and Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao

12

Philippine News

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

The death of an invisible man

BY ERIC S. CARUNCHO Philippine Daily Inquirer IN LIFE, Michael Siaron was all but invisible, just one of the faceless masses barely getting by on the mean streets of Metro Manila.

He belonged to the urban poor, a kind that more fortunate Filipinos run into every day but don’t really see, because they’ve learned to tune it out of their consciousness, along with the smell of open sewers, the noise of traffic and other unpleasant facts of daily life in the city.

Ironically, it was in death that Siaron was finally made visible by those who erased him from his existence.

The unknown gunmen who killed him last July 23 left his bloody corpse on the highway for all to see. They sought to reduce him to a word hastily scribbled on a scrap of cardboard. But, in doing so, they also gave him a face. They made him visible.

It was through INQUIRER photographer Raffy Lerma’s lens that many of his fellow Filipinos finally saw Siaron, splashed across the front page the following morning in the indelible image of Siaron’s livein partner, Jennelyn Olaires, who was hysterical with grief, clutching his lifeless body.

It was an image that, once seen, could not be unseen.

President Duterte certainly saw it. He testified to the power of the image when he mentioned it in his State of the Nation speech the following day: “And you are portrayed in a broadsheet na parang Mother Mary cradling the dead cadaver of Jesus Christ,” he said, no doubt referring to Michelangelo’s “Pieta.” “E ’yang mga ’yan, magka-dramahan tayo dito (These people, they are just making drama out of it).”

Now that the photograph has

gone viral on the internet, Siaron’s image in death has been seen not only in the country, but globally as the international media picks up on the story, the very real face of Duterte’s war on drugs.

Under the LRT tracks

ten on the cardboard, that even a kid could write)?” she asks.

“Sana tinitingnan muna nila ang background ng tao. Hindi ’yung sa panglabas lang. (They should have looked first into the person’s background. Not only his outward appearance).”

Siaron was the eldest of four children. His father, Solomon, sells fruits from a pushcart along Taft Avenue. His mother, Emily, has worked in Bahrain for the last 15 years, most recently as a janitress in a mall. But even with the money she sends home, the family is barely scraping by.

He never finished high school, having dropped out in his fourth year.

Siaron’s 29-year sojourn in this world has ended in a plain white coffin in a cramped baWhen she learned that Siaron had been shot, she ran barefoot from their shack rangay hall under the LRT all the way to Pasay Rotonda (pictured), and broke through the police cordon to tracks, along the very side get to his body. streets of Sto. Niño, Pasay City, PATRICKROQUE01 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS where he lived and grew up.

It is only now that the bare 10. Her father also pedals a side- na po ’yon. Lagi niyang sinasabi facts of his relatively short life car for a living. sa akin, ‘Kailangan makuntento are becoming known.

They had been together for ka kung ano meron ka, kasi hinIt isn’t sympathy or pity three years—“three years and di tayo mayaman, wala tayong that she wants, says Jennelyn one month noong Lunes,” she pera, wala akong trabahong Olaires. It’s not even justice.

Pedaling says. They had wanted to have a maganda. (My husband was a “Alam ko na hindi ko makuHe had always been thin, child of their own, but she had a simple man. We led a simple kuha ang hustisya para sa asa- and in poor health from a bout miscarriage, she explains. life. It was enough that we ate wa ko (I know that I can never of leptospirosis when he was They lived in a shack—actual- three meals a day. He’d always have justice for him),” she adds. younger. He sometimes found ly a tiny storeroom along a gar- tell me to be content with what “Malinis lang ang pangalan ng it hard to breathe. bage-strewn creek—that they we have, that we have no monasawa ko, malaking bagay na He had an 11-year-old son rent for P500 a month. Siaron ey, that he had no good job). ” para sa akin. (Just to clear my named Harry from a previous had done his best to fix it up, but She had been the wild child husband’s name, that’s already relationship. His ex has since the roof still leaks and the walls when she was younger and a big thing for me).” married, but Siaron tried to re- are full of holes, and there is no hung out on the streets, as her Yes, she admits, he did use main close to his son. toilet and no running water. numerous tattoos attest. When drugs, methamphetamine or He had worked for a time in On the surface, it looks like they fought, he was the one on shabu to be exa pretty bleak the receiving end. It was Siaron act. But he was existence. But it who had been the taming influnever a pusher, wasn’t without ence. She learned to cook rice she stresses. its joys. and clean house because of him, “Ni minsan, People who are quick to judge, who She describes she says. readily believe the words scrawled on hindi siya nangsomeone who When they had the chance a piece of cardboard, can’t know who agrabyado ng is far from the to watch TV, she recalls, he her husband really was. tao. Hindi siya drug-crazed ma- preferred documentaries like nanggugulo, niac that his kill- those of Jessica Soho and Kara hindi siya nagers wanted the David, or shows about nature nanakaw, hindi world to believe. and wildlife, a view of the wider siya gumagawa ng masama. a restaurant, his last steady job.

“Joker, mapagbiro sa tao, ma- world beyond their narrow ex(Not even once did he abuse But, since then, he had to work sayahin—ayaw niya ng gulo (He istence. people. He didn’t make trouble, odd jobs to survive. Sometimes loved to joke; he was cheerful.

When she learned that Siaron he didn’t steal, he didn’t do any- he worked as a day laborer. He didn’t like trouble),” she had been shot, she ran barefoot thing wrong).”

Other times he helped paint says. from their shack all the way People who are quick to houses.

Sometimes he would take to Pasay Rotonda, and broke judge, who readily believe the Lately, he had been pedal- a broom, pretend it was a mi- through the police cordon to words scrawled on a piece of ing a sidecar part-time, taking crophone and sing to make her get to his body. cardboard, can’t know who her home a measly P200 at most, of laugh.

As far as she knows, Siaron had husband really was. which he had to pay P60 for the “Simpleng tao lang ang asa- voted for Rodrigo Duterte. ■ “Kailangan ho ba paniwalaan “boundary.” wa ko, napakasimple lang ang kaagad ang nasa karton, na kaJennelyn, five years younger, pamumuhay namin sa araw hit bata kayang isulat (Must we grew up in the same neighbor- araw, basta makakain lang kami believe instantly what’s writ- hood, the fourth in a brood of ng tatlong beses isang araw, OK

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Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

13

Climate crime? 47 firms told to answer rights raps

BY AMY R. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer

Close to 6,000 illegal drug personalities who voluntarily surrendered from the Calabarzon region take their oath en-masse before PNP Chief and Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa at the Alonte Sports Arena in Bińan City ROBERT MAICO / PNA

565,806 drug suspects surrender under ‘Oplan Tokhang’ — PNP PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — More than 500,000 suspected drug pushers and dependents in the country surrendered to police authorities while almost 5,000 people were arrested from July 1 to Aug. 2 under the campaign of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to wipe out illegal drugs and criminality dubbed as ‘Oplan Tokhang.’

Under ‘Oplan Tokhang’, station commanders will ask barangay (villages) captains to submit a list of residents who are into illegal drugs, whether these pushers, dealers, users and couriers.

The police intelligence unit will then verify the report and check if these persons are indeed involved in drugs as there are instances where barangay captains themselves are behind the illegal drug trade while some list down names of their rivals.

During the said period, the PNP have knocked 223,847 houses of suspected drug personalities that resulted to the surrender of 565,806 drug suspects, implementation of 427 search warrants and arrest of another 5,418 suspects.

In addition, PNP said 402 suspects were killed in various anti-drug operations.

Meanwhile, the PNP is keeping tab of the performance of its line units in the implementation of ‘Project Double Barrel’ against illegal drugs.

According to PNP spokesperson Sr. Supt. Dionardo Carlos, the PNP Oversight Committee on Project Double Barrel held a conference-workshop in Camp Crame among Deputy Regional Directors for Operation (DRDO) and Chiefs of Regional Operations and

Plans Divisions (ROPD) to conduct an initial assessment of Project Double Barrel by the Police Regional Offices (PROs).

He said the PNP Oversight Committee reviewed the performance of each Police Regional Office based on Project Double Barrel Weekly Monitoring Reports since July 1. This indicates the number of houses visited; pushers and users who surrendered; drug personalities killed and arrested; implementation Search Warrants and Warrants of Arrest; and drug interdiction operations conducted.

Carlos also said that all Police Regional Offices were directed to constitute and convene their respective Regional Oversight Committees chaired by the Regional Director that will assess and evaluate the anti-drugs campaign of the subordinate Police Provincial Offices and Police Stations under its jurisdiction.

These Regional Oversight Committees shall conduct similar assessment and evaluation of the lower units with particular emphasis on the categorization of Cities/Municipalities in terms of drug affectation; documentation of arrested/ surrendered pushers and users; internal cleansing efforts; Top 20 watchlist of drug personalities killed or arrested; local government executives and officials who are uncooperative to the campaign against illegal drugs; and budgetary requirements.

The PNP may recommend to the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and DILG the suspension of deputation of local chief executives who are uncooperative in the anti-drugs campaign, or who fail to exercise their authority to lead the anti-drugs drive ion their localities, Carlos noted. ■

THE COMMISSION on Human Rights (CHR) has asked 47 companies engaged in the manufacture and retail of fossil fuel products to respond to allegations of human rights abuses by abetting climate change.

A legal petition—which covers some of the biggest energy companies like Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, BHP Billiton, Glencore, Suncor and Conoco-Phillips—has triggered the first national human rights investigation concerning climate change, Greenpeace Philippines said in a statement issued yesterday.

Greenpeace said the CHR sent copies of the complaint to the headquarters of these companies, which Greenpeace dubbed the “world’s largest investor-owned fossil fuel and cement producers.” The order enjoined the companies to submit answers to the CHR within 45 days.

The petitioners included 18 Filipinos and 14 civil society organizations based in the Philippines, including Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

At mercy of big firms

“We’ve been affected for so long by storms, droughts… by extreme weather, now made worse by climate change. We just want to live a decent and peaceful life, without fear and being at the mercy of big corporations that only care for their profits.

“Our only choice is to defend our rights.

We want those most responsible to be held accountable. We want justice and to regain the ability to protect the little that we have left for our children,” petitioner Veronica Cabe was quoted as saying.

Climate change mitigation

In 2015, the CHR looked into whether the world’s largest carbon producers

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were violating or threatening to violate the human rights of Filipinos by significantly contributing to global climate change and failing to reduce emissions, despite having the capacity to do so.

The petitioners have asked the CHR, among other things, to require the companies to submit plans on the steps they would take to eliminate, remedy and prevent the devastating effects of climate change, in a country known to be one of the world’s most vulnerable to these effects.

The complaint also asks the human rights body to monitor people and communities acutely vulnerable to the impact of climate change, Greenpeace said.

Unprecedented

“Ultimately, those who have profited most from pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere must bear the burden of preventing the havoc already being wreaked by climate change. This is the first step in that process. The courageous Filipino people are the first to put the world’s largest carbon producers on notice that they must account for their emissions,” added Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.

Greenpeace Philippines said the CHR action was unprecedented.

“For the first time, a national human rights body is officially taking steps to address the impact of climate change on human rights and the responsibility of private actors. After the company responses are received, the petitioners anticipate hearings will commence in the Philippines in October 2016,” it said.

“This is another signal to the fossil fuel producers from people that they cannot continue business as usual. There is a growing global climate justice movement working to strengthen the capacity of people around the world to take action inside and outside the courts,” it added. ■

Opinion

14

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

ANALYSIS

President a loose cannon

By Amando Doronila Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) has come under heavy fire from international and domestic human rights groups for sending “confusing and contradictory messages” on his administration’s stance on human rights.

The barrage was unleashed by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), which denounced the administration’s ambivalent position shortly after its delivery last Monday.

In a severe critique of the government’s double-talk, Phelim Kine, Asia deputy director of HRW, noted that the President rightly stated that the “rule of law must at all times prevail” and the government should respect “the human rights of our citizens.”

But Kine said Mr. Duterte’s “unwillingness” to use his Sona to demand a thorough investigation of the alarming surge in police killings of suspected dealers and users in recent weeks “symbolizes a critical failure” in his “obligation to defend the rule of law and to uphold and protect the rights and freedoms of all Filipinos.”

Right to life at risk Kine rebuked Mr. Duterte for “implicitly” voicing support for the rise in police killings of suspected drug dealers and users instead of speaking out against such brutality, adding that the President must publicly “recognize that his duty to respect the rule of law and protect the human rights of Filipinos extends to all Filipinos, including criminal suspects and those implicated in the drug trade.”

He expressed hope that the administration would produce policy initiatives reflecting tangible support for that positive rhetoric.

“But as long as President Duterte turns a blind eye to—or implicitly or explicitly encourages—summary killings, the fundamental right to life of all Filipinos is at risk from potentially random extrajudicial violence,” he warned.

HRW branded Mr. Duterte a “cheerleader” for summary killings of drug suspects. Its reaction came in response to Mr. Duterte’s statement in his Sona that “human rights must work to uplift human dignity” and cannot be used as “a shield or an excuse to destroy the country—your country and my country.”

These remarks turned out be the most contentious passage in the

Sona. In his speech, Mr. Duterte exhorted the Philippine National Police and local government officials to redouble their efforts in the war against criminality and drug pushers.

He reminded them that during his inauguration on June 30, he pledged that the fight against criminality and illegal drugs would be “relentless and sustained.”

He said, “We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier and last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars.”

War hasn’t worked Duterte’s statement flew in the face of reports that found that the war on drugs has not worked as a successful strategy in the light of the experience of countries that deployed it.

In April, world leaders met at the United Nations to rethink the decades-old global war against drugs and drug abuse.

On the sidelines of that meeting, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told The New York Times that “war that has been fought for more than 40 years has not been won” and “when you do something for 40 years and it doesn’t work, you need to change it.”

That view was echoed in a letter

by political leaders from all over the world and even celebrities as Sting and Mary J. Blige, secretary to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The letter said that the “drug control regime that emerged during the last century has proven disastrous to global health, security and human rights.”

Vast drug market “Focused overwhelmingly on criminalization and punishment, it created a vast illicit market that has enriched criminal organizations, corrupted governments, triggered explosive violence, distorted economic markets and undermined moral values,” it said.

The war on drugs has had tragic consequences, the letter argued, citing governments that “devoted disproportionate resources to repression at the expense of the human condition.”

“Tens of millions of people, mostly poor and racial ethnic minorities, were incarcerated mostly for lowlevel and nonviolent drug law violations with little, if any, benefit to public security,” it said.

Cutting corners The Guardian newspaper has de-

rided Duterte’s populist law and order campaign.

In an editorial, the paper noted Mr. Duterte had said very little that was precise about his policies, but what he had said was not reassuring.

“His tough law and order line has brought in the votes (but) although he says he is against extrajudicial killing of criminals, the record in Davao City suggests that such killings have been commonplace there. He wants to make the Philippines into a more federal country. The idea is attractive to those who resent Manila’s dominance and lion’s share in everything, but decentralization might bring more problems than it can solve. He rages against the everyday corruption that Filipinos have to endure but offers nothing specific to counter it. Mr. Duterte’s appeal has been his insistence that he can fix everything and does not care what corners to cut.”

His supporters suggest his bark is worse than his bite. But at the end of the day, The Guardian said “there is a cheeky chappy side to Mr. Duterte that can be engaging. But, there can be no denying that, in office, he could prove to be a very loose cannon indeed.” ■

AT LARGE

‘Ignacio’: a daring movie

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer WE MISSED the early-evening screening of “Ignacio de Loyola” and so had to loiter around Glorietta for over two hours as we waited for the 10 p.m. screening. By that time, I was apprehensive that our senior-citizen status would render us too drowsy to stay up till the movie’s end.

I was especially fearful for the hubby. To start with, we had to play “rock, paper, scissors” to decide whether to watch the film on the life of St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, or the latest Jason Bourne caper. Obviously, he lost the game, but I was apprehensive. Requiring him to sit through a movie not of his choosing was bad enough, but a movie on the life of a saint, one that would end past midnight at that? I was afraid his snoring would so annoy the other patrons in the theater that we would be ordered out.

But let me make clear right now that neither one of us nodded off that Thursday evening. No one snored, and at the movie’s close, some in the audience broke out in spontaneous applause. It is one thing to applaud a movie at the invitational premiere;

you owe the sponsors at least that if only for their hospitality. But to loudly show your appreciation when it isn’t required, or you don’t need to be polite? To quote Sally Fields on her first Oscar win: “You like me! You really, really like me!”

Like the movie we did. And we liked it more for being a full Filipino production, even if it had been shot in Spain and mostly starred Spanish actors. I had to wonder at the sheer chutzpah of the filmmakers: Jesuit Communications which bankrolled the production, executive producer Emmanuel Alfonso, producers Pauline Mangilog Saltarin and Ernestine Tamana, and the director/writer and codirector/writer, the spouses Paolo Dy and Cathy Azanza. *** IT is no small thing, after all, to dare make a movie that appeals to an international audience (it is the first Filipino movie to be screened in the Vatican, but sadly, the Jesuit Pope Francis was not in attendance), but which is about a subject matter that is both so familiar and yet so arcane.

St. Ignatius is a familiar name to most Catholics, especially to all who went to Jesuit institutions, know some Jesuits, or read up on the Soci-

ety of Jesus. For the most part, many would also know the broad outlines of the life of this soldier-saint: how, wounded in battle, he turned inward and “found God,” preaching in both the Holy Land and in Spain, surviving a trial during the Inquisition for unauthorized preaching, and then founding the Society of Jesus. Almost from the beginning, the Jesuits, known for their erudition and sophistication, became one of the most respected and yet most controversial religious orders for men.

What we don’t know, and get in good doses, is the interior story of this conversion. We see how Iñigo de Loyola, the youngest son of a Spanish noble striving to prove his worth to his father and the rest of his family, sees his dreams of chivalrous knighthood shattered when his leg is injured during a battle. Recuperating, he reads the “Lives of the Saints” and a retelling of the life of Jesus, and forms a vision in his mind: He will abjure all things material (even his love for women) and embark on a life of contemplation, reflection and teaching.

Dy formulates a scenario of Iñigo’s radical transformation, the days he spent in a cave where he confronts

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the Devil and then conceives of his “Spiritual Exercises,” which live on to this day as part of the Ignatian retreats. *** TRULY amazing is how the movie translates this inner struggle, this search for faith and meaning, in human terms that make it compelling, dramatic, and moving. I must confess that I haven’t seen a spiritual search depicted so viscerally and familiarly.

The acting helps a lot. Andreas Muñoz, a stage actor in his native land, essays the role of Iñigo/Ignacio with so much intensity and yet luminous clarity. He imbues the founder of the Jesuits with so much humanity and yet also heroism.

Among the supporting cast, I found Isabel Garcia Lorca, as Doña Ines Pascual, a noblewoman who provides early support for the searching Ignacio and testifies on his behalf before the Inquisitor court, inhabiting her aristocratic character with both softness and sincerity.

Also worth mention is Tacuara Casares as Princess Catalina, who early in the movie inspires Iñigo’s dreams of chivalry but who, at a crucial time of testing, restores his faith in humanity. That she is also lovely

and gentle makes Iñigo’s devotion to her believable.

But really, the movie is a triumph of ensemble acting. The actors are largely unknown to the Filipino audience, and yet they come across as entirely believable and accessible.

“Ignacio de Loyola” is truly a feat of global filmmaking! *** BUT we mustn’t forget the “Filipino element” in this movie.

To start with, there is the music, which to my surprise was actually the handiwork of Ryan Cayabyab. As I watched “Ignacio,” I thought the background music, so edifying and soaring, had been sourced from classical recordings. What a pleasant and joyful surprise it was to see Cayabyab’s name in the credits!

So, too, with Lee Meily, the cinematographer, who gave the movie its lush, rich and brilliant luster, belying its relatively small budget when compared with other movies meant for the world market.

How daring, indeed, for the Philippine Jesuit Community to embark on a project of this scope and ambition, to believe enough in the movie and convince its audience that such a film is still needed in today’s world. ■

Opinion

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

15

PUBLIC LIVES

Understanding Duterte

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer IN THE first half hour of last Monday’s State of the Nation Address, President Duterte’s voice was nowhere to be found. The man at the podium was struggling not just to read the text on the teleprompter, but also to own it.

The prepared speech had some finely crafted phrases that elicited earnest applause. But as he tried to keep pace with the moving text, the President could not hide his discomfort. He sensed that he was not connecting with the audience.

So, there were two speeches that day. The first was a recitation of what appeared to be a hastily assembled action agenda for the first 100 days of the new administration. The second, the one that sparkled, was that of the President speaking to his prepared speech, unburdening himself of the mixed emotions that had come to him after his unexpected rise to the presidency.

Where he seemed distant, awkward, and mechanical in the first, he was intimate, spontaneous, and fully engaged in the second. Where he was the stiff and tentative government official at the start, Mr. Duterte turned into a raconteur brimming with humor and self-confidence in the rest of his first Sona.

He appears to have behind him a The unrehearsed portions were and substance. It was this persona easily the most applauded, signify- that got Rodrigo Duterte elected, not very small circle of friends and asing a public appreciation for candor, his program of government—what- sociates he implicitly trusts. These straight talk, and a manifest disdain ever that might be. None of the issues are people who had worked with for the rituals of public power. The he espoused during the campaign him in various capacities when he entire performance must have kept were urgent or priority issues at that was mayor of Davao, and keep to the background. It is to them he turns the members of the Duterte Cabi- time, if one goes by the surveys.

Federalism, the drug problem, for suggestions as well as to put some net at the edge of their seats. No one could tell at what point a reckless peace talks with the communist order to his day. Then there are the aside would undermine a carefully movement, restoration of the death classmates and acquaintances, many penalty, etc.—none of these were of them fellow Davaoeños who mobiformulated policy.

I doubt if this risky habit can be considered urgent national tasks lized support for him during the camtempered by merely changing the before Mr. Duterte started talking paign. Their company constitutes President’s speech writers. His close about them. These issues became his comfort zone. In this, President circle of advisers must know by now priority topics because he made them Duterte is not very different from his predecessors. that much of the With regard to Duterte charisma The entire performance must have kept the members things he knows litstems basically of the Duterte Cabinet at the edge of their seats. No one could tle about, he seems from the man’s pentell at what point a reckless aside would undermine a carefully ready to trust in the chant to tell stories formulated policy. wisdom and knowlin order to contexedge of people who tualize his no-nonsense approach to governance. His so. Indeed, he spoke so freely and ir- have worked in a given area and are tough, raw, and often vulgar language reverently about everything during equally passionate about their advois what precisely endears him to a the campaign that one would think cacies. He likes fighters, mavericks public that has grown skeptical and the last thing he desired was to win who are not afraid to go against the grain. I don’t believe he is a socialweary of the formal platitudes and the presidency.

Therefore, if one wants to know ist in any ideological sense, but one politically correct vocabulary of government officials. From this perspec- who the real Rodrigo Duterte is and might call him a leftist for his strong tive, formality could be just another where he might take the country in anti-Establishment and anti-elitist mask for ineptitude. He rolls up his the next six years, I guess the scripted inclinations. I also think that his adsleeves to signify he’s ready to work; Sona should be the last place to look. vocacy of a federal form of governhe can’t wait to go past the ceremo- But, the unscripted part offers an ex- ment springs more from a revulsion cellent glimpse of the man’s leader- to the perceived colonization of the nies.

We should not be surprised at the ship style, as well as of the things he country by Manila than by a staunch belief in federalism as a concept. scant attention given to coherence is passionate about.

He has gut sympathies for the plight of the poor and the oppressed, except when they themselves routinely break the law. At one point in his extemporaneous Sona remarks, he said: “We have to adjust to the needs of our people … mitigate the hardships of these people.” He talks about the victims of squatter demolitions who are thrown into the streets and have nowhere to go. He gets emotional about indigenous communities whose lands are ripped apart by irresponsible mining. But he offers no words of comfort to the poor who have found themselves at the receiving end of his ongoing bloody antidrug campaign. Clearly, he does not consider drug dependence as among the hidden injuries of the poor.

Mr. Duterte is, by instinct, a peace and order person, ready to wage war against anyone or any group that “makes a mockery of our laws,” but eager to reconcile with any group that fights out of principle. The one thing he hates most, I think, is being talked down to, or sanctimoniously admonished by moral gatekeepers.

If change is coming, it will not be because this president is offering the nation a new vision. Rather, it will be because someone, at last, has decided to hitch commonsense to singlemindedness to solve the country’s problems. ■

LOOKING BACK

How Marcos planned martial law

By Ambeth R. Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer THE VIOLENCE that marked then President Ferdinand Marcos’ State of the Nation Address at the Legislative Building on Jan. 26, 1970, put in motion a series of events that would eventually lead to the declaration of martial law in September 1972.

Looking back on those events with hindsight and primary-source materials makes for some very fascinating reading. I just discovered a First Quarter Storm website with firstperson accounts of the events of that time and, aside from the most quoted reportage by Jose F. Lacaba, I rediscovered the very long and detailed reporting by Kerima Polotan that made me appreciate what good writing is all about. I asked my INQUIRER editor how and why such long pieces were published in the past. Did people read more in the past compared to the millennials today who get their news in short Twitter feeds?

Seeing events from Marcos’ point of view may not sound politically correct these days, but it is important for a historian to study the different versions of the truth, the different

viewpoints, to try and reconstruct the past. The Official Gazette records that on Jan. 27, 1970, the day after the Sona, Marcos had a long conference in Malacañang with the police chiefs of Greater Manila to find out what caused the violence the night before.

He asked that charges against the student demonstrators be dropped and advised the police to be “more tolerant of the future leaders of the country.” However, charges against nonstudents who committed violence would remain. Marcos hoped that the student demonstrators’ charges against the police would be dropped. He also directed that charges against individual policemen be investigated.

The President received only two callers on that day: US Ambassador Henry Byroade and Rep. Justiniano S. Montano of Cavite in the morning.

Marcos wrote in his diary: “Also met with Cong. Montano at 11:30 AM. Asked him to stop his fellow Liberals from the crazy ideas of a coup d’etat.

“12:10 PM Imelda left for Leyte to attend the installation of the Bishop of Palo. Have just called her up by phone patch. She says Olot is so beau-

tiful, the Papal Nuncio says it is more beautiful than Napoli. The moon is out. It is a three quarter fading moon.

“Met with the Chiefs of Police in the Metropolitan area, the Metrocom Chief and his staff, the PC Chief and his staff and the NBI chief. Asked Col. Tamayo and Barbers to report on the rioting yesterday. I requested that the charges against the students be dropped; charges against nonstudents can continue; that a critique be made of the conduct of the men in uniform; that steps be taken to prevent any injuries to demonstrators in the future as there are reports of individual cases of policemen using more force than necessary. The MPD Chief explained that in the melee and the mob action, it was difficult to say what are the proper limits to the use of force to meet force. They asked for additional equipment as the policemen have to buy their own helmets and baton. About 19 policemen were injured.

“As reported by Ignacio Lacsonia, his NUTC men in the rally saw Roger Arienda and his men start the rioting by throwing the coffin, the stuffed crocodile and stones at my car. I have asked Col. Ver to get their affidavits.

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“I also met at 10:45 with Ambassador Byroade whom I quietly confronted with the story the Liberals are spreading openly, that the American Embassy is supporting an attempt at a coup d’etat. He claims they only listened to the need of a coup. I told him of Patterson’s suggestion to blow up the bridges to isolate Malacañang.

He seemed stunned and said he was greatly concerned and would do something about it. He said as long as he and Nixon were in position, we would not be fighting the Americans.

“I am a little relieved by his apparent willingness to cooperate with me.”

It is unfortunate that we do not have the Official Gazette entries for the President’s Day for Jan. 28Feb. 5, 1970, because it would have provided the context for the diary entries that follow. On Jan. 28, 1970, Marcos detailed what he saw to be the pattern of subversion that included a conspiracy to grab power and assassinate him. He went over a list of journalists and academics making the government look bad and contemplated a plan: “If we do not prepare measures of counter action, they will not only succeed in assassinating me but [also] in

taking over the government. So we must perfect our emergency plan. I have several options. One of them is to abort the subversive plan now by the sudden arrest of the plotters. But this would not be accepted by the people.

Nor could we get the Huks, their legal cadres and support. Nor the MIM and other subversive or front organizations, nor those underground.

“We could allow the situation to develop naturally then after massive terrorism, wanton killings and an attempt at my assassination and a coup d’etat, then declare martial law or suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus—and arrest all including the legal cadres. “Right now I aminclined towards the latter. “The student demonstrators seem to want a parliamentary form of government.

“If I want to be perpetuated in power, this is the easier way to it, with a constitutional provision that there shall be no elections unless a majority of all members of a unicameral legislature should adopt a formal resolution asking for such elections— and the powers of the Prime Minister are those of the President now.” That plan was executed in September 1972. ■

16

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Canada News Two tornadoes touch down, one destroys home and barns in Saskatchewan THE CANADIAN PRESS YORKTON, SASK. — Two tornadoes that touched down in southeastern Saskatchewan have left significant damage to several farms and a home, but no injuries.

Environment Canada said the first tornado hit the ground at about 4 p.m. Sunday north of Melville, Sask., which ripped apart a barn, trees and tossed bins and bales about.

Meteorologist Jason Knight said a second tornado touched down about five kilometres

away at about 5:20 p.m. that destroyed a modular home, but the family inside was able to escape without injury.

Knight said there was substantial flooding in Yorkton, Sask., where up to 60 millimetres of rain fell in a short time and wind gusted up to 109 km/h as the storm reached Manitoba.

He said hail the size of tennis balls belted the Yorkton area and Environment Canada was investigating a third unconfirmed tornado near Camperville, Man., Sunday night.

Duane McKay, Saskatchewan’s commissioner of emer-

gency management, said there was a report of damage to a commercial chicken operation and a feedlot, as well as two homes, but there were no reports of anyone being hurt.

McKay said power was knocked out in some areas.

“I think there were a lot of poles that were snapped off due to wind and a lot of trees down blocking traffic on rural grids,” McKay said, noting there may also be some crop damage from the hail.

Twitter users posted numerous pictures of funnel cloud formations, along with videos of flash flooding in Yorkton

ENVIRONMENT CANADA

that showed vehicles splashing through water-filled streets.

McKay said flooding in downtown Yorkton was dissipating on Sunday.

“Most communities are handling the response themselves, not requiring any major response from the province,” McKay said. ■

Study suggests federal prisons blacking out errors in death reports: ombudsman

BY MICHAEL TUTTON The Canadian Press A STUDY prepared by Canada’s federal prison ombudsman says Corrections Canada consistently blacked out possible errors or shortfalls documented in investigation reports into jail deaths sent to families.

Howard Sapers says in a study released Tuesday that his office compared the uncensored investigatory reports it received from Corrections Canada with the highly edited versions eight families obtained through access-to-information laws.

The report says the “current practice of exempting errors, shortfalls and policy non-compliance leaves little room for public scrutiny, accountability or ... legal recourse.”

Titled “In the Dark,” the 38page study was carried out last year after some families complained to Sapers’ office about their difficulty in receiving information about how loved ones died between 2013 and 2015.

“It’s very hard for me to conclude that all the redactions

that I reviewed for this investigation were that legitimate.

There were some redactions that I think Correctional Service Canada is going to have to explain,” Sapers said in an interview.

There were 65 deaths in 2015-16 in federal correctional institutions.

Sapers’ report says his office’s advisor concluded that the blacking-out of sections of the seven reports, prepared by a panel that looks into non-natural deaths, “completely change the context of the information that is provided.”

But the report says the greater concern was the slicing out of sensitive material that might implicate Correctional Service Canada officials for failing to follow policy.

“More concerning was the consistent redaction of information in which possible errors, shortfalls or policy noncompliance were noted in the original report,” says the report.

Sapers said he believes the edits were a misuse of the access to information law and privacy laws, given that the

commissioner of Correctional Service Canada has discretion to release information in the public interest.

Sapers said there are some legitimate reasons to blank out parts of reports given to families, such as the protection of the personal privacy of cellmates or information that could compromise a police investigation. However, he says this should be kept to a minimum and shouldn’t prevent revealing whether the prisons took steps to avoid the deaths.

The report makes nine recommendations, including a call for medical reports on natural deaths and investigation reports for non-natural deaths to be shared “presumptively and routinely,” with next of kin.

Sapers notes that there isn’t a specific law that unequivocally requires the disclosure of the information, but he cites principles in the privacy, access to information and correctional regulations which clearly point to such an approach.

The report also criticizes Correctional Service Canada for its lack of compassion and www.canadianinquirer.net

information-sharing when dealing with grieving families of dead inmates.

“They (prison officials) don’t have to be such jerks anymore,” wrote one family member. “I think it would do everyone good, I think it would do their souls good if they felt they had permission to be kind and compassionate and accommodating.”

Sapers also recommends prisons should have a designated liaison to support the families, including when there is a violent death and an investigation. He notes this is the kind of practice used in other jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom.

He said families should be offered copies of the reports without having to request them, and protocols be developed so that doctors, psychiatrists and social workers can explain the findings of investigations to families.

A spokeswoman for Correctional Service Canada said a response to the report will be provided later Tuesday.

Keir Stickland-Murphy, the 23-year-old twin brother of a young woman who died in the

federal women’s prison in Truro, N.S., says it’s distressing and disheartening for families to be stonewalled on happened to their relatives.

His sister Camille StricklandMurphy died at the Nova Institution for Women on July 28, 2015 while serving a three-year sentence for attempted robbery of a pharmacy. Her family said in the obituary that the 22-year-old woman, who was treated for mental illness, took her own life.

“I think that we have the right to that information and if there’s anything being hidden or done incorrectly we should know about it,” he said in a telephone interview from St. John’s, N.L. “Not knowing is terrible.

You always fill in the worst in your head and it leaves an open wound that you don’t know what happened.”

The deaths examined originally included four suicides, three deaths by natural causes and one serious bodily injury, with one family dropping out of the study as it was being carried out. ■

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

17

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This has enabled them to achieve their financial goals and dream bigger. It is not full-time but part-time. They do it at their own time. You too can have that opportunity to write your own pay cheque! What do Greatway financial consultants do? They passionately share their blessings with others by educating others about finances.

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Canada News

18

AUGUST 5, 2016

Music fest... ❰❰ 1

year. The machine can detect many ingredients in one sub-

stance.

The campaign, spearheaded by the non-profit group ANKORS, comes amid the declaration of a public health emergency over a surge of opioid overdose deaths in the province, many of them related to fentanyl.

Premier Christy Clark announced last week that a task force had been created to scale up the response. One of its stated goals is to improve street drug checking.

But Shambhala organizers Metric performs on the Mount Currie Stage at Pemberton Music Festival 2014. say they can’t wait.

WYDER92 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS “We have to move very quickly if we’re going to stop any Experts and health policy Dr. Sam Gutman, medical dimore deaths from happening,” makers in the province say a rector for the festival attended said Chloe Sage, who has co- harm-reduction plan that facil- by about 180,000 people, said ordinated the ANKORS drug- itates drug checking has merit, he supports the concept of checking tent at the festival for but aren’t convinced that buy- providing sophisticated drug the past six years. ing expensive machines is the testing. However, he has never The tent provides recreation- answer. deployed self-checking because al users chemical agents that Provincial health officer Dr. he hasn’t found adequate techchange colours when tested so Perry Kendall, who is one of nology, and cautioned that even they can personally check their two leaders on the new task with a mass spectrometer many drugs, but they don’t work for force, said the mass spectrom- details would still have to be fentanyl. eters must have a broad enough worked out. For example, what Sage said the creation of the detection spectrum to be worth technicians should do if someprovincial task force is move- investment of tens of thou- one asking for a drug reading ment in the right direction, and sands of dollars. couldn’t sign a liability waiver has only recently become pos“If you have the capacity to do because they were already insible as public opinion shifts. that, that would certainly add toxicated.

B.C.’s Ministry of Health funded an extra level of check,” he said.

“It’s a very complex issue Sage and a colwhen you start league to write a to peel off the 60-page “how-to layers,” he said. guide” for drug “But it’s certainchecking at muExperts and health policy makers in ly not ready for the province say a harm-reduction sic festivals this prime time.” plan that facilitates drug checking spring.

Mark Tyndall, has merit, but aren’t convinced that “The converexecutive medibuying expensive machines is the sation has only cal director at answer. become a nationthe B.C. Centre al conversation for Disease Conin the last year,” trol, also urged she said. the new task Participants at music festi- “It would certainly improve the force to prioritize an examinavals aren’t typically opioid us- safety of a safe-consumption tion of harm-reduction meaers, Sage said, but the tainting site.” sures including drug checking. of many street drugs with fenBut Kendall said many maHe too advised implementtanyl means it could show up. chines only test for some va- ing a low-tech solution that The drug, which is up to 100 rieties of fentanyl, and noted could be rolled out much more times more powerful than mor- some other killer drugs, such quickly. One option involves phine, was linked to hundreds as the synthetic chemical W-18, distributing “dip sticks” that of overdose deaths in B.C in the are not even detectable by most detect some types of fentanyl, first six months of this year. hospital equipment yet. which he believes could make a Sage would ideally like the Organizers of the Pember- “significant impact.” government to acquire several ton Music Festival, north of Tyndall is hopeful the crisis mobile mass spectrometers Whistler, said they prepared will prompt more cost-effective that could be rolled out to large last month for potential fen- solutions to emerge. events across the province. tanyl overdoses by stocking “With all the attention on They could be made accessible naloxone, a life-saving reversal opioids and drug overdoses, a to the public in high-risk com- agent. Among 650 people who lot of companies are revving munities or at supervised injec- were treated by medics for vari- this up. So I’m optimistic that tion sites during the rest of the ous ailments, only one person the technology will rapidly imyear, she said. needed the antidote. prove.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY

Vancouver real estate tax sparks concerns for Toronto housing market

BY ALEXANDRA POSADZKI The Canadian Press TORONTO’S red-hot real estate market could get even hotter as foreign nationals looking to dodge a new 15 per cent tax on properties in Vancouver seek new places to invest, realtors say.

The tax, which takes effect Tuesday, was introduced by the British Columbia government with the intent of improving home affordability in Metro Vancouver, where house prices are among the highest in North America.

But it has also given rise to concerns that it could exacerbate Toronto’s housing market.

“Where are those foreign investors going to go?” said Derek Ladouceur, a Toronto real estate agent.

“They’re not going to want to pay that 15 per cent, so they’re going to now dump it into the Toronto real estate market, which is already hot.”

Ladouceur predicts that all segments of Toronto’s housing market will get pricier, from condos to detached singlefamily homes, but the luxury segment — where many foreign investors park their money — could see the biggest lift.

Dianne Usher, a Torontobased realtor with Royal LePage, says some foreign buyers have already been flocking to Toronto as soaring home values have priced them out of Vancouver’s market.

“With an additional tax it will grow exponentially, in my view,” says Usher.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa has said he is examining the tax “very closely” as a possible measure to address Toronto home prices.

The average cost of a home in the city in June was $746,546, up nearly 17 per cent from the same month last year, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. In comparison, Vancouver home prices averaged $1,026,207, a rise of more than 11 per cent.

Mayor John Tory said he

hasn’t ruled out a similar tax for foreigners buying property in Toronto. But he stressed he would want to know more about its efficacy before bringing in such a levy.

“I think in the end what people want to know is this: they want to know that if we’re going to do anything, that it’s going to be effective, not that we’re going to do something for kind of show business or political purposes or even for revenue-generating purposes,” he said last week.

The B.C. government released data that showed one in 10 property sales from June 10 until July 14 in Metro Vancouver involved foreign nationals.

In Toronto, information on foreign buyers is more scarce, although a report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in April pegged the rate of foreign ownership in the city’s condo market at 3.3 per cent.

Brad Henderson, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, said some foreign nationals could also snatch up properties in parts of British Columbia that aren’t subject to the tax, such as Victoria.

“Certainly I think Toronto and potentially other markets like Montreal will start to become more attractive, because comparatively speaking they will be less expensive,” said Henderson.

The country’s stable political environment, the low loonie and rock-bottom mortgage rates have also helped lure overseas investors, he said.

The rapid rise in house prices in Toronto and Vancouver has caught the attention of the Bank of Canada, which declared two months ago that they were not sustainable.

In recent years, Ottawa has implemented several measures to restrict mortgage lending in the face of rising house prices.

Most recently, it increased the minimum down payment in February for new governmentbacked insured mortgages from five per cent to 10 per cent for a portion of a house price over $500,000. ■

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

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World News

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Snapping up cheap spy tools, nations ‘monitoring everyone’

BY FRANK BAJAK AND JACK GILLUM The Associated Press LIMA, PERU — It was a national scandal. Peru’s then-vice-president accused two domestic intelligence agents of staking her out. Then, a top congressman blamed the spy agency for a break-in at his office. News stories showed the agency had collected data on hundreds of influential Peruvians.

Yet after last year’s outrage, which forced out the prime minister and froze its intelligence-gathering, the spy service went ahead with a $22 million program capable of snooping on thousands of Peruvians at a time. Peru — a top cocaineproducing nation — joined the ranks of world governments that have added commercial spyware to their arsenals.

The purchase from IsraeliAmerican company Verint Systems, chronicled in documents obtained by The Associated Press, offers a rare, behind-thescenes look into how easy it is for a country to purchase and install off-the-shelf surveillance equipment. The software allows governments to intercept voice calls, text messages and emails.

Except for blacklisted nations like Syria and North Korea, there is little to stop governments that routinely violate basic rights from obtaining the same so-called “lawful intercept” tools that have been sold to Western police and spy agencies. People tracked by the technology have been beaten, jailed and tortured, according to human rights groups.

Targets identified by the AP include a blogger in the repressive Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan, opposition activists in the war-ravaged African nation of South Sudan, and politicians and reporters in oilrich Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.

“The status quo is completely unacceptable,” said Marietje Schaake, a European Union lawmaker pushing for greater oversight. “The fact that this market is almost completely unregulated is very disturbing.”

The Verint documents that AP obtained in Peru, including training manuals, contracts, invoices and emails, offer more detail than previously available

on the inner workings of a highly secretive industry.

“There is just so little reliable data on this,” said Edin Omanovic, a researcher at Privacy International, a London-based advocacy group. “These commercial tools are being used in a strategic and offensive way in much the same way that military tools are used.”

The scope and sophistication revealed in the Peru documents approximates, on a small scale, U.S. and British surveillance programs catalogued in 2013 by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. That trove showed how the U.S. government collected the phone records of millions of Americans, few suspected of crimes. Even after some reforms, there is still much to be done in the U.S. and abroad to rein in Big Brother, privacy advocates say.

Reached at Verint’s corporate headquarters in Melville, New York, an assistant to CEO Dan Bodner said the company would have no comment. “We typically don’t comment to reporters,” said Barbara Costa.

Verint and its main competitors hail from nations with wellfunded spy agencies, including the United States, Israel, Britain and Germany, and have operated with limited oversight.

With more than $1 billion in yearly sales, Verint is a major, longtime player in an industry whose secrecy makes its size difficult to quantify. Verint Systems Ltd., the subsidiary that sold the surveillance package to Peru, is based in Herzliya, Israel, outside Tel Aviv.

Surveillance sales account for about a third of its business.

However, the company discloses little about those products, which it says collect and parse massive data sets to “detect, investigate and neutralize threats.”

It also does not identify its law enforcement and intelligence agency clients, but the AP independently confirmed through interviews and documents that it has sales in countries including Australia, Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Colombia and Switzerland.

About half of Verint’s surveillance dealings are in the developing world, said analyst Jeff Kessler of Imperial Capital in New York.

The Peru installation — known as Pisco, a nod to the lo-

Signs held by protesters during a rally against mass surveillance.

RENA SCHILD / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

cal brandy — illustrates how the private surveillance industry has piggybacked on multibilliondollar government research in the West. Many security experts who honed their skills in Israel’s military have gone to work in the private sector, effectively putting their tech chops at the service of less sophisticated nations for a fraction of the cost.

Like spy tools wielded by larger nations, Pisco lets officials “intercept and monitor” satellite networks that carry voice and data traffic, potentially putting private communications of millions of Peruvians at risk.

A software manual offers step-by-step instructions on how to intercept those communications with Verint equipment: Connect to a satellite, identify the callers, then “open a voice product” — their jargon for a phone call.

Next on the flow chart: “Voice is heard.”

‘Pinpoint new targets of interest’

Since the early 2000s, Verint and top competitor Nice Systems have sold mass surveillance products to the secret police in Uzbekistan, according to extensive research by Mari Bastashevski for Privacy International. She found the companies also sold such systems to neighbouring Kazakhstan, also a tightly governed nation.

Israeli technicians from both companies have rotated in and out of Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, for tech support and maintenance, Bastashevski found. Nice Systems sold its surveillance business to Israeli defence heavyweight Elbit Systems last year.

That equipment has let Uzbek secret police quickly locate and arrest people who discuss sensitive information on the phone www.canadianinquirer.net

or via email, dissidents say.

“The authorities’ main weapon is people’s fear,” said Tulkin Karayev, a Sweden-based exile.

“Freedom of speech, freedom of expression — all this is banned.”

Asked by the AP whether Nice Systems’ sales had enabled political repression, Elbit spokeswoman Dalia Rosen would not comment. “We follow the leading standards of corporate governance and focus on ethical behaviour in our business dealings,” she said.

Over the past two decades, Uzbekistan has “imprisoned thousands to enforce repressive rule,” Human Rights Watch reported last year. The price of dissent is arbitrary detention, forced labour and torture, the group said. A report submitted to the U.N. by three rights groups deemed torture by the secret police systematic, unpunished and encouraged.

In Colombia, Verint has racked up millions in sales. As recently as 2015, U.S. customs officials funded maintenance for a wiretapping system, according to government contracts. Nearly a decade ago, its products were abused by officials who were later sacked for illegal eavesdropping, senior police and prosecutors told the AP at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Like the United States, most countries require court orders to use the technology. But where rule of law is weak, abuse is not uncommon.

The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago saw a government fall after a wiretapping scandal involving Verintsupplied equipment. In 2009, a total of 53 people, including politicians and journalists,

were illegally monitored, according to a former senior security official who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

The Verint equipment remains operative, though now a court order is needed to use it.

One piece of the Verint product mix that Trinidad and Tobago bought is Vantage Broadway.

A promotional brochure published by Israel’s defence ministry for a 2014 trade show in India describes it as data-analysis and pattern-seeking software. It pairs with a product called Reliant to “intercept, filter and analyze huge volumes of Internet, voice and satellite communication.” The package Peru bought includes both Reliant and Vantage, documents show.

The little regulation that exists in the commercial masssurveillance trade falls under a non-binding international arms export-control regime called the Wassenaar Arrangement. In December 2013, it was amended to add monitoring products like Reliant and Vantage and “attackware” that breaks into smartphones and computers and turns them into listening posts.

Sudan’s intelligence agency “to identify and illegally apprehend individuals has been significantly enhanced” through the acquisition of “additional communications interception equipment from Israel,” the U.N. experts wrote.

They did not name the suppliers, and a government spokesman declined to discuss the issue. While there is no direct evidence that Verint is a supplier, an AP reporter confirmed the names of two company employees on a flight in May from Ethiopia to the South Sudanese capital of Juba. Typing on a laptop, one was working on a presentation that named the three telecoms that operate in the country.

Verint did not respond to questions about whether it supplied surveillance technology to South Sudan.

An activist jailed for four months in Juba said his interrogators spoke openly about tapping his phone, played recordings of him in intercepted phone conversations and showed him emails he had sent.

He spoke to the AP on condition he not be identified, saying he fears for his life. ❱❱ PAGE 36 Snapping up

World News

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

21

Trump is ‘unfit,’ Obama says, challenging GOP to end support

BY JULIE PACE The Associated Press WASHINGTON — In a searing denouncement, President Barack Obama castigated Donald Trump as “unfit” and “woefully unprepared” to serve in the White House. He challenged Republicans to withdraw their support for their party’s nominee, declaring “There has to come a point at which you say ‘enough.’“ While Obama has long been critical of Trump, his blistering condemnation Tuesday was a notable escalation of his involvement in the presidential race. Obama questioned whether Trump would “observe basic decency” as president, argued he lacks elementary knowledge about domestic and international affairs and condemned his disparagement of an American Muslim couple whose son was killed while serving the U.S. Army in Iraq.

A chorus of Republicans has disavowed Trump’s criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan and the Republican nominee’s calls to temporarily ban Muslims from coming to the U.S. But Obama argued that isn’t enough.

“If you are repeatedly having to say, in very strong terms, that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Obama asked during a White House news conference.

“What does this say about your party that this is your standard-

bearer?” No prominent Republican lawmaker responded to Obama’s challenge.

Instead, it was Trump stunningly withholding his support from top GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Paul Ryan. In an affront to his party’s top elected official, Trump told The Washington Post he wasn’t “quite there yet” on an endorsement for Ryan in his primary next week.

Trump’s refusal to back Ryan exposed anew the deep divisions within the GOP and underscored that the businessman rarely plays by the traditional political playbook.

Ryan has been among those urging Republicans to rally around Trump, despite concerns about his candidacy.

Ryan’s campaign said, “Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump’s endorsement.

And we are confident in a victory next week regardless.”

Trump also said he was not supporting Sen. John McCain in his primary in Arizona, and he dismissed Sen. Kelly Ayotte as a weak and disloyal leader in New Hampshire.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton sees those GOP concerns about Trump as an opportunity to reach out to party moderates — particularly women — who may be so upset by the nominee that they’re willing to look past policy differences and questions about Clinton’s character.

One of those Republicans

came around to Clinton’s side Tuesday. Hewlett-Packard executive Meg Whitman, a prominent GOP fundraiser and donor, endorsed Clinton and said, “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.”

Obama — who is enjoying heightened popularity in his eighth and final year in office — plans to campaign robustly for Clinton through Election Day. He and first lady Michelle Obama spoke at last week’s Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

The Khans also appeared at the convention, with Khizr Khan telling the story of his son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart after his death in 2004. Khan criticized Trump’s position on Muslims and asked whether the real estate mogul had read the Constitution.

For most politicians, tangling with a bereaved military family would be out of bounds.

But Trump dove in, questioning why Ghazala Khan did not speak, implying her religion prevented her from doing so, and saying he was “viciously attacked” by Khizr Khan.

Trump’s criticism was part of a familiar pattern: He can’t let go of a perceived slight, no matter the potential damage to his presidential campaign or political reputation.

Those who have worked with him say that in private meetings he can often appear ame-

EMMANUELE CONTINI / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

nable to putting a controversy aside. But the businessman can quickly be drawn back in by an interview, especially if he believes he’s already answered a question, or if he grows irritated by commentary on cable television.

Trump’s unwillingness to let the matter subside sparked outrage Monday from several Republicans.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, a former prisoner of war, said Trump did not have “unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.” Rep. Mike Coffman, a vulnerable Republican in a competitive Colorado district, said he was “deeply offended when Donald Trump fails to honour the sacrifices of all of our brave soldiers who were lost in that war.” Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt said the Khans “deserve to be heard and respected.”

Obama argued those denunciations “ring hollow” as long as Republicans continue to back Trump in the White House race.

Trump’s response? On Twitter, he said, “President Obama will go down as perhaps one of the worst president in the history of the United States!”

Sen. Mark Kirk, who is facing a tough re-election fight in Illinois, rescinded his endorsement of Trump in June after the GOP nominee criticized an American-born judge’s Mexican heritage. Others, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Ryan, have broken with the nominee on individual issues but continue to back his candidacy. ■ Associated Press writers Erica Werner in Washington and Jonathan Lemire in Ashburn, Virginia contributed to this report.

Iranian official acknowledges porn actress visited country

BY JON GAMBRELL The Associated Press DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Apparently unaware she could face a death sentence, a British porn actress says she flew to Iran to undergo a nose job and later wrote online about it, immediately sparking a social media outcry in the largely conservative Islamic Republic.

The buxom performer, known by the stage name Candy Charms, posted a photograph

on Instagram several days ago showing her in the back of a car, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses with a scarf partially covering her blonde hair.

“Hey guys I have been on holiday in Tehran,” she wrote online. She later added: “My nose was not straight and they are the best in the world in nose surgery. I had my nose done.”

Iran is one of the top countries in the world for undergoing rhinoplasty, with more than 20,000 surgeries carried out each year.

The actress deleted the Insta-

gram post and her account following a torrent of comments from Iranians, some friendly and others hostile. On Tuesday, the semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Hasan Qashqavi, a deputy foreign minister in charge of consular affairs, as saying a British-American actress visited Iran after she “applied for a visa through a travel agency” under a different name.

While not naming the actress, the story implied it was the adult film performer. An ISNA report Monday suggested www.canadianinquirer.net

she listed her occupation as a “hair stylist” on her visa application form.

Qashqavi was quoted by ISNA as telling tourism companies and officials to carefully examine the documents of those trying to visit Iran.

“We have clerics and lawmakers who have cultural sensitivities and these sorts of events may cause problems later,” Qashqavi said.

That may be a bit of an understatement in the Shiite power.

Under Iranian law, spreading

corruption via broadcast carries a possible death sentence.

Pornography likely would fall under the law’s purview.

It’s unclear whether the actress knew the risk before she made the trip. She did not respond to a request for comment made via Twitter by The Associated Press and an email address listed on her website bounced back as undeliverable. ■ Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Immigration

22

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

PANGARAP: SO, OUR JOURNEY BEGINS

So, where should I study?

BY BOLET AREVALO

UPGRADING OR GOING BACK TO SCHOOL IS THE WAY TO GO IF YOU WANT YOUR CAREER BACK. Schools proliferate. You almost want to think that going back to school and upgrading one’s skills is part of the unwritten immigration package. Talk to anyone who has struggled and finally found success. There’s a 90% chance—that they went back to school to upgrade and get a license or a certificate.

Anybody who wants a job can get a job. But somebody who wants a career needs to work harder to get it. You can get a job all right, but anybody who wants to build a career and go up the ladder of success needs to study and upgrade.

That has almost become a rule, a social norm.

With that, everywhere you look—on street signs, transit ads, newspaper stories, web announcements, mall walls— schools compete for your attention. They all seem to promise that they’ll get you a job, but of course never guarantee it.

But also be aware that some schools could also be diploma or certification mills—schools that churn out graduates, without regard for whether you end up qualified or will get a job after. In truth, schools are not expected to offer or guarantee you a job. Yet, to my mind, they should at least be able to tell you which line or what is the trend in job availabilities.

When I was shopping for schools, I went to a community college to ask about their office administration and provincial instructor’s program. I had noticed many office admin postings which I thought would help me get a job faster (the same with instructors’ openings).

I knew I could do both, but I needed the official certificate to do either, as usual, or to gain an advantage. The very simple picture that the academic advisor showed me was —for the same amount of time and money going to any of these two courses, I could choose between becoming an office assistant and earning $15 per hour, or a college instructor at $32 per hour. What do you think I should choose?

Schools do have studies and surveys of trends, like the one described. These are available for you to make enlightened

and valid decision. First among these is regarding the type of course you need for upgrading or a new course in a field you might want to go into. Take time to talk to an academic advisor. Keep a vigilant mind and focus, however, because these advisors can also be very good salesmen that they might convince you into doing something you never intended to do or is not good for you after all. Remember that schools are in the business of enrolling students.

As to quality of education, I believe the principle is still the same in that, the higher the price, the more quality is promised in that product, assuming an transaction of integrity is being made. Courses may also differ in length of time they take to complete. There are short certificate courses. There are diploma courses. There are degree courses. Most of the time, you can work your way up gradually, because the subjects can be credited as you continue on.

Naturally, the longer the course, the more expensive.

But getting an education will never be a problem in this country. The government has all the support systems in place to get everyone back to school whether in terms of student

You can get a job all right, but anybody who wants to build a career and go up the ladder of success needs to study and upgrade.

loans, grants, or bursaries.

Schools also have their own scholarships in place. There are also free adult education learning sessions or classes.

What can be so amazing is the fact that age will never be a factor in being able to go back to school or to aspire to start anew.

Nobody is too old to go back to school or learn a new craft. Nobody looks down on or frowns upon people trying to start a new course or a new life by studying again. As we said, continuously going back to school is like a rule, a social norm.

There is no excuse for not going. The government has all the support systems in place to help you go back to school— loans, grants, bursaries, or even free adult education programs.

It is so amazing to realize that

age does not stand as a factor in not being able to upgrade one’s skills or go back to school. Nobody is too old to learn or to go back to school.

99% of the time, people who have been successful in re-entering their field or profession, went back to school or upgraded their skills. ■ Bolet is a marketing communications practitioner and dabbles in writing as a personal passion.

She is author-publisher of the book: The Most Practical Immigrating and Job Hunting Survival Guide, proven simple steps to success without the fears and the doubts. book is available in Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, the Reading Room and other online bookshops worldwide.

Jumpstart your financial future with Scotiabank’s StartRight

BY KATHERINE PADILLA Philippine Canadian Inquirer IN THE recent poll conducted

by Scotia Bank’s, it was revealed that over one quarter of Canadians recommend that immigrants should choose a financial institution that understands their unique needs; choose a financial institution that provides the best rates; pick a financial institution with the most expertise serving newcomers and selecting advisors that can speak their language when transitioning to Canada.

In line with the above, Scotia Bank, Canada’s leading financial services provider, offers you its StartRight Program—a ‘simple yet complete financial solutions in one convenient package.’

Scotiabank’s StartRight Pro-

gram is designed for immigrants who have been residing in Canada from 0-3 years. It is a unique program that offers financial assistance to immigrants.

One of the wonderful benefits StartRight Program gives you is a chance to establish a good credit history using a VISA credit card suited for your needs.

“It’s really important for new permanent residents to focus on building a strong credit history,” Puneet Mann, Director of Branch Customer Experience & Multicultural Banking at Scotiabank says.

“Scotiabank has credit cards that you can get with no income or no job. The reason that we do that is so that you can really start to build that credit history,” Mann adds.

Scotiabank also holds fi-

nancial literacy seminars that comes in handy in building a strong credit history.

With StartRight, you can finally purchase the car you’ve always wanted to take for a spin and reside in your dream home for Scotiabank gives a specially designed car financing and mortgage solution.

Not only that, once you open an eligible checking account, you will receive $100 courtesy of Scotiabank’s StartRight.

Scotiabank welcomes immigrants with open arms. To help you adjust with a new life in Canada, Scotiabank has web seminars created for you.

“We have pre-arrival webinars that you can access from our website. They are one hour long webinars, sort of an ‘everything you need to know when you come to Canada,’” Mann says. www.canadianinquirer.net

“We’re really focused on making sure that the customers we have had good experiences and get good financial advice,” Mann adds.

Scotiabank’s StartRight Program is unique than everyone else. It is the only Canadian bank that has a department solely dedicated to the financial concerns of newcomers in Canada.

“The team only focus on newcomers. That’s a hundred percent of our time dedicated to that and we’re the only bank that does that,” Mann says.

“Financing is really important to people and I think people want to trust whoever they’re trusting their money with. We want to be able to communicate with them easily,” she adds.

Scotiabank’s call lines for newcomers are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They

can be reached through phone at 1-(866)-800-5159 or through chat on their website www.scotiabank.com. In light of their commitment to newcomers in Canada, Scotiabank has multilingual representatives that can speak to you in six different languages, such as, English, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi, and Spanish.

StartRight Program is also available for international students and foreign workers. An overview of StartRight Program can be found at www.scotiabank.com/startright as well as StartRight pamphlet and Newcomer Handbook that are available for download.

Starting a life in a foreign country is not an easy thing to do. That’s why Scotiabank is here for you. Start your life in Canada with StartRight! ■

Community News

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

FilCan artists hold exhibit at Vancouver Consulate THE DIMASALANG III International Artist Group, a distinguished cluster of Filipino-Canadian artists will showcase their works at the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver.

Opening of the group exhibit is on Aug. 4. Their works will be on display for six months, according to artist Leo Cunanan.

Dimasalang III International Artist Group

A registered non-profit society in British Columbia, Canada, The Dimasalang III International Artist Group is governed by a Board of Directors dedicated to promote awareness of contemporary arts and culture in the community. The group offers arts-related educational and professional development opportunities to its members and general public. Committed to its vision of fostering a positive contribution to the arts, Dimasalang aims at pursuing a high standard of artistic excellence.

History of Dimasalang

Dimasalang is a group of artists co-founded by Sofronio Ylanan Mendoza (SYM) and late artist-writer E. Aguilar (Abe) Cruz in Manila, Philippines in 1968. The Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, used “Dimasalang” as a pseudonym, and a street in Manila was named after this alias. Dimasalang Street was the home and workshop of SYM, together with an energetic group of emerging artisans. This is where the group originated.

The Dimasalang artists began as a very casual informal group of painters who congregated in scenic venues in Manila and its surrounding suburbia to paint on-the-spot. They captured the local landscapes on canvas — and, through the years, formed

a solid bond.

The group promoted impressionism and figurative art in the Philippine art scene in the late 60s through to the 70s when modern art was at the height of its popularity. SYM’s influence led a ‘quiet revolt’ in the art movement challenging the predominance of modern art by re-introducing the beauty of traditional art. The Dimasalang artists bridged the gap between these two movements and “established its eminent niche in Philippine art.”

The original Dimasalang artists (Dimasalang I) included Emilio Aguilar (Abe) Cruz, Ibarra dela Rosa, Andy Cristobal Cruz, Romulo Galicano and SYM. As a natural-born teacher, SYM mentored many artists.

He encouraged the formation of Dimasalang II which consisted primarily of his students in Manila, namely Nestor Villanueva, Carlos Cadid, Godofredo Mendoza and Vic Larosa.

SYM moved his family in 1981 to Vancouver Canada. Here, he generously shared his vast knowledge, expertise, and philosophies relating to art. The first set of Canadian Dimasalang in the mid-80s included Edgardo Lantin, Rod Pedralba, Noel Trinidad, Simeon Dee, Maria Apelo Cruz and Jess Hipolito.

Dimasalang III International Artist Group is a registered nonprofit society based in British Columbia. Its vision is to raise awareness of contemporary arts and culture; further develop artistic talents, and encourage a positive impact and contribution to the community. The group offers mentorship, life drawing, en plein air painting in the summertime and opportunities to join group exhibitions.

The group continues to grow and remain active. “Sym’s Dimasalang lives on.” ■

Tenderness. Oil on canvas by Dimasalang Founder Sofronio “Sym” Mendoza.

23

Mortgage expert weighs in on foreign buyer tax THE BC government pulled a surprise legislation to discourage foreign buyers from buying a property in Metro Vancouver, a harebrained attempt that could leave taxpayers footing the bill for a massive classaction lawsuit that is bound to happen.

Mylene Villanueva Lim, a mortgage professional at Dominion Lending Centres, said, “It is not so much the imposition of the foreign buyer tax (that is not the topic here) as it is the underhanded way it was brought in. It is the retroactive implementation of the legislation for contracts that have already been entered into in good faith, before the new tax was announced.”

She elaborated, “On a micro level, let us talk about the average Joe, not the multi-millionaire who could very well afford the 15 percent tax imposition, but the one who has been working among us, toiling and saving to own a home in time for his permanent residency status to be granted in the next week or so.”

“After a careful review of his finances and meeting all the conditions to his property purchase, Joe decided to go into a firm and binding contract to buy a home for $600,000.

Then out of the blue, he finds himself needing to pay an extra $90,000. If poor Joe couldn’t close the deal as soon as possible (he has all of eight days from announcement date), he better come up with the extra $90,000 to be able to go ahead with his purchase or he defaults.

Lim explained that Joe’s seller, Jane, could bring him to court for breach of contract, or at the very least, he loses his deposit. Lim likewise asked, “What about if Jane had gone into a binding purchase contract, relying on Joe’s purchase of her property? She also faces a lawsuit and stands to lose her deposit.”

Lim strongly disagrees with the BC government study arbitrarily asking an extra 15 percent tax from unsuspecting buyers. She said these buyers were duped into thinking that the BC government can be depended on to honour binding agreements. “In other words, the BC government’s word is not worth the paper it is printed on,” Lim denounced.

The mortgage specialist added that on a macro level, the 15 percent foreign buyer tax would not solve the housing affordability in BC. According to

Finance Minister Mike de Jong, foreign buyers only constitute approximately six percent of current transactions. The remaining 94 percent of buyers are fellow Canadians in BC or moving to BC for better opportunities.

“This has caused the escalation of real estate prices. The law of supply and demand, in our case, the supply cannot meet the demand. Our gov’t cannot temporarily assuage the resentment and anger of BC residents by using the mere six percent of buyers as scapegoats. They need to address the housing shortage so that the average Joe wouldn’t have to pay through his nose to afford a home in BC,” Lim said.

This is the crux of the housing shortage. ■ Mylene Lim 604 783 9097 mylene.mortgage@gmail.com www.

BestOptionMortgages.ca

Toronto Consulate launches Winter Escapade 4 SUMMER IS slowly slipping away. A few more weeks and the days will get shorter and the nights longer. The leaves would fall and the trees will become bare. The air will be misty and then snow will begin to pour.

A blast of earthy colors will appear before the scenery turns into dreary grey.

Before you know it, the Winter spell is back. www.canadianinquirer.net

For those who wish to have another round of sunshine, beaches and fun-filled adventures that can only be done in Summer, it’s time to pack the bags and be ready to go. It’s that time of the year again – Winter Escapade Time.

Participants to the 4th Winter Escapade will explore the centuries-old town of Vigan, a Unesco World Heritage site;

enjoy the pristine white sand beaches of Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte; and bask in the warmth of one of the world’s most beautiful islands – Coron in Palawan.

Winter Escapade 4 will be launched on Aug. 11, 5:30 p.m., at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto. Contact Janet Hizon at culturalofficer@ philcongen-toronto.com ■

24

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Entertainment Brillante, post-Sona

ANGELINE:

I never doubted Erik’s sexuality

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer THE INTERWEB is all abuzz: Fellow filmmakers have been debating the “worm’s-eye view” shots used by Brillante Ma. Mendoza, in directing President Duterte’s first State of the Nation Address (Sona) last week.

Inquiring minds would like to know: Was the Cannes-winning director inspired by the low-angle shots utilized by Orson Welles in “Citizen Kane,” or was it perhaps Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph of the Will?”

“Neither,” Mendoza told the INQUIRER, a day after the much-talked about Sona.

All he wanted to achieve, he explained, was to frame the President in a “power shot.” “I wanted to show him as a man of authority,” he related.

Problem was, the area in front of the podium was offlimits to cameras. “As early as the first meeting, I already expressed my intention to do a low-angle shot. I was told it was impossible because cameramen weren’t allowed on the floor of the Plenary Hall,” he recounted.

Mendoza’s solution was to use a robotic camera, operated by remote.

Outside the hall, there were seven cameras, including a Steadicam that followed the President upon his arrival by helicopter and throughout his march to the Plenary Hall.

Inside the hall, there were 10—two easy rig, five on a tripod, a Steadicam and the two robotic cameras that captured those much-ballyhooed “worm’s-eye view” shots.

He had to choose from the shots taken by 10 cameras and, quite understandably, he was so “engrossed” in his task that he didn’t notice that from 34 minutes, the speech had been stretched to one hour and 30 minutes due to the President’s ad libs.

“I expected that he would veer away from the prepared speech,” he quipped. “He’s a

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer

Internationally acclaimed film director Brillante Mendoza (at the rostrum).

JOEY O. RAZON / PNA

man of surprises. And he did surprise us.”

Mendoza also tinkered with the lights at the Batasang Pambansa. “I asked that the house lights be turned off. That was why it was a bit dark in the hall.

But we placed several movie lights trained on the podium.”

The intention was to create “mood lighting,” he volunteered.

It was Mendoza’s first time to direct live on TV, so he didn’t intend to leave anything to chance.

Right before the event, Mendoza went up the podium to check if the lights were too bright and blinding. “I wanted to make sure the President could still read the teleprompter in spite of the lights.”

Like his film work, his direction of the Sona elicited mixed reviews from the public. Mendoza has always been a polarizing figure in cinema, and the Sona was no exception.

There were viewers who understood his vision and lauded his innovative approach, but there were those who dismissed his shots, especially the low-angle ones, as “too artsy.”

“You can’t please everyone,” Mendoza said of the harsh criticism. “I’ve been in the industry for 30 years… I knew what I wanted from the start.”

His goal, he clarified, was to bring change to the Sona coverage.

“I didn’t want it to be different for the sake of being different,” he pointed out. “I wanted to achieve a certain look, mood and feel.”

Although he never really sat through past Sonas, he noticed that, in the news accounts, such events were always “too stiff and formal.”

“I wanted to avoid that,” he remarked. “I wanted the Sona to be more casual. I wanted the President to come across as sincere and down-to-earth.” Thus, the closeup shots of the President’s hands, the bottle of water, etc.

Fortunately, the President seemed to have the same thing in mind. “Nag- jibe kami,” Mendoza quipped. Although Mendoza never got to sit down with the President before the Sona, the director is scheduled to meet with the Chief Executive this week, for a postmortem of the Sona.

“I was told by [Presidential Communications Office] Sec. Martin Andanar that the President was happy with it,” he noted.

To top it off, Mendoza also became a trending topic on Twitter that day.

“I only found out about Twitter when I stepped out of the OB van, on my way home,” he recalled. “Well, at least people are talking about the Sona.”

And they discussed it on all platforms… passionately, fervently. Mission accomplished. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

SINGER-ACTRESS Angeline Quinto said she never doubted the sexual orientation of exboyfriend Erik Santos.

“This was even though I heard a lot of comments about (his sexuality). He never showed anything to me that made me doubt him,” Angeline said at the recent press conference of the Joel Lamangan comedy, “That Thing Called Tanga Na,” which hits cinemas nationwide on Aug. 10.

Angeline added that she never confronted Erik about the rumor that he is gay, “because I didn’t want to offend him.”

Asked for the real score between them, Angeline said it was their busy work schedules that kept them apart and that she regretted this.

“We don’t get to see each other much these days. Work is our priority. Sobrang sayang,” declared Angeline.

She then said Erik had wanted to take the relationship further, but that she was not yet ready.

At 33, Erik already wanted to have a baby, she explained. “He told me he wanted to settle down soon. I loved Erik, there was no question about that, but not to the point that I’d [be willing to] have a baby with him now,” explained the 26-year-old performer.

“Erik is already of marrying age, but I was always honest with him when I said I wasn’t ready yet.”

Erik Santos.

Angeline said her own family played a big factor in her unwillingness to give what Erik wanted from her. She did not want to disappoint her adoptive mother, Sylvia Quinto or Mama Bob. “Every time Mama Bob sees me and Erik on TV being sweet to each other, she would ask me many questions. She’d pry, wanting to know if we’re officially together,” she explained.

Angeline said her Mama Bob was being overprotective as a result of a heartbreak she experienced two years ago from a non-show biz boyfriend.

“I became busy with work, and the guy got jealous. We broke up because of a third party. We’re OK now. He is happy where he is,” Angeline shared with reporters. “I gave him my everything and didn’t think of myself. I’ve become mature now. I guess all of us will get to experience being stupid because of love.”

Angeline said Erik was the next guy she got “really close to” after the experience. “It was Erik who made me realize that I shouldn’t be stupid because of love,” she declared. “The right guy will come at the right time.

I’m not in a hurry. I still want to make the most of my career. My mentors keep telling me to enjoy this, because I will only get to experience this once in this lifetime.”

“That Thing Called Tanga Na,” produced by Regal Films, also features Eric Quizon, Billy Crawford, Kean Cipriano and Martin Escudero. ■

MATTHEW HERRADURA / FLICKR

Entertainment

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

25

Aniston essay inspires actresses to address sexist standards

BY SANDY COHEN The Associated Press

zine. “Women are held to different standards than men, and are taught from a young age to value their looks and their grooming and their weight very seriously.”

While tabloids have long seen women through an appearancefocused lens, other recent press coverage unduly aimed at actresses’ looks has inspired vocal criticism online. A June article in Variety in which its film critic maligns Renee Zellweger’s face based on her appearance in a trailer for “Bridget Jones’s Baby” inspired an impassioned response from actress Rose McGowan, who called the piece “vile, damaging, stupid and cruel.” Variety has declined comment.

“Portlandia” creator Carrie Brownstein were among those decrying the article as sexist on social media. Vanity Fair LOS ANGELES — When one of did not respond to a request for Hollywood’s most objectified comment. women talks about tabloid cul“We’ve been subjected to ture, people listen. But while this for years, and now with actresses are cheering Jennifer the influx of social media, we Aniston’s recent essay connecthave spaces to discuss and vent ing the media’s obsession with our frustration,” Ceron said. her looks to the overall objecti“What’s more, people are finalfication of women, most are rely listening to us.” signed that reality will be slow Other actresses have been to catch up with the conversaspeaking out against sexist tion. beauty standards for years. Bar“Entrenched ways take a bra Streisand says it’s “backwhile to change,” said Marisa ward” for our culture to conTomei, “but having the conversider actresses in their 40s as sations and opening it up, obsomehow “too old.” jecting to it or seeing different “It’s not a European way of points of view about it is really looking at, like, movie stars who helpful.” look like real “I applaud people,” StreiJennifer,” said sand said. “They actress Allison have flaws, you Janney. “I hate We’ve been subjected to this for know.” years, and now with the influx of that she had to Jamie Lee social media, we have spaces to do it, but I think Curtis recalled a discuss and vent our frustration. she just had magazine photo enough.” shoot more than Aniston wrote 15 years ago in her Huffingwhere she insistton Post essay ed on being phoearlier this month that conZellweger’s face was the sub- tographed before the hair and stant tabloid speculation over ject of such widespread scruti- makeup wizards worked their whether she’s pregnant con- ny and speculation in 2014 that magic. tributes to sexist cultural stan- the actress released a state“It was my way of making my dards that equate a woman’s ment suggesting that she looks statement back in the day,” Curworth with her appearance and different because she had got- tis said. “And now Jennifer’s maternal status. ten older during her time away written what she wrote ... It’s an “We use celebrity ‘news’ to from the entertainment indus- important conversation.” perpetuate this dehumaniz- try.

Filmmaker and activist Jening view of females,” Aniston Vanity Fair readers from Los nifer Siebel Newsom, who wrote.

Angeles to Australia blasted the studies gender representation “More scrutiny has always magazine’s July cover story that in media, has been working to been levelled at women, no opens by describing “Suicide shift attention from actresses’ matter the context,” said Ella Squad” star Margot Robbie as appearances to their accomCeron, digital entertainment “sexy and composed even while plishments through the Repreeditor for Teen Vogue maga- naked.” Writer Roxane Gay and sentation Project’s #AskHer-

Erik Santos.

More campaign. Created in 2014, the effort encourages red carpet reporters to interview actresses about more than their outfits. Reese Witherspoon and Shonda Rhimes are supporters.

Change has to come from all genders and sides, Newsom said.

“It’s too much for one person to take on her own,” she said.

“So while I applaud these individual actresses writing pieces and speaking out, we have to come together and say enough is enough.”

Being beautiful might be considered part of any celebrity’s job, male or female. So is it fair for an entertainer to use her image to promote her work on an album or magazine cover, then balk at media scrutiny of her appearance?

TINSELTOWN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

“The thing is, a man can be attractive without it being his entire selling point,” said Ceron of Teen Vogue.

Actress Abigail Breslin says consumers have a significant role to play. Tabloids may have influenced popular perceptions of women’s looks, but readers don’t have to remain complicit.

“It just takes people not buying it anymore — not buying magazines that are circling imperfections on the cover,” Breslin said. “It’s become culturally normal to be like, ‘Oh my God, look at this actress, she has bad calves.’ That’s not normal.” ■ Associated Press writers Lauri Neff in New York, Nicole Evatt in Los Angeles and Ryan Pearson in San Diego contributed to this report.

Sam Milby confirms relationship with Filipino-British model

BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — After much speculation, Kapamilya actor Sam Milby finally confirmed that he is indeed in a relationship with Filipina-British host and model Mari Jasmine.

“Yes. Kami na. Ayaw ko ishare ‘yung other details pero

gusto ko lang i-share na yeah, kami na. I’m very, very happy,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

(Yes. We’re together. I don’t want to share the other details but I just want to share that yeah, we’re in a relationship.

I’m very, very happy.)

In the same interview, Milby shared that they preferred to keep their relationship away

from the public eye.

“It becomes more complicated when people try to be more involved. They try to think they know what’s going on. Most of my life is in the spotlight, in the public eye. I like the fact [that] she’s a very private person and she wants to keep our relationship private also,” he said.

With a smile, Milby also adwww.canadianinquirer.net

mitted that he was ‘hoping’ Jasmine would be the woman he will get settled with. He did, however, remain evasive on questions about his ‘mystery girl’ and new romance.

“I’m inspired… I don’t think I would pursue a girl kung wala akong nakikitang future (I don’t think I would pursue a girl if I don’t see a future),” he said in an earlier interview with PEP.

ph.

“In ten years, I would still love to act and sana may family na din ako (In ten years, I would still love to act and hopefully, I have a family by that time)…

And I would venture into business as well,” he added.

Before Jasmine, the 32-yearold Kapamilya star was linked to Anne Curtis, Shaina Magdayao and Jessy Mendiola. ■

26

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Lifestyle To reverse damage of sitting, take a brisk, hour long walk

BY MARIA CHENG The Associated Press LONDON — If you spend all day sitting, then you might want to schedule some time for a brisk walk — just make sure you can spare at least an hour.

Scientists analyzing data from more than 1 million people found that it takes about 60 to 75 minutes of “moderate intensity” exercise to undo the damage of sitting for at least eight hours a day.

Not exercising and sitting all day is as dangerous as being obese or smoking, they found.

And the added risk of parking yourself in front of a television for 5 hours or more a day after sitting at the office is so high even the hour of exercise is not enough to reverse the ill effects of sitting.

It has long been suspected that sitting a lot, at work or at home, is not healthy, because it can weaken the heart, arteries, bones and muscles. Being sedentary is known to be a risk factor for problems including dia-

betes, heart disease and cancer.

Among other benefits, physical activity helps prevent insulin resistance, keeps the brain active and strengthens the heart, muscles and bones.

“We cannot stress enough the importance of getting exercise, whether it’s getting out for a walk at lunchtime, going for a run in the morning or cycling to work,” said Ulf Ekelund of the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences in Norway, one of the study’s authors, in a statement.

In the new research, experts combed through 13 papers with data on factors including how long people spend sitting, their physical activity levels and their television-watching habits. The majority of studies included people older than age 45. All except one were done in the U.S., Western Europe and Australia.

Researchers found that people with the highest levels of moderate physical activity — 60 to 75 minutes daily — erased the higher risk of death linked to being seated for more than eight hours a day. But even that

Researchers found that people with the highest levels of moderate physical activity — 60 to 75 minutes daily — erased the higher risk of death linked to being seated for more than eight hours a day.

exercise regime was not enough to counter the hazards of also watching more than five hours of television a day.

The study’s conclusions suggest that current guidelines from the World Health Organization — which recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day — may not be enough to offset the dangers of sitting.

The paper was published online Wednesday in the journal Lancet.

Lars Bo Andersen, who coauthored an accompanying

commentary, called the new research “very convincing.” He said watching lots of television was probably even worse than sitting at the office all day because it likely includes other unhealthy habits.

“A lot of people don’t just watch TV, they eat fatty snacks at the same time,” said Andersen, of Sogn and Fjordane University College in Norway.

Andersen said some cultures make it easier than others to squeeze in an hour of exercise every day, noting that in Den-

mark and much of Scandinavia, about half of all people either cycle or walk to work. But he said that getting the recommended amount of physical activity shouldn’t be overly arduous and doesn’t necessarily mean going to the gym for an intense workout.

“If you are walking and can feel yourself getting a little warm and your breathing is a little heavier, that’s enough,” he said. “You don’t have to be sweaty and out of breath to get the benefits.” ■

Eating more plant protein may reduce death risk: study PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY WASHINGTON — Eating more protein from plant sources is associated with a lower risk of death while eating more protein from animals, particularly red meats, is associated with a higher risk of death, a U.S. study said Monday.

“Overall, our findings support the importance of the sources of dietary protein for long-term health outcomes,” said Mingyang Song, a research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital and author of the report.

“Our findings also have public health implications and can help refine current dietary rec-

ommendations about protein intake, in light of the fact that it is not only the amount of protein but the specific food sources that is critical for long-term health.”

While previous studies have primarily focused on the overall amount of protein intake from a broad dietary perspective, the specific sources of protein are equally important, said Song, whose paper was published in the U.S. journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Song and colleagues analyzed data from two long-term epidemiologic studies, the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS), which have compiled comprehensive health data on more than 170,000 par-

ticipants since the 1980s.

In addition to completing overall health questionnaires every two years, participants provide information on their dietary intake — specifically how often they consumed portions of particular types of food during the preceding year — every four years.

The researchers analyzed more than 30 years of data for NHS participants and 26 years of data for HPFS participants.

During those time periods, more than 36,000 deaths were documented among study participants — almost 9,000 from cardiovascular disease, some 13,000 from cancer and about 14,000 from other causes.

After adjustment for lifestyle and other dietary risk factors, www.canadianinquirer.net

a high consumption of protein from animal sources, any types of meat, eggs or dairy, was weakly associated with an increased rate of death, while high consumption of protein from plant sources, breads, cereals, pasta, beans, nuts and legumes, was associated with a lower mortality rate.

More careful analysis revealed that the association of animal protein intake with an elevated mortality risk only applied to participants with at least one factor associated with an unhealthy lifestyle — being either obese or underweight, heavy alcohol consumption, a history of smoking, or physical inactivity.

In fact, the association disappeared in participants with

a healthy lifestyle. “While we expected we might find the associations to be weaker in the healthy lifestyle group, we did not expect them to completely disappear,” said Song.

Analysis based on specific sources of protein indicated that the animal-protein-associated mortality risk applied primarily to processed and unprocessed red meats, which include both beef and pork products, and not to protein from fish or poultry.

“Our findings suggest that people should consider eating more plant proteins than animal proteins, and when they do choose among sources of animal protein, fish and chicken are probably better choices,” he added. ■

Lifestyle

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

27

1st PMA Register Book finally launched fulfilling a former cadet’s dream after 17 years of writing

BY BEN CAL Philippines News Agency MANILA — A former cadet of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) whose dream was to write the first Academy Register Book that chronicles the more than 17,000 cadets who studied at the country’s premier military school in Baguio City since 1898, was finally fulfilled last Thursday when he launched the historic book he painstaking wrote for 17 years.

Army Brig. Gen. Restituto L. Aguilar Ret.), chief Veterans, Memorial and Historical Division of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), was highly emotional as he recalled the many instances that he almost called it quits during the gathering and writing of the book because of many obstacles, particularly the cost of printing.

Aguilar, a PMA graduate of class 1979, said he pursued his dream because he felt it was his patriotic duty to come up with the first ever Academy Register Book no other graduate had thought of to record the data of each Academy graduate for posterity.

He made the disclosure during the book launch with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as the guest of honor and speaker at the AFP Theatre and Museum in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Despite the time consuming research of valuable information regarding the past 118 years, Aguilar was able to trace the first batch of graduates of the Academia Military, forerunner of PMA, founded by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo in 1898.

“This is not a mere list of individuals, it is a history book of over a century of the Academy’s

existence,” Aguilar said, adding that “it narrates the history of the individual, of the class and of the Academy.”

“It also lists the veterans of various wars and military campaigns. Those who may not have completed their raining as cadets joined various uniformed services, here and abroad. Some are currently serving in allied armed forces while others have since retired.”

During the book launching, Aguilar recalled that “I was still quite young when I started with a dream. Now, over 17 years later I am glad it is no longer an empty statement but a reality.”

“It lists over 17,000 men and women who currently wears or once wore the woolen gray, some blue serge tunic and the founding fathers, khaki coat,” Aguilar pointed out.

The book includes the names of cadets from 1898 up to 2020 when the 2016 plebe cadets will graduate in 2020.

Aguilar disclosed that the book project was conceived “in the late 1990s when a communist safe house was raided by joint military and police intelligence operatives and among the documents recovered was a PMA alumni register that included the home addresses and phone numbers of the graduates.”

That paved the way when “I thought of drastically changing the concept of the register but how should differ from the alumni register was a big challenge for me,” he said.

“With only the address replaced with another acceptable substitute, nothing would attract those listed to turn to my concept,” Aguilar added.

In 1980 or a year after he graduate from PMA he conducted a research at the Office the Adjutant General (OTAG)

Melchor Hall, PMA.

in Camp Aguinaldo and what he found “the names of former cadets during post-war era up to our class. Likewise, I took time to gather data on the Constabulary School and Academy graduates from 1905 to 1935 at the old chief PC mini library at the mezzanine floor of his office,” Aguilar recalled.

By instinct, he reproduced the original documents as “an important link to history.”

In fact, Aguilar said it took him about a year gathering the data and kept them at his closet.

During the 1989 coup staged by military rebels, the Philippine Constabulary Headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City was hit by rocket and “all the reference materials, all archival documents have been reduced to dust (but) I am glad

www.canadianinquirer.net

RAMILTIBAYAN / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

I was able to reproduce the said materials” beforehand.

Eleven years had lapsed when he thought of starting his book project in 2000 “revising the concept of the Alumni Register to add the former cadets of each class, adopting birthplace or hometown in lieu of current address, and introducing in each entry cadet serial number, cadet rank, cadet company assignment, date of birth and those went ahead, their date of death. These were the common data for the over 10,000 graduates and the 7,000 current and former cadets. I added the statistics for each class and the general orders for their appointment as cadets and/or as graduates,” he said.

Aguilar further narrated: This is a list of soldiers, sailors,

airmen, marines, coast guardsmen and policemen. On the other hand, it would surprise you to also find in the list that some even became or some still are leaders of the Communist Regional Party Committee, a Central Committee member of the Moro National Liberation Front, a self-confessed spokesperson for the Misuari-aligned Moro organization and a member of the peace negotiating panel of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.”

Another discovery Aguilar made was the lists of “soldiers turned inventors, book authors, politicians, newspaper columnists, university professors, priests and preachers, diplomats, lawyers, movie actors, etc.”

During his active military service, Aguilar found himself in the battlefield most in Mindanao where he led government forces in fighting Moro and communist rebels.

“While a biography or autobiography takes one or two years to complete, this limited ‘biographies’ of 17,000 men and women took cumulatively more than 17 years, 18 supposedly this coming October (2016), to take its current form,” he said.

Aguilar said that despite a shoestring budget, Aguilar said that “with God’s infinite grace” he met two prospective benefactors Robert and Ralph L. Joseph through former Armed Forces vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Salvador M. Mison, who expressed their desire to help him published the almost 800-pages book.

Aguilar was humbled enough after he completed writing the book which is his immense contribution to the country’s military history as it is rich in invaluable data to present generation Filipinos and generations yet to come. ■

28

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Business B.C. foreign buyer tax won’t make big dent in housing affordability, experts say

BY LINDA GIVETASH The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — Experts are expressing doubt a property transfer tax on foreign buyers that takes effect Tuesday will have a significant impact on housing affordability in Metro Vancouver.

The next four to six months will be uncertain until the different players in the market decide how to react to the 15 per cent tax, said Anne McMullin, president of the non-profit industry association Urban Development Institute.

What is more certain, McMullin said, is that the tax is unlikely to improve affordability for average Canadian buyers who are in bidding wars over the stagnant supply of homes in Vancouver.

“The demand isn’t changing,” she said.

Removing foreign interests might bring down the price of $4 million homes to $3.5 million or $3 million in desirable neighbourhoods, McMullin said.

“I don’t think that’s affordable. They’re not going to come down that much.”

The province has said revenue generated by the tax will fund government housing initiatives for renters, low income earners and first-time buyers.

The tax legislated by B.C.’s Liberal government last week will apply to foreigners purchasing residential property in Metro Vancouver.

Data released by the province shows that nearly 10 per cent of property transfers in Metro Vancouver during a five-week period from June 10 to July 14 involved foreign nationals.

The province has also put forward changes that would enable the City of Vancouver to implement its own vacancy tax.

The changes are intended increase the existing housing supply that is available to

British Columbians, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said moments after the tax became law last Thursday in Victoria.

University of British Columbia professor of economics Thomas Davidoff said foreign interest is a major factor contributing to the high prices in region.

“If you eliminate foreign demand from this market, it is very hard for me to see how prices wouldn’t fall 25 to 50 per cent,” he said.

However, Davidoff added that he doesn’t anticipate the tax will completely drive out foreign buyers, preventing any

major drop in prices.

The degree to which foreigners are deterred and the financial impact that will have is what everyone will have to wait and see, he said.

A “home run” for the province would see foreign interest staying steady and as a result, generating around $1 billion annually through the tax, Davidoff said.

The province has said revenue generated by the tax will fund government housing initiatives for renters, low income earners and first-time buyers.

However, McMullin said an

aggressive increase in development, not taxes, would be the most effective way to improve housing affordability long term.

“There are still 40,000 people moving into this region per year,” she said.

“If you don’t create that kind of supply that allows for competition in the marketplace for the consumer, you’re going to have high prices.”

While a tax was a necessary step for the province to control skyrocketting prices, Davidoff said he was surprised the province didn’t make additional measures to increase development and density.

“Homeowners tend to like low density in their neighbourhood as is, and mayors tend to respond to that,” he said.

The province could have imposed regulations to prevent municipalities from restricting development, he said, noting that low density housing keeps homeowners happy but hurts everyone when areas where new residences can be built are limited.

“If you want to soften price growth ... you’ve got to add density and you’ve got to add apartments and townhomes,” he said. ■

Nestlé invests PHP2-B for malt factory in PHL PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Nestlé Philippines Chairman and CEO Jacques Reber has announced on Tuesday that the company is investing PHP2 billion for a malt factory in the Philippines.

Reber said Nestlé has started the construction of 5,400-square meter plant in Lipa, Batangas in December 2015 and is expected to be completed in October 2017.

This will be the company’s sixth plant in the Philippines.

Nestlé targets to start the operation of its malt plant by November next year.

Reber added that its new factory will have annual production capacity of 35,000 tons.

He mentioned that the new plant will produce Protomalt, a proprietary malt extract from cassava and barley, which is the key ingredient for its Milo products — Nestlé’s chocolate drink.

The Protomalt plant will complement to its Milo production facility also located in Lipa.

He said it is viable for the

company to put up malt factory in the Philippines with the market size here.

“The Philippine has been selected to produce Protomalt here because it’s a key market for Milo, for Nestlé,” said Reber.

The Philippines is Nestlé’s second biggest market for Milo, only next to Singapore and is followed by Nigeria.

Milo products also have significant share to Nestlé Philippines’ sales.

Currently, Nestlé Philippines is sourcing its Protomal requirement from Singapore — the Group’s largest malt factory in www.canadianinquirer.net

the world which is three times bigger than its project here.

Nestlé also has malt plant in Nigeria which has the same size with the Philippine malt facility.

Reber added the malt plant will initially cater to the Philippine market.

Moreover, Nestlé Philippines is looking to partner with local cassava farmers as cassava is one of the raw materials for malt production.

Since cassava output here is limited, the company will initially import the product from Thailand.

In the past five years, the Swiss firm has invested close to PHP14 billion in the Philippines.

It has instant nutrition and liquid beverages factory in Cabuyao, Laguna; Nescafe and Bear Brand factory in Cagayan de Oro, breakfast cereals and Milo plant in Lipa, Batangas; ice cream and fresh dairy facility in Pulilan, Bulacan; and CoffeeMate and Bear Brand facility in Tanauan, Batangas.

The company’s sales in 2015 reached PHP121 billion, an increase of 4 percent from 2014’s sales of PHP116 billion. ■

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

29

Sports One final shot at Olympic glory Pacquiao gets

BY JASMINE W. PAYO Philippine Daily Inquirer

have the same strength.”

But the shift to 53 kilograms from 58 kg—the division she competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics—proved to be ideal for the 5-foot-2 Diaz.

TWO YEARS after giving birth— and now 35 years old—Marestella Torres-Sunang surprisingly finds herself at her peak.

“It’s like I started all over More focused again after giving birth,” said Last November, Diaz the country’s long jump queen. clinched an Olympic berth af“I think the maturity is there. ter bagging three bronze medAnd I’m more inspired now. I’m als in the World Championship happy when I train because of in Houston where she lifted 96 my family. It really helps that kg in the snatch, 117 kg in the after training, I see my baby. It’s clean and jerk for a 213 total one motivation for me to have a in the women’s 53 kg division. good performance.”

“I’m totally focused now,” said Defying age and the chal- the 25-year-old Diaz, noting lenges of motherhood, Torres- that she has been committed to Sunang earned a third Olympic her training regimen and nutriticket in a suspense-filled, re- tion program. Torres-Sunang cord-setting fashion in the Ka- has also been focused, but more zakhstan Open athletics cham- so now after her scintillating pionship this July. performance in the KazakhAnd Torres-Sunang owes it stan qualifiers. As her Olympic all to the changes in many aspects of her life. Her new family, she said, pushes her If it’s your last, you will really do best. to do even better. Her retooled training and diet also allowed her to close in to a single-digit body hopes hinged on one last jump fat percentage for a higher level in the sport’s last qualifier, performance.

Torres-Sunang admitted her chances had looked bleak.

Improved versions The San Jose, Negros Orien“I’m more prepared now— tal, native had fallen short of mentally, physically, emotion- the Olympic standard of 6.70m ally, spiritually,” said Torres- in two attempts and fouled Sunang, who shattered her own thrice, the last two coming benational record and also sur- fore her sixth and final try. passed the Olympic qualifying “I guess it was the most drastandard with a winning leap of matic,” she said. “It was my last 6.72 meters in the Kazakhstan chance, my last jump in the last qualifiers. qualifier.”

Torres, though, isn’t the only Yet Torres-Sunang, overcomone dealing with change. ing the wet and slightly windy Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz— conditions, amazingly smashed the only other three-time her previous best and Southeast Olympian among Filipino ath- Asian record of 6.71m by a centiletes heading into the 2016 Rio meter to clinch an Olympic slot.

Olympics—has also been feeling stronger these days.

Overwhelming And a lot of it has to do with Diaz “Natulala ako (I was shocked) sliding down to a weight class that after seeing the score,” said surprisingly allowed her to reap Torres-Sunang. more medals the past year.

“Then I cried. It just felt “I didn’t like it at first,” ad- impossible—my last jump in mitted Diaz. “It was hard to lose the last competition. It took weight and I thought I wouldn’t some time before I got over it.

I couldn’t move on, I couldn’t sleep. That whole night I just kept thinking how I did it.”

Top 12

This month in Rio, TorresSunang hopes to do the improbable anew against the traditional American and European favorites. Then there’s also her age as she’s likely among the oldest to compete in the event.

“My goal is to make it to the finals, the top 12,” said TorresSunang. “It’s not about the age.

Right now, I know how to listen to my body more. I also know how to handle situations, how to adjust.” Similarly, Diaz hopes to make the most out of her third consecutive stint in the world’s biggest sporting stage.

Diaz, a daughter of a tricycle driver in Zamboanga, tagged as “a learning experience” her 2008 Beijing stint where she was just a wildcard entry at 17 years old. But she admitted to your succumbing to pressure in the 2012 London edition where she hogged the spotlight as the country’s flag bearer. The past year, though, had been good for Diaz. Before picking up three bronze medals in the World Championship, she bagged a gold in the Southeast Asian Championships in Bangkok and three more gold medals in the Asian Senior Championships in Phuket—all in her new weight class.

Knowing it could be her final Olympic run, Diaz said the thought drives her to aim for a medal finish.

“If it’s your last, you will really do your best,” said Diaz. “I’ve been competing for years, so I need to get a medal. That’s my aim in my last Olympics.”

So for Diaz and Torres-Sunang—even if they’re at a stage that some consider as the twilight of athletic careers—it may just be their time.

As Torres-Sunang said: “After everything that I went through, this might be my most unforgettable Olympics.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

committee as Senate split games, amusement and sports panel PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Neophyte Senator Manny Pacquiao took a committee chairmanship after the Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 68 that separated the Senate committee on games, amusement and sports into two new standing committees.

As the result, Pacquiao has been awarded with the chairmanship of the now Senate committee on sports while Senator Panfilo Lacson got the Senate committee on games and amusement.

Pacquiao has now two committees, including the committee on public works approved last week the Senate constituted the first 21 standing Senate committees.

On Monday, the Senate announced the chairmanship and members of the 12 more com-

mittees.

These are the committees on government owned and controlled corporations given to Senator Richard Gordon; climate change to Senator Loren Legarda; banks, financial institutions and currencies to Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero; youth to Senator Joel Villanueva; and, economic affairs to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

Senator Leila de Lima got the committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation; Senator Paolo Benigno ‘Bam’ Aquino IV with the committee on science and technology; Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri with the cooperatives; Senator Sonny Angara with local government and Senator Grace Poe with the Senate committee on public information and mass media.

The Senate will continue constituting the remaining standing Senate committees on Tuesday. ■

Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao PHOTO FROM PACQUIAO'S OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE

30

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Technology Nova Scotia launches new “Game-changing” system to deliver health test solar cell turns results via smartphone CO2, sunlight into burnable fuel

BY KEITH DOUCETTE The Canadian Press

system is $13.3 million over the three-year implementation period, with $10 million from the federal government and $3.3 million from the province.

The initial rollout will serve the Halifax, South Shore and West Hants areas with plans to expand the system provincewide beginning early next year — making Nova Scotia the first in Canada to do so.

The MyHealthNS system is being implemented through McKesson Canada’s RelayHealth.

David Mosher, the company’s program director, said the

Nova Scotia’s Health Department says the system will allow patients to manage their own health information to the point HALIFAX — A new online porof saving some visits to health tal that will deliver medical test clinics in order to get some test results to Nova Scotians via results. smartphones is the kind of inProvincial Health Minister novation that’s long overdue in Leo Glavine said results of the Canadian health care, says the pilot project indicated that federal health minister. through the course of a year, Jane Philpott was in Halifax physicians had 22 per cent on Thursday for the launch of more time to see other pathe MyHealthNS portal, which tients. has been tested for the past Dr. Stewart Cameron, a Halithree years in a pilot project fax physician who took part in involving 30 family doctors and the pilot, said using the elec6,000 patients. tronic system is about making Philpott, who practices more worked as a famefficient. ily doctor, said “We have a lot using technology of things that to create a single Health care is way behind folks, you family doctors and I know it and we’ve got to catch patient record is waste time on up. part of improvwhen they would ing overall primuch prefer to mary care. be engaged in “This is exactly patient care,” the kind of innovation that we secure portal can be reached Cameron said. “I see it as makneed to see more of. This is an through any device that has In- ing better use of our existing important step along the way ternet access. He said patients resources.” and Nova Scotia is clearly at the would see a dashboard divided Richmond Campbell, a pacutting edge on this.” into sections for health records, tient of Cameron’s, said he has a Philpott said when it comes messaging doctors, and for condition that means his blood to “people-centred” services downloading data. has been tested every month and technologies, she sees “A patient can just click on for the past 10-years. banks and credit card compa- ‘add’ and put in data themCampbell said using the pornies leading the way. selves, but the important thing tal saved him trips to the doc“I look at the kinds of cloud is that it also lists where the tor’s office to get information technology that’s being used source came from,” said Mosh- he can now get in a quicker, all over the world,” she said. er. “When a clinician is looking more convenient way.

“Health care is way behind at this information later they “It simplifies everything folks, you and I know it and can see whether it came from greatly and of course it gets me we’ve got to catch up.” a patient or one of their col- really involved in managing my The cost of Nova Scotia’s new leagues.” health,” he said. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY WASHINGTON — US researchers have developed what they called a “potentially gamechanging” solar cell that cheaply and efficiently converts atmospheric carbon dioxide and sunlight directly into usable hydrocarbon fuel.

Conventional solar cells convert sunlight into electricity that must be stored in heavy batteries, but the new device essentially does the work of plants, converting carbon dioxide into a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide, which can be burned directly, or converted into diesel or other hydrocarbon fuels.

A solar farm of such “artificial leaves” could remove significant amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and produce energy-dense fuel efficiently, they reported this week in the US journal Science.

“The new solar cell is not photovoltaic — it’s photosynthetic,” senior author Amin Salehi-Khojin, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a statement.

“Instead of producing energy in an unsustainable one-way route from fossil fuels to greenhouse gas, we can now reverse the process and recycle atmospheric carbon into fuel using

sunlight,” he said.

There is much interest surrounding chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide into burnable forms of carbon, but existing catalysts for this reaction are too inefficient and rely on expensive precious metals such as silver.

Salehi-Khojin and his coworkers focused on a family of nano-structured compounds called transition metal dichalcogenides — or TMDCs — as catalysts, pairing them with an unconventional ionic liquid as the electrolyte inside a twocompartment, three-electrode electrochemical cell.

The best of several catalysts they studied turned out to be nanoflake tungsten diselenide, which was not only more active and more able to break carbon dioxide’s chemical bonds, but also 1,000 times faster than noble-metal catalysts and about 20 times cheaper.

The researchers also used an ionic fluid called ethyl-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, mixed 50-50 with water.

The technology should be adaptable not only to largescale use, like solar farms, but also to small-scale applications, Salehi-Khojin said.

In the future, he said, it may prove useful on Mars, whose atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, if the planet is also found to have water. ■

Technology

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

31

Museums and galleries grapple with digital demands of screen-obsessed era

BY CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI The Canadian Press TORONTO — Looking back now, the student developers of a location-based game drawing crowds at the Ontario Science Centre would seem to be prescient geniuses.

Their character-driven game features a cartoon creature that evolves as the player moves from one location to another, collecting information and cards that can only be obtained by physically walking to different parts of the museum.

It’s called BitMorph, and if you think it sounds a little like “Pokemon Go,” the science centre’s director of communication won’t disagree.

“I’ll just note for the record that we had BitMorph out on the floor weeks before ‘Pokemon Go.’ They copied us!” jokes Kevin Von Appen, who says the collaboration with Ryerson University inadvertently tapped into the zeitgeist.

BitMorph is just one of a slew of digital and mobile experiments rolling out at museums and galleries across the country, all of them eager to remain relevant to a screen-obsessed generation.

These days, it’s not unusual to find touchscreens and iPads instead of plasma audio/visual displays, while cellphone tours, mobile apps and enhanced websites are considered musthaves. Previously stuffy galleries have even relaxed photography rules to allow for sharing on social media.

The Royal Ontario Museum is among those examining how to incorporate emerging technologies, including augmented reality and in-house GPS-style (or “Pokemon Go”-style) navi-

gation.

“We have just in the last year hired our first chief information officer and are investing a lot of time and energy around what are the strategies that make the most sense,” says newly installed CEO Josh Basseches, previously with the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass., and the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

“The ROM, and most museums like us, are still at work on the project of saying: ‘What does it mean to be a 21st-century museum?’ Engaging with the digital world is very much a part of that.”

Visitors can already use augmented reality in the dinosaur gallery to virtually flesh out a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton with an iPad. Over at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, exhibition spaces might include costumes and props so visitors can take selfies to post online. During last winter’s Monet exhibition, iPad “painting stations” encouraged visitors to create art inspired by photos of local bridges that were projected onto a wall. It resulted in more than 8,000 paintings, and a selection of them were projected in the space.

It seems clear that audiences — especially younger ones — are increasingly seeking ways to interact with exhibits, as well as curate a personal experience distinct from a docent-led tour or printed guide.

With that in mind, the National Gallery is updating its two-year-old Canadian collection app, and launching a new multimedia guide by 2018, says Gary Goodacre, chief of education and public programs.

“Now there’s technology where if you walk by a painting you can kind of get notifi-

cations and the content can be sent to you at a specific time, at a specific location, which is a lot more user-friendly than just having the content on a device that you have to dig through,” Goodacre notes.

“The trick is thinking about what content do we have, what audience is it for? And how do we get it out there?”

While people in their 60s and 70s might be happy with a relatively simple MP3 audio guide, someone in their 20s with their own device would likely prefer an app, he says. Families might want to access treasure hunts and mobile games to entertain a child.

Of course, some fear that digital projects could distract from, or even impair, the ability to enjoy an exhibit for what it is.

Then there’s the solitude-craving traditionalist who heads to the museum for soul-searching contemplation, removed from flickering screens and beeping devices.

But Basseches insists there’s no reason all types of visitors can’t enjoy an exhibit side-byside, in their own way.

If anything, technology can reduce information overload because almost any fact about an exhibit or display can be obtained on any smartphone.

“Inundation with text is an issue and I tend to believe in the right amount of text but not too much,” says Basseches.

“But also it’s the type of media. Words are one way of learning about something that excites you, but (then there are) digital tools where we can create a rich and robust experience that maybe identifies a dozen different exciting areas that research has shown us people want to think about.”

Bandwidth is an issue with

Previously stuffy galleries have even relaxed photography rules to allow for sharing on social media.

LAPON PINTA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

any initiative requiring a highspeed Wi-Fi connection, and that’s the hurdle at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“We’re in an old heritage building and Wi-Fi is actually not available throughout the gallery,” admits public affairs director Johanie Marcoux, noting that plans to break ground on a new gallery would embrace such demands.

But money is an issue, too.

Marcoux notes the gallery lent out phones for a Douglas Coupland exhibit in 2014, but that project was later put on hold due to a lack of resources. The lending program was revived for their current Bharti Kher exhibit, but “like any other notfor-profit institutions in Canada, a big challenge is resources both in financial and in terms of human resources,” she says.

Goodacre says the transformation goes beyond gadgets and gizmos to the very idea of what it means to visit a cultural institution.

Galleries in general have a reputation for being closed formal places with too many rules.

“Oftentimes people come

with the expectation that, ‘Oh, you know, at an art gallery you can’t really talk. You’re supposed to be quiet and reverent,”‘ says Goodacre.

“I think we’re working very hard, not just through the use of technology, but in terms of programming (to change that).

Thursday nights are really busy for us now — it’s our free time from 5 to 8 p.m., a lot of young people, a very broad range of audiences come.”

Moving with the times means rethinking everything about how these institutions operate, adds Basseches, extending to the way admissions fees are taken and how purchases are made at the gift store or restaurant.

Von Appen agrees, pointing out that museums and galleries are just trying to address “how visitors increasingly approach their lives.”

“People 45, 50 and above may be in fact, and are, the last generation to make any distinction between digital and physical,” says Von Appen.

“For everybody else, it’s just part of a continuum that’s seamless.” ■

Robot dance in east China sets world record PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY QINGDAO — A total of 1,007 robots danced for a minute in east China’s Shandong Province, setting a new Guinness World

Record for the largest simultaneous robot dance.

At around 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, 1,040 robots, each 43.8 centimeters high, started their synchronized dance in Huangdao District of Qingdao City, and 1,007 of them finished the

challenge.

It beat the previous Guinness record set during a mass dance of 540 robots in February in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, said Wu Xiaohong, a Guinness World Records notary. www.canadianinquirer.net

Wu said robots that fell or stopped before the one minute mark were not counted in the results.

Quan Jinyou, Chief Technology Officer of Qingdao-based Ever Win Company, Ltd., which produced the robots,

said the biggest challenge for remote control of the robots is radio frequency interference, such as from mobile phones or Bluetooth devices. He said the company’s encryption technology avoids this interference. ■

32

AUGUST 5, 2016

FRIDAY

Travel A trip around Antique from up-north to downsouth (or How I spent a rainy Saturday in a forest)

BY LEAH MARLIE PAGUNSAN-TAMBANILLO Philippines News Agency SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, ANTIQUE — It was a weekend ideal for staying at home.

The weather was not so fine, there was a heavy rain early that morning and there was no promise of the sun coming out even later during the day.

But our Lonely Traveler was scheduled to meet Mr. Paul Stiles, the author of The Lonely Planet Guidebook. He said in his text message that he was taking the boat from Diniwid Beach Resort (a part of Boracay Island) and it is scheduled to dock at Tabon Jetty Port at around 9:00 a.m. He said he brought along his son, Curtis.

Thus Miss Lonely Traveler had to go, rain or shine.

5:00 a.m. of July 30, amidst the drizzle, and while everyone was still in deep slumber, the trip from San Jose de Buenavista, passing the still sleeping towns in between and crossing the boundary of the two provinces (Aklan and Antique) at Pandan and Nabas was an uneventful trip to Malay, Aklan.

Miss Lonely Traveler (Miss LT) was buried deep in her own thoughts, probably still giddy from lack of sleep and thinking what’s gonna happen if the weather continues to be this bad. In less than two and a half hours, the vehicle she was driving was at Tabon Jetty Port in Malay, Aklan.

After a simple “breakfast” of that 25-peso arroz caldo, the waiting started. Miss LT counted the minutes for her visitors’ arrival.

They did arrive, and so armed with what was left of Miss LT’s “sanghakup nga English” the vehicle, now carrying Mr. Stiles and his son Curtis was on its way back to Antique, passing through Malay and Buruanga and entering the province thru the town of Libertad.

Mr. Stiles, by the way is the

The Antique provincial capitol in the municipality of San Jose de Buenavista.

MIKE GONZALEZ / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

author of The Lonely Planet, a its name, Miss LT could guess that Buruanga town was part of guidebook published in Lon- that there were lots of bats, but the Northwest Panay Peninsula don and his assignment was to she hoped that the cave could Natural Park and Miss LT told cover as much as the Visayan not be as amazing as the one Mr Stiles, the peninsula also regions and Miss LT’s task was in Brgy. Union, Libertad, the included the towns of Libertad, to take him to see as much as Maanghit Cave. Miss LT really Pandan, Sebaste and Culasi in what needs to be seen and be had her bias, you know.

Antique. included in the guidebook The visitors were impressed The only point of interest featuring the province of An- though, because there were along the highway was the Patique. tour guides who were set to gatpat Mangrove Park where First stop: Motag Living Mu- bring the visitors to the cave, mangroves grow right in the seum located in Brgy. Motag, armed with helmet and lamps. sea waters and that a wooden Malay, Aklan. The directions For a fee of Php 200.00 for ev- bridge was constructed so that given by the visitors could sleepy lady at the go around the Tabon Jetty Port area. The womwere as vague as an who met the the foggy mornThe visitors slept in the cozy little visitors said that cottages happy in their thoughts that ing. Miss LT she was the one they spent that rainy night in a forest, almost got conwho lobbies for with only the drifting of the rain and fused which road a permit from the chirping of the birds, away from to take in going the DENR in orthe maddening crowd of the city and there, and to be der to “own” that the amenities of modern times. sure, she again park. (sounds asked directions weird, huh?) And from folks they that she plans to passed by along build a zipline the road. ery one guide for a group of five up in the mountains opposite Entering the museum, the visitors, everything’s on the go! the mangrove park. The jolly visitors saw that it was a place Wow! The cave was marvelous conversation that ensued about where the natives or the Aetas and there were concrete steps the zipline going right over used to live. There was a replica that were constructed at the the mountain and landing on of everything that makes their entrance as well as inside the the other side, the Pucio Point daily lives convenient. There cave. The stalactites were so in Libertad made the woman was the “bubon” or the open low that a helmet is indeed nec- laughed so loud her laughter well where they fetch their essary. The cave was 275 me- was the first one the visitors drinking water ters in length, according to the heard amidst the drizzle. It was The next stop was the Pangi- guide. Quite impressive, huh? also the first time Mr. Stiles han Cave, also in Malay. From Billboards along the way said chuckled. www.canadianinquirer.net

Lunch time was at Brgy.

Union, Libertad where Miss Bibize Atienza, the Municipal Tourism Officer of Libertad brought the guests to a house where the family earns their living through mat weaving, which coincidentally, is the OTOP of the town. Our visitors had a grand time watching how a single mat is being made and that small earning sends the children to school, up to college.

The drizzle had developed into a very heavy torrent of rain when the vehicle Miss LT was driving reached Pandan.

Stopping at Phaidon Villas and Beach Resort, a flush resort which is a joint venture of Filipino and Austrian investors.

Mr. Stiles had his moment talking with the manager, happy with the taught that a foreigner is investing something in a land where he also found his spouse.

Next stop was at Rose Point Beach Resort, also in Pandan and is located very near the mouth of the Bugang River, the world’s cleanest inland body of water. Then Miss LT brought the father-son tandem to Malumpati Cold Spring and although it was raining very hard, she accompanied the two Scottish up to the headspring. The thirty-minute trek was worth their being dripped in rain because Mr. Stiles was so amazed with the clear blue waters and he said that it was the first time he saw a headspring as beautiful as this one in Malumpati.

He had wanted to experience bamboo rafting but time was running short and that the rain seemed not to stop pouring.

Sebaste town was simply passed by but while driving along the area, Miss LT told her visitors a bit of Sebaste’s history and some places of interest that can be seen in and around the town and that St. Blaise, its patron saint came from Spain.

It was a bit of interest to them, particularly to Curtis who had ❱❱ PAGE 36 A trip

Travel

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

33

LEFT: The Atwater Market. ABOVE: Jean-Talon public farmers' market, outside view from the north west.

COLIN ROSE AND GENE.ARBOIT / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Montreal’s public markets feed growing appetite for locally produced food

BY MORGAN LOWRIE The Canadian Press MONTREAL — As health and environmental concerns have fuelled Canadians’ appetite for locally sourced and organic food, Montreal’s public markets have been quietly reaping the benefits.

The city hosts four year-round markets and an array of smaller seasonal ones where producers showcase their fruits, vegetables, meats and other products.

Although the history of public markets dates back to the city’s founding, most of Montreal’s current ones originated in the early part of the 20th century.

While the rise of big grocery stores once ate into their profits, they have been booming in recent years thanks to renewed public interest in knowing where food comes from.

“People are more concerned about what they’re eating,” says Lysianne David, a spokeswoman for Montreal’s Public Markets, the group that manages the markets.

“They want to know if it’s organic, where it came from, and they don’t want products that come from far away.”

Featured market offerings — like farms themselves — shift with the seasons: Christmas trees in December, maple syrup in early spring, and berries and sweet corn during summer months.

Year-round, shoppers can also pick up fresh fish, cuts of meat, cheese, specialty products, prepared food and flowers.

Here are a few of the most popular markets:

Marche Jean Talon, 7070 Henri-Julien Ave.

With 2.5 million visitors per year, Jean-Talon bills itself as one of North America’s largest open-air markets.

It was built in 1933 and owes much of its European feel to the large number of Italian immigrants who migrated to the area in the first part of the 20th century.

The city’s liveliest and most crowded market hosts 20 boutiques and dozens of stalls selling everything from fruits and vegetables to fresh lobsters and ice cream.

On a recent day, Isabelle Lacroix was selling lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, lettuce and beets — just as her father did in the 1960s.

Down another aisle at a colourful stand representing Intermiel, a bee farm in Mirabel, Que., a vendor cheerfully explained the company’s range of unpasteurized honey products.

At the booth for an organic agriculture collective, employee Mia Dansereau said the week’s star product was the season’s first field-grown eggplants.

“People like to shop at the markets because it lets them see what’s new each week, and eat the way the agriculture is done,” she said.

store, bakery and several butchers.

On a July day, Quebec-grown strawberries and raspberries were on prominent display, while a vendor outside did brisk business selling sweet corn out of a red flatbed wagon at $6.50 a dozen.

Inside high-end boutique Les Gourmands du Marche, clients perused full walls dedicated to various olive oils, vinegars and hot sauces.

Tina, an employee who declined to give her last name, said many of the Atwater market’s clients come to find something specific.

“It’s a great vibe and I really enjoy the clientele,” she said. “It’s very diversified but very knowledgeable, really interested in nice products.”

Maisonneuve Market, 4445 Ontario St. E.

Located in the eastern borough of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, this market was closed in the 1960s but was reopened in

Atwater Market, 138 Atwater Ave.

This market is held in a large art deco building that borders the city’s Lachine canal and its bike path, making it a popular stop for southwest residents who can be seen lounging in the public spaces along the waterfront in the summer.

Montreal’s second-largest market has a number of stands selling fruits and vegetables, as well as cheese shops, a fish www.canadianinquirer.net

1980 thanks to a citizen-led campaign.

It has about 40 outdoor stalls featuring seasonal local products, as well as a dozen permanent stores.

Until September the market is hosting “gourmet Fridays,” when customers can meet producers and sample featured products such as cheeses, oils and vegan sausage.

Other markets

The borough of Lachine hosts its own market, as do many suburbs including Longueuil and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

There are other small seasonal markets scattered around the city, most of them located near subway station entrances.

According to David, these serve mostly a local clientele and each one may offer something different, whether it’s flowers, maple products or vegetables. ■

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ONTARIO NOVA SCOTIA To have your events featured on PCI, please email events@canadianinquirer.net

VANCOUVER 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 778-3222839 or email: tfw.divorce@gmail. com 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.

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 Anna de Quito 604-7632210.

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)2549626 Seniors Club Knitting Circle

By Mosaic WHEN/WHERE: 1–3 p.m., Tuesdays at Mosaic Burnaby Centre for Immigrants, 5902 Kingsway, Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call (604)438-8214 Tim Pavino: Good Vibes USACanada Tour

By Starmusic Stages WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Aug. 4, at Christian Centre 7200 Cariboo Road, Burnaby B.C. MORE INFO: Featuring the Rosario Strings Enchanted Evenings Concert Series

By Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m., Thursdays, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, 578 Carrall St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Closed on Mondays,

admission by donation Summer Sunset Series

By City of Richmond WHEN/WHERE: Every Sunday up to to Aug. 28, at the Olympic Riverside Plaza All Night – Beach Volleyball 5:00 p.m. – Food Truck opens 5:15 p.m. – FREE Yoga Class 6:00 p.m. – LIVE Music Dusk – Open Air Movie (July 10, 24, August 7 and 21) MORE INFO: Visit http:// richmond.ca/sunsetseries Open House & BBQ

By MHHS WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Aug. 6, at MHHS Office: 4802 Fraser Street corner of 32nd Ave. & Fraser St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Call 604-879-3277 PhotoLakad By the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in B.C. WHEN/WHERE: 9:30 a.m., Aug. 6, at Olympic Cauldron, Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver, B.C. Nuestro Americana Parade WHEN/WHERE: 2 p.m., Aug. 6, at Place de Artes, Montreal, Quebec MORE INFO: Filipino Indigenous People’s Organization of Quebec cultural show at 4 p.m., Aug. 6

www.canadianinquirer.net

Youth Rap: My Journey to Canada

By ISS of BC WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 3 p.m., Aug. 7, Seminar Room, School Gym, St. Mary’s Parish, 5239 Joyce St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: To register, contact Resochita Arma at resochita. arma@issbc.org or 604-684-7498 Community Potluck Picnic By the New Westminster Philippine Festival Society WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Aug. 13, Westminster Pier Park, New Westminster, B.C. Cowboy Party – Last Ride of the Year By the Batangas Club of British Columbia WHEN/WHERE: 6 to 11:59 p.m., Aug. 13 at St. Patrick Parish Gym, 2881 Main St., Vancouver, B.C. 2016 Pinoy Fiesta Vancouver WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m., Aug. 14, at Memorial South Park, E. 41ssst Ave., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: with special guest Ms. World 2014 Megan Young

TORONTO 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 Tagalog Class

By Filipino Center Toronto WHEN/WHERE: 10 to 11 a.m., every Saturday, Filipino Centre Toronto, Toronto 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 416-928-9355. The office, at 597 Parliament St., Suite 103, Toronto, is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1 to 6 p.m.

OTTAWA Abakada Atbp By the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa WHEN/WHERE: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Aug. 14, at the Philippine Embassy in Ottawa, 30 Murray St., Ottawa, ON MORE INFO: Free Admission.

Call 613-233-1121 or email embassyofphilippines@rogers. com

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

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Food COOKING ON DEADLINE:

Grilled lamb chops, onions, herb salad

BY KATIE WORKMAN The Associated Press THIS RECIPE sounds, looks and tastes fancy, but it takes only a few steps of preparation and some simple assembly.

It’s one of those recipes that demands the best ingredients you can afford; it will make a difference. You can also use rib lamb chops, which are a bit pricier.

Play around with the herb and lettuce mixture. Any assortment of tender lettuces and fresh herbs will be lovely atop the rich grilled chops and tender, smoky onions. Grilling the lemons with the lamb and onions caramelizes them, and the juice you sprinkle over the finished dish will have a nice hint of smokiness.

You can let the onions and lemons sit in the marinade at room temperature for an hour or so, or in the fridge for up to 2 days, for more flavour.

If you have a vegetable grilling grate, use it. Otherwise, even if you use a wide grilling spatula, you might end up sacrificing a few of the onion rings to the grilling gods.

Grilled lamb chops and onions with herb salad

Start to finish: One hour Servings: 5

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided • 1/4 cup dry white wine • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, preferably white balsamic • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste • 3 large yellow or Vidalia onions • 3 lemons, halved crosswise • 10 loin lamb chops, about 1-inch thick • 2 cups baby arugula • 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves Combine 1/4 cup of the olive oil with the white wine, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper in a shallow baking dish.

Peel the onions and cut them crosswise

into 1/2-inch slices. Place them in the baking dish along with the lemon halves, turn to coat with the marinade (it’s fine to stack the onion slices) and set aside.

Brush the lamb chops with 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil, generously season with salt and pepper, and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Meanwhile, preheat the grill to medium/medium-high.

Grill the onions and the lamb chops for about 8 minutes, about 4 minutes on each side, so that they get nicely browned on both sides. Turn the onions with a grilling spatula (you can use a spatula or tongs for the lamb). At the

same time, grill the lemons cut-side down for about 5 minutes. The internal temperature of the lamb chops should be 130 degree F for medium rare.

Remove the chops and lemons from the grill and let sit on a cutting board for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, move the onions to a cooler area of the grill or turn the gas down, and let them continue to soften while the lamb and lemons sit, watching carefully to make sure the onions don’t burn.

While the chops sit and the onions finish cooking, place the arugula and parsley in a medium bowl. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss.

Place the lamb chops and onions on a serving platter. Pile the arugula and herb salad on top. Place the lemon halves on the side so people can squeeze them, or squeeze the juice yourself all over the meal and serve immediately.

Nutrition information per serving: 420 calories; 171 calories from fat; 19 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 146 mg cholesterol; 403 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 51 g protein.

Katie Workman has written two cookbooks focused on easy, family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.”

Shop Canadian for Food Day Canada menu with list of 149 items from this country

BY LOIS ABRAHAM The Canadian Press TORONTO — Anita Stewart wants people to prepare Canadian food — it keeps the country’s producers and processors in business and defines our culinary identity — and decided to lend a helping hand.

She has compiled a list of 100 per cent Canadian ingredients that can be used to set the table, especially on Food Day Canada, an annual culinary party spearheaded by Stewart since 2003. This year’s edition takes place Saturday.

Stewart says the event is a chance for Canadians to celebrate and support the country’s farmers, fishers, chefs, re-

searchers and home cooks. She expects some 250 restaurants across the country to mark the occasion with special menus.

Her shopping list has 149 items on it, to mark one year till Canada’s sesquicentennial.

“If I tell people to cook like a Canadian I have to tell them how to shop like a Canadian and it seemed to me it was becoming more and more difficult to figure out exactly what is on the shelves and farmers markets,” says Stewart, who is the food laureate at the University of Guelph and a member of the Order of Canada for promoting Canada’s culinary identity.

Part of the difficulty is the way food is ❱❱ PAGE 36 Shop Canadian

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Food

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AUGUST 5, 2016

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A trip... ❰❰ 32

been learning about Spain and the Spanish language while in

school.

In Culasi town, the visitors alighted at the newly-paved Culasi Bay Walk and saw Malalison Island from a distance.

Sadly, the group didn’t have time to go to the island itself because of time constraint and the big waves.

They went inside Culasi market and bought fish and veggies for dinner, which was planned to be in Brgy. Tuno, Tibiao. It was already pitch dark when the group arrived at the Tibiao Eco-Adventure Park. The road uphill was very slippery, yet thanks to the Heavens the vehicle and its passengers ar-

rived safe and sound. They had home-cooked dinner at the Zipline Inn, owned and managed by Mr. & Mrs. Leslie Gaal, a Hungarian by birth but a naturalized Canadian citizen married to a Tibiaonon, Akai Ofelia Cumla-Gaal.

The chatting continued while cooking dinner. Curtis, the more expert chef, cooked his own meal consisting of egg omelet and tomatoes.

The visitors slept in the cozy little cottages happy in their thoughts that they spent that rainy night in a forest, with only the drifting of the rain and the chirping of the birds, away from the maddening crowd of the city and the amenities of modern times. You see, there

were no television nor radios up there and no signals for cellphones. Perfect getaway for a rainy Saturday!

Sunday morning was still a rainy day, but the Stiles tandem went farther up the Bugtong Bato Waterfalls Inn, owned by Daughterty Juanites, the only son of Manang Akai Ofelia. It is located very near the 7-tiered waterfalls with its beauty and splendor that never failed to fascinate the nature lovers. From the “bamboo mansion” where the visitors took shelter, they gazed at the cascading waters and wished they could stay longer and be dripped by its spell.

Next stop after the group left Tibiao: Barbaza town where Mt. Nangtud nestled at its

Snapping up...

Joseph Bakosoro, a former South Sudanese state governor who was also held without charge for four months, said his interrogators played for him a voicemail that had been left on his cellphone. They claimed it was evidence he backed rebels.

Bakosoro said the voicemail proved only that he was being bugged.

His interrogators didn’t hide that.

“They told me they are monitoring me,” he said. “They are monitoring my phone, and they are monitoring everyone, so whatever we say on the telephone, they are monitoring.” ❰❰ 20

‘Who will guard the guards?’

Three years after Peru acquired the Verint package, it’s not yet up and running, Carlos Basombrio, the incoming interior minister said just before taking office last week. “When it becomes operative, it will be used against organized crime (in co-ordination) with judges and prosecutors.”

Located in a three-story building next to the country’s DINI spy agency, Pisco sits on a Lima military base off-limits to the public. It can track 5,000 individual targets and simultaneously record the communications of 300 people, according to agency documents, with eight listening rooms and parabolic antennae affixed outside to capture satellite downlinks.

Control of Pisco was shifted

eastern side and is considered to be the home to the rafflesia speciosa or locally known as “uruy”, Mt.Nangtud is the highest mountain in Antique, much higher than Mt. Madia-as in Culasi by 2 meters. Only, Madia-as is harder to summit and it has an enchanting story.

Miss LT narrated to them the legend of Mt. Madia-as, and Curtis said after the narration “now, you’re beginning to sound like somebody from Negros.” (chuckles).

The story about Antique and its beautiful towns could go on and on and our Lonely Traveler will never get tired of telling and re-telling these.

After goodbyes were said and hoping that trip won’t be the last

time that Mr. Stiles and his son Curtis would visit Antique, our Lonely Traveler “folded” herself into a curl and slept like a log, dreaming that the Stiles tandem would come during summer where the sun is always out and that no rains would deter their enjoyment of the seas, the sands and the summits of this fair land of Antique Province.

But rain or shine, they knew they enjoyed the trip as much as Miss LT enjoyed accompanying them to places she had been to before yet never tired of going back again and again.

For this is Antique, “the land of the peaceful and free, and dear to our hearts are their stories, and here shall our HOME ever be…” ■

Shop Canadian... to the national police after the spying scandal that crippled the intelligence agency. Verint sent Israeli personnel to train Peruvian operators, adding eight months of instruction at the host government’s request, records show.

One major eavesdropping tool has, however, been active in Peru since October. It can physically track any phone in real time using geolocation.

Under a July 2015 decree, police can locate phones without a court order, but would need one to listen in.

Government officials wouldn’t offer details on what software was being used to track cellphones. But two months before the decree, DINI officials said payment had been authorized for a Verint geolocation product called SkyLock. That software enables phone-tracking within the country, and a premium version can pinpoint any mobile phone in most countries.

All four Peruvian phone companies agreed to co-operate on geolocation, signing a pact with the government the details of which were not disclosed.

Civil libertarians consider warrantless geolocation a dangerous invasion of privacy, especially in a nation with pervasive public corruption.

Peru’s incoming congress is dominated by Fuerza Popular, a party associated with imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori. He ran one of the most corrupt Latin American

regimes in recent history.

In July 2015, the Verint surveillance platform got caught in the chaos of Peruvian politics.

Word of the purchase was leaked, triggering a government audit. The Miami-based Verint vice-president who made the sale, Shefi Paz, complained about the phone companies’ apparent foot-dragging in emails and letters to DINI officials.

They weren’t making themselves available for meetings.

“Verint should not have to suffer from political delays,” Paz wrote . Reached by phone, Paz declined to comment.

The eavesdropping products Verint and its peers sell play an important role in fighting terrorism, said Ika Balzam, a former employee of both Verint and Nice. That is a common industry claim, echoed by politicians.

And yet, Balzam acknowledged, there are no guarantees that nation-states won’t abuse surveillance tools.

“There is a saying,” Balzam said: “‘Who will guard the guards?’” ■ Associated Press writer Frank Bajak reported this story in Lima and AP writer Jack Gillum reported from Washington.

AP writers Maria Danilova in Washington; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Jason Patinkin in Juba, South Sudan; Tony Fraser in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Jamey Keaten in Geneva and Kristen Gelineau in Sydney contributed to this report. www.canadianinquirer.net

labelled.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, a “Product of Canada” label means that all, or nearly all, of the food, processing and labour used to make the food is Canadian. The ingredients were grown or raised by Canadian farmers and prepared and packaged by Canadian food companies.

But when it comes to “Made in Canada,” it can get confusing.

“Made in Canada from domestic and imported ingredients” on a food label means a Canadian company was involved in some of the preparation of the food and it contains some food grown by Canadian farmers and some that’s been imported.

For example, Stewart was making black currant jam with water from her tap, fruit from a nearby garden and sugar. But because the product contains more sugar than anything else, “legally I wouldn’t be able to call it ‘Made in Canada.’”

However, Stewart has found sugar from Lantic Inc., of Taber, Alta., with the number 22 in front of the product code on the package, indicating it is Canadian sugar processed from sugar beets, Stewart says from Elora, Ont. Windsor and Sifto are wellknown Canadian salt companies, but Vancouver Island Salt Co., Saltwest Naturals Inc. from Otter Point, B.C., and Newfoundland Salt Company are shaking up commercial production. ❰❰ 35

Stewart discovered she needs to render lard — long her go-to fat for pastry — or find a butcher who does it because there are no large Canadian commercial lard and shortening operations.

The process is “smelly,” she says. “It’s easy to do, but it’s not my favourite thing.”

She’s developed a recipe for canola oil pastry, which she pats into a plate for a crumble-topped pie with apples and black raspberries. “And of course a good butter pastry is wonderful. It’s the classic French way of doing pastry. Our butter is, of course, Canadian.”

The blue cow logo on dairy products indicates they contain 100 per cent Canadian milk, and Stewart lists some ice cream and yogurt brands on her shopping list that comply.

Stewart acknowledges it might not be possible to find every item on her list — ranging from vinegars to craft beers to lentils, flax, flour, quinoa, meat, seafood and nuts — across the country.

“It’s possibly a reason to travel too.... There is something to be said for the cachet of our cuisine, whether it’s our caviar or Colville Bay (P.E.I.) oysters being found only in very specific areas of the country,” she says.

“Well, good for us because it gives us a way of understanding the regionality of our food.

You’re not going to get corned caplin outside of Newfoundland — and the caplin are rolling right now.” ■

FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2016

Seen & Scenes: Vancouver

SPORTS FEST A fun-filled Filipino sports fest sponsored by Filipinos in Okanagan will be held Aug. 7, at Ben Lee Park. There will be volleyball events, Filipino kiddie games and potluck lunch.

PINOY PRIDE PM Justin Trudeau and his family led the procession celebrating the 38th Vancouver Pride Parade in downtown Vancouver on July 31. Trudeau is the first incumbent prime minister to join the parade. Among the gay pride participants are Filipino-Canadian LGBTQ groups (Photos by Cecile Docto and Jenina Buan).

TIM PAVINO CONCERT Highlights of the Tim Pavino Concert last July 30, at the Meydenbauer Centre in Bellevue, WA. Special guests include Ms. Joey Albert and Kimwell del Rosario (Photos by Christian Cunanan). www.canadianinquirer.net

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Seen and Scenes

AUGUST 5, 2016

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SUMMER EVENT The Greater Toronto Area Cavite Association summer event held recently was graced by Philippine Consul General for Toronto Rosalita Prospero who hails from Imus, Cavite.

NEW BUSINESS Yet another Filipino shop opened its doors for business. Menchie’s Fashion caters to thousands of women’s clothes, shoes, belts, bags and accessories. One may reach Menchie Sia at 416-371-8392 in Canada (Photos by Ariel Ramos).

PEACE FORUM Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza (Secretary general, United Church of Christ in the Philippines) and Necta Montes (Secretary general, World Student Christian Federation) recently visited Toronto to speak about the current situation in the country. This info session was attended by representatives from different organizations such as the Philippine Press Club - Ontario, Anak Pawis, Filipino Workers Association, Saint Lukes United Church, Student Christian Movement, Pinoy Canada Patriotic Movement, Gabriela Ontario, Bayan Canada, Migrante Ontario, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP-Canada) and York University Centre for Asian Research (Photos

by Ariel Ramos).

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

AUGUST 5, 2016

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CANADA

I'm looking for a Filipino surrogate mother, who currently lives in Edmonton, or is willing to relocate to Edmonton, to carry my baby.

F ill Unused Capacity C ash Savings B ill More Hours E xtra Income

You will need to be between the ages of 21-35, and have given birth to at least 1 child. You also need to be in excellent physical, emotional and mental health. You have never had abuse of drugs/alcohol and you are a non-smoker.

If you want new customers, more sales and are looking for ways to save cash, call First Canadian Barter Exchange.

604.759.3223 / info@barterfirst.com

If interested, please send a brief introduction of yourself, with your contact information, to

nathanlee6766@gmail.com

RETAIL SALES SUPERVISOR for Cascade Gift Store - Banff, AB.

Responsibilities: Supervise and Coordinate sales staff and cashiers, Assign duties, Authorize merchandise return, Sell Merchandise, Resolve customer complaints and supply shortages, Maintain specified inventory, Prepare reports on sales volumes,merchandising, personnel.

High School graduate, with 2 yrs Retail Supervisory experience.

F/T Permanent: $18.25/ hour. 40 hours/week.

Subsidized staff accommodation and Extended health benefits.

Send resume to: Cascade Gifts, P.O. Box 2428, Banff, AB T1L 1C2 info@cascadegifts.com

CAREGIVERS WANTED!

WANTED: ELDERLY CAREGIVER

Taking Care of 8 Elderly Dementia Residents.

Full Time. Pays $14/hr., 40Hrs/wk.(Mon.To Fri)Education: At least Secondary Education graduate.Must have at least 1 to less than 2 yrs of experience.Duties: Monitor the elderly on the needs of medication,Food preparation. Companionship,perform minor Household cleaning.

Must be able to do Live In. Duties include: Assist with Bathing, Dressing, Feeding, Housekeeping, Cooking and medication management.

Must be willing to re-locate to the United States.

EMPLOYERS: LourdesSerdenia #4-1168 Arena Rd. Mississauga ON. email:lourdezserdenia@yahoo.com (647-713-5398) Ric Abenoja of 205-44 Valley Woods Rd. TORONTO ON. raabenoja@yahoo.com (647-996-2273) Adriana De Luca.51 Dybal St.Woodbridge ON. supremeccc@yahoo.com (647-996-2273) Resty Ragragio # 602 Weyburn SQ. Pickering ON. restyr480@yahoo.com (647-996-2273) Jocelyn Langcay#139 Purvis Cres.Toronto ON. osielangcay@gmail.com. (416-335-7538)

Please call: (510)846-4289 Office (Alameda, CA) Maricel Tinio (Golden Age Senior Living)

WANTED: NANNY (LIVE OUT) Full Time. Pays $11.25/hr., 40Hrs/wk.(Mon.To Fri)Education: At least Secondary Education graduate.Must have at least 1 to less than 2 yrs of experience.Duties: Take care of child/children.Feeding, meal &snack.

Preparation,indoor/outdoor companionship,Lighthousekeeping, reading,playing and organize games.Education: At least Secondary Education graduate.

EMPLOYERS: Racquel Miranda.#3 First Red Deer Alberta. mracquel67@yahoo.ca. (1-403-245-4747) Purvaiz/Sonia At 88 Attridge Dr. Aurora ON. visaprocesscanada@yahoo.com (647-996-2273) MARIJES #3-2864 Keele St North York ON. supremeccc@yahoo.com (647-866-2270) Farah Simon.#51 Vettese Ct. Markham On. supremeccc@yahoo.com (647-680-5403) Carina Marquez.#24 Earlton Rd. Scarborough ON. cminacay70@yahoo.com (647-284-5725) Musbah Farhat.#820 Stargazer Dr. Missisauga ON. mufa668@yahoo.com. (647-996-2273)

Toronto Enquiries: salestoronto@canadianinquirer.net Philippine Enquiries: salesphilippines@canadianinquirer.net

www.canadianinquirer.net

Tel: (1) 647-521-5155

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AUGUST 5, 2016

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FRIDAY