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SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

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VOL. 9 NO. 234

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Bloody Friday in Davao

There’ll be hell to pay, Leila warns DOJ chief

Canadians pick common loon as favourite for national bird

Walking with Mother Teresa

The quest to end lost airline luggage

Federal consultations on infrastructure plan point to need for flexibility

AGAINST THE TIDE OF TERROR

BY JORDAN PRESS The Canadian Press Coast Guard teams on Sunday patrol Manila Bay near the port area, a day after President Duterte declared a “state of lawless violence” in reaction to the deadly Sept. 2 bombing of a night market in Davao City. Story on page 8. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / PDI

President Duterte clarifies:

Statement not an attack on Pres. Obama, maintain relationship with us PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY VIENTIANE, LAOS — The Philippine government expressed deep regrets, deep regard and affinity for US Presi-

dent Barack Obama and the enduring partnership between both nations. The government’s statement was read by Communications Secretary Martin

Reconciling tense truths between Canada’s First Peoples and Jesuits

OTTAWA — Canadian municipalities want the federal government to change the way it decides how much money cities should get for transit and water projects. The changes outlined in June to the federal infrastructure minister would potentially, if implemented, give more money to smaller communities to help them build a transit system or improve private septic systems. Municipal leaders are also looking to the Liberals to set aside a significant amount of money for social housing over the coming decade, and to continue funding up to half of eligible project costs to help cities more easily manage project expenses. The details are contained in summary reports prepared for Infrastructure

❱❱ PAGE 22 ❱❱ PAGE 7 President Duterte

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS:

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS InFocus.canadianinquirer.net

❱❱ PAGE 19 Federal consultations

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

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Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Senators, PNP want wiretap law amended Move to boost war on illegal drugs BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer PARTICIPANTS IN a Senate hearing yesterday agreed to put more teeth to President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs by pushing for amendments to the outdated Anti-Wiretapping Law. Led by the committee on public order and dangerous drugs, several senators, justice officials and the police leadership expressed support for amendments to the law that would allow authorities to intercept communications of those suspected to be involved in the drug trade. “The coverage of the Anti-Wiretapping Act is only the old crimes like sedition, espionage, rebellion, inciting to sedition,” said Sen. Panfilo Lacson. “But technology has modernized. And what was only covered before were landlines,” said Lacson, the committee chair. “Now, [technology] has evolved to include data, transmission of data, electronic communication. So that has to be covered, and we also have to expand the coverage to include illegal drugs, plunder and the other crimes not included [in the exemption],” Lacson told reporters after the three-hour hearing. The Anti-Wiretapping Law of 1965 was enacted to protect privacy of communication, penalizing the act of secretly intercepting, listening to and recording private conversations. Section 3 of the law, however, grants an exemption and allows wiretapping of communication “in cases involving the crimes of treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war, piracy, mutiny in the high seas, rebel-

lion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition, kidnapping as defined by the Revised Penal Code, and violations of Commonwealth Act No. 616, punishing espionage and other offenses against national security.” Under the law, such interception shall be covered by a court order. 4 bills

Four separate bills, authored by Senators Gregorio Honasan II, Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo Angara, and Lacson, would amend this section of the law to include violations of the 2002 antidrug law among covered crimes. Honasan, a former Army colonel, cited how the Duterte administration presented an opportune “political window” to pursue drug suspects, as he recalled challenges that the likes of himself and Lacson, a former Philippine National Police chief, faced in pursuing those involved in the trade within prevailing legal limits. “I don’t know when this political window will happen again. I and Senator Lacson envy you because there is a political leadership telling you to ‘do your job and I will assume responsibility,’” Honasan said during the hearing, attended by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa. He said wiretapping was necessary “to ensure conviction” and remove “bottlenecks” on drug cases in the judiciary. High time

“Given the magnitude of the country’s drug problem, it is time to legalize wire-

NCRPO asks public to remain calm over successive bomb threats PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) is appealing to the public to remain calm in the face of successive bomb threats being received in Metro Manila. NCRPO Acting Director Chief Supt. Oscar Albayalde on Tuesday said that all the bomb threats should immediately be reported to authorities and should not be ignored. Albayalde added that when one found

a suspicious matter, do not touch it, move away from the area and immediately report it to the Philippine National Police-Explosives and Ordnance Division (PNP-EOD) for examination. Likewise, Albayalde warned the pranksters or those who are disseminating the bomb threat that it is not a joke because those who are doing it may be imprisoned up to six years. Four bomb threats were recorded in Manila on Monday while one bomb threat was recorded in Makati City Hall, all of which, turned out negative or “hoax.” ■

tapping in order to expedite the arrest of those involved in drug syndicates,” said Angara, who was unable to attend but issued a statement to support the move. Through wiretapping, Angara said, the police would be able to pinpoint who are indeed involved in the drug trade, especially those in government and use wiretapped conversations as evidence. But he stressed, “Proper safeguards must be put in place to protect the rights of every Filipino.” Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, former chief of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said the amendment was “highly imperative” to allow authorities to pin down big-time drug dealers. “Remember, it’s difficult to catch them red-handed,” he said. Sotto pointed out the low conviction rate of drug suspects due to poor evidence. Based on Department of Justice figures, of the 126,016 drug cases filed under the previous administration, the state had scored only 3,482 convictions. Aguirre said the court should allow wiretapping when police establish the case “above mere suspicion,” not necessarily just in cases where there is already probable cause against drug suspects.

Healthy balance

Dela Rosa later told reporters: “If we are granted by the court permission to wiretap, then you will just be sitting pretty there listening to their conversation ... Then if you get the good part of their conversation then boom! Bingo! That drug lord is dead.” Although Dela Rosa said during the hearing that the PNP did not have a wiretapping capability, Lacson disputed this. He said the PNP had such equipment even when he headed the force, but that he understood Dela Rosa’s reluctance to admit this, saying it was a sensitive issue. Sen. Leila de Lima said there should be a “healthy balance” between respect for privacy and law enforcement. “We cannot just look at the one-sided track that, in our zeal to enhance law enforcement capabilities, we forget to respect rights, especially the right to privacy even when there is no legitimate purpose in using wiretapping,” said De Lima, who slammed during the hearing police and justice officials who she said were tapping her phones. De Lima has been accused by President Duterte of protecting drug lords, a charge she has denied. ■

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Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Japan PM Shinzo Abe: PHL President Duterte a famous figure in Japan PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY VIENTIANE, LAOS — Even Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was starstruck to meet the new Philippine President. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Tuesday met with the Japanese Prime Minister in a bilateral meeting at the sidelines of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits here at the National Convention Center in Vientiane. At the meeting, Prime Minister Abe expressed his gladness of meeting President Duterte in person for the first time. Abe admitted that he was

excited to meet the Philippine President, saying that President Duterte is quite famous in Japan. “Mr. President is quite a famous figure also in Japan and I’m very excited to see you in person,” Abe said upon shaking hands with President Duterte. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abe conveyed Japan’s sympathies to the Philippines following the Davao night market blast last week, saying that Japan remains side by side with the Philippines. “I would like to underscore that Japan firmly deplores the terror incident which took place in Davao the other day,” Abe said. “I would like to take this op-

portunity to express my heartfelt condolences to the victims and their family members. And also, I would like to reiterate my feelings and sympathy for you,” he said. Furthermore, Abe said Japan looks forward to further cooperation with the Philippines, as he noted that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. “Under our close partnership, I do look forward to further developing our cooperation in a wide range of areas together with you,” Abe said. For his part, President Duterte said he is optimistic that the good bilateral relations

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meet at the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos. KING RODRIGUEZ / PPD / PNA

between the two countries will continue under his term. He also expressed the Philippines’ gratitude for Japan’s efforts to condole with the Philippines following the bombing incident in Davao City. “I would like to thank the Japanese government for their efforts to commiserate with us in the bombing incident in Davao City. Thank you very much for your concern,” the President said. President Duterte, meanwhile, underscored that Japan, particularly its Japan International Cooperating Agency (JICA), remains to be the biggest source of official development assistance to the country. “For so many years, JICA has been there. Japan has been kind enough to extend us all the assistance for further development in our country and as a matter of fact, our trade shows

that we export more to Japan than before,” he said. “We saw to it that we are good partner also to our partner economy,” he added. Meanwhile, President Duterte expressed the country’s support to Japan on the matter of the security in the Korean Peninsula. Accompanying the President were Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr., Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, and Philippine Ambassador to ASEAN Elizabeth Buensuceso. Japan has been the Philippines’ top trading partner and the number one source of investments and bilateral official development assistance (ODA) since 2014. ■

Outlook bouyant, says DTI chief BY GIL CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT DUTERTE’S bloody crackdown on illegal drugs might be getting a lot of flak from human rights groups but it is winning approval from investors and consumers, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). During a congressional hearing on the DTI’s 2017 budget yesterday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez told lawmakers that notwithstanding the high body count, police operations against drugs have led to a genwww.canadianinquirer.net

erally buoyant outlook among investors and consumers. Lopez disagreed with a lawmaker’s opinion that reports of alleged summary killings of 1,900 drug pushers, half of which were made during police operations, had cast dark clouds on the Philippine economy, as he claimed that confidence was at an alltime high. “For me it’s a blessing, there is much peace and we are lessening the number of illegal drug traders. Now it’s safer out there in the streets. Even from investors, we’re receiving a lot of investment missions. We see the confidence here,” said Lopez. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Parañaque cop, rob suspect killed at store; arrested cohort slain later BY ERIKA SAULER Philippine Daily Inquirer

one of the suspects, later identified as Palacay, and noticed the gun tucked in the man’s waist. Palacay’s companion, Gomez, then fired at Pagaduan, hitting him in the neck. Seeing that Palacay was also about to shoot the policeman, the security guard shot Palacay and killed him, Carumba said.

A POLICE precinct commander and a robbery suspect were killed in an encounter inside a convenience store in Barangay Sto. Niño, Parañaque City, past midnight on Sunday. But the case took another twist several hours later, when Fate of second suspect a second suspect who managed Pagaduan was brought to to escape from the store was Ospital ng Parañaque and later arrested—and then shot and transferred to Premier Medikilled by a mystery gunman cal Center, where he was prowhile in police custody, accord- nounced dead. ing to the Southern Police DisPolice recovered a .38-cal. trict. revolver and two sachets of susThe local popected “shabu” lice identified from the slain the fatalities as Palacay. Chief Insp. NelGomez manson Pagaduan, aged to escape, commander of but Carumba the Parañaque said he was later police Solaire The officer arrested in a precinct; and then follow-up operaFreddie Palacay approached tion. from Pasig City. one of the In an update Palacay’s alsuspects, last night, SPD leged cohort, later spokesperson Danny Gomez, identified as Supt. Jenny Tecwas arrested in a Palacay, and son said Gomez follow-up operanoticed the was shot while tion but the SPD gun tucked being escorted said he was shot in the man’s by policemen for by a still-unidenwaist. a medical checktified assailant up around 5:30 on Sunday afterp.m. noon while beGomez was ing escorted for shot twice in the a medical checkhead by a gunup. man in front of St. Andrew’s Cathedral, near Setting up checkpoint Ospital ng Parañaque, Tecson The Parañaque police chief, said, quoting an incident reSenior Supt. Jose Carumba, port. said Pagaduan went to the She said the police escorts 7-Eleven store on Pascor Drive traded shots with Gomez’s to buy water after his team had shooter but the latter drove off set up a checkpoint nearby. on a motorbike with another The checkpoint was in line man. with the fullalert status deGomez, who used the alias clared in Metro Manila follow- Jowel Aderes, succumbed to his ing Friday night’s bombing of a gunshots at the hospital at 7:12 night market in Davao City. As p.m., Carumba said. the officer entered the store, seArrangements are being curity guard Lino Oliva Valen- made with City Mayor Edwin zuela alerted him about the two Olivarez to honor both the suspicious-looking men inside. guard and the slain policeman, The officer then approached the police chief said. ■

Ahead of Duterte’s visit, Indonesians posing as Pinoys freed BY ERIKA SAULER Philippine Daily Inquirer

ports,” she said. Meeting with Widodo

MOST OF the 177 Indonesians caught posing as Filipino Hajj pilgrims with Philippine passports were being sent home as an act of goodwill by President Duterte, who is set to visit Jakarta this week, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Saturday. The BI said 168 of the 177 Indonesians who were arrested last month bearing genuine Philippine passports were to leave Sunday morning. BI spokesperson Antonette Mangrobang said the deportation charges against them had been dropped, as they were found to be victims. “It’s not a deportation. The board of commissioners dismissed the deportation charges. Based on the investigation, they were victims of the syndicate which issued the pass-

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III said Mr. Duterte wanted to offer the release as an act of goodwill before he meets with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. “He’s very much interested in this, he wanted to offer this release before he talks to President Widodo. He wants to establish goodwill with our neighboring country,” Aguirre said. The secretary made the remarks during the BI’s 76th anniversary on Friday night, during which he vowed to bust the syndicate that issued the genuine Philippine passports to foreign Hajj pilgrims. “These 177 fake passports are just the tip of the iceberg. There is a big syndicate which we are going to bust. The Department of Justice, with the help of the BI, is going to bust this syndicate,” Aguirre said.

9 witnesses vs 5 escorts

Mangrobang said the 168 Indonesians will fly out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on an Air Asia flight at 7 a.m. today. The Indonesians had return tickets from their aborted trip. Nine Indonesians, however, will remain in the country as they will be witnesses in the criminal cases filed against the five Filipinos who escorted them at the airport. The group was stopped at Naia on Aug. 19 while being escorted by five Filipinos to their Philippine Airlines flight to Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The Indonesians posed as Filipino Hajj pilgrims, complete with Philippine passports which were genuine but fraudulently obtained. The nine Indonesians who will remain in the Philippines will be placed in the custody of the Indonesian Embassy in Manila. ■

155 anti-poverty ‘consultants’ fired BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer THE NATIONAL Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) has terminated the contracts of 155 consultants who were collectively receiving more than P5 million a month in professional fees, following President Duterte’s directive to remove all holdover officials from the previous administration. In a phone interview yesterday, NAPC lead convenor Liza Maza told the INQUIRER that she had just signed two memos: one informing the 155 consultants of the pretermination of their contracts; and the other notifying 82 employees of the nonrenewal of their contracts of service (COS). When Maza assumed post as antipoverty chief in July, the NAPC had 161 consultants and 107 COS employees. The NAPC is only allowed to appoint workers to 50 regular plantilla positions, which means the number of consultants and contractual hands far outnumber the ofwww.canadianinquirer.net

NAPC lead convenor Liza Maza.

fice’s regular employees. Maza said the consultants were mostly hired between 2013 and 2014, in line with the “bottom-up budgeting” program of the previous administration. The consultants would then get rehired on six- to eight-month contracts. “They have bastardized the term ‘consultant.’ A consultant should be highly skilled, or provides expertise for an activity. But these ones implement projects. They’re community organizers—but with a corrupt-

@NAPC_PH / TWITTER

ed meaning, because they are given high fees, from P35,000 to P60,000 a month. They do social preparation. But I was also a community organizer. Those fees are way too high,” Maza said. “Right now, what we pay the consultants, in our estimate, is about P5.8 million a month. The fees to be paid to consultants within a nine-month period alone totals to around P43.5 million, or about 36 percent of NAPC’s annual budget,” she said. ■

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

No Rody meeting with UN chief Ban BY MARLON RAMOS Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT DUTERTE has declined a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to the United Nations and the Department of Foreign Affairs. Ban had requested the bilateral meeting in Laos, which is hosting a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders next week, but Mr. Duterte could not fit it into his schedule. “A meeting was requested but we could not agree on a time,” Ban’s spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said on Thursday. A second UN official said the request for a meeting was rejected because of a “scheduling incompatibility.” Foreign Assistant Secretary Ma. Hellen de la Vega told reporters in Malacañang yesterday that Ban was among world leaders who sought a meeting with Mr. Duterte but the President’s summit schedule was quite tight. “I think the President has a very tight schedule and there are very clear priorities,” De la Vega said. Asked why a meeting with Ban could not be prioritized, De la Vega said: “I cannot second guess what our leaders

President Rodrigo R. Duterte, together with other heads of States, applauds the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit at the National Convention Center in Vientiane, Laos. KING RODRIGUEZ / PPD / PNA

have in mind.” She said the President’s summit schedule allowed him to sit down with only nine heads of state from the Asean and its dialogue partners. De la Vega declined to identify them, but confirmed that Mr. Duterte would meet with US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Preliminarily, it’s very unlikely for

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the President to meet with the UN secretary general bilaterally,” she said. In recent days, Mr. Duterte has launched profanity-laced tirades against the United Nations for criticizing his brutal war on illegal drugs. More than 2,000 people have been killed by police and suspected vigilantes since Mr. Duterte launched the campaign on July 1, when he took office, encouraging police and armed citizens to kill drug suspects whowould resist arrest and promising law enforcers protection from prosecution. “Directives of this nature are irresponsible in the extreme and amount to incitement to violence and killing, a crime under international law,” UN special rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard said in a statement posted last month on the website of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “Claims to fight illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings,” Callamard said. UN special rapporteur on the right to health Dainius Puras said the fight against illegal drugs must “respect the human rights of each person.” Ban’s criticism

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In June, Ban condemned Mr. Duterte’s apparent support for extrajudicial killings in saying that corrupt journalists were legitimate targets of assassination. Ban said extrajudicial killing was “illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms.” Angered by the criticism, Mr. Duterte called the United Nations “stupid” and “inutile” and threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the world body. “Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a bitch, www.canadianinquirer.net

then I will just leave you,” he said. He later said the threat was just a “joke,” but stressed that the United Nations should observe protocol when making statements about his administration’s campaign against narcotics. De la Vega said Mr. Duterte would discuss with his Asean counterparts his controversial approach to solving the narcotics problem, which, he claimed, had risen to “pandemic” proportions due to the failure of the Aquino administration to deal with it. Mr. Duterte, who promised to kill tens of thousands of criminals and put an end to the illegal drug trade within the first six months of his presidency, would also bring up cross-border security issues such as terrorism and human trafficking, De la Vega said. She said the President would formally accept for the Philippines the chairmanship of Asean, whose next summit will be held in Manila in January 2017. While Mr. Duterte had said he would not raise the victory of the Philippines over China in the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, De la Vega said “our aspiration for a legally binding code of conduct” in the disputed South China Sea would also be tackled by the President. “The President is expected to give his insights on the thrust of his administration, the overall bilateral relations (with other countries)… and exchange of views on regional issues,” she said. As for Mr. Duterte’s meeting with Obama, De la Vega said the President had done his homework and was “prepared” to answer the American leader’s concerns about the rising drug killings in the Philippines. “I think the President is prepared,” she said. “That’s why his first statement is to ask President Obama to listen to him so he can discuss and explain to him the problem that we face as far as the drug problem is concerned.” De la Vega said she had briefed Mr. Duterte, notorious for rudeness and his foul mouth, on the protocols and formalities during the Asean leaders’ conference. When asked about the President’s reaction to her reminders, she said: “He ( just) smiled.” “He asked me if I would be inside the meeting room so I said, ‘Yes sir.’ And he said, ‘OK,’” she said. Asked if she also told Mr. Duterte to refrain from cursing during the international summit, she said the President’s statements were “borne out of his frustration.” “Different leaders have different management styles. My sense of him is that he wants us to serve with urgency. So I think he gets frustrated because he doesn’t get a sense of where we are,” she said. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

‘State of national emergency’ not a prelude to Martial Law, says Palace exec BY CIELITO M. REGANIT Philippines News Agency

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella.

ACE MORANDANTE / PPD / PNA

President Duterte... Andanar before the members of the international media present at the National Convention Center here, who are covering the three-day summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The statement said, “President Rodrigo Duterte today affirmed that he continues to value the alliance with United States noting that both our countries share common goals and their pursuit against illegal drugs, terrorists, crime and poverty.” Andanar read, “He also thank President Obama for his firm support FOR the Philippines during the G20 where President Obama emphasized the importance for China to abide by its obligation under international law and underscore the United States’ unwavering commitment to the security of this treaty island. ❰❰ 1

How did the statement start

After President Duterte’s departure speech before he flew to Laos from Davao, he replied to a question from an international wire agency asking how he would respond to a question of President Obama on extrajudicial killings. President Duterte’s reply was, “You know, the Philippines is not a vassal state. We have long ceased to be a colony of the United States. Alam mo, marami diyan, sa mga kolumnista (You know, there are many in the communist faction), they look upon Obama and the United States as if we are the lap dogs of their country. I do not respond to anybody but to the people of the Republic of the Philippines. He added, “I am not beholden to anybody. Iyong mga kolumnista diyan na (Those columnists who go) ‘wait until he meets,’ who is he? I am a President of the sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master, except the Filipino people. Nobody but nobody.” All the President tried to relay was he is not answerable to another country for doing his job as President of the Philippines. His accountability is not on anybody except to the Filipinos. And even President Obama is not allowed to meddle into the affairs of the Philippines, and how he does his job to rid the country of the illegal drug crisis, to ad-

dress terrorism and to cleanse the government of corruption. Since his entry in government, the President had been firm in his stand that the internal affairs of the country should be handled solely by the Philippine government and does not want any foreign country to meddle. Andanar further read that President Duterte explains that the press report that President Obama would lecture him on Extra Judicial Killings led to his strong statement which elicited negative perceptions. “He regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy while asserting the intent to chart an independent foreign policy and promote closer ties with all nations, he expressed his deep regret, regard and affinity and for the enduring partnership between our nations. President Duterte looks forward to ironing out difference arising out of the national priorities, perceptions and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries.” Duterte stressed that in securing the lives and liberty of our people, it is imperative that the fight against illegal drugs, terrorists, crimes and poverty must be on in order to preserve the principle and values upon which the Philippines’ democratic way of life is anchored.

MANILA — Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Tuesday assured the public that Proclamation No. 55 declaring a “State of National Emergency on Account of Lawless Violence” is not a prelude to martial law but a measure to quell the violence perpetrated by lawless elements in Mindanao and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the country. In a radio interview aired over DZMM, the Palace official further clarified that there is no suspension of the writ of habeas corpus nor will there be an imposition of curfew throughout the country while Proclamation 55 is in effect. He said that warrantless arrests are also not embodied in the proclamation.

Meeting reset

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella who read the personal statement of the President in relation to the issue said that “the meeting between the US and the Philippines was mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date. “While the immediate cause was my strong comment to certain press questions, we regret that it has come across as a personal attack on President Obama.” Abella read, “the primary intent was to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with other nations, especially the US with whom we have a long standing partnership. The President though Abella said that he is looking forward to ironing out the differences and work on mutually responsible ways to thresh out the problem. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

“What we will actually see is a heightened visibility of soldiers who are commanded to give assistance to our police force in some areas, particularly checkpoints,” he said. “We would not see soldiers conducting patrols and we would not see tanks in the streets. President Rodrigo Duterte does not like those things. He just wanted to address these problems (lawless violence) in a civilized way,” Medialdea said. To further reassure the people, the Executive Secretary said Malacañang would issue the guidelines regarding the implementation of the proclamation within the day “The guidelines define how the soldiers would conduct themselves in the performance of their duties based on the issuance of the proclamation. It defines the limits of what they can and cannot do,” Medialdea said. ■

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Bloody Friday in Davao With 14 dead, Duterte declares state of lawlessness Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Inc. Correspondents Jane Moraleda Socorro Newland Bolet Arevalo Katherine Padilla Gerna Lane Sotana Community Editor Mary Ann Mandap maryann.mandap@canadianinquirer.net Administration Head Victoria Yong Graphic Designer Shanice Garcia Photographers Angelo Siglos Vic Vargas For photo submissions, please send to editor@canadianinquirer.net Operations and Marketing Head Laarni Liwanag (604) 551-3360 laarni.liwanag@canadianinquirer.net Advertising Sales Alice Yong (778) 889-3518 alice.yong@canadianinquirer.net Nelson Wu (647) 521-5155 salestoronto@canadianinquirer.net nelson.wu@canadianinquirer.net Amelia Insigne (416) 574-5121 amelia.insigne@canadianinquirer.net Antonio Tampos (604) 460-9414 antonio. tampos@canadianinquirer.net PHILIPPINE PUBLISHING GROUP Editorial Assistant Christelle Tolisora Associate Publisher Lurisa Villanueva In cooperation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer digital edition Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at 11951 Hammersmith Way, Suite 108 Richmond, B.C. V7A 5H9 Canada Tel. No.: +1 (888) 668-6059, +1 (778) 889-3518 | Email: info@canadianinquirer.net, sales@ canadianinquirer.net Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly every Friday. Copies are distributed free throughout Metro Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Greater Toronto. The views and opinions expressed in the articles (including opinions expressed in ads herein) are those of the authors named, and are not necessarily those of Philippine Canadian Inquirer Editorial Team. PCI reserves the right to reject any advertising which it considers to contain false or misleading information or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of error in any advertisement.

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BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer DAVAO CITY — President Duterte declared a nationwide “state of lawless violence” on September 3 hours after suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits detonated a bomb at a night market in his hometown, killing 14 people and wounding 68 others. Mr. Duterte, who called the attack an act of “terrorism,” said his declaration did not amount to an imposition of martial law. He said the declaration would allow the deployment of troops in urban centers to back up the police in setting up checkpoints and increasing patrols. “I’m declaring now a state of lawlessness. It is not martial law. It has nothing to do with the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,” Mr. Duterte told reporters before dawn, after inspecting the site of the explosion at the night market on Roxas Avenue here. The site near the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University and a five-star hotel was littered with debris from the explosion and the ground splattered with the blood of 10 people who were killed outright when the bomb went off after 10 p.m. on Friday. Mr. Duterte said the state of lawlessness would remain until he decided all citizens were safe. “I have a duty to protect this country and to keep the integrity of the nation intact,” the President said. Military, police to run PH

“I am inviting now the armed forces, the military and the police, to run the country in accordance with my specifications,” he said. Mr. Duterte said there would be “many checkpoints,” but curfew would not be imposed. “Any punitive or any action at all taken by the security forces will be in furtherance to stop terrorism,” he said. “And I am including drugs because of so many killings unfairly attributed to the police,” he added. There was confusion earlier on Saturday about the scope of Mr. Duterte’s declaration— whether it was limited to Davao City or covered the whole country. Malacañang officials at first said it covered only Davao, but later said the declaration covered the entire country. Authorities were investigating the possible involvement of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group in the explosion. Mr. Duterte last month ordered the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf after the bandits beheaded an 18-year-old male captive whose family failed to pay them P1 million in ransom. Nearly 9,000 troops are battling the

Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte (black shirt) leads the offering of flowers during Saturday afternoon mass offered to the victims of the explosion at the Roxas night market on Friday night. LILIAN C. MELLEJOR / PNA

Abu Sayyaf on Jolo Island, Sulu province, and 15 soldiers and about 30 bandits have been killed in clashes since fighting intensified late last month. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Abu Sayyaf had struck back after suffering heavy losses. “We have predicted this and warned our troops accordingly, but the enemy is also adept at using the democratic space granted by our Constitution to move around freely and unimpeded to sow terror,” Lorenzana said in a statement. Earlier on Saturday, the Abu Sayyaf, through spokesperson Muammar Askali, alias Abu Ramie, claimed responsibility for the explosion. Abus disown blast

Later, however, Askali denied Al Harakatul Al Islamiya, the Abu Sayyaf’s official name, was behind the attack. In a phone call to the INQUIRER, Askali said the Abu Sayyaf’s ally Daulat Ul Islamiya carried out the bombing. “They are doing this to sympathize [with] our group and we are sending a message to President Rodrigo Duterte that all the Daulat throughout the country is not afraid of him,” Askali said. Askali is the son-in-law of Mohammad Said, an influential Abu Sayyaf commander who used the nom de guerre Amah Maas and who was killed in the military’s offensive in Sulu. He said Friday night’s explosion was only the start of attacks that would continue as long as the military kept up pressure on the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu. Askali said the attacks would stop only if Mr. Duterte made “hadith” his laws and converted to Islam. The hadith is a collection of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad, with accounts of his daily practices. Sunni Muslims use the hadith to emulate the Prophet. There was no comment from Mr. Duterte, who told reporters at site of the blast that investigators were also look-

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ing at other possible suspects, including drug syndicates, which he has targeted in a brutal crackdown. “These are extraordinary times and I suppose that I’m authorized to allow the security forces of this country to do searches,” the President said, asking the public to cooperate and be vigilant. “We’re trying to cope with a crisis now. There is a crisis in this country involving drugs, extrajudicial killings and there seems to be an environment of lawless violence,” he said. ‘Disgruntled vendors’

Chief Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, the Southern Mindanao police director who is leading the investigation of the blast, said police were also looking at the possible involvement of “disgruntled vendors” in the explosion. “There were some disgruntled vendors in the awarding of stalls at the night market. This is one of the [angles] we are looking [at],” Gaerlan said. He said any group could claim responsibility for the attack. “That is normal,” he said. “They can use it to boost their popularity, but as I said, we are still investigating.” Gaerlan said investigators had not yet confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb. “We are still collecting evidence,” he said. President Duterte’s communications secretary, Martin Andanar, said the explosive device appeared to have been made from a mortar round, and doctors reported many of the victims had shrapnel wounds. But Chief Insp. Andrea de la Cerna, spokesperson for the Southern Mindanao Police, said that although shrapnel had been found on the dead and wounded, it remained unclear whether what had gone off at the site was an explosive device. ❱❱ PAGE 10 Bloody Friday

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Killer in BBC report may be fake – Cayetano

Senate hears proposed 2017 budgets for PDEA, DDB, GAB

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY AZER N. PARROCHA Philippines News Agency

IT’S HARD to imagine a woman walking up coolly to drug lords in Manila and pumping .22 cal. bullets into them with a Hammerli 280, a la Bridget Fonda in “Point of No Return.” That’s just action movie, and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano thinks the Aug. 26 British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) report about the Filipino contract killer Maria is intended to “discredit” President Duterte’s war on drugs. For one thing, if Maria is real, why did she come out, knowing the risk to herself, as her police handlers can easily identify her? “Whoever got that report should be made head of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), or head our investigation body because it is brilliant that out of 100 million Filipinos, you will find someone to confess to being a gun for hire and point to the [Philippine National Police],” Cayetano said. Cayetano, the defeated vice presidential running mate of Mr. Duterte in May’s national elections, spoke to reporters after delivering a privilege speech in which he lashed out at the negative portrayal of the administration’s war on drugs in the international media. “There is an international effort to discredit the Duterte administration,” he said, pointing out a “disconnect” between what is being reported and what is actually happening in the Philippines. “I am not disregarding that report, that should still be investigated. But it’s just a wonder why, first of all, guns for hire don’t just confess,” he said. “We have to be cautious not to allow ourselves to be used. I’m not saying it’s not true, but it’s just too brilliant,” he said. Maria’s story

In the BBC report, Maria (not her real name) confesses to carrying out contract killings as part of Mr. Duterte’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs. She is part of a hit team that includes three women, who are valued because they can get close to their targets without arousing the same suspicion a man would, according to the

BBC’s Jonathan Head. Since Mr. Duterte took office, and urged police and armed civilians to kill drug dealers who resisted arrest, Maria claims she has killed five people, shooting them all in the head, bringing her kills to six after the first job she did two years ago, Head said. Head said he asked Maria who gave the order for the hits, and she replied: “Our boss, the police officer.” Maria’s husband is also a contract killer for the police and they earn up to P20,000 per hit, which is shared between three or four other people whose roles Head does not describe in the report. According to Head, Maria regrets being a hired killer and wants to quit after one last job. But her boss has threatened to kill anyone who leaves the team. She feels trapped, Head said. The BBC report echoes a theory that Sen. Leila de Lima’s committee on human rights that is investigating the spate of extrajudicial killings in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs is looking at: that police are using hired guns to erase their links to the illegal drug trade. The PNP and the Department of Justice have not commented on the BBC report. PNP Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II have not responded to calls and text messages seeking comment on the report.

MANILA — The Senate Committee on Finance, Chaired by Senator Loren Legarda, on Tuesday began hearing the proposed 2017 budgets for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and Games and Amusement Board (GAB). Present during the hearing were PDEA Director General Isidro Lapeña, DDB Chairman Benjamin Reyes and GAB Chairman Abraham Khalil “Baham” Mitra, among other officials. First to present was Mitra, who sought for a Php180-million budget for the GAB to allow the board to promote professional sports — particularly sports the country excelled in such as boxing. Mitra stressed the importance of sports and recreation as a tool to combat illegal drugs. He also said that they wanted to enhance regulation on performance enhancing drugs such as steroids which could be harmful to athletes’ health. Reyes, meanwhile, sought for a Php206-million budget for DDB to work with the Depart-

‘Naturally doubtful’

Cayetano said he was “naturally doubtful.” “There are a million people who would like that story to be true, or who would offer a fake [story] to discredit the antidrug war, and the drug lords will do that,” he said. Cayetano said the international community should be circumspect about passing judgment on Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs. “My appeal to the international community—come to the Philippines, enjoy our hospitality, look how peaceful our communities have become,” he said. “If there are abuses, help us get rid of those abuses. But they are not state-sponsored. You are welcome in our country, but ask first before you criticize,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Senator Richard Gordon (left) questions Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Isidro Lapena (right) during the public hearing on the proposed PDEA budget of PHP1,217,521,000 for 2017. SUE STOKES / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

ment of Health (DOH) in setting up more out and in-patient facilities for illegal drug dependents. He said that frankly, the board needed some Php4-billion to accommodate one million drug users who have surrendered and encourage them to engage in community-based activities. According to Reyes, a 30-bed capacity rehabilitation facility would cost Php50-million. He said the funds would be used to hire additional personnel, particularly in legal services. Legarda, meanwhile, ex-

pressed hope to see more rehabilitation centers in Metro Manila that were similar to the Davao City Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents. Lapeña sought for a Php1.85billion budget for PDEA to complement the Duterte administration’s intensified antidrug campaign. The proposed 2017 national budget has already allotted a total of Php219-billion for the rehabilitation of 58 DOH hospitals and 16 Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers. ■

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Bloody Friday... ❰❰ 8

Davao on lockdown

Gaerlan said police were reviewing video from security cameras of several establishments on Roxas Avenue. He declined to comment on reports that at least two suspects had been taken into police custody. Mr. Duterte said he had put Davao City under lockdown. The Philippine National Police explained that the lockdown would enable security forces to restrict the movements of the perpetrators. PNP Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa also placed all police units across the country on full alert to prevent the perpetrators from carrying out attacks in other parts of the country. “We will not be cowed by this single act of terrorism. These people don’t deserve an inch of space in a civilized society,” Dela Rosa said. In Cagayan de Oro City, Chief Supt. Noel Constantino, Northern Mindanao police chief, put all police units on full alert and

called on the public to watch out for suspicious persons and packages. Mr. Duterte said Davao City remained safe. “Of course, Davao is safe,” said the President, a former mayor of Davao who takes pride in keeping peace and order in the city by ruling it with an iron fist. The city is now governed by his children. Daughter Sara is mayor and son Paolo is vice mayor. We’re

Security and intelligence officials had been in the city, he noted. The Department of Justice formed a group to investigate the attack. The panel is composed of justice officials, National Bureau of Investigation agents, and prosecutors, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said.

tion,” he said. Mr. Duterte was in Davao City when the explosion occurred. Shortly after the blast, he went to the vicinity to preside over a security meeting with officials. Past 4 a.m., he strode out of the Marco Polo Hotel and walked toward nearby Roxas Avenue to inspect the blast site. His visit came about an hour after explosives experts and forensic investigators had finished trying to cope with a crisis combing through now. There is a crisis in this country the scene, where Safe place involving drugs, extrajudicial bloodied bags On Friday, Mr. killings and there seems to be an and slippers Duterte told reenvironment of lawless violence. were left on the porters that his ground, not far city was a safe from an empty, place. pink baby strollHe said he er. would resign if anyone were Mr. Duterte rejected the idea The night market features mugged or robbed in the city. of involving foreign experts in stalls selling food and offering On Saturday, he said the blast investigating the blast. massage services right on the could not be blamed on failure “I do not want any foreign in- roadside. There are also rows of of intelligence, as there had vestigators in the city. The po- used-clothes stalls. been warnings about a possible lice in the Republic of he PhilAt least three of the victims attack in Davao because of the ippines and the military, the were wearing the uniform of military’s offensive against the armed forces of the country, are massage therapists, said Vice Abu Sayyaf in Sulu. capable of doing the investiga- Mayor Paolo Duterte.

Hospital visits

Aside from inspecting the blast site, Mr. Duterte also visited the injured at hospitals. He also went to the morgue where the bodies of the people who perished in the blast had been taken. A photograph released by Malacañang showed the President condoling with the families of the fatalities. Later on Saturday, the city honored the dead with a memorial Mass celebrated by Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles. Mayor Sara Duterte and other city officials, including the city police chief, Senior Supt. Michael John Dubria, attended the Mass. In his homily, Valles called for calm among the city residents, but rallied them to stand up to terror and other forms of violence. After the Mass, residents, some carrying placards proclaiming that Davao City would never vow to terror, offered flowers and lit candles at the blast site. ■

Pedestrians aren’t benefiting from improvements in traffic safety by ANDREAS E. KUNTZE, Lawyer of Chouinard & Company

OVERALL, driving in British Columbia has gotten much safer in the past decade, with traffic fatalities decreasing for most groups. However, as 24 Hours Vancouver reports, one group that has not shared in that success is pedestrians. While driving has become safer for motorists, serious pedestrian accidents now account for a greater share of overall traffic injuries and fatalities in the province. The worrying trend has led to calls for new measures to be instituted, including legal and infrastructure changes that are designed to protect vulnerable road users.

involving pedestrians had risen from 14.9 percent in 2005 to 19 percent in 2014. In terms of fatalities, pedestrians accounted for 19 percent of traffic fatalities in 2014, up from 15 percent in 2005. When all vulnerable road users, including cyclists and pedestrians, are included then those figures become even more disturbing. According to CBC News, vulnerable road users accounted for 45.7 percent of overall serious traffic injuries in 2011, up from 38.7 percent in 2007. Vulnerable road user fatalities also increased to 34.9 percent of overall traffic fatalities in 2013, up from 31.7 percent in 2009.

Pedestrian fatalities A recent B.C. government report found that, as a proportion of overall traffic accidents, serious injuries

Improving safety Those increases come at a time when the proportion of deaths caused by other factors, such as drunk driving,

have declined significantly. The worrying trend has led to a number of calls for improving road safety for pedestrians and cyclists. B.C.'s provincial health officer released a report in March, for example, that called for lowering the default speed limit in municipalities and treaty lands to 30 km/h and imposing new restrictions on alcohol limits for new drivers. Others have called for infrastructure changes, such as giving pedestrians lead times at intersections and creating advanced stop lines to warn motorists of upcoming crosswalks. Many safety experts have also pointed out that distracted driving plays a significant role in pedestrian and cycling accidents and have called for greater crackdowns on motorists who text or talk on the phone while

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behind the wheel. The aftermath of an accident For pedestrians and cyclists, the aftermath of an accident can be especially confusing. Such accident victims are often unaware of what their rights are and many have no idea if they are able to pursue ICBC claims. The fact is that ICBC claims are available for pedestrians and cyclists who have been hurt in an accident. However, because making such claims can be complicated and difficult, it is important to speak to a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. An experienced lawyer can help clients understand how the ICBC claims process works in their particular situation and what steps can be taken to maximize the likelihood of a favorable settlement.

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Senators react to Pres. Duterte’s offensive remarks on Pres. Obama BY AZER N. PARROCHA Philippines News Agency MANILA — Senators on Tuesday had varied reactions to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s offensive remarks on US President Barack Obama before their scheduled meeting on Tuesday. The White House on Tuesday cancelled the scheduled meeting between the two heads of state after Duterte insulted Obama for raising concerns on extrajudicial killings linked to the Philippine President’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs. In a press conference before leaving for Laos, Duterte mentioned that the US President should not question his way of dealing with the country’s problems. “You must be respectful. Do not throw away questions and statements. P*****-i**, mumurahin kita diyan sa forum na iyan. Huwag mo akong ganunin (Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum. Don’t do that to me),” Duterte said. Duterte and Obama were supposed to meet in Laos at the ASEAN Summit on September 6 and 7. Two senators, Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima, both expressed concern that Duterte’s remarks might affect Philippine and US relations. Trillanes, in a text message, said it will have damaging effects on the relations between the Philippines and its longtime ally, the US. “President Duterte’s vulgar language directed against President Obama is wrong on so many levels and will definitely have detrimental effects on our diplomatic relationship and al-

liance with the US,” Trillanes said. He pointed out that President Duterte should not expect to “get away” with everything he says or does. “You don’t just slap the face of the most powerful country in the world and expect to get away with it. It was uncalled for and now our country’s security sector would be weakened because of it,” he added. De Lima urged the President to be two times more careful in making such statements as his offensive remarks could have “repercussions.” “It could have repercussions now or in the near future,” de Lima said. Second chance

Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros, in an interview, said she regrets the comments, hoping that there would be another chance for the two heads of state to meet. “Sayang talaga. Maganda sanang pagkakataon na pagusapan nila ang mga issues, principles and common concerns in the international community kahit itinataguyod pa rin natin ang independence (It’s too bad. It would have been a good opportunity for them to discuss issues, principles and common concerns in the international community while maintaining their respective independence),” Hontiveros said. “Umaasa ako na magkaroon sila ng ibang pagkakatoon sa future (I am hoping that there would be another chance for them to meet in the future),” she added. Hontiveros said if there were at all effects on both countries’ diplomatic relations, it could still be mended in the next six years under Duterte’s term. She declined to give Duterte

unsolicited advice but urged him to use appropriate language when dealing with foreign leaders. “I have no unsolicited advice to the President but to avoid similar missed opportunity in meets, a lot has to do with complete staff work of both heads of state,” Hontiveros said. “We have lots of Filipinos in the executive to prepare for this. And each head of state knows what’s at stake. I am confident that in the next opportunities, they will take advantage of that,” she added. Relations still strong

Five senators — Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Richard “Dick” Gordon, Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon and Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III — all allayed fears that relations between the Philippines and US would change. Lacson said that despite Duterte’s remarks, he does not see any big change in the relations between the Philippines and the US. “I don’t see any drastic change in the long-standing friendly relations between the Philippines and the United States. We are one of the United States’ strongest allies in the Asia-Pacific region, and it will stay that way,” Lacson said. Alliances, unlike presidents, stand the test of time, he said. “Presidents come after elections and go after their terms end, while alliances between countries remain strong, especially between the United States and the Philippines,” he added. He also expressed hope that the President would soon realize that diplomacy is always part of the country’s foreign policy.

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US President Barack Obama.

“Being the country’s leader, he shapes that policy,” he said. Recto for his part said that an “unprovoked tirade” will not drain the goodwill between Filipinos and Americans. “Built on a shared past and bound by a common vision, USPhilippine relations are strong enough that it cannot be weakened or wrecked by a wayward quote,” Recto said. He said that now would be a good time to remind Duterte and other leaders who represent the country to “clearly articulate” the country’s aspirations by being “polite, courteous and respectful.” Drilon described the cancelled meeting as “starting off on the wrong foot” on the part of Duterte. “It is unfortunate that such meeting did not push through because of unnecessary rhetoric over human rights issues,” Drilon said. Drilon meanwhile urged Duterte to remember that foreign policy is shaped in accordance with our national interest and that “unfriendly rhetoric and undiplomatic statements” will not do the Philippines any good. He expressed hope that Philippine government would work to maintain relations with the US, which he added, remained strong.

EVAN EL-AMIN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

“There is no doubt that the relations between the Philippines and the United States remain strong, and continue to be anchored on mutual respect and cooperation,” Drilon said. “I am hopeful that the longstanding relationship between the two nations will remain to endure and that both leaders will have other opportunities of meeting again under a more comfortable and friendly circumstances,” he added. Adjust, understand

Gordon agreed that Duterte’s remarks would not hurt relations between both countries but noted that the President should “adjust” the way he speaks. In turn, the international community should adjust to his ways, he added. He said foreigners should not focus on the form of the President’s words but on what he is actually trying to say. Pimentel said that Duterte was not really cursing Obama or any individual in particular, it was just the way he spoke. He however stressed the importance of reaching out to the international community and making them “understand” the President’s personality. He also said that Duterte’s remarks would not affect Philippine and US relations. ■

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

There’ll be hell to pay, Leila warns DOJ chief BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer

gal drugs yesterday, but did not raise the allegations against her during the proceedings. “If they continue to do that consciously, to knowingly manufacture and force socalled evidence, then I will hold them answerable in some future time. It is useless to be filing cases at this point. Where do I file that? The DOJ (Department of Justice)?” she told reporters outside the hearing. Two former members of De Lima’s staff at the DOJ and an inmate at Bilibid reportedly executed affidavits detailing her alleged participation in the drug trade inside the national penitentiary. The witnesses, who Aguirre yesterday maintained were not coerced but instead volunteered information, claimed that De Lima ordered them to deposit millions of pesos in drug money to certain bank accounts. The accounts were not under her name, they said.

SEN. LEILA de Lima yesterday said that she would one day hold Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and her other accusers answerable for “fabricating” evidence that would link her to the illegal drug trade. De Lima also aired concerns that her phones had been tapped, confronting Aguirre and the Philippine National Police leadership about her suspicion during a hearing at the Senate. Angered by De Lima’s investigation of extrajudicial killings in his brutal war on drugs, President Duterte recently publicly linked the senator to illegal drugs, alleging that her former driver, Ronnie Dayan, whom he described as also her lover, collected payoffs for her from convicted drug lords being held at New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City. “My appeal to Secretary Aguirre and the NBI (National BuIf they continue to do that reau of Investiconsciously, to knowingly gation) is to not manufacture and force socalled allow [themevidence, then I will hold them selves] to be answerable in some future time. used. I know you are decent officials. Do not be a party to perjury or the subornation of perjury,” ‘Kangaroo court’ De Lima said in a talk with reThe witnesses are also being porters later. questioned at a House inquiry “They know that knowingly into the proliferation of illegal coming out with fabricated drugs at Bilibid under the preevidence or false testimony is vious administration. a crime, a subornation of perDe Lima has refused to face jury,” she said. the House inquiry, calling it Mr. De Lima, a former justice Duterte’s “kangaroo court” that secretary who busted the drug has no legislative bearing. trade at NBP in 2014, faced AguDe Lima found the contents irre during a Senate committee of the affidavits incredible, sayhearing on bills related to ille- ing she received information

the day prior to the report that her former staffers were being forced to link her to the drug trade at Bilibid. “Of course, they were surprised and I think they denied it. I have not spoken to them. Somebody just told me that they are being made to admit that they have accounts with millions in deposits,” De Lima said, adding that the allegations were part of the “lies and madness” being publicized against her. “And they were being made to admit that I ordered them to open those accounts through which I coursed money from drug lords and drug convicts. Jesus Christ,” she said. She called the allegations “a fabrication.” “I don’t think those two would have those accounts. If so, then they are instant millionaires. Then, number two, certainly, that’s not my doing. I did not ask anyone to open an account for me and make a conduit from the deposits from alleged drug lords,” she said. “This is too much. They might already be in a panic. They know they have nothing (against me). So now they’re rushing the fabrication and manufacture of so-called evidence,” she said. Wiretapping

During a hearing led by the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, De Lima told DOJ and Philippine National Police officials that she believed her phones had been tapped. “What is the legitimate pur-

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Senator Leila De Lima says that wiretapping her mobile phones would be a violation of her right to privacy as she is not a terrorist or drug coddler during the hearing on public order and dangerous drugs. JESS M. ESCAROS JR. / PNA

pose being served? Am I a terrorist? Is it because I am being accused as a coddler [of drug lords]? Let us not fool each other,” De Lima said. PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa broke the tension, saying: “Me too, I have also suspected that my cell phone is being tapped.” Dela Rosa said the PNP had no capability to eavesdrop on electronic communication, telling De Lima that only “foreigners” had such a capability. “We have no control over technology. We have foreigners. . . they can monitor our conversations from a faraway place,” he said. Later in an interview, De Lima said she believed her phones had long been tapped, even before she was elected to the Senate. She said she had no particular suspect in mind, but implied doubts about Dela Rosa’s testimony that the PNP had no wiretapping capability. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former PNP chief, was also incredulous, saying the police force during his time already had wiretapping capability. “Who’s violating the law here? Who’s violating my

rights? Especially my right to privacy? But you know I tend to be careful. I’m very cautious now. Sometimes I get paranoid with the gravity of what they’re doing to me,” De Lima said. Usual suspects

Asked about the matter in an interview, Dela Rosa said: “[We’re the] usual suspect. Even if she suspects us, there is nothing because we don’t have that capability.” Addressing members of the Rotary Club of Manila later yesterday, De Lima said President Duterte must be very angry with the DOJ because it could not “decently fabricate evidence” against her. De Lima said Mr. Duterte had become obsessed with destroying her. “It is as if he is afraid that if he cannot destroy me and pin me down, with all the government machinery and executive power behind them, they would simply look like impotent fools before a defenseless woman whom they have dishonored and maligned,” she said. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

DOLE Chief sees no adverse effects on Filipino workers of Duterte-Obama spat BY LEILANI S. JUNIO Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Tuesday it does not see any possible backfire towards Filipino workers in the United States of the cancellation of the scheduled meeting between President Rodrigo R. Duterte and US President Barack Obama during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos. The White House on Tuesday cancelled the scheduled meeting between the two heads of state after President Duterte insulted Obama for raising concerns on extrajudicial killings linked to the Philippine Chief Executive’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs. In a press briefing at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila during the launch of the DOLE’s “24/7 Hotline 1349,” Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said that at first, he was quite surprised with the consequences of the cancellation of the bilateral meeting between the two leaders in response to a question thrown to him about it. The Labor Chief said later on that in his personal opinion, the turn of events was something

DSWD Undersecretary Mae Fae Templa (5th from left) leads the DSWD team in welcoming the 141 OFWs comprising the third batch of the repatriated workers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. DSWD / PNA

that made him ponder and mull over President Duterte’s reaction and tirade against the US leader. “Siguro naalala niya na si President Obama is already a lame duck president. Ilang buwan na lang at wala na siya. So I think he is more concerned about the welfare of the Filipino workers than establishing a strong cooperation with an outgoing president. Iyon lang yung para sa akin (He might have thought that President Obama is already on his last months as president. In a few more months, he will vacate the post. So I think he is more concerned about the welfare of the Filipino workers than establishing a strong

cooperation with an outgoing president. That is what I would like to believe),” Bello said. Meanwhile, during the launching of the DOLE’s 24/7 Call Center or “Hotline 1349,” the Labor Chief explained how it can help in responding to labor and employment queries and complaints, both domestic and international. “Hotline 1349” is housed at the 4th Floor of the DOLE Building in Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila. It aims to provide workers and employers with 24/7 services on all labor- and employment-related inquiries and concerns and ensure that these are acted upon immediately.

DILG: Traders vow support for rehab BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has unveiled plans to set up drug rehabilitation centers nationwide with the help of some of the country’s biggest businessmen. In a statement on Saturday, DILG Undersecretary for Operations John Castriciones said the plans were discussed in a recent meeting in Malacañang attended by Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries, Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco and 13 top businessmen. Among the businessmen present were Megaworld Corp. president and chief executive officer Andrew Tan, Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. chair Manuel Villar and Jollibee Food Corp. chief executive officer Ernesto Tanmantiong. Castriciones said the DILG will enter into a memorandum of agreement with the businesses to document the contributions they can make to the drug rehabilitation program. “There were initial discussions and some of them manifested that they would be willing to donate funds for the construction of rehabilitation centers,” he said. The program covers the con-

struction of four rehabilitation centers nationwide—two in Luzon, one in the Visayas and another in Mindanao. Another proposal calls for the building of one rehab center in each region. Each center could accommodate at least 500 drug dependents, Castriciones said. He said the comprehensive rehabilitation program plans to address the reformation and recovery of the 700,000 drug users who have surrendered under President Duterte’s antiillegal drugs campaign. 10% to be committed

The DILG cited the Department of Health and the Dangerous Drugs Board as saying that of those who turned themselves in, 10 percent or 70,000 will be committed to the governmentrun rehabilitation centers. The rest, Castriciones said, will undergo comprehensive community-based rehabilitation, in which they would be outpatients. Under this alternative program, those who surrendered, particularly in the rural areas, will participate in tree-planting activities or livestock-raising. Those in the urban areas will take part in the cleanup of “esteros” and waterways and will undergo training for vocational skills with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. ■

What NOT to Do Before your Mortgage Closes BY MYLENE LIM, AMP Mortgage Specialist SO YOU found your dream home. You have negotiated with your lender like a true champion. You have patiently provided all the documents required to get the mortgage approval in place. You have tackled the herculean task of planning the move — new cable, movers, hydro, maybe new school for the kids, etc. — and you are just giddy with excitement. You couldn’t wait for momentous day to come. Then you get a call from your

lender and suddenly it’s “Houston, we have a problem.” Wait.. what?! How can this be?!! You already go approved! What you have to bear in mind is that your approval is only good as far the information you have already provided your lender. Any changes might mean the lender may decline to fund the deal. So for this week’s article, I will talk about the most common ways people unknowingly jeopardize their approved mortgage and find themselves in a bind. Do not change jobs

If the lender finds out that you have a new employment, you will have to prove (again)

that your new income would be able to cover your financial obligations. This may not be a problem if lender could verify your new employment (within the timeframe available) but if you’re on probation or on commission basis, then you might have an issue.

No changes on down payment source

Your solicitor may verify the down payment source you is what you provided the lender. Your solicitor is obligated to inform the lender of changes, which might leave you at risk to have your mortgage being declined.

No big purchases

Postpone buying that new couch or that new car to go with that new house until the mortgage has funded. Your increased debt payments might make the ratios off at which case you might find yourself with a new couch and a new car but without a new home. www.canadianinquirer.net

Credit

Make sure do not do anything to bring your credit score down. Even if you do not increase your debt load, you have to make sure that your credit score remains as is, if not better. Make sure you pay all your bills on time, including the small cel phone bill, and

avoid having your credit record pulled by anyone. No change on your status

Now won’t be the time to suddenly get married, divorced, or separated. Leave matters of the heart at bay until after mortgage has funded. Your new status might mean additional financial obligations and supports that you haven’t had when you got approved. ■ For more information, please feel free to contact me 604 783 9097 | mylene. mortgage@gmail.com | www.BestOptionMortgages.ca | FB: Mylene Lim, AMP

Opinion

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

ANALYSIS

A step toward populist dictatorship By Amando Doronila Philippine Daily Inquirer CANBERRA—President Duterte is pushing Sen. Leila de Lima to resign in an effort to disable her criticism of his administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs, as the body count of the crackdown by death squads allegedly directed by the government mounted to a scale that has triggered international concern. Speaking after a visit to a police officer who was shot by a suspected drug pusher in Samar, the President said that if he were De Lima, “I’ll hang myself.” He said “the innermost of your core as a female is being serialized every day,” indeed by his own accusations that she was “immoral” and an “adulterer.” Assuming the role as a morality policeman, he directed these words to the senator: “You resign. You have lost face with women. Follow me, I will show you how it is to be a woman of the world.” Earlier, the President accused De Lima of taking money from drug lords and allowing the drug trade to flourish in the New Bilibid Prisons during her tenure as justice secretary

in the previous administration. He that De Lima was elected to the cial killings but would not submit to a also accused her of having an affair Senate by a nationwide vote, with a “kangaroo court” in the House where with her driver, who, he said, was the mandate to serve as a check on vast the administration holds a supermacollector of the drug money. presidential powers. She was not ap- jority. Mr. Duterte aired the call for De pointed to the Senate by the Presi“I’m already judged guilty, I’m finLima’s resignation days after she dent. Senators, like the President and ished as far as the President is constarted a Senate inquiry into the unlike members of the House of Rep- cerned. That’s why he’s asking me extrajudicial killings that have ac- resentatives, are elected by a national to resign. And then I go and face the companied the war on drugs. She has constituency. Thus, the resignation House inquiry? I would have lost all refused to be stampeded into resign- of a senator at the behest of the Presi- respect then,” she said. ing from the Senate, saying it would dent is by implication an attack on How far the administration will mean admitting to something she the independence of the Senate vis- go in pursuing the President’s “chardid not do. She said that after much a-vis the presidency. acter assassination” of De Lima and reflection, “resigwhether it will file nation at this point criminal charges I’m already judged guilty, I’m finished as far as the will be an admission against her remain President is concerned. That’s why he’s asking me to resign. of guilt and a sign of a matter of conweakness, and I’m jecture. In his soneither weak nor called “drug matrix” guilty.” In standing for her prerogatives showing De Lima’s alleged involveDe Lima suggested that the pres- as a senator, De Lima assailed the ment in the drug operations in the sure on her was either a trap or an at- fairness of Mr. Duterte’s call for her national penitentiary, Mr. Duterte tempt to deprive her of a platform to resignation, pointing out that he had named six persons linked to the rackdefend herself or fight against abuse already judged her as guilty. She also et but did not cite evidence. of power by a president who appears expressed doubt about the fairness De Lima said that she would renot to have spared any weapon, fair of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who spond to the allegations at the proper or foul, to crush her politically. Her will lead the House’s planned inquiry forum and that she would continue removal from the Senate would ren- into the drug trade at the New Bilibid to fulfill her duties in the Senate. She der her vulnerable to presidential Prisons and her alleged involvement called for an end to “threats and namvindictiveness and retaliation. in it. She said she would proceed with ing and shaming.” She said, “Let’s go Mr. Duterte has to be reminded the Senate inquiry into the extrajudi- back to civility,” and added: “I am not

the enemy here. Stop portraying me as one.” Other lawmakers have echoed her appeal. They called for “respect and civility in public discourse,” adding that “our people deserve facts, not innuendo.” The aggressive rhetoric of the President in pursuing his violent approach to the trade in illegal drugs has raised questions: Who is the enemy, the drug lords or De Lima? Why has he singled out De Lima in his war on drugs? Why has the number of extrajudicial killings increased in the months after he took office? The fundamental issue in this war against drug syndicates is not the rising number of corpses. It is how much damage this killing-fields strategy has inflicted on the rule of law and on justice. In the inordinate focus on De Lima, the point has been underlined that the conflict between her and the administration is characterized by a gross imbalance: the deployment by the state’s coercive powers to crush its critics. This is a dangerous development toward the establishment of a populist dictatorship. ■

AT LARGE

Cupcakes and roses for De5 By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer “LEAVE me alone,” said Sen. Leila de Lima when asked what her birthday wish was. She had just blown out the candle on a box of cupcakes, while surrounded by dozens of red and dark pink roses, during an “asalto” to mark her upcoming birth anniversary. The gathering of women, all of them signatories to a statement by “concerned Filipino women,” was meant to demonstrate in word and deed women’s support for the senator in the face of deeply offensive and indeed misogynist attacks on her person, while assailing the Du30 administration’s assault on the democratic principle of checks and balances. So indeed, her birthday wish wasn’t the senator’s intention to pose as a contemporary version of the reclusive Greta Garbo. Rather, it was a plea for the President and his minions to leave her to do her job as an elected senator of the land, including the right—nay, the duty—to conduct oversight investigations on actions carried out by the Executive, a coequal branch of government. The statement of support was signed by initially 15 women, but has now found nearly 300 adherents, gathering women from various sectors— the urban poor, academe, business, civ-

il society, and professionals. It’s safe to committee on justice and human members of the Cabinet: former peace say that the women were reacting not rights. Studying the multicolored adviser Teresita Quintos Deles, former merely to the arrogant insistence of the matrix, De Lima smilingly remarked Civil Service Commission chair Karina President and his inner circle that their that it looked far more profession- Constantino David, and former tour“war on drugs” be exempt from any in- ally done, using “correct grammar,” ism secretary Narz Lim; feminist activvestigation or criticism. compared to the matrix that, Du30 ists Aida Santos and Carol Sobritchea; Perhaps cutting even more deeply claimed, “proved” the senator’s links peace advocate Karen Tañada; Nina was Du30’s use of innuendo and sex- to drug lords, even if it looked like a Somera, Hazel Suba, and Hilda Narist double standards to shame and hastily prepared high school project. ciso, a survivor of Marcos-era human condemn a woman in the public eye Later, Rosales produced “another rights abuses and a petitioner against for “sins” or indiscretions she may matrix” for De Lima’s enjoyment: a the burial of Ferdinand Marcos in the have committed in private. To quote meme or social media post showing Libingan ng mga Bayani. Other petithe statement, by “[impugning] a the senator’s visage on a movie post- tioners were likewise present. woman’s character by the same ac- er for the film “Matrix.” She looked Rosales also gave De Lima a poem tions that would otherwise elevate a quite intimidating, to be honest, clad written by activist Mila Aguilar titled man’s status in society, and to apply in the long black raincoat worn by “Ang Saga ni Leila (Leila’s Saga),” which a different standard of morality on Keanu Reeves in the film. seems self-explanatory. Though they a female senator’s were not available alleged extramarifor De Lima’s “asalPerhaps cutting even more deeply was Du30’s use tal relations from to,” Imelda Nicolas of innuendo and sexist double standards to shame and that of a Presiand Annie Serrano condemn a woman in the public eye for “sins” or indiscretions dent’s well-known were the “mothers” she may have committed in private. dalliances, [the who birthed the idea President allowed a to circulate the statewoman] to be boxed in by gender steIn her response to her well-wish- ment of support. Indeed, the “saga of reotypes and sexist attitudes.” ers, De Lima expressed her gratitude De Lima” is a story worth telling and *** to all who had gifted her with “posi- following. Not only because it’s only AMONG the women who called on tive energy and positive vibes” on early days for the Duterte administraDe Lima was her predecessor as chair her birth anniversary. “I shall remain tion and his shockingly vicious and of the Commission on Human Rights, steadfast [in my work as a senator],” personal attack on the senator is a tellEtta Rosales, who presented the she assured everyone. And if her tor- ing sign of harsher times to follow. It is senator with a “matrix” (a buzzword mentors “think they can dampen my also worth tracking because the saga is in these times) illustrating a “rights- resolve, they’re dead wrong.” also the harrowing story of all Filipino based approach” to solving the drug *** women, who have endured centuries of problem. She planned to submit the NOTABLE among the women who oppression and exclusion at the hands matrix, said Rosales, to the Senate called on De Lima that day were former of men who think nothing of ridiculing

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us for “sins” they themselves commit with impunity. *** AWARE, or the Alliance of Women for Action Towards Reform, has also issued their own statement in support of De Lima. The senator, the statement says, is “an upright and dedicated government official who has served the people with integrity and courage.” The group called on the President and his Cabinet members, as well as the Philippine National Police chief, “to observe the rule of law; to give drug addicts the chance to rehabilitate their lives; to give them their day in court; and not to summarily execute them.” By fostering the “culture of death,” the women of Aware said, “vigilantism is on the rise, and criminals have found safe haven in the impunity offered by the President.” The statement encourages De Lima and “all other freedom-loving senators and Congress representatives as well as all Filipinos” to speak out against what it describes as “the slaughter of our people.” The “menace of drugs will not be ended by bullets,” the women add. Instead, “we need to educate our youth; engage them in programs that challenge their minds and spirits; rehabilitate them when they fall into temptation; and when treated, bring them back into our fold.” ■

Opinion

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

PUBLIC LIVES

Duterte and China By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer THERE’S ONE topic on which President Duterte has admitted censoring his normally uninhibited language: China. “I’m sure, as your President,” he told his audience the other day at the inauguration of the new Davao International Container Port, “I would not lead you to trouble, or I would not cause you shame. There will be a time when I have to make a stand and I have to make it clear to China, ‘You know, every time you talk about sole ownership or even entitlements there (South China Sea), it’s something which is totally unacceptable to us.” This is reassuring, and I’m certain the special treatment warms the heart of China. But, why can’t the President adopt the same restraint when dealing with international relations in general? This is a different arena from the national polity of which he is president; here he no longer speaks for himself but for the entire Filipino people. As a nation, we will not always like what world bodies and their spokespersons may say about us. But, it is one thing to rebuff them in clear terms—indeed, there are sharp but diplomatic ways of doing so—and quite another to call them names, or

question the reason for their exis- tice this until we meet our neighbors have been possible during Mao Zetence. in the region. But, critical thinking— dong’s time. Today, China is driven What is to be gained—other than to a legacy of the modern education less by an internationalist socialgratify an impulse—from contemptu- system established by the United ist ideology than by an aggressive ously calling a friendly country’s am- States—equally gave us the ability to Chinese nationalism that draws its bassador “gay”? Why call the United question America’s imperial motives strength from its economic clout as Nations “stupid” and “inutile” just and to oppose its continuing domi- well as by its military capability. because one of its rapporteurs has nation of our economy and political Southeast Asia is just one of the called our attention to the alarm- life. The culmination of that struggle regions over which state-backed ing human rights situation in the was the dismantling in 1991 of the US Chinese capitalism has spread its country? The Philippines is one of military bases on Philippine soil. wings. China has virtually colonized the original members of this world I still distinctly remember how, in much of Africa, inundating its marbody, and, though it is far from be- the late 1980s, the defenders of the kets with cheap Chinese products, ing a world government, the UN is American bases tried to justify the while draining the continent of its the closest thing mineral resources humanity has to to feed the Chinese Today, China is driven less by an internationalist socialist an international economic machine. ideology than by an aggressive Chinese nationalism that organization that One of its most amdraws its strength from its economic clout as well as by its is sworn to protect bitious projects to the world’s citizens date is the “New military capability. from abuse, danger, Silk Road Initiaand oppression. need for a new military bases treaty. tive to Central Asia and Europe.” As for the President’s attitude They conjured images of a “Red Chi- This mindboggling complex of new toward the United States, I find it na” gobbling up the Philippine archi- roads, railroads, pipelines, and ecopuzzling, if not altogether wrong, to pelago if the Americans left. It was an nomic zones stretches from China antagonize our country’s staunchest argument that carried little weight to Europe. If one can imagine taking ally, particularly at this time. Admit- in the face of the global decline of a train from Beijing to Spain, or from tedly, we have had a complex and Soviet socialism and of China’s own Beijing to Turkey—traversing a vast sometimes troubled relationship troubles at home. landlocked Central Asian continent with America, but that’s no excuse to Little did we suspect that the hitherto insulated from the modern heap scorn on its representative. equation could change dramatically world—then one can get a good idea Like the President, I belong to in just 25 years. China has achieved of the scale of Chinese ambition and a generation that America tried to unprecedented economic growth the aggressiveness that drives it. mold in its image. The most visible after opening its doors to the forces As expected, most everyone wants result of that effort is the Western- of global capitalism. The power and to be part of it. But, only a few would ization of our way of life. We don’t no- influence it wields today would not probably do so with closed eyes. Kyr-

gyzstan, a landlocked mountainous country that used to be part of the Soviet Union, lies strategically at the center of this Silk Road project. Its former prime minister, Djoomart Otorbaev, in an interview with Der Spiegel, thoughtfully reflects on the way the Chinese typically overrun a place: “They bring their own people, and they start by building what they want. And then if someone demands a permit, they bribe the relevant officials…. The Chinese lack soft power. They don’t understand that if you want to succeed in the long term, you need to win over people’s hearts.” China does not care to spread socialism to other countries. Indeed, it doesn’t even care how the rest of the world is ruled or what kind of national leaders it deals with. What it cares about is to control other nations’ economies, period. I hope President Duterte’s cautious demeanor vis-à-vis China is matched by a thoughtful understanding of the Philippines’ long-term geostrategic interests. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations may often appear as nothing more than a toothless, feel-good neighborhood association, and the United States may sometimes seem like an unreliable ally, but outside of these alliances, the Philippines would be putty in the hands of a resurgent China. ■

LOOKING BACK

‘Bayani’ a richer word than ‘hero’ By Ambeth R. Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer WORDS SEEM simple until you are faced with more than one meaning and have to choose based on usage and context. For example, the burial of Ferdinand Marcos would not be an issue in an ordinary cemetery or memorial park. There are two issues raised against him: First, should we consider him a “hero” fit to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani? And second, is his presidency something we want to remember or erase from our collective memory? It is not well known that in the Manila North Cemetery (or the Cementerio del Norte) stands a whitewashed circular structure commissioned by US Governor-General James F. Smith in 1908 to honor the veterans of the Philippine Revolution. This used to be known as the “Panteon de los Veteranos de la Revolucion,” and it used to house the remains of those gallant men (and even Melchora Aquino) who fought in the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the “Philippine Insurrection” now acknowledged as the

Philippine-American War. There are very few remains left in the Pantheon now because towns and provinces have since claimed their heroes from Norte. When I first visited the Pantheon in the 1980s, I found a family who had established residence inside and who had used the empty graves and niches as compartments for pots, pans, and other domestic objects, even shoes. In May 1947 a Republic Memorial Cemetery was planned to be the resting place of Filipino soldiers who died in the service of the nation during World War II. Congress passed Republic Act No. 289 (or an Act for the Construction of a National Pantheon for Presidents of the Philippines, National Heroes and Patriots of the Country) that was signed into law by President Elpidio Quirino in June 1948. Quirino’s successor, Ramon Magsaysay, renamed the Republic Memorial Cemetery as the Libingan ng mga Bayani in 1954. It is to be noted here that Magsaysay is still buried in the Manila North Cemetery while Quirino was reinterred this year in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It is the term “bayani” that is the

bone of contention in the Marcos burial. Are all the people buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani a hero? Or does burial there make one, no matter how unworthy, a hero? If you google the word “hero,” you will get two meanings: one, “a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities,” and the other, a “submarine sandwich”! If you look up “bayani,” you will find many meanings. Vito C. Santos in his Vicassan’s dictionary (1978), gives the following: hero, patriot (“taong makabayan”), cooperative endeavor, mutual aid, a person who volunteers or offers free service or labor to a cooperative endeavor, to prevail, to be victorious, to prevail (“mamayani”), leading man in a play (often referred to as the “bida”— from the Spanish word for life, “vida”— who is contrasted with the villain or “kontrabida” from the Spanish “contra vida,” against life). These words help us better understand the word for the lifesaver, the inflatable rubber tube or “salbabida,” from the Spanish “salvar vida,” to save life. Not content with the hefty Vicas-

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san’s dictionary, I looked up the UP Diksiyionaryong Filipino (2001) that lists three meanings for bayani : a person of extraordinary courage and ability; a person considered to possess extraordinary talents or someone who did something noble (“dakila”); a leading man in a play. It was added that a bayani or hero from mythology were those who had the qualities of the gods, extraordinary strength, bravery, or ability. Then there is the Vocabulario de la lengua Tagala by the Jesuits Juan de Noceda and Pedro de Sanlucar, first published in 1754 but better known for its 1860 edition that can be found in Manila and covered with pigskin. This once-rare book has been made readily available again by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in an edition by Almario, Ebreo and Yglopaz translated from the original Spanish into Filipino. Bayani in this dictionary has several meanings: someone who is brave or valiant, someone who works toward a common task or cooperative endeavor (“bayanihan”). It is significant that bayani comes a few words under “bayan,” which is defined as: the space between here

and the sky. Bayan is also a town, municipality, pueblo, or nation, and can refer to people and citizens (“mamamayan”) who live in those communities, or to those who originate or come from the same place (“kababayan”). Bayan also refers to the day (“araw”) or a time of day (“malalim ang bayan”) or even to the weather, good or bad (“masamang bayan”). I have been opening old dictionaries to find out what bayani meant to people in the past as a way of figuring out what bayani should mean to Filipinos in the 21st century. Johnnie Walker has begun a campaign to help us review and define hero/ bayani for our time; it proposes ambition as a peg. That may be one way of looking at the question, but hero and bayani do not have the same meaning. Bayani is a richer word than hero because it may be rooted in bayan as place or in doing something great, not for oneself, but for a greater good, for community or nation. Old heroes were those who contributed to the birth of nation. Maybe the modern bayani is one who pushes the envelope further by contributing to a nation in a global world. ■

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Canada News Trudeau says protectionist views in U.S., Europe unlikely to creep into Canada BY ANDY BLATCHFORD The Canadian Press HANGZHOU, CHINA — Justin Trudeau spent days urging world leaders to fight back against rising anti-trade sentiments, but he says there’s little risk that protectionist forces seen in the United States and Europe will spill over into Canada. The prime minister, who made the remarks Monday at the end of the Group of 20 summit in China, said he believes Canadians in every demographic group broadly support positive engagement with the world. “I’d be very careful and hesitant to apply situations that might be described in other

VITALIY HOLOVIN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

countries to Canadians because we’ve seen Canadians are — and all demographic groups combined — generally open and positive and optimistic about the future,” Trudeau told a

news conference in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou. The Canadian delegation at the G20 wove the theme of talking up trade into all their discussions with G20 peers,

Trudeau said. On Sunday, International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said growing anti-trade movements had complicated free trade talks with Europe and on softwood lumber with the U.S. In the summit’s final communique, G20 leaders agreed to “reject protectionism” and promote global trade and investment. Trudeau, attending his second G20 since taking office last year, was also encouraged that superpowers China and the U.S. both announced they would formally join the ambitious Paris agreement on climate change. He said there was a “clear and positive” consensus around the table that ratification of

the Paris accord needs to happen soon, a goal outlined in the summit’s closing communique. “The significant momentum generated by both China and the United States ratifying is an encouragement to all countries around the G20 table, and indeed around the world, to move forward with ratification as quickly as possible,” said Trudeau, who has been engaged in ongoing talks with the provinces to ratify. Canada, however, isn’t quite ready to ratify the accord just yet and a country-wide climate plan remains a work in progress. Still, Trudeau, who has been negotiating with the provinces, insisted that Ottawa in❱❱ PAGE 19 Trudeau says

On September 10, Canadians of all ethnicities unite to share what it truly means to be Canadian with CTV’s CANADA IN A DAY – CTV’s ground-breaking project, inspired by Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald’s Life in a Day, will engage Canadians on Saturday, Sept. 10 – – Canadians of all ethnicities are encouraged to participate by filming moments of their lives and days in their own languages – – The footage, shot entirely by Canadians, will come together for a film that paints a unique and vibrant picture of a multicultural Canada – – The two-hour broadcast event will air in 2017 on CTV in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Confederation – CanadaInADay.ca includes detailed information about video submission requirements, filming tips, and more – TORONTO – Inspired by Academy Award® and Golden Globe®-nominee Ridley Scott and Academy Award-winner Kevin Macdonald’s highly successful Life in a Day, CANADA IN A DAY will capture one day in the life of our country, and will air on CTV as part of Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. CANADA IN A DAY will be curated from crowd-sourced footage filmed by Canadians of all different ethnicities and communities from across the country. From countless individual moments and stories, one film will be created to capture Canada on a single day – engaging Canadians across the country and around the world to share – in any language – their hopes and fears, their personal stories and, in doing so, what it means to be Canadian. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, footage submitted may be included in the final film project

set to air on CTV. For more information, including video submission requirements and tips from director Trish Dolman on how to create a great video, people are encouraged to visit CanadaInADay.ca. How it Works • CANADA IN A DAY is open to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or landed immigrants across the country, or Canadians living abroad. • Participants can film as much or as little footage as they want during the 24-hour period on Saturday, September 10, 2016. • Canadians have until midnight on Saturday, October 10, 2016 to submit their footage online at CanadaInADay.ca. • CANADA IN A DAY is looking for people to be creative, honest, and real, filming themselves and the people or places that mean the most to them. Participants

should capture their passions, loves, fears, hopes, and dreams. • Canadians are encouraged to film and submit videos in their own languages. • To help Canadians decide what they want to film, there are four main questions they can ask themselves: o What do you love? o What do you fear? o What do you hope for? o What does Canada mean to you? • Participants can answer the above questions directly to camera, or showcase their answers with a visual response. CANADA IN A DAY is inspired by the original award-winning Ridley Scott film, Life in a Day. Shot in 2010 and released in 2011, Life in a Day was the remarkable story of one day on Earth. The project garnered more than 80,000 submissions around the world, and contained more

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than 4,500 hours of deeply personal, powerful moments shot by contributors from Australia to Zambia – from the heart of bustling major cities to some of the most remote places on Earth. Since then, several countries have launched their own In a Day films, including Britain, Italy, Germany, Spain, India, and Japan. CANADA IN A DAY is produced by Screen Siren Pictures Inc. in association with CTV, with the financial participation of the Canada Media Fund, Bell Fund, Creative BC, FIBC, and the Government of Canada. Executive producers are Scott Free Films, Trish Dolman, and Christine Haebler, with Trish Dolman producing for Screen Siren Pictures Inc. Switch United is the web producer and Innovate by Day is the Social Media producer. For more information, please contact: Vincent Ng, 416-591-7331 ext. 267

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

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Canadians pick common loon as favourite to become country’s national bird BY MORGAN LOWRIE The Canadian Press MONTREAL — The votes are in and, if Canadians have their way, the common loon could one day join the beaver and maple leaf as an official symbol of Canada. While the United States has the bald eagle and Britain has the robin, Canada has no national bird of its own — something the Royal Canadian Geographical Society is trying to change. The organization launched its national bird project in January 2015, inviting Canadians to vote for their candidate of choice on the website of Canadian Geographic magazine, which it publishes. Although the loon topped the contest with nearly 14,000 of the almost 50,000 votes cast, there’s no guarantee it will emerge the winner.

A panel debate will be held in Ottawa in September, where experts will argue the merits of each of the top five birds. The final choice will be announced Nov. 16. After that, organizers will submit their proposal to the government, probably through a private member’s bill in the Commons. When the contest ended Aug. 31, the loon had outstripped the snowy owl (8,498 votes) and the gray jay, or whiskey jack (7,918). The Canada goose finished fourth, while the black-capped chickadee rounded out the top five. A spokeswoman for the geographical society said the loon is familiar to Canadians because of its presence on the one dollar coin and its “haunting” call. “It’s synonymous with Canada’s North and wilderness,” Deborah Chapman said in an interview. “I think when people think

“[The Common Loon]’s synonymous with Canada’s North and wilderness,” Deborah Chapman said in an interview.

of the loon we think of that call, and that reminds us of the North, which is a bit about who we are.” While the Canada goose’s fourth-placed finish may surprise some, given its name,

Chapman pointed out the species is equally associated with leaving big messes behind and can be considered a nuisance. Chapman also noted that the front-running loon is already the official bird of Ontario and,

unlike the two runners-up, flies south to escape Canada’s harsh winters, which may not make it the best symbol of the country’s northern spirit. One well-known ornithologist, who will speak at the Ottawa panel, is convinced that the third-ranked gray jay is the bird that best embodies the country. David Bird (yes, that’s his real name) says the forest-dwelling species is smart and hardy, is found throughout Canada (and isn’t found elsewhere in large numbers) and isn’t claimed as an official bird by any province. Bird says gray jays are also like Canadians as a whole because they are known for their friendly and trusting natures. “You will never find a friendlier bird than the gray jay, because they will come down and take food from your hand without being trained,” he said. “All those features make it a good choice to represent Canada.” ■

Screening immigrants for ‘anti-Canadian’ values will make Canada safer; Leitch BY TERRY PEDWELL The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Federal Conservative leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch stood firm Friday amid criticisms of a survey from her campaign that asked whether would-be immigrants should be screened for “anti-Canadian” values. Leitch made no apologies in issuing a statement in defence of the survey, taking it one step further in saying she feels strongly about weeding out people who want to come to Canada if they are intolerant or don’t accept Canadian traditions. “In my bid to become the prime minister of Canada, I will be putting forward policies that will make Canada safer, stronger and that will enhance a unified Canadian identity,” she said. “Screening potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values

that include intolerance towards other religions, cultures and sexual orientations, violent and/or misogynist behaviour and/or a lack of acceptance of our Canadian tradition of personal and economic freedoms is a policy proposal that I feel very strongly about.” The survey raised eyebrows within Conservative ranks as the party works to encourage immigration to Canada, with at least one Tory strategist calling on Leitch to leave the leadership race. Leadership rival Michael Chong denounced the survey question as “the worst of dogwhistle politics.” “This suggestion, that some immigrants are “anti-Canadian,” does not represent our Conservative party or our Canada,” Chong wrote on his campaign Facebook page. “In order to win in 2019 we need to build a modern and inclusive Conservative party that focuses squarely on pocketbook

issues that matter to Canadians and not on issues that pit one Canadian against another.” But Leitch said such issues need to be debated, no matter how difficult. “Oftentimes, debating and discussing these complex policies requires tough conversations,” she said. “I am committed to having these conversations, to debating theses issues and I invite Canadians to give their feedback. “Canadians can expect to hear more, not less from me, on this topic in the coming months.” The question, contained in a survey sent to people who signed up for news from the Leitch campaign, reads: “Should the Canadian government screen potential immigrants for anti-Canadian values as part of its normal screening for refugees and landed immigrants?” The survey also sought opinions and gauged support for a www.canadianinquirer.net

range of other issues, including the legalization of recreational marijuana, electoral reform and tax cuts for businesses. The screening for values question gave the governing Liberals reason to wade into the Opposition party’s leadership contest. Shortly after announcing her candidacy for leadership, Leitch expressed regret for supporting a controversial 2015 Conservative election campaign promise to establish a tip line for so-called “barbaric cultural practices,” aimed at helping the RCMP enforce a law aimed at cracking down on forced marriages and keeping polygamists out of Canada. “I took that at face value,” said Arif Virani, parliamentary secretary to Immigration Minister John McCallum. “Now she’s wavering and going back to a type of politics that really one would have thought that her and the Conservative party would be leaving behind

rather than accentuating.” Leitch’s campaign manager Nick Kouvalis said Thursday the survey was based on subjects Leitch had been hearing about from Conservatives during her travels across Canada over the summer. But Virani said he hasn’t heard similar comments during dozens of town hall meetings he and McCallum have held around the country. “The sentiments we’re hearing about immigration are how can we address our economic needs, how can we ensure that (smaller) communities are sustainable,” he said. U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has called for would-be immigrants to undergo what he calls “extreme vetting” to determine their stance on things like gender equality and religious freedom. “It’s that kind of politics that we don’t need in Canada,” said Virani. ■

Canada News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Federal consultations...

Trudeau says...

Minister Amarjeet Sohi after he met in early June with mayors, reeves and officials with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities as part of consultations on the second phase of the government’s 10-year, $60-billion infrastructure program. The Canadian Press obtained copies of the reports under the Access to Information Act. Another round of consultations is scheduled for Wednesday in Edmonton, where Sohi will meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts. The final outline of how Phase 2 will work is to be released within the next year. Community leaders told Sohi they wanted the federal government to allocate money to cities under the second phase instead of making them apply for federal help. Smaller communities say they usually have to outsource work to prepare a business case needed to land federal funding, but are spending the money without any certainty that their

❰❰ 16

❰❰ 1

application will be approved. Cities and towns told Sohi in June that there could at least be a partial allocation of infrastructure money during phase two if the federal government moves to an application-based model in order to provide municipalities with some level of certainty as they plan and budget for future projects. The Liberals budgeted $6.6 billion this year and next for the first phase of their infrastructure program. Phase 2 of the program would begin in 2018. The infrastructure program was a key Liberal promise in last year’s election. The government hopes the spending will boost the country’s economy and pad government coffers with new tax revenue that will help bring the budget back to balance. The federal government has signed funding agreements with all but Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut to allow infrastructure money set aside for Phase 1 to flow to eligible transit, water and waste water projects. ■

tends to ratify in the coming months. John Kirton, director of the G8 Research Group at University of Toronto, was expecting other G20 countries to quickly follow China and the U.S. “One would have expected when the two most-powerful polluters on the planet jointly agreed that they would ratify, or the legal equivalent, the Paris accord that others would have stepped up and said, ‘Me too,’” said Kirton, who was at the summit site. “But stunning silence from Japan, from Germany and even Canada... Yes, consultation, cooperation back home a good thing, but how long can you wait?” Trudeau said he had discussions on many different subjects with just about every leader, including U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But he wasn’t part of a meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine held by Obama, Merkel

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and French President Francois Hollande, even though Canada has committed troops to the country. “We actually see there’s a tremendous, positive engagement by Canada in secruity in Eastern Europe and our allies genuinely appreciate that,” he said when asked why he didn’t participate. He did not explain why he wasn’t there. Trudeau also held slightly more formal sit-downs on the sidelines of the summit with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the European Union, the OECD and Singapore. His only bilateral meeting was with Chad’s President Idriss Deby Itno, who also serves as chair of the African Union. “Yes, there are a number of formal bilaterals, but the conversations that go on in the margins are equally important on wide range of issues,” he said, when asked why he didn’t hold more bilateral meetings. Trudeau is nearing the end of his eight-day trip to China, dur-

ing which he also held bilateral talks focused mainly on trade and investment with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Trudeau reiterated during the news conference his government’s goal to deepen ties with China. He was asked if Chinese leaders raised their long-held concerns over Canada’s restrictions on investment by foreign, state-owned enterprises. “That specific issue wasn’t brought up by the Chinese in any of my meetings,” said Trudeau, who appeared open to discussing the issue. “But we’re always happy to listen to questions and concerns that the Chinese may have and we’re always looking to create opportunities for Canadians and Canadian businesses.” On Monday night, Trudeau flew to Hong Kong. He will hold meetings with business leaders there on Tuesday and participate in wreath-laying ceremony at the city’s Sai Wan War Cemetery. ■

World News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Trump ex-staffer shares secret on his core supporters: They’re not who you think BY ALEXANDER PANETTA The Associated Press WASHINGTON — A former Donald Trump campaign insider wants to set the record straight on a major story he says the chattering classes missed: It’s about Trump’s core supporters, who they are, and why they’re drawn to him. It was Matt Braynard’s job to identify these supporters. He led Trump’s data operation in the early primaries, a position that gave him a unique vantage point into an epochal political phenomenon. The media misdiagnosed it, he says. They focused on economics, education and race — factors Braynard calls negligible. Braynard says he spotted something else. As he sifted data and learned to predict with 80 per cent certainty whether someone would prefer Trump to his rivals, he noticed a common worldview. He won’t discuss it in detail, but offers hints. It involves certain types of strength — forceful positions on controversial issues, support for law-and-order at home, and a take-no-prisoners attitude on foreign terrorism. “The way I like to phrase it is these are people who are rich in the wisdom of the Old Testament. It’s a way of looking at the world,” Braynard said in an interview.

“At this time of domestic and international turmoil, people want someone who can tell the truth, be strong, and not take (crap) from anyone... Our candidate, effectively, is the law-andorder candidate. And when you’ve got Black Lives Matter terrorists murdering cops on the street, there’s been no better time for a candidate to wear that mantle... “It cut across all kinds of lines — racial, geographic, income.” Braynard chafes at a oneword label some political science professors have applied to these voters: authoritarian. “It’s part of the left’s narrative to turn Trump into Hitler. And it is also a smear on Trump supporters.” Braynard ran the data operation from October through the early primaries when he had a falling-out with the campaign. He began by leasing a voter-data package from the company L2, which included material from a firm founded by ex-Obama operatives, HaystaqDNA. He looked for patterns that identified Trump voters. He focused on people who’d never voted in a primary; found data that correlated with Trump support (reading Guns&Ammo magazine was one indicator); and contacted likely supporters, instructing them on how to vote in primaries. “(They’d say), ‘You know, I do like that guy.’ So we’d say, ‘Just make sure you show up and vote.’ And that’s how we won

the nomination.” Not everyone missed the story he’s telling. In their version, however, it’s less flattering and more ominous. It’s told by researchers who study authoritarian voters, a branch of political science that grew from the Second World War. Matthew MacWilliams of the University of Massachusetts polled 1,800 voters last December and published his findings in a Politico piece titled: “One Weird Trait That Predicts Whether You’re a Trump Supporter.” He said respondents who expressed the strongest authoritarian impulses were almost three times likelier to support Trump than those who scored lowest; other Republicans registered no similar spike. “It only mattered for Trump,” MacWilliams said in an interview. “The polling on it couldn’t be clearer... People who are disposed to authoritarianism are more likely to be core supporters for Trump.” The Vox website conducted its own poll, finding similar results. Yet a study by Eric Oliver and Wendy Rahn arrived at a different conclusion — that Trump’s popularity with authoritarians was lower than Ted Cruz’s. So who are these people? To identify authoritarians, political science professors use a simple parenting quiz: Would you prefer an independent or respectful child? Curious or

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well-mannered? Self-reliant or obedient? Considerate or wellbehaved? The more one prefers the second trait, the more authoritarian they are likely to be, researchers say. Top-level authoritarians comprise about 25 per cent of the American electorate, says Jonathan Weiler of the University of North Carolina. Weiler, the co-author of “Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics,” says that, historically, these votes were evenly split between U.S. parties. But he found that over the last quarter-century they shifted, coalescing within the Republican party. Enter Trump, who found an ideal base: “He speaks very well to (them),” Weiler said in an interview. Authoritarian voters see the world in binary terms, said Weiler and MacWilliams: Order-chaos. Good-evil. Us-them. Blackwhite, with very little grey. “Aggression and suspicion of outsiders ... are really two of their key characteristics,” Weiler said. “A person who has that worldview would, for example, want to deal with ... terrorist threats in the most aggressive,

militaristic way. And (they’re) not just racially resentful, but in general suspicious of, and antagonistic towards, groups they’re not familiar with.” There’s good news for Trump. Authoritarians are unwaveringly loyal: “Remember when a Rubio adviser said, in January, ‘Trump’s support is like granite, there’s no way to chip at it?’” said MacWilliams. “That’s because they were authoritarians. They made a decision, and weren’t going to change. Remember when Trump said, ‘I could go out on Fifth Avenue, shoot someone, and not lose votes?’” And their numbers can grow. First, non-authoritarians have hopped aboard the Trump train out of loyalty to the Republican party. Then, say Weiler and MacWilliams, chaotic events like terrorist attacks temporarily expand the number of authoritarian-minded voters. The bad news for Trump? His other attributes might turn off a part-time authoritarian, Weiler said: “I don’t know if Trump projects (steadiness in a crisis). I think Bush projected really solid, steady strength after 9-11... Trump is unhinged.” ■

ASEAN summits kick off in Laos, focusing on building dynamic community PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY VIENTIANE — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) opened its 28th and 29th summits here Tuesday in the Lao capital, with the theme of “Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community.” At the opening ceremony,

Thongloun Sisoulith, Lao prime minister and ASEAN’s rotating chair, called on member states to make sustained and concerted efforts in implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the three Community Blueprints so as to advance ASEAN Community. “In this spirit, the Lao PDR has adopted the theme ‘Turning Vision into Reality for a Dynamic ASEAN Community’

for its 2016 ASEAN Chairmanship,” he said, adding that his country has identified eight priorities covering the three pillars of the ASEAN Community. Thongloun said the eight priorities will be translated into various frameworks and documents, such as Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan III and ASEAN www.canadianinquirer.net

Trade Facilitation Framework. ASEAN, the sixth largest economy in the world, has become a region of peace and stability, providing favorable conditions for sustainable regional economic development, he noted. As for the related leaders’ meetings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, namely the ASEAN+1 Summits, Summit on Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-China

Dialogue Relations, ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) Summit, and the East Asia Summit, ASEAN member countries will discuss cooperation with their dialogue partners. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Thongloun also mentioned that while ASEAN has continued to strengthen its internal cooperation, the bloc will strive to expand relations with its external partners. ■

World News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Wave of IS claimed bombings Candidate’s Facebook in Syria kill at least 48 account calls BY SARAH EL DEEB AND PHILIP ISSA The Associated Press BEIRUT — Near-simultaneous bombings claimed by the Islamic State group struck in and around strongholds of the Syrian government and Kurdish troops Monday, killing at least 48 people in a wave of attacks that came a day after the militants lost a vital link to the outside world along the SyrianTurkish border. The IS-run Aamaq news agency said the attacks included six suicide bombings and one remotely detonated blast. Most targeted security forces. The Britain-based Observatory, which maintains a network of contacts in Syria, put the overall death toll at 53, although Syrian state TV said 48 were killed. Conflicting casualty figures are common in the 5-year-old Syria civil war. Jennifer Cafarella, a Syria expert with the Washingtonbased Institute for the Study of War, said it was too soon to say if the attacks by the IS group were a reaction to its recent defeats along the border. But she cautioned that setbacks for IS can lead to “a dangerous new phase” by the group, which sometimes resorts to “infiltration and spectacular attacks that exploit and widen rifts” between populations, groups and security forces in both western and northern Syria, Turkey’s recent intervention in the north has exposed major rifts and encouraged antiKurdish activity, Cafarella said in emails to The Associated Press. She said it was likely that as IS militants are pushed out of territory, they will increasingly target government and Kurdish areas. “So it’s a dangerous possibility that we’re witnessing ISIS gear up for a campaign to expand westward into either or both regime and opposition territory as it loses to the antiISIS coalition,” she said, using an acronym for the militant group. The territorial losses at the border were the biggest blow to the militant group that also

has suffered a series of recent battlefield setbacks in Syria and Iraq. Syrian rebels, backed by Turkish warplanes and tanks, continued to push IS fighters out of the border strip Monday, securing their hold on an area seized a day earlier. In Hangzhou, China, meanwhile, President Barack Obama said the U.S. and Russia have not given up on negotiations to halt the bloodshed in Syria, but acknowledged that “gaps of trust” exist between the rival powers. Significant sticking points remain in negotiations over creating a U.S.-Russian military partnership focusing firepower on “common enemies” in Syria, Obama said. He acknowledged that a meeting Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin did not yield a breakthrough. A deal would depend on Moscow using its influence with Syrian President Bashar Assad to persuade him to ground planes and stop the assault on opposition forces. Monday’s bombings came in rapid succession during the morning rush hour, targeting the central city of Homs; a highly guarded Damascus suburb; the government stronghold of Tartus, where Russia has a major naval base; and Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria. State TV showed massive damage at the Arzoneh bridge just outside Tartus along the international coastal highway. The report said the Tartus-Homs highway was closed briefly. Dozens of burned and mangled cars sat in pools of water mixed with blood after the blaze was extinguished. “My car caught fire and army soldiers pulled us out of the car,” a survivor told state TV from al-Bassel Hospital. IS and the Observatory said the target was a checkpoint at Tartus’ southern entrance. The militant group said it sent three suicide bombers to the area, the first of them in a car. Two followed after security and rescuers responded. State TV said at least 35 were killed. The Observatory put the figure at 38, including an army colonel. Dozens were wounded. The coastal city is a popular

beach resort among Syrians, with many coming from government controlled areas, particularly ahead of a major Muslim holiday next week. The Islamic State group claimed suicide bombings in Tartus and neighbouring Jableh that killed over 160 people in May. Areas controlled by Assad’s forces have had several bombings and other attacks claimed by both IS and al-Qaida-linked militant groups. Another of Monday’s bombings occurred in the Damascus suburb of Sabbourah, a major security breach in the heavily guarded area. The state-run SANA news agency said the attack killed one person, while the opposition-run Observatory said three were killed. IS said a suicide car bomb targeted a military checkpoint west of Damascus. “It’s an area that houses officers and their families. Even before the revolution, it was carefully guarded,” said opposition media activist Yousef alBoustani, referring to the 2011 uprising against Assad that began with peaceful protests demanding reform. Police chief Maj. Gen. Jamal Bittar told state TV that three attackers were in the car that was seen by security forces. They fired at the car, forcing two passengers to get out and the driver to blow it up, Bittar said. Another bomber blew himself up as he was arrested, killing the security officer and wounding three civilians, he added. A car bomb struck a military checkpoint in the central provincial capital of Homs, killing three soldiers and a civilian, and wounding 10 others, according to the governor of Homs. The city, which is Syria’s third-largest, is largely under government control, with only one neighbourhood still held by rebels. The bomb exploded in the government-held Bab Tadmor district. The Observatory said four soldiers were killed. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle in the northeastern city of Hasakeh killed eight people, SANA said. The IS news agency ❱❱ PAGE 23 Wave of

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for rape of journalist THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WEST DEPTFORD, N.J. — The Facebook page of a New Jersey Republican running for local office has called for the rape of a Washington-based reporter for The Daily Beast. Mike Krawitz is running for the West Deptford committee. He tells The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/2bQj8dI ) that he was hacked and that he didn’t make the comment Monday on journalist Olivia Nuzzi’s Facebook account. But Nuzzi says she has been harassed on social media by Krawitz since December 2015. The West Deptford GOP condemned the comments and mistakenly called for Twitter to investigate, even though the posts were made on Facebook. The comments said: “I. Hope. Somebody. Rapes. You. Today. :).”

The account also posted a comment that said: “Hope. You. Get. Raped. By. A. Syrian. Refugee. :).” West Deptford Police Chief Sam DiSimone said that no complaint has been filed with the department, but he condemned the comments. “It’s an embarrassment to the township that this is taking place,” he said. The comments came after Nuzzi promoted an article about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s exwife Marla Maples. Nuzzi said in a statement that she has received a lot of colorful hate mail but never from a candidate for office. “I have faith that most voters in New Jersey and around the country disapprove of hateful rhetoric of this nature,” Nuzzi said. The Facebook pages for Krawitz and the West Deptford GOP were both down Tuesday. ■

UN chief urges N. Korea to stop provocations PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY UNITED NATIONS — United Nations Sec. Gen. Ban Kimoon said Tuesday North Korea’s regular nuclear tests are a clear violation of the UN Security Council’s resolutions, and called on Pyongyang to stop provocative actions and return to the path of nuclear disarmament, Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists. “The latest round of launches by the DPRK as far as Secretary General’s concern are clear viola-

United Nations Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon.

tions of standing SC resolutions. We reiterate the united call by the international community on the DPRK to cease further provocations and return to the path of denuclearization,” Dujarric said. On Sept. 5, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan. The missiles flew about 1,000 km. and fell into water not far from Japan’s coast. Pyongyang has lately intensified strategic armaments tests: on Aug. 24, a ballistic missile was fired from a submarine in the presence of President Kim Jong-un. ■

UN PHOTO/ESKINDER DEBEBE

Community News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Reconciling tense truths between Canada’s First Peoples and Jesuits BY DOM BAUTISTA IN THE last 50 years, many of us chose to migrate to Canada for its bounty and its opportunities. If you are like me, you have not only come to call Canada our home, you also selfidentify as Canadian. Like many, I visited Capilano Suspension Bridge as a tourist. It never occurred to me to ask about who Chief Capilano was. It never occurred to me to learn more about Canada’s First Peoples. Because what was there to learn? That they congregate along the Downtown Eastside, mostly in drunken stupor. Or as I saw the other day, one persistent First Nations man persistently beg for one siopao asado. Not even the strong banging of the thongs on the counter from the supervisor did little to startle the panhandler. But it sure startled most of us. Ilagay po ninyo ang inyong sarili sa kalagayan ng mga magulang na napilitang humiwalay sa inyong mga anak. Hindi ba sasama ang inyong kalooban? At ang masama pa, inabuso pa sila ng mga pare at madre? Ito po ang nangyari sa mga First Peoples sa Canada. Growing up in Philippines, a former American colony, I was largely influenced by American media that depicted ‘Indians’ as people who cowboys shot and conquered. The ‘indolent and barbaric’ Indians served as a perfect foil to the ‘strong and civilized’ white men. Does this racist ditty sound familiar to you: “Indian pana, kakana kana?” Today, Canada refers to ‘Indians’ as First Peoples. “As a component of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the [Truth and Reconciliation Commission] TRC is an independent body that will oversee a process to provide former students and anyone who has been affected by the Residential Schools legacy, with an opportunity to share their individual experiences in a safe and culturally appropriate manner.” (Source: backgrounder from trc.ca) It was last June 2015 when Canadians woke up to hear about the historical atrocities committed by our government

150 years ago, when the TRC released its Summary Report on the operation and harmful legacy of Indian Residential Schools (IRS). The preface of the Summary Report gave context to how: “Canada’s residential school system for Aboriginal children was an education system in name only for much of its existence. These residential schools were created for the purpose of separating Aboriginal children from their families, in order to minimize and weaken family ties and cultural linkages, and to indoctrinate children into a new culture—the culture of the legally dominant Euro-Christian Canadian society, led by Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.” It never occurred to me why our Social Studies 11 covered the history of First Nations people the way it did – our curriculum seemed to go out of its way to gloss over the fate of the States that engage in cultural begin to achieve reconciliation. First Peoples. I, like most who genocide set out to destroy the Like many Canadians, we studied Canada’s history back political and social institutions read the TRC report to find out in the mid-70’s learned of how of the targeted group. Land is about the atrocities committed the British colonized Canada, seized, and populations are by Christian missionaries, like not how the First Peoples were forcibly transferred and their the Jesuits who ran residenmaltreated by the white colo- movement is restricted. Lan- tial schools including St. Peter nizer. guages are banned. Spiritual Claver Residential School for Having read the TRC report leaders are persecuted, spiri- Boys, St. Charles Garnier Colat trc.ca, this was staggering: tual practices are forbidden, legiate and St. Joseph’s School “For over a century, the cen- and objects of spiritual value for Girls. tral goals of Canada's Aborigi- are confiscated and destroyed. The very same Jesuit order nal policy were to eliminate And, most significantly to the that for many alumni worldAboriginal govwide, including ernments; igme, are grateful nore Aboriginal to, for they were rights; terminate responsible for the Treaties; What role do Canadians have in our world class and, through a helping reach reconciliation with First education. process of assimPeoples, including those of us who How do we ilation, cause Abhave recently migrated over in the make sense original peoples last 50 years? of these tense to cease to exist truths? as distinct legal, The presence social, cultural, of the Jesuits religious, and racial entities in issue at hand, families are dis- during the closing ceremonies Canada. The establishment and rupted to prevent the trans- of the TRC in Ottawa last sumoperation of residential schools mission of cultural values and mer was a sign of humility of were a central element of this identity from one generation to their involvement in abusing policy, which can best be de- the next. First Peoples and the beginscribed as cultural genocide. In its dealing with Aborigi- ning of many acts of atonement Physical genocide is the mass nal people, Canada did all these towards them. Fr. Peter Biskilling of the members of a things.” son, Provincial Superior of the targeted group, and biological This is the Canada, that many Jesuit English Canada recoggenocide is the destruction of of us immigrants have made re- nized: “The cultural sin of colothe group's reproductive ca- markable sacrifices to become nization and its impact is huge pacity. Cultural genocide is the citizens of. It has a dark past. and getting beyond it is an imdestruction of those structures Yet, as Canadians, old and mense task. It's one of our basic and practices that allow the new, we all need to know what sins. We have seen indigenous group to continue as a group. transpired: for only then can we peoples being marginalized www.canadianinquirer.net

from generation to generation. My desire is that the Jesuits can play some part in a new and more hopeful life for indigenous peoples, one where the educational and economic gap between aboriginals and nonaboriginals is not so vast.” What role do Canadians have in helping reach reconciliation with First Peoples, including those of us who have recently migrated over in the last 50 years? That is why the Jesuit Alumni Group of Vancouver invited Fr. Bisson to facilitate a conversation on Truth, Reconciliation & Hope on Sept. 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Vancouver College’s Alumni Gym Theatre at 5400 Cartier Street Vancouver BC V6M 3A5. To register for this free event: http://evite.me/ rCH3A2SgCU Whether one is First Nations, Inuit, Métis, a descendant of European settlers, a member of a minority group that suffered historical discrimination in Canada, or a new Canadian, we all inherit both the benefits and obligations of Canada. We are all treaty people who share responsibility for taking action on reconciliation. ■ Bautista is an alumni of Xavier School, a Jesuit run school in the Philippines.

Community News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

“Babaylan” talks to be held in BC THE U.S.-BASED Center for Babaylan Studies and the Kathara Pilipino Indigenous Arts Collective Society in Canada are organizing a convention to draw attention to the bond between Filipinos and indigenous peoples of North America. Called the Third International “Babaylan” Conference, the event will be held from Sept. 23 to 25, at the YMCA Camp Elphinstone in the town of Gibsons in British Columbia. The conference will feature the theme, “Makasaysayang Pagtatagpo” (Historic Encounter): Filipinos and Indigenous Turtle Islanders Revitalizing Ancestral Traditions Together. The Center for Babaylan Studies is a nonprofit that seeks to educate Filipinos about Filipino indigenous culture. It has a network in the Philippines, U.S., Canada, and Europe. The “babaylan” is a person in Philippine indigenous communities that possesses the gift to communicate with the spirit world. Usually a woman, the “babaylan” also has abilities like healing and foretelling. In other cultures, the “babaylan” can be compared to a shaman or a priestess. The first “Babaylan” conference was held in 2010, which focused on Filipino indigenous knowledge systems and practices. At the second conference in 2013, participants focused on the power of myths, indigenous storytelling, and oral history as part of re-learning of a sense of

Kathara Pilipino Indigenous Arts Collective Society.

indigenous culture among Filipino immigrants. “In this third conference/ gathering we follow the thread of re-indigenization by looking at our histories of colonial migration within the larger context of settler colonialism and what our presence as Settlers on Native Lands means for building just relationships with our native relatives,” according to the Center for Babaylan Studies. The center also stated on its website: “Likewise, in recognition of the centuries of encounters and interrelationships between Filipinos and Native peoples in North America (US and Canada), our desire is to make these interconnections visible. Our vision is to be able to find common ground and mutually-edifying partnerships as we struggle to decolonize and recover a greater intactness in our relationship with

the Land and ancestral traditions within our respective communities and histories. We share the hope of being able to learn what it means to live justly with all our relations and our goal is to be able to bring indigenous knowledge and practices from the Philippine homeland as part of that vision.” Keynote speakers S. Lily Mendoza, a Filipino-American academic who specializes in critical intercultural communication. She is an associate professor of communication at the University of Oakland. The participation of Squamish Chief Ian Campbell, cultural advisor Mandy Nahanee, and other Canadian indigenous attendees highlights the growing connection between local Filipino communities and indigenous peoples in B.C. ■ For more info, visit katharainfo@gmail.com.

Caregivers now have a “go-to” caring place where they are cared for, with the recent opening of the Care Centre on Granville St. in Vancouver. The centre, according to Mari La Rosa, Care Centre director, is the first Caregivers Assistance, Resource and Education Centre in Canada. It is a respite centre where nannies abused by employers can find emergency accommodation, and those at risk of becoming homeless due to job loss may find housing. La Rosa said the centre also welcomes caregivers who seek a place to stay during their days off or on weekends; or those from out of town who have unfinished business with the Consulate or other agencies. It also provides space for training, counseling and “chikahan” (light banter).

Wave of... ❰❰ 21

said the attack targeted a checkpoint manned by Kurdish

forces. Government troops withdrew from Hasakeh in August after street battles with Kurdish forces, which took control of the city, although the police force stayed in place. The Observatory said the blast killed five Kurdish police, the

Asayesh, and three civilians. IS said it also detonated a bomb in the northeastern city of Qamishli, targeting Kurdish fighters. The Observatory confirmed a bomb but had no casualty figures. ■ Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

Ethnic pride celebrated at Asean Festival THE ASEAN Consulates General in Vancouver (ACGV) namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam successfully held the 2016 Asean Festival in Vancouver, an event showcasing the best of Southeast Asian cultural performance arts, cuisines, arts and crafts, at the Roundhouse Community Centre, Vancouver on Aug. 27. The festival, on its second year, is part of a series of Asean-related events aimed at promoting Asean awareness within the multicultural community in Vancouver and the rest of British Columbia. Acting Mayor of Vancouver

Raymond Louie and Marc Dalton, MLA from Maple RidgeMission, represented the local and provincial government during the event. Both BC officials commended the ACGV for holding the festival to foster appreciation of the diverse ASEAN cultures, aside from raising awareness and information on Asean. All five member-countries presented their respective cultural performances. The Philippine Cultural Arts Society of British Columbia represented the Philippines with their wellapplauded performance of the “Binasuan” and “Tinikling” dances. Jessica Sotana and

Staff members from Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver showcase indigenous attire at the 2016 Asean Festival REYNALDO BAHENA

Angelino de Guzman rendered Filipino love songs. Grandt Kitchen and Symphonie Reswww.canadianinquirer.net

taurant prepared sumptuous Filipino dishes for the guests and visitors.

One of the highlights of the festival was a joint fashion parade showcasing the various traditional costumes of the five Asean countries. FilipinoCanadian beauty titleholders Anne Longakit, Ms. Teen Canada Surrey; and Shawna Warhurst, Ms. Teen Canada Maple Ridge; joined personnel of the Philippine Consulate General in modelling the original Filipiniana creations of renowned Filipino designers Ditta Sandico Ong and Jaki Penalosa, including versions of the traditional “barong tagalog.” The designs were made of pineapple leaf, banana, abaca, jusi and hablon fibers. ■

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Entertainment Variety reviews ‘Hamog’ BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer RALSTON JOVER’S “Hamog” merited a positive review from US trade paper Variety. In an Aug. 8 essay, film critic Richard Kuipers described the Cinema One Originals Special Jury Prize winner as a “sobering slice of life.” Kuipers said that “Hamog” “carves out a distinct place in the large body of contemporary Filipino films about the struggle to survive in a society wracked by poverty, broken homes and barely functioning welfare services.” He commended the film’s “unorthodox structure and detours into magical realism,” adding that Jover had crafted a

“powerful essay on social inequity and child endangerment.” “Hamog,” which won the Outstanding Artistic Achievement honor in Shanghai and best actress (for teen star Therese Malvar) in Moscow, shows the harshness of life in Manila “from the perspective of [four] youngsters whose [childhood has] been all but obliterated by the failure of adults to provide love and care.” Kuipers singled out “a long and virtually wordless sequence [involving the burial of a major character] that will make viewers feel heartbroken for disadvantaged children everywhere.” The reviewer pointed out that in spite of “a few minor lapses into sentimentality… Jover maintains a detached,

nonjudgmental approach that allows his messages to sink in slowly but surely with viewers.” Kuipers remarked that a magical realist device, featuring a superhero, “isn’t developed as richly…Still, it’s an interesting and welcome point of difference from most Filipino features tackling similar subject matter.” High praise was accorded to the film’s “fine young cast,” particularly Malvar who delivered a “knockout” performance in a “demanding role.” Kuipers likewise lauded Bryan Dumaguina’s “subtle score” and Pipo Domagas’ “appropriately unfussy photography.” Jover told the INQUIRER that the Variety review was “encouraging, especially because it captures my intentions for the film.” ■

KC Concepcion’s sister is Miss Earth Sweden 2016 BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — Cloie Syquia Skarne, the half-sister of Filipina actress KC Concepcion, has been crowned Miss Earth Sweden 2016 and is set to represent the country in the Miss Earth 2016 pageant to be held in the Philippines later this year. “I’m MISS EARTH SWEDEN 2016! Thank you to those who have supported me and believed in me. I would not have been who I am today without you,” Skarne posted on Instagram.

The daughter of Filipino actor Gabby Concepcion and modelactress Jenny Syquia, the 22-yearold Swedish beauty queen will be competing against delegates from over 90 countries, including the Philippines’ Miss Earth 2016 bet Imelda Schweighart. It can be noted that the Philippines currently holds a backto-back win in the prestigious pageant with beauty queens Angelia Ong and Jamie Harrell holding the title in 2015 and 2014, respectively. Should Skarne take home the crown, she will be the first from Sweden to win Miss Earth. ■

Madrigal Singers win big in Italy BY JANE MORALEDA Philippine Canadian Inquirer MANILA — The Philippine Madrigal Singers have again validated their vocal virtuosity after performing and bagging awards at the recently-concluded 64th International Choral Competition Polifónico Guido d’Arezzo in Tuscany, Italy. “It’s overwhelming. Up to now, we are very happy and pleased. No words can describe it… Nothing is more enjoyable than to see our hard work pay off,” Mark Anthony Carpio, the Madrigals’ choirmaster said in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report. Most notable of the worldrenowned chorale group’s awards from the competition was the Gran Premio Città di Arezzo given to them for their remarkable performances. They also received the Listening Committee’s Choice, Arezzo Colour’s Prize, and Listening Committee’s Choice and Public’s Choice awards; won first prize in Compulsory Program, Sacred Music, and Monographic Program categories;

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and rounded up second in the Secular Music category. Added to this long list is a Best Performance award in the Micrologus Prize Gregorian Chant: Monodic Medieval Liturgic category; a Guido d’Arezzo Trophy; and € 2,000 (CND$ 2,900). The Madrigal Singers then snatched a spot to contend in the 2017 European Grand Prix for Choral Music in Tolosa, Spain. The competitors in the annual choral contest will be comprised of the winners of six

European choral competitions: Bela Bartok International Choir Competition in Hungary, Concorso Cesare Augusto in Italy, Concurso Coral de Tolosa in Spain, International May Choir Competition in Bulgaria, Florilège Vocal de Tour in France, and the International Guido d’Arezzo, which the Philippine chorale won. Notably, the Madrigals already finished atop the competition in 2007 and 1997, becoming the first and only choir to win www.canadianinquirer.net

the prestigious accolade twice. “If they are successful in their bid in Tolosa in 2017, this will make them the only choir in the world to win the Grand Prix [three] times! Mabuhay ang Philippine Madrigal Singers (Long live the Philippine Madrigal Singers)! Mabuhay ang artistang Pilipino (Long live the Filipino artists)!” Chris Millado, vice president and artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, said in his Facebook account.

The lucky few who were able to watch the International Chorale Competition shared videos of the chorale group’s performances of John Pamintuan’s arrangement of “Peter Noster,” Z. Randall Stroope’s “We Beheld Once Again The Stars,” Nilo Alcala’s “Kaisa-isa Nyan,” a French madrigal and a German art song. The Madrigal Singers, for their part, thanked everyone for their undying support and have been off to prepare for the big event. ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Gordon Pinsent doc at TIFF ‘most honest and revealing’ one on him, says director BY JORDAN PRESS The Canadian Press TORONTO — Acclaimed actor Gordon Pinsent once used his wit and charm to sneak into Canada from his native Newfoundland before its confederation with the country. That revelation and more can be found in “The River of My Dreams: A Portrait of Gordon Pinsent,” which is set to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. “He has made a number of films but I think that this film is truly the most honest and revealing and beautiful film about him,” says Brigitte Berman, the documentary’s director, who won an Oscar in 1987 for “Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got.” “Others were very good and they are further back in time. But right now, catching this incredible artist at this time of his career, also looking back at his

life — and he does it honestly ers Daniel Pellerin and Victor Alzheimer’s drama “Away From and he’s so forthcoming in the Solnicki (her husband), spent Her.” film — it’s quite extraordinary.” many hours chatting with Pin“You learn that in the film, Berman is known for her sent and building his trust. when he left Newfoundland to documentaries on arts and enThey used animation to de- come to Canada, Newfoundtertainment personalities. Her pict Pinsent at various stages of land was not part of Canada other credits include “Hugh his life, which began in Grand yet, so he actually had to sneak Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Falls, N.L. into Canada and he did amazRebel,” “Robert Bateman: A The youngest of six children, ing things to con the customs Celebration of Nature” and he took a few risks in order to people to get into Canada,” says “The Osbornes: Berman. A Very Special “And in WinFamily.” nipeg when he She says she started, he wantcame into the “It’s a true pastiche of humanity ed to be an actor Pinsent project and it’s a story about Gordon but and he wasn’t three years ago, it’s much bigger than that. It’s a true yet working when she met the human experience of living life fully as an actor; he now-86-year-old — its pains, its trials, its successes, all started teaching at a party. of it, it’s all there. dance at Arthur “When you Murray (Dance talk to Gordon he School) and just pours out all didn’t know how these amazing stories,” she re- jump-start his acting career, to really dance, so he kept calls, “and I was watching him which has seen him win acco- learning how to dance as he was and I thought, ‘This will make a lades for roles in big and small- going along. Some funny, funny, really good film. I want to make screen projects — from the TV funny stories.” this film.’ And the next day I series “Due South” and “The And some heartache, too. emailed him and it started.” Red Green Show,” to Sarah Pol“There are highs and lows in She, along with produc- ley’s Oscar-nominated 2006 his life and things that he has

gone through and he talks about all of it, and you can sometimes see how difficult it is for him to speak about it and the pain is on his face and in his voice and it is incredible,” says Berman, who also interviewed his family. “It’s a true pastiche of humanity and it’s a story about Gordon but it’s much bigger than that. It’s a true human experience of living life fully — its pains, its trials, its successes, all of it, it’s all there. “He’s a very triumphant, incredible character who isn’t afraid.” He’s also down to Earth, funny and charming, she adds. “As it comes across in the film — young, old women everywhere, when he’s somewhere, women just congregate towards him,” says Berman. “He just oozes this personality. He’s a great storyteller and he is a deep, warm human being and not afraid to talk about even the hurts of his life and I admire that.” ■

Lawyer for Chris Brown: no guns, Michael Phelps has drugs found in house search ‘never seen’ Ryan Lochte’s dance moves

THE CANADIAN PRESS

LOS ANGELES — Police did not find guns or drugs during a search of singer Chris Brown’s mansion before his arrest on allegations he threatened a model at gunpoint, his lawyer said Friday. Attorney Mark Geragos said he was present during the search and police did not find evidence to corroborate the accuser’s story, including a specific piece of jewelry that she said triggered the incident. Baylee Curran told reporters that Brown pointed a gun at her face after he and another man became angry with her when she admired the man’s diamond necklace. Brown was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was released on $250,000 bail. Geragos said the accuser’s story was fabricated.

BY DERRIK J. LANG The Associated Press

Chris Brown.

FEATUREFLASH PHOTO AGENCY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

“This woman got irate when she was asked to leave because she was acting in an erratic manner,” Geragos said. Capt. Andy Neiman said the Los Angeles Police Department is working with prosecutors to review the evidence and not commenting on the case. The Grammy-winning Brown has had legal trouble since his

felony conviction in the 2009 assault of then-girlfriend, Rihanna. He completed probation in that case last year. Brown has also faced accusations that were proven to be false, Geragos said. He has also had stalkers and several breakins, including one by a woman who moved into his house while he was away. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

LOS ANGELES — Michael Phelps isn’t sure what kind of moves Ryan Lochte has planned for “Dancing with the Stars.” “I’ve never seen him dance,” the 23-time Olympic gold medallist said Friday at the “Call of Duty” fan convention in Inglewood, California. Lochte is competing against such celebs as rapper Vanilla Ice and “The Brady Bunch” actress Maureen McCormick in the ABC dancing competition’s latest season. Phelps said he isn’t planning a trip to the ballroom to root for his teammate, the beleaguered swimmer who is facing charges from Brazilian police that he filed a false robbery report during the recent Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I have a very busy schedule,” Phelps said. “I’m getting married at the end of the year and have some work here and there. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it.” Phelps, a longtime fan of the interactive shooter series “Call of Duty,” was on hand at the event to check out the latest edition, “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.” He’s hopeful now that he’s retired from competing that he’ll be able to log more hours in the game, although finance Nicole Johnson and newborn baby Boomer may deter him from death matches. “We have a little guy,” Phelps said. “We have a lot of travelling and everything going on. I look forward to travelling with an Xbox more often now and getting in as many games as I can.” Phelps said he typically played hundreds of “Call of Duty” matches when preparing for swimming competitions. ■

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Lifestyle British tea is booming in China, the drink’s birthplace BY LEONORA BECK The Associated Press HARROGATE, ENGLAND — Ji Mengyu sinks into a soft chair with her cup of tea to the sound of tinkling teaspoons and light chatter. The opulently decorated Victorian tea salon is quintessentially British, something straight out of Downton Abbey. Except it’s in Beijing. The 25-year-old HR professional is one of a growing number of Chinese who are looking past their country’s ancient tea traditions in favour of imported British blends. For Ji, the tea has an aura of luxury and quality, and gives her a sense of partaking in the posh British culture popularized globally by TV shows and fashion brands. “I think British people’s traditional customs and culture have a kind of classical style,” says Ji, who says she’s inspired by TV shows like Downton Abbey, but also Sherlock Holmes and Game of Thrones. For three centuries, countries in Asia and Africa have been quenching Britons’ thirst for tea, supplying dried leaves worth millions of pounds every year. Now, that trend is showing some signs of reversing. China and Hong Kong in particular are seeing a surge in appetite for British tea blends — some of which are made with leaves from China itself, an example of the twists in trade that the globalization of tastes can create. Upscale tea blends from storied British companies like Twinings, Taylors of Harrogate and Hudson & Middleton occupy increasingly more space on shelves in Chinese super-

markets, restaurant menus and online shops. Tea houses serving British afternoon tea have sprouted up in the bigger cities in China. Five years ago, Annvita English Tea Company managed ten tea houses around China, serving imported blends and pastries in British-style tea rooms. The number has since grown tenfold, with more planned. “It fits the taste of people who want to pursue a higher quality of life,” says Li Qunlou, general manager at AnnVita English Tea House in Sanlitun in Beijing. As a result, British tea companies selling premium blends have seen their exports to China and Hong Kong skyrocket. In the first five months of 2016, British tea exports to Hong Kong nearly tripled in value compared with two years earlier. They doubled to the rest of mainland China, data from the U.K. HM Revenue & Customs show.

Shipments to China and Hong Kong only make up 7 per cent of total British tea exports, but the share is growing quickly. Some of these deliveries come from Harrogate, a small town in northern England that is the home to Taylors of Harrogate. The fourth generation family-owned company has been selling tea to China for more than 10 years. In the past three years, sales have more than doubled every year, albeit from a low starting point. “China produces nearly one half of the world’s tea, so on the surface you would think that there is a limited opportunity for Taylors of Harrogate,” says Matthew Davies, Head of International Sales at Taylors of Harrogate. Tea originates from China and has been a central part of the culture for thousands of years. In Britain, tea was not introduced until the 17th century, though it has since become

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a staple and adapted to local tastes. Every day thousands of tea samples arrive in Harrogate for the tasters to evaluate. The business essentially relies on their taste buds to find the right mix of leaves to maintain the signature flavours that the company bases its reputation on. Chinese customers mainly buy Taylor of Harrogate’s Earl Grey and English Breakfast tea. “Our approach was to invest time and resources to understand consumer behaviour and we found that there are a number of Chinese consumers with a high level of discretionary income and demand for Taylors of Harrogate brands,” says Davies. The demand is growing mainly among China’s wealthy middle class and is fueled by portrayals of British high society featured in TV shows, news stories of the British royal family and classical novels like Jane Austen’s, analysts say.

“Previously, Chinese consumers were more exposed to American culture, McDonalds and Hollywood-style things. These few years, because of the popular British TV dramas, Chinese consumers are more exposed to British brands and the lifestyle,” says Hope Lee, senior drinks analyst at Euromonitor International. Another reason for the thriving popularity of British imported tea is the seemingly endless string of food scandals that plagues China and Hong Kong. Greenpeace and government investigations found high levels of pesticides or poisonous earths in tea, also in some of the best known brands. Imported premium British tea brands are perceived as being safer and of higher quality. Paradoxically, some of the British tea sold in China and Hong Kong is originally grown in China. However, it represents only a small amount of British exports there — about 3 per cent, according to Frost & Sullivan, a market research company. British tea makers mainly import leaves from Africa and India, regions where the taste for British tea blends has not grown in the same way, for economic and cultural reasons. Despite the recent slowdown in the Chinese economy, Taylors of Harrogate and many other companies and industry experts are optimistic about the country’s consumers. “We are continuing to strengthen our lengths in China,” says Davies. ■ Helene Franchineau in Beijing contributed to this report.

Lifestyle

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Walking with Mother Teresa BY TERESA R. TUNAY Philippines News Agency MANILA — One holy person I’d touched while alive etched such a deep and lasting impression on me: Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who is going to be canonized on September 4, 2016. Let me tell you why. I met the future saint when she was simply “Mother Teresa,” on her third visit to the Philippines in March 1985. I had been for sometime serving as a regular volunteer at the Home for the Dying Destitute — that place in Tayuman, Sta. Cruz, where the Sisters would bring all the old, sick and unwanted old people they would pick up from Manila’s streets. I’d be there a day each week, hanging laundry, bathing patients, trimming their hair and nails, feeding them, talking to them, giving them a back rub, cheering them up. Thus, I was no longer a stranger to the Sisters who then informed me of Mother Teresa’s forthcoming Philippine visit. I had read so much about this gutsy diminutive Albanian nun with the “unspeakable” name of Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu, and about how she’d pick up the sore-infested old folks practically rotting away in Calcutta’s streets and care for them so they would die with dignity. In this day and age someone like that would be a rarity, so I naturally dropped everything to meet her, though I must admit that half my eagerness was out of journalistic curiosity. After meeting her, I almost forgot about journalism. I heard and saw her speak to the crowd — she impressed me. But I didn’t want to interview or photograph her, write a story, whatnot. I sensed that she would be more than just a scoop for me, so I simply asked to be blessed by her as I took her hand in that Filipino gesture of respect — “Mano po!” She obliged and then gave me much, much more: she held my hand, and as we walked through the Home’s garden filled with people she spoke to me as though nobody else mattered at the moment but me. I got hooked. Since then I wanted to see her again and again, wherever and whenever possible, so I could dissect her mind — how could this busybody be so fo-

cused on a person? Having been inspired and touched by her, I even wrote her Mother House in Calcutta to apply as a volunteer there for a month. Enclosed in my letter were copies of the photographs taken as we were holding hands walking. My application was politely declined, with a handwritten note that I stay and continue to volunteer in Manila where I was needed more. The note said the Calcutta house was already crowded with volunteers from all over the world, while there were not enough in Manila. The photos came along with the note, with one bearing Mother Teresa’s autograph. As time passed, I slowly understood (in God’s mercy) why my offer of volunteering was turned down — it had to be so. I did not really need another encounter with Mother Teresa, after all, in order for her to live on in me. That first impression created at the Tayuman Home was to last, forever offering me new insights and inspiration in my own journey to union with God. I recalled that in her talk, not once did I take my eyes off her as she addressed the crowd. It was simply a marvel how that little nun, physically unattractive by any standard, could hold her audience spellbound by simply talking about Jesus. There was nothing pretty about Mother Teresa. Small and slightly hunched, she had a face so badly creased, a peasant’s hands, and a nose so big it could be a caricaturist’s delight, yet when I was with her there was nothing else else I’d rather look at but her — there was nobody else more beautiful. She was so saturated with Jesus’ presence that when she’d speak, Jesus would come alive through her words — Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus, as though even she herself did not exist at all. Her blue eyes were simply out of this world. I noticed that most of the time she was speaking they seemed focused on some distant horizon, with their blueness reflecting the sea and the sky. Those eyes were so pure and piercing, like a laser beam cutting through your flesh and bone to expose your very marrow. You would not like those eyes to look at you because they possessed a meekness that could strip your soul bare — it seemed impossible to hide anything from them.

That initial meeting where she held my hand and spoke to me like an intimate friend uncovered for me a kinship between us that was to go beyond a celebrity-journalist connection. Reading up on her mission all the more convinced me that we shared something more than just our name. Looking back now, I see that my fascination with Mother Teresa was rooted in the fact that we had been pursued by the same Lover. The great difference was Mother Teresa’s was already totally His, while half of this Teresa’s heart was still inhabited by lesser loves. Although we were both “world citizens” our world citizenship diverged where heaven began. As she would say, “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.” There she was, already strolling with Jesus while I was still attempting to rise, on wobbly knees, from crawling. Thus I looked up to Mother Teresa and appointed her as my “spiritual nanny” — second only to Mother Mary, of course. Needless to say, Mother Teresa was not aware that she was one of those teaching me how to walk. By her witness and example conveyed to the whole world by media, I gradually absorbed lessons on walking with Jesus. On detachment from worldly goods: Mother Teresa and her Sisters had only rickety pickups serving as ambulance. It is reported that a wealthy man took note of this and gifted Mother Teresa with a limousine for her personal use. The humble nun raffled it off and with the proceeds bought ambulances. The raffle winner in turn raffled it off again and donated the proceeds to Mother Teresa’s poor. On seeing Jesus in every person: she saw, respected and loved Jesus in each of them; thus it was easy for Mother Teresa to embrace the poorest of the poor. She was happy to dress their wounds and clean up their mess because in her mind it was her Lord Jesus she was doing it to. By doing so, she was in my eyes personifying the compassion of Jesus who was surrounded by lepers and attending to the sick. On the value of discomfort: In all of Mother Teresa’s houses, www.canadianinquirer.net

This file photo provided by Teresa R. Tunay, OCDS, shows Blessed Mother Teresa during her visit at the Home for the Dying Destitute in Tayuman, Sta. Cruz, Manila in March 1985.

chapels have no pews or comfortable seats; instead the floor is lined with native mats (banig) where the Sisters would sit or kneel on at prayer — the better to stay awake with Jesus Crucified who cries “I thirst!”, and to offer to Him their discomfort as their share in His suffering. On trusting in Divine Providence: One day, the Calcutta community’s coffers were empty, and so was the pantry. There wasn’t even enough bread for the day’s last meal; they were sure the morrow would be a bigger headache. Undaunted, Mother Teresa calmly led the Sisters to pray that the next day might be better so as not to starve the patients. That very night, a truckload of bread arrived unsolicited from a bakery chain. Little miracles like this have become commonplace in Mother Teresa’s houses that you

can’t help being reminded of the day Jesus fed over 5,000 people from five loaves and two fish. On simplicity and contentment: Mother Teresa’s Sisters (Missionaries of Charity) wear no shoes, only cheap rubber thong sandals — the kind you can buy for 25 pesos a pair in Divisoria. What the poor can’t have, they do not want to have. Imagine what can happen if only all the rich and famous who populate the Lifestyle Pages in Philippine print media would give up at least one pair of their Manolo Blaniks for Jesus’ sake! On time management: With the demands of her work among the needy, you would think Mother Teresa would have no more time to waste on “doing nothing.” On the contrary, this “idle time” is Mother Teresa’s ❱❱ PAGE 36 Walking with

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Business DTI sees investment pledges hitting P393B in ’16 BY AMY R. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry expects total investment commitments to grow by a more modest 7 percent this year to P392.69 billion from P367 billion last year. Government data obtained by the INQUIRER also showed that the government aims to grow investment pledges by another 7 percent in 2017. Should the target be met, investment commitments will hit P420.18 billion. These targets reflect the strong investor confidence in the Duterte administration and its planned 10-point economic

agenda, as well as the country’s ment in the Philippines, gov- ogy, who had targeted to cut robust economic fundamentals, ernment agencies are collec- the number of days and steps it and high consumer confidence. tively crafting new measures takes to register a business and “We have a better busi- and orders to streamline the secure permits and licenses. ness environment under the processes involved in setting up There are also moves to renew administration. Presi- a business in the Philippines. view the country’s fiscal incendent Duterte’s tive regime and 10-point ecothe Investments nomic agenda is Priorities Plan a big factor to atto reflect the tracting investWe have a better business environment economic agenments. Part of under the new administration. da of President this agenda purDuterte, as well sues the stability assure invesof the policy entors that existing vironment, honoring contracts The latest of these initia- contracts will be honored by and not changing the rules mid- tives was the agreement signed the new administration. way, a big come-on for many by three departments namely Meanwhile, a trade official investors,” Trade Secretary Ra- DTI, Department of Interior said the local manufacturing mon Lopez had said. and Local Government, and industry would still benefit To help create an even more Department of Information from the proposed P257-billion attractive investment environ- and Communications Technol- funding for the Department of

Public Works and Highways (DPWH), even if this was reclassified for next year under the Transport Infrastructure Program. The Duterte administration wants the DPWH budget to be used to address the worsening traffic woes in Metro Manila and meet the growing transport requirements of the country Over the past two years, the DPWH budget was looped under the Manufacturing Resurgence Program (MRP). This year, the MRP has an allocation of P289 billion. But this was drastically cut to a proposed P16.6 billion in 2017, representing a fraction or only 6 percent of the budget that was set for this year. ■

New rule on tender offer eyed Canada EU trade BY DORIS DUMLAOABADILLA Philippine Daily Inquirer SHAREHOLDERS ASSOCIATION of the Philippines (SharePhil), a group advocating for investor protection, will ask the Philippine Stock Exchange to come up with a new rule that will ensure fair pricing on voluntary tender offers of companies. SharePHIL president Francis Lim, former president of the PSE, said the new rules would address investor complaints on the pricing of tender offers made by companies that were not covered by the mandatory tender offer under Section 19 of

the Securities Regulation Code (SRC). Section 19 of the SRC requires any person or group intending to acquire at least 15 percent of any class of equity of a listed corporation with assets of at least P50 million and having 200 or more stockholders—or who intends to acquire at least 30 percent of such equity over a 12-month period—to make a tender offer to the rest of the shareholders. The new framework to be proposed by SharePHIL will cover the hiring of the appraisal or valuation company and the framework for determining the fair pricing for the tender offer taken as a voluntary act, such as

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when an issuer is intending to delist from the bourse. The proposal was an offshoot of complaints received by SharePHIL from minority shareholders on voluntary tender offers for the purpose of delisting by companies like Liberty Telecom Holdings Inc. and Splash Corp. On the appraisal company, Lim said the issuer or tender offeror was the one hiring such entity. As such, he said minority shareholders were sometimes skeptical on how an entity whose fees were paid by the issuer could be impartial. When he was president of the PSE, Lim recalled that he required the accreditation of appraisal companies to ensure that they would not just be a rubberstamp entity in issuing fairness opinion on pricing. “But it appears that notwithstanding that, there are still some complaints,” Lim told reporters at the sidelines of SharePHIL’s meeting last Friday. “So SharePHIL is going to propose for the consideration of PSE that perhaps it’s the PSE that will hire the third-party independent appraisers at the expense of the company.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

deal ‘best’ pact ever negotiated by Europe: European leaders THE CANADIAN PRESS HANGZHOU, CHINA — The president of the European Commission told the G20 summit that Europe’s free trade deal with Canada is the “best and most-progressive” trade agreement the EU has ever negotiated. Speaking at the G20 on Sunday in China, Jean-Claude Juncker said the agreement deserved the full support of the EU’s member states and rapid ratification. “Our new trade deal with Canada — CETA — is the best and most-progressive agreement we have ever, as a European Union, negotiated,” Juncker told reporters in Hangzhou. “On top of the new opportunities it creates for businesses and citizens it also

marks the new approach to investment protection that is transparent and that is impartial.” Canada and the EU have committed to signing the deal this year and ratification in 2017. International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has called the Canada-EU treaty a goldplated deal that, once ratified, will give Canada better access to a market of more than 400 million people. The agreement was negotiated under the former Conservative government, but the Liberals supported it while in opposition. On Saturday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged his peers at a G20-related event in Hangzhou to be open to trade as he warned that isolationism does nothing to create economic growth. ■

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Sports Eagles, Falcons soar Soccer star Rapinoe kneels in UAAP debuts during national anthem BY JASMINE W. PAYO Philippine Daily Inquirer AARON BLACK and Thirdy Ravena, often overshadowed by their more famous relatives, basked in the spotlight this time as they powered Ateneo to a 7369 triumph over host University of Santo Tomas yesterday at the start of the UAAP Season 79 men’s basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “I wouldn’t really say I’m the top guy; we’d like to do things as a team,” said Black, who fired a gamehigh 23 points on top of seven rebounds and five assists. “That’s coach Tab’s (Baldwin) philosophy and we like to follow that. But I guess learning from the MVP last year and seeing him every practice, I was able to pick up a few things.” That Most Valuable Player was former Ateneo star Kiefer Ravena, whose younger brother Thirdy also had his breakout game of 17 points and 11 boards. “It’s a very good team effort today,” added Black, whose father Norman mentored the Eagles to five straight championships starting in 2008. “The bench guys helped us a lot in the fourth quarter.” Although the Eagles had to deal with uncertainties following the graduation of Kiefer, role players like Anton Asistio, Gideon Babilonia and John Wong stepped up in a fourthquarter Ateneo blitz where they pulled away from a slim 52-51 edge. A new-look Adamson also shone as rookie Jerrick Ahanmisi—the 18year-old brother of PBA player Maverick—brought the game and swagger the Falcons seemingly lacked in past seasons. “I was a little nervous going into my first game but I was also excited,” said Ahanmisi, the 6-foot-2 combo guard from California. “I’ve been learning from my coaches.” Ahanmisi erupted for 28

points, highlighted by a 6-of7 clip from three-point range, in an impressive debut that fueled the Falcons to a 104-85 blasting of University of the Philippines. “I think we’re just lucky we were able to recruit him,” new Adamson coach Franz Pumaren said of Ahanmisi. The Falcons, of course, were also lucky to get Pumaren on board as the decorated mentor tries to replicate his success at La Salle, which he steered to the crown from 1998 to 2001 and in 2007. But Pumaren insists it will be different for this batch of Falcons, who also got solid outings from Robbie Manalang (16 points and nine assists), Dawn Ochea (13 points) and Papi Sarr (13 points and 11 boards). “They feel I employ the same system but it depends on the quality of players that I have,” said Pumaren. The Falcons showed that firepower from the get-go, zooming to a 28-18 start and erecting leads as big as 21 points, 66-45. The scores

First Game ADAMSON 104— Ahanmisi 28, Manalang 16, Ochea 13, Sarr 13, Mustre 9, Manganti 8, Tungcab 6, Pasturan 6, Ng 4, Paranada 1, Camacho 0. UP 85— Desiderio 24, Manuel 15, Moralde 12, Asilum 11, Vito 7, Webb 5, Harris 5, Gomez 2, Romero 2, Lao 2, Dario 0, Lim 0, Prado 0, Jaboneta 0, Longa 0. Quarters: 28-18, 46-38, 73-57, 104-85 Second Game ATENEO 73— Black 23, Ravena 17, Nieto Mi. 7, Asistio 6, Wong 5, Mendoza 5, Babilonia 4, Tolentino 2, Go 2, Nieto Ma. 2, Ikeh 0, Porter 0, Verano 0. UST 69— Vigil 21, Macasaet 12, Bonleon 9, Lao 8, Basbas 7, Faundo 6, Subido 2, Afoakwah 2, De Guzman 2, Sheriff 0, Lee 0, Arana 0, Huang 0. Quarters: 14-17, 34-34, 52-51, 73-69 ■

THE CANADIAN PRESS CHICAGO — U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem Sunday night before the Seattle Reign’s game against the Chicago Red Stars “in a little nod” to NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the anthem to protest racial injustice and minority oppression came to public notice when he remained seated on the bench before a preseason game against Green Bay. On Thursday night in San Diego, he and safety Eric Reid kneeled during the anthem before a game against the Chargers. “It was very intentional,” Rapinoe told American Soccer Now after Seattle’s 2-2 tie in the National Women’s Soccer League game. “It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now. I think it’s actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn’t. We need to have a more thoughtful, twosided conversation about racial issues in this country. “Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversa-

Megan Rapinoe.

tion around it. It’s important to have white people stand in support of people of colour on this. We don’t need to be the leading voice, of course, but standing in support of them is something that’s really powerful.” Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane showed his support for Kaepernick by sitting on the bench during the anthem at a preseason game in Oakland. The 31-year-old Rapinoe has played for Seattle since 2013, after a stint with the French team Olympique Lyon. A standout at the University of Portland, she made her with the senior U.S. Women’s national team in 2006. Known for her creativity on the field, she has played in two Women’s World Cups and two Olympics. She injured her knee last December during training and required surgery, but was able to come back and play in the Rio Games. The United States,

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which had won three straight gold medals in the sport, was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Sweden. Since coming out in 2012, Rapinoe has been devoted advocate for LGBT rights and has worked with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and other organizations. Rapinoe also has been vocal about pay equity, and was among five national team players who lent their names to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging wage discrimination. The players claim that members of the team make in some cases up to four times less than their male national team counterparts. She has frequently spoken out on Twitter, delving into politics and even calling out NWSL when a match was played on an extremely narrow field earlier this summer. ■

Azkals tackle N. Korea in Oct. 10 ‘friendly’ BY CEDELF P. TUPAS Philippine Daily Inquirer WITH PREPARATIONS for the AFF Suzuki Cup far from ideal recently, the Azkals got a boost after the Philippine Football Federation secured a quality opponent in North Korea in a www.canadianinquirer.net

friendly on Oct. 10. PFF general secretary Ed Gastanes said yesterday the federation is only completing Fifa’s requirements to finalize the match against North Korea. The Azkals already had a friendly against Turkmenistan cancelled early this month,

while losing two key players in Patrick Reichelt and Simone Rota to knee injuries. The Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan will host the Suzuki Cup starting Nov. 19, when the Azkals—which play Kyrgyzstan in a friendly in Bishkek on Tuesday—debut against Singapore in Group A. ■

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Technology Samsung recalls Galaxy Note 7 after battery explosions BY YOUKYUNG LEE The Associated Press

Study projects extensive urban applications of AI in 2030 PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY SAN FRANCISCO — A yearlong study hosted by Stanford University has foreseen extensive applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in North American cities by year 2030 but nevertheless has reminded that the measure of success for the rapidly emerging technologies is the value they create for human lives. Titled “Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030,” the report was released this week by a 17-member panel of academic and industrial experts, some of them from outside the United States, as part of the One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100), an ongoing project to inform societal deliberation and provide guid-

ance on the ethical development of smart software, sensors and machines. “We believe specialized AI applications will become both increasingly common and more useful by 2030, improving our economy and quality of life,” said Peter Stone, a computer scientist at the University of Texas at Austin and chair of the panel. “But this technology will also create profound challenges, affecting jobs and incomes and other issues that we should begin addressing now to ensure that the benefits of AI are broadly shared,” Stone added. The report identifies eight areas of human activity in which AI technologies are beginning to affect urban life in ways that will become increasingly per❱❱ PAGE 36 Study projects

SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF — Samsung recalled its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones on Friday after finding some of their batteries exploded or caught fire. Samsung’s Note 7s are being pulled from shelves in 10 countries, including South Korea and the United States, just two weeks after the product’s launch. Customers who already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones in about two weeks, said Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile business. He apologized for causing inconvenience and concern to customers. The recall, the first for the new smartphone though not the first for a battery, comes at a crucial moment in Samsung’s mobile business. Apple is expected to announce its new iPhone next week and Samsung’s mobile division was counting on momentum from the Note 7’s strong reviews and higher-than-expected demand. Samsung said it had confirmed 35 instances of Note 7s catching fire or exploding. There have been no reports of injuries related to the problem. The company said it has not found a way to tell exactly which phones may endanger users out of the 2.5 million Note 7s already sold globally. It estimated that about 1 in 42,000 units may have a faulty battery. Samsung didn’t say whether customers should stop using

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their phones, or whether explosions and fires could happen when the phone wasn’t charging. Consumers who complained publicly said the problem came while the phone was being charged. “The ball is in Samsung’s court to make this right. Consumers want information about what’s going on and peace of mind that this is not going to happen again,” said Ramon Llamas, who tracks mobile devices at research firm IDC. “No one wants to wake up at 1, 2 or 3 (in the morning) and find out your smartphone’s on fire.” He added that while phone combustions are unusual, “35 instances are 35 too many.” This summer, Samsung ran into a quality-control issue with another smartphone, a niche model called the Galaxy S7 Active. Consumer Reports found that the phone didn’t live up to its water-resistance promises. Samsung said that relatively few phones were affected and that it had identified and fixed the manufacturing problem. Samsung said it would replace devices under warranty if it failed, but it declined to let customers swap phones otherwise or to issue a broader recall. On the Note 7, after complaints surfaced online, Samsung found that a battery cell made by one of its two battery suppliers caused the phone to catch fire. Koh refused to name the supplier. “There was a tiny problem in the manufacturing process, so it was very difficult to figure out,” Koh told reporters at a news conference.

The phones start at $850 in the U.S., more expensive than most phones. In the U.S., Samsung said it will let customers downgrade to a Galaxy S7 and refund the price difference. Or customers can get a replacement Note 7 as early as next week. Customers’ reports of scorched phones prompted Samsung to conduct extra quality controlling tests and delay shipments of the Note 7s this week before the recall. South Korean high school teacher Park Soo-Jung said she had rushed to buy the new phone, pre-ordering and then activating it on Aug. 19, its official launch date. The 34-year-old living in the port city of Busan said that she was bruised when she rushed out of bed after her phone burst into flames, filling her bedroom with smoke stinking of chemicals. She’s having second thoughts about buying another newly released device, especially after losing all her personal data stored in the destroyed Note 7, she said. “If the exploded phone had burned near my head, I would not have been able to write this post,” she said in a popular online forum Thursday, where she shared a photo of the scorched Note 7 and described dousing the flames. China is not affected by the sales suspension. The company said it used a battery made by another supplier for the Note 7s sold in China. ■ AP Technology Writer Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this story.

Technology

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Crowdfunded classrooms: Teachers increasingly solicit online BY MEGAN TRIMBLE The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — Paper? Pencils? Laptops? Robots? Teachers are increasingly relying on crowdfunding efforts to stock their classrooms with both the mundane and sometimes big-ticket items. Contributions to education campaigns have climbed on GoFundMe and DonorsChoose, collectively, from just more than $31.2 million in 2010 to nearly $140 million in 2015, the do-it-yourself fundraising sites report. Both sites are on pace to eclipse that in 2016. GoFundMe has collected $58 million in just the last 12 months, and DonorsChoose saw more than 50,000 campaigns live on the site for the first time this back-to-school season. In her first year as an elementary school teacher in Kingman, Arizona, Shannon Raftery raised $340 through crowdfunding to supplement the money she took out of each paycheque to pay for classroom supplies. Now in Philadelphia, she’s looking to raise $500 for her new kindergarten classroom at Roosevelt Elementary School. She has a supportive principal, she said, but there is just

not enough money in the notoriously cash-strapped Philadelphia district to equip her classroom the way she’d like. In her case, reality is a $200 budget allocated to cover 25 students in a school where at least 40 per cent of students live in poverty. She has spent that even before the start of classes after Labor Day. “I’d rather spend my own money than have my kids go without something,” she said. “Every dollar helps.” But even as Raftery plans to continue pulling $100 to $150 from each paycheque to meet her classroom needs, she said, she knows it won’t be enough. She has bought cleaning supplies, bulletin board paper, and peach and sky blue paint to cover her stark white walls. She hopes to add to seating with beach chairs and bean bags. “I don’t want a cold environment to ruin a kid’s first impression of school,” Raftery said. Donors can scroll through all education campaigns listed on the sites, resulting in millions of dollars’ worth of supplies and equipment infused into both high-poverty schools and more affluent districts. “There still is that group of teachers that has amazing ideas even in the most well-funded districts, like the sixth-grade teacher wanting and currently

campaigning for an underwater robot to restore fisheries,” said Chris Pearsall, DonorsChoose spokesman. Teachers create campaigns by writing a story about their needs, often accompanied by classroom pictures. Teachers have turned to crowdfunding even in states with high per-pupil spending. But while the numbers are enough to cause pause, they aren’t necessarily surprising, said Michael Leachman, director of state fiscal research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Post-recession local, state and federal revenue has been unable to keep up with states’ needs after deep cuts. Now, other economic factors, like low property taxes and inflation, are preventing them from a full recovery, even as most states have seen gradual improvement in education funding, Leachman said. “It’s obviously disturbing that teachers are having to raise the money that they need to provide good education to kids,” he said. With crowdfunding, teachers can access funding and supplies within weeks of starting a campaign. Allan Rogers teaches third grade at Jackson Elementary School in Jackson, Louisiana, a

rural community damag ed by recent flooding. He works with students who are already using crowdfunded supplies mere weeks into the school year. “There have been people who have lost everything due to the flooding, and prior to the flooding they already didn’t have much,” Rogers said of students and staff at the school, where there is no technologybudget and about 96 per cent of students are get free or discounted lunches. Teachers at the school have campaigned for basic supplies, like white board markers, but are also trying to buy a functioning computer for each classroom, said Megan Phillips, the school’s principal. They’ve relied exclusively on crowd-

funding to purchase computers, iPad and iPods for students to use, she

said. “We’re always trying to give students what they deserve,” Rogers said. “Not only what they need, but what they deserve.” ■

PHL internet download, upload speeds improve PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — The Philippines is making a significant headway when it comes to internet connection speed, according to the latest report by international internet speed testing company Ookla. Ookla said that based on the data gathered from its web service Speedtest.net, the Philippines is one of the top 12 countries in the world with the highest average download and upload speeds this year.

With 43.82 megabit per second (Mbps) during the first months of 2016, the Philippines ranked 11th in terms of average download speed worldwide. The country has the same ranking in terms of average upload speed at 28.22 Mbps, ahead of Canada’s 26.82 Mbps which is at No. 12. It was a huge improvement for the Philippines, having been consistently placed at the bottom in average internet speed rankings, especially among Asian countries, in recent years. Singapore has the fastest average download and upload

speeds at 120.02 Mbps and 100.84 Mbps, respectively, followed by Hong Kong and Japan. Speedtest.net is a web service that provides free analysis of internet access performance metrics, such as connection data rate and latency. It was founded by Ookla in 2006, and is based in Seattle, Washington. The service measures the bandwidth and latency of a visitor’s internet connection against 4,759 geographically dispersed servers (as of August 2016) located around the world. Each test measures the data www.canadianinquirer.net

rate for the download direction, i.e. from the server to the user computer, and the upload data rate, i.e. from the user’s computer to the server. The tests are performed within the user’s web browser or within applications. This year, over 8.7 billion speed tests have been completed by Speedtest.net. The Ookla speedtest results came two months after President Rodrigo Duterte warned telecommunications companies to improve internet services in the country or face competition from foreign players.

Less than a month before he assumed office on June 30, Duterte said he was not satisfied with the connectivity services in the country. Last year, the Ookla Speedtest showed that download speeds in the Philippines ranked 176th out of 202 countries. The company also noted that the cost per Mbps in the Philippines is one of the most expensive with an average value of $ 18.18, as against the global average of .21. Ookla is the global leader in broadband testing, network diagnostic applications and data. ■

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Travel The quest to end lost airline luggage BY SCOTT MAYEROWITZ The Associated Press

use for passenger bags. To better understand the technology, think about your local supermarket. If every grocery item had an RFID tag, cashiers wouldn’t have to scan each product at checkout. Instead, the groceries would pass by a scanner and be instantly registered. Shoppers could even leave everything in their cart, having it all tallied at once. The same principles apply to checked luggage. Most airlines today use barcodes on tags to identify each suitcase — each tag has its own unique 10-digit number — and make sure it is loaded onto the right plane. But reading each barcode with a handheld scanner is time consuming. Often, a bag or two aren’t scanned or error messages are missed by workers focused on getting planes out on time. Delta designed its system to stop those errors. At the airline’s 84 largest airports — accounting for 85 per cent of its passengers — Delta will have 1,500 special belt loaders with RFID readers built in. Those loaders — like the one DaRosa was using — stop when a bag for a different flight is accidently placed on the belt. “It’s amazing technology,” says DaRosa, a ramp supervisor who has been testing the technology at Baltimore Washington International Airport. “It’s going to totally eliminate a bunch of careless little errors.”

LINTHICUM, MD. — Victor DaRosa stands under a scorching afternoon sun, loading bags onto a jet heading to Detroit. As each suitcase climbs up the conveyor belt into the plane, a small computer verifies that it actually belongs on that flight. If one bag didn’t, a red light would flash and the belt would stop until somebody acknowledges the mistake and reroutes the luggage. This is the future of baggage handling. Delta Air Lines is investing $50 million to soothe one of air travel’s biggest headaches: lost and delayed lugtime flights. gage. Delta is also using RFID to Delta carried nearly 120 miltrack bags through the labylion checked suitcases last year, rinth of conveyor belts below collecting $25 in fees, each terminals. If bags fall off a belt way, for most domestic bags. at a particular curve or get suck For that price, fliers expect at a junction, Delta will now their suitcase to be waiting on have enough RFID readers — the carousel when they arrive. about 5,200 globally — to pinDelta already has one of the point the trouble spot and fix it. airline industry’s best luggage The Atlanta-based airline says handling records — just 1 out of it plans to have the system onevery 500 bags failed to arrive line in 344 airports by the end on time — but hopes that by of August. deploying a RFID, or radio-freThe new tags look like traquency identification, tracking ditional ones. But if held up to system globally it can improve the light, passengers can see a further. fingernail-size chip and a credit If the system works, other card size antenna inlayed inairlines are likely to follow. Ulside. timately the bag tag might be By the end of this year, fliers replaced with permanent RFID will be able to track their bags readers in our suitcases, reducthrough the Delta smartphone ing the chances app, getting push fliers in the funotifications at ture will start a each step of the vacation missing journey. If a bag their swimsuit. Most passengers’ bags do arrive on misses its flight, “It’s a very time. But there are so hiccups, with 1 passengers are smart move,” out of every 500 bags Delta carried also notified insays Henry last year failing to do so. stantly. Harteveldt, That way pasfounder of travsengers “aren’t el consultancy standing at a bagAtmosphere Research Group. Replacing handheld scanners gage carousel waiting for the “It’s one that will help increase allows ramp workers to use last piece of luggage to come off customer confidence that their both hands to lift bags, reduc- to realize their bag isn’t there,” bags will arrive with them.” ing injuries and speeding up the says Sandy Gordon, Delta’s RFID wirelessly identifies loading and unloading process. vice-president of airport operatags attached to items. The RFID also shortens the time tions for the eastern U.S. technology is widely used at needed to find and remove a Most passengers’ bags do warehouses to track goods but bag from a plane at the last sec- arrive on time. But there are Delta’s rollout is the first global ond. All of that means more on- so hiccups, with 1 out of evwww.canadianinquirer.net

ery 500 bags Delta carried last year failing to do so. It’s a record surpassed by only Virgin America and JetBlue Airways, which both have smaller and simpler route networks. Twice as many were delayed last year on American Airlines, according to statistics reported to the Department of Transportation. Bags often get delayed when bad weather forces tight connections or passengers are rerouted onto new flights. Of the 245,000 bags Delta mishandled last year, 208,000 of them arrived within three hours, according to the airline. Another 25,000 were reunited with passengers within 12 hours. The remaining 12,000 were either lost or took more than 12 hours to be delivered. Installing RFID isn’t going to solve all of Delta’s baggage problems. But the airline estimates a 10-per cent reduction in delayed bags. That means about 25,000 fewer bags the airline has to deliver to passengers’ homes, offices or hotel rooms. For the past five years, Australian airline Qantas has offered a permanent RFID bag tag that fliers can purchase for about $23 and use when flying the airline domestically. Several big airports, including those in Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Milan and Tokyo, use RFID to track bags through parts of their systems.

But Delta, the world’s second largest carrier by passenger traffic, is providing the mostcomprehensive tracking the industry has seen to date. Airlines have long found RFID too pricey but the cost has dropped. McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas says it currently pays 12 cents for each RFID tag, down from 21.5 cents a decade ago. Traditional tags cost the airport 3 cents. Delta refused to say how much it’s paying for RFID bag tags, except that it is less than 10 cents each. The new tracking system won’t follow every suitcase. There are limitations. It includes bags checked at the gate and claimed at a baggage carousel. But items like strollers or bags checked at the gate for regional jets — those picked up at the arriving gate — currently aren’t tracked with RFID. If a Delta passenger connects onto a flight with a Delta partner like Air France, the traditional barcode tag takes over for the final leg of the journey. However, an Air France passenger connecting to a Delta flight gets a RFID sticker added to the traditional tag when their luggage first enters Delta’s possession. And nothing is preventing the airline from losing your bag if any of these tags get ripped off along the way. ■

Travel

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Street dancers from Tiwi geothermal town win Ibalong festival competition BY EMMANUEL P. SOLIS Philippines News Agency LEGAZPI CITY — Street dancers from the geothermal town of Tiwi in Albay reprised their winning form last year to grab the crown anew in street dancing competition of the Ibalong festival, a non-religious fiesta showcasing Legazpi City as a major tourist destination. Traffic paralyzed the side streets of the city, where motorists converged and walked their way home, as the competitors, along with their floats and props, gobbled the six-kilometer stretch of the street dance parade route, that started at Peñaranda St. in Old Albay, seat of the provincial capitol, and ended at Quezon Avenue in this city’s Central Business District (CBD). The grand champion, Tiwi Central School’s “Tribu Tigbi,” clinched top spots in three other categories in the competition. It was best in costume and props, second in movements and choreography and third place in music and sounds. Tiwi town, a rich source of geothermal energy in the country, is also known for its pottery making industry that has been enhanced by modern technology. During the street dance the 11 contingents composed of ensembles of young, school-age dancers, six of them competing and five in non-competition, unfurled their jubilant rhythm amid thunderous drum rolls that started at 2 p.m. and ended just as dusk descended on the city. Tiwi’s contender bested five other contingents coming from Legazpi City and some municipalities of Albay and its two neighboring provinces of Sorsogon and Camarines Sur to get the top prize in the silver year anniversary of the festival that highlighted Bicol region’s ancient origins as depicted by its “Ibalong epic.” The epic, Bicol’s major contribution to Philippine folklore, has three major “superheroes,” Baltog, Handyong and Baltong. Immortalized in a monument along Lapu-Lapu St. in this city’s CBD, the Ibalong heroes hog space in the city’s skyline, along with new high-rise Ayala Mall and pioneering retail chain Liberty Commercial Center, popularly known as LCC, making them an everyday reality in the lives of the current generation of Bicolanos. Participants to the street dance competition, that included five non-competing contingents,wore costumes crafted from indigenous materials and prepared props and music that were in sync with the exploits of the three warriors.

In the epic popularized by the late Bicolano scholar Merito Espinas each of the three heroes has to face and defeat a nemesis. For Baltog, it is Tandayag, the gigantic wild boar, while Handyong has to outclass Oryol, the wily serpent woman. Bantong’s arch-rival is the ferocious monster known as Rabot. Their names, costumes and props reflecting the epic heroes’ adventures, Tribu Sorhanay of Sorsogon National High School copped first runner-up honors in the street dance competition while Tribu Bulawan of Oro Site High School of Legazpi City emerged second runner-up. |The Tribu Luzonian of the Southern Luzon Technological College Foundation Inc., also from Legazpi City, was fourth placer while Tribu Buwa-Buwaan of Lourdes National High School from Nabua, Camarines Sur placed fifth. Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal and Rose Ajero, committee chairman of the event, handed Php 300,000 and trophy to the grand winner in the street dance parade while the five runners up received varying cash prices,ranging from Php 250,000; Php 200,000; Php 150,000; Php 100,000 to Php75,000 along with trophies. Bearing names coined from the local dialect, which merged the familiar with the contrived but as whimsical as their costumes and hand-painted bodies, the five non-competing contingents, who joined the event were the Tribu Edukador, Tribu Mahigos, Tribu Buhenos, Tribu Kapitanes and Tribu Gayon. The street dance parade capped a month-long festivity consisting of a merry mix of activities, many of them sports competitions, such as the Dragon Boat Race, a combination of speed, strength and grace that was won by the Philippine Marines for the second consecutive year. Traditional festival fare such as the “Ibalong, the Musical,” and “Mutya ng Ibalong,” that was won by Kathleen May Lausingco, a lass from Polangui, Albay, gave that “hometown” flavor to the staging of the 25th edition of the festival. At the onset of the festival, City Tourism Officer Antonio Reyes, who expected an influx of tourists helped put up tourist desks at popular sites in the city such as Lignon Hill, Embarcadero de Legazpi, the City Boulevard and Grand Terminal station. City Tourism Office records showed Legazpi City, which hosts an annual average of 35 various gatherings, posted a 45 percent increase in tourist arrivals in 2015 compared to the previous year. The number of visitors in 2015 was up to 967,396 from the 666,210 in 2014. ■

Gibsons Harbour.

Sunshine Coast a year round outdoor haven with plenty of ‘Beachcombers’ nods BY LAUREN KRUGEL The Canadian Press GIBSONS, B.C. — Howe Sound is glassstill on the voyage from Gibsons Landing to Keats Island, save for the odd motorboat wake jostling the kayak. The peace is also broken momentarily as a seal bursts out of the water, letting out a hearty snort before it dives back beneath the surface. Gibsons is a quaint and colourful town at the southern end of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, a 180-kilometre stretch of picturesque oceanside communities and jagged coastline along the Strait of Georgia. Many visitors to Gibsons get a kick out of the numerous nods to the longrunning Canadian sitcom “The Beachcombers,” which was filmed in the town and ran from 1972 to 1990. The Persephone, the tug piloted in the show by log salvager Nick Adonidas (played by Bruno Gerussi), sits on a prominent street corner in the centre

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of town, right by Molly’s Reach, the cafe where much of the action took place. “Someone gets their picture taken every day in front of Molly’s Reach,” says bed-and-breakfast owner Celia Robben, who heads up Sunshine Coast Tourism. “To a specific demographic, it’s definitely a draw… If you’re under 30, you don’t have a clue.” Most visitors arrive at the Sunshine Coast via ferry from Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay. The northern part of the Sunshine Coast can also be accessed by ferry from Comox, on Vancouver Island. Robben estimates up to half a million visitors come to the region every year, though the summer is by far the busiest time. The permanent population is only about a tenth of that. “We’re very much a cottage country for Vancouver and the Lower Mainland,” she says. Robben and her husband moved to Gibsons about a decade ago from Houston to open their B&B, Arcturus Re❱❱ PAGE 35 Sunshine Coast

Events

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

YUKON NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

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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 604-763-2210. 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 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 Ignacio de Loyola Movie Screening By the Ateneo Alumni Association of BC and TFC WHEN/WHERE: Starts Aug. 26 at the Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, Chinatown, Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Visit www.tfc-ca. com/idl Overcoming Effects of Prolonged Separation By ISS of BC & St. Mary’s Migrant Ministry WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 3 p.m., Sept. 4, Seminar Room, School Gym, St. Mary’s Parish, 5239 Joyce St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Contact Resochita Arma at resochita.arma@issbc.org or 604-684-7496 ext. 1666 JAG Public Square: Truth Reconciliation & Hope By Jesuit Alumni Group of Vancouver WHEN/WHERE: 12 nn to 2 p.m., Sept. 10, at Vancouver College Alumni Gym Theatre, 5400 Cartier St., Vancouver, B.C. Fundraising Breakfast 2016

By St. Mark’s College/Corpus Christi College WHEN/WHERE: 9 a.m., Sept. 10, Vancouver College Alumni Gym, 5400 Cartier St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Keynote speaker: Fr. Peter Bisson, SJ. Call Florence Chan at 604-822-5516 to reserve a seat. Kidney Stones: The Latest on Prevention, Treatment & Research By VGH Foundation WHEN/WHERE: 6 to 8:30 p.m., Sept. 13, at Paetzold Auditorium, Vancouver General Hospital, Jim Pattison Pavilion 889 W 12 Ave., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: RSVP at 604875-4111 x 62421 or at www. StoneCentreVGH.ca/rsvp-online/ Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies Welcome Back Lunch By ACAM WHEN/WHERE: 12 to 1 p.m., Sept. 13, Dodson Room, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, UBC Information Session at Bayanihan Centre By Pathway to Canada WHEN/WHERE: 1 to 4 p.m., Sept. 18, at the Bayanihan Centre 1321 Blanchard St. Suite 301 Victoria, B.C. MORE INFO: Admission is free. Bamboo 2016 The Oven World Tour By UMAC, Mabuhay Enterprise and Bonifacio Family WHEN/WHERE: 6:30 p.m., Sept. 18, at Massey Theatre, 735 Eight Ave., New Westminster, B.C. Tini(g) Tipon WHEN/WHERE: 8 to 10 p.m., Sept. 21, ScotiaBank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: $20/$30 Visit: brownpapertickets.ca 3rd International Babaylan

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Conference By Kathara Pilipino Indigenous Arts Collective Society in Canada and Center for Babaylan Studies WHEN/WHERE: Sept. 23 to 25, at theYMCA Camp Elphinstone in Gibsons, B.C. MORE INFO: The conference will feature the theme Makasaysayang Pagtatagpo (Historic Encounter): Filipinos and Indigenous Turtle Islanders Revitalizing Ancestral Traditions Together Filipino Canadian Construction Society Fundraising Event By FCCS WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m to 12 mn., Sept. 24, at St. Monica Parish Hall, 12011, Wood Head Rd., Richmond, B.C. MORE INFO: Call Amado Mercado at 604-786-6801 October Fest Dinner & Dance By Negrenses Association of British Columbia WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., Oct. 1, St. Patrick’s Hall 2881 Main St., Vancouver, B.C. MORE INFO: Tickets at $25. Proceeds go to sustainable projects in Negros Occidental

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. Ignacio de Loyola Movie Screening By The Filipino Channel WHEN/WHERE: Starts Aug. 26 at the Cineplex Cinemas, Scarborough, Ont. MORE INFO: Visit www.tfc-ca. com/idl National Coaching Certification Program 2 By Halton Region Basketball Association, Inc. WHEN/WHERE: Sept. 24, at Haber Recreation Centre, Burlington, 3040 Tim Dobbie Dr. Burlington, On. (Dundas & West of Appleby Rd., Burlington)

EDMONTON Erik Santos & Angeline Quinto: King & Queen of Hearts By GSP Great Smile Promotions WHEN/WHERE: 6 p.m., Oct. 15, at South Pointe Community Centre 11520 Ellerslie Rd., Edmonton, AB

WINNIPEG Work: TGIM! With Ptr. Marc and Rizzel Constantino By Every Nation Church Winnipeg WHEN/WHERE: 2:30 p.m., Sept. 11, Four Crowns Event Centre 1030 McPhilips, Winnipeg, MB

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Food Tuna never tasted as good as in this Asianinspired salad BY MELISSA D’ARABIAN The Associated Press CANNED TUNA is underrated. Sure, we keep a can or two on hand for the occasional tuna salad sandwich, but most of us don’t stray far from the sandwich for this tasty and versatile protein. Canned tuna can be used as a protein swap in many recipes (tuna tacos are amazing!), and it’s shelf-stable, inexpensive and chock-full of protein. One cup of drained canned tuna packs in about 40 grams of protein, so it’s a filling enough for either lunch or dinner. Budget cooks take note: Tuna is easy to nab on sale for a buck or so a can, even for name brands, so load up when it’s on sale since it has an incredibly long shelf life. Most tuna seems to be packed in water these days to save calories. But I personally like the flavour better of oil-packed fish — it tastes more like fresh fish — so I usually keep a couple of oil-packed cans around for some recipes where I want a richer flavour, and I just drain the oil away. Also, I always keep a can (or jar) of high-end tuna in my pantry — a quality tuna packed in good olive oil will turn your tuna dishes into restaurant quality, but you’ll definitely pay several dollars more. Your call. Once you have a nice stock of canned

tuna in the pantry, get creative. Consider almost any recipe where you use chicken or fish, and see if you can’t substitute tuna. Tip: the more sophisticated the dish, the higher end the tuna should be. Mixing up some tuna patties? Chunk light tuna on sale is perfect for the task. Sauteeing up tuna in olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and chili flakes to toss with pasta for company? You’ll want to spend a little more. If you are worried about having taste flashbacks to your childhood of eating pink-spiky tuna-flecked mayo slathered between slices of white fluffy bread, my suggestion is to think about ethnic flavour profiles to redirect your tastebuds — Italian (mix tuna into spicy tomato sauces), Thai, Chinese, and Mexican dishes made with canned tuna are some of my favourites. Chopped albacore salad with Asian dressing

Start to finish: 15 minutes Servings: 4 • 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce • 3/4 cup chopped green beans • 3/4 cup chopped carrots • 1/2 cup chopped red sweet pepper • 1/4 cup quartered grape tomatoes • 1/2 avocado, cubed • 1/4 cup chopped almonds (or cashews)

Sunshine Coast... treats. She recalls making the decision while on a ski vacation in Whistler. “As we were driving up the Sea-to-Sky (Highway), we were looking over at the Sunshine Coast, seeing our future home at a distance,” she says. That was in February. “By July, we were househunting.” Outdoor activities are a big draw, says Robben. In a climate where temperatures rarely dip below O C, kayaking, mountain biking and hiking can be done year-round. In the winter, there’s also cross-country skiing and snowshoeing on Dakota Ridge – a quiet alternative to packed resorts elsewhere on the West Coast. “You can come over here and be on the trails on your own,” says Rob❰❰ 33

ben. For hikers on the Sunshine Coast Trail, warming huts are also available throughout the winter. In Gibsons, there’s a steep but short hike up Soames Hill that ends with stunning views of the town, Howe Sound and the surrounding mountains. A gem for locals is Cliff Gilker Park, in Roberts Creek to the north, with trails of varying lengths and scenic views of waterfalls. Even farther up the coast is Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park, where hikers, if they time it right, can see powerful tidal rapids in action. The Sunshine Coast is also a magnet for art lovers, Robben says, with painters, potters, jewelry makers and glass blowers setting up shop in the region. A purple banner outside an artists’ studio signifies that the public is wel-

• 2 scallions, chopped • 3 5-ounce cans albacore tuna, drained • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro • Dresssing: • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger • 1 garlic clove, finely minced (or 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic) • 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce • 2 tablespoons lime juice • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar • 1/4 teaspoon sriracha, or other hot sauce (or more if desired) • 1 teaspoon sesame oil • 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil Place all the salad ingredients in a

large bowl. In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together the dressing ingredients. Spoon about half of the dressing onto the salad and toss to coat. Taste, and add more dressing as desired. Serve immediately.

come to pop in. An “art crawl” is set for Oct. 21-23 along the Sunshine Coast Highway. Last year’s event included 125 venues.

The region’s tourism website boasts that the area is “home to the highest per capita population of artists and crafters in Canada.” ■

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Nutrition information per serving: 300 calories; 150 calories from fat; 17 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 47 mg cholesterol; 379 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 28 g protein Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the author of the cookbook “Supermarket Healthy.”

Food

Walking with... trysting time with God, and she would exhort her nuns to faithfully keep their appointments with Jesus day and night. Sitting still and emptying themselves at prayer time is fundamental to their mission. It is when they fill themselves with Jesus, quenching His thirst for company and compassion, giving back to the Author of Time a fraction of the time He has given man. On joy being the fruit of the Spirit: In all the years I have served as a Mother Teresa volunteer, I have yet to see a Sister lose her cool. No matter how difficult a patient is — and unwanted, sick and old people can be unnerving, mind you — the Sisters would be not only calm and collected but also amazingly cheerful. Not a trace of impatience or irritation in their countenance — an enviable fruit of unceasing surrender to Jesus that forms a vital part of Mother Teresa’s legacy to her daughters and to the world. Over 31 years have passed since Mother Teresa held my hand and whispered to my soul. Did she see the leper or the bleeding woman in me? Yes, but she also saw Jesus, and that was what brought tears to my eyes, tears that only Mother Teresa saw. I had wanted to be in Rome to witness Mother Teresa’ beatification on Oct. 19, 2003, but a reality check prevented me from wanting to be there — it is ❰❰ 27

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FRIDAY

Study projects... a luxury a simple writer like me could ill afford. But as circumstances would have it, a previously planned working trip to Rome was cancelled at the 11th hour, leaving me in possession of a Schengen visa with nowhere to go. And then I got an assignment to Rome. Whether it was fate, luck, coincidence or Mother Teresa herself responsible for my uncannily timed assignment, I did not really care to know. It was enough that at St. Peter’s Square — as her huge portrait was unveiled dramatically during the beatification ceremonies — I finally beheld her smiling face, stunning in its radiance. This Sept. 4, Blessed Mother Teresa will be declared a Saint. My friends tease me, “You’ve held hands with Mother Teresa, so now you’re already a second class relic! Aren’t you going to Rome?” Although I am grateful for this, I have no desire to be at St. Peter’s Square to personally witness this great woman’s elevation to Sainthood. However, I’ve promised her that I’ll once again serve her poor dying and destitute in Tayuman on that day — something I have not done for a long long time — as my simple way of celebrating her canonization. I know she will be just as happy because her spirit will also be there among her beloved unwanted old people of Manila — and her piercing blue eyes will once again smile at me. ■

vasive and profound Low-resource communities: Trying to assess the technoby 2030: investments in uplifting tech- logical, economic and policy Transportation: au- nologies like predictive mod- implications of potential AI aptonomous cars, trucks and, pos- els to prevent lead poisoning plications in a societally relesibly, aerial delivery vehicles or improve food distributions vant setting, the researchers acmay alter how urban residents could spread AI benefits to the knowledge the need for public commute, work and shop and underserved. discourse and that “it is not too create new patterns of life and Public safety and security: soon for social debate on how leisure in cities; cameras, drones and software the fruits of an AI-dominated Home/service robots: like the to analyze crime patterns economy should be shared.” robotic vacuum cleaners already should use AI in ways that re“Until now, most of what is in some homes, specialized ro- duce human bias and enhance known about AI comes from bots will clean and provide secu- safety without loss of liberty or science fiction books and movrity in live/work spaces that will dignity. ies,” Stone said. “This study be equipped with sensors and Employment and workplace: provides a realistic foundation remote controls; work should start now on how to to discuss how AI technologies Health care: are likely to afdevices to monifect society.” tor personal However, health and rowhile they do not bot-assisted surAI technologies can be reliable and consider it likely gery are hints of broadly beneficial. Being transparent that near-term things to come if about their design and deployment AI systems will AI is developed challenges will build trust and avert autonomously in ways that gain unjustified fear and suspicion. choose to inflict the trust of docharm on people, tors, nurses, pa“it will be postients and regusible for people lators; to use AI-based Education: interactive tutor- help people adapt as the econo- systems for harmful as well ing systems already help stu- my undergoes rapid changes as as helpful purposes,” the redents learn languages, math many existing jobs are lost and searchers write in the report. and other skills. More is possi- new ones are created. “And though AI algorithms ble if technologies like natural “AI technologies can be reli- may be capable of making less language processing platforms able and broadly beneficial,” biased decisions than a typidevelop to augment instruction said Barbara Grosz, a computer cal person, it remains a deep by humans; scientist at Harvard University technical challenge to ensure Entertainment: the conjunc- and chairwoman of the AI100 that the data that inform AItion of content creation tools, standing committee. “Being based decisions can be kept free social networks and AI will lead transparent about their design from biases that could lead to to new ways to gather, organize and deployment challenges will discrimination based on race, and deliver media in engaging, build trust and avert unjusti- sexual orientation, or other facpersonalized and inte fied fear and suspicion.” tors.” ■ ❰❰ 30

Tomatoes do double duty in coconut rice BY MELISSA D’ARABIAN The Associated Press WHEN LABOR Day swings around, it’s the cue for a final summer food fling — one last late-night barbeque and a fond farewell to the garden’s seasonal bounty. Perhaps the saddest goodbye is to summer tomatoes. Although they’re available yearround, they never quite taste the same. Right now, they’re at peak deliciousness. I eat them in every way I can: I fry them for breakfast, slow-roast them for salads, add them to sandwiches and make tomato chutney. But when big groups of friends come over, I love whipping up South Indian

tomato and coconut rice. Tomatoes work in a couple of different ways in this recipe: They create a wonderful sauce alongside the coconut milk, which is used to flavour and cook the rice, then they float to the top to decorate the dish. The end result is a dish delicious enough to stand on its feet without the need for anything else (which is especially good if you have vegetarians or vegans at the table) but will also complement grilled meat or salad. As a side benefit, it’s inexpensive to cook a mountain of it and uses just a single pot. Tomato and coconut rice

Curry leaves add a lovely citrus and smoke flavour to the rice but can be tricky to find

unless you live near an Asian supermarket. If you can’t find them, leave them out. Start to finish: 45 minutes Serves: 4 • 2 cups of basmati rice • 2 tablespoons canola oil • 12 fresh curry leaves • 1 cinnamon stick, approx. 2 inches • 1 large onion, finely sliced • 4 cloves garlic, minced • 2 green serrano chilies, finely sliced • 1 handful of cashews, unsalted • 12 ounces fresh baby plum or cherry tomatoes, halved • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk • 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt • 1 cup water www.canadianinquirer.net

Wash the rice in a few changes of cold water until the water runs clear, then leave to soak in cold water to one side. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan. When oil is hot, add the curry leaves and cinnamon stick. Stir-fry for one minute, then add the onions. Cook the onions until they begin to turn golden brown and are soft enough to cut with a wooden spoon, then add the garlic, chilies and cashews. Cook for another two minutes, then add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for around eight minutes until the tomatoes are soft around the edges. Drain the rice and add it to the pan. Stir to mix. Then add all of the coconut milk, a cup

of water and the salt to the pan. Stir again and bring the mixture to a boil for two minutes, cover and then turn the heat to low and cook for another 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Turn off heat. Keep covered for an additional 10 minutes before serving. Nutrition information per serving: 652 calories; 245 calories from fat; 27 g fat (17 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 498 mg sodium; 90 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 12 g protein. Meera Sodha is an Indian foods expert and author of “Made in India: Recipes from an Indian family kitchen.”

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

Seen & Scenes: Vancouver

ASEAN FEST The Asean Festival attracted hundreds of attendees who were able to experience the rich, colorful and vibrant cultures of Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines at the 2016 Asean Festival in Vancouver. Photos show delectable Filipino cuisine provided by Symphonie Restaurant and Grandt Kitchen plus indigenous attire by members of the Asean Consulates in Vancouver.

THANKSGIVING PARTY Gary and Alya Manansala hosted a Thanksgiving lunch for friends on Sept. 3, at Kubyertos, the newest Lechon house in Surrey specializing in Filipino and Spanish cuisine (Photos by Christian Cunanan).

FILCANES DJ Rommel provided music for the FilCanes Dinner & Dance Fundraiser on Sept. 3, at St. Patrick’s Parish gym with various organizations sending representatives to partake of the buffet and dance to their hearts’ content. Special guests included MP for Vancouver-Kingsway Don Davies, MLA Adrian Dix and Deputy Consul General Anton Mandap of the Philippine Consulate Vancouver (Photos from Perla de Peralta and Freddie Bagunu’s FB).

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Seen and Scenes

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

FIESTA FILIPINO Fiesta Filipino, the biggest Filipino festival in Alberta organized by the Philippine Festival Council of Alberta in partnership with the Philippine Consulate General Calgary, was attended by over 30,000 people from all over Canada. Special guest during the two-day event was Filipino movie and television heartthrob Jericho Rosales (Photos by Evelyn Lopez).

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FRIDAY

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

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. 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 interested, please send a brief introduction of yourself, with your contact information, to

nathanlee6766@gmail.com

Retail Assistant Manager for Cascade Gift Store - Banff, AB.

Responsibilities: Plan, direct and evaluation the operations of the store; manage staff & assign duties; study market & determine consumer needs; determine merchandise & services to be sold; develop & implement marketing strategies; assist in planning budget & expenditures; resolve customer(s) complaints; determine staffing requirements & hiring, etc. High School graduate, with 3 yrs of related retail experience at increasing levels of responsibility required. F/T Permanent: $26.50/hour; 40 hours/week. Subsidized staff accommodation & Extended health benefits.

Send resume to: Cascade Gifts, P.O. Box 2428, Banff, AB T1L 1C2

elaine@cascadegifts.com

RETAIL SALES SUPERVISOR

F ill Unused Capacity

for Cascade Gift Store - Banff, AB.

C ash Savings

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.

B ill More Hours E xtra Income

High School graduate, with 2 yrs Retail Supervisory experience. F/T Permanent: $18.25/ hour. 40 hours/week.

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

Subsidized staﬀ accommodation and Extended health beneﬁts.

Send resume to: Cascade Gifts, P.O. Box 2428, Banff, AB T1L 1C2 info@cascadegifts.com

CAREGIVER WANTED

for Elderly lady who lives in Burnhamthorpe and Cawthra area in Mississauga Must have some experience with elderly people and be able to help with some cooking and personal assistance. Can live in or live out as there is a basement apartment. Can work flexible hours to start. Hourly wage can be about $12 per hour.

CONTACT Marisa Cerruti (mother) Marisacerruti@rogers.com Lou Cerruti (son) Lcerruti@claybar.ca

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SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

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FRIDAY