Philippine Canadian Inquirer #243

CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER NOVEMBER 11, 2016

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VOL. 11 NO. 243

TRUMP WINS

Business magnate Donald Trump wins as the United States of America’s President in a tight and heated race with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

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Historic election shocker:

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Donald Trump wins, becomes 45th U.S. president

BY ALEXANDER PANETTA The Canadian Press WASHINGTON — The market-shaking, adjective-defying prospect of a Donald Trump presidency became reality Wednesday, with a brash billionaire and reality TV star known for building sky-

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It was sealed at 2:31 a.m. Wednesday by The Associated Press, followed shortly afterwards by reports that Hillary Clinton had conceded the race to her bitter rival.

SC allows Marcos burial at heroes cemetery

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Philippine News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Ratify Paris climate pact, Du30 urged

BY DJ YAP AND TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer LAWMAKERS ARE pressing President Duterte to change his mind and ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which comes into force today.

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe vowed to talk to Mr. Duterte about the benefits of adopting the deal.

The President will change his stance once he comes to know that coal-fired power plants can still be put up, said Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay .

Sen. Loren Legarda urged the Climate Change Commission and the Department of Foreign Affairs to work together for the accord’s ratification.

Under the deal, 197 countries committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to keep global warming in check.

The Aquino administration had pledged a 70-percent cut in emissions by 2030.

After his election, Mr. Duterte aired misgivings about it.

Lawmakers have joined the chorus of voices asking President Duterte to honor the Philippine commitment in the Paris climate change pact to lower the country’s carbon emissions by 2030.

Members of the House special committee on climate change said they would try to convince the President to change his mind and to ratify the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which comes into force on Friday and which Mr. Duterte earlier dismissed as absurd.

At a recent hearing before the congressional break, the committee chair, Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe, said his panel would communicate with the President the benefits of adopting the Paris deal after listening to climate change advocates and officials.

“I think we know that the President is reasonable. If we can explain properly to him that we will be allowed to put up coal-fired power plants, then I’m sure that he will change his stance,” said Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. Senate concurrence

Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on climate change, urged the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) “to work together for the Philippines’ ratification of the treaty.”

She said she would push for the Senate’s concurrence once it was signed by the President.

“We understand that government is in transition, but we expect that the CCC and DFA have already met with the agencies and have explained the importance of this agreement in our pursuit

of sustainable development and climate and disaster resilience,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Under the Paris agreement, 197 countries committed to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to keep global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius.

The Philippines, under then President Benigno Aquino III, pledged a 70-percent cut in emissions by 2030.

But after his election in May, Mr. Duterte repeatedly expressed misgivings about the pact, threatening at one point that he would not honor it.

He said it was unfair that the country’s economic progress might be impeded by cutting its carbon emissions, even though it was not a major contributor to global warming at all.

Criticisms

His pronouncements stirred criticisms, including from former President Fidel V. Ramos, who wrote in his column that this “is obviously wrong, and full of S… T!!!”

Mr. Duterte has since softened his stance on the subject, saying he will follow the recommendations of his advisers.

The CCC vice chair, Emmanuel de Guzman, said the Paris deal was the product of two decades of debates and negotiations.

De Guzman clarified that the Philippine participation to reduce carbon emissions by 2030 was “purely voluntary and only under the condition that mitigation efforts will be pursued if developed countries will invest on it.”

Moreover, the entire contribution target may also be modified into a final submission called the “nationally determined contribution” through multistakeholder consultations, he said.

Climate justice

De Guzman noted that the Philippines had championed the limiting of the global temperature rise to 1.5 C, the enshrining of climate justice and human rights, and ensuring ecosystem integrity.

“The agreement defines climate justice as giving greater burden on developed countries—as likewise articulated by the President—to do more and to act swiftly in reducing carbon emissions, since they are the ones heavily contributing to the temperature rise,” De Guzman said.

The committee had met to discuss House Resolution No. 103 filed by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, who shared the President’s reluctance to ratify the Paris agreement.

Zarate had said it should be industrialized countries like China, the United States and Japan that should bear the greatest burden “to cut down on their emissions drastically and not demand this from poorer countries.”

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Target of 1.8-M drug surrenderers can be achieved — PNP PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) is confident that they can achieve their target of 1.8 million drug users and pushers to surrender nationwide before the end of their six-month deadline.

According to PNP Directorate for Operations Director Chief Supt. Camilo Cascolan, based on the assessment of the PNP, they estimated that 40 to 50 drug-affected barangays nationwide have been cleared of drugs.

Cascolan said the number of surrendering drug users and pushers will increase even more.

He added that the PNP would coordinate with the officials of barangays, especially with the conduct of cleaning barangays of illegal drugs.

Cascolan said they are confident that they can achieve their mission because the PNP has strengthened and widened even more their anti-illegal drug campaign with the “Oplan Double

Barrel Alpha” where they included the schools, detention cells, business establishments, entertainment industry, out-of-school youths, security guards and escorts in the conduct of “Project Tokhang.”

In the PNP’s Project Tokhang (Knock/ Request), suspected drug personalities are visited in their respective houses and ask them to turn back from their illegal activity, surrender or undergo rehabilitation.

Cascolan said that as of today, they have been receiving good “feedback” especially from the ground units where the number of drug surrenderees are increasing.

The Oplan Double Barrel also targets the “high value target” drug lords and personalities wherein the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) was assigned as the “focus team.”

On the other hand, the focused investigation team are the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Internal Affairs Service (IAS).

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Philippine News

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Joint PH-Malaysia drive vs Abus eyed

BY CYNTHIA D. BALANA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES and Malaysia could share experience to strengthen their military ties, a visiting Malaysian prince who is also a general in his country’s army said on Wednesday after President Duterte said he will likely discuss possible joint military and police operations between the two nations against the Abu Sayyaf.

Brig. Gen. Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Syed Sirajuddin Jamalullail, the Crown Prince of Malaysia’s state of Perlis and the Commander of the 504th Regiment of the Malaysian Territorial Army, said “there are possible avenues for collaboration” between Malaysia’s Reserved Officers Training Unit

and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserved Command (AF-PRescom).

“It is significant for both countries to work out avenues or areas for future engagements as well as keeping in touch through various medium available, either via informal or formal means,” Faizuddin said during his visit to the AFP headquarters and the AF-PRescom at Camp Aguinaldo.

Mr. Duterte told reporters late Tuesday that addressing the “deteriorating peace and order” in waters between the two countries will top the agenda of his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other top officials in Malaysia next week.

Paralyzed trade

“There is a need for us, the three countries Malaysia,

Philippines and Indonesia, to talk about this seriously and to put a stop because it has somehow paralyzed the trade and commerce in that area,” he said.

He said his talks will cover border control, border crossing, “and, maybe, joint military and police operations.”

During a recent visit to Indonesia, Duterte said he discussed possible security strate- gies with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Indonesia leader was “OK with everything.” Duterte did not specify the security steps.

Continued attacks

Abu Sayyaf gunmen and allied militants have continued attacks at sea this year, kidnapping Malaysian and Indonesian crewmen of slow-moving tugboats mostly pulling coal

barges.

The security talks are complicated and tricky because the Philippines and Malaysia have had territorial issues and questions have arisen, for example, on how far Malaysian authorities chasing fleeing militants can go as they approach Philippine territory. In initial talks, the countries have considered establishing a more secure sea lane for commercial vessels as well as coordinated law enforcement actions, including sea and air patrols.

Indonesia has restricted coal shipments to the Philippines because of the danger.

The Abu Sayyaf has sur- vived through the years mainly from ransom kidnappings. A Philippine threat assessment report seen by The Associated Press showed that the militants pocketed at least $7.3 million

from six ransom kidnappings involving 21 people in the first six months of the year.

Kidnapping payoffs

The report said the payoffs enabled the group to procure firearms and ammunition.

The President has ordered the military to destroy the Abu Sayyaf. The Philippine military said on Tuesday it has killed 70 Abu Sayyaf militants and captured 32 others since July.

The Philippines and Malaysia established diplomatic relations in 1959. Their defense cooperation is conducted through the Philippines-Malaysia Military Cooperation Working Group (MCWG).

Both armed forces agreed last year to curb smuggling, piracy, and terrorism in the waters between the two countries.

VP Robredo: Marcos hero’s burial is an ‘insult to the Filipino people’

PNR’s ‘Bicol Express’ may resume operations Nov.24

BY SAMMY F. MARTIN Philippines News Agency

BY AEROL B. PATENA Philippines News Agency

MANILA — Vice President Leni Robredo said Tuesday the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to allow the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is an “insult to the Filipino people.”

Robredo, one of the very vocal critics of a hero’s burial for Marcos, in a statement said: “We are deeply saddened by the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Robredo said in a statement.

“We have consistently opposed the burial of the Martial Law dictator in the heroes’ sacred ground. Their family’s refusal to take responsibility for atrocities of the regime is an insult to the Filipino people,” she added.

The human rights lawyer turned politician has been very vocal against Marcos as she re-

MANILA — After almost two years of literally ‘off track,’ the Philippine National Railways (PNR) is set to resume the operations of the Manila-Naga railway line as part of the Duterte administration’s efforts to provide another means of transportation for commuters.

The PNR management will conduct an ocular inspection on November 18 to determine if it will be feasible to resume operations.

“If we find it safe for the conduct of regular trips, we will resume its operations on Nov. 24,” DOTr public information officer Goddess Hope Libiran said in a text message to the Philippines News Agency.

PNR officials have earlier said that ongoing station development projects such as lengthening of platforms and provision of additional waiting areas are being conducted to ensure convenience of passengers.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo exchange views during the observance of the 3rd Anniversary of Typhoon "Yolanda."

QUIEL SUPERA/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/PNA

minds the atrocities he committed during his decades-long dictatorship regime.

The vice president earlier said that Marcos is “not a hero” who has “no right” to be buried at the heroes’ cemetery.

Robredo pointed out that issue might pass “the bar of legal technicality” but granting the dictator a burial fit for heroes

will “never be consistent with morality and the spirit of the Filipino people power revolution.”

“Our nation’s healing begins with the acknowledgment of the truth and resolution of the past. To bury Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani would keep the wounds of the past unhealed,” she concluded. www.canadianinquirer.net

The PNR has been working for some years on restoring the Manila-Naga railway line otherwise known as the Bicol Express. As of September 2013, operations to the Bicol Region have been suspended because of typhoon damages to bridges.

The railway management hoped to reopen the Bicol Express Service by about September 2014. However, it was announced that the Bicol Express’ resumption of services would be further delayed until October and November 2014 due to the damages brought by Typhoon Rammasun, known in the Philippines as Bagyong Glenda.

The Bicol Express provides commuters an alternative mode of transportation that is very competitive in price and comfort with provincial buses.

PNR currently operates the Metro South Commuter (MSC) line that runs daily from Tutuban to Sta. Rosa in Laguna, as well as the Bicol Commuter that caters to passengers between Naga and Sipocot.

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NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Panatag fishers told: Enjoy it while it lasts

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THERE ARE no guarantees on how long Filipinos can fish at Panatag Shoal without being stopped by Chinese authorities, but the Philippine government is proceeding along the “friendly” agreement with China that they can go there unmolested, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

After President Duterte’s state visit to China last month, Chinese naval vessels withdrew from Panatag, a rich fishing ground located off the coast of Zambales province and internationally known as Scarborough Shoal.

Chinese Coast Guard ships remain at the shoal, though.

No agreement

The Philippines has no formal agreement yet with Beijing concerning Filipinos’ access to Panatag Shoal, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella told reporters on Wednesday.

No guarantees have been dis- “friendly understanding” becussed as well, he said. tween Mr. Duterte and Chinese “At this stage, we’re not talk- President Xi Jinping is only to ing guarantees, we’re just going relax the Chinese blockade of by the fact that they, the fisher- Panatag Shoal. men, can now just go [there],” he said.

Satellite image Asked if this means the Fili“Despite earlier reports, it pino fishermen can be barred appears that Filipino fisherfrom the shoal again, Abella re- men are still not fishing inside plied: “Let’s just put it this way: Scarborough Shoal. New imAccording to the present arrangement, they just go and fish.”

He also said he The Philippines has no formal did not know if agreement yet with Beijing the arrangement concerning Filipinos’ access to concerning PanPanatag Shoal. atag Shoal was temporary.

But when the Philippines and China sit down agery from Oct. 29 showed a to discuss their maritime dis- China Coast Guard vessel anpute, he said Mr. Duterte would chored just inside the mouth bring up the July 12 ruling of of the lagoon, where it has been the UN-backed Permanent for most of the period since Court of Arbitration in The China seized the shoal in 2012, Hague that invalidated China’s apparently blocking access,” claim to nearly all of the South the Asian Maritime TransparChina Sea. ency Initiative (Amti) said on A US think tank believes the Wednesday.

The Oct. 29 picture showed a China Coast Guard vessel, repre- sented by a red dot, at the shoal. More than 10 Philippine fishing vessels, represented by yellow dots in the satellite photo, were seen along the reef’s exterior.

Two orange dots stood for Chinese ships in the vicinity with the Philippine vessels.

Status quo

“ B a s i c a l l y, the Xi-Duterte understanding seems to be to return to the status quo that was in effect for most of the Aquino presidency,” Gregory Poling, Amti director, told the Inquirer.

For Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, the imagery was inconclusive because it is “only a snapshot of a specific point in time.”

Batongbacal said there were

news reports that indicated the Filipinos were able to enter the shoal.

He said, however, that the presence of China Coast Guard vessels indicated China maintained administrative control of the shoal.

“Fishing is taking place effectively under their control,” Batongbacal said.

Nevertheless, Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque on Wednesday credited the friendlier relations with China and the Filipino fishermen’s return to Panatag to Mr. Duterte’s “more effective” foreign policy.

Roque said it was clear that Mr. Duterte had a better strategy in engaging China than former President Benigno Aquino III and former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.

It was the Aquino administration that brought the action in The Hague court, which ruled heavily in favor of the Philippines.

With reports from Nikko Dizon and DJ Yap

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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

7

President Duterte ‘Cultural revolution’ to cut to gov’t agencies: red tape, says DOF chief Fast-track ‘Yolanda’ projects

BY JOSEPH A. GAMBOA Philippines News Agency

PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered government agencies on Tuesday to speed up rehabilitation projects in Tacloban City, which was severely damaged by super typhoon “Yolanda” three years ago.

President Duterte, who expressed dissatisfaction on the slow pace of the ongoing rehabilitation works, ordered on the spot Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino to take charge of the rehabilitation projects.

He noted that after three years, only a number of bunkhouses and other shelter houses were built.

“Dapat ‘yang Yolanda, one year after, tapos na ‘yan lahat (One year after, everything should have been finished for Yolanda).

So you cut the red tape,” he said.

“I ask everybody to cooperate, kindly cooperate. Do not delay government projects,” he said, adding that he will be back in December to inspect the progress of rehabilitation projects.

The President likewise directed local government units to speed up processing of permits such as building, electrical and business permits to spur development and progress.

President Duterte also said he will come up with a regulation similar to Davao, wherein government permits are out in 72 hours.

“Ako, I do it in 72 hours. Any business permit that you would like to apply, it’s 72 hours in Davao… Then, beyond that, you go to the mayor and explain why you need more than 72 hours to process the papers,” he said.

The Chief Executive said there will be no room for laziness in his administration.

“Alam mo, indolence is part of corruption. When you are paid for eight hours to do your work, mag-trabaho ka ng eight hours, do not shortchange the

public,” he said.

In the same speech, President Duterte said he will no longer allow more than two bodyguards for government officials, citing the Alunan Doctrine.

“I will return the Alunan Doctrine. The doctrine says that more than three bodyguards, including you, kung may armas ka, pangatlo ka (if you have a weapon, you are third), that’s a private army and you will be arrested,” he said.

“Wala akong pakialam kung sinong governor ka o mayor (I do not care which governor or mayor you are). We go back to the simple days of you can have one or two,” he added.

President Duterte also warned the police to do their job properly. “‘Di kita papalusutin. But lahat ng pulis na nagpasubo sa trabaho (I will not go easy on you. But all the police that encounters issues), they will have my protection and I will not allow a single policeman to go to prison just because he is doing his duty. Tandaan ninyo ‘yan (Remember that),” he said.

The President also assured that the typhoon victims will receive emergency assistance worth P5,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and another P5,000 from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)’s Livelihood Assistance III. Earlier, President Duterte, together with two typhoon survivors, laid a wreath on the grave of one of the victims of the tragedy to demonstrate his sympathy and honor to those who perished.

After the wreath-laying, President Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo lighted a candle to show respects to those who died from the super typhoon.

Typhoon survivors and members of their respective families and friends also offered flowers and candles to their dead love ones.

DAVAO CITY — The Duterte administration has committed to pursue a combination of policy reforms, management innovations, and optimal use of information technology to keep government agencies truly responsive to the needs of the people.

Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said this mix of initiatives was necessary for the government to stage “nothing less than a cultural revolution” that would make every bureaucrat an enabler of citizens and businesses, in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s marching orders to his Cabinet to cut red tape in the bureaucracy.

Speaking before The Asset Magazine’s 11th Philippine Forum on Tuesday here at the Marco Polo Hotel, Dominguez said the government harnessed new, affordable technologies that transformed state agencies into catalysts for improving the ease of doing business in the Philippines.

The new technologies are also seen to boost the inflow of

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella acknowledges the significant role of the Department of Information and Communication Technology.

RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/PNA

foreign investments as well as upgrade the quality of frontline services to the citizenry.

He announced that the DOF had partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to develop an automated business and citizens’ databank portal that trailed blaze e-governance in the country.

According to the finance chief, the DICT-DOF project will establish a single database for verifying business and government records that would reduce processing time for government frontline services. The first stakeholders meeting for

the business databank portal was held last Oct. 26.

“Cutting red tape will enhance inclusive growth in our economy. I suspect that the weak culture of entrepreneurship we often complain about is, at least in part, due to the difficulty in setting up a business.

Government agencies behaved as gatekeepers instead of enablers,” he said.

Dominguez cited the assistance extended by the German government to the Philippines’ anti-red tape initiative of streamlining the documentary processes, particularly for imports and exports.

PHL military can now conduct own carrier landing exercises

BY PRIAM F. NEPOMUCENO Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Philippine military can now conduct its own “naval helicopter operations from floating assets” without assistance from any foreign government with the arrival of the country’s first strategic sealift vessel, the BRP Tarlac.

This was stressed by Defense public affairs office chief Arsenio Andolong in an interview.

The Philippines used to rely on the Americans when conducting such maneuvers during scheduled war games with the US. But this is now a thing of the past with the arrival of BRP www.canadianinquirer.net

Tarlac last May, Andolong said.

“Before (the arrival of ) our strategic sealift vessel, we have to rely on the Americans to provide us with carrier landing exercises because of the lack. But now, we have our own landing ship docks, we can do it ourselves,” Andolong said in Filipino.

Another SSV, the BRP Davao Del Sur, is expected to arrive by May 2017 and further beef up this capability.

He also believes that this boost in the Philippine military capabilities are among the reasons why Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte to reduce the number

of exercises with US forces.

However, it is certain that the country will no longer participate in the annual Amphibious Landing Exercises (PHIBLEX) and Cooperation Afloat Readiness Training (CARAT) exercises, which are purely naval in nature.

Andolong said there is nothing new on these reductions as 15 exercises, out of the 28, were scrapped during the term of President Benigno Aquino III. “Balikatan” and other exercises will continue but will focus on non-traditional operations such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter-terrorism and antinarcotics operations.

Philippine News

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NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Du30 eyes Russia guns President Duterte scoffs at the US state department’s cancellation of the sale of assault rifles to PNP Russia may have ‘everything’ for the country to address its needs for weapons, President says

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BY MARLON RAMOS, JEROME ANING, AND ALLAN NAWAL Philippine Daily Inquirer PRESIDENT DUTERTE has belittled the decision of the US state department to halt the planned sale of more than 27,000 assault rifles to the Philippine National Police, saying the Philippines could just turn to Russia for firearms.

“Susmaryosep! Is that all?” the President told reporters after visiting the tombs of his parents in Davao City on Tuesday night.

“Is that all they can say to threaten me? That they will not sell firearms to us? Wehave many air rifles here,” he said in jest.

The US state department stopped the planned sale of 27,304 M4 assault rifles to the PNP on Monday after Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin said he would oppose the transaction.

The state department informs the US Congress when international weapons sales are in the works. Aides said Senate foreign relations committee staff informed the state department that Cardin, the most senior Democrat on the committee, would oppose the deal with the Philippines during the department’s prenotification process for the sale of M4s, stopping the deal.

President Rodrigo Duterte says he is unfazed by any coup attempt against him, challenging those who are against his administration to run the government if they can.

TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/PNA)

erything you need,’” Mr. Duterte said, recounting his meeting in Davao with Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev before the elections in May. Russian light arms

Rights violations

Aides said Cardin was reluctant for the United States to provide weapons to the Philippines given concerns about human rights violations in the country.

More than 3,700 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes since Mr. Duterte took office and launched a brutal war on illegal drugs on June 30.

US criticism of Mr. Duterte’s violent campaign against drugs has angered the Philippine leader, who almost daily spews profanity-laced tirades against the United States, complicating relations between Washington and Manila.

Last month, during a state visit to Beijing, Mr. Duterte declared “separation” from the United States and realignment to China and Russia.

Before his trip to Beijing, Mr. Duterte said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to the Philippines, but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

In Davao City on Tuesday night, Mr. Duterte said his administration may turn to Russia for arming PNP personnel.

“Remember what the Russian diplomat said? ‘Come to Russia. We have ev-

The Russians have nothing like the short, light M4 assault rifle that fires the popular 5.56millimeter cartridge.

But standard issue for Russian police forces is the Vityas-SN submachine gun, chambered for the 9x19-mm Parabellum round, and PP-2000, a police submachine gun that also fires the 9x19mmParabellum cartridge.

For police pistols, the Russians have the Yarygin PYa Grach chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum round and looks like a variant of the 9-mm Czechmade CZ SPO1.

Still standard issue for Russian police forces is the Makarov pistol, chambered for the 9x18-mm Makarov cartridge, which is little known in the Philippines.

For rifles, the Russians can offer the PNP, and maybe the Philippine Army and the Ma- rines, various versions of the AK-47, the latest of which is the AKM-47, which is chambered for the heavy 7.62x39-mm cartridge.

PNP still wants M4s

Even so, the PNPis not yet giving up hope that it could get M4s.

The national police chief told reporters on Wednesday that the US supplier, SIG Sauer, had told the PNP that as of

www.canadianinquirer.net

Nov. 1, the export license for the M4 sale was still “undergoing the normal process” in the US state department.

“We will continue to monitor the status of this license and advice of any meaningful changes,” said PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

“We don’t yet have an official notice confirming the alleged halting of the procurement. For now, the delivery will push through,” he said.

Dela Rosa said the M4s were intended for the PNP campaign against private armed groups, not for Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.

In a radio interview earlier on Wednesday, Dela Rosa said his men could use pistols or even their fists in fighting drug suspects.

Dela Rosa said his only regret should the M4 deal fall through would be “the time lost,” as the government would have to conduct another competitive bidding for a new contract for M4s from another source.

In a news briefing at Malacañang on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, commenting on Cardin’s concern about the human rights situation in the Philippines, said President Duterte had invited the United Nations to investigate.

“However, the invitation itself does not preclude a careful process on procedures to be agreed upon between the Philippine government and the [United Nations],” Abella said.

Philippine News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

9

SC allows Marcos burial at heroes cemetery

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD T. CALIWAN Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday allowed President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to bury former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) in Taguig City.

In a 9-5 vote, the high court dismissed all petitions seeking to block the said move.

“The petitions are dismissed.

Necessarily, the status quo ante order is hereby lifted,” SC Spokesperson Theodore Te said in press conference.

Te said the magistrates did not say whether the ruling is immediately executory but said the petitioners may still file a motion for reconsideration.

“The majority found that the allotment of a cemetery plot at the LNMB for former President Marcos as a former President and Commander-in-Chief, a legislator, a Secretary of National Defense, a military personnel, a veteran, and a Medal of Valor awardee, whether recognizing his contributions or simply his status as such, satisfies the public use requirement,” Te said as he read the summary of the decision.

“There are certain things that are better left for history — not this court — to adjudge. The court could only do so much in accordance with clearly established rules and principles. Beyond that, it is ultimately for the people themselves, as the sovereign, to decide, a task that may require the better perspective that the passage of time provides.

In the meantime, the country must move on and let this issue rest,” the high court added.

The court found that President Duterte committed no grave abuse of discretion in ordering the remains of former President Ferdinand Marcos be buried in the LNMB because this was done in the exercise of his mandate under the Article 7, section 17 of the 1987 constitution to ensure the faithful execution of all laws and there is no law that prohibits the burial of Marcos’ remains at the LNMB. “At bar, President Duterte, through the public respondents acted within the bounds of law and jurisprudence. Nothwithstanding the call of human

Supporters of the late President Ferdinand Marcos gather and march to Supreme Court to show support for his Burial at the Libingan ng Bayani.

AVITO C. DALAN / PNA

rights advocates, the Court must uphold what is legal and just and that is not to deny Marcos his rightful place at the LNMB,” the high court said.

The SC said President Duterte is not bound by the 1992 agreement between the Marcos family and former President Fidel Ramos which provides that the late strongman’s remains will be interred in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

“As the incumbent, President Duterte is free to amend, revoke or rescind political agreements entered into by his predecessors and to determine policies which he considers, based on informed judgment and presumed wisdom, will be most effective in carrying out his mandate,” the high court said.

While there are allegations of human rights violations committed by the late strongman, the high court said Marcos is still not disqualified to be buried at the LNMB because he has not been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. “(T)he various cases cited by petitioners, which were decided with finality by courts here and abroad, have no bearing in this case since they were merely civil in nature; hence, (they) cannot and do not establish moral turpitude,” the high court said.

The high court also said “presumption of regularity in the performance of official duty prevails over petitioners’ highly disputed factual allegation that, in the guise of exercising a presidential prerogative, the Chief Executive is actually motivated by utang na loob (debt of gratitude) and bayad utang (payback) to the Marcoses.

“As the prupose is not self-

evident, petitioners have the burden of proof to establish the factual basis of their claim.

They failed. Even so, this Court cannot take cognizance of factual issues since we are not a trier of facts,” the high court stressed.

Among those who voted to allow Marcos burial at the LNMB are Associate Justices Presbitero J. Velasco Jr.; Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro; Arturo D. Brion; Diosdado M. Peralta; Mariano C. Del Castillo; Lucas P. Bersamin; Jose P. Perez; Jose C. Mendoza and Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe.

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, Senior Associate Justice An-

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tonio T. Carpio and Associate Justices Francis H. Jardeleza; Marvic F. Leonen and Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa voted to oppose Marcos’ burial at the heroes cemetery.

Associate Justice Bienvenido Reyes, meanwhile, inhibited from the case. The SC first issued a status quo ante order (SQA) issued on the matter last August 23 which was later extended on Sept. 7.

But at the conclusion of oral arguments last Sept. 7, the SC extended the effectivity of the order.

Last Oct. 18, the high court extended for the second time the halt order until Nov. 8, according to the SC spokesman.

The High Court has consolidated the seven petitions filed by groups of martial law victims, led by former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales, a group led by former Senator Heherson Alvarez, a group of University of the Philippines students, former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao human rights chair Algamar Latiph, and Senator Leila De Lima.

The petitioners argued that the planned burial of the late dictator was “illegal and contrary to law, public policy, mor-

als and justice.”

They claimed that allowing the burial of the former leader would violate Republic Act No. 289 (law regulating the Libingan ng mga Bayani) and R.A. 10368 (Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act) and also argued that the burial would also violate constitutional provision on state policies.

On the contrary, Solicitor General Jose Calida invoked the President’s authority under the Constitution and Revised Administrative Code to decide on political question that does not involve any justifiable issue for the high court to resolve.

During the oral arguments before the SC, the top government counsel argued that it is within the powers of the President to decide on whether to allow or not the burial of former President Marcos at the heroes cemetery.

Calida said Marcos is very much qualified to be buried at the LNMB because he is a former President, a Medal of Valor awardee, a war veteran and a statesman.

Ferdinand E. Marcos, who ruled the country for 20 years until he was ousted in 1986, died at the age of 72, on Sept. 29, 1989 after succumbing to heart, lung and kidney ailments.

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Philippine News

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

De Lima files test case vs Duterte in SC

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer SEN. LEILA de Lima on Monday asked the Supreme Court to stop President Duterte and his men from collecting information about her private life and from issuing statements maligning her womanhood and dignity.

De Lima went to the high court to file a petition for a writ of habeas data against Mr. Duterte, whom she accused of violating her right to privacy, life and liberty.

Her action came after months of being at the receiving end of the President’s wrath—he accused her of being an immoral woman who had sexual relations with her driver and threatened he would destroy her.

Malacañang said the senator was portraying herself as a victim and using her gender to divert attention from the illegal drug allegations against her.

De Lima “is apparently playing the gender card as a shield against mounting evidence of her ties with high-profile drug lords,” said presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

Fighter

In a statement she read at a news conference after she filed her petition in the high court, De Lima said, “Rodrigo Roa Duterte, you were right about one thing: Yes, I am a fighter.

And this is me, taking my stand, fighting. You call me a slut, a woman of the world.”

“Yes, I am a woman. I am a strong woman who will not allow an insecure man to destroy her,” she said.

The petition is a test case because it challenges the President’s immunity from suit.

“I am here to exorcise my demon,” De Lima said at the news conference attended by her lawyers and supporters. “(Mr. Duterte) wears a crown and sits on a throne now, but that should not shield him from being held responsible for launching a personal vendetta against one of his own citizens.”

She also said that the case she had filed was against “Rodrigo

Aquino: Marcos’ Libingan burial a desecration

BY AIE BALAGTAS SEE AND NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer

COURTESY OF SEN. GRACE POE'S FACEBOOK PAGE

Roa Duterte” and not the President of the country. “It just happens that one of the masks of Rodrigo Roa Duterte was the mask of President of our country.”

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said one “cannot sue the President in every turn. Otherwise, you chain the President and prevent him from performing his tasks under the Constitution.”

‘Not immune’

De Lima and her lawyer, Jose Manuel Diokno, insisted that Mr. Duterte was not immune from habeas data suit.

“The verbal attacks on petitioner’s womanhood and threats on her person are not covered by presidential immunity from suit because they are not the official acts of the President. They constitute the unlawful, unofficial conduct that have nothing to do with the President’s duties and responsibilities,” her petition said.

It added that the verbal attacks as admitted by Mr. Duterte stemmed from a grudge he had against De Lima, who investigated the President, then mayor of Davao City, for his links to the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects through assassins of the so-called Davao Death Squad. She was then chair of the Commission on Human Rights.

Spate of killings

This year, De Lima said Mr. Duterte’s verbal tirades against her escalated after she initiated

a Senate committee investigation of the spate of killings in the President’s brutal crackdown on drugs, which has left more than 3,700 drug suspects dead.

She asked the high court to grant a writ of habeas data covering the following: Enjoining (Mr. Duterte) and any of his representatives, agents, assigns, officers, or employees from collecting information about petitioner’s private life outside the realm of legitimate public concern.

Disclosing to the petitioner the name of the foreign country, who, according to the President, “helped him” listen in on the petitioner, the manner and means by which he listened in on petitioner and the sources of his information or where the data about the petitioner’s private life and alleged private affairs came from.

Ordering the deletion, destruction or rectification of such data or information.

Enjoining the respondent from making public statements that a) malign her as a woman and degrade her dignity as a human being; b) sexually discriminate against her; c) describe or publicize her alleged sexual misconduct; d) constitute psychological violence against her; and e) otherwise violate her rights or are contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy and/or public interest.

With reports from Marlon Ramos and Gil C. Cabacungan www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY

FORMER PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Sunday described a burial of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos among heroes as a “desecration” of Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“The pro[burial] seems to be one group. The antiburial seems to be so many groups, and in a sense representing the whole political spectrum … I still cling to the hope that there are a lot, if not a very significant majority, who are against this burial and the desecration of Libingan ng mga Bayani,” Aquino said.

He briefly joined the crowd that gathered at the Lapu-Lapu Monument in Manila’s Rizal Park on Sunday night for the “Pray for 8” event—a prayercum-concert organized in the hopes that at least eight justices on the Supreme Court would vote granting the petitions to stop the Duterte administration from burying the late dictator at Libingan.

The burial of Marcos at Libingan in Taguig City was widely perceived as a concession by President Duterte to the dictator’s family, led by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., a close friend and ally.

‘Like lotto’

The Supreme Court is expected to vote today (Tuesday) on the petitions opposing the burial of Marcos there on the grounds that it would violate the laws that recognized Marcos as a despotic leader under whose regime thousands of Filipinos suffered and were stripped of their rights.

One law grants remuneration to the victims of human rights violations during the Maros regime.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, a daughter of the late dictator, said on Monday that news reports predicting the votes of Supreme Court justices on the motion opposing the burial of Marcos at Libingan were “like lotto.”

Imee, who led a prayer vigil in front of the high court on Padre Faura Street in Manila, said it was best to wait for the decision, which was expected to be out today, instead of predicting numbers.

Aquino said just like any other citizen, he was “awaiting the decision” of the Supreme Court. He declined to comment on rumors about how the justices would vote.

At present, Marcos’ preserved body is encased in a glass coffin and kept on public display at the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte province.

The Marcos family has prepared a bronze coffin for his burial.

Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, three years after the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution ended his two-decade rule.

His widow, Imelda, and his children were subsequently allowed to return home, where they have since regained political clout.

In 1993, then President Fidel Ramos allowed Marcos’ body to be brought home, on the condition that he would be buried in Ilocos Norte.

Share stories, dark period

Asked if the movement opposing a Marcos burial at Libingan would continue should the Supreme Court decide in favor of the Duterte administration, the former President said it was a question for the citizens who this time, “have decided to make their voices heard.”

Aquino, the only son of democracy icons Ninoy and Cory Aquino, reiterated that it was time for other martial law families to share their stories, one of the reasons he has mostly been silent on the Marcos burial issue.

The former President recalled that one of the “darkest periods” of martial law was the mock military trial of his father who faced trumped-up charges in the 1970s, expressing hope that such a kangaroo court would not happen in the country again.

Philippine News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

11

36 bullets found in 79-year-old man’s bag at Naia

BY JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE Philippine Daily Inquirer A 79-YEAR-OLD man who had just arrived from the United States was stopped on Tuesday from boarding his connecting flight to Laoag at the Ninoy Aqui-

no International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2 after a box of ammunition was found in his bag.

According to Aviation Security Unit-National Capital Region (Avseu-NCR) chief Senior Supt. Reynaldo Garcia, the bag of Rufino Rondaris, holder of an American passport, contained 36 bullets for a .25-cal. pistol.

But Rondaris denied any knowledge of the bullets and indignantly told the Inquirer: “Why would I have bullets on me? What use will I have for them? I don’t even own a gun.”

Garcia said that Rondaris initially arrived at the Naia Terminal 1 on PR 103 from Los Angeles, the same flight that

Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa were on.

Rondaris’ final destination, however, was Laoag City for which he had a connecting flight at Terminal 2.

Garcia said that when Rondaris’ green suitcase went

through the X-ray scanning machine, the security screening officers saw what seemed to be bullets inside a box. The box was later found in one of the pockets inside the passenger’s suitcase.

Rondaris is set to be charged with illegal possession of ammunition in the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office.

High court joins probe of mayor’s slay

BY GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer

Yap, in what the police said was a shootout between officers and the two men inside the Baybay City subprovincial jail on Saturday.

THE SUPREME Court will conduct its own investigation of the killing of Albuera Mayor Police custody Rolando Espinosa Sr. and anEspinosa was held on illegal other inmate, focusing on the drugs and firearms charges afjudge and the search warrants ter police seized at least 11.5 he issued, which the police kilograms of “shabu” (methamhad used to enter the men’s jail phetamine hydrochloride) and cells, the court’s spokesperson several firearms and ammunisaid on Tuesday. tion from his house.

Questions have been raised, The mayor had sought proincluding by some lawmakers, tective custody for fear of his on why a search warrant had life after he and his son, Ker- PNP Chief Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa (right) with Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando to be served on the two men al- win, were tagged as among the Espinosa, Sr. ready held in jail, and in the wee biggest drug lords in Eastern COURTESY OF PNP'S OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE hours of the morning.

Visayas.

“The Supreme Court has The CIDG said officers ob- handguns from both men and fairs Service, has said the IAS ordered an investigation into tained the search warrants suspected “shabu” from Yap. investigation would be “imparthe circumstance relative to from Judge Tarcelo Sabarre PNP Director General Ron- tial and independent.” the purported issuance of the of the Regional Trial Court ald dela Rosa on Tuesday asInterior Secretary Ismael search warrant directed to Branch 30 of Basey, Samar, sured the safety of high-profile Sueno said he has also ordered the CIDG that led to the death against Espinosa for violating drug personalities who would the National Police Commisin custody of Albuera Mayor Republic Act No. 10591, or the surrender and he offered his sion to conduct its own investiRolando Espinosa,” said the firearms law, and against Yap personal protection to the gation and make it a “top priorcourt’s spokesmayor’s son, ity.” person, Theowho is currently dore Te. in detention in Senate inquiry Te told reportthe United Arab The Senate committee on ers the court had Espinosa was held on illegal drugs Emirates. public order and illegal drugs yet to lay down and firearms charges after police “He (Kerwin) headed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson the parameters seized at least 11.5 kilograms of should not wor- is set to open on Thursday its of the probe. “shabu.” ry. I will guard probe of the killings of EspiMembers of him even if I nosa and Datu Saudi Ampatuan the Philippine have to do it my- Mayor Samsudin Dimaukom, National Police self. Nothing will who was also identified as a Criminal Investigation and for violating RA 9165, or the happen to him,” he said. drug lord.

Detection Group (CIDG) killed dangerous drugs law.

Leo Angelo Leuterio, acting Lacson has invited the police Espinosa and an inmate, Raul Police said they recovered chief of the PNP Internal Af- team that raided the jail, jail

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guards, warden and Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominic Petilla.

In a report to Sueno, the IAS said 19 policemen, including the designated supervisor, Supt. Santi Noel Matira, and the team leader, Chief Insp. Leo Laraga, are under investigation for their involvement in the jail raid.

The other CIDG personnel undergoing investigation were identified as assistant team leaders Senior Insp. Deogracias Diaz III and Senior Insp.

Fritz Blanco; and team members SPO4 Juanito Duarte, SPO4 Melvin Cayobit, SPO2 Benjamin Dacallos, SPO2 Alphinor Serrano Jr., PO3 Jhonny Ibanez, PO3 Norman Abellanosa, PO1 Bernard Orpilla, PO1 Lloyd Ortiguesa, and PO1 Jerlan Cabiyaan.

Also being investigated are six members of the Regional Maritime Group 8 who were support members of the CIDG operations team led by Chief Insp. Calixto C. Canillas, team leader; Senior Insp. Lucrecito Candilosas, assistant team leader; and team members SPO2 Antonio Docil, SPO1 Mark Christian Cadilo, PO2 Jhon Ruel Ducolan, and PO2 Jaime Bacsal.

With reports from Christine Avedaño, Jerome Aning, Tarra Quizmundo and Jeannette Andrade

12

Philippine News

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

DICT submits proposed nat’l broadband network plan to President Duterte Secretary Rodolfo A. Salalima (left) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) delivers his welcome remarks during the 1st DICT Summit with the theme "Implementing ICT-Based Solutions to Mitigate Traffic Congestion Nationwide."

JESS M. ESCAROS JR. / PNA

Build, build, build Government to spend P8 trillion for infrastructure projects over the next 5 years The projects include new roads, bridges, railways and the improvement of airports Malacañang seeks emergency powers to ensure that the projects are not delayed

BY JODEE A. AGONCILLO Philippine Daily Inquirer “BUILD, BUILD, build” is the battlecry of the Duterte administration as it intends to ramp up infrastructure spending to the tune of P8 trillion in the next five years, according to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

Cabinet members on Thursday called on Congress to grant President Duterte emergency powers on transportation projects as they presented the administration’s planned infrastructure program to spur development and ease traffic congestion in the country.

Without the emergency powers, the projects, which include new roads, bridges, railways, and the improvement of airports, will be delayed, Tugade said.

Selective bidding

“Is the population willing to wait some more?” he said at a press briefing in Malacañang.

The emergency powers being sought for the President would allow him to conduct selective bidding, direct contracting, or negotiated procurement for materials or services for projects intended to deal with the transport problem.

The bill that would authorize these powers would also bar lower courts from issuing temporary restraining orders or injunctions against the projects.

Only the Supreme Court would be given the authority to issue such an order.

Tugade allayed fears that the

emergency powers would lead to corruption.

He said a freedom of information portal would be put up so that the public could track the progress of the projects. “We shall be transparent and we shall be accountable,” he said.

Joining Tugade in his call for emergency powers are Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Bases Conversion Development Authority president Vince Dizon.

‘Golden age’ for infra

The projects are intended to spur development, create jobs, deal with road and traffic problems and high prices.

“We need the emergency power to expedite … . If they would not give it, we will do what we believe needs to be done, but there will be delays,” Tugade said.

Pernia said the administration would be the “golden age for infrastructure,” and once the projects are rolled out, work would be done 24/7.

“We have been lagging behind our Asean neighbors even Asian neighbors as well and so the infrastructure deficit is so huge that we really have to double time, triple time to even approach parity with the infrastructure level of our neighbors in Asia,” Pernia said.

But he advised the public to manage expectations.

Pernia said there would be inconveniences first while the projects were being undertaken.

BY AEROL JOHN B. PATENA Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte its proposal to provide faster Internet access to the countryside through the establishment of a national broadband network plan.

DICT Sec. Rodolfo Salalima disclosed that the agency is developing a plan that will enable the government to provide physical infrastructure with telecommunications firms leasing their services to complement with the structure.

“We are waiting for the decision of the President on the

national broadband network plan,” the secretary said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the first information communication technology (ICT) summit on easing congestion through telecommuting and ICT-based solutions held at the Makati Shangrila Tuesday.

DICT would be using existing fiber optic grids that easily transmit Internet communication signals providing wider access to the countryside and engage with mobile communication firms if the need arises.

In his first State of the Nation Address, President Duterte directed the DICT to develop a new national broadband plan to be aimed at providing wire-

less technologies to improve Internet speed.

He also directed the agency to ensure free Wi-Fi access in selected public places including parks, plazas, public libraries, schools, government hospitals, train stations, airports and seaports.

The National Broadband Plan is focused on implementing universal internet access by setting up of government’s own interconnection facilities, independent of those that were set-up by private telecommunications company.

The infrastructure to be built under this plan will be owned by the government and will help private telecommunication operators to rapidly deploy in the regions.

Syndicates could be behind drug killings, says Abella

BY MARLON RAMOS AND NIKKO DIZON Philippine Daily Inquirer

best way to describe the situation,” he said.

Espinosa, 54, and his son, Kerwin, were named by the President as the biggest drug THE DUTERTE administralords in Eastern Visayas. tion has nothing to gain from This prompted the mayor to the death of Albuera Mayor Roturn himself in to Philippine lando Espinosa Sr., Malacañang National Police Director Gensaid on Tuesday as it distanced eral Ronald dela Rosa at Camp itself from poCrame, where he licemen suspectstayed for seved of executing eral days for fear detained drug of his life. suspects.

I think these are actually actions taken Kerwin, on the Reacting to by certain parties who are interested other hand, fled criticisms of the in the elimination of those (drug abroad, but was police action, suspects). recently arrested presidential in Abu Dhabi, spokesperson United Arab Ernesto Abella Emirates. said it was wrong On Saturday, to equate President Duterte’s drug personalities were “some- Espinosa was gunned down by strong statements against ille- thing that really needs to be ex- members of the police Crimigal drugs to the killings of Espi- amined and investigated prop- nal Investigation and Detecnosa and other drug personali- erly.” tion Group after he supposedties in custody.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson referred ly engaged them in a firefight “The death of Espinosa does to the killing of Espinosa as a when they tried to serve two not add to the gains of the gov- palpable case of extrajudicial search warrants in his prison ernment nor of the President,” killing by the police, but that cell at Leyte’s subprovincial Abella said. would mean that it was state- jail in Baybay City. A fellow Echoing police claims, he said sanctioned, Abella said. inmate, Raul Yap, also was the killings could have been the “It really is not. It’s not the killed. www.canadianinquirer.net

handiwork of drug syndicates.

“So it’s not a question of being incited by the words of the President. I think these are actually actions taken by certain parties who are interested in the elimination of those (drug suspects),” Abella said.

Nonetheless, he said such suspicious deaths of arrested

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

13

Donald Trump...

As a result, the country’s first African-American president, the progressive and still-relatively-popular Barack Obama, stands to be replaced by a populist he deeply disdains and who rose to political prominence by insinuating Obama was born in Africa.

Trump was written off again and again, repeatedly shocking the political establishment since last year — first by running, then by becoming a contender, winning the nomination and finally by moving into the Oval Office.

He gave a gracious concession speech that complimented his rival, sought to reassure minorities, promised peace with other countries, and asking for help governing even from people who opposed him. “(Ours is) a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions, backgrounds and beliefs,” Trump said, his family and advisers by his said.

“We will get along with all other nations willing to get along with us... We expect to have great, great relationships.”

Trump vastly outperformed electoral prognostications and market forecasts that viewed a historic Clinton victory as a fait accompli, taking Florida, Ohio, and northern industrial states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that hadn’t gone Republican in decades.

Clinton did not speak Wednesday — but she called the president-elect.

The prospect of a Trump presidency jolted the markets: at one point, Dow futures plunged more than 4 per cent and Japan’s major index nosedived more than 6.1 per cent, its largest drop in years. The Mexican peso likewise tumbled and investors looking for safe assets bid up the price of gold.

Trump’s threat to scrap trade deals and slap tariffs on foreignmade goods as punishment for

❰❰ 1

job outsourcing might have dismayed many Canadians, economists, businesses and brokers.

Yet it was central to his message to white working-class voters in the old industrial belt.

Democrats made another bet — that his comments about Mexicans, Muslims and women that made him a hero to whitesupremacist groups would prove so disgusting to other voters that Clinton would be carried to the presidency on the backs of minorities, the college-educated, and females, the coalition that elected Barack Obama.

The first reaction from a famous foreign politician came from the leader of France’s farright National Front. Marine Le Pen tweeted: “Congratulations to the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, and to the American people, free.”

He was considered so unpalatable a choice by so many that senior members of his party refused to endorse him or appear at election rallies with him. He was shunned by every living Republican nominee except Bob Dole.

The Bushes made it known they didn’t vote for him, along with Mitt Romney and John McCain. A former speechwriter for George W. Bush offered an example of the fatalistic attitude permeating political circles in Washington.

“On the bright side, 227 years is a really good run for a republic,” tweeted Canadian David Frum, referring to the number of years since George Washington became the first American president.

At Trump headquarters in Manhattan, people chanted, “U-S-A!” and, “Lock her up!” in reference to Hillary Clinton.

People were reportedly in tears, some even leaving early at the Democratic gathering across town.

Democrats began the evening

expecting to celebrate a different kind of history.

Clinton had an evening rally scheduled under a see-through roof, a symbolic nod to the prospect of the first female president smashing the ultimate glass ceiling and occupying perhaps the most powerful office in the world.

Her campaign was repeatedly sidetracked: by hacks of her aides’ emails, conflict-of-interest allegations into her family’s charitable foundation, an investigation and leaks from the FBI and voter confusion about her platform.

The Democrats’ campaign even focused on Trump.

Clinton’s platform, titled “Stronger Together,” was a nod to her opponent’s racially tinged rhetoric. The message obscured the actual purpose of her platform — economic inequality. Some elements, like a parental-leave program, are shared by her rival — who is the least conservative Republican nominee in memory.

Trump’s inimitable style of American populism veers from right to left; from military hawkishness to doveish language. He could have the opportunity to pass an unusually high number of bills, depending on which party agrees with his policy of the moment.

His North American neighbours would be watching nervously for moves on trade. He’s demanded a renegotiation of NAFTA, without offering details, and promises to rip it up if unsuccessful.

One Canadian official expressed doubt in a recent conversation that it would get that far. Even if a president did order NAFTA scrapped, the impact of the move would be softened by several firewalls — the need for Congress to reinstate old tariffs, and potentially by the continued existence of the old 1987 Canada-U.S. agreement.

“I don’t really think we’re in

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GINO SANTA MARIA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

danger there,” said the Canadian official. “There would be a revolt by the private sector...

His own party would revolt.”

If it happens, a Trump victory would also deprive the current president of a historic achievement.

A Democratic win would have placed Obama in the company of Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan as the only postwar presidents to have a successor extend their party’s time in the White House beyond two terms.

Republicans roared to big victories down-ballot that allowed them to retain some control of Congress: they held the House of Representatives as expected, and narrowly retained the Senate — which would give a Republican president considerable, but not total, power.

Pundits struggled to process what was happening.

On Fox News, the moderator of the last presidential debate wondered whether, in the seat of power, he’d continue to be the erratic insult-flinger he’d been on the stump. And stumped Chris Wallace was.

“Is he going to be different than the candidate Trump? The only answer you can really give is, ‘Who the hell knows?’ And I don’t know that he necessarily knows,” Wallace said.

“But let’s face it: He’s a

70-year-old billionaire who pulled off the most improbable victory in the history of our country. I’m not sure that humility and a feeling of, ‘Gee, I’ve gotta change the way I do business,’ is necessarily gonna be at the top of his agenda...

“He may think: ‘You know what? I’m smarter than all these guys.”’

Others debated what caused this result — which could keep busy generations of historians and political scientists.

A former ambassador to Russia who’d clashed with Vladimir Putin bitterly tweeted, in reference to the Wikileaks hacks: “Putin intervened in our election and succeeded.” Michael McFaul added in Russian: “Well done.”

He got a blunt response from an international-relations expert who’d accidentally helped coin Trump’s foreign-policy slogan. Ian Bremmer had noted that it sounded like the “American First” isolationists during the Second World War — and Trump loved the slogan, embracing it.

“Disagree,” Bremmer tweeted back.

“If Trump wins it’s our fault alone.”

Opinion

14

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

House tackles bills on death penalty

BY FILANE Z. CERVANTES Philippines News Agency MANILA — A subcommittee of the House of Representatives’ justice committee on Wednesday started its deliberations on the measures calling for the restoration of the death penalty on heinous crimes.

The subcommittee on judicial reforms, chaired by Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, tackled seven bills on death penalty pursuant to the legislative agenda of the Duterte administration.

In an interview, Veloso said he is personally in favor of restoring death penalty as a crime deterrent. He also said the bill can be approved by final reading before Christmas break as earlier promised by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

During the subcommittee

hearing, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) President Dante Jimenez said reimposing death penalty is necessary to succeed in the war against crime, corruption and illegal drugs.

“The most effective option would be to let the Death Penalty Law work out its full effect hand-in-hand with reforms in the administration of justice by truly concerned government with the people’s plight in its heart waging a war with an unbending political will,” said Jimenez.

The anti-crime group also proposed the downgrading of the threshold amount for plunder from PHP50 million to PHP10 million to discourage the stealing of the people’s money by public and private officials.

Alvarez, one of the authors of House Bill No. 1, said there is a

need to reimpose death penalty as an “all-out offensive” against all forms of felonious acts, especially amid the alarming rise of the national crime rate.

Alvarez proposed in his bill lethal injection as a mode to

carry out capital punishment for heinous crimes.

“There is evidently a need to reinvigorate the war against criminality by reviving a proven deterrent coupled by its consistent, persistent, and deter-

mined implementation, and this need is as compelling and critical as any,” the bill read.

“The imposition of the death penalty for heinous crimes and the mode of its implementation, both subjects of repealed laws, are crucial components of an effective dispensation of both reformative and retributive justice,” it added.

Veloso said the next hearing is set next Tuesday and the subcommittee will be conducting four to five hearings before they refer the matter to the mother committee.

Death penalty in the Philippines was abolished in 2006 during the administration of President Gloria MacapagalArroyo.

According to the 1987 Constitution, death penalty should not be imposed unless, for compelling reasons, Congress provides for it.

PUBLIC LIVES

The chilling rationality of the war on drugs

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer PEOPLE SOMETIMES think that President Duterte is crazy to be making enemies on various fronts.

In the four months since he was sworn into office, he has antagonized the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, the local and foreign media, the Catholic Church, sections of the business community, human rights organizations, and many others.

He has warned the judiciary, Congress, local government units, and state security forces not to stand in his way as he pursues his professed goal of rescuing the Filipino nation from the narcotic menace.

But, in fact, he has been quite systematic in his timing and choice of enemies. He knows that so long as it is absorbed in its own electoral process, the US government is unlikely to do anything decisive on the international front that could be used as an issue in the presidential election. The EU is too preoccupied with pressing refugee and immigration problems to bother with the rise of a foul-mouthed autocrat in another part of the world. The UN itself is in the middle of a leadership transition. As for the different human rights groups that have hounded him since he was Davao City

mayor, Mr. Duterte knows there’s In short, Mr. Duterte has se- operations has been collected in nothing he can do anyway to keep cured the strategic space he needs this manner. them off his back. to focus his entire firepower on Subsequently, a two-faced apMeanwhile, no matter what the the war on illegal drugs—a war, as proach to eliminating the problem media might think of him, this he likes to put it, to stop the rise began to take shape. Its legal face volatile President makes good of a narcostate in the Philippines. entails the deployment of police copy. His continuing popularity The scale of narcotrafficking in units, sometimes accompanied by has forced the vocal section of the the country has never been the ob- media persons, to suspected drug institutional Church into discern- ject of sustained public attention. dens and laborato- ries. A shooting silence. By the sheer force of Thus, even after he threatened to out might ensue in the darkness, his discursive bluntness, he has slaughter millions until the last with suspects being killed as they relegated legislators and magis- drug pusher is eliminated, people supposedly resist arrest and put trates to the role of enablers and tended to be dismissive of this war up a fight. At other times, the pospectators. He has kept the police as nothing but inflated rhetoric. lice might actually take suspects and the military in check by al- But, that perception has drastically into custody. The effect of these ternately wooing and threatening changed. raids has been to clog jails, and to them. saddle the police But, more than with enormous In short, Mr. Duterte has secured the strategic space all of these, what amounts of paperhe needs to focus his entire firepower on the war on illegal has given the work. drugs—a war, as he likes to put it, to stop the rise of a narcostate Duterte adminisThe dark twin in the Philippines. tration a free hand of this approach— in its brutal war never acknowlon drugs is the suspension of the There is a chilling rationality to edged by the state—entails the use country’s longstanding war with all this. The killings started almost of so-called “vigilantes.” More than the Moro and communist insur- right after the election results con- three out of five drug-related killgents. By personally inviting them firmed Mr. Duterte’s unexpected ings in the last four months have to the peace table and, in the case of victory—as though to signal the ad- been ascribed to vigilantes. These the communist movement, by hon- vent of a new era. Corpses, some- are usually helmeted riders on oring its leaders with the unprec- times wrapped in packing tape, motorcycles, or masked gunmen edented privilege of nominating started showing up in dark alleys, who swoop into neighborhoods their choices for key Cabinet posi- with cardboard signs labeling them with no other objective but to kill. tions, he has effectively disarmed as drug pushers. Then, the police The bodies of the victims, ostensithem. No other president has gone began knocking on doors in urban bly all drug pushers, sometimes lie this far. And no other president poor communities, inviting drug uncollected by their relatives. Even has been spared the standard left- suspects to voluntarily submit to in those instances where families ist calumny that lumps the nation’s registration and rehabilitation. painfully grieve for their murdered president with US imperialism.

Much information about local drug kin, only a few go out of their way

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to complain to the media or to get a lawyer to seek redress from the courts.

Two things deter them from pursuing formal justice. First, as they are usually aware of their kin’s involvement in drugs, they fear that they themselves could easily be implicated in any investigation. Second, they are often intimidated by the gunmen’s capacity to kill with impunity and come back for the rest of the family.

In a democracy, it is the state’s duty to investigate these killings, whether perpetrated by the police or by unidentified gunmen.

But, apart from noting them in police blotters as “deaths under investigation,” the authorities have shown little inclination to look into them. The usual police account explains these deaths as casualties in the cleansing war launched by the drug dealers themselves.

No one seriously buys this. Yet, every effort to prove the state’s complicity in these killings has been viciously attacked for showing more concern for criminals than for the countless victims of the drug menace. Behind this murderous righteousness is the twisted belief, unfortunately shared by many, that the rule of law is a luxury we can ill afford in a time of war. ■

Opinion

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

15

From conflict to communion

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Philippine Daily Inquirer Oct. 31 was a special day for Lutherans and Roman Catholics. Pope Francis went to Lund, Sweden, for the joint LutheranCatholic ecumenical commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation led by Martin Luther in 1517 that marked a bitter schism.

What a bloody split that was, after Luther, German priest, monk and theologian of high intellect, pinned his “95 Theses” on a church door in Germany to dramatize his issues against the Catholic Church, many of them crying to be addressed, if not legitimate indeed. You can look it up on the internet.

The Catholic Church got it straight in the face, and Luther was unceremoniously excommunicated. But his move created a divide so deep that things were never the same again. He had shaken the ramparts of an institution believed to be divinely ordained but so immovable and

ruled bymen with feet of clay. olics were barred from becoming Jackelen sharing the altar with For church historians, the doctors, teachers and nurses, and the Pope and the male hierarchy.

Reformation was a pivotal point Catholic convents were banned The two gave each other a peace in the history of Christendom until the 1970s,” said a report. embrace. (I googled: The Swedthat cannot be ignored. The RefLast Monday night I watched ish Jackelen, 61, is married and ormation was the harbinger of the live, one-and-a-half-hour TV a mother of two.) I spotted quite things to come—the rise of Prot- coverage of the Common Prayer a number of women in Roman estantism and the Counter Ref- Service at the Lund Cathedral collars on the pews. This kept me ormation in the Catholic Church where Pope Francis and his Lu- smiling. among them. theran counterparts took turns, In a joint declaration, Pope Over the decades after Vatican within the liturgy, in expressing Francis and Bishop Munib YouII (1960s), the nan, president Catholic Church of the Lutheran has had so many World FederaOne wishes that more than this unique piece of copper will occasions to sintion, said: “With turn up to provide us with a written history stretching back to cerely say mea gratitude we acthe 9th century or earlier. maxima culpa for knowledge that the errors of the the Reformation past and to seek forgiveness and their hopes for more dialogue helped give a greater centrality to hold out a hand in reconciliation. and unity. The statements were sacred Scripture in the Church’s Pope John Paul II was a natural crisp and direct to the point. No life.” in this aspect. Still, it seems never long sermons. The reality that And addressing those in mixed enough. (The human weaknesses “what unites us is far greater marriages: “We experience the and sins of its individual shep- than what divides us” was re- pain of those who share their herds—as in other religious insti- peated several times. “From whole lives, but cannot share tutions—are another story.) conflict to communion” was on God’s redeeming presence at the Sweden, by the way, played a everyone’s lips.

Eucharistic table. We long for big part in the troubled years afThe liturgy, by the way, was this wound in the body of Christ ter the Reformation. Catholics decidedly multiracial and multi- to be healed. This is the goal of in Sweden were persecuted and lingual—and even multigender, our ecumenical endeavors, which killed. “As recently as 1951, Cath- with female Archbishop Antje we wish to advance, also be re-

newing our commitment to theological dialogue.”

Dialogue already began 50 years ago, and in 1999 the Vatican and the Lutheran federation signed a joint declaration on “the doctrine of justification,” which is a core belief in God’s forgiveness of sins and which theme fired up Luther’s “95 Theses.”

“From Conflict to Communion: A Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017” is the title of the 93-page document that accompanied Pope Francis in his journey to Lutheran country. The foreword begins: “Martin Luther’s struggle with God drove and defined his whole life.

The question, How can I find a gracious God? plagued him constantly. He found the gracious God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

True theology and the knowledge of God are in the crucified Christ. (“Heidelberg Disputation”) “Conflict to Communion,” its framers say, “is a way whose goal we have not yet reached.” ■

AT LARGE

Appeal from Cagayan

By Rina Jimenez-David Philippine Daily Inquirer Government spokespeople have made it a point to stress that the country “does not need” foreign aid in the wake of the destruction caused by Typhoon “Lawin” (international name Haima).

Initially “billed” a supertyphoon, Lawin weakened into a Category 4 typhoon when it hit land two weeks ago. So far, government reports cite “only” 15 dead in the areas hit by Lawin, certainly a far cry from the thousands killed by Superyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) in 2013.

But for the people in Northern Luzon, particularly Cagayan Valley and the nearby province of Isabela and the Cordillera Administrative Region, Lawin was far from a benign visitor. A report in a foreign newspaper described the scene thus: “[The typhoon] ripped the roofs off wellconstructed buildings and stripped the leaves and branches off trees. It completely destroyed less sturdy homes and

businesses. It inundated satu- of Perpetual Help, says the town NGOs and donors. He also aprated soil with over a foot of rain is still isolated more than a week peals for donations of GI sheets and pushed rivers into neighbor- after Lawin howled through it. and nails, to rebuild roofs dehoods.”

Located east of Tuguegarao, Pe- stroyed by Lawin and which the Most of the reports, the Wash- ñablanca is best known as the residents badly need in the face of ington Post said, came out of Tu- home of Callao Cave, one of the the continuous rains. Governor guegarao, the capital of Cagayan. province’s best-known attrac- Mamba airs the same appeal for “Trees are down, buildings are tions. building materials. Much of the decimated—and this city is well The isolation of large parts of damage in Cagayan was due to inland. It did not endure the the town is due to the damage Lawin’s high winds, he says, addworst of Typhoon Haima, by far.” and destruction of two bridges ing: “It has been by far the stronIndeed, an obgest typhoon to server says that hit Cagayan. Even from the air, Tuthe old folks here Little did we know that the structure would pop up almost guegarao “looks say they have seen two years later, with the death—in either a shootout with police like it survived nothing like it.” or an ambush—of the mayor famous for loving the color pink. a bombing,” so More than great and wide25,000 houses spread was the damage to infra- that serve as links to the rest of were completely destroyed as structure. The provincial gov- the province: Tawi Bridge, which a consequence of the typhoon, ernment said “it is possible that was completely inundated, and and some 93,000 sustained par100 percent of houses [in the Cabbo Bridge, which sustained tial damage, says Mamba. But he city] were either partially or fully some damage. complains that shelter assistance damaged,” and even the roof of Father Agabao is gravely con- has been slow in coming, with Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba’s cerned about the welfare of 148 only a trickle of the necessary house was blown away. families whom he considers “the funds needed for rebuilding and And it seems Tuguegarao suf- poorest of the poor,” with no rehabilitation released by the nafered comparatively mild effects resources to count on. Though tional government. from the typhoon. some relief goods have arrived “Maybe it’s because only four In Peñablanca, Fr. Hugo Aga- via motorboats, he says, most of people died in Cagayan,” said the bao, parish priest of Our Mother these have come through private governor, in an attempt to ex-

www.canadianinquirer.net

plain why official response at the national level has been so slow.

“We really prepared to survive this typhoon,” he recalls. “Four days before Lawin hit land, I appealed over the media for people to prepare. I even asked all the churches to open their doors to the victims. We did preemptive evacuation for some 32,000 residents.” But there was no possible preparation for the wind gusts that blew off roofs and brought down houses.

Maybe that’s why Mamba is now airing an appeal to international organizations to join the relief and rehabilitation effort for Cagayan, despite pronouncements from the Duterte administration that there is no need for outside assistance.

“All we have been receiving are pledges of aid, but very little actual help that we can use to rebuild our province has reached us,” says the governor. Rhetoric about independence is well and good, but sometimes, a country could use a little help from friends. ■

16

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Canada News Canadian election watchers stunned by surprising Trump victory

BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — It wasn’t the party that they were expecting.

Donald Trump’s surprise win in the bitterly fought U.S. election came as a sharp surprise Tuesday to election watchers in Canada, including those gathered in the historic ballroom of a downtown Ottawa hotel.

The U.S. Embassy’s viewing party at Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier hotel started as a festive occasion, but the mood soon turned serious. The cocktail banter of embassy staffers, politicos and invited guests became decidedly muted through the night as big-screen TVs blared live coverage of Trump’s gains in key swing states like Florida, Ohio and Michigan.

The sound was turned up on the television screens and stayed up for much of the evening as Hillary Clinton’s expected victory — some said it would be a landslide — failed to materialize.

One woman covered her mouth and turned away from the screen, while another said, “Oh no!” one U.S.-born guest was overheard telling a friend they might have to reconsider moving back south of the border as planned.

“It appears we’re going to have to still wait a little while to determine who is going to be the next president of the United States,” U.S. ambassador Bruce Heyman told the few dozen embassy staffers, journalists and

guests lingering shortly before midnight when the embassy had to pack up their party for the night, hours before Trump’s victory became clear.

“Regardless of who wins this race, the U.S.-Canada relationship will continue to thrive and be very strong,” he said. “I know that we will continue to be the best friends, trading partners and allies as we face this new presidency.”

A Trump presidency would surely have wide-ranging repercussions in Canada, said Laura Dawson, the head of the Canada Institute at Washington’s Wilson Center, citing examples like climate policies, Syrian refugees and trade.

Trump has promised to gut environmental regulations at a time when Canada plans a variety of climate-change policies, including a carbon tax, she noted.

“Canada is going to be left with very, very, very expensive climate policies,” Dawson said.

“It will be a disincentive to investment and manufacturing.”

Dawson was less convinced of major changes to trade policy.

Other Canadians interviewed have also expressed doubt that his renegotiate-or-scrap threat about NAFTA would arrive at its most potent impact.

A president could rescind a trade deal. But the setting of tariffs belongs to Congress.

Furthermore, remnants of the 1987 Canada-U.S. agreement could kick back in. And the private sector, she said, would revolt.

“All of those folks are going to be lined up saying, ‘Are you kidding me? Do you know how much of our livelihood is dependent on open borders and trade between these three countries?”’ Dawson said.

“There would be huge backlash.”

There’s also the matter of the Keystone XL pipeline — rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama but supported

by Trump, and an interesting prospect for a federal Liberal government that needs to get some pipelines built.

On refugees, Canada has thrown open its doors while Trump has appealed to his supporters by pledging to slam them shut — a sentiment that was thrown in sharp relief by a tweet that came from the federal government’s official account just as the Republican candidate appeared to be picking up steam.

“In Canada, immigrants are encouraged to bring their cultural traditions with them and share them with their fellow citizens,” the tweet read, prompting a number of users to suggest it was meant as an intentional jab.

A government official said in an email that the tweet should not be “construed as having anything at all to do with the US election.”

There were also multiple media reports about the website for Citizenship and Immigration Canada crashing at the height of the campaign coverage; the site was indeed slow to

www.canadianinquirer.net

Trump supporter with political signs runs at New York City Marathon.

LEONARD ZHUKOVSKY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

load throughout the night, but it was unclear whether excessive traffic from would-be U.S. emigrants was the cause.

Tuesday’s narrow vote count was in many ways a fitting end to the angry and hard-fought presidential battle between Trump, the brash businessman-turned-improbable Republican nominee, and the would-be first female president in U.S. history.

Before Trump’s victory was certain, Heyman predicted a smooth transition regardless of who won.

“Having gone through the day, watching Americans coming out all across the country in record numbers and seeing the large number of votes that were in early, I’m very relaxed,” Heyman said earlier in the evening, before results began coming in.

“One of the things we have to be most proud of is the smooth transitions in our government.”

Retired Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard, who commanded the NATO force that backed rebels fighting Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, called it a historic night that Canadians would be watching closely.

Bouchard knows the U.S. well having served Fort Hood, Texas military base on an exchange at NORAD in Colorado Springs and other U.S. postings during his Canadian military career.

“We wish them the best and we wish them a peaceful transition,” he said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said it would have no comment until a winner was declared. Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna both came and went from the party without talking to reporters.

Fen Hampson, the head of ❱❱ PAGE 23 Canadian election

Canada News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

17

The anxiety and stress Remembrance Day holds for many damaged soldiers

BY CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI The Canadian Press TORONTO — After returning from Rwanda, retired lieutenant-general Romeo Dallaire avoided Remembrance Day “like the plague.”

The prospect of donning his uniform for a public ceremony, or even watching a televised parade, was too much after witnessing countless atrocities during that failed peacekeeping mission.

“I had lost soldiers under my command, I had seen soldiers grievously injured under my command, I had seen soldiers lose their mind under my command. And I avoided that day like the plague. At best — at best — I might watch it on TV,” says Dallaire, who was dismissed from service after that mission because of resulting depression, anger and suicidal thoughts.

“One year, the CBC in French had me do a play-by-play and I said, ‘I’ll never do that again.’ It

was just so tormenting.”

For most Canadians, Remembrance Day is a time for gratitude, reflection and expressions of national pride. But for many soldiers and veterans scarred by trauma, it’s a time of anxiety, stress and unwelcome triggers.

Those experienced with treating mental health issues stemming from military service say they often see these anxieties in those who have not adjusted well to life after a tour of duty.

Their ability to handle Nov. 11 generally corresponds to the experiences they had with the military, how much support they receive from friends and family, and what, if any, treatment they are offered upon return.

Dr. Ruth Lanius notes the day can be especially difficult for those battling post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition marked by recurrent memories of a stressful event, nightmares, and severe emotional distress or physical reactions to any reminders of war-time trauma.

Even though well-meaning citizens organize these events to recognize sacrifice and offer gratitude, a damaged soldier might find the hoopla only increases their survivor’s guilt, or highlights their perceived failures.

“I’ve seen veterans who it’s taken years for them to be able to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony because it triggers them so much and it brings back their own memories,” says Lanius, speaking from London, Ont. How to handle that stress varies from person to person, she adds. While it might be important for some service members to work through that anxiety and learn to embrace Remembrance Day, that might be too overwhelming for others.

“I met one man last year who hadn’t been able to attend in years and this was the first time he’d been able to attend. Even though I think it caused a lot of emotional distress for him, I think it really also led him to experience a sense of mastery for

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having been able to attend after such a long period of time.”

Dallaire recalls how his own soldier father, who commanded an infantry regiment in the Second World War, would grudgingly participate in the Remembrance Day parade.

“And he hated it. Because if there’s a time when those that you saw suffer, those that you saw die or injured come back to life in a haunting way, it is that day, during those ceremonies,” says Dallaire, who outlines his battle with PTSD in “Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD,” co-written by Jessica Dee Humphreys and published by Random House Canada.

Dallaire says his own feelings about the day have swung widely from both extremes. Early on, he joined the parades with pride — but this was before he had suffered any casualties under his command.

Things were different after serving in Rwanda, where he was a helpless witness to a hor-

rifying genocide that slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people.

“All those people you lost and all your buddies ... they all come back to life,” he says of Remembrance Day. Still, he encouraged the Canadian public to participate in the annual ceremonies, especially politicians and public servants.

And he urged citizens to acknowledge soldier sacrifices and express thanks directly to any military member they might encounter. All of that matters, he says.

“It is a fundamental duty of the citizenry to feel that pride.

And to express it. To express it by being there, to express it by buying the poppy, to express it by shaking the hands of a vet or a serving soldier. Actually stopping somebody in uniform on the street and thanking them,” says Dallaire.

With files from Sheryl Ubelacker

Canada News

18

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Employers, labour groups push Liberals to rethink parental leave changes

BY JORDAN PRESS The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Two months into her second maternity leave, Karine Beauchamp would love to spend extra time at home with her son Maxime — but she can’t afford to.

Among her friends, the new mothers with financially wellto-do partners support the Liberal government’s proposal to extend maternity leave to 18 months from its current 12 months, allowing new parents to work periodically during that longer time frame — but without any increase in benefits.

Then there is a handful of new mothers who are breadwinners in the house and need to get back to work.

“We are already tight on mat leave. I can’t imagine getting less and getting less for another half a year,” Beauchamp said.

“We would all take more time

with our children ... but it’s the financial aspect. It’s the No. 1 complaint I hear.”

It is one of several complaints the government has heard over the last month of consultations on the plan, with the Liberals under pressure from employers and labour groups to scrap the proposal amid concerns from both sides that it wouldn’t help many parents and would be problematic for small businesses.

Instead, 25 groups — child care, poverty advocates and labour organizations — in an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ask the Liberals to increase benefit payments to new parents over 12 months, add eight weeks of dedicated time off for non-birthing parents regardless of gender and lower the benchmark for new mothers to qualify for maternity leave to either $2,000 of earnings, or 300 hours of work to receive benefits, instead of the current 600-hour requirement.

Employers and labour groups worry the proposal as-is leaves out single and low-income parents the government says it wants to help.

“Moms work 20, 30, 40 years. There’s no reason why they can’t extend that (benefit) amount over six more months to give us better time with our kids to ease the burden of finding child care. It would make more sense,” Beauchamp said.

Morna Ballantyne, executive director of the Child Care Advocacy Association, said the proposal seems to want to address concerns about a lack of child-care spaces for children under 18 months, but falls short of the need to create more affordable spaces nationwide.

Employers and labour groups are also concerned the proposal to let new parents work periodically during the 18 months would put undo strain on small businesses to back fill a position.

“What we’ve always asked is that government gives some thought as to how these things are going to affect employers and to date I don’t think there has even been a notion of that factored in,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Kelly said the proposal doesn’t help new parents, nor their employers.

Any increase in benefits would require an increase in employment insurance premiums, said Angella MacEwen, an economist with the Canadian Labour Congress. The Liberals first budget forecast a drop in premiums, but that didn’t take into account new benefit spending like extended parental leave or compassionate care benefits, she said.

“There is probably going to be some resistance there because premiums will have to go up to pay for any expansion even though they have gone down,” MacEwen said.

“That’s one of our concerns in that there was no room left in the EI budget.”

The consultations on the proposed changes closed Friday and federal officials are reviewing everything they heard before making a final decision.

Emilie Gauduchon, a spokeswoman for Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos who is overseeing changes to employment insurance, said the government wants to introduce more flexible parental benefits that meet the needs of modern Canadian families, and finalize a child care framework with the provinces.

“These initiatives will help address different aspects of the challenges facing young families, providing more flexibility to parents when taking time off of work to care for their newborn child and improving access to early learning and childcare services when returning or continuing to work,” Gauduchon said.

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World News

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

19

UN Chief drops to second place China asks relevant poll favourite to lead S. Korea countries not to support “Hong Kong independence” forces PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY

first place since June when South Korean pollsters began including him among potential candidates.

He was overtaken by the likely candidate for the opposition Democratic Party of Korea, Moon Jae-in, who received 20.9 percent, the poll, conducted with 2,528 people, showed.

to just 5 percent according to a Gallup poll released on Friday, the lowest since such polling began in 1988.

SEOUL — U.N. Secretary-GenBans support base was exeral Ban Ki-moon, once seen as pected primarily to be older the front-runner to become the voters and those in the consernext president of South Korea if vative southeastern region, the he decides to run, has slipped to same voter bloc that was core to second place in public support Parks election win in 2012. amid a political The decline crisis engulfing in Bans support the current leadcame amid a rapid er, a poll suggests. flight of Park and Ban has been Park last week named a new prime Saenuri supportexpected to join minister and finance minister but ers, Realmeter the conservative the moves were denounced by said in an analysis.

Saenuri Party of opposition parties as a bid to divert Park last week President Park attention from the scandal. named a new Geun-hye if he prime minisruns for the top ter and finance post in the elecminister but the tion scheduled in December Park’s presidency has been moves were denounced by op2017, although the U.N. chief rocked by a scandal involving an position parties as a bid to dihas yet to declare he is consid- old friend, Choi Soon-sil, who is vert attention from the scandal. ering a run. alleged to have used her closeTens of thousands of people, Support for Ban slipped to ness to the president to meddle possibly as many as 100,000 17.1 percent in an opinion poll in state affairs, Reuters reported. according to rally organisers, conducted last week according Park, 64, has publicly apolo- filled the streets of downtown to Realmeter on Monday, the gised twice for the scandal but Seoul on Saturday calling for first time he has dropped from her approval rating has plunged Park to step down. ■

PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY BEIJING — China on Tuesday asked relevant countries to be cautious with their words and actions, and not to offer any support to forces advocating “Hong Kong independence.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang made the remarks at a regular briefing when commenting on reports saying that Britain on Monday said that it recognized the right of China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee to interpret the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR and expressed concern on recent developments in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) and the timing of the interpretation. The spokesperson of the U.S. State Department had

said it was “disappointed” by recent developments concerning the LegCo. Lu said that the heinous move by forces advocating “Hong Kong independence,” attempting to split the country and publicly seeking external support was the biggest threat to the “one country, two systems”.

On Monday, China’s top legislature adopted an interpretation to Article 104 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), clarifying the implications and requirements of the oaths taken by legislators-elect.

He said, “We demand all relevant countries to honor their open commitments, mind their own words and deeds, not interfere in Hong Kong’s domestic affairs nor give support to ‘Hong Kong independence’ forces.” ■

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20

World News

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

US official: Security controls ‘working’ despite NSA theft

BY DEB RIECHMANN AND ERIC TUCKER The Associated Press

improper activity and situations ripe for possible breaches, but have identified employees who might need help. He would not detail the activity uncovered.

Yet there are indications the government might have missed red flags in Martin’s personal life. Prosecutors have alleged that he had a binge-drinking habit — Maryland court records show a 2006 drunken driving charge involving someone of the same name — and kept firearms concealed from his wife.

Defence lawyers say Martin, who like Snowden had worked as a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor, had mental health issues that contributed to him being a “compulsive hoarder” over the course of two decades.

provided a new level of vulnerability of big IT (information technology) systems,” Evanina said. “Again, it was leaking.”

Most of the technological reWASHINGTON — The top U.S. forms came after Snowden, but counterintelligence official others have been in place for says secret government data is several years. vulnerable to thieves, such as Evanina said agencies are the National Security Agency continuously monitoring key insider accused of working unindicators like a slowed career, detected over 20 years to steal a divorce or bankruptcy that large trove of classified matericould signal a stressed or disal, even as he defends the secugruntled employee on the brink rity controls put in place after of installing malware, sneakthe Edward Snowden theft. ing out with classified material “I believe the reforms are or showing up at work with a working very well. I think we’ve weapon. done an amazing job in the He shuns requiring body or intelligence community and package searches that would across the government in exdamage trust built with some ecuting our reforms,” said Bill 4 million Americans who hold Evanina, the chief counterinsecurity clearances, including telligence and 1.3 million vetted security adviser to handle topto the national secret materials. intelligence di“We have to rector.

“Howweigh, ‘How do ever, I will say Prosecutors have alleged that he had we garner trust that if someone a binge-drinking habit — Maryland without being wakes up tomorcourt records show a 2006 drunken ‘A Clockwork row and they driving charge involving someone of Orange’ or ‘Big make a decision the same name — and kept firearms Brother?”’ Evanthat they’re goconcealed from his wife. ina said, refering to steal data ring to a futurisfrom the governtic movie about ment, they will behavioural be successful at modification and it.”

National security breaches George Orwell’s novel “1984” Evanina told The Associ- have evolved in recent years where every citizen is under ated Press in a recent interview from unearthing moles work- surveillance. that no matter how good secu- ing for foreign governments to V. Miller Newton, chief execrity controls are, they will never stopping intelligence workers utive officer of PKWARE, cited catch every insider or hacker — before they leak or share docu- a Government Accountability and they must be continually ments with journalists, Evani- Office report that said the numimproved because of techno- na said. ber of security incidents at fedlogical advances. His extensive Things changed with Chelsea eral agencies rose from 5,503 to comments followed the August Manning, a former intelligence 77,183 between fiscal 2006 and arrest of former NSA contrac- analyst in Iraq, who was sen- fiscal 2015. That’s a 1,303 per tor Harold Thomas Martin III, tenced to 35 years at the mili- cent increase.

51, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. tary prison in Leavenworth, “The fact that this is not the Martin remains in custody af- Kansas, for leaking more than centerpiece of these (presidenter a judge deemed him to be a 700,000 secret military and tial debates) is really disturbing flight risk.

State Department documents to me,” he said.

Federal prosecutors say Mar- to Wikileaks.

James Lewis, an internationtin illegally removed highly “It was a leak,” he said. “It was ally recognized expert on cyclassified information, storing a big sea change for us.” bersecurity, said Martin should it in an unlocked shed and in After Manning, President not have been able to get the his car and home. Court docu- Barack Obama issued an execu- material out of the building ments say investigators seized, tive order setting up a National where he worked. conservatively, 50 terabytes of Insider Threat Task Force and “Part of what the expanded information, or enough to fill requiring federal agencies that monitoring would have done is roughly 200 laptop computers. handle classified material to notified NSA that someone was Evanina said that since the seek out possible double-agents downloading material,” he said.

Snowden breach in 2013, en- or prospective leakers.

“It might have worked. Maybe it hanced efforts to counter inThen came Snowden, a man notified them. We don’t know. I sider threats in the nation’s spy Evanina likens to a “shop vac.” kind of doubt it, but that would shops have not only uncovered “Snowden raised the bar and be the happy face story.” www.canadianinquirer.net

A refugee woman holds her baby, at the refugee camp of Diavata near the Greek city of Thessaloniki, after a fire which destroyed a large area inside the camp.

GIANNIS PAPANIKOS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

EU urges member states to address education inequality faced by immigrants PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY BRUSSELS — The European Union (EU) on Monday called on member states to make their education systems more “relevant and inclusive” in order to address inequality faced mainly by students with immigration backgrounds.

The European Commission, or the EU executive arm, on Monday published the Education and Training Monitor report, an annual evaluation of education and training systems across Europe.

By analyzing the latest data and documents, the report found that all EU member states faced a dual task of ensuring adequate financial investment and offering high-quality education to young people from all backgrounds, including refugees and migrants.

Few countries made satisfactory progress in pushing for education equality in 2016, according to the 92-page report.

The report says that young people with immigration backgrounds are more likely to become early leavers from education and training, which means they would drop out of secondary education without attaining a diploma.

In 2015, for example, 19 percent of foreign-born students

left school early, while only 10.1 percent of native-born students did the same.

The problem is more severe in countries that have the history of taking in large numbers of immigrants, such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

In Belgium, 19.4 percent of foreign-born students dropped out of secondary education in 2015, while only 9 percent of indigenous students did so.

As for higher education, current figures show that 44.8 percent of indigenous Belgians are able to graduate with a college or university diploma, while only 27.2 percent of Belgians with non-European roots can achieve that.

The EU is calling on member states like Belgium to take actions to reduce the gap, particularly given the rise in the number of refugees and migrants coming to Europe in the past two years.

“Significant efforts are needed to help them find their place in our societies. This includes integrating them quickly into appropriate education and training, and helping them realise their potential in the labor market,” said Tibor Navracsics, EU Commissioner for Education.

The EU only saw 400,000 newcomers in 2013, but the number drastically rose to 1.25 million last year, among whom about 30 percent are under 18.

21

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22

Community News

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Gov’t services that can help in your food business

BY GERALDINE BULAONDUCUSIN S&T Media Service DO YOU know that there are a number of government programs and services which can help you either start your own food business or help your existing food business grow?

If you’re still undecided as to what food business you’d like to get into, the food technologies of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) can help you come up with healthy food products, such as vegetable noodles, crunchy healthy snacks, high fiber fruit juices, fortified food, healthy street food (squash fish balls and squash maja), ethnic food like instant pinakbet or laing, and many other possible food products.

Now, if you already have a business, but want to improve your food packaging or the

shelf life of your product, or you’d want to have food analysis, you may go to DOST’s Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) (www. itdi.dost.gov.ph) to help you with thermal processing studies, such as heat penetration test on canned and bottled products, heat distribution tests for retorts and corrective action and sterility tests.

They also do physico-chemical

and microbiological analysis, as well as pilot plant setup and shelf life testing.

ITDI also has Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) that are available for shortterm lease for start-up entrepreneurs to help them get familiarized with the technologies involved, enable them to produce product samples for market testing, help them get more established before ven-

www.canadianinquirer.net

turing on their own and set up their own production facility.

The good news is that most of these services are available the provinces because DOST has regional offices that help in the technology needs of the entrepreneurs in the regions.

Every regional office has Regional Standards and Testing Laboratory that provides technical support to food manufacturing, trading and production

sectors through the physicochemical and microbiological tests it offers.

The RSTL adopts and implements several quality assurance programs and quality control activities. Its equipment are calibrated and maintained; it also undergoes regular proficiency testing, continuous improvement of its facility, personnel training program, and other relevant standards.

The regions also conduct seminar and training, some of which are technology seminars on the following: packaging and labelling training, Good Manufacturing Practices Awareness Seminar, Food Safety Orientation Seminar, and Charcoal Briquetting Technology, among others.

For more information on technologies and services you may visit http://www.dost.gov.ph/ and find the agencies and regional offices that can possibly help you give your entrepreneurial ventures a push.

Immigration

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Canadian election... the global security program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont., said Trump’s success was reminiscent of the “Berlusconi effect,” a reference to the former Italian leader Sylvio Berlusconi.

“Nobody said they supported him but he kept getting elected,” said Hampson.

One Canadian official, who was not authorized to discuss the election publicly and so spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that should Trump manage to pull out a victory, Canadians can take some measure of comfort in the fact Trump apparently has a lot of respect for Justin Trudeau and his international celebrity status, added the official, who has spoken to the Trump campaign about the prime minister.

“They think he’s a showman....

They respect his success.”

It helps matters that Trudeau has steadfastly refused to get drawn into the acrimony south of the border.

“You’ve noticed how careful our prime minister has been,” the official said. “I think that ❰❰ 16

was smart... You don’t ever know.”

Dawson said one of the biggest headlines for Canadians in the event of a Trump win — renegotiating or tearing up the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA — would in all likelihood never come to pass.

“All of those (companies) are going to be lined up saying, ‘Are you kidding me? Do you know how much of our livelihood is dependent on open borders and trade between these three countries?’ she said.

“If you were to impose a 30 per cent tariff on Mexico, the economic impact would be immediate, swift and would represent even more job losses for the United States.”

Colin Robertson, a retired Canadian diplomat who served in the U.S. said a Clinton victory would have been better for Canada because it would ensure a level of continuity from Obama’s two terms.

“We’ve already got a reset relationship starting in March, confirmed at the end of June when the president came up here.”

Marshall McLuhan fellow to visit Toronto on November

BY ROMY ZETAZATE St. Jamestown News Service THE PHILIPPINE Press Club Ontario is pleased to announce the coming of Marshall McLuhan Fellow, Ms. Gigi Grande, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. She will be a guest of PPCO at 6:00 PM at FV Foods and Restaurant, 260 Wilson Avenue, North York. Family and friends are invited at same reasonable cost.

Ms. Gigi Grande is news editor/presenter at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, and is currently ABS-CBN Correspondent for its Investigative Research Group, responsible for producing in-depth news reports. She is the anchor of The World Tonight Saturday and News Now. Ms Grande won

the McLuhan Fellowship for her excellent reportage of the issues on the recent Philippine national elections. She will talk about journalism under the new political leadership.

The annual Marshall McLuhan Fellowship Award is a flagship public diplomacy initiative in the Philippines, sponsored by the Canadian government thru the Canadian Embassy in Manila. PPCO has been hosting the McLuhan Fellows for many years, and it gives us an opportunity to touch base and connect with outstanding media colleagues from the homeland.

Previous McLuhan Fellows have given us interesting insights and intelligent discussions on what’s happening in the media world in our beloved country, and we expect the same from this media colleague.

23

Not quite Canadian: Falling through the cracks of a troubled childhood

BY ALISON AULD The Canadian Press

eight years ago, but is at risk of being removed because of her residency status.

“There is this pattern of kids HALIFAX — They have been coming as children, often from deemed women without status war-torn countries, experifor failings dating back to their encing tons of trauma, endchildhoods, say their supporters. ing up in our care system, getThey have spent much of their ting revictimized and bumped lives in Canada, had children, around from foster home to voted and held down jobs, but foster home, getting involved now find themselves facing dein drugs or crime, coming out portation because of immigraof the care system and quickly tion issues that were never regetting criminalized and then solved when they were brought being flagged for deportation,” to the country as children and Halpern says. ended up in the care of the state.

People who work on behalf of Advocates fighting for three youth in care say the cases highNova Scotia-based women to light the need for legislation remain in Canada say their casthat would make child welfare es are unusual, but not uncomagencies responsible for makmon. ing sure they have proper citiAnd they’re hoping attention zenship after they arrive in the around their plight prompts country as refugees, with their governments to address what families or through adoption. they say is a gap in youth protecEmily Chan, a lawyer with tion policies for young people Justice for Children and Youth that become wards of the state, in Toronto, said people who but whose residency status is were failed in their youth by not addressed by children’s aid child welfare agencies or parworkers, foster families or their ents are the ones who suffer biological parents. through no fault of their own.

“There is this legal gap that “It’s absolutely a systemic no one is really looking at befailure and the systemic failcause it doesn’t ure is on the strictly fall under child welfare child protection, service proviit doesn’t strictly sion — they’re fall under crimiIt’s the provincial child welfare not protecting nal law, it doesn’t agencies that need to be taking this the rights of the strictly speaking on as the parent of these children. young people,” fall under refushe said. “It’s the gee law,” says provincial child Emma Halpern, welfare agencies a lawyer with the Elizabeth now lives in Cape Breton, was that need to be taking this on as Fry Society who is handling the placed in foster care in Canada the parent of these children.” women’s cases. and later became involved in It’s not clear how many peo“So it’s hard to figure out who crime, leading to a conviction ple have been caught up in imis going to put all of the pieces in 2014 that brought a two-year migration disputes because of this puzzle together so that sentence. their residency status was not we don’t end up with extremely Again, Halpern said Spen- dealt with while they were in vulnerable people in our soci- cer found out that no one had care, but Chan suspects it is a ety losing their ability to stay in secured her citizenship only small number. a country they’ve lived for their when she was involved in the Still, she says the consewhole lives.” criminal justice system. That quences can be dire.

Halpern handles cases only left her vulnerable to forced She recounts the story of a involving women through the removal from the country be- brother and sister who were Elizabeth Fry Society, but the cause under the provisions of adopted from Mexico by a Caproblem similarly affects men the Immigration and Refugee nadian woman, who later kept across the country.

Protection Act, her conviction the girl but abandoned the little In many cases, they only be- made her inadmissible to Can- boy. Chan said he was put into come aware of their lack of citi- ada, Halpern says. care in Ontario and got involved zenship when they get in trouble Halpern is also handling the in minor criminal activity. He with the law as adults and face case of a teenager from Africa the prospect of deportation. who came to Canada about ❱❱ PAGE 31 Not quite www.canadianinquirer.net

The issue gained prominence recently when Fliss Cramman, a 33-year-old woman who grew up in Ontario, learned that she was to be deported back to England despite having left the country with her family when she was eight. Cramman, whose four young daughters were born in Ontario, only became aware that she was not a Canadian citizen following a drug conviction and incarceration.

It was discovered that her parents and several foster care families that took her in at the age of 11 did not secure her Canadian citizenship. As a result, the Canada Border Services Agency says she will be deported by Dec. 16, despite her physician’s assertion that she is in fragile health and needs to remain in the country for months to recover from surgeries done after she was rushed to hospital from a prison facility in Dartmouth on Aug. 12.

In another case, Debra Spencer is facing deportation back to St. Vincent after she was adopted by a Canadian family at the age of eight in the early 1990s.

Halpern says Spencer, who

24

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

25

Entertainment PH wins big in Tokyo

Statement: Pitt-Jolie children will remain in actress’ care

Filipinos bring home top prizes from A-list fest

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer EVEN THOUGH it was a very cold (10 degrees Celsius!)

Thursday morning in Tokyo, the Philippine contingent trooped to Toho Cinemas at Roppongi Hills for a very special occasion.

Turned out the country would bring home a golden harvest of awards from the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival that day: Mikhail Red’s “Birdshot” won the top prize in the Asian Future section; Jun Robles Lana’s “Die Beautiful” was chosen as the Audience Choice winner; while Paolo Ballesteros bagged the best actor award (for Lana’s film) in the main tilt.

Red told the Inquirer: “I am speechless right now. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my partner and producer Pamela L. Reyes.”

He also acknowledged the support of the Doha Film Institute and his coproducers Tuko, Buchi Boy and Artikulo Uno. “I share this award with all the other struggling young filmmakers and I dedicate this honor to the Philippines, which provides us with the source materials and inspires our stories.”

Red also expressed the hope that other filmmakers would be encouraged to “pursue their passions and never give up, telling their sto- ries and reaching out to an audience—locally and internationally.”

Ballesteros came dressed as Julia Roberts at the closing ceremony (and as Angelina Jolie on opening night last week).

He said jokingly: “I thought I was up for best actress, that’s why I wore a dress.”

In his acceptance speech, Ballesteros expressed gratitude to “the organizers, programmers, volunteers” for being “helpful and gracious” during their stay in Tokyo. “Thank you for embracing our film,” the newly minted best actor said.

In the citation, the jury commended Ballesteros’ “vividly

BY ANTHONY MCCARTNEY The Associated Press

Still photograph from Mikhail Red's 'Birdshot' (2017).

PHOTO COURTESY OF TBA.

delivered performance [which] genuinely unfolded and took viewers to a journey between fiction and reality.”

Jurors also praised the Filipino actor’s “magical ability to merge the male and female.”

The best actor award comes with a $5,000 cash prize.

Ballesteros had already gone home last week, to resume his hosting chores on “Eat Bulaga.”

But organizers flew him back to Tokyo in time for the awards ceremony— catching most of the audience members, including juror, Hong Kong filmmaker Mabel Cheung, by surprise.

“It was a big ceremony,” “Die Beautiful” producer Perci Intalan related. “Masaaki Takei, the mayor of Minato City, and other government officials were in attendance.”

Lana’s film was one of the early favorites in the main competition—with some Japanese critics choosing it as one of its top three entries.

In his speech, Lana admitted that he was initially “thrilled and anxious” upon finding out that “Die Beautiful” had been selected as part of this year’s lineup.

“I wasn’t sure how audiences in the Philippines would receive the film, much less in Japan,” he owned up.

That Tokyo fest embraced his film, and even gave it two prizes, was nothing short of “stunning.”

“I am surprised by the honors you’ve given our film,” Lana said in his speech. “These rec-

ognitions strengthen my belief in the power of cinema to unite us—regardless of race, color, language—and celebrate our uniqueness and individuality.”

In previous interviews with the Inquirer, Lana said that Tokyo has always been “dear” to his heart.

His earlier films, “Bwakaw” (2012) and “Barber’s Tales,” (2013) were also shown at the Tokyo fest, with the second film winning best actress for Eugene Domingo.

Lana recalled that Tokyo organizers had reached out to him about his latest film, which topbills Ballesteros as a transgender beauty contestant, whose passing inspires a colorful wake and funeral.

Yoshi Yatabe, competition director of the Tokyo fest, told the Inquirer: “It’s one of the most moving films I’ve seen this year.

I was impressed by the way Jun told this amazing story—full of tears and laughter. Even though it’s about death, it remains positive.”

“We’ve built an audience in Tokyo, and we wanted to touch base with our viewers again,” Lana related.

“Die Beautiful” is inking a possible distribution deal with a Japanese firm and details are being ironed out at presstime.

Yasushi Shiina, director general of the Tokyo fest, pointed out: “Our goal is to introduce not only Japanese, but also Asian cinema, to the rest of the world.”

in late September that included at least some of the same terms — visitation with his children and both sides agreeing to LOS ANGELES — Angelina meetings with therapists.

Jolie Pitt will continue to have “We believe that all sides are sole custody of her six children committed to healing the famwith Brad Pitt in a joint agree- ily and ask for your considerment reached by the actors, a ation during this difficult time,” representative for the actress Monday’s statement said. said Monday.

The actor filed a legal reThe voluntary agreement sponse to the divorce on Fricalls for the former couple’s day and sought joint custody of six children, who range in ages the children. Formal custody from 8 to 15, to continue to have arrangements are included a “therapeutic couple’s divorce visits” with Pitt judgment, alfor the time bethough they are ing. It is unclear rarely made pubwhat therapeutic lic in celebrity visits entailed, divorce cases. and Jolie Pitt’s We believe Pitt’s filing representatives that all did not include said they could sides are any new details not provide addicommitted to about the coutional details. healing the ple’s breakup.

A representafamily and Pitt cited irrective for Pitt deask for your oncilable differclined comment. consideration ences and makes Monday ’s during this no mention of statement said difficult time. a prenuptial the agreement agreement that was reached will govern how more than a the pair divides week ago, altheir assets. He though Pitt told also cites Sept. a court on Friday 15 as the day of that he is seeking joint custody. their separation, one day after Jolie Pitt filed for divorce in the alleged plane altercation September, days after Pitt was between Pitt and his 15-yearinvolved in a disturbance dur- old son, Maddox. ing a private flight with his famPitt was accused of being ily. She cited irreconcilable dif- abusive toward the teenager, ferences as the reason for the sources told The Associated breakup, and an attorney said Press, but authorities were not at the time she filed for divorce notified when the plane landed “for the health of the family.” in Minnesota. Several sources The statement makes no said the incident was being inmention of an investigation by vestigated by the Los Angeles child welfare workers into the County Department of Chilplane incident. dren and Family Services, but The agreement has not been the agency said it could not confiled in the couple’s divorce, firm whether it was involved. and may not be the final custoThe actors were married dy arrangement governing the for two years and together for actors’ children.

12 years after becoming close Pitt and Jolie Pitt reached a while filming 2005’s “Mr. & temporary custody agreement Mrs. Smith.”

www.canadianinquirer.net

26

Entertainment

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Prince Harry condemns media ‘abuse’ of new American girlfriend

BY DANICA KIRKA AND SYLVIA HUI The Associated Press LONDON — Prince Harry condemned the media for subjecting girlfriend Meghan Markle to “a wave of abuse and harassment,” issuing a highly unusual statement Tuesday that confirmed his relationship with the American actress and expressed concern for her safety.

Harry’s office said that while the 32-year-old prince understood that there was significant curiosity about his private life, a line had been crossed in terms of media intrusion. Harry said the statement was issued in hopes that media driving the story will “pause.”

“Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her,” said the statement from Kensington Palace. “It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm.”

The 35-year-old Markle is best known for playing paralegal Rachel Zane in the TV legal drama “Suits,” which is shot mostly in Toronto. Markle reportedly has a home in Toronto.

She has also worked with the United Nations on gender equality and is a global ambassador for the charity World Vision Canada.

Tabloids in Britain and beyond have speculated about Harry and Markle’s relationship for weeks, with many commenting on her mixed-race heritage and contrasting her background with the prince’s.

The palace said the harassment has “been very public — the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”

One Daily Mail headline called her a “saucy divorcee.”

Another described her ancestors as “a tailor, a teacher and a cleaner in racially-divided Jim Crow South — while his were ruling the British Empire.” One Daily Mirror article linked Markle with an online pornography site, saying clips of her from “Suits” featured on an adult site.

Harry said the commentators will say this is “the price she has to pay” and that “this is all part of the game.”

The palace said that Harry “strongly disagrees.”

“This is not a game — it is her

life and his,” the statement said.

The scrutiny of the relationship drew immediate parallels to the media scrutiny of Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana, who died in a 1997 car accident while being pursued by paparazzi. It also comparisons to the early revelations that the former Kate Middleton was dating Prince William. That relationship was also the subject of relentless media attention.

But choosing to tackle the issue directly is unusual for the palace, which initially declined comment to reports in the Sunday Express newspaper on the relationship, as per its usual policy of refraining from discussions on the personal lives of the royal family.

“It’s a very unusual step, I can’t think of a precedent for it in recent years,” said Joe Little, editor of Majesty magazine. “Some would regard this is something he should put up with, but that’s not in his nature.”

Harry has been linked to a number of women in the past, including another actress Cressida Bonas. Media intrusion was also seen as having hurt that relationship.

In 2012, Harry spoke of the difficulties of finding a partner willing to take on the responsi-

ALBIN HILLERT / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

bilities of being a royal.

The palace said some of the harassment hasn’t been apparent to the public. It said Markle’s mother has struggled to get past photographers to gain entry to her front door, reporters and photographers have tried to gain illegal entry to her home, her ex-boyfriend has been offered bribes while friends and co-workers have been bombarded for data.

“But the past week has seen a line crossed,” the palace said.

“His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment.”

Harry said the statement was

issued in hopes that the media “can pause and reflect before any further damage is done.”

In a 2015 article for Elle magazine, Markle wrote about how she came to terms being a “biracial woman.” She said her mother is African- American while her father is white.

“While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that,” she wrote. “To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.”

Chance the Rapper Los Angeles prosecutors charge leads concert crowd body shaming Playboy model to Chicago voting site THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO — Chance the Rapper has led hundreds of people from a concert he headlined through Chicago’s business district and to an early voting site.

Chance and other entertainers performed Monday afternoon at Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. The event sponsored by his non-profit group Social Works was geared toward millennial voters, who have been crucial in recent

elections.

Afterward, Chance led the crowd through rush-hour traffic to the voting site, where a long line of voters was already waiting to cast ballots. Chance went inside the polling place and voted.

Officials said anyone in line by 7 p.m. local time would be allowed to vote.

Illinois’ State Board of Elections says nearly 1.3 million people cast in-person early ballots through Sunday, surpassing turnout in previous presidential contests.

LOS ANGELES prosecutors have charged a Playboy model with invasion of privacy for taking a photo of a naked woman in a gym locker room and posting it to social media.

The Snapchat post included an insulting comment about the woman’s body.

The city attorney’s office said Friday that Dani Mathers faces a misdemeanour count of invasion of privacy. She is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 28. It wasn’t immediately known if Mathers has an attorney.

The 29-year-old Mathers www.canadianinquirer.net

faced widespread criticism after she shared the photo in July with the caption: “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”

She later apologized and deleted her social media accounts.

The gym, LA Fitness, reported the posting to police and revoked Mathers’ membership.

If convicted, Mathers could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, according to City News Service.

Detectives began investigating after the LAPD received a report of “illegal distribution” of the image, police Capt. Andrew Neiman said after the photo became public.

“Her behaviour is appalling

and puts every member at risk of losing their privacy,” Jill Greuling, an LA Fitness executive vice-president, said at the time.

The person in the photo was identified only as a 70-year-old woman and it was not clear if she knew she was being photographed.

Mathers said in July that she accidentally posted the photo publicly.

“That was absolutely wrong and not what I meant to do,” she said in an online video. “I know that body-shaming is wrong.

That is not the type of person I am.”

Mathers was Playboy’s Miss May in 2014.

27

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Lifestyle

RIGHT AT HOME:

New Traditional decor blends classic, modern

BY KIM COOK The Associated Press IN DECOR, “traditional” tends to conjure up images of matched furniture sets, prim patterns and buttoned-up formality.

But there’s been a revamp, and what’s now being called “new traditional” is a fresher, freer look that honours the classics. The style blends traditional architectural and decorative elements with contemporary ones for unexpected, sometimes edgy results.

“It’s all about balance,” said New York interior designer Alexa Hampton.

She said the trend started in Europe, where older residences “are often filled with ornate architecture: herringbone floors, intricate plaster work, French doors. With heavy decoration, these architectural bones can

seem fussy.” That led to an “undecorated” movement — white walls, furniture with sharp angles, minimalism.

“I think this foil of old and new is essential to good design,” she said. “The conversation between modern and classic creates a tension, and when done right, it’s very powerful.”

Moldings, shelving and good hardware can give a space a traditional or contemporary “frame” to which contrasting elements can be added.

“If my architecture’s very traditional,” said Hampton, “I might do an unexpected wall treatment like high-gloss lacquer.”

Likewise with furniture and accessories, “It’s nice to combine a more curved traditional piece with a sexy and sleek cocktail table.”

The European Fine Art Fair, the art and antiquities version of Fashion Week, was held

in New York in October, and Hampton saw pieces she said could be incorporated into a contemporary space. A bold, Grecian, gold-and-black amphora, for instance, caught her eye; although it’s an ornate piece, it could play up the drama in a small space, particularly atop a modern table.

San Francisco interior stylist Jessica Sutton suggests using a neutral colour palette and incorporating a mix of rustic, contemporary, even industrial pieces to bring the New Traditional look home.

“Keep the style fresh by incorporating classic patterns like florals in modern ways — an abstract rug, or an upholstered pillow,” she said.

Retailers are featuring the look this season.

French designer Bina Baitel has used the classic mouldings of Paris’ Haussmann architec-

www.canadianinquirer.net

ture as inspiration for cabinet doors, but tilted the motifs to create the visually striking Astragale armoire and console. (www.roche-bobois.com) Bernhardt’s Salon collection includes a traditional etagere given an alabaster finish, and a curvy nightstand clad in silver leaf. The Haven collection pares down traditional English classics like wingchairs and dining tables to their essential forms. (www.bernhardt.com) British designer Andrew Martin has a collection of wingback chairs upholstered in combinations of leather and ticking, or leather with a pieced metal frame. A lounge chair pairs a distressed leather seat with a kilim-clad frame. Mixing materials brings the traditional chair shapes fashion-forward. (www.houseology.com) Audrey Sterk, a designer on Nantucket Island, Massachu-

setts, presents a fresh take on early American quilt florals and 19th century silk-screen patterns in her wallpaper and fabrics, editing the motifs to their essential elements and using a contemporary colour palette. (www.audreysterk.com) At Candelabra, the classic silhouette of a Louis XVI chair is cast in silver- or gold-toned stainless steel and given elongated legs, creating a sleek barstool. Curvy, polished silver legs and an especially long — 72inch — sliver of marble make for a showstopper of a console. (www.shopcandelabra.com) And finally, at Made Goods, there’s a Beaux Arts mirror with its exaggerated furbelows rendered in dramatic black tin, and a wing chair cast in hammered black or gold iron with upholstered seat. They’re heavy metal remixes of classical favourites. (www.madegoods.com)

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Lifestyle

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Anthony Bourdain turns to home cooking in new book ‘Appetites’

Testing if Pap smears offer early peek at birth defect risk

BY LOIS ABRAHAM The Canadian Press

BY LAURAN NEERGAARD The Associated Press

TORONTO — Anthony Bourdain thinks so highly of three Montreal chefs he believes they should be declared national heroes.

The globe-trotting host of “Parts Unknown” visited Quebec while filming the first season of the show, where he ice fished with Frederic Morin and David McMillan, chef-owners of Joe Beef and Liverpool House restaurants, and trapped with Martin Picard, who owns Au Pied de Cochon.

“I’m a huge fan and loyalist and evangelical on the subject of Martin Picard and Fred and Dave at Joe Beef. I mean, I think they’re not just good for Montreal. They’re good for Canada.

They’re good for the world,” the Emmy-winning television personality says.

“I’d put all three of those guys on the Canadian currency. If I were in charge of such things they would be national heroes.

They’d be iconic figures. The Canadian version of Mount Rushmore would have those three guys up there and maybe Jen (Agg) from Black Hoof (in Toronto) also.”

Bourdain was in Toronto this week to promote his 13th book, “Appetites: A Cookbook” (Ecco), co-authored with Laurie Woolever and featuring favourite family recipes.

Now 60, Bourdain writes that having a “normal” family lifestyle became top of mind after the birth of his daughter, Ariane, though he confesses it’s been hard to wrap his head around what that means.

He’s spent much time on the margins, working while most people played and playing while most people slept. Now he’s on the road 250 days a year chronicling food and culture for his CNN program.

“This is a book that brings to bear 30 years as a professional to a relatively new situation where I’m cooking for a nineyear-old girl and her friends, using my organizational skills and controlling nature to try

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and show love for food,” he explains.

Bourdain thinks it’s important to teach children to cook and has included some of his daughter’s favourite recipes in the book — along with his characteristic profanity and rants.

“The sooner they start, the better. In a perfect world, all teenagers would already know how to feed themselves and a few friends, reasonably competently, a few basics, just to be good citizens of the world.

Sadly that’s not the case.”

Bourdain has made sure his daughter knows her way around the kitchen, though he admits feeling anxiety in the process.

“My daughter loves to bake ratatouille because she loved that rat in the movie and she gets to use a knife, which fills me with terror but makes her very happy,” he says, adding “I stand very, very, very close and I do my best to keep her out of harm’s way.”

Ariane is a big fan of pasta and particularly likes macaroni and cheese, but Bourdain says he doesn’t glam up the dish for her with lobster or truffles.

“I think it’s monstrous to try to improve on something perfect like mac and cheese, or hamburger. I mean, truffles might make it different. Do they make it better? No.” When it comes to school lunches, Ariane isn’t getting a peanut butter and jelly sand-

wich every day.

“We have a little bit of a game going on where I try not to repeat myself. If I’m home for two weeks I’ll try to do something different every day to send her to school with,” he says.

“I want her to like it, but at the same time if I could freak out the other kids, I want them to feel envious and confused and go home and make their parents feel bad about what they’re putting in their lunch boxes.... Whatever she’ll express an interest in I’m going to try that.”

Bourdain, who lives in New York, says much attention was paid to the book’s photography and graphics. The colourful cover art was done by Ralph Steadman, known for his illustrations of Hunter S. Thompson’s cover of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

The very first image inside the book is a full-page photo of a dead, plucked chicken with its head dangling off a chopping board.

“We gave the photographer, Bobby Fisher, pretty much licence to kill. All the other things that no other author would let him do, we said: ‘do that,”‘ Bourdain says.

Some of the other edgy, unconventional photos show messy work spaces and partially consumed dishes.

“I love anything that’s half eaten or real food, spillage, all that stuff.” www.canadianinquirer.net

prenatal care and what care a baby might need at birth.

It turns out that a small number of cells containing DNA of WASHINGTON — A simple the forming fetus are shed into Pap smear may one day offer a a mom-to-be’s reproductive way to screen for birth defects a tract, where the scrape of a roulittle earlier in pregnancy than tine Pap can collect them along today’s prenatal tests. with the woman’s own cervical Women typically get a Pap cells. They’re called trophoduring early pregnancy, and blasts, cells that start the plaWayne State University re- centa’s growth. searchers report Wednesday The first challenge is to sepathat they can capture enough rate those cells from mom’s. fetal DNA from the cells that The Wayne State team, led by test extracts to check for genet- Drewlo and Professor D. Ranic abnormalities. dall Armant, calls its method The new study is very small, TRIC, for trophoblast retrieval and much more research is isolation from the cervix. needed. But if the approach They tested the approach in eventually pans out, research- 20 pregnant women who had ers say it might be possible to Paps between 5 weeks and 19 use as early as weeks gestation. five weeks into The researchpregnancy and ers reported to detect more on Wednesday disorders noninthat they could vasively.

The work is extract the troAside from intriguing phoblasts and better known but still accurately map chromosome abpreliminary. the DNA inside, normalities such a step to identias Down synfying genetic disdrome, “there orders. are about 6,000 That’s not other genetic disorders which the only potential use. The rewe currently have a hard time searchers also are examining to assess noninvasively and as whether these cells may offer early,” said Wayne State asso- a warning of brewing problems ciate professor Sascha Drewlo, with the placenta. co-author of the study in SciThe work is intriguing but ence Translational Medicine. still preliminary, said Dr. RonHe calls defects caused by sin- ald Wapner, a prenatal screengle gene mutations “the biggest ing specialist at Columbia Unigap” in prenatal testing. versity.

Today’s main options are inEspecially this early in pregvasive tests — amniocentesis nancy, “we have to make sure and CVS, or chorionic villus the cells you get are truly repsampling — that analyze a sam- resentative of what’s going on ple of amniotic fluid or placenta in the fetus,” he said, something tissue. They carry a small risk larger tests could determine. of miscarriage. Amniocentesis Dr. Catherine Spong of the typically is performed around National Institutes of Health, 15 weeks and CVS around 10 which helped fund the study, weeks. called the research “really niceA blood test offers a slightly ly done and helpful to the field,” earlier and noninvasive option but echoed that caution. The by analyzing small amounts of placenta and fetus both origifetal DNA that float in a preg- nate from the fertilized egg and nant woman’s bloodstream. thus share a genetic profile, Worrisome results are supposed but occasionally an abnormalto be verified by an invasive test. ity occurs only in the placenta.

Early diagnosis isn’t just about Spong said as the research condeciding whether to go forward tinues, it might shed more light with a pregnancy but can affect on placenta formation.

29

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

Sports Filipinos cheer Pacquiao’s comeback win PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER FILIPINOS IN cinemas, bars, restaurants and basketball courts erupted into jubilation on Sunday as they watched boxing icon Manny Pacquiao score a unanimous decision over Jessie Vargas to win the WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas.

The 37-year-old senator put on a dazzling display in his return to the ring after a brief retirement, even fighting with more intensity and energy, and dominating the 27-year-old American in the final rounds to close out an emphatic victory.

Malacañang led the nation in sending a congratulatory message to Pacquiao, though it did not say if President Duterte, Pacquiao’s political ally, watched the fight.

Courage and grit

But Malacañang did say “the courage and grit displayed by our Filipino boxers in Las Vegas are the same qualities we must demonstrate as a nation to rid society of drugs, criminality and corruption.”

“Once again, Manny’s triumph united and brought joy to our people and our nation,” Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement.

“The discipline, the determination, and the hard work of our People’s Champ are truly what make him a National Treasure in Global Sports,” he said.

Standstill

During Pacquiao’s fight, some streets in the country were deserted as his legions of fans packed into cinemas, bars, restaurants and basketball courts to watch on big screens, bringing the country to a virtual standstill.

Troops in military bases also watched how Pacquiao, a Philippine Army reservist, beat the much younger Vargas.

“Army Lt. Col. Manny Pacquiao of the Reserve Force has truly been a source of inspiration, not only to our troops, but

Feliciano Gallo, 72, said. “It was as if [Pacquiao] was not 37 years old. He showed his experience over Vargas.”

In Tagum City, Davao del Norte province, barber Bert Rollon had expected Pacquiao to win by knockout, but was happy just the same when the fight ended in a decision for the Filipino champ.

“At least Pacquiao scored a knockdown,” he said, referring to the champ dropping Vargas to the canvas in the second round.

Waning interest

Young residents of Barangay Gasak in Manila's Tondo district whoop it up after their boxing idol, Manny Pacquiao, won against Jessie Vargas by a unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / PDI

also to our organization [that] aspires to be a world-class Army by 2028,” said Col. Benjamin Hao, Philippine Army spokesperson.

same fire that fuels him in boxing and it is very much alive,” Binay said in a statement.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police joined the public in congratulating Pacquiao.

the fight on national television.

Happy fans

Some fans who had thought Pacquiao’s retirement to concentrate on legislative work Praise from Senate had dulled his fighting skills It was Pacquiao’s first fight erupted in cheers when the desince winning a seat in the Sen- ‘Senator World Champ’ cision was announced. ate in May. In a statement, the AFP “I thought he’d lose [because He previously served as con- called Pacquiao “Senator World there was no knockout]. The gressman and is widely regard- Champ,” adding that the mili- judges had to give a decision,” ed as the world’s best pound- tary “shares the jubilation of said Virginia Sison of Manila, for-pound fighter. the Filipinos here and around 58. “But when they announced Pacquiao’s colleagues in the the world for this yet another Pacquiao’s the winner, I was Senate praised him for his vic- great feat in world sports his- elated.” tory.

In Pangasinan province, Rep. ‘Good job’ Leopoldo Bataoil Senate Presipraised Pacquiao dent Aquilino Once again, Manny’s triumph united for making FilipiPimentel III and brought joy to our people and nos proud again. congratulated our nation.

Libert Ong Pacquiao for of Cabanatuan a “good job,” City, Nueva Ecija which he said province, said was the “product of discipline, tory.”

Pacquiao’s victory made up for hard work and skills.”

In a statement, the PNP said the defeat of Nonito Donaire in Sen. Sonny Angara said it was it was “one with the Filipino na- the undercard fight, which sad“indeed a victory for the Filipi- tion in congratulating Pacquiao dened fans in the city. no people, which we should all for winning another world boxcherish and celebrate.” ing title.”

‘Awesome’ Sen. Nancy Binay thanked PNP Director General RonIn Ilagan City, Isabela provPacquiao for the honor and ald dela Rosa traveled to Las ince, commuters had to wait praise that the country had Vegas to watch the fight. until 1:30 p.m. to get a ride bereaped from his victories.

The National Capital Region cause jeepney and tricycle driv“I have seen how Senator Police Office called Pacquiao’s ers stopped plying their routes Manny works in the Senate, on win “a victory for peace,” saying to watch the fight at the comhow dedicated he is to serve no crime was recorded in Metro munity center. our country. I believe this is the Manila during the live airing of “It was awesome,” resident www.canadianinquirer.net

But like Pacquiao’s diminishing sting in the ring, interest in his fights is waning in the Davao provinces and in Compostela Valley, where there were few public screenings of his fight with Vargas.

In Digos City in Davao del Sur province, where Pacquiao launched his boxing career as an amateur, a shopping mall set up two television sets to attract shoppers, but fewer than a hundred people came to watch.

Rene Dongsan, a tricycle driver who said he never missed a Pacquiao fight, did not bother to watch Sunday’s bout.

“I still idolize him, but this fight did not interest me,” he said.

‘He still has it’

But there are fans who think Pacquiao still has it and should go on fighting, although not just any comer.

In Manila, Reynaldo de los Reyes said Pacquiao should go up the ring again but only if it’s against Floyd Mayweather Jr., who beat the Filipino champ in the Fight of the Century in 2015.

“It’s Mayweather or nothing,” De los Reyes said. “If not, he should just focus on his work as senator.”

Reports from Marlon Ramos, Christine O. Avedaño, Jerome Aning, Erika Sauler and Aie Balagtas See in Manila; Gabriel Cardinoza, Armand Galang, Villamor Visaya Jr., Friston Lim, Julie S. Alipala and Allan Nawal

30

NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Business New recall headache for Samsung: 3M washing machines

BY BRANDON BAILEY The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — In another black eye for one of the world’s leading consumer brands, U.S. authorities announced a recall Friday of nearly 3 million Samsung washing machines following several reports of injuries — including a broken jaw — due to “excessive vibration.”

The recall comes a month after the South Korean manufacturer recalled millions of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones from consumers around the world, because of a mysterious problem that caused the phones’ batteries to overheat and catch fire. Since then, the company stopped producing that device entirely, while estimating the debacle will cost it $5.3 billion.

Samsung said Friday that its washing machine recall would also extend to models sold in Canada, although it said no injuries had been reported in that

country.

The company launched an earlier, unrelated recall of washing machines in Australia in 2013, after authorities said an electrical problem in certain models was causing fires.

Australian authorities last year called that problem “a major safety failure,” after receiving complaints that the company was offering repairs but not a refund or replacement, as required by Australian law.

The current recall comes after weeks of discussions between Samsung and U.S. authorities about reports that the drums in certain top-loading washing machine models can become unbalanced and cause severe vibration, in some cases causing the top of the machine to detach from the chassis.

Samsung was hit with a lawsuit over the summer by attorneys representing consumers in Texas, Indiana and Georgia who say their washing machines “exploded” while being used.

In a statement Friday , the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission cited 733 reports of Samsung machines that experienced “excessive” vibration and nine related reports of injuries, including a broken jaw and an injured shoulder.

Samsung said the problem occurred when a high-speed spin cycle was used to wash bedding or other bulky items.

In a statement, the company’s U.S. subsidiary said it’s working with retailers and the commission to inform consumers about the problem.

“Our priority is to reduce any safety risks in the home and to provide our customers with easy and simple choices in response to the recall,” said John Herrington, a Samsung senior vice-president, in the statement.

Samsung is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of home appliances, smartphones and other tech products, including batteries and memory chips.

In the current recall, the

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company is offering consumers a choice between a free repair and a rebate toward the purchase of a new washing machine. Consumers who purchased an affected model in the last 30 days are being offered a full refund.

The recall affects 34 models of top-loading washing machines manufactured between 2011 and this year. They were sold at Best Buy, The Home Depot, Lowes, Sears and other stores for prices between $450 and $1,500.

SM Prime nets Php 17.5 B in 9 months

BY LESLIE D. VENZON Philippines News Agency MANILA — Consolidated net income of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime), the Philippines’ leading integrated property company, rose to Php 17.5 billion in the first nine months this year, up 13 percent from the Php 15.5 billion in the same period last year.

Higher shopping mall and residential sales mainly drove the income hike.

For the third quarter alone, net income grew 15 percent to Php 4.9 billion from Php 4.2 billion in the same period last year.

Overall revenues of the company improved by 11 percent to Php 57.8 billion from Php 52.2

billion in the first nine months, enues inched up 9 percent to cent to Php 3.1 billion from Php driven by the sustained growth Php 32.1 billion from Php 29.4 2.9 billion; while its operating of its key business units –rental billion. income grew by 6 percent to operations and real estate sales.

Rentals posted an 11-per- Php 1.5 billion from Php 1.4 bilSM Prime President Jeffrey cent growth to Php 26.9 billion lion.

Lim said the company sus- from Php 24.2 billion, driven Currently, SM Prime has 58 tained its overall malls in the Philperformance as ippines and six it benefited from in China with a the continued gross floor area growth of the We expect SM Prime’s success to (GFA) of 8.5 mileconomy. continue over the medium-term as lion square me“We expect SM economic growth spread to the rest ters.

Prime’s success of the Philippines, which should bode SM Prime is to continue over well with our expansion in other key scheduled to the mediumcities and provinces. open SM East term as economOrtigas this Deic growth spread cember while to the rest of the SM City Tianjin Philippines, which should bode by growth in same-mall-sales will open in phases towards the well with our expansion in oth- and new retail spaces that were end of the year. er key cities and provinces,” he added in the past two years.

By the end of 2016, SM Prime said.

Meanwhile, SM Prime’s Chi- will have a combined GFA of alPhilippine overall mall rev- na mall revenues rose by 5 per- most 9 million sqm. www.canadianinquirer.net

SM Prime’s residential group, led by SM Development Corp.

(SMDC), contributed 32 percent to consolidated revenues and grew by 10 percent to Php 18.7 billion from Php 16.9 billion in the same period under review.

SMDC’s reservation sales jumped by 22 percent in value to Php 35.5 billion in the first nine months of the year from Php 29.1 billion last year.

The Commercial Properties Group, which accounted for 3 percent of consolidated revenues, posted a growth of 44 percent in revenues to Php 1.9 billion from Php 1.3 billion.

The Hotels and Convention Centers revenues went up by 23 percent to Php 2.1 billion from Php 1.7 billion on the first nine months of the year.

Business

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

31

Young Atlantic Canadians US firms back Duterte shouldn’t have to leave home socioeconomic program to find jobs: IBM exec

BY BEN O. DE VERA Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY MICHAEL MACDONALD The Canadian Press HALIFAX — The thousands of young people graduating from Atlantic Canada’s colleges and universities every year shouldn’t have to look for work outside the region’s borders now that technology has made it so much easier for the world to come to them, says Dino Trevisani, president of IBM Canada.

While it’s true the region continues to lose young people to out-migration, IBM’s decision to create a series of entrepreneurial hubs with the help of provincial governments, colleges and universities has helped stem the tide of lost talent, Trevisani said in a speech Monday to a group of academics, business leaders and politicians gathered at the Halifax Central Library.

“You have 20,000 graduates coming out of colleges and universities every year, and that’s music to our ears when we hear about that kind of talent,” he said. “What better environment to work in than to look out at the bay and participate in the culture, the history and the beauty of this environment — not to mention the lobster.

That’s what people are looking for. They’re looking for that lifestyle.”

Trevisani, who is originally from Hamilton, Ont., said IBM’s Client Innovation Centre in Halifax, which opened in 2013, serves as a good example of how the best talent doesn’t always gravitate to the big cities.

When the centre opened, it had 70 employees and three local clients. A little over three years later, the centre employs 500 people serving more than 30 clients from around the world.

“That centre is the best performing delivery centre for IBM in the world,” he said.

“That’s where our market is. It’s the world. And we want to serve that market from right here with our talented people.”

He said the workers in Hali-

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fax are young, well-educated, loyal to the company and well paid.

“They want to stay here and be part of the community,” the senior executive said. “I’m sitting in Toronto saying, ‘They don’t need to come here.’ We can create jobs and opportunities for them there.”

Trevisani also pointed to the company’s cyber security research and customer support centre in Fredericton, which was established in 2011 after IBM acquired Q1 Labs. Its QRadar security intelligence platform was developed in Fredericton, in partnership with the University of New Brunswick.

The acquisition prompted IBM to form its security division, which has grown into a $2-billion business employing 7,500 researchers, developers and security experts in 36 locations worldwide.

“QRadar is the hottest cyber security product in the world — and it’s built in Fredericton,” said Trevisani.

The Fredericton office started with 40 employees. It now has 400.

Trevisani also cited topnotch work being done in St. John’s, N.L., at the Centre for Health Informatics and Analytics, which was developed in partnership with Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Trevisani’s 28-year career at IBM has included stints in finance, business management,

sales and marketing and global executive assignments. He holds MBAs from both Queen’s University’s School of Business in Kingston, Ont., and Cornell University’s Johnson School of Management in Ithaca, N.Y. He told the crowd his parents left Italy and arrived at the Port of Halifax to start a new life in Canada in 1952. His mother picked fruit and later worked as a cook, and his father worked at the Stelco steel mills in Hamilton.

“I wish I could have stayed in Hamilton and had a career there,” he said.

When he was hired in early 2015 to oversee IBM Canada’s 14,000 employees, he said he noticed that far too many Canadians were having to uproot themselves to succeed in hightech.

“My ambition, when I came here, was to change that,” he said. “That’s been my inspiration.”

He said most Canadian universities are doing their part to help, and most provincial governments have stepped up to do the same.

As for IBM, he said the company is committed to building entrepreneurial networks by making technology available to universities and colleges, giving students potential access to global markets.

“That way, they never have to leave Canada ... That’s my vision and that’s my aspiration.” www.canadianinquirer.net

DESPITE PRESIDENT Duterte earlier announcing an economic “separation” of the Philippines from the United States, American investors in the country are supporting the administration’s peace-and-order thrust and socioeconomic agenda aimed at reducing poverty.

During their hour-long meeting last Saturday, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III told representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) that the Duterte administration’s policy of “economic diversification” was aimed at “opening more markets for Philippine products overseas, encouraging more investments in the country and creating better-paying jobs for Filipinos.”

The government, added, would continue to make the Philippines an attractive place for investments by encouraging a competitive environment to level the playing field for business.

“As far as business is concerned, President Duterte wants to have more competition and more innovation,” Dominguez said, adding that the administration would make certain that the business environment was such that it encouraged people to stay on.

In response, AmCham executive director Ebb Hinchliffe said the group was backing up “100 percent” the Duterte administration’s 10-point agenda.

“From AmCham’s standpoint, we want this administration to be successful. Can you imagine what a wonderful place this would be if we could get rid of crime, corruption and drugs?

It will be an even better investment environment,” Hinchliffe added.

The DOF said AmCham nonetheless “mentioned President Duterte’s statements on Philippine-US relations, but informed Dominguez of their hopes for continued investment here.”

To allay American investors’ concerns, Dominguez said: “I have listened very carefully and we will make certain that the business environment is such that it encourages people to stay on. We encourage competition and we encourage obedience to the law.”

Dominguez also urged AmCham to continue helping generate more jobs in the country. “Can we focus on creating more employment? How do we translate that into an action plan? How do we create jobs and make sure they are good jobs and that people can rely on them, because jobs provide dignity to people,” the finance chief told the American businessmen at the meeting.

The AmCham members who met with Dominguez included investors in the agriculture, business process outsourcing (BPO), construction, electronics, food processing, information technology, manufacturing, mining and power sectors.

AmCham groups more than 700 American-led firms operating in the Philippines.

Not quite... was convicted of an offence after he had turned 18 and was deported back to Mexico, where he did not know the language or have any connections.

Some provincial children’s aid groups are taking steps to make sure that doesn’t happen. The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies has produced a guidebook for social workers ensuring children’s citizenship issues are resolved ❰❰ 23

while they are in care.

Sharon Evans, a senior program analyst with the group, said a critical part of that is raising awareness among social workers about young people’s immigration status.

“We are now asking whether they are a permanent resident, have no status or are a Canadian citizen,” she said. “Especially with the increase in immigration, we know we need to pay attention to this.”

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Technology Online experiment identifies Dubai, Hyperloop One web visitors by 80% to study potential PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY

How did it work? Imagine that Jane Doe, John Smith and Susie Q all participated anonymously, and that each of these three volunteers follow 100 Twitter accounts. All three might follow the official Stanford Engineering Twitter account. But Jane and John also follow the New York Times’ Twitter account for their news, while Susie instead follows the Los Angeles Times as her newspaper of choice. Researchers can then deduce that the person who visited links tweeted from Stanford Engineering and the New York Times is more likely to be Jane or John, not Susie.

SAN FRANCISCO — A team of researchers has identified 80 percent of the almost 300 users in the United States who browsed the web and voluntarily participated in an online experiment.

The experiment, called the Footprints Project, was launched over the summer and ended in October, during which researchers with Stanford University and Princeton University were allowed to access the participants’ anonymous web browsing history, including information about active Twitter usage.

Based on that I think the first thing I messaged information ‘This is kind of scary, alone, Footprints identified 11 out of 13 people who visited the project’s website at Stan“I think the first thing I ford on its first day of operation. messaged was: ‘This is kind By participating in Footprints, of scary,’” said Stanford unpeople gave the researchers per- dergraduate Ansh Shukla, a mission to gather the names of senior studying mathematany websites that a participant ics, who worked on the project clicked on through Twitter, a so- with Stanford Engineering ascial media network, while using sistant professor Sharad Goel Google Chrome browser. The and Stanford computer science researchers explained on the PhD student Jessica Su. website that “this is similar to “Although we happen to use information that can be collect- Twitter, it’s not like Twitter is ed without your knowledge by uniquely vulnerable,” Shukla websites and advertisers. This was quoted as saying in a news set of webpages uniquely fin- release from the School of Engerprints you, and we compare gineering at Stanford, a private this fingerprint to the profiles research university in northof hundreds of millions of active ern California on the U.S. west Twitter users to determine who coast. “It doesn’t take a lot of reyou are.” corded characteristics to have

people become unique.”

Knowing that online privacy risks are not new, the researchers believed that their latest research is “another nail in the coffin” to the idea that the average person with the average web browser can be private online. “You should kind of go into the internet assuming that everything you go to someone might learn about someday,” Shukla explained.

Even though many advertisers and internet companies might not initially know your name, he said, they likely have most of your anonymous browsing history — even if you regularly clear your cookies. This data might be used by a commercial was: entity to link an anonymous person with a real identity — something that’s lucrative for an advertiser — by crossreferencing databases.

The project is part of a growing body of research that brings heightened alarm to privacy vulnerabilities on the web.

While Shukla hopes that as people realize how easy it is to track their digital footprints, the project will lead to a change of policy, such as collecting far less data, Goel noted that most people don’t even realize they are leaving behind digital footprints. “We conceived this as a consciousness-raising project,” he said, adding that he and his team plan to write a journal article about the Footprints experiment.

www.canadianinquirer.net

for Abu Dhabi line

BY JON GAMBRELL The Associated Press DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — The futuristic citystate of Dubai announced a deal on Tuesday with Los Angelesbased Hyperloop One to study the potential for building a line linking it to the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.

The announcement of the deal took place atop the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, with a panoramic view of the skyline of this futuristic city-state serving as both a backdrop and a sign of Dubai’s desire to be the first to rush toward the future.

However, no financial terms were immediately discussed and the technology itself remains under testing, despite the Apple-like product talk given by Hyperloop CEO Rob Lloyd.

“This has become a transportation hub and leader in the world,” Lloyd said, mentioning long-haul carrier Emirates and the city’s driverless metro, the longest in the world. “In the Emirates, we believe everything is possible.”

A hyperloop has levitating pods powered by electricity and magnetism that hurtle through low-friction pipes at a top speed of 1,220 kph (760 mph). Tesla co-founder Elon Musk first proposed the idea in 2013.

Organizers suggest the Dubai-Abu Dhabi travel time by hyperloop would be only 12 minutes — significantly down

from the hour-plus journey it now takes by car between the two cities. Later asked about the cost, Hyperloop co-founder Josh Giegel told The Associated Press the cost would be “somewhere between the cost of putting a road in and a high-speed rail.” He did not elaborate.

There would be several stations throughout Dubai connecting the hyperloop system to Abu Dhabi. The pods would then be able to carry passengers and cargo between the cities. At the event Tuesday, Hyperloop officials showed several circular station models for Dubai, including one at Emirates Towers on Dubai’s main artery, Sheikh Zayed Road.

Already, government-backed port operator DP World has signed an agreement with Hyperloop One to explore the feasibility of the using the technology at Dubai’s sprawling, man-made Jebel Ali Port. DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem attended Tuesday’s event with Mattar al-Tayer, the head of Dubai’s Roads & Transportation Agency.

“Dubai is a city that understands global change and seizes the opportunity to pioneer,” alTayer said.

For now though, Hyperloop One continues its tests in the Nevada desert.

“We do aspire to build the world’s first hyperloop here in the United Arab Emirates,” Lloyd said. “That is our aspiration. We have a lot of work to do.”

Technology

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

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NB-born bionics expert “rewires” humans with thought controlled prosthetics

BY ADINA BRESGE The Canadian Press SAINT JOHN, N.B. — An expert trained at the University of New Brunswick says prosthetics powered by artificial intelligence are no longer the stuff of science fiction — thoughtcontrolled bionic limbs have already arrived and are getting more sophisticated by the day.

Levi Hargrove, a UNB graduate and director of neural engineering for the prosthetic and orthotics laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, will return to his alma matter next week to deliver a lecture on “rewiring humans” who have lost limbs using stateof-the-art artificial prosthetics controlled by the power of the mind.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements in their control and functionality partly by actually doing innovative surgeries ... (and) using artificial intelligence to figure out how to put that information to work so that people can move arms and legs just by thinking about it,” Hargrove said in an interview.

Nerves are like your body’s “communication highway,” says Hargrove, sending messages to your muscles in the form of electrical signals and relaying information from

the environment back to your brain. After an amputation, he says, nerves in the residual limb are “scarred” but remain active and continue to transmit signals intended for severed muscles.

Hargrove says he and his colleagues have advanced a surgical technique that involves transferring spaghetti-like bundles of nerves to “target” muscles in or near the residual limb. Once the process is complete, he says, neural signals from the brain are re-routed to make the target muscles contract and send messages to a prosthetic device as if it were the missing limb.

“We want them to be able to move their limbs as if you would move ... even though we have our intact limbs,” the Hargrove says. “It’s just a natural thing. You just subconsciously just move when you want to move and we’re trying to do the same thing.”

Hargrove says older prosthetic technologies use electrodes to detect muscle contractions in the residual limb and translate them into prosthetic motions through “Morse code switching.” For example, three pulses might trigger the prosthetic hand to make a fist.

“It’s not intuitive, because you have to remember this Morse code,” he says. “It would

be the difference between you and I communicating by speaking versus dots and dashes and having to figure out what each thing meant.”

Hargrove co-founded a Chicago-based start-up called Coapt to commercially produce a prosthetic arm that uses artificial intelligence to create more fluid, life-like movements based on a user’s anatomy. Hargrove compared the prosthetic technology to a smartphone using machine learning to respond to personalized voice commands, and says much of the “pioneering” work was engineered in collaboration with UNB. “We really are reaching that point where what seemed to be science fiction in all of these implanted devices will become routine,” says Kevin Englehart, director of UNB’s biomedical institute. “(Hargrove) really is one of few individuals now who are leading this next generation of medical devices.”

Hargrove says Coapt is selling prosthetics across North America and plans to expand internationally next spring.

The prosthetic arms are capable of elbow movement, wrist rotation and a variety of hand grasps — but can’t control individual fingers.

The devices are powered by rechargeable batteries with a

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

roughly 14-hour lifespan, and while an artificial limb weighs about as much as a human arm, Hargrove says it feels like “dead weight” because it isn’t attached to the skeleton.

The price tag for a prosthetic arm can run anywhere between $2,500 to $100,000, depending on the device’s capabilities and the sophistication of the technology.

Hargrove says the next frontier in “rewiring” humans is putting sensors inside the body, which could restore sensations of touch for people with amputated limbs. Researchers are making headway in developing better prosthetic technology for lower limbs, he says, and are “pushing the boundaries” with regard to treating people who

have suffered strokes or spinal chord injuries.

The New Brunswick native says Terry Fox’s cross-Canada trek in 1980 has been a source of inspiration since he was a child. A marathoner himself, Hargrove marvels at Fox’s stamina given how “primitive” the prosthetic technology was at the time of his run for cancer research.

“That’s certainly in my mind as we go,” Hargrove says. “(Today) it may have been a little bit easier, but running a marathon a day whether you have one leg or two legs is a really difficult thing to do.”

Hargrove is scheduled to speak at UNB’s Fredericton and Saint John campuses on Nov. 8 and 9.

In first human trial, new device helps blind woman see PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY MOSCOW — A new device that has allowed a blind woman to identify spots of light has given scientists hope that blindness may someday be repairable, in this case by bypassing the eye entirely and sending visual signals directly to the brain.

In the first human test of the new “visual cortical stimulator” — a tiny collection of electrodes — a team at UCLA drilled a hole into the skull of their patient and laid the stimulator direct-

ly on the surface of her brain.

They also implanted a small antenna to receive signals sent by a computer in the gap created in her skull, a Daily Mail report explains.

By sending signals to the stimulator, they were able to create flashes and lines of light and color that their patient, a 30-year-old woman who had been completely blind for seven years, could “see.”

During the course of the sixweek initial proof of concept trial, which began in August, the patient reported the exact signals doctors sent to the chip,

the Daily Mail reports.

The next step is to send footage from a tiny video camera to the sensor in the brain, with the goal of eventually connecting the camera to a pair of glasses patients can put on when they want to see. The next phase in the trial is expected to begin next year.

“The moment she saw color for the first time was a very emotional experience,” said Nader Pouratian, who performed the operation, according to the Daily Mail.

“It touched us all very deeply as human beings. Based on www.canadianinquirer.net

these results, this system has the potential to restore sight to the blind.”

The Second Sight group, the developers of the device, say the successful trial means it may be possible to restore some sight to patients who are completely blinded, even those who have lost their eyes.

“By bypassing the optic nerve and directly stimulating the visual cortex, the Orion I has the potential to restore useful vision to patients completely blinded due to virtually any reason, including glauco-

ma, cancer, diabetic retinopathy, or trauma,” said Second Sight Chairman Robert Greenberg in a press release issued by the company. “Today these individuals have no available therapy and the Orion I offers hope, increasing independence and improving their quality of life.”

The company has also developed other devices for patients suffering from blindness, but they all require some retinal function. The Orion I, on the other hand, could potentially help patients with no optical nerve function.

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FRIDAY

Travel Deer and reindeer breeder dressed in national clothes the Sami in the area of town Honningsvag. The Sami are the people inhabiting the Arctic area.

VALENTINA PHOTO / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Arctic farming: Town turns to hydroponics for fresh greens

BY CRAIG HILL The Associated Press ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — The landscape is virtually treeless around a coastal hub town above Alaska’s Arctic Circle, where even summer temperatures are too cold for northerngrowing forests to take root.

Amid these unforgiving conditions, a creative kind of farming is sprouting up in the largely Inupiat community of Kotzebue.

A subsidiary of a local Native corporation is using hydroponics technology to grow produce inside an insulated, 40-foot shipping container equipped with glowing magenta LED lights. Arctic Greens is harvesting kale, various lettuces, basil and other greens weekly from the soil-free system and selling them at the supermarket in the community of nearly 3,300.

“We’re learning,” Will Anderson, president of the Native Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corp., said of the business launched last spring. “We’re not a farming culture.”

The venture is first of its kind north of the Arctic Circle, according to the manufacturer of Kotzebue’s pesticide-free system. The goal is to set up similar systems in partnerships with other rural communities far from Alaska’s minimal road system — where steeply priced vegetables can be more than a week in transit and past their prime by the time they arrive at local stores.

There are other tools for extending the short growing season in a state with cold soil. One increasingly popular method involves high tunnels, tall hoop-shaped structures that cover crops.

But the season can last yearround with indoor hydroponics, which uses water and nutrients to grow vertically stacked plants rooted in a binding material such as rock wool.

Anchorage-based Vertical Harvest Hydroponics, which builds enclosed systems out of transformed shipping containers, partnered with Kikiktagruk. The 2-year-old company also sold the system to a

farmer in the rural town of Dillingham.

“Our vision is that this can be a long-term solution to the food shortage problems in the north,” said Ron Perpich, a company founder. “We’re hoping that we can put systems anywhere that there’s people.”

But the operations have challenges, including steep price tags. Startup costs in Kotzebue were around $200,000, including the customized freight container and the price to fly it in a C-130 transport plane from Anchorage, 550 miles to the southeast.

The town also relies heavily on expensive diesel power, so operations could eat into profits.

In addition, moving tender produce from its moist, warm growing enclosure to a frigid environment can be challenging. And farming can be a largely foreign concept to Native communities with deeply imbedded traditions of hunting and gathering.

Still, the potential benefits outweigh the downsides, acwww.canadianinquirer.net

cording to Johanna Herron, state market access and food safety manager.

Grown with the correct nutrient balance, hydroponics produce is considered just as safe as crops grown using other methods.

“It’s not the only solution,” Herron said. “Hydroponics is just a piece of it, but certainly an excellent thing for communities to look into.”

Alaska Commercial Co., which has stores in nearly three dozen remote communities, is carrying Arctic Greens in the Kotzebue store. This week, the Dillingham AC store is beginning to sell produce grown in the local farm’s hydroponics system. The chain will bring the Arctic Greens brand to more locations if expansion plans prove cost-effective, AC general manager Walter Pickett told The Associated Press.

“The produce is fantastic, at least what we’ve been seeing out of Kotzebue,” he said. “The customers love it.”

Lisa Adan is among the Kotzebue residents who regularly

buy the produce. She said there are plans to start providing it at the local hospital’s cafeteria, where she is an assistant manager.

Adan said the locally grown greens are superior to the produce that’s transported north.

“It’s so much better,” she said.

“It tastes like it just came out of your garden.”

For now, the new business is operating as a prototype, especially as it enters the long, harsh winter season in Kotzebue, 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The town, the regional hub for northwest Alaska villages, is built on a 3-mile-long spit, and many there live a subsistence lifestyle. The community has a chronically high unemployment rate, with the school district, state and local hospital among its major employers.

For now, the biggest selling point of the hydroponics produce is freshness. Prices are parallel with greens brought up from the Lower 48.

But operators are trying to work out kinks and find ways to lower energy costs, possibly through such alternatives as wind power, according to Anderson.

“We want to be a benefit to the community,” he said. “Not only do we want fresher produce, but affordable produce.”

Nearly 400 miles to the northeast, the village corporation in the Inupiat community of Nuiqsut is considering acquiring one of the systems. Joe Nukapigak, president of the Kuukpik Corp., said he plans to travel to Kotzebue after Thanksgiving to see hydroponics in action.

Unlike diesel-powered Kotzebue, Nuiqsut is just miles from the Prudhoe Bay oil field and taps into far less costly natural gas.

Nukapigak envisions the oil industry as a possible customer if hydroponics takes hold in his village. He also likes the thought of same-day freshness as opposed to produce that’s sometimes ruined by the time it arrives.

“If we have a local operation like that, it would not get spoiled as much,” he said. “It would be made locally, and that would help.”

Travel

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016

35

Near Sedona’s famed red rocks, a wine trail in Arizona

BY YVONNE GONZALEZ The Associated Press CORNVILLE, ARIZ. — The famed red rocks of Sedona draw visitors from around the world. But less than half an hour away from Sedona’s tourist crowds is an attraction that might surprise out-of-towners: Arizona’s Verde Valley Wine Trail, complete with vineyards tucked into volcanic rock and limestone, with grapevines growing within view of the tasting rooms.

Wine in a state known for desert and heat? Yes, thanks to elevations above 3,000 feet and a milder climate than in places like Phoenix, 100 miles away. Communities on the wine trail like Cottonwood and Cornville mainly attract staycationers, including Phoenix residents looking to escape to the semi-wilderness for a day or two, but the wines made here are pulling Sedona tourists south through central Arizona’s green landscapes.

From State Route 89A, Page Springs Road takes you to several stops along the trail in Cornville. My co-pilot and I started with a tasting of 2015 sauvignon blanc, 2015 sangiovese and 2014 tempranillo at Javelina Leap Vineyard and Winery, where the owners’ son Lucas Reed poured and described his family’s wine.

The Javelina Leap wines are made mostly from one type of grape at a time, but at our next stop, Page Springs Cellars, varietals share shelf space with blends. The road here cuts a curvy route near House Mountain, a volcano that erupted millions of years ago leaving alkaline subsoils, which Page Springs Cellars says are comparable to France’s Southern Rhone wine region.

A small driveway connected to a dusty gravel path leads to rows of Page Springs’ grapevines, and solar panels shade vehicles from the sun while grenache grapes grow nearby. Travelers sip years of local work here while sampling a menu that lists pizzas, salads and cheeses. Winemaker Eric Glomski, who owns Page Springs with his family, greeted us at the outside patio before tour guide Dina Ribaudo took the group through the winemaking process, starting with the vineyard, passing by a deck that overlooks Oak Creek, and ending at the bottling station. After offering samples of a malvasia bianca blend, Arizona viognier and a Tuscan-style blend, she dipped our glasses into a spring for a water break. Ribaudo said the spring is named for settler James Page and flows at a constant 68 degrees from the Coconino Plateau, about 50 miles north.

Our group sipped a Rhone blend called the 2014 ECIPS — spice spelled backward — while walking into a room stacked with barrels. After pulling a

stopper from one red-stained cask, Ribaudo siphoned out our final sample of the tour, the 2014 Bordowie (made mostly from Bordeaux wines). By midafternoon, the small tasting room parking lots along Page Springs Road were slightly fuller, with an occasional tour group limo among the cars.

The Page Springs Cellars owners are also behind Arizona Stronghold Vineyards, which has a tasting room about 12 miles away in Old Town Cottonwood.

You’ll pass several tasting rooms, restaurants and shops in the area before Main Street becomes Broadway and climbs toward the town of Clarkdale.

There, in what used to be a mining company town, the Four Eight Wineworks tasting room is housed in a former bank where a notorious 1928 robbery and shooting took place. This is Arizona’s first winemakers co-operative, a project that stems from Tool singer Maynard Keenan. He’s also behind Caduceus Cellars, which has a tasting room about 5 miles from Clarkdale in Jerome.

The town of Jerome, population over 400, is built into a hillside about 5,000 feet above sea level, marked by a large white J. The former copper mining site is dotted with historic properties. It has a ghost-town reputation and creative community of artists. Surrounded by restaurants, shops and galleries, a coppery chain-link curtain leads to the Caduceus Cellars tasting room.

Danielle Vorves, whose business card bears the title of wine slinger, poured us separate flights of wines with unique names, like The Diddler, a blend of albarino, malvasia and viognier under the Caduceus Cellars Merkin Vineyards label. While Keenan’s playlist layered The XX beneath the voices of several groups of customers, Vorves noted that Caduceus Cellars is close to producing all its wine using only Arizona-grown grapes.

Altogether the Verde Valley Wine Trail includes about seven wineries and eight tasting rooms. We visited three in a half-day and ended our visit with a view at Jerome State Historic Park that stretched for miles, offering a vista of canyons and peaks in the Arizona wilderness.

DOT optimistic on surge of UK tourists as PHL returns to London’s Waterloo

BY AZER N. PARROCHA Philippines News Agency MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) said on Monday it is optimistic that more tourists from the United Kingdom would visit the Philippines following the country’s advertising comeback to London’s Waterloo train station which will run until Nov. 10.

DOT Secretary Wanda Teo made this statement after paying a special visit to see one of the many consumer marketing activities staged by the DOT overseas office in the United Kingdom.

She pointed out that the UK remains to be the country’s eighth top market, contributing 117,500 visitors from January to August this year, registering a 13.5 percent growth.

“With more activities like this done to reach our target segments, we are optimistic to grow the numbers and move closer to our goal of six million arrivals this year,” Teo said.

Waterloo is one of UK’s busiest railway stations with almost 100 million passenger entries and exits recorded in 2015. It is also the 15th busiest passenger terminal in Europe and the 91st busiest railway station in the world.

DOT said it hopes to gain wider expo-

If You Go...

Javelina Leap Vineyard and Winery: 1565 Page Springs Rd., Cornville, Arizona. Tasting room open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Free winery tours Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Page Springs Cellars: 1500 N. Page Springs Road, Cornville. Tours Friday, Saturday, Sunday: noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., $27 for tour, tasting flight of five wines and souvenir wine glass; $15 without tasting and souvenir glass. www.canadianinquirer.net

sure and greater impact given this high traffic.

Visitors can witness Philippine branding featured across the Waterloo Motion, Europe’s largest advertising screen at 80 meters wide and 12 D6 HD screens around the station.

There will also be special promotional flights and holiday packages advertised by partners, including Philippine Airlines, STA, Explore, Dive Worldwide and Secret Escapes.

Commuters may also experience the Philippines via VR (virtual reality) at the experiential zone at the concourse.

They can also have the chance to win a holiday to the Philippines by simply uploading to social media their paddle boarding or sky cycling selfie photos taken at the zone.

The top destinations can also be enjoyed in 360-degree views. The fun experience grows as more exciting prizes await the lucky consumers.

The project is part of the Station Domination Series which started in Waterloo in April this year where it was able to reach 8.4 million commuters and 1.2 million Facebook users. The project later moved to the King’s Cross Station and finally back to Waterloo.

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NOVEMBER 11, 2016

FRIDAY

Food Give thanks for this turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce

BY THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA THANKSGIVING IS a day for celebrating, where we enjoy the company of friends, share delicious food, and reflect on our country’s history and traditions. Throughout this celebration, though, there is one lingering thought in the back of our minds that cannot be ignored: Tomorrow there will be leftovers.

Every family has its own unique Thanksgiving traditions and recipes. But the next day, homes across America are bound by a common ritual: the day-after turkey sandwich. And while our recipe for a Thanksgiving Sandwich has all of the classic components (plus ba-

con!), the beauty of leftovers is that they can be personalized to suit your mood — and the contents of your refrigerator.

Thanksgiving sandwich

Start to finish: 15 minutes Servings: Four • 1/2 cup mayonnaise • 1 tablespoon chopped sage • 8 slices whole-grain bread • 3/4 cup Cranberry Sauce (recipe follows) • 1 pound sliced turkey • Lettuce, as needed • Sliced tomatoes, as needed • Sliced crisp bacon (optional) In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and sage.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread 4 of the slices of bread with the mayonnaise mixture,

add a layer of cranberry sauce, and top with the turkey, lettuce, and tomato. Spread the remaining four slices of bread with cranberry sauce and place on top of the turkey. Slice the sandwiches in half and serve.

Chef’s note: You can make a Turkey Club Sandwich by simply adding another slice of bread and another layer of cranberry sauce, turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Cranberry Sauce Makes 1 1/4 cups • 3/4 cups fresh cranberries • 2 tablespoons sugar • 1/2 cup water • 2 teaspoons grated orange zest

cranberries, sugar, and water.

Bring to a boil and whisk to break up the cranberries.

Cook the mixture until the cranberries burst and the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the zest. Cool completely before serving.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the

Nutrition serving

www.canadianinquirer.net

information

per

Thanksgiving Sandwich: 432 calories; 207 calories from fat; 23 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 71 mg cholesterol; 972 mg sodium; 26 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 29 g protein.

Cranberry Sauce: 33 calories; 4 calories from fat; 0 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 0 mg sodium; 3 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 0 g protein.

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