Philippine Canadian Inquirer #334

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AUGUST 24, 2018

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VOL. 8 NO. 334

EID'L ADHA CELEBRATION

Two young Muslims watch as thousands of Muslim elders offer their Eid'l Adha prayers at the open grounds of the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City. Muslims around the world celebrated Eid'l Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) last Aug. 21. Story on page 13.

JOEY O. RAZON / PNA

Duterte slams Trudeau anew over cancelled helicopter deal

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau anew for his country’s decision to review a $233-million helicopter deal with the Philippines amid concerns that the choppers will be used against Filipino citizens.

“Ang Canada, nagbigay tayo ng attack helicopters. Tapos i-deliver na, itong si Trudeau nagpapa-corny (Canada, gave helicopters for attacking. It was supposed to be delivered, but Trudeau was being corny). Pakunwari na peaceful ganun (He pretended to have been wanting peace), ‘We want peace.’ Anong want (What do you mean by want)… This is a

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Sison: I’m pleased to see Duterte still alive so he can face arrest

15 Optimism over quality of life, economy still ‘excellent’ — SWS

❱❱ PAGE 11 Duterte slams

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❱❱ PAGE 21

Trudeau: no apologies for heckler encounter, pledges to call out ‘hate speech’

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Philippine News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Lorenzana in Moscow to discuss areas of PH-Russia defense cooperation

BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is now in Moscow, Russia to discuss possible areas of cooperation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu.

This was disclosed by DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong late Monday when asked about Lorenzana’s visit to Russia.

“The SND (Secretary of National Defense) is in Moscow upon the invitation of Russian Defense Minister and General of the Army Sergey Shoygu. He is reciprocating the visit which the latter recently paid him in the Philippines,” he said in a message to the Philippine News Agency.

Lorenzana left for Russia on Aug. 16 and is expected to be back in the country on Friday.

There, the two defense chiefs will dis-

cuss possible areas of cooperation between the DND and the Russian Defense Ministry.

“They will discuss possible areas in which cooperation between the defense establishments of the Philippines and Russia may be developed and deepened,” Andolong added.

In a separate message, Lorenzana said he is in Russia to look into some of the defense equipment the latter is offering.

“To look at some defense equipment they are offering: like submarines, helicopters,” the DND chief said when asked on the purpose of his visit to Moscow.

In October last year, Lorenzana and Shoygu signed an Agreement for Military-Technical Cooperation between the two countries.

The document contained provisions on various areas of military and technical cooperation such as research, production support, as well as possible exchange of experts and training of personnel for joint programs. ■

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

PCOO

Duterte to lead launch of federalism info drive

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte will lead the opening salvo of the information and advocacy campaign on the draft Federalism Constitution crafted by the Consultative Committee (ConCom), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said over the weekend.

Medialdea made this remark during the ConCom’s 18th and final en banc session at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) last August 18 (Saturday).

He said the Chief Executive bared this during his meeting with former Chief Justice and ConCom Chairman Reynato Puno, and former Senate President and ConCom member Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. last Wednesday (August 15) to discuss the information drive.

“The President has expressed himself that he will be personally present at the opening salvo of the information drive,” Medialdea said.

Duterte earlier tapped Medialdea and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque to lead the inter-agency task force to promote federalism which will be composed of officials from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and ConCom. Medialdea, meanwhile, thanked the 22-member ConCom for making “an indelible mark in history” by drafting a new Constitution which will allow the shift to a federalism system of government within six months.

“With only six months to craft a draft constitution that will faithfully capture the present will and mandate of the people, the committee faced a formidable task,” Medialdea said.

“Today I am proud and confident to

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say that the 22-member committee whom the President handpicked himself did not disappoint,” he added.

Medialdea described the ConCom’s Federal Constitution as “a draft that echoes many of the proposed changes that large sectors of society have been clamoring for these past years.”

According to Medialdea, the Constitution of any nation, no matter how revered, should be a living document “open to change.”

Honored

In its final en banc session, the ConCom also passed a resolution expressing gratitude to the President for the opportunity to draft the Federal Constitution.

“We are all honored to have been chosen by the President to review the 1987 Constitution and suggest the necessary changes to effectuate our shift from a unitary to a federal for of government,” Puno said in his speech.

Puno acknowledged that the draft is “not perfect”, but stressed that it was prepared with “patriotism.”

According to Puno, the second stage of their efforts now lies in informing the public about the benefits of federalism in the country.

“It is our job to end the suspension of the belief on federalism whose and end all be all is the people’s welfare. More specifically, we should tell the people that Federalism will end the culture of undue dependence on the central government,” Puno said.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said at present, the inter-agency’s communication plan is “still being finalized” but a federalism jingle is expected to be launched anytime soon.

A total of PHP90 million was allocated by government for the federalism campaign. Of this amount, PHP10 million will go to the PCOO, which will be tasked to produce information drive materials. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

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Roque thanks Mayor Sara, PDP-Laban for endorsement

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday thanked Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino– Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) for endorsing him as one of their possible senatorial candidates in the 2019 elections.

“Well, I would like to thank Mayor Sara. I would also like to thank PDP-Laban that they included me also on their list of 24 possible candidates,” Roque said in an interview over radio dzRH. Last week, Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), a fast emerging regional political party headed by the presidential daughter, has endorsed nine personalities including Roque.

The list also included Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, former Philippine National Police chief and now Bureau of Corrections head Ronald “Bato”

President Rodrigo R. Duterte poses for a selfie with Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson, Hollywood actor Stephen Baldwin, and Secretary Bong Go during a courtesy call.

TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Dela Rosa, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano, Maguindanao Rep. Zajid ‘Dong’ Mangudadatu and reelectionist Senators JV Ejercito, Sonny Angara and Cynthia Villar.

HNP bared the list a week after it forged an alliance with three national and six local political parties.

The HNP’s new national partners include the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition and National Unity Party while the local parties include Ilocano Timpuyog, Alyansa Bol-anon Alang sa Kausaban (Abaka), Aggrupation of Party for Progress, Kambilan, PaDayon Pilipino and Serbisyo sa Bayan Party.

PDP-Laban also released last week its own initial list of 24 possible senatorial candidates and asked President Rodrigo Duterte, the party chairman, to help in finalizing the list.

The PDP-Laban list also includes Go, Mangugudato, Dela Rosa, Villar, Angara and Ejercito.

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PDP-Laban president and reelectionist Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also listed other party mates Freddie Aguilar, Jiggy Manicad, and Reps.

Karlo Alexei Nograles, Geraldine Roman, Monsour del Rosario, Alfredo Benitez and Carlo “Dax” Cua. Pimentel told the President that they can recruit from “friends of the party” like Mayor Sara, Robin Padilla, former Senator Lito Lapid, Rafael Alunan and Mon Tulfo; and Senate majority coalition members Senators Grace Poe and Nancy Binay.

While he appreciates the endorsement from both HNP and PDP-Laban, Roque said his focus remains on his work as spokesperson of the President and not on the 2019 polls.

“Although filing is near, I continue to pray for divine guidance on what I should do,” Roque said.

He said raising funds is his top consideration “because you know democracy in the Philippines is so expensive.” ■

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Philippine News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Malacañang dares Naga execs to prove ‘shabu hotbed’ tag is false

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — If Naga City is not a hotbed of shabu (crystal meth), then city officials should prove it.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday made this challenge as he called on Naga City officials to be less “onion-skinned” and instead boost their efforts to eliminate illegal drugs in their city.

Last August 14, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he believed Vice President Leni Robredo could “not improve on anything,” citing her hometown as “a hotbed of shabu.”

“You can ask the hotbed of shabu in the past years. I would not mention the name kasi (because) — it was Naga City,” Duterte said during the launch of the Go Negosyo’s “Pilipinas Angat Lahat” Program in Malacañang.

Roque reiterated that the President has “access to all available information that only a President has access to” and did not need to prove it. However, he said Duterte will only apologize once proven wrong.

“The President doesn’t have to do that (prove it). He already has access to information. He said it, let it be. If he is wrong, he will apologize. Until he does, he stands by it,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.

Roque pointed out that Naga City officials should view Duterte’s remark as “constructive criticism.”

“Kung sa tingin nila mali ang Presidente, hindi hotbed of shabu ang Naga, patunayan nila. Labanan nila yung mga nagbebenta ng droga sa Naga (If they think that the President is wrong, that Naga is not a hotbed of shabu, they should prove

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

it. They should arrest those selling drugs in Naga),” Roque said.

“Patunayan nilang hindi talaga hotbed of shabu, na shabu-free ang kanilang bayan (They should prove that they’re really not a hotbed of shabu, that their city is drug-free.) It should be constructive particularly on the part of public officers,” he added.

Roque further said Naga City officials should not take offense to Duterte’s remark if it were false.

“Kung talagang hindi siya hotbed for shabu, well, e di hindi siya hotbed ng shabu. Dapat ‘wag sila masyadong masaktan dahil alam nila ang katotohanan (If it’s not a hotbed of shabu, well, then it’s not. They shouldn’t get hurt if they know the truth),” Roque said.

“Focus on energies in combating the drug menace. Di na dapat pinag-aaksayahan ng government resources, ng pagod, ng panahon ‘yung mga ganyang statement (We shouldn’t waste government resources, effort, time, on statements like that),” he added.

Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Eduardo Año said the agency is still validating information bared by Duterte.

Robredo as well as Naga City officials earlier cried foul over Duterte’s “hotbed of shabu” tag. The Naga City Council has also passed a resolution condemning his remark.

Reports showed that Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Southern Luzon Director Christian Frivaldo has claimed that Manila’s drug situation is worse than Naga City.

Naga City Mayor John Bongat, meanwhile, denied that his city was “not doing anything” to put a stop to the illegal drug trade. ■

ALFRED FRIAS / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Gadon lauds graft raps vs. Sereno at Ombudsman

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — Lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon on Tuesday welcomed the Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to forward the graft complaint against ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Gadon filed last January before the DOJ the graft complaint against Sereno, whom he accused of failing to file her SALNs during her 17-year stint as a professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law. “I welcome the action taken by DOJ Secretary to endorse to the Ombudsman the complaint I filed against Atty. Maria Lourdes Sereno in connection with her failure to obey the law requiring all government employees to file SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) every year,” Gadon said in a statement.

“I filed it at the time when the respondent was still clothed with immunity from suits notwithstanding to avoid prescription of criminal acts as they were committed when Atty. Sereno was still teaching in a state university,” he added.

The preliminary investigation on Gadon’s complaints was shelved at the DOJ since, at the time they were filed, Sereno was still Chief Justice and was immune from suit.

Guevarra said he has endorsed the complaint against Sereno to the top antigraft office after she was ousted as top magistrate via quo warranto proceedings.

In his complaint, Gadon accused Sereno of violating Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) and RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).

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He said Sereno violated RA 6713 when she submitted only three SALNs during her stint as a law professor at the UP College of Law from 1986 to 2006 prior to her SC appointment in 2012.

Citing Republic Act 3019, he said Sereno violated the law, which “requires every public officer to prepare and file a true and detailed sworn statement of assets and liabilities, including a statement of the amounts and sources of income, the amounts of personal and family expenses, and the amount of income taxes paid.”

Gadon, who also filed the impeachment complaint against Sereno before the House of Representatives in August 2017, expressed confidence that “the complaint will be given due course and will be resolved on the basis of its merits.”

The quo warranto petition sought the nullification of Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice for her failure to comply with the requirements to qualify for the position.

The failure of ousted Chief Sereno to meet this 10-SALN requirement was among the grounds cited by the SC in granting the quo warranto petition against her.

The petition sought to void Sereno’s appointment as Chief Justice in 2012 due to her failure to submit before the JBC her SALNs she was supposed to have filed during her tenure as law professor of the University of the Philippines (UP).

SC Associate Justices Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin were among the six justices asked by Sereno to inhibit from the deliberation on the quo warranto petition filed

by Solicitor General Jose Calida, which was eventually granted by the Court in a decision issued last May 11. The decision became final on June 19. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

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Sison: I’m pleased to see Duterte still alive so he can face arrest

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on Tuesday, August 21, said he is ‘pleased’ to learn that President Rodrigo Duterte is in good shape so that the latter can be arrested and “tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC).”

Sison said this after Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher “Bong” Go posted a Facebook live video of Duterte on Monday night, August 20, denying Sison’s claim that the President has slipped in a coma.

The communist leader on Sunday, August 19, posted a photo of Duterte attending the national conference of his San Beda Law fraternity, Lex Talionis, on Saturday. He said guests who saw the President reported that “the darkness of his face had become aggravated from its appearance the other day and that his walk and handshake had become more unstable.”

But in the video, Duterte was seen having dinner with a female companion and even telling Sison, “Joma, ang wish ko sa

buhay, maski na wala ka nang silbi sa mundong ito, mabuhay ka pa rin ng mga 1,000 years (my wish in life is that, even if you are useless in this world, you still live for 1,000 years).”

Responding to this, Sison said, “If the video showing Duterte hotel-dating a young woman was really recorded on Monday night (Davao time), I am pleased to see that Duterte is still alive and that there is a chance of his living long enough to be held accountable for his crimes against the people and be tried by the people´s court or by the International Criminal Court (ICC).”

The communist leader said that unlike the Chief Executive, he does not have any “death wish” for Duterte.

“In fact, I wish him to live long enough to receive a warrant of arrest, unlike the so many thousands of victims of Oplans Tokhang and Kapayapaan,” he added.

The Palace earlier described Sison’s claim as “absolutely false,” however, the CPP leader clarified that he never said the comatose report was true.

In fact, he noted that he even cautioned the readers on his Facebook page that the report “is subject to verification or

negation by the public appearance of Duterte and by credible medical bulletin.”

“Duterte should be gratified that the report I have ventilated has given him the chance to deny that he is comatose,” he said.

The CPP founding chairman then insisted that Duterte appeared to not be in good health in his latest video.

“I am also gratified that the aforesaid video shows Duterte truly looking very tired and dispirited, his face still very dark and his right eye drooping.

He looks like he just came from dialysis or some other kind of treatment on Sunday,” Sison said.

He also stressed that some conflicting remarks of Duterte against him ‘bespeak’ of the Chief Executive’s mental and moral condition.

Sison said Duterte wants him to live a thousand years, but ‘repeats’ his claim that the communist leader was sick and dying.

He also cited that the military alleged that he is living a luxurious life in The Netherlands, however, the President claimed that Sison has been in and out if Dutch hospitals as a charity patient.

CPP Founding Chairman Joma Sison.

JANESS VIA JOMA SISON / FACEBOOK

Moreover, Sison noted that Duterte invited him to return to the Philippines, but the former warned him that he will be brought to jail if he does so.

“I agree with all the forces of the broad united front that Duterte is unfit for the position of president of even the semicolonial and semifeudal state of big compradors, landlords, and corrupt bureaucrats,” Sison said.

Davao City Mayor and Presidential daughter Sara DuterteCarpio, also on Tuesday, hit

back at Sison, saying that his recent posts about the ‘dying’ President is “not rational.”

“Napaisip ako kung siya ba ang nag-post or baka caretaker na lang ni Joma (I wonder if he was really the one who posted it or it was Joma’s caretaker),” the Mayor said.

“My guess is, at the rate that he or his caretaker is unraveling, he will soon say PRD (President Rodrigo Duterte) is not human but an alien in the form of Rodrigo Duterte,” she added. ■

Passage of ‘safer workplace’ law a victory to all workers PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Senator Joel Villanueva on Monday welcomed the signing of Republic Act 11058 or An Act Strengthening Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS) that seeks to amend the 41-year-old Labor Code of the Philippines which does not penalize violations of OSHS. “The signing of OSHS bill into law is a resounding victory to all our workers. With this law, the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) should be able to raise the OSH standards compliance than just the 67 percent compliance rate in 2017 with 72 workplace accidents, causing fatal injuries to

95 workers and non-fatal injuries to 117. One death or one injury due to workplace accident is far too many. This should stop,” said Villanueva, author of the measure and chairperson of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development.

“After four Congresses, the passage of this measure into law is indeed an important milestone. I was a member of the House of Representatives when the OSHS bill was first filed in 2004. I am personally thankful to the President for supporting this cause to provide a safe and healthy workplace for our workers,” the senator said in a news release.

The new law provides the duties of employers, workers, and other persons to: a) furnish the

workers a place of employment free from hazardous conditions; b) give complete job safety instructions or orientation to all the workers; c) inform the workers of the hazards associated with their work; d) use only approved devices and equipment for the workplace; and e) comply with OSH standards including the provision of protective and safety devices such as personal protective equipment and machine guards.

The law also provides that all safety and health personnel are required to undergo the mandatory training on basic occupational safety and health for safety officers as prescribed by the DOLE. Up to an amount of PHP100,000 will serve as an administrative penalty for the www.canadianinquirer.net

erring employer for every day of non-correction of violation, counted from the date the employer or contractor is notified of the violation or the date the compliance order is duly served on the employer.

The amount of fine imposed shall depend on the frequency or gravity of the violation committed or the damage caused, provided, however, that the maximum amount shall be imposed only when the violation exposes the workers to a risk of death, serious injury or serious illness.

RA 11058 covers all establishments, projects, sites, and workplaces in all branches of economic activity but subject to the appropriate standards of OSH based on number of employees, nature of operations,

and the risk or hazard involved, as determined by the Secretary of Labor.

The measure also authorizes the Secretary of Labor and Employment and/or representatives to enter workplaces at any time of the day or night where work is being performed to examine records and investigate facts, conditions, or matters necessary to determine compliance with the provisions of the OSH law.

“The OSHS law will prevent workplace injuries or deaths, work-related disorders such as muscoskeletal disorders and occupational lung diseases, and ensure that workplace health and safety is everyone’s responsibility,” Villanueva said. ■

Philippine News

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AUGUST 24, 2018

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The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 check-in counters are back to normal operations after a Xiamen Airlines passenger plane that skidded off a NAIA runway last Thursday, causing flight cancellations/delays and stranding passengers over the weekend, had been towed off.

AVITO C. DALAN / PNA

Gov’t conducts probe on Xiamen Airline pilot’s possible liability

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang on Monday said the government is conducting an investigation on the possible liability of the pilot of Xiamen Air jet which got stuck in a Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) runway on Thursday night, leaving thousands of travelers stranded after several flights were canceled.

In a Palace briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government is currently looking into the incident as an apology from the Chinese airline will not suffice.

“It’s not just an apology that we will ask for. We’re now conducting an investigation if there’s any liability on the part of the Xiamen pilot, that’s why he has been asked not to leave the country.

That’s part of an ongoing investigation,” Roque said.

Roque was not privy on what sort of liability but noted that it should not be any different from criminal laws on reckless imprudence resulting to damages.

The runway has already reopened on Saturday morning since clearing operations were hampered by bad weather.

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade earlier apologized for the inconvenience caused by the incident, describing it as an “eye-opener.”

Senator Grace Poe earlier called for a probe into why it took 36 hours for airport authorities to remove the stalled airplane.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) barred the pilot from leaving the country as part of the agency’s investigation to determine if the incident was “force majeure” or “due

to pilot error” since it was his second attempt to land.

Roque said he himself was among those stranded in Davao while waiting for his flight to Manila to push through.

“Isa po ako doon (I was one of them).

My flight was at 9…but I ended up boarding my flight at 3:30, and got to Manila even later because we sat in the plane doing nothing. So I have the delay of about 10 hours,” Roque said.

Roque said although he was not in a position to judge airport authorities for their failure to resolve the problem at once, it was worthy to look into contingencies.

“I’m not in a position to judge the airport authorities; because I myself was stuck in Davao. I’m sure no one wanted it. Pero (But) perhaps, we should look into contingencies,” Roque said, noting that flights should have been canceled earlier instead of making passengers wait for long hours.

“Kung talagang may mga delays, eh dapat siguro the (If there are delays, perhaps) airlines and the airport authorities should already decide to cancel flights. But of course, we welcome any form of investigation,” he added.

He emphasized that Tugade has already apologized and described the incident as a chance to learn from experience.

NAIA upgrades

Roque, meanwhile, bared that upgrades of NAIA’s airport facilities have already been endorsed by the DOTr and have been received by the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).

“As far as the proposal of the consortium of seven is concerned which is the upgrading of NAIA to include a new ter-

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minal building and a new runway, it has been endorsed by DOTr and it has been received by the ICC,” Roque said.

Moreover, he said the proposal for the airport in Bulacan province is being finalized.

“As far as Bulacan is concerned, all approvals have been given except that there are still documentations to be finalized with DOTr. And some of the documentation that still have to be finalized include the concession agreement,” Roque said.

“According to (NEDA) Secretary (Ernesto) Pernia, it should have been a go already ‘no, because it should have been three months from the time that the ICC-NEDA approved the proposal for the Bulacan Airport,” he added.

Roque added that the government is working on an “immediate solution” to NAIA’s problems by adding a runway and terminal building.

“Ang immediate solution, dahil inindorso naman po ng DOTr, iyong panandaliang immediate improvement ng NAIA 1, 2 and 3 sa pamamagitan ng additional runway and additional terminal building (The immediate solution, because it has been endorsed by the DOTr, is the immediate improvement of NAIA 1, 2 and 3 by means of additional runway and additional terminal building),” Roque said.

“Ang medium term solution, iyong pagpapalawig po ng Clark para mag-augment sa NAIA. At ang long term solution, iyong bagong airport po sa Bulacan (The medium term solution, is expanding the Clark airport to augment NAIA. And the long term solution is the new airport in Bulacan),” he added.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto earlier said the NAIA mishap should prompt authorities to ease congestion in the country’s premier airport. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

9

Liza Maza resigns from NAPC post

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer LIZA MAZA has tendered her ‘irrevocable’ resignation this morning as Secretary and Lead Convenor of the National AntiPoverty Commission (NAPC) in line with the “direction in which this administration appears to be heading.”

Though a Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court dismissed the “fabricated and baseless” murder charges filed against Maza and three others, she said similar attacks from antireform, rightist, and militarist forces could ensue that is why she can “no longer work under these circumstances.”

Maza, who announced her resignation in press conference on Monday, August 20, said that while this was a factor, the main reason of quitting from the government is President Rodrigo

Roa Duterte’s cancellation of peace talks with the rebels.

“Kinitil nito ang natitira kong pag-asa na magbubunga ang usapang pagkapayapaan sa makabuluhang repormang sosyo-ekonomiko at pulitikal na siyang magwawakas sa laganap na kahirapan at digmaan sa ating bansa (This killed the remaining hope in me that the talks will result to relevant socio-economic and political reforms to end the vast poverty and war in our country),” she said in a statement.

“Ito ay anda ng ganap nang pamamayani ng kontra-reporma, kontra-mahirap at militaristang kaisipan at mga patakaran sa administrasyong ito (This is a sign of the spreading anti-reform, anti-poor, and militarist mindset and rules of this administration),” she added.

However, Maza clarified that her resignation does not mean that she is surrendering in

Former NAPC Sec. Liza Maza.

her “pursuit of meaningful reforms” in her two-year leadership in the NAPC. She also said that she is not resigning because of those who wish for her to leave her post.

“It has become clear to me

ROBINSON NIÑAL / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

that this pursuit will be better with me working outside of government,” she continued.

Looking back, Maza shared that she joined the Cabined with “high hopes” since Duterte was “initially engaged in peace

negotiations.” That is why, his latest pronouncement to cancel the said talks prompted Maza to leave her government post.

The outgoing NAPC secretary said that genuine change cannot happen in this administration when “old forces of fascism and corruption and the defenders of elite and foreign interests, are consolidating their position in government.”

“As such, I have found it best to resume fighting from among th masses for this genuin change, which, as ever, has been the only real way to make that it will happen,” she ended.

Back in July, Malacañang called out on Maza and the three other former lawmakers filed with murder raps.

“If they are innocent then they should in fact surrender, recognize the jurisdiction of the court and prove their innocence in court,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing. ■

Public warned CamSur school in viral vs. bogus gov’t bag burning incident procurement website may lose permit to operate

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday cautioned the public against a website misrepresenting itself as the official procurement agency of the Philippine government.

In an advisory, the DOJ said the Philippines Project Award Commission (PPAC) with a website philippinesprojectawardscommission.info is claiming that it is the central procurement agency of the Philippine government to defraud the general public.

The fraudulent website also said its authorized agents are the “Champs Court” and “Champion Court Business Consulting Agency.”

The DOJ said it is neither a recognized state agency nor a legally registered corporation listed in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the said bogus website, the PPAC illegally conducts online public bidding, makes solicitation from foreign entities aside from issuing fake official receipts that are allegedly coming from Philippine government agencies, among other activities.

With this, the DOJ urged the public to be extra cautious in doing business online to avoid being victimized by other similar fake websites.

The public is advised to report transaction attempts by the mentioned website to the DOJ Office of Cybercrime (cybercrime@doj. gov.ph); the National Bureau of Investigation (526-1294); and the Philippine National PoliceAnti-Cybercrime Group (7230401 local 5313).

The DOJ reiterated that the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) is the sole centralized electronic portal that serves as the official source of information on government procurement. ■

BY MA. TERESA MONTEMAYOR Philippine News Agency

ministrator with the proper authorities,” the statement added.

It also recommended for the school board to advise the school administrator to go on leave to MANILA — The Department of make way for an impartial probe Education (DepEd) could susand to allay the students’ fear. pend or revoke the permit to op“DepEd wants to assure parerate of a private school in Camaents that the investigation will rines Sur where be just and fair, an official allegand we will not edly burned stuhesitate to imdents’ schoolbags. pose the necesIn a stateDepEd wants to assure parents that sary sanctions ment released on the investigation will be just and on those who are Monday, DepEd fair. proven to have said Secretary violated the said Leonor Briopolicy,” it added. nes has received On Saturday, initial reports from Regional DepEd added BCA’s school Sadsad received a report about Director Gilbert Sadsad con- administrator has called the BCA’s teacher-owner-adminfirming partial details of the schools division superintendent istrator who allegedly burned incident at the Bicol Central of Camarines Sur to explain the schoolbags of students who deAcademy (BCA). incident on Saturday but he is fied a “no-school bag policy” “If the school administrator’s yet to submit a written response during a recent event. accountability for the incident as required by Briones.

The schoolbags reportedly is established, DepEd has regu“Parents of the affected contained cash, gadgets, and latory tools for private schools students are advised to file other personal belongings. A at its disposal: a possible sus- complaints or administrative video of the incident has gone pension or revocation of the charges against the school ad- viral on social media. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

school’s permit to operate; or disqualification of the school to participate in the Education Service Contracting and Senior High School Voucher Program; or non-issuance of favorable recommendation for tax exemption, like import duties,” the statement read.

10

Philippine News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Only 71 of 440 inspected Boracay Promote carpooling hotels fully-compliant: DILG instead of driversonly ban, MMDA told

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency

MANILA — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Monday said only 71 of the 440 hotels and inns inspected in Boracay were fully-compliant as of August, two months before the island reopens on October 26.

At a Senate hearing on the Boracay rehabilitation on Monday, DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said there are at least 2,384 establishments in the famous tourist destination.

“The 2,384, that is all the establishments, inns, businesses, etc. not including the residential. We break it down to, specifically, hotels, resorts, and inns for the Department of Tourism’s use,” he said.

Of the resorts, hotels, and inns we inspected (it’s around) 440, of which 71 of the 440 were fully-compliant with all the permits, licenses of the local government and the national government.”

Meanwhile, on targeted compliance percentage in terms of wastewater management, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Ernesto Adobo, Jr. said the interagency group is relying on the establishments to put up their respective sewage treatment plants (STPs).

“Within the six-month rehabilitation period, we are banking on the installation of STPs and we will be able to at least target an 80 percent of those,” he said, adding the remaining 20 percent can’t operate nor open on October 26 until they comply.

With respect to the water sewage, Densing said the group is dependent on DENR’s pro-

BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency

Shangri-la's Boracay.

nouncement due to its “very technical” nature. But he explained that establishments are required to tap into the main sewer line in the island.

“On a personal perspective, if I were to administer the rehabilitation, it should be 100 percent because they need to tap into the sewer line,” he said.

Targets

Asked by Senator Cynthia Villar if only 30 percent of the establishments opening on October 26 would be acceptable, Densing is optimistic the island will still be operational.

“Possible po na between 30 to 50 percent, lalo na kung maglalabas ang DENR ng kanilang carrying capacity study baka 30 to 40 percent lang ang magbubukas, to accommodate (It’s possible between 30 to 50 percent, more so if the DENR will release their carrying capacity study, the establishments to be opened may be opened 30 to 40 percent to accommodate),” he answered.

Densing said the public has to take into account that many of the violators they inspected had no building permits or mayor’s permit at all, even an SSS or PhilHealth for their em-

ployees.

“Most of these are really the big ones, wala silang building permits. We’re are trying to let them fill in those deficiencies, so bakit natin papayagan na yung malalaking establishments na (continuous) pa ring mag-operate? Although labas na po ito sa isyu ng tubig, it’s an issue of governance (Most of these are really the big ones, they don’t have building permits. We are trying to let them fill in those deficiencies, so why should we allow those big establishments continue to operate? Although this is beyond the issue of wastewater, it’s an issue of governance),” the DILG official said.

Densing said everyone is responsible with what happened to the island.

“Kasalanan po ito ng lahat (this is everyone’s fault), that’s why when I’m told to describe Boracay, it’s a failed governance.

When we talk about failed governance, it’s not only the failure of the government, it’s the failure of the businessmen, workers, the citizens and the residents of the island. Noong isinara, dahan-dahan po nating itinatama (When it closed down, we are gradually working to correct it),” he said. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

MANILA – A lawmaker on Monday said the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) should “recalibrate” its campaign on the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) traffic scheme by promoting the idea of carpooling instead of the “driver-only” car ban along EDSA. In a press conference, House Committee on Metro Manila Development chair Winston Castelo said while the intention of the new traffic policy was correct, its marketing was wrong as it focused on banning single-passenger cars to traverse EDSA. “The MMDA tried to sell it that the commuter should not pass EDSA. Mali ho yun (That’s wrong). The packaging and marketing should be, we should entice a lot of commuters, our friends na sumakay sa (to ride on a) common carrier at pwede na dumaan sa EDSA (and they could pass through EDSA),” House Committee on Metro Manila Development chair Winston Castelo said.

“In other words, let us invite our friends so that it would no longer be necessary to use another vehicle. Kung yun po yung packaging, yun po ang marketing (If that is the packaging and marketing), I am sure that it would meet less of a resistance,” he added.

Castelo said the objective of the ban for “driver-only” vehicles was not met because although the volume of vehicles on EDSA decreased, it went to other places like C-5 and other

peripheral roads.

Castelo said other means to ease traffic congestion include lifting of color coding for buses to be used for the point-topoint bus service, implementing the bus rapid transit system, and employing motorcycle taxis.

The MMDA has suspended the full implementation of the HOV scheme as the Metro Manila Council (MMC) is set to deliberate on the measure.

The full implementation of the traffic scheme was supposed to start on August 23.

The policy bans single-passenger cars on EDSA from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays to Fridays.

MMDA general manager Jojo Garcia said a Senate resolution which calls for the suspension of the HOV scheme prompted the decision to defer its full implementation.

“We suspend the full implementation of HOV scheme in deference to the Senate resolution,” Garcia told a press briefing Friday at the MMDA office in Makati City, adding that only the MMC can decide the fate of the HOV scheme. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

11

No war with defense counsels: Albayalde

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said it welcomes the active participation and assistance of members of the bar during the service of warrants and court processes.

Speaking to newsmen, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said the police has always been working closely with members of the legal profession who opt to “guide and help” police in the orderly administration of justice.

Albayalde made the clarification in connection with the standoff betwen Makati police and three lawyers who were arrested during search of a suspected drug den in Makati City.

While recognizing lawyers’

roles in protecting their clients, the PNP chief urged them “not to intimidate” policemen enforcing a court order.

The PNP chief, who met with some members of the Makati police who took part in the arrest of the lawyers, said the PNP “will provide these policemen with much better lawyers” if they are charged for the arrests of the counsels.

He also said the policemen enjoy a “presumption of regularity” in the exercise of their duties and had “acted with good reason” in acting against the lawyers.

“What we are saying is that no one will get special treatment” Albayalde said.

Makati City Station Drug Enforcement Unit operatives, led

by Police Insp. Jeson Vigilla, arrested lawyers Lenie Rocha, 25, of Pasig City; Jan Vincent So-

liven, 32, of Cavite; and Romulo Alarkon, 33, of Caloocan City for obstruction of justice after the three reportedly, at first, refused to identify themselves as well as their client, Burton Joseph Server III, to policemen.

Server was one of those named in the search warrant.

Southern Police District officials said the three lawyers entered the bar on Thursday and started taking photos without coordination and permission from police personnel at the site.

At one point, the lawyers allegedly threatened policemen who were in the establishment.

In a report to the National Capital Region Police Office, Makati police said the lawyers tried to prevent the operatives from proceeding to the third floor to conduct a search of the premises.

Joma Sison calls Duterte ‘butangero’ for threat to bomb rebels

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer THE WORD war between President Rodrigo Duterte and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison heats up as the latter called the Chief Executive a ’butangero’ or a gangster after he threatened to bomb communist rebels if they do not stop attacking government troops.

“Duterte is a brutal guy who likes to intimidate people and impress people that he is a strongman. He’s very capable of violence,” Sison told ABS-CBN early Wednesday, August 22, in response to Duterte’s threat.

The President, he added, is a ‘coward’ who has a power but has no idea how to handle it.

“You have a butangero (gangster) in power for the first time in Philippine history. You have a wild guy, a crazy guy in power,” he added.

Duterte issued his warning against rebels in a speech at the League of Municipalities (LMP) Visayas Island Cluster conference on Tuesday, August 21.

“I’m warning you rebels,

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.

marami akong armas (I have many weapons). You do some fighting there, I will freely use all the jets to bomb you. And if I hurt civilians, then it’s part of the territory,” the President said.

“Huwag kayong masyadong mag-atake-atake ng kampo, magpatay (Do not attack camps and kill) because if you start a large-scale war, I will not hesitate to bomb you. Huwag na natin itong patagalin (Let’s not prolong this),” he added.

He also warned local government executives who attended

SIMEON CELI JR. / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

the event not to associate themselves with the CPP. “Never give them aid and never give them favor. It will be to your chagrin at the end of the day if you do that. Talagang huwag (Just do not). You will lose everything there. You lose the power over the police,” Duterte said.

The exchanges between the Chief Executive and his former professor flared up anew as Sison shared on Facebook over the weekend an unverified report that Duterte has gone into a coma. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

The lawyers were also repeatedly asked to step out of the police operation area but refused to do so.

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) announced that it will be filing a habeas corpus suit shortly to question the arrest of the three lawyers before the Makati Regional Trial Court.

Makati police authorities on Thursday served a search warrant issued by the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on the registered owners and managers of Times Bar along Makati Ave., Makati City.

The warrant was handed down after the court found probable cause for charges of maintenance of a drug den and upon the judge’s examination under oath of Chief Insp. Gideon Ines Jr., Assistant Chief of Police for Operations.

Aside from Server, others named in the warrant were Rico Rene Blanco, Cynthia Primero, Ma. Amparo Marcalinas, Reyan Ladrillo, and Danilo Regino.

The warrant covered a search for ecstasy, party drugs, “shabu” (crystal meth), marijuana, cocaine and drug paraphernalia reportedly kept in two vaults inside the room of Regino at the second floor of the bar.

Last Aug. 11, a raid at the bar yielded a number of drugs, among them 19 pieces of ecstasy (four tablets and 15 capsules) valued at PHP142,500, some 18 sachets of cocaine valued at PHP1.57 million, and a sachet of kush.During the buybust operation, 31 employees of the bar, 57 foreigners and 63 local guests were invited for questioning but were later released. ■

Duterte slams... ❰❰ 1

troubled world. It has always been a troubled world ever since.

Hindi naman nahinto ‘yan eh (It did not stop),” Duterte said in a speech during the League of Municipalities (LMP) Visayas Island Cluster conference on August 21, Tuesday.

“For God’s sake Mr. Trudeau, my own citizens are rebelling against us, killing my soldiers and policemen and civilians.

And I cannot use the helicopter because they are citizens but they are out to overthrow my government. If you cannot understand, you should not be there in that mighty post of yours because you do not know the history of the world and geopolitics,” he added.

In February, the Philippine government signed the multimillion-dollar contract to buy 16 Bell 412 choppers from Canada.

However, a day after it was signed, Trudeau’s government ordered a review of the deal over human rights concerns.

Due to this, the Philippine leader ordered the cancellation of this contract.

“I want to tell the Armed Forces to cut the deal. Huwag na ituloy (Do not continue) and somehow we will look for another supplier. We respect the stand of Canada,” Duterte said

in a press briefing in his hometown, Davao City, last February.

“Do not buy anymore from Canada or from the United States (US) because there is always a condition attached,” he added.

The President also previously called Canada ‘stupid’ over the botched chopper deal.

According to Canada’s Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, the said deal struck in 2012 agreed that the helicopters would be used for search-and-rescue missions.

However, Major-General Restituto Padilla, military chief of plans, in a Reuters report, noted that the helicopters could be of help for search-andrescue operations for disaster relief operations, but said that “the helicopters will be used for the military’s internal security operations.”

The choppers were supposed to be brought to the Philippines early 2019.

The Philippine government is now looking at countries like South Korea, Russia, China, and Turkey as potential suppliers of the aircraft to replace Canada’s chopper deal. ■

12

Philippine News

AUGUST 24, 2018

Improve your performance in your ‘own republic’, PRRD tells mayors

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has urged the local leaders to improve their performance, reminding them of their responsibility to address social ills like illegal drugs and corruption “as president of your own republic.”

“Another thing and the most important here, the reason why I came. You have to improve on your performance as mayor,” Duterte said in his speech before the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Visayas Clusters conference in Cebu City on Tuesday.

“In your own small town, however small or humble it may be, you are the President there or representing me as president of your own republic,” he added.

Duterte, a former mayor for two decades in Davao City, said he will provide legal assistance to local leaders who may face charges for fighting corruption and illegal drugs.

“If you do your duty, tapos magkaroon kayo ng kaso (then you will be charged) just like the police, I will support and defend you. Ako mismo (I will do it myself ),” he said, drawing applause from LMP officials.

He told them to approach Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer-in-charge Secretary Eduardo Año if they have problem

in the implementation of the campaign against illegal drugs and corruption.

“The mayor expects you to go one bar, two bars higher in governance. If there is a drug problem which you cannot solve, you go to Secretary Año.

Tell him the problem and he will solve it for you. Iyan lang o dito sa akin (or through me),” Duterte said.

The President said he will provide good projects in municipalities that have outstanding records of peace and order.

“You are a worker there. Now I would suggest that you improve on your records (in fighting) drugs,” he said.

However, Duterte said local leaders should not expect any help from him if proven that they are involved in unlawful activities.

“You have to enforce the law

against all. You avoid corruption because if it reaches the DILG and the recommendation, I cannot help you,” Duterte said.

Duterte reiterated his promise not to allow the country “to go to the dogs” and to continue his relentless fight against illegal drugs.

“I will not allow my country to go to the dogs. You will never succeed as long as I am President. Ubusin ko talaga kayo (I will really go after all of you),” he said.

Duterte also warned the LMP officials not associate themselves with the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“Never give them aid and never give them favor. It will be to your chagrin at the end of the day if you do that. So don’t do that. You will lose everything there. You lose the power over the police,” the President said. ■

Man in custody over death of OFW in Jeddah hotel

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Saudi authorities took into custody a suspect in the killing of a 52-year-old Filipino household worker found dead in a Jeddah hotel over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.

The agency did not disclose the man’s name and nationality but

Robredo hits arrest of 3 lawyers as ‘alarming erosion’ of rule of law

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

RICHARD MADELO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

said he was the last person seen with the Filipino before she was reported missing and found dead.

Initial inquiries made by the Consulate revealed that the OFW was single. She first arrived in Saudi Arabia to work as a household service worker in 2007.

Asked when her remains will be repatriated, DFA Spokesperson Elmer Cato said the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah is still waiting for the autopsy results.

“We would know once the final results of the investigation and autopsy are released,” he told the media.

In his report to the DFA in Manila, Consul General Edgar Badajos said they only learned of the OFW’s death through a concerned member of the Filipino community.

“We are saddened to learn about the passing under still unknown circumstances of one of our kababayans,” Badajos said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY

VICE PRESIDENT Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo slammed the arrest of the three attorneys who were monitoring a police search in a bar in Makati City last week.

For Robredo, the arrest of three lawyers — Jan Vincent Soliven, Lenie Rocel Rocha, and Romulo Bernard Alarcon — is “an issue that concerns not just the legal community but every Filipino.”

“Some members of our police force now feel that they can brush aside claims to legal rights and due process, and bully and intimidate those asserting them — even if they are lawyers performing their duties, and thus, clothed with authority as officers of the court — through verbal harangues, physical restraint, and the threat of subsequent criminal liability, is indicative of an alarming erosion of Constitutional protections and the rule of law,” the Vice President said on Monday, August 20.

Robredo also said if lawyers, like herself, who are fully educated on their Constitutional rights and trained to assert them “can be treated with such official disdain,” what more could happen when “less informed and less empowered Filipinos” are “subjected to abusive behavior by agents of government.”

It was on August 16 when Makati City police detained Soliven, Rocha, and Alarcon for allegedly committing “obstruction of justice” for monitoring their search at the Time in Manila bar in Makati City.

The police claimed that the three lawyers entered the premises of the bar during the inspection, took photos and videos of the scene, and “intimidated the members of the searching team without proper and prior coordination.”

But Desierto & Desierto law firm, which represents one of

the owners of the raided bar, said their attorneys were just doing their jobs in accordance to their client’s request to send lawyers to monitor and watch the authorities as they were conducting the search.

The lawyers were released a day after their arrest.

Robredo said a citizen’s legal and Constitutional rights, whether asserted directly or through lawyers, “can be invoked at any time, in any venue, and not just in court as the statements of several PNP (Philippine National Police) officials would seem to imply.”

“The PNP’s apparent contention that the accountability of law enforcers to rules and proper procedure cannot be raised in the course of police operations, but only in legal proceedings arising after the fact, is a dangerous mindset that dramatically increases the likelihood of abuse and the assurance of impunity,” Robredo stressed.

She added that the Bill of Rights under the 1987 Constitution serves as a “constant shield” not only for lawyers and courts but for everyone against “official abuse.”

The Vice President then urged members of the Philippine Bar to “continue condemning” the arrest of the three lawyers and “stand firmly” for the observance of the Bill of Rights and the rule of law.

Likewise, she called on the public to express their concern, alarm, and outrage so that everyone will know that “free Filipinos will not let even the slightest relapse into tyranny pass unchallenged.”

Aside from Robredo, Opposition Senator Leila de Lima and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who are also lawyers, denounced the arrest, with de Lima saying that attorneys are now the ‘target’ of the government’s war on drugs and Drilon describing the issue as a “blatant display of disrespect against our entire justice system.” ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

13

Optimism over quality of life, economy still ‘excellent’ — SWS

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer FILIPINO OPTIMISM over the quality of life and the Philippine economy remained ‘excellent’ in the second quarter of 2018, according to the latest survey of Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Thursday, August 16.

Among 1,200 survey respondents, the June 2018 survey revealed that 49 percent of them are expecting that their personal quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, while five percent of them believes that it will only get worse.

The pollster also found that 43 percent of Filipinos are optimistic that the country’s economy in 2019 “would get better,” while 13 percent of them feel “it would deteriorate.”

These figures led to a net personal optimists score of +44, and a net economic optimists score of +30, respectively, which are both classified by SWS as ‘excellent.’

The four-point climb in net personal optimists nationwide, the SWS said, was due to increases in Balance Luzon and Metro Manila, combined with a steady score in the Visayas, and a decline in Mindanao, from March 2018 to June 2018.

Net personal optimists score rose in Balance Luzon to +49 (excellent), while it jumped at +41 (excellent) in Metro

Manila.

It stayed at +31 (very high) in the Visayas but declined slightly in Mindanao at +48 (excellent).

Moreover, the one-point addition in national net economic optimists was due to increases in Mindanao and Balance Luzon and decreases in Metro Manila and Visayas.

Net economic optimists rose in Mindanao and Balance Luzon to +49 (excellent) and +30 (excellent) in June 2018, respectively.

But in Metro Manila, it fell to +13 (very high), while it dropped slightly in the Visayas to +20 (excellent) in the same period.

According to the SWS, net economic optimists refers to expectations about the general Philippine economy and is different from net personal optimism, which refers to expectations in personal quality of life.

While optimism in the quality of life and economy stayed “excellent,” more Filipinos still believe that their lives worsened.

The Second Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey revealed that 32 percent of survey respondents said their lives ‘improved’ (gainers), while 27 percent said their lives ‘worsened’ (losers), for a net gainers rating of +5 “high.”

“This is 15 points below the +20 (excellent) in March 2018, and is the lowest since the +3 (high) in April 2016,” the SWS noted.

Duterte calls for unity among all faiths on Eid’l Adha

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday joined the Muslim community in commemoration of Eid’l Adha as he expressed hope that the celebration would bind all faiths together.

In his Eid’l Adha message, Duterte expressed hope that all faiths find inspiration to live a life “that transcends social, political, and cultural barriers.”

“May this celebration bind us together in our common hope of building diverse communities that is rooted in mutual respect and peace,” Duterte said.

“I trust that in the midst of our religious traditions, we will find the strength and inspiration to live a life that transcends social, political, and cultural barriers. Together, let us foster

greater unity and harmony across people of various faiths,” he added.

Duterte, meanwhile, said the sacred feast should serve as “a reminder of the fulfillment that is found in sacrifice.”

“Today, we do not only commemorate the admirable act of being obedient to one’s God, but also celebrate the significance of faith in our pursuit of meaningful transformation,” Duterte said.

“As Muslims all over the world honor this remarkable sacrifice, I hope that you will be more inspired to embody courage and conviction in all of the challenges we face as a nation,” he added.

Eid’l Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice is the second of two Muslim festivals, the other being Eid’l Fitr.

It marks the culmination of the hajj rites in Saudi Arabia near Mecca and is celebrated by Muslims worldwide. ■

FRISNO BOSTRÖM / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

According to the pollster, this 15-point decrease was due to declines in Visayas, Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, and Mindanao.

It fell to -11 (mediocre), +9 (high), +1 (high), and +14 (very high) in June, respectively.

The latest survey, conducted from

June 27-30, 2018, used face-to-face interviews of the participants aged 18 years old and above nationwide, with sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent for national percentages and plus or minus six percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. ■

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14

Philippine News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Only civilians entitled to Duterte tells China: P5-M bounty for ‘ninja cops’ No need to say those nasty words

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency

MANILA — Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Albayalde on Monday reiterated that only civilian informants, not law enforcement officials, are entitled to the PHP5-million reward announced by President Rodrigo Duterte for the neutralization of the so-called “ninja cops” or rogue police officers engaged in the illegal drugs trade.

“We welcome the monetary reward offered by President Rodrigo R Duterte for the neutralization of more ninja cops from the police force. This will encourage the public to provide us more information. However, even without an offer of reward, the PNP will continue aggressive counter-intelligence operations against these so-called ninja cops,” Albayalde said as he warned wayward officers to change their ways.

“Just as we have promised our anti-illegal drugs campaign to be relentless and chilling, so it shall be. But more so when police personnel are involved, there will be no mercy,” Albayalde said, clarifying that the directive does not authorize civilians to become bounty hunters to shoot and kill those in the list.

During the briefing, Albayalde also announced the deaths of three police officers in active service in Zamboanga City and Infanta, Quezon who were on the counter-intelligence watchlist of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and who died in separate encounters with arresting officers.

PO3 Ronald Bernardo and PO2 Maria Oliver Olaso, both

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

PNP Chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde.

assigned with Police Station 9 of Zamboanga City Police Office, were slain in an encounter with a composite team from the PNP Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF), PDEA, Intelligence Group and SAF resulting from a buy-bust operation on Saturday wherein they immediately opened fire upon sensing the entrapment, Albayalde said.

The operation stemmed from an intelligence report stating that both policemen were involved in recycling illegal drugs and known protectors of several drug pushers in Zamboanga City since 2010.

In 2016, the two rogue police officers arrested a certain Lao in Barangay Recodo, Zamboanga City and confiscated around four kilos of shabu but they only declared 500 grams as evidence and the rest were recycled.

Likewise, they are included in the counter-intelligence

NCRPO

watchlist of the Directorate for Intelligence and PDEA Region 9 for their involvement in illegal drugs.

Last August 9, PO2 Ian Rey Abitona of the Infanta Municipal Police Station of Quezon Police Provincial Office (PPO) died in a shootout with arresting officers of CITF, PDEA and Quezon PPO in Barangay Pilaway, Infanta during a drug buybust operation.

The entrapment operation stemmed from intelligence build-up and public text complaint to CITF regarding the illegal activities of Abitona as reportedly engaged in drug trafficking and recycling of confiscated drugs.

“Despite his (Abitona) relief from the Station Drug Enforcement Unit and reassignment to an administrative post, he reportedly continued to run his illegal drug activities in the province,” Albayalde added. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

the airspace above the territory.

“The right of innocent passage is guaranteed. It does not need any permission to sail PRESIDENT RODRIGO through the open seas,” he earDuterte slammed anew China lier said. for its “nasty words” against But China rebuffed Duterte’s Filipino pilots conducting pa- remarks. trols over the South China Sea. In a Reuters report, the Chi“You know very well that we na’s Foreign Ministry said while will not attack anybody there. it “respects the right to freedom And we are a claimant of the of navigation and overflight group of islands,” Duterte said that all countries enjoy in the in a speech during the Hugpong South China Sea under interng Pagbabago (HNP) in Davao national law,” Beijing still had City on Friday, to take necessary August 17. actions.

“I told you “China has a we are not preright to take necpared to go to essary steps to war with you, I told you respond to forso why do you we are not eign aircraft and have to say those prepared to ships that delibnasty words? go to war with erately get close There’s no need you, so why to or make incurfor that. We are do you have sions into the air your friend,” he to say those and waters near added. nasty words?

China’s relevant The President islands, and proalso maintained vocative actions that the Asian that threaten giant cannot just the security of build man-made islands in the Chinese personnel stationed South China Sea and claim the there,” it told Reuters. region as theirs.

Duterte’s rare tirade on BeiDuterte issued this rare jing’s behavior earned praises rebuke against Beijing after from former Foreign Affairs a video clip from London- Secretary Albert del Rosario, based broadcast network BBC noting that nine out of 10 Filipishowed that Philippine and nos would be “encouraged and United States (US) planes were inspired” by this manifestation given radio warnings by Chi- of the Chief Executive’s “posinese forces to stay away from tive leadership.” its artificial islands.

Meanwhile, for Foreign AfResponding to this last Tues- fairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayday, August 14, the Philippine etano, Duterte’s statement leader urged China to ‘tem- only showed that Philippines per’ its behavior in the region, and China have a “closer relasaying that it is not right for a tionship” because, according country to build artificial is- to him, “the closer you are, the lands in international waters more you can tell each other like South China Sea and claim your feelings.” ■

15

Canada News Trudeau: no apologies for heckler encounter, pledges to call out ‘hate speech’

BY TERESA WRIGHT AND TERRY PEDWELL The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Hate speech and the politics of division are creating a “dangerous path” for Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday as he vowed to steer clear of such roads and to continue calling out those who rely on “extremist” methods to make their voices heard.

Trudeau made the comments when asked whether he went too far in accusing a Quebec woman of racism and intolerance as she heckled him last week during a rally in Quebec.

During a campaign-style rally Thursday southeast of Montreal, the woman shouted questions in French at Trudeau, asking him when the federal government would repay Quebec for costs it has incurred as a result of an influx of “illegal immigrants” coming over the Canada-U.S. border.

The Quebec government has demanded Ottawa pay the full costs of social services provided to so-called irregular migrants who have crossed into Canada between established border crossings over the past couple of years — costs the province

says have reached $146 million so far.

The prime minister responded to the woman by accusing her of intolerance and racism and saying her sentiments were not welcome.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for a new Amazon distribution warehouse east of Ottawa, Trudeau said he fears a rise in extreme populism, particularly surrounding immigration issues, with some feeding fear and intolerance using partial truths and “outright lies.”

“There has been a polarization in our political discourse,” Trudeau said as construction machinery clattered in the background.

“And there are people who are trying to feed fears and intolerance for a broad range of reasons. … I will remain positive and remain pulling people together, pulling communities together right across this country.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau is using personal attacks to shut down criticism of his government.

“This is a calculated Liberal strategy to avoid being accountable for their record,” Scheer said in a statement Monday evening. “Instead of demonizing critics, Justin Trudeau

should confront the problem.”

Ontario’s minister responsible for immigration, Lisa MacLeod, was on hand Monday for Trudeau’s news conference.

It’s the prime minister who is creating divisions by shouting “racism” at those who question his government’s immigration policies, she said.

“I think when the prime minister, when confronted with some of the problems his government has created, turns around and fearmongers and calls people un-Canadian or racist, (he) really debases the debate that we’re having.”

Ontario’s new Conservative government has also called on the federal government to foot the bill for services provided to asylum seekers, which that province has tallied at $200 million and climbing.

A woman who identified herself on social media as a member of the right-wing group Storm Alliance took responsibility for the confrontation with Trudeau in a post on Facebook. The group has been behind protests denouncing the arrival of asylum seekers at an irregular border crossing near St-Bernard-de-Lacolle.

“Pretty happy that I participated in him blowing a gasket,” the post says.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

The federal government has so far offered a total of $50 million to Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba to offset expenses incurred as a result of a spike in asylum seekers entering the country by way of unofficial entry points along the CanadaU.S. border. Of that sum, Quebec — where the bulk of the crossings have taken place — would receive $36 million.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said he hopes to persuade people that diversity is good for the province.

“If someone tells me they are worried about diversity, I will accept this worry exists and I will try to explain my point of view, that it (diversity) is some-

JUSTIN TRUDEAU / FACEBOOK

thing that can be very positive for our society,” Couillard told reporters Monday.

The issue of irregular border crossings could become a wedge issue in the campaign leading up to the next federal election scheduled for the fall of 2019.

At an event Sunday marking Trudeau’s formal nomination to run for re-election in the Montreal riding of Papineau, Trudeau emphasized the fight against extremist populism as a plank in his party’s 2019 platform, and accused Scheer of exploiting fear and division. ■ With files from Mylene Crete and Caroline Plante

Uncertainty looms over Canada’s cannabis tourism, but ambitions are high

BY CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI The Canadian Press TORONTO — Longtime marijuana advocate Neev Tapiero is ready for the cannabis-driven tourists to come, and he’s not waiting for legalization to roll out the welcome mat.

The former dispensary owner anticipates an influx of visitors eager to try Canadian

weed once recreational use is legalized Oct. 17, and is already courting foreign travellers through his Toronto-based tour company Canadian Kush Tours.

But while he prepares to hit the ground running, he says he’s disappointed by a lack of support from government to back entrepreneurs like him: “Really none of the infrastructure is prepared for legalization in terms of things like hotels

(and) parks.”

Exactly how the tourism industry could be reshaped by legal weed is still very hazy for many hoping to capitalize on the potential of providing green-focused getaways.

Charlotte Bell, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, points to a lack of clarity from federal, provincial and municipal governments on what will and will not www.canadianinquirer.net

be allowed, and the likelihood that what is already known could very well be undone by upcoming provincial elections, such as New Brunswick’s on Sept. 24.

She notes that Ontario just reversed course on a plan to sell cannabis under its liquor control board when a June election turned the province Tory blue from Liberal red. The province said Monday that it now plans

to oversee online sales beginning Oct. 17 and allow private retail by April 2019.

Online-only sales would almost certainly quash the ambitions of some imaginative tour operators envisioning winerystyle tastings at grow farms and 4:20 “happy hours” in a hotel lounge.

Bell’s organization — whose ❱❱ PAGE 17 Uncertainty looms

16

Canada News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Canadians believe in immigration but concerned about asylum seekers: study

BY TERESA WRIGHT The Canadian Press

tural mosaic,” the study found.

Some respondents, however, expressed doubt about the fairness of the system, considering the influx of people OTTAWA — Canadians are generally who have been entering Canada at unofsupportive of current immigration lev- ficial border crossings since 2017 in orels, a survey of public perceptions com- der to apply for asylum. missioned by the federal government A perception exists that so-called “irsuggests — but they are also worried and regular” migrants are exploiting the confused when it comes to the issue of system to get express entry into Canada asylum seekers. and that security procedures are beThe study, conducted in March by the ing compromised as a result, the survey polling firm Ipsos, solicited the opinions found. of newcomers, established immigrants Few had heard of the Safe Third Counliving in Canada and the general public try Agreement — a treaty between Canathrough a series of focus groups, as well da and the U.S. that blocks visitors from as surveys conducted via telephone and seeking refugee protection at an official online. port of entry. Those who enter elseIt was commissioned, with a price tag where are able to apply once on Canaof $245,000, by Immigration, Refugees dian soil, prompting thousands to make and Citizenship Canada as part of ongo- the crossing at unofficial entry points — ing research to gain a better understand- primarily in Quebec. ing of the attitudes of Canadians toward A fact sheet was provided to study immigrants and the federal govern- participants “addressing the myth of ment’s immigration programs. asylum seekers as queue-jumpers” and Most participants said they believe explaining more broadly the process for Joel_CanadianInquirer_print.pdf 1 2017-10-05 3:45 PM immigration has a positive effect on dealing with irregular migrants.

Canada, on the country’s economic Some said the information helped prospects and on “shaping Canada’s cul- their understanding of the situation —

UN MIGRATION AGENCY (IOM) / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

but others were unmoved. among communities.”

“Some participants, particularly those Conservative immigration critic Miin the newcomer groups, questioned chelle Rempel took exception to Genthe legitimacy of those making asylum est’s claims, as well with the fact the claims, the suggestion being that these study characterizes as “misconcepindividuals could simply be exploiting a tions” the views of those who oppose loophole to expedite eventual immigra- the government’s approach to irregular tion processes,” the study states. migration.

Concerns were also expressed about “The government here is telling Cathe impact of immigration on Canada’s nadians — and a lot of new Canadians — social safety nets, such as social services, that their sense of what is fair and what as well as public safety and job security. is not fair is wrong,” Rempel said.

“Given the obvious penchant by the “There is a new permanent entry general public and immigrants who stream into Canada that the governhave come in through ment is facilitating, traditional channels and I think a lot of to single out refugees Canadians are lookand asylum seekers ing at that — many for what is wrong new Canadians, with immigration, it The many Canadians is essential a tailored government with permanent resiapproach to commuhere is telling dency or who have nicating the benefits Canadians — come recently and be considered,” Ipsos and a lot of are trying to sponsor recommended. new Canadians family — and are sayImmigration Min— that their ing, ‘This is not fair.’ ister Ahmed Hussense of what “Why are family sen’s press secretary is fair and what members having to Mathieu Genest said is not fair is wait so long when (irthe research is part wrong. regular border crossof ongoing conversaers) can have expetions with Canadians dited work permit to help the federal processing and housgovernment better ing?” understand how the work they are doing As part of the study, several messages is being received. were tested that government could use As for the concerns about asylum to promote immigration to Canadians. seekers, Genest blamed the Opposition Based on the results, Ipsos recomConservatives for fostering those fears. mended that the government focus its “This research made clear that the communications on the economic and Conservative campaign of disinforma- cultural benefits of immigration to Cantion is having an effect on Canadians,” ada to address concerns about Canada’s Genest said. capacity to accommodate more immi“Whether it was the claim that 400 grants. people (a day) would be crossing the Rempel called the study a costly exerborder over the summer, when the num- cise in government spin and a waste of bers were actually ten times less, or the taxpayer dollars. claim that asylum seekers were jumping “I actually think it’s really dangerous the queue when they knew it was false, because we should be managing how we it is clear that the old tricks out of the do immigration properly, not trying to Harper playbook are sowing confusion spin it one way or the other.” ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

Canada News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

17

Uncertainty looms... ❰❰ 15

members include attractions, concert halls, convention centres, festivals, restaurants, arenas, transportation and travel services — says the prospect of pot-driven tourists will be discussed at an upcoming congress in November.

“There will definitely be opportunities,” is pretty much all she feels comfortable saying now. “It’s still early days.”

Uncertainty over weed is especially high in the hospitality world, where a myriad of regulations on related sectors could make-or-break their pot potential. Bell notes that rules vary widely across the country on where cannabis can be sold, with some municipalities taking a harder line than others.

The ski town of Whistler, B.C., has notably banned retail from its picturesque, chalet-dotted community, with Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden explaining: “Whistler is prioritizing health, safety and the resort experience in developing and considering its regulations related to recreational cannabis.”

“If the municipality decides

to permit retail, it will do so with adequate public input and time to consider the best approach to regulating retail,” she adds in a statement.

Back in Ontario, Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, wants clarity on whether a traveller would be able to smoke cannabis in the province’s hotel rooms, as recently greenlit by Prince Edward Island.

Ontario’s previous Liberal government quietly allowed for the consumption of cannabis in a guest room of a hotel, motel or inn under certain conditions, but it’s unclear if that, too, will be undone by the new Tory government.

Businesses in both provinces would still have to abide by their respective smoke-free laws, and since demand for smoking rooms is generally on the decline, Elenis doesn’t expect it to be offset by legal potsmoking.

Given the uncertainties, he doubts much will change once legalization hits: “It’s not as wild and free as it may sound to

be.”

Canadians are already welcoming weed-smoking tourists by renting their homes through the Airbnb-like website, budandbreakfast.com.

The site’s CEO and founder Sean Roby estimates that about 30 Canucks advertise on the site and that the number will grow as October approaches.

But the more restrictions there are around cannabis, the less likely cannabis-driven tourism can thrive, he suggests, noting “the whole point is cannabis.”

“If a place is listed on our site as a bud-and-breakfast and they say: ‘Oh, we’re fine with you smoking cannabis and there’s a dispensary down the way,’ … they’ll get booked out every now and then,” Roby says from Boulder, Colo.

“But if a place says: ‘We are all-inclusive (and) we have a cannabis yoga class, we have a CBD-infused meal, we have a 4:20-happy hour that has a bud bar, the whole thing — they’re booked out for six months in advance, every day.”‘ For Jesse Hamilton, the gen-

eral manager of the Deerhurst Resort in Ontario’s Muskoka region, more practical concerns loom large: How to accommodate recreational users while still respecting non-smokers?

“How differently can you treat a cannabis smoker than a tobacco smoker?” asks Hamilton, whose resort currently bans smoking in all rooms, patios and trails.

“A guest who comes here and decides to a have a beer with their lunch before their golf game is no different than a person who says, ‘Oh, I’m hoping there’s a place where I can light up before my golf game.’

There’s no reason why one of them should be treated any differently,” he says, of the dilemma he’s grappling with.

While many outlets suggest they are taking a wait-and-see approach, others feel pressure to be first out of the gate.

Natalie Koshowski, the spa director at Ste. Anne’s Spa east of Toronto, says the luxury retreat wants to offer a massage and aromatherapy treatment infused with “hemp CBD” in the coming weeks, as well as

sell balms, oils and body butters containing cannabidiol.

She says they can pre-empt the legislation because the products derive CBD from the same type and part of the cannabis plant that makes hemp rather than bud, which results in products that contain no THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

Tapiero, who previously challenged the laws with his former dispensary CALM, is reluctant to wait too long before legalization hits.

His early clients include a bachelor party from South Carolina and Texas, and a solo traveller from Texas who recently came into town for a Radiohead concert.

Tapiero hopes more will be clear by the time Oct. 17 rolls around, lest the potential for pot tourism dies before it even begins.

“I could see travellers coming to Canada being totally unsure of: Can I consume it? Where can I consume it?” ■

New guidelines recommend hepatitis C testing for those born between 1945 and 1975 HEPATITIS C is a serious and significant liver disease which can lead to life-threatening consequences. It is estimated that 250,000 people in Canada have hepatitis C, and it is the number one cause of illness and death among infectious diseases in the country.

Fifty-nine-year-old Carol was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008 after attempting to donate blood.

“I can’t think of when I could have contracted the hepatitis C virus, so it never occurred to me that I should ask for this test,” says Carol. “When I found out I had hepatitis C, I was shocked.”

Hepatitis C is caused by a virus that attacks the liver and puts individuals at risk of complications including cirrhosis, liver cancer and potentially death from liver failure. As common as hepatitis C is, it’s also known as a silent killer because it’s a liver disease that rarely comes with a warning and symptoms often don’t appear until the liver is severely damaged. It is estimated that up to 70 per cent of people with chronic hepatitis C in Canada don’t even know they have it.

The greatest number of Canadians with hepatitis C are those born between 1945 and 1975, which makes it critically important for those in

this age group to understand their increased risk, and for all adults born in this age bracket to be tested. Additionally, people born in regions where hepatitis C is more common, such as in the Philippines where approximately one million people have hepatitis C, should also talk to their doctor about getting tested.

The Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver recently published new guidelines on managing hepatitis C urging that Canadians be tested based on their age – not only their possible risk factors.

The hepatitis C antibody test is a simple blood test, and if you have hepatitis C, new treatments are available that can cure the liver disease in as little as eight to twelve weeks. People born between 1945 and 1975 should ask their doctor about being tested, so if needed, they can get treated and be cured.

For more information about hepatitis C, and to find out if you may be at risk, access the Canadian Liver Foundation’s hepatitis risk questionnaire and visit www.liver.ca/ ThisIsYourWarning.

www.canadianinquirer.net

18

Canada News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Nova Scotia to face surgical delays as replacements sought for Saudi trainees

BY KEITH DOUCETTE The Canadian Press HALIFAX — The pending departure of almost 60 Saudi Arabian medical residents because of a diplomatic spat will cause surgical delays over the coming months, says an official with the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Dr. Mark Taylor, executive medical director for the central zone, said “minor delays” of up to a few weeks would likely occur for scheduled surgeries as health officials look to fill gaps created by the departures.

“Patients who have been waiting for scheduled surgery, I would say there may be delays of up to a few weeks as a result of this but I don’t think it will be more than that,” said Taylor in an interview Monday. “I don’t think the delays are likely to be major and probably we will be able to carry on because everybody takes up the slack.”

About 1,000 Saudi residents and fellows in Canada were called back to the kingdom when it abruptly suspended diplomatic relations over a government tweet that criticized the Saudis for the arrest of female social activists.

Taylor said the health authority, Dalhousie University, and the provincial Health Department are in the process of determining specific needs in surgical areas facing acute problems including orthopedic, cardiac and neurosurgeries. Internal medicine is another area where “we have some problems” Taylor said.

According to the Dalhousie University website there are 59 Saudi physicians working to complete their residency at the Halifax school, although the health authority said in an email the number is 58.

Spokesman John Gillis confirmed there are 24 Saudi residents who work in surgical

services including 10 of 23 residents in orthopedics and four of nine in cardiac surgery.

Gillis said those numbers include pediatric surgery so some of the residents would be primarily based at the IWK Children’s Hospital rather than at facilities administered by the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Taylor said it’s possible people can be hired to work in the problem areas, although new trainees won’t be introduced into the system until a new cohort arrives for the new academic year which begins July 1.

“Some of those trainees were very senior in their training, so some of them were providing highly sophisticated specialized medical services and those obviously can’t be replaced with just anybody off the street,” Taylor said.

He said some residents could prove very difficult to replace in the short term, which means more work over that period for

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local attending surgeons and other specialists.

Complicating matters, Taylor said, is that provinces with much larger medical schools such as Quebec and Ontario will also be looking to hire new health professionals.

“Many other Canadian health care training facilities are in the same position. McGill (University) and the University of Toronto are both in even worse situations than us so they will be trying to hire these people as well.”

Medical residents have been told to return to Saudi Arabia

by Aug. 31.

In an email, Health Department spokeswoman Tracy Baron confirmed a plan is being developed should the residents depart.

“All the parties are working hard to mitigate against those impacts, and it’s too early to know what the clinical requirements and costs may be,” said

Baron.

The residencies, through Dalhousie’s medical school, are funded by Saudi Arabia, and Health Minister Randy Delorey is on record as saying Nova Scotia can handle the losses.

Doctors Nova Scotia has also said the province could handle any initial problems. It pointed out that there didn’t seem to be a direct impact on the recruitment and retention of doctors and it said many of the Saudis would have moved on to practice in other countries once their training was completed.

Taylor said the province had already previously announced that there will be 15 new residency positions added beginning next summer.

“So that will go some ways to dealing with this problem actually, since many of those positions will be taken up by new Canadian residents entering the system,” he said. ■

World News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

19

UN rights chief warns UN could ‘collapse’ without change

BY JAMEY KEATEN The Associated Press

Military Demarcation Line - land border between North and South Korea.

EDWARD N. JOHNSON / U.S. ARMY PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER - U.S. ARMY, INSTALLATION MANAGEMENT COMMAND

South Koreans enter North to reunite with kin split by war

BY KIM TONG-HYUNG AND CHANG YONG JUN The Associated Press SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF — Dozens of elderly South Koreans crossed the heavily fortified border into North Korea on Monday for heart-wrenching meetings with relatives most haven’t seen since they were separated by the turmoil of the Korean War. The weeklong event at North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort comes as the rival Koreas boost reconciliation efforts amid a diplomatic push to resolve a standoff over North Korea’s drive for a nuclear weapons program that can reliably target the continental United States.

The temporary reunions are highly emotional because most participants are elderly people eager to see their loved ones once more before they die.

Most of their families were driven apart during the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still in a technical state of war.

Buses carrying about 90 elderly South Koreans and their family members were moving into the Diamond Mountain resort after crossing into North Korea.

Earlier in the morning, the South Koreans, some in wheelchairs and aided by Red Cross workers, had left the buses briefly to enter the South Korean immigration office in the eastern border town of Goseong.

They were to reunite with their longlost North Korean relatives on Monday afternoon at the start of a three-day reunion. A separate round of reunions from Friday to Sunday will involve more than 300 other South Koreans, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.

Past reunions have produced powerful images of elderly Koreans crying, embracing and caressing each other.

Nearly 20,000 people have participated

in 20 rounds of face-to-face reunions since 2000. Another 3,700 exchanged video messages with their North Korean relatives under a short-lived communication program from 2005 to 2007.

No one has had a second chance to see their relatives.

Many of the South Korean participants are war refugees born in North Korea who will be meeting their siblings or the infant children they left behind, many of them now into their 70s.

Park Hong-seo, an 88-year-old Korean War veteran from the southern city of Daegu, said he always wondered whether he’d faced his older brother in battle.

After graduating from a Seoul university, Park’s brother settled in the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan as a dentist in 1946. After the war broke out, Park was told by a co-worker that his brother refused to flee to the South because he had a family in the North and was a surgeon in the North Korean army.

Park fought for the South as a student soldier and was among the allied troops who took over Wonsan in October 1950.

The U.S.-led forces advanced farther north in the following weeks before being driven back by a mass of Chinese forces after Beijing intervened in the conflict.

Park learned that his brother died in 1984. At Diamond Mountain, he will meet his North Korean nephew and niece, who are 74 and 69, respectively.

“I want to ask them what his dying wish was and what he said about me,” Park said in a telephone interview last week. “I wonder whether there’s a chance he saw me when I was in Wonsan.”

During the three years since the reunions were last held, the North tested three nuclear weapons and multiple missiles that demonstrated they potentially could strike the continental Unit❱❱ PAGE 24 South Koreans

GENEVA — The outgoing U.N. human rights chief said Monday that the Security Council’s five permanent members wield too much power at the United Nations, warning the imbalance must change to avert possible “collapse” of the world body “at great cost to the international community.”

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein decried the sense among some at the United Nations that the “pentarchy” of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States “is running too much of the business.” He was alluding to the countries’ ability to veto resolutions in cases like alleged injustices in Syria’s war or by Israeli forces against Palestinians.

“When they co-operate things can move; when they don’t everything becomes stuck and the organization in general becomes so marginal to the resolution of these sorts of horrific con-

flicts that we see,” Zeid said. “That has to change: In the end the organization can collapse at great cost to the international community.”

“There is a sense that the permanent five have created a logjam by dint of their proclivity to use the veto, and the paralysis — less so the U.K. and France — but of course, the U.S., Russia and China quite frequently,” he told news agency journalists at his lakeside Geneva office as his term nears its end on Aug. 31.

Zeid, a Jordanian prince, did not seek a new four-year term as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has chosen former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to replace Zeid.

In the wide-ranging briefing, Zeid reminisced about late former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and drew distinction between the rights chief’s job and the top U.N. post — calling the Secretary-General position more about ❱❱ PAGE 20 UN rights

# 1 7 9 - 8 1 3 8 1 2 8 S t r e e t S u r r e y, B C

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World News

20

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Malaysian PM says China-financed projects cancelled

BY CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press BEIJING — Multibillion-dollar Chinafinanced projects in Malaysia have been cancelled because they aren’t needed and will saddle the country with an unsustainable amount of debt, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told reporters on the final day of a visit to Beijing on Tuesday.

Mahathir told Malaysian reporters that both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang understood the reasons behind the cancellations and “accepted them.”

The projects, comprising a $20 billion East Coast Rail Link and two energy pipelines worth $2.3 billion, had already been suspended pending renegotiation.

“It’s all about pouring in too much money which we cannot afford, we cannot repay and also because we don’t need these projects for Malaysia at this moment,” Mahathir said.

While the projects could be restarted in the future if considered necessary, Malaysia’s current focus is on reducing

the national debt, he said.

“With that debt, if we are not careful we can become bankrupt,” Mahathir said, blaming the “stupidity” of the administration of his predecessor, Najib Razak, whom he ousted in elections earlier this year and now faces charges of massive corruption.

Malaysia will still have to pay “substantial” penalties to extract itself from the projects and also needs to “find out where money that has been paid for the projects have gone to,” Mahathir said.

Trade and economic co-operation between China and Malaysia have provided tangible benefits to both, although “it is inevitable for countries to encounter various problems and have disagreements in different stages,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a daily briefing on Tuesday.

Such disagreements should be handled “in a proper manner through friendly consultation,” Lu said.

Days before heading to Beijing, Mahathir was already saying Malaysia didn’t need the projects, part of Xi’s Belt and Road initiative to build ports, railways

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and other trade-related infrastructure across Asia, often built by Chinese contractors and financed by loans from Chinese state banks.

At a news conference with Li on Monday, Mahathir said he appreciated China’s understanding of Malaysia’s need to deal with its “internal fiscal problems,” but also hinted at the threat of Chinese economic domination.

“We should always remember that countries’ level of development … are not all the same,” he said. “We do not want a situation where there is a new version of colonialism happening because poor countries are unable to compete with rich countries in terms of just open free trade. It must also be fair trade.”

Belt and Road projects in Thailand,

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Sri Lanka and other countries have run into complaints that they are wasteful, too costly, give too little work to local companies or might facilitate embezzlement and other graft.

Also during his news conference, Mahathir said he didn’t raise the issue of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho during his visit. He said Low is “probably” hiding in China but he has no proof of this.

The U.S. Justice Department alleges Low was a key figure in the theft and international laundering of $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s 1MDB investment fund by associates of Najib. ■ Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

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“peace and security” than vocally highlighting rights abuses.

Zeid has drawn plaudits among many human rights advocates for his frankness, but in so doing has ruffled many feathers among many governments, including some of the most powerful ones.

He repeated his criticism of U.S. President Trump’s frequent condemnation of journalists and expressed confusion about where the U.S. leader was headed with his policies and the “vision” of some populist European leaders.

“I’m not into making friends with governments,” Zeid said. “But when we feel we need to speak, we will speak.”

Often mild-mannered and eloquent, Zeid bared frustrations about the inability to get authorization for U.N. rights investigators to visit places like Venezuela or Nicaragua, or the plodding efforts to pass a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on countries like war-torn Yemen.

His comments exemplified his call for reforms at a world body whose shortcomings have been exposed over issues like Syria’s devastating 7-1/2-year war

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and rising nationalism. He also alluded to the lessons of World War II that, he suggested, appeared to be fading with time.

“My sense is the further away we get from those historical and dreadful experiences, the more we tend to play fast and loose with the institutions created to prevent repetition,” he said.

When he took office in 2014, Zeid recalled, beheadings by the Islamic State group were garnering headlines. Then followed the flood of Syrian migrants into Europe, and a relative rise of rightwing movements there. And many people were blindsided by the fallout on human rights.

“I don’t think many of us perceived that it would all combine to create this sort of pressure on the human rights movement and the return of a sort of demagoguery and an authoritarianism to countries that hitherto we thought had moved firmly into the democratic space,” he said.

“All states are works in progress and one or two generations of reckless politicians can destroy any and every state,” he said. “It’s applicable to the U.S. as well.” ■

World News

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

21

Trump plan rolls back Obama’s coal emissions standards

BY MATTHEW DALY The Associated Press

Rio de Janeiro.

VIRGILIO LUIZ / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

Shootouts leave 13 dead, including 2 soldiers, in Rio

BY BEATRICE CHRISTOFARO The Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO — At least 11 suspects and two soldiers died during shootouts with military personnel and police in greater Rio de Janeiro on Monday as violence erupted in several areas of the city that hosted the Summer Olympics two years ago.

The direct confrontations between soldiers and armed traffickers also marked a deepening of the military’s role in Rio’s security. Since the military was put in charge of the state’s security earlier this year, soldiers have mostly played supporting roles to police during operations, such as securing perimeters or setting up checkpoints. On Monday, soldiers were clearly in the lead.

“Our goal is only to make arrests. If there are deaths, the criminals are to blame,” Carlos Cinelli, a military spokesman, told reporters while adding that military personnel came under fire during operations that began at 4:30 a.m. “The soldiers have a right to defend themselves.”

Cinelli told reporters that five suspects were killed and another 10 were arrested when soldiers stormed the neighbourhoods of Mare, Complexo do Alemao and Penha. In a press statement in the evening, the military command said two soldiers had died.

Cinelli said the operations, which included more than 4,000 military personnel, were aimed at finding wanted traffickers in

the areas. The operation netted four pistols, two grenades and 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of marijuana paste, he said.

Meanwhile Monday, police said they killed six suspects during confrontations in Niteroi, across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. Police said the shootouts happened while pursuing suspects on one of the access points to the bridge that joins the two cities. The bridge, one of the area’s most traversed roads, was temporarily shut.

Three suspects and one police officer were injured, according to a police statement.

By decree, in February President Michel Temer put the military in charge of security in the state of Rio. He made the decision after muggings and beatings were captured on camera during Rio’s world-famous Carnival celebrations.

Human rights groups have criticized the intervention, saying it’s disproportionately impacting people, particularly blacks, in poor neighbourhoods.

Cecilia Olliveira, creator of an app that tracks shootings in Brazil, sees military operations limiting favela residents’ already scarce access to public services.

“You will often hear favela residents say: We ask for education, they send police. We ask for health services, they send police,” Olliveira said. “They don’t need more police. They need government services.” ■ Associated Press video journalism Mario Lobao contributed to this report from Rio de Janeiro.

mandates that promote energy conservation.

Trump has vowed to end what Republicans call a “war on WASHINGTON — The Trump coal” waged by Obama. administration is set to roll “This is really a plan to prop back the centerpiece of Presiup coal plants — or try to,” said dent Barack Obama’s efforts David Doniger, a climate expert to slow global warming, the at the Natural Resources DeClean Power Plan that restricts fence Council, an environmengreenhouse gas emissions from tal group. coal-fired power plants.

The Trump plan “will make A plan to be announced in no meaningful reductions” in coming days would give states greenhouse gas emissions “and broad authority to determine it probably will make emissions how to restrict carbon dioxide worse,” Doniger said. and other greenhouse gas emisGina McCarthy, who served sions that contribute to global as EPA administrator when the warming. The Environmental Clean Power Plan was created Protect Agency announced late in 2015, said that based on draft Monday that acting administraproposals and news reports, tor Andrew Wheeler planned to she expects the plan will not brief the news media by teleset specific federal targets for phone Tuesday on greenhouse reducing emissions from coalguidelines for states to set perfired plants. The plan is exformance standards for existpected to address power plants ing coal-fired power plants. individually rather than across President Donald Trump the electric grid as the EPA is expected to proposed unpromote the der Obama. The new plan at an new plan would appearance in give utilities and West Virginia on The Trump plan ‘will make states more flexTuesday. no meaningful reductions’ in ibility in achievThe plan also greenhouse gas emissions ‘and ing emissions would let states it probably will make emissions reductions, but relax pollution worse.’ critics say it rules for power could harm pubplants that need lic health. upgrades, ac“They are concording to a summary of the and with proper respect for tinuing to play to their base plan and several people famil- the states, unlike” the Clean and following industry’s lead,” iar with the full proposal who Power Plan, the summary says. McCarthy said of the Trump spoke to The Associated Press The AP obtained a copy of the administration and its new on condition of anonymity be- summary, which asserts that acting administrator, Andrew cause they weren’t authorized the Obama-era plan exceeds Wheeler, a former coal industry to discuss the plan publicly. the EPA’s authority under the lobbyist. “This is all about coal Combined with a planned Clean Air Act. at all costs.” rollback of car-mileage stanObama’s plan was designed Michelle Bloodworth, presidards, the plan represents a sig- to cut U.S. carbon dioxide emis- dent of the American Coalinificant retreat from Obama- sions to 32 per cent below 2005 tion for Clean Coal Electricity, era efforts to fight climate levels by 2030. The rule dic- a trade group that represents change and would reverse an tated specific emission targets coal producers, called the new Obama-era push to shift away for states based on power-plant rule a marked departure from from coal and toward less- emissions and gave officials the “gross overreach” of the polluting energy sources such broad latitude to decide how to Obama administration and said as natural gas, wind and so- achieve reductions. it should prevent a host of prelar power. Trump has already The Supreme Court put the mature coal-plant retirements. vowed to pull the U.S. out of the plan on hold in 2016 following a “We agree with those policyParis climate agreement as he legal challenge by industry and makers who have become inpushes to revive the coal indus- coal-friendly states, an order creasingly concerned that coal try. that remains in effect. retirements are a threat to grid Trump also has directed EnEven so, the Obama plan has resilience and national secuergy Secretary Rick Perry to been a factor in a wave of re- rity,” she said. ■ take steps to bolster struggling tirements of coal-fired plants, coal-fired and nuclear power which also are being squeezed Associated Press writers Darplants to keep them open, by lower costs for natural gas lene Superville and Ellen Knickwarning that impending retire- and renewable power and state meyer contributed to this report. www.canadianinquirer.net

ments of “fuel-secure” power plants that rely on coal and nuclear power are harming the nation’s power grid and reducing its resilience.

The White House had no immediate comment on the plan, and the EPA didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday.

A three-page summary being circulated at the White House focuses on boosting efficiency at coal-fired power plants and allowing states to reduce “wasteful compliance costs” while focusing on improved environmental outcomes. Critics say focusing on improved efficiency would allow utilities to run older, dirtier power plants more often, undercutting potential environmental benefits.

The White House rejects that criticism.

“Carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector will continue to fall under this rule, but this will happen legally

22

World News

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Verdict scheduled for next week in Myanmar reporters’ trial

BY AUNG NAING SOE The Associated Press YANGON, MYANMAR — A judge in Myanmar said he will issue a verdict next Monday in the trial of two Reuters journalists accused of possessing secret state information, a case that has become a key test of media freedom in the former military dictatorship.

Closing arguments were heard Monday in the trial of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who are charged with illegal possession of official documents and face possible jail terms of up to 14 years under a law dating back to British colonial rule, when the country was called Burma.

The defendants say they were framed by police, and did not solicit or knowingly possess any secret documents.

“The evidence before the court is clear: Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo are two honest reporters who did not commit a crime,” the Reuters news agen-

cy said in a statement Monday.

“Imprisoning them for even one more day would be unlawful retribution for their truthful and important journalism.

We look forward to the court’s acquittal, which will be an important step towards demonstrating Myanmar’s commitment to rule of law, freedom of the press, and democracy.”

The two reporters had been working on a story about a massacre of Muslim Rohingya men by security forces in a village in Rakhine state during a counterinsurgency operation that critics say involved massive human rights violations and was responsible for driving 700,000 people into neighbouring Bangladesh. The government denies any widespread abuses but continues to restrict access to the area.

“They just did their jobs for their people and their country,” Khin Maung Zaw, a lawyer for the journalists, told reporters covering the trial. “I believe they are innocent. And I told

the judge, ‘The scale of justice should be tempered with mercy,’ which is the Golden Rule of Burmese jurisprudence,” he said.

In remarks shouted to reporters on their way into the courtroom, the two defendants expressed their belief they would be acquitted.

“As for me, next week, I am expecting to see the rule of law in our country and freedom of the press,” said Kyaw Soe Oo, 28.

Wa Lone, 31, said: “The accusations from the complainant’s side are nonsense and they don’t understand the duty of journalists. So I strongly believe that I will be meeting my little daughter soon.”

Wa Lone’s wife, Pan Ei Mon, delivered the couple’s first child in Yangon on Aug. 10, but Wa Lone has not yet seen his daughter.

When Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a general election in 2015 after more than 50 years of military rule,

www.canadianinquirer.net

hopes were high that the victory would usher in a new era of media freedom.

But since then a series of arrests of journalists has sent a chill through newsrooms. Earlier this year the media group Reporters Without Borders moved Myanmar down six places to number 137 in its annual World Press Freedom Index.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sec-

retary of State Mike Pompeo called on Myanmar to immediately release the two Reuters journalists.

Pompeo said in a tweet he raised U.S. concerns about the two reporters “detained in Burma for doing their job” during a meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Kyaw Tin on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Singapore. ■

23

Entertainment ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ shines bright at the box office

BY LINDSEY BAHR The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Glitz won over guns as the gilded romance “Crazy Rich Asians” debuted at No. 1 in North American theatres this weekend, surpassing industry expectations and beating out action-packed fare like “Mile 22.”

Warner Bros. estimates that the film earned $25.2 million over the weekend and $34 million since its opening Wednesday. It’s a surefire win for the film, which cost $30 million to produce and went into the weekend with months of buzz and a 93 per cent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Breakout star Henry Golding told The Associated Press on Sunday that the film’s performance is a “testament to the people who are turning up.”

“It’s not just the Asians who are coming. It’s people of all colours from all walks of life who are enjoying this cinematic experience,” Golding said. “It’s a real shift in Hollywood.”

Adapted from Kevin Kwan’s bestseller, “Crazy Rich Asians” stars Constance Wu as an American woman who gets a culture shock meeting her boyfriend’s obscenely wealthy family in Singapore. The studio strategically bumped up the film’s opening to a Wednesday earlier in the summer.

“We knew we’d get avids who read the book and a large Asian following,” said Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein. “We figured OK, we get good reviews, open on Wednesday, word of mouth will spread and really propel the movie into the weekend, and that’s exactly what happened.”

As recently as July 26, box office experts were predicting that the film would open to at least $18 million over its first five days, but no one expected a launch of over $30 million.

“I think the audience isn’t an obvious audience,” Goldstein said. “When you get a cultur-

Marvin’s plan vs single passenger policy: Dogs

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer

The cast of ‘Crazy Rich Asians.’

ally important event like this movie, I think it just takes off like wildfire.”

The stakes were high for the first studio-produced movie led

by Asian-Americans in 25 years.

The filmmakers even turned down a big offer from Netflix to give the historically significant film a theatrical platform. Cast members and fans started using the hashtag #GoldOpen to try to encourage more opening weekend support.

Director Jon M. Chu tweeted his appreciation Sunday and asked audiences to keep spreading the word.

“We still have a long run to go but our message to the world has been heard. We have arrived,” Chu wrote. “Now let’s go tell more of our stories! We have a lot more to say. And I don’t want to wait another 25 years to see them. This is only the beginning.”

Despite the success of “Crazy Rich Asians,” other films still found audiences this weekend, including Warner Bros. shark movie “The Meg,” which fell only 53 per cent in its second weekend, adding $21.2 million. The Jason Statham-led film has now grossed over $300 million worldwide.

Mark Wahlberg’s actionpacked “Mile 22,” his fourth collaboration with director Peter Berg, debuted in third place with an estimated $13.6 million.

The STX film had a $35 million production budget.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS / FACEBOOK

Launching with $10.5 million, “Alpha,” an Ice Age-set adventure tale, tied for fourth place in its opening weekend with “Mission: Impossible — Fallout.”

In limited release, Sony Pictures Classics’ “The Wife” opened with $111,137, and Roadside Attractions’ “Juliet, Naked” debuted with $60,922.

Both films opened in four theatres.

One film that did not find much of an audience was Kevin Spacey’s “Billionaire Boys Club,” which Vertical Entertainment released in eight theatres this weekend after making it available for purchase on Video on Demand last month. Official earnings were not reported to comScore, but industry trade publication The Hollywood Reporter said Sunday that the film earned a dismal $425.

Hollywood’s winning streak continues with the summer season up 12.4 per cent from last year and the year overall up 8.9 per cent.

“The box office is on a roll,” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian, noting the diverse genre offerings in cinemas this summer.

“The line-up basically looks like a streaming service. That’s what people have become accustomed to and the movie theatre is delivering it in a big way this summer.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

FILIPINOS ARE known for their resilience shining in the darkness of calamities, but several instances prove that their wit and the power of their funny bones make them come up with brilliant ideas amidst challenges and changes.

For renowned actor Marvin Agustin, today’s challenges to solve do not point to politics, nature, or even societal problems. But the thing to conquer this time is the regulation of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) which bans driver-only vehicles in Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) during rush hours.

The High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) traffic scheme aims to address the heavy traffic issue of EDSA. However, this is a hot topic on social media among netizens, with some pointing out that this makes it hard for drivers who are single.

One of these single drivers includes Marvin who came up with a furry idea when he decided to call MMDA’s attention on Twitter on Wednesday, August 16.

“In compliance with @MMDA single passenger policy… pwede

ba ‘yan (is this okay)?” he wrote, attaching a photo of seven golden retrievers riding inside a car, mouths opened – canine pearly whites showing.

His tweet, which as of writing has reached about 1800 likes and 360 retweets, and has earned about 8000 hearts on Instagram, also got a prompt reply from the MMDA. “Hindi po (No) #MMDA,” the government agency replied, unfortunately throwing Marvin’s dog deal out of the window.

Not really disheartened by the response his attempt got, Marvin replied for his followers with, “Okay po… mga’SINGLE’ isip na ulit tayo ng ibang paraan… kailangan na natin maging double (Okay… For the single ones, let us think of a new way… we need to become double).”

While Marvin did not earn a nod from the MMDA, his tweet earned a laugh of approval from netizens who praised him for his wit and the dogs for their cuteness.

Though the tweet was meant to tickle, some netizens expressed serious concerns, asking the MMDA on the same Twitter thread if travelling with their dogs for veterinary checkups or emergencies would count. As of writing, the Twitter handler has yet to reply to the queries. ■

@MARVINAGUSTIN_INSTAGRAM VIA @EXPANDINGINTELLIGENCE AND @ILOVEGOLDEN_RETRIEVERS

24

Entertainment

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Queen of Soul also leaves a powerful civil rights legacy

BY ERRIN HAINES WHACK The Associated Press ARETHA FRANKLIN, who was born and rose to fame during the segregation era and went on to sing at the inauguration of the first black president, often used her talent, fortune and platform to inspire millions of black Americans and support the fight for racial equality.

“She not only provided the soundtrack for the civil rights movement, Aretha’s music transcended race, nationality and religion and helped people from all backgrounds to recognize what they had in common,” said longtime civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.

Franklin, who died Thursday at 76, was a close confidante of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and a financial lifeline to the civil rights organization he cofounded, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

The Queen of Soul’s commitment to civil rights was instilled by her father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin, who also knew King and preached social justice from his pulpit at New Bethel Baptist Church

in Detroit.

The church, in fact, was the first place King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. Among those in the congregation were Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson. It was Jackson who later urged the civil rights leader to “tell them about the dream, Martin” at the March on Washington, where he delivered the oration for which he is most famous.

Franklin recorded “Respect” on Valentine’s Day 1967. Black Americans had already won federal legislation outlawing segregation and protecting their voting rights, particularly in the Deep South.

But blacks were still a year away from the Fair Housing Act. And just months after the song was recorded, urban centres, including Franklin’s hometown of Detroit, would burn, exposing police brutality and unequal living conditions and job opportunities.

“Her songs were songs of the movement,” Andrew Young, the former King lieutenant and U.N. ambassador, said Thursday. “R-E-S-P-E-C-T. … That’s basically what we wanted. The movement was about respect.”

The SCLC often struggled financially,

Aretha Franklin in 2015.

but Franklin played a vital role in keeping the movement afloat.

“Almost every time we needed money, there were two people we could always count on: Aretha Franklin and Harry Belafonte,” Young said. “They would get together and have a concert, and that would put us back on our feet.”

King and Franklin were like spiritual siblings, sharing a bond rooted in their Christian faith, Young said. King would often ask Franklin to sing his favourite songs, “Amazing Grace” or “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” When King was assassinated in 1968, Franklin sang “Precious Lord” at his funeral in Atlanta.

Franklin’s “Amazing Grace” was also a comfort to the Rev. Al Sharpton when he was a boy. He recalled that his mother would play the song nonstop in their Brooklyn home after his father left.

As an adult and an activist, Sharpton became friends with the soul singer. He noted her unwavering faith, which she brought with her on stage to every performance.

“Whether it was the White House, Radio City Music Hall or the Apollo The-

PETE SOUZA / CHIEF OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTOGRAPHER

ater, she always did gospel numbers,” Sharpton said. “She was unapologetically a hardcore, faith-believing Baptist. At the height of her career, she cut a gospel album. Who does that? Her faith is what motivated her.”

Long after the civil rights movement ended, Franklin remained committed to social justice, helping Sharpton as he began his organization, the National Action Network, in New York. She would call Sharpton for updates on the emerging Black Lives Matter movement, asking about such cases as those of Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

“She gave so much to so many people, from Dr. King, to Mandela, to Barack Obama,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime friend who visited her the day before her death.

Her presence and influence were as valuable to the movement as her financial contributions, Sharpton said.

“To have someone like that that involved and interested … was a statement,” he said. “It gave all the credibility in the world. Others had celebrity, but she had gravity and respect.” ■

South Koreans... ❰❰ 19

ed States.

North Korea has shifted to diplomacy in recent months.

Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a son of North Korean war refugees, agreed to resume the reunions during the first of their two summits this year in April.

South Korea sees the separated families as the largest humanitarian issue created by the war, which killed and injured millions and cemented the division of the Korean Peninsula into the North and South. The ministry estimates there are currently about 600,000 to 700,000 South Koreans with immediate or extended relatives in North Korea.

But Seoul has failed to persuade Pyongyang to accept its long-standing www.canadianinquirer.net

call for more frequent reunions with more participants.

The limited number of reunions cannot meet the demands of divided family members, who are now mostly in their 80s and 90s, South Korean officials say.

More than 75,000 of the 132,000 South Koreans who have applied to participate in reunions have died, according to the Seoul ministry.

Analysts say North Korea sees the reunions as an important bargaining chip and doesn’t want them expanded because they give its people better awareness of the outside world. While South Korea uses a computerized lottery to pick participants for the reunions, North Korea is believed to choose based on loyalty to its authoritarian leadership. ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

25

Daniel Matsunaga issues statement after being involved in vehicular accident

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer ACTOR DANIEL Matsunaga aired his side after he reportedly got involved in a vehicular accident last Sunday, August 19.

In a report by GMA News TV Live, a rider sustained some injuries after his motorcycle was hit by the car of the JapaneseBrazilian model-actor at Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

According to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Daniel did not notice that his vehicle bumped the motorcycle because the music inside his car was loud.

It added that the actor did

not immediately stop, making the MMDA enforces run after his car.

Daniel, in his statement on Monday, August 20, said the motorcycle rider was already brought to the hospital to make sure that everything was taken care of.

“Thankfully, he was not seriously harmed and only sustained minor bruises,” the 29-year-old actor said.

In the same morning after the check-up, Daniel said the rider was able to meet him and his family at the police station.

“We settled upon an agreement that I will take care of all his needs caused by this inconvenience. Personally, I am still shaken by the incident because

of the thought of hurting someone and bringing this upon any family,” he added.

The police and the MMDA officers who helped in the road accident have also earned appreciation from the actor. He then extended his gratitude to God for giving protection to the rider.

“I sincerely apologize for whatever inconvenience this accident has caused you and your family,” Daniel said.

Daniel made his name in the entertainment industry after he was declared as the big winner in ABS-CBN’s reality show Pinoy Big Brother.

He starred in several films like Sisterakas in 2012, She’s the One in 2012, Shake, Rattle

DANIEL MATSUNAGA / FACEBOOK

& Roll XV in 2014, and Meant to Beh in 2017.

He also appeared on several

television shows like Be My Lady, where he worked with his ex-girlfriend, Erich Gonzales. ■

Simpsons creator Matt Groening weighs if Homer would’ve voted for Donald Trump

BY DAVID FRIEND The Canadian Press TORONTO — Matt Groening’s classic animated series “The Simpsons” predicted Donald Trump’s presidential win 18 years ago, but the creator has a few thoughts about whether Homer Simpson would’ve voted for the former reality star in the most recent U.S. election.

“Homer’s not that stupid,” Groening mutters under his breath.

He leaves his answer pat on the beloved character who’s often known for his bone-headed decisions. Gatekeepers from Netflix push the interview back onto promoting his latest work, the animated show “Disenchantment,” which begins streaming Friday.

But it’s hard to separate Groening from “The Simpsons,” a show that changed television forever with its potent commentary on modern society.

Trump’s presidential win played like a joke in “Bart to the Future,” which originally aired in early 2000, and Simpsons fans were quick to reference the episode when it turned into real life nearly two years ago. Hom-

er’s imagined voting preferences were speculated about on entertainment blogs in 2016 and became the subject of a number of “Simpsons” YouTube shorts.

Groening’s latest effort, a satirical take on medieval times, doesn’t carry the same pop-culture immediacy, but he insists it still has “some resonances with today’s twilight zone.”

He’s been stockpiling ideas for “Disenchantment” since he began scribbling away at fantasy comics as a teenager nearly half a century ago.

“This show is something that’s been in the back of my mind since high school,” he says.

“I used to draw a comic strip called ‘Tales of the Enchanted Forest’ with talking animals and a little leprechaun.”

Those specific characters don’t appear in “Disenchantment” but they do materialize in similar forms as sidekicks to Princess Bean, an alcoholic of royal descent who stumbles into a variety of unfortunate adventures.

Princess Bean’s only friends are Elfo, a feisty green elf sometimes crippled by his insecurity, and her pet demon Luci who’s at the heart of many problems

KATHY HUTCHINS / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

in her life.

They’re all part of the squalor in Dreamland, a new kingdom that plays as Springfield for the “Game of Thrones” generation.

It’s a world where trouble lurks at every turn and Groening says that offers ample opportunity for classic references.

“Everybody grew up with fairy tales,” Groening reasons as he points to familiar charwww.canadianinquirer.net

acters like Hansel and Gretel, whose unhinged appearance in one episode allowed him to “really have fun” with new interpretations.

Coming up with fresh storylines wasn’t a problem either, he says, even after working for years churning out original ideas for “The Simpsons” and “Futurama.”

He drew on outside influenc-

es that included the “Fractured Fairy Tales” segment of Rocky and Bullwinkle and seminal films like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” which inspired a hearty serving of grisly jokes about disease and executioners.

None of those scenes would’ve passed muster with TV network censors, which Groening admits took a little getting used to.

With Netflix backing the series, Groening was offered a freedom he’d never had before. At first he tried to exploit it whenever he could, though he says it quickly became clear that being raunchy and violent didn’t necessarily serve the series.

“We realized it wasn’t as fun as we thought it would be,” he says. “So we pulled back.”

Still, Groening snuck in a scattering of colourful language, a touch of nudity and some gruesome death scenes that would never have made the TV cut in the past.

“If you’re familiar with the other shows I don’t think you’ll feel suddenly betrayed by the new crass depths to which we might’ve sunk,” he says.

“But yeah, I would say we push it a little bit.” ■

26

Lifestyle Not the Satanic mills: small scale clothes making catches on

BY DANICA KIRKA The Associated Press LONDON — Claudio Belotti knows he cut the denim that became the jeans Meghan Markle wore on one of her first outings as the fiancee of Britain’s Prince Harry.

That’s because he cuts all of the fabric for Hiut Denim Co., a seven-year-old company that makes jeans in Cardigan, Wales.

Belotti is a craftsman with 50 years of experience that gives his work a personal touch — something that’s not quite couture but not exactly mass-produced either.

“There’s a story behind each one,” Belotti said. “You’re paying for the skill.”

Customer demand for something unique is helping small companies like Hiut buck the globalization trend and set up shop in developed countries that had long seen such work disappear. While international brands like H&M and Zara still dominate the clothing market, small manufacturers are finding a niche by using technology and skill to bring down costs and targeting well-heeled customers who are willing to pay a little more for clothes that aren’t churned out by the thousands half a world away.

Profits at smaller national clothing firms grew 2 per cent over the last five years, compared with a 25 per cent decline at the top 700 traditional multinationals, according to research by Kantar Consulting.

Their success comes from

promoting their small size and individuality, said Jaideep Prabhu, a professor of enterprise at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School.

“It’s a different kind of manufacturing,” he said. “They are not the Satanic mills. These are very cool little boutiques.”

Hiut, which makes nothing but jeans, employs 16 people in Cardigan and makes 160 pairs a week. Women’s styles range from 145 pounds ($192) to 185 pounds ($244), men’s go for 150 pounds to 235 pounds. Each is signed by the person who sewed it, known in the company as a “Grand Master.” By contrast, Primark says it sources products from 1,071 factories in 31 countries and keeps costs down by “buying in vast quantities.”

The most expensive pair of jeans on the company’s website sells for 20 pounds.

Many of these small manufacturers also try to stand out by embracing social issues, from reducing waste to paying a living wage.

Hiut, for example, highlights its efforts to put people back to work in a small town that was devastated when a factory that employed 400 people and made 35,000 pairs of jeans a week shut down. Underscoring the years of craftsmanship that go into each pair of jeans, the company offers “free repairs for life.”

This kind of customer service helps form a “personal relationship” between a brand and the shopper that is valuable, says Anusha Couttigane of Kantar Consulting.

Customers notice. Laura Lewis-Davies, a museum worker who from Wales, says she wants to support independent businesses when she can and bought a pair of Hiut jeans after seeing a story about Markle’s wearing the brand.

“Well-crafted things bring more joy,” she said. “I’d rather buy fewer things but know they’re good quality (and) made by people who are working in good conditions for a fair salary.”

The rise of small clothing makers reflects a broader shift in consumer preferences away from big brands — as evident, say, in the boom in craft beers.

In fashion, technology is fueling the trend.

The internet provides a cheap way to reach customers, while off-the-shelf artificial intelligence programs allow companies to accurately forecast demand and order materials so they can make small batches and avoid unwanted stock. That makes it possible to produce clothes that are more customized.

“Data is the backbone for this and the trigger,” said Achim Berg, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. in Frankfurt who advises fashion and luxury goods companies. “It’s not custom-made, but it gives the consumer the opportunity to be more individual.”

A survey of 500 companies by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion, an influential industry news website, identified personalization as this year’s No. 1 trend. Consumers are willing to hand over personal informa-

www.canadianinquirer.net

tion to get more customized products and services, according to a 2016 survey by Salesforce.com, which provides online sales and marketing tools for businesses.

Established brands have recognized the trend and offering to customize products, too.

Adidas, for example, offers the chance to mix and match colours and materials on things like the sole and laces on some of its shoes.

But making clothes on a smaller scale has also gained a moral tinge after scandals about sweatshops, child labour and unsafe working practices hit global brands in recent years. The 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, which killed 1,100 and injured 2,500 others, highlighted the grim conditions in factories that export to the United States and Europe.

Jenny Holloway, who employs 100 people at Fashion Enter in London, said she’s not interested in making as many garments as possible and selling them as fast as she can.

“I’d like to say we’ve done a massive business plan and we refer to it. We don’t,” Holloway said. “We sit down and have a cup of tea and we have a chat and we evaluate how things sit with us. How does that client fit our ethics? ... It isn’t about money and making that big buck. It’s about sustainability.”

Prabhu sees this as part of a bigger shift away from the model of outsourcing production to low-cost countries China. “You’re trying to constantly keep up with your customers.

Your competitive advantage is to give them something closer to their needs.” ❱❱ PAGE 37 Not the

Lifestyle

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

27

Book launched Project uncovering South’s to help farmers, hidden LGBTQ history fishermen in Capiz

BY JAY REEVES The Associated Press

BY MA. TERESA MONTEMAYOR Philippine News Agency

Media Tower and Paris Beach Club at Azure Urban Resort Residences. He is also the producer of Revolution – a series of prefabricated structures by MANILA — Excellent and al- other designers, such as Daniel truistic – these are the two Libeskind, Sou Fujimoto, and qualities by which Suzette Vi- Lenny Kravitz which is based in var wanted other nationalities Manila. to describe Filipinos worldAnother story Vivar found wide. personally interesting is that “I have observed that Fili- of Tony Morente, the social enpinos lately are getting all the terprise head of Gawad Kalinga flaks, I thought of something Capiz. that would at least give the “Tony mentioned about soworld a different view of the cial enterprise like teaching the Filipinos meaning that we also farmers and fishermen to behave good qualities as Filipi- come a businessman, this was nos,” she told the Philippine really a shock to me because News Agency (PNA) in an in- how will you teach them to be terview. businessmen With this goal, when all their Vivar wrote lives all they and published knew is to farm a book titled and fish, how can “Close to Perfecyou inculcate in tion” launched While writing them the intrion Thursday in the story of cacies of being Makati City.

Ambassador, a businessman, In the book, I could sense and he slowly Vivar presented that he looks explained to me inspiring stories at everything and showed me, I of Filipinos – arin a different was impressed,” chitects, docway. she said. tors, engineers, Being a social entrepreneurs, enterprise head lawyers and of Gawad Kateachers – who linga, Morente had dream and ensures that the worked hard to recipients of the reach them and inspired others houses are able to earn a living to do so. through the business given to While she found all the sto- them so they could give back ries of her subjects encourag- to the foundation and help its ing, Vivar mentioned the story other members. of Ambassador Jose Antonio as “So, I offered to collaborate exceptional. with GK through the launching “While writing the story of of my coffee table book to inAmbassador, I could sense that spire people and help the farmhe looks at everything in a dif- ers and fisherfolk,” she said. ferent way, he always finds Stressing that Filipinos’ lives something positive even most cannot be perfect as issues people are thinking negatively, would rise anytime, Vivar said like during the EDSA revolu- the title of her book depicts the tion when everyone is panick- Filipino journey to perfecting ing he puts up his business, he their dreams and inspiring othis a game changer,” she said. ers in the process.

Antonio is the country’s spe“There will always be probcial envoy to the United States lems here and there so the most and chairman of Century Prop- that you can do is go close to erties Group. He led the con- your dream, perfecting your struction of Trump Tower at dream, once you’ve perfected Century City, Acqua Iguazu, Ac- your dream you just can’t stop, qua Livingstone, Milano Resi- you still go on so you can help dences, Century Spire, Forbes others,” she added. ■

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — A new project is documenting the history of LGBTQ people in the Deep South, a region that once all but forced gays, lesbians and others to live in hiding.

Bob Burns, who is gay, both lived through some of the toughest times for LGBTQ Southerners and documented them through years of activism.

Now 66, he compiled a trove of information from years that included the AIDS epidemic and the systemic oppression of gay people in the Deep South.

Burns is now among the donors to a non-profit organization that’s gathering information about the hidden history of gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and others in the Southern United States.

Established in late 2016, the Birmingham-based Invisible Histories Project already has gathered boxes full of information about gay life in Alabama, including decades-old directories of gay-friendly businesses dating to the late 1960s; activist T-shirts; records from gayrights groups; and rainbowthemed material.

The organization will expand its work to Mississippi and Georgia later this year, and organizers hope to cover the entire Southeast within a few years.

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has thousands of books and artifacts documenting LGBT cultural and social history across the nation, and the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco tells the story of the Bay Area community. The History Project does the same in Boston for New England gays.

Historian and archivist Joshua Burford said the goal of the Invisible Histories Project is to create a uniquely Southern collection that will “give Southern history back to queer Southerners.”

While the stereotypical LGBTQ person might live openly in an urban centre and have plenty of money, he said, plenty of Southern gays live both in cities and in rural areas where www.canadianinquirer.net

they hold working-class jobs.

“If the model is always the West Village or Boy’s Town or Fire Island, then the South can never be the same as that. So we have to stop pretending like we want to be,” said Burford, engagement director of the group.

“What we are is very queer and very Southern, and those two things are always overlapping.”

Items in the collection include documents about a conflict over plans to hold the Southeastern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual College Conference at the University of Alabama in 1996. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Alabama’s attorney general at the time, unsuccessfully argued that holding the event at a public university conflicted with a state law then in effect, prohibiting homosexual acts.

The meeting went ahead as planned without incident, and Alabama voters elected Sessions to the U.S. Senate later that year.

The archive also includes documents related to the arrest of about 20 men accused of cruising for gay sex in a weeklong police sting conducted in a park in Tuscaloosa in 2002, said Burford, who originally researched the cases for school and is giving personal materials to the project.

Rather than developing a mammoth, gay version of the Smithsonian Institution that could be difficult for people to visit, the Invisible Histories Project plans to store items in smaller, local repositories.

Much of the Alabama archive is housed at Birmingham’s main

public library.

“We want to make sure that people who really care and are most affected by the materials can access it easily,” said development director Maigen Sullivan. “So we’re working with a number of smaller institutions that are closer to the community so that we can store their things there.”

Burns, a prominent architect, likes the idea.

After hearing about the project through a friend, he met with Burford and donated items including the results of lengthy surveys he helped compile in 1989 and again in 1999 documenting what he called almost continual discrimination and rights violations directed at LGBTQ people in Alabama.

“That all had been sitting in a trunk here because there was no one to give it to,” said Burns, who has lived in Birmingham nearly 40 years.

He also donated a report compiled following a daylong event held years ago at a gay-friendly church to assess the needs and desire of the gay community around Birmingham.

“There was no place for that information to go so it was basically wasted,” he said. “But at least now it’s part of history. We know what people in whatever year it was, 15 or 20 years ago, thought was important.”

Burford said it’s important to document the past accurately because LGBTQ people have been lied about and disregarded for generations.

“Queer people are orphaned from American history,” he said. ■

28

Lifestyle

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

Kor-PH Teacher Exchange Program fosters patriotism, understanding

BY MA. TERESA MONTEMAYOR Philippine News Agency MANILA — After his threemonth teaching stint in the “Land of the Morning Calm”, Erwin Berry came back to the country invigorated and elated to share what he had learned to fellow educators and high school students of Bagbaguin National High School in Valenzuela City.

Berry, 29, is one of the participants of the annual KoreaPhilippines Teacher Exchange Program by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – AsiaPacific Centre of Education for International Understanding.

Now on its seventh year, the program aims to promote international understanding and peace through education with the support of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Lahat po ay pwede mag-apply, kahit ilan sa division level pero12 lang po ang pipiliin na maipadala. Mahaba po ang proseso, at sa interview pa lang din po ay napakahirap na at sa tingin ko dapat mayroon kang expertise bilang guro (Anyone interested can apply in the division level but only 12 will be chosen to be sent. The process is long, and the interview is very difficult so I think you must also have an expertise as a teacher),” he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview.

Berry said his achievements – research studies published nationally and internationally – as a doctor of education might have been his edge over other applicants in his division.

Together with 11 other elementary school teachers, he flew to South Korea and began teaching on March 26. This, after they have completed a oneday training in basic Hangul – Korea’s national language.

“I was the only high school teacher among us and I was assigned to teach middle school students at the Tanhyon Middle School in Paju, Geonggi-do South Korea,” he said.

Berry shared that his teaching experience was smoothsailing due to the help of his

mentor, who is proficient in English despite being a Korean.

“Na-shock lang ako noong first week. Umiiyak ako dahil sa language barrier. Hindi ka makapagtanong, saka unang pagkakataon ko makalabas ng bansa. Pero may translator ako kaya kapag may presentation ako, inilalagay ko na agad dun ang Korean translation dahil hindi naman sila magaling sa English ang mga mag-aaral (I was shocked during my first week. I cried because of the language barrier. I was unable to ask and it was my first time to leave the country. But I had a translator so whenever I presented, I included the Korean translation immediately because the students are not well- Erwin Berry and his students at Tanhyon Middle School. versed in English),” he said.

Since DepEd gave the ex- cause their skills differ dependBerry also pointed out how change program participants ing on the subjects. However, the Korean curriculum gives the freedom to use their own he noticed that the former are equal importance to sports and teaching strategies, Berry opted more disciplined in terms of recreation — a practice that to be creative in teaching Phys- study habits and time manage- results in the excellent perforics to his Korean high school ment. mance of Koreans during interstudents.

Berry said learning could be national sports competition.

“Itinuro ko sa kanila ang dam- easier in a Korean classroom, “They intensify sports bepa na isang laro sa Pilipinas. compared to classrooms in cause they believe education Itinuro ko kung paano laruin the Philippines because it is also includes the cultivation of iyon, tapos itinuro ko kung paa- complete with instructional the right brain through physical no kukunin ang (I taught them materials, including televi- activities. Hindi puro pag-aaral dampa which is a Philippine sion, computers and Internet lang ang mga estudyante (The game. I taught them how to play connection. Moreover, teach- students do not just focus on it and how to get the) distance ers tackling different subjects class lessons),” he said. from point A to point B, and collaborate to evaluate and imBerry noticed teachers are height and other usual Phys- prove one another’s strategies. well-supported in South Koics concept,” he rea. Citing that said. teachers there Berry added are the highest he also taught paid in the world, the students the Even though teachers there have he thought analysis of global a lot of tasks, they are not tired teachers in the and environbecause the administrative work country would mental issues, and computation of grades are feel less stressed Philippine histopaperless. if they are wellry, and traditioncompensated al dances, such as and are given the tinikling. enough time to “Nung nagturo ako ng ti“Kasi dito sa Pilipinas, ako rest when shifting from one nikling, nag-observe ang par- lang ang nagtuturo ng subject. class to another. ents at nag-take sila ng (When Ako lang din mismo ang nagpa“Kahit maraming tasks ang I taught tinikling, the parents plano. Doon sa kanila, may open teachers doon, hindi sila pagod observed and they took) pic- class kung saan may (Because dahil paperless ang admin work tures and videos. They were here in the Philippines, I’m the at paggawa ng grades. Ang mga very interested in our country only one teaching the subject. mag-aaral, hanggang 30 lang sa and they appreciate the Phil- I’m also the only one doing the isang classroom. Walang lesson ippines because Filipinos look lesson plan. In Korea, they have plan kasi may standardized prevery happy all the time,” he said. an open class where there’s a) sentation ng lessons na downWhen asked whether Korean demo teacher, head and other loadable (Even though teachers high school students are more teachers teaching sciences, there have a lot of tasks, they are intelligent compared to their assistant principal who will not tired because the adminisFilipino counterparts, Berry plan the lessons, which will be trative work and computation said he could not say who per- taught and there will be a post of grades are paperless. There forms better academically be- evaluation,” he said. are only 30 students per classwww.canadianinquirer.net

ERWIN BERRY / PNA

room. There is no lesson plan because there is a standardized presentation of lessons, which is downloadable),” he said.

Considering that education receives the highest funds from the national budget, Berry told PNA that the country can adopt Korea’s best practices in teaching with the benefit of the learners and educators in mind.

His teaching experience in South Korea taught him something greater than learning innovative teaching strategies and imbibing excellent work ethics.

“This opportunity led me to reflect on my being a Filipino.

Hindi ako nag-focus lang sa subject na tinuturo ko. Nag-aral ko tungkol sa Philippine history dahil marami silang tanong about our country at na-appreciate ko ang pagka-Pilipino ko at kakayahan ko makisalamuhaat makipagtrabaho nang maayos sa ibang lahi (I didn’t focus only on the subject that I was teaching. I also studied Philippine history because they have a lot of questions about our country and I was able to appreciate myself as a Filipino and my ability to mingle and work well with other nationalities),” he said.

On June 23, Berry returned to the country together with the other Filipino exchange teachers. He said their Korean counterparts have arrived and reported to the DepEd central office on Monday for the commencement of their teaching arrangements. ■

29

Sports PH netters start Asian Games campaign in Palembang

BY JEAN MALANUM Philippine News Agency PALEMBANG, INDONESIA — Jeson Patrombon is expected to win his first match in the singles event against Nazario Fernandes Gusmao of Timor Leste at the start of the tennis competition at the Jakabaring Sports Complex on Sunday.

Patrombon is also scheduled to play in the opening round of the men’s doubles event where he will team up with Francis Casey Alcantara. The Filipino pair will be facing Jabor Almutawa and Mubarak Zayid of Qatar, who both played in Incheon (2014) and Guangzhou (2010).

Also seeing action are the mixed doubles pair of Alberto Lim Jr. and Marian Jade Capadocia against India’s Divji Sharan and Kamran Kaur Thadi.

Meanwhile, Lim Jr. will take on China’s Zhang Zhizhen while Capadocia will meet Japan’s Eri Hozum, the 2014 Asian Games bronze medalist,

in their opening singles matches on Monday.

The other Filipino pair competing on Monday is Alcantara and Kathrina Melissa Lenhert against Thailand’s Sanchai Ratiwatana and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai in first round of the mixed doubles event.

Ratiwatana and Lertpitaksinchai bagged the mixed doubles gold medal in the 2017 SEA Games. Lertpitaksinchai also won the women’s doubles gold in the 2017 SEA Games and the mixed doubles gold in the 2017 Asian Indoor Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

National coach Cris Cuarto has high hopes on the mixed doubles pair of Alcantara and Lenhert.

“I think we have a good chance at medal in the mixed doubles with the tandem of Alcantra and Lehnart,” Cuarto said, “although I would be happy if any of our players or teams reaches the semifinals.”

The Philippines has won two bronze medals courtesy of Filipino-American players Cecil Mamiit (singles event)

and Eric Taino (men’s doubles) in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

Japan has dominated tennis in the Asian Games, winning a total of 85 medals, including 27 golds. South Korea is the second-best performing country with 54 medals, including 16 golds.

The only time Japan missed the podium was in 1986 while South Korea failed to win a medal in 1958 and 1962.

Indonesia’s Yayuk Basuki and Filipino Desideria Ampon have both won nine medals while India’s Leander Paes is one of seven players to win eight medals.

The gold winners in the 2014 Incheon Games are Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka (men’s singles), China’s Wang Quiang (women’s singles), South Koreans Chung Hyeon and Lim Yong-kyu (men’s doubles), Thailand’s Luksika Kuhkhum and Tamarine Tanasugarn (women’s doubles) and India’s Saketh Myneni and Sania Mirza (mixed doubles). ■

Bill seeking Brownlee naturalization filed

BY IVAN STEWART SALDAJENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Four congressmen led by 1-Pacman partylist Rep. Mikee Romero filed a bill that seeks to make Barangay Ginebra import Justin Brownlee a naturalized Filipino.

“He has brought enormous pride and joy to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), as well to the basketball enthusiasts in the country,” the group of Romero, which includes Representatives Enrico Pineda, Erico Aumentado, and Scott

Lanete, said in the explanatory note to House Bill 8106, the bill that officially endorses Brownlee’s naturalization.

The four solons also lauded Brownlee for his “efficient sportive activities” and being “socially active through community service.”

“Justin Donta Brownlee is dependable when it comes to helping Filipinos–a true mark of a Filipino spirit and character,” they further stated.

While a Senate version of the bill, likely to be authored by current Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman Sonny Angara, is yet to be proposed,

Romero’s group pleaded to their fellow congressmen for “the immediate passage of this bill.”

San Miguel Corporation sports director Alfrancis Chua revealed on Sunday that Brownlee wants to be naturalized for reasons beyond his desire to play for Gilas.

Brownlee confirmed it himself on Monday night while also expressing his openness to accept a future national team invite.

SMC COO Ramon Ang also said on Monday night that he will even sponsor Brownlee’s naturalization process. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

SAP Christopher Bong Go.

JOEY O. RAZON / PNA

SAP Go elated by PH’s 1st win in Asian Games

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency THURSDAY WAS delighted by Gilas Pilipinas’ victory despite the country’s last-minute decision to field a basketball team in the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Go, a basketball enthusiast, was one of those who appealed to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to send a basketball team in the quadrennial multi-sports meet.

“Masaya ako dahil isa ako sa mga Filipino fans na umapela na magpadala ng team kahit hindi manalo (I’m happy because I was one of the Filipino fans who appealed to send team even if will not win),” Go said in a media interview during the 6th Competiveness Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center.

The SBP, the country’s basketball governing body, initally decided not to join the Asian Games amid the decision of International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to suspend 10 Gilas players involved in a free-forall brawl that marred the World Cup qualifying match between Philippines and Australia.

This prompted Go to intervene, resulting in the decision

of the PBA to send one of its teams, Rain or Shine, to the Asian Games.

Mentored by veteran coach Yeng Guiao, the Philippines opened its campaign on a high note with an 96-59 domination over Kazakhstan.

Go said the victory is expected to boost the morale of the Gilas Pilipinas that is going into their next game against powerhouse China.

“Now that we won in the first game and most likely we can enter the quarterfinals, this gave our team high morale,” Go said.

Go admitted “it’s a tall order” for the Filipino dribblers but they will give the Chinese a good fight.

“Alam ko takot din ang China dahil kahit maliliit tayo and dehado (I know China is also afraid despite our lack of height and at a disadvantage), we can pull some surprises when it comes to basketball,” he said.

Cleveland Cavalliers’ Fil-Am guard Jordan Clarkson is expected to play for Gilas after missing the game against Kazakhstan.

Go asked the Filipino people to pray for Gilas Pilipinas’ successful campaign.

“I think our team will have a good chance. They will give China a good fight. Let’s pray for them,” Go said. ■

30

Business PCC: New telco must stay away from PLDT, Globe

BY AEROL JOHN PATEÑA Philippine News Agency MANILA — A prospective new telco player should keep a safe distance from the industry’s existing duopoly.

This was the stand of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on the latest terms of reference by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which utilizes the highest committed level of service (HCLOS) as the mode of selection for the new major telco player.

The bidder to be selected as the country’s new major player should not have any merger plans or joint venture agreements with either the dominant telco players, the PCC said.

“In the event that the participant merges or enters into any business combination or joint venture with a Related Party to any Dominant Telecommunications Player, or otherwise acquires, directly or indirectly, or in stages at least 20 percent of the shares of stocks of a Related Party to any Dominant Telecommunications Player, it shall notify the Philippine Competition Commission of the said transaction, in accordance with applicable law, rules and regulations,” the commission said on its inputs in the terms of reference for the third telco, which was released to the media Monday.

Furthermore, the participant must return their assigned frequencies to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in the event that it becomes a related party to dominant players PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom.

The new major player is likewise mandated to submit quarterly reports on its commitments and its progress on pursuing its rollout plans.

It may also be required to submit the following information to the NTC, DICT and PCC: number of subscribers (per re-

Fixed exchange rate dangerous for PH: Espenilla

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency

gion, per types of service and semiannual basis); rollout of the service and/or spectrum; actual usage of the spectrum; geographic location of their infrastructure; list of cell towers, base stations, and gateway facilities (including status of operations and co-location agreements), among others.

A participant that fails to use any radio frequency spectrums assigned to it beyond the timeframe of their rollout plans shall return these to the government.

“PCC has recommended the foregoing inputs to address the competition concerns in the terms of reference for the selection of the NMP (new major player). With these, notification and review of the transaction could be dispensed with in accordance with PCC’s power to exempt entities from review…. However, in the absence of the foregoing inputs in the terms of reference, PCC would be constrained to pursue a regular review of the transaction,” the PCC added.

The PCC assures that it will participate in the consultations to be conducted by the DICT on the draft guidelines among the telco industry stakeholders and provide its views on the matter if needed.

DICT Acting Sec. Eliseo Rio Jr. has reiterated that a new telco player must have technical and financial capability to provide quality communication

services in competition with the existing players.

“The third telco will come in a playing field where it has to compete with Globe and Smart.

Globe and Smart (have) all the subscribers already kapag pasok nitong third telco (once the third telco comes in), it has to attract the subscribers of Globe and Smart. Of course, Globe and Smart will also put up their own marketing strategies and they have to retain subscribers. Ito ang magiging fight ng third telco (This is the fight where the third telco will be coming into),” Rio said in an earlier interview.

The DICT has released its latest terms of reference on the third telco earlier this month, following a decision by an oversight committee to approve HCLOS as a standard for its selection.

According to the guidelines, a participant should have a paidup capital of at least PHP10 billion and must have an experience in the delivery and operations of telco services for the last 10 years nationwide.

A bidder shall be awarded through corresponding points based on network coverage (40 percent), broadband speeds (20 percent), and annual capital and operating expenditures over a five-year commitment period (40 percent).

The DICT and NTC will conduct a public hearing on the draft guidelines on Thursday, August 23. www.canadianinquirer.net

developments,” he stressed.

The central bank chief explained that “if we commit to something stubbornly against MANILA — Some people have very strong pressures then we questioned the market-deter- will end up losing our reserves.” mined exchange rate policy of “We’ll end up borrowing the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi- more to protect a certain lifenas (BSP), especially now that style,” he said. the local unit has been posting BSP data show that as of endweakness against the US dollar. July 2018 the country’s gross However, monetary officials international reserves (GIR) have repeatedly said that the amounts to USD76.89 billion. current exchange rate policy of This level of foreign exchange the central bank is the way to go reserves is equivalent to 7.4 since it only shows the resilien- months’ worth of imports of cy of the local unit. goods, and payments of serAfter Monvices and priday’s trading, mary income. It the peso endis more than the ed at 53.38 to ideally accepted the greenback, level of foreign slightly better We’ll end up reserves, which than its 53.425 borrowing is the equivalent close Friday last more to of three months’ week. protect worth of imports Monetary and a certain of goods and fiscal officials lifestyle. payments of sersaid the peso’s vices. depreciation Espenilla said is not a sign of that for busiweakness.

Innesses, a fixed stead, it shows how the local exchange rate will encourcurrency is coping with the age investors to borrow more volatilities as a result of devel- abroad “because interest rates opments here and abroad. seem to be low.”

This year, the peso has lost However, the central bank over five percent to a dollar, due chief said this practice “creates mainly to impact of external a path of over-indebtedness.” developments such as the ex“For import, we want to conpected additional hikes in the sume imported because it looks Federal Reserve rates and trade very cheap but in the end it cretensions between major econo- ates deficits,” he said. mies.

Espenilla said Filipino exBSP Governor Nestor A. Es- porters will also have a hard penilla Jr. said the central bank time. deliberately keeps a flexible “Our exporters will be going exchange rate policy to protect to have a difficult time growthe economy and sustain its re- ing their businesses if exchange siliency. rates are not able to adjust to He said pegging the peso to shifting prices for example,” he a certain level like PHP50 to a said. dollar is not a good idea.

“So for many good reasons, “That’s a very dangerous we allow the peso to move in path for a small open economy flexible manner. And that is one like the Philippines that is con- of the reasons why we continue stantly being tossed and buffet- to be in stable and resilient poed by the heavy winds of global sition today,” he added.

Business

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

31

Canada’s tax system unfairly favours wealthy, poll of CRA auditors suggests THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — A recent unionsponsored survey suggests an overwhelming majority of federal government auditors believe Canada’s tax system unfairly favours the wealthy over average Canadians.

The poll, conducted by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, found nine out of 10 auditors and other tax professionals surveyed agreed that corporations and wealthy Canadians can more easily avoid paying taxes than less well-off individuals.

The survey of more than 1,700 members of the union, which represents tax professionals at the Canada Revenue Agency, also found four of every five respondents think loopholes and tax credits built into the system benefit corporations and the rich.

Some 84 per cent of respondents to the internal online survey said they believe that by better enforcing existing tax laws, the government could capture more tax revenues without raising taxes.

The anonymous survey was sent electronically to nearly 11,600 PIPSC members work-

Google clarifies... ❰❰ 32

The statement contrasted with a statement Google sent to the AP several days ago that said in part, “We provide clear descriptions of these tools.”

Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton computer scientist and former chief technologist for the Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement bureau, said the wording change was a step in the right direction. But it doesn’t fix the underlying confusion Google created by storing location information in multiple ways, he said.

“The notion of having two distinct ways in which you control how your location data is stored is inherently confusing,” he said Thursday. “I can’t think off the top of my head of any major online service that architected their location privacy settings in a similar way.”

Shankari, a UC Berkeley graduate researcher whose findings initially alerted the AP to the issue, said Thursday the change was a “good step forward,” but added “they can make it better.” For one thing, she said, the page still makes no mention of another setting called “Web & App Activity.” Turning that setting off that would in fact stop recording location data.

Huge tech companies are under increasing scrutiny over their data practices, following a series of privacy scandals at Facebook and new data-privacy rules recently adopted by the

European Union. Last year, the business news site Quartz found that Google was tracking Android users by collecting the addresses of nearby cellphone towers even if all location services were off. Google changed the practice and insisted it never recorded the data anyway.

Critics say Google’s insistence on tracking its users’ locations stems from its drive to boost advertising revenue. It can charge advertisers more if they want to narrow ad delivery to people who’ve visited certain locations.

Several observers also noted that Google is still bound by a 20-year agreement it struck with the Federal Trade Commission in 2011. That consent decree requires Google to not misrepresent to consumers how they can protect their privacy.

Google agreed to that order in response to an FTC investigation of its now-defunct social networking service Google Buzz, which the agency accused of publicly revealing users’ most frequent Gmail contacts.

A year later, Google was fined $22.5 million for breaking the agreement after it served some users of Apple’s Safari browser so-called tracking cookies in violation of settings that were meant to prevent that.

The FTC has declined to say whether it had begun investigating Google for how it has described Location History. ■

ing for the tax agency between Feb. 20 and March 6.

Of the 2,170 respondents, 1,741 were tax professionals, including 1,384 auditors. The analysis excluded responses from 429 computer-systems employees.

The findings show the difficulties tax auditors face in ensuring Canada’s tax system “remains fair in the face of offshore tax havens and other tax avoidance schemes,” said PIPSC president Debi Daviau, who used the findings to further push the Trudeau government to increase CRA funding.

The union said the agency continues to struggle with a

$500 million shortfall compared with the budget it had in 2012 before the former Harper government slashed spending.

A spokesperson for the CRA said the Liberal government has tried to rebuild the agency over the last three budgets, and is focusing resources “to target high areas of risk.”

“Those investments are allowing the CRA to deliver better data, approaches and results for Canadians,” Etienne Biram said in an emailed statement.

“Our 6,300 auditors have an array of tools at their disposal and we will continue to explore ways to provide them with ad-

ditional tools and resources to assist them in their challenging and important work.”

Another Environics Research poll commissioned by the union found 79 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement, “It is easier for corporations and wealthy individuals to evade and/or avoid tax responsibilities than it is for average Canadians.”

That public opinion survey, which is based on some 1,000 respondents, was conducted by telephone between July 3 and 8. The results are considered accurate within plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. ■

BSP: Study carefully economic provisions of proposed federalism

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor A. Espenilla Jr. supported calls for a more comprehensive study of the proposed federal constitution to ensure that recent economic gains are sustained, should the shift in the form of government happen.

In a forum Friday, the BSP chief said there is really a need to study and determine how revenues will be allocated and who will manage expenditures.

Grey areas between the federal government and state governments as far as spending for projects are concerned, might result in finger-pointing should their implementation be stalled, he noted. This confusion might negatively impact on the government’s fiscal position and increase budget deficit, he said.

Espenilla said monetary officials are worried about this because there is no clarity on how the government will pay its debt. “A suggestion to print more money to pay the debt might be raised and this will impact on inflation,” he said in Filipino.

The central bank chief said www.canadianinquirer.net

BSP Gov. Nestor A. Espenilla.

ECCP - EUROPEAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK

economic-related issues should be clarified, not just the political ones. “We have to make sure that our financial house is in order because of our new constitution. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it but we have to study carefully how we will manage it,” he said.

“And we have to answer those hard questions so that we will be able to look ahead to a future that is financially sustainable,” he added.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III called for a dialogue on federalism to

thresh out provisions on allocations of expenditures that is unclear under the draft Constitution, which later on “could result in dire, irreversible economic consequences.”

“We welcome a discussion on the draft so that it is clear and unambiguous. We do not want the revenue assignment and the expenditure assignment to be misunderstood, as what happened in the recent case involving the Internal Revenue Allotment (of the local government units),” Dominguez said in a statement. ■

32

Technology Can Twitter change its ‘core’ and remain Twitter?

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press NEW YORK — After long resisting change, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wants to revamp the “core” of the service to fight rampant abuse and misinformation. But it’s not clear if changing that essence — how it rewards interactions and values popularity — would even work.

Though Dorsey was scant on details, what is certain is that the move will require huge investments for a company that doesn’t have the same resources that Google and Facebook have to throw at the problem.

Any change is likely to affect how users engage with Twitter and hurt revenue, testing the patience of both users and investors.

“Social networks have a history of … well-intentioned but badly designed efforts to fix this,” said Nate Elliott, principal at marketing research firm Nineteen Insights.

Twitter isn’t alone in having to deal with hate, abuse, misinformation and bad actors using the service for elections interference, targeted harassment and scams. And Twitter isn’t alone in proposing fixes that don’t get to the heart of the problems.

Case in point: Facebook. After Russian trolls were found to have used Facebook to interfere with the 2016 U.S. elections, including by purchasing ads, the company spent a lot of time and energy building a tool that shows who’s behind

political advertisements. But Elliott said it’s not even clear which ads on Facebook are the ones causing problems around foreign elections meddling. In 2016, Russian agents weren’t so much running political ads for or against candidates but rather social ads on divisive such as gun control and immigration.

But like Facebook, Twitter has to try — or at least be seen as trying.

Dorsey told The Washington Post that Twitter had not considered changing the core of the service until now. Like Facebook and others, Twitter has been accused of tinkering around the edges, tweaking policies and hiring masses of moderators when what’s really needed is a fundamental shift in how they work and how they make money in order to survive. While many former executives and other insiders have proposed radical shifts at major social networks, it’s rare for a sitting CEO to propose something as drastic as revisiting the foundation that his company is built on.

“We often turn to policy to fix a lot of these issues, but I think that is only treating surfacelevel symptoms that we are seeing,” Dorsey said.

Twitter confirmed Dorsey’s comments to the Post, but declined further comment.

Revamping the core could mean changing the engagement and rewards designed to keep users coming back — in the form of seeing their tweets liked, responded to and retweeted, and seeing their follower counts grow. It’s the tiny dopamine

hits we get with each like that makes us feel better and keeps us returning for more. Take that away, and users might not want to return. In turn, advertisers might stay away, too, as they rely on monthly and daily user numbers, as well as user interactions, to gauge how well their ads work and how much to spend.

Unlike Facebook, Elliott said, Twitter doesn’t have billions of users to absorb any hits on user growth. Even if the changes work, he said, “it’s going to cost them so many users and so much money I can’t imagine them sticking with these kinds of changes.”

Paul Verna, an analyst with research firm eMarketer, also isn’t “terribly optimistic” that Twitter can make its service safer without hurting its business. The same goes for Facebook, and YouTube.

“Because they rely on an advertising business model, they need to not only continue to reach audiences, but try to get them to spend as much time on platforms as possible,” he said. “That creates an inherent tension between your business needs and being a good citizen.”

That said, Twitter may not have to reinvent itself completely to improve. Elliott said better policies might go a long way toward reducing the abuse.

For example, it’s currently OK to harass someone on Twitter, as long as it’s not harassment based on certain categories such as gender and sexual orientation. Elliott said Twitter may just need to prohibit all harassment. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

ROBERT SCOBLE / FLICKR, CC BY 2.0

Google clarifies location tracking policy

BY RYAN NAKASHIMA The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Google has revised an erroneous description on its website of how its “Location History” setting works, clarifying that it continues to track users even if they’ve disabled the setting.

The change came three days after an Associated Press investigation revealed that several Google apps and websites store user location even if users have turned off Location History.

Google has not changed its location-tracking practice in that regard.

But its help page for the Location History setting now states: “This setting does not affect other location services on your device.” It also acknowledges that “some location data may be saved as part of your activity on other services, like Search and Maps.”

Previously, the page stated: “With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”

The AP observed that the change occurred midday Thursday, a finding confirmed

by Internet Archive snapshots taken earlier in the day.

The AP investigation found that even with Location History turned off, Google stores user location when, for instance, the Google Maps app is opened, or when users conduct Google searches that aren’t related to location. Automated searches of the local weather on some Android phones also store the phone’s whereabouts.

In a Thursday statement to the AP, Google said: “We have been updating the explanatory language about Location History to make it more consistent and clear across our platforms and help centres.” ❱❱ PAGE 31 Google clarifies

Technology

FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2018

33

Birth control app highlights emerging health tech market

BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press LONDON — The condom, the pill and now, the smartphone?

Natural Cycles, a mobile fertility app, this month became the first ever digital contraceptive device to win FDA marketing approval. Women take their temperatures and track their menstrual cycle on the app, which uses an algorithm to determine when they’re fertile and should abstain from unprotected sex or use protection. In effect, it’s a form of the rhythm or calendar method.

The Swedish startup says it’s effective and lets women avoid side effects common with other methods like birth control pills.

But reports of unwanted pregnancies and investigations by authorities in two countries in Europe, where it received EU certification in 2017, have raised questions about marketing what is essentially a health monitor as a contraceptive.

Natural Cycles boasts more than 900,000 users, and such fast growth underscores risks for regulators and concerns among health professionals as they grapple with the rapidly emerging market for mobile and digital health applications.

“Apps are incredibly popular and there’s nothing inherently wrong about using tech to support our health,” said Bekki Burbidge, deputy chief executive of the Family Planning Association, a British sexual health organization. “But

they’re also an area that is fairly unregulated and it can be hard to sort the good, evidence- and research-based apps from the bad.”

The app is similar to hundreds of other period trackers already available, most of which are aimed at helping women conceive. But FDA approval means it can be marketed as a mobile contraceptive, giving it an edge in the mobile medical apps market, which is forecast to grow to $11.2 billion by 2025, up from at $1.4 billion in 2016, according to BIS Research.

The makers of Natural Cycles acknowledge it’s not 100 per cent effective and some women might still get pregnant even if used perfectly.

The Food and Drug Administration regulates apps and gadgets that collect or track medical information as medical devices, though it doesn’t scrutinize many more that merely perform simple tasks like tracking calories.

Marketing of contraceptive apps needs to be extremely careful to ensure that women understand exactly what they’re signing up for and the limitations, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement.

The FDA gave its approval based on data from Natural Cycles involving 15,570 women who used the app for an average of eight months. The FDA said that if the app is used correctly all the time, 1.8 per cent

of women would get pregnant over one year. The “typical use” failure rate, which factors in human error, was 6.5 per cent.

The birth control pill’s failure rate is 9 per cent, while for condoms it’s 18 per cent and 24 per cent for fertility-awareness methods , but those figures are backed up by much more longterm data.

The company’s founders, Elina Berglund and Raoul Scherwitzl, are a married couple who are both former physicists.

Berglund was part of a team of scientists looking for the Higgs boson particle at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Switzerland. They pivoted from science to startups when they wrote the algorithm to help them have a baby and then developed an app to tap broader demand.

The app is free to download but the company charges $10 a month to use it. Its claims were called into question in January, after Swedish regulators started investigating reports that 37 women who used it became pregnant anyway.

The Swedish Medical Product Agency said it’s looking into whether the number of unwanted pregnancies falls within the app’s claimed effectiveness rate, and the investigation is expected to wrap up in September.

Natural Cycles said that as a condition of EU certification, it must continue monitoring user data, which it says show that the typical-use effectiveness rate remains at 93 per cent.

NATURAL CYCLES WEBSITE

“We care deeply each and every time one of our users becomes pregnant,” the company said in a statement. “One of the ongoing challenges with all forms of contraception is that there is always a statistical chance of unintended pregnancy, since no method is 100 per cent effective.”

FDA spokeswoman Deborah Kotz said the agency was aware of the Swedish reports but felt they were consistent with its knowledge of risks associated with the app.

“An increase in the absolute numbers of unintended pregnancies is expected with a growing number of users,” she said.

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority, meanwhile, says it’s looking into whether paid-for Facebook posts that

claim Natural Cycles is a “highly accurate contraceptive app” and “clinically tested alternative to birth control methods” are misleading.

“We have launched a formal investigation and will publish our findings in due course,” the authority said.

Burbidge said more outside research into fertility apps is needed because “at the moment there’s not enough independent evidence” on their reliability. She added that women using such apps need to be motivated and aware of factors that can make it less effective, such as travel, alcohol, stress or not getting enough sleep, which can all affect temperature readings.

“There’s so much you can do that makes it not perfect,” she said. ■

US regulators target Facebook on discriminatory housing ads THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Federal regulators are alleging that Facebook’s advertising tools allow landlords and real estate brokers to engage in housing discrimination.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in an administrative complaint this week that Facebook violated the Fair Housing Act because its targeting sys-

tems allow advertisers to exclude certain audiences, such as families with young children or disabled people, from seeing housing ads.

“When Facebook uses the vast amount of personal data it collects to help advertisers to discriminate, it’s the same as slamming the door in someone’s face,” HUD Assistant Secretary Anna Maria Farias said in a statement Friday.

Service providers such as Facebook typically aren’t liable

for the actions of their users.

In a separate, civil lawsuit filed by housing advocates, the Justice Department says Facebook doesn’t fall under that category because it mines user data, some of which users have to provide, and customizes ads for specific audiences. The government says that counts as being a content creator, rather than merely a transmitter of user content.

Facebook said the company doesn’t allow discrimination and has strengthened its systems www.canadianinquirer.net

over the past year to prevent misuse. The company added that it is working directly with HUD to address its concerns. Facebook has an opportunity to respond to the HUD complaint before the agency determines whether to file formal charges.

The HUD action is separate from the federal lawsuit, filed in March in New York by the National Fair Housing Alliance and other organizations. The lawsuit says investigations by fair housing supporters in New

York, Washington, D.C., Miami and San Antonio, Texas, show that Facebook continues to let advertisers discriminate even though civil rights and housing groups have notified the company since 2016 that it is violating the federal Fair Housing Act. It seeks unspecified damages and a court order to end discrimination.

The Justice Department’s position came in a filing in that case. Facebook said it plans to respond in court. ■

AUGUST 24, 2018

34

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35

Travel Renewable resort: Tourists go off beaten path on Greek island to run North Korea’s sacred volcano on wind, solar power

BY ERIC TALMADGE The Associated Press

BY ILIANA MIER The Associated Press TILOS, GREECE — When the blades of its 800-kilowatt wind turbine start turning, the small Greek island of Tilos will become the first in the Mediterranean to run exclusively on wind and solar power.

The sea horse-shaped Greek island between Rhodes and Kos has a winter population of 400. But that swells to as many as 3,000 people in the summer, putting an impossible strain on its dilapidated power supply.

This summer, technicians are conducting the final tests on a renewable replacement system that will be fully rolled out later this year. It will allow Tilos to run exclusively on high-tech batteries recharged by a wind turbine and a solar park.

The European Commission says Tilos will be the first autonomous renewable green island in the Mediterranean. It plans to use the project as a blueprint for other small islands across the European Union that have limited grid connection to the

Livadia village in Tilos island.

mainland. The EU has largely funded the project, providing 11 million euros ($12.5 million) of the total 13.7 million-euro ($15.7 million) cost.

“The innovation of this program and its funding lies in the batteries — the energy storage — that’s what’s innovative,” project manager Spyros Aliferis said. “The energy produced by the wind turbines and the photovoltaics will be stored in batteries, so that this energy can be used for the grid when there is demand.”

The batteries store power during sunny and windy conditions, releasing it during periods of heavy demand and lower production — such as at nighttime and the peak tourist season — to keep the grid powered up.

Named TILOS — Technology Innovation for the Local Scale Optimum Integration of Battery Energy Storage — the project uses a prototype battery system that improves storage of the excess energy generated until it’s needed. ❱❱ PAGE 36 Renewable resort

МАКСИМ УЛИТИН / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

MOUNT PAEKTU, KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF — Foreign tourists looking to go off the beaten path in North Korea can now camp out on the country’s biggest volcano.

Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, a New Zealander who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea is leading the first group of foreign tourists allowed to trek off road and camp out under the stars on Mount Paektu, a huge volcano that straddles the border that separates China and North Korea.

Paektu was in 946 AD the site of one of the largest eruptions in history. It is considered one of the most beautiful natural sites in North Korea and is still active, though there haven’t been any big eruptions in recent years.

It’s revered in the North for its links to the ruling Kim family and is considered the spiritual home of the Korean revolution.

Trips to the mountain are popular with North Koreans who visit with their schools, work units or other social groups on excursions that are part indoctrination and part recreation.

It’s also popular with Chinese tourists and smaller foreign tour groups who can stay in nearby hotels and drive right up to its crater to see the blue waters of Lake Chon in Paektu’s caldera.

But Roger Shepherd, founder of Hike Korea, which is based in the South, managed to convince North Korean government officials to let him take his guests off the beaten path for the first time.

The area around the mountain features several reconstructed “secret campsites” said to have been used by national founder Kim Il Sung and his guerrillas in the fight www.canadianinquirer.net

North Slope of Paektu Mountain.

MATES II / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

against the Japanese colonial rulers before 1945 — a possible reason why the idea of allowing a foreign camping excursion clicked with the local authorities. But Shepherd’s group has for the most part managed to avoid the typical mini-bus and propaganda lecture experience that often awaits foreign tourists here.

On Saturday, the group climbed the mountain from near its base, walked to the lake from the rim and then hiked out across a volcanic plateau to pitch their tents for the first of five nights they were to spend on the hike.

North Korea under leader Kim Jong Un has placed a high priority on developing its tourism industry as a source of much-needed foreign currency and as an industry that can be fairly closely controlled and monitored.

It is currently carrying out massive infrastructure projects in several locations, including at Samjiyon, the largest city near Mount Paektu, and in the eastern port city of Wonsan and the adjacent Mount Kumgang area, which was open to South Korean tourists until around 2008, when a South Korean housewife was shot for wandering into a restricted area.

Any big expansion in the numbers of foreign tourists

will require an easing of international sanctions in place to push Kim Jong Un to abandon his nuclear weapons program.

Shepherd’s trekking group was made up of two Australian women and two Norwegian men. Tourists from the United States are blocked from coming to North Korea by a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump in response to the death of college student Otto Warmbier, who died shortly after his release from North Korean custody for allegedly trying to steal propaganda banner.

By the time Warmbier was released, he was in a vegetative state. What happened to Warmbier while he was in custody remains unclear.

Incidents involving tourists are rare, however, and Shepherd said his intention is to get beyond politics during the hike.

He said that after the first day, the trekkers had already begun to forge bonds with their North Korean guides.

“I hope that it’s because mountains and nature does that,” he said. “Out here it’s very apolitical. There’s no need for the nonsense out here. We’re all trying to do the same thing. Work together as a team, pitch tents, eat together walk together. In my experience that’s a good way for these guys to see the real people of this country.” ■

Travel

36

AUGUST 24, 2018

Renewable resort... ❰❰ 35

To work, it required an overhauled grid with smart meters installed in homes and businesses to calculate times of peak demand.

Currently, Tilos gets its energy from an underwater cable that runs from Kos to the island of Nisiros and on to Tilos.

That creates an erratic, outage-prone service that routinely breaks appliances and has forced many businesses to rely on diesel generators.

While lacking the dazzle of other Greek islands like Mykonos and Santorini, Tilos — a 14-hour ferry ride from the mainland — is a quiet vacation spot that sees an average of 13,000 visitors a year. It’s known as a green island, popular with hikers and bird watchers, and most of it is now a protected nature reserve.

Mayor Maria Kammas saw a green energy system as the island’s natural next step.

“For many years now, Tilos has plotted a course that is dedicated to protecting the environment,” she said. “We are seeking visitors — tourists actually — people who will visit our island who love the environment and want to protect it and nature as it was given to us.”

Tourism is the main source of revenue for the island. But businesses have been plagued by lengthy blackouts, leaving hotels without air conditioning and restaurants without light or power, forcing them to discard food from warm refrig-

erators.

Hotel owner Sevasti Delaporta has closely followed the project since its inception over two years ago. There were initial doubts about the idea among Tilos residents, but tests have run smoothly, even during peak times this summer.

The grid is expected to be fully operational in a few months.

“I’m very optimistic about this project because there are few negative consequences as a business, and for the guests of the hotel that I run,” says Delaporta.

“People are pleased with the service because they have no problem with their fridges and they have no problem with their air conditioning. They are happy.”

With long sunny days and average temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer, tourists spend their mornings at the beach and afternoons napping. The island comes alive in the evening, when businesses open and residents and tourists alike flock to bars and cafes.

Eva Lemaier has visited the island every year for more than two decades.

Coming from the Netherlands, which has one of the world’s highest environmental standards, she says Tilos’ green policies stand out in Greece.

“I’m also a little bit proud of Tilos about what they are doing now, with the renewable energy,” she said. “I think it’s good for the island not to be dependent on other islands.” ■

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FRIDAY

Lebanon’s mountains offer cool refuge from Mideast heat

BY HAMZA HENDAWI The Associated Press FARAYA, LEBANON — The passengers’ chatter on the Beirut-bound flight was far from reassuring. Taxi drivers were striking. Traffic was going to be bad. Add the heat and suffocating humidity of a typical summer day and you’re hit with a powerful urge to get out of town.

The mountains? Absolutely.

Whether during war or peace, Lebanon’s high mountain ranges have long been a favourite refuge for Lebanese living in cities, towns and villages along the Mediterranean coastline.

“If anything happens here (in the mountains) now, then it’s probably the end of the world,” said 24-year-old old hotelier Elyse Salamah.

Just a short drive from Beirut, the mountains offer an escape from summer heat and, for those with deep pockets, a place to ski in winter.

Others make the trip in pursuit of culinary bliss: the perfect tabbouleh, the ultimate hummus or the divine pastry kunafeh.

The mountains saw some of the worst battles of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.

But they have also served as a safe haven from conflict, including the 2006 war between the Shiite Hezbollah group and Israel, when tens of thousands fled there to escape the month of fighting and bombardment.

My destination was Faraya, a ski resort high enough — 1,850 metres (6,000 feet) above sea level — to be sufficiently cool in July.

It took nearly an hour and a half to drive the 50-kilometre (30-mile) route, winding around sharp mountain curves. The moment I stepped out of the car at my destination — a small family-run hotel — I knew I made the right decision. The temperature was a pleasant 22 C (72 F), noticeably cooler than Beirut along with a just fraction of the capital’s humidity.

But what does one do in a ski resort in summer?

Not an awful lot, to be honest. But you can hike on nature trails if you feel up to it. One trek takes you up to an imposing, 23-meter (75-foot) statue of St. Charbel, a 19th-century saint revered by Lebanon’s Maronite Christians. A hooded monk, he raises a hand in blessing over the landscape of mountains, barren in the summer, snow-covered in winter.

Or you can drive around the surrounding hills in a quad (all-terrain vehicle) or just swim and sunbathe at any of the many small pools in the village, which charge a fee for a day’s use.

www.canadianinquirer.net

But if you are a big city boy like myself — my hometown, Cairo, is a city of 20 million with the unflattering distinction of being among the world’s most polluted cities — then a short break in Faraya offers a rare opportunity to kick back, relax and savour Lebanese food.

And the village offers visitors unique little experiences you rarely encounter in big city life.

Like most other mountain villages, almost all hotels and restaurants in Faraya are family run, so staying there has a personal feel. From where I sat in my hotel’s dining room, I could hear the chef, Mahmoud Mohammed, in the kitchen cooking, chopping the onions and parsley for my tabbouleh. And at every meal, he came out to discuss the food with me.

“The vegetables you just ate I picked from our kitchen garden today,” the chef boasted one evening after serving a light dinner of tabbouleh and hummus.

“I spent years spying on experienced chefs while they cooked. I have my own secrets now and I make sure that no one is watching when I cook.”

Or, take the woman running the local supermarket. When I asked her, “Are these strawberries grown in Lebanon?” she clearly thought it was a silly question. “Yes, they come from my back garden,” she declared.

Go to a restaurant in the centre of the village and you can be sure you’ll find three generations of family involved in running it — usually the grandfather cooking, the daughter or son waiting tables and the grandchildren glued to smart phones between running errands.

One thing visitors must remember when in Faraya, which is on the Matn mountains range, that this is not the Swiss or French Alps with tourist-poster landscapes. In the summer, the mountains around Faraya are dry and treeless.

And all through Lebanon’s mountains, there are the infrastructure woes that plague the country.

But don’t focus too much on the litter on roadsides or in some of the mountain streams. Don’t complain too much about the quality of the running water in your hotel room (drink only bottled water). The country’s economic problems also mean the mountains are dotted with half-finished structures meant to be hotels or holiday apartments.

Electricity? Make sure that your hotel has its own power generator. The alternative would be maddeningly frequent power cuts.

Instead, enjoy the hospitality offered by locals, and of course, the wonderful food. ■

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Food A matzo ball soup that hits all the marks, plus dumplings AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN MATZO BALL soup can be controversial to make, but there is no question that this version hits all the marks, delivering tender dumplings and a savory broth.

For matzo balls that were substantial but not too heavy or greasy we settled on a ratio of 1 cup matzo meal to 4 eggs and 5 tablespoons of water, plus a bit of chopped, cooked onion and minced dill.

For the soup, we turned to the classic mirepoix ingredients plus parsnip for a touch of sweetness. To deepen the broth’s chicken flavour, we added two whole chicken legs, which we removed after they cooked through. (The meat may be added back in if you like.)

Chicken fat, or schmaltz, is available in the refrigerator or freezer section of most supermarkets. Note that the matzo batter needs to be refrigerated for at least 1 hour before shaping.

Mazo ball soup

Servings: 6 Start to finish: 3 1/2 hours

Matzo Balls: • 1/4 cup chicken fat (schmaltz) or vegetable oil • 1 onion, chopped fine • 4 large eggs • 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill • Salt and pepper • 1 cup (4 ounces) matzo meal Soup: • 1 tablespoon chicken fat (schmaltz) or vegetable oil • 1 onion, chopped • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch

chunks • 2 celery ribs, chopped • 1 parsnip, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks • Salt and pepper • 8 cups chicken broth • 1 1/2 pounds chicken leg quarters, trimmed • 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill Heat chicken fat in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until light golden brown and softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer onion to large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes. (Do not clean pot.)

Whisk eggs, 5 tablespoons water, dill, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper into cooled onion. Fold in matzo meal until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 hours. (Batter will thicken as it sits.)

Bring 4 quarts water and 2 tablespoons salt to boil in now-empty Dutch oven. Divide batter into 12 portions (about 1 heaping tablespoon each) and place on greased plate. Roll portions into smooth balls between your wet hands and return to plate. Transfer matzo balls to boiling water, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until tender and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Using slotted spoon, transfer matzo balls to colander and drain briefly.

Transfer balls to clean plate and let cool to firm up, about 10 minutes. Discard cooking water. (Do not clean pot.)

For the soup: Meanwhile, heat chicken fat in large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, carrots, celery, parsnip, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, covered, until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add

JEFF KING / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

broth, chicken, and dill and bring to boil.

Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until chicken is tender, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove from heat and transfer chicken to plate. (Chicken can be used for soup or reserved for another use. If adding to soup, shred with 2 forks into bite-size pieces; discard skin and bones.) Season soup with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer soup to now-empty Dutch oven and bring to simmer over medium

Not the... ❰❰ 26

Hiut Denim is an example of this backlash.

The company is based in a town of some 4,000 people where 10 per cent of the population once made jeans.

Then, a decade ago, the factory shut down as the owners moved production to Morocco and later to China.

When David and Clare Hieatt decided to start making jeans again, they were determined to take advantage of the years of professional experience going to waste. They hoped that would give

their products a “story” to market.

Markle’s decision to wear Hiut jeans in Wales boosted that effort. The company now has a waiting list of three months.

“For the town it’s been incredible because it gives people a confidence to go, ‘Wow. This town makes a world-class product,’” David Hieatt said. “We lost our mojo when we lost 400 jobs, but now we’re getting it back. That’s a very cool story.” ■ Martin Benedyk contributed to this report. www.canadianinquirer.net

heat. Carefully transfer matzo balls to hot soup (along with shredded chicken, if using). Cover and cook until matzo balls are heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 284 calories; 125 calories from fat; 14 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 155 mg cholesterol; 476 mg sodium; 30 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 10 g protein.

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Food

AUGUST 24, 2018

FRIDAY

A brown rice salad with asparagus that’s a hearty side dish AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN THIS FRESH, hearty side dish will stand out among its richer, creamier counterparts on the holiday table. We achieved perfectly cooked brown rice by boiling it in abundant water.

Sprinkling the rice with bright lemon juice while it was still warm boosted its flavour.

To easily turn our brown rice into an appealing side salad, we stirred in crisp, browned bites of asparagus, more lemon juice, creamy goat cheese, and crunchy toasted almonds. We like the flavour of brown basmati rice, but any long-grain brown rice is acceptable. Look for asparagus that is bright green and firm.

Toast the almonds in a skillet (without any oil) set over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent scorching.

Brown rice salad with

asparagus and goat cheese

Servings: 6-8 Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes Brown Rice: • 1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice • 2 teaspoons salt • 2 teaspoons lemon juice Asparagus and Vinaigrette: • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • 1 pound asparagus, trimmed • Salt and pepper • 2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1 shallot, minced • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice • 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (1 cup) • 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Bring 3 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add rice and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender, 22 to 25 minutes.

Drain rice, transfer to parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet, and spread into even layer. Drizzle rice with lemon juice and let cool completely, about 15 minutes.

Heat vegetable oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of asparagus with tips pointed in 1 direction and remaining asparagus with tips pointed in opposite direction. Using tongs, arrange spears in even layer (they will not quite fit into single layer); cover and cook until bright green and still crisp, 2 to 5 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to high, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until tender and well browned on 1 side, 5 to 7 minutes, using tongs to occasionally move spears from centre to edge of pan to ensure all are browned. Transfer to plate and let cool completely. Cut into 1-inch pieces.

Whisk olive oil, shallot, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pep-

ALEXANDRA MOSS / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

per together in bowl. Transfer cooled rice to large bowl. Add asparagus, all but 2 tablespoons goat cheese, and dressing; toss to combine. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Add 1/3 cup almonds and 3 tablespoons parsley; toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with remaining almonds, reserved

2 tablespoons goat cheese, and remaining 1 tablespoon parsley; serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 347 calories; 148 calories from fat; 16 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 8 mg cholesterol; 861 mg sodium; 41 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 11 g protein.

Crispy potato pancakes are the perfect base for toppings AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN

Potato latkes

THESE PERFECTLY crispy potato pancakes are the ideal vehicle for all manner of toppings, making them a superversatile appetizer pick. We kept our latkes light and crisp by removing as much water as possible from the shredded potatoes.

First, we wrung them out in a dish towel and then we microwaved the shreds, which caused the starches in the potatoes to form a gel. This took care of any remaining water. This also meant that our latkes absorbed minimal oil, so they didn’t get greasy.

We prefer shredding the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater, but you can also use the large shredding disk of a food processor; cut the potatoes into 2-inch lengths first so you are left with short shreds.

Serve with applesauce, sour cream, smoked salmon, or caviar.

• 2 pounds russet potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed, and shredded • 1/2 cup grated onion • Salt and pepper • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten • 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley • Vegetable oil

Turn and continue cooking until golden brown on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Drain on paper towels and transfer to baking sheet in oven. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding oil to maintain 1/4-inch depth and returning oil to 350 F between batches. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Servings: 4-6 Start to finish: 45 minutes

Adjust oven rack to middle position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 200 F. Toss potatoes, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt in bowl. Place half of mixture in centre of dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible, reserving liquid in liquid measuring cup. Transfer drained mixture to second bowl and repeat process with remaining mixture.

Set potato liquid aside and let stand so starch settles to bottom, at least 5 minutes.

Cover mixture and microwave until just warmed through but not hot, 1 to 2 minutes, stir-

EDSEL LITTLE / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

ring with fork every 30 seconds.

Spread mixture evenly over second rimmed baking sheet and let cool for 10 minutes.

Don’t wash bowl.

Pour off water from reserved potato liquid, leaving potato starch in measuring cup. Add eggs and stir until smooth. Return cooled potato mixture to bowl.

Add parsley, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and potato starch mixture and toss until evenly combined.

Set wire rack in clean rimmed www.canadianinquirer.net

baking sheet and line with triple layer of paper towels. Add oil to 12-inch skillet until it measures about 1/4 inch deep and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking (350 F). Place 1/4-cup mound of potato mixture in oil and press with nonstick spatula into 1/3-inch-thick disk. Repeat until 5 latkes are in pan. Cook, adjusting heat so fat bubbles around latke edges, until golden brown on bottom, about 3 minutes.

To Make Ahead Cooled latkes can be covered loosely with plastic wrap and held at room temperature for up to 4 hours, or frozen on baking sheet until firm, transferred to zipper-lock bag, and frozen for up to 1 month. Reheat latkes in 375-degree oven until crisp and hot, 3 minutes per side for room-temperature and 6 minutes per side for frozen. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 280 calories; 88 calories from fat; 10 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 108 mg cholesterol; 324 mg sodium; 42 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 8 g protein.

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