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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

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VOL. 8 NO. 336

29TH CABINET MEETING

President Rodrigo R. Duterte presides over the 29th Cabinet Meeting at the Malacañan Palace on September 11, 2018.

TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Sison, Alejano deny working together to unseat Duterte

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano belied the claim of President Rodrigo Duterte that their groups are conniving with each other to remove the latter from his office.

Duterte, in his televised tête-à-tête with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Tuesday, September 11, said he has evidence to prove that the communists and the Magdalo group are conspiring to overthrow him. The President said he has the ‘conversation’ from a foreign country ‘sympathetic’ to him.

Belying this claim, Sison said there

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No TRO vs. Trillanes’ amnesty voiding: SC

22 Playlist of a DJ: A Ryan Orlanda original soundtrack

❱❱ PAGE 12 Sison, Alejano

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Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

3

Trillanes’ amnesty, one of Aquino’s ‘glaring mistakes’: PRRD

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said the amnesty granted to Oakwood mutineers, including Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, was one of the glaring mistakes of the previous administration of former president Benigno Aquino III. “Pagka mali is mali. Hindi mo talaga ma-correct ’yan (If it is wrong, it’s wrong. You cannot correct that) and one of the glaring mistakes of the Aquino administration was to extend an amnesty,” Duterte said a tête-à-tête with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo at the Malacañang Palace.

Duterte said the procedure in the issuance of Proclamation 75

by Aquino in 2010 was “totally wrong in the sense that he just issued the proclamation” without giving particular names.

“It was a motherhood statement to cover the individual and any of the acts of the mutineers,” he said.

Duterte also blamed Aquino for designating former defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin to investigate and sign the amnesty itself.

“You know, it is not possible to do that. Why? Because an act of pardon or amnesty is an act of State. It cannot be delegated to anybody but to the person or the President himself,” said Duterte, a former fiscal.

He said the granting of amnesty as well as declaring martial law suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus and to call for Congress’ special session is the exclusive power of the President.

“An act of amnesty is always an act of State which cannot be done by a mere Cabinet member. Especially if that Cabinet member was the one or was the one of those who investigated

and made the recommendation and approved the recommendation himself,” he said.

He said if the Supreme Court would disagree with him “that is a new development on jurisprudence and I would accept it.”

Duterte signed his own Proclamation 572 on August 31 to declare void ab initio (from the beginning) Trillanes’ amnesty “because he did not comply with the minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation.”

Trillanes did not personally fill up and file the official amnesty application form and has not expressly admitted his guilt for the crimes he committed during the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 and the Manila Peninsula Siege in 2007.

Duterte claimed Gazmin, whom he described as his very good friend, signed Trillanes’ amnesty because the former defense chief wanted to protect the former president.

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.

“He was actually protecting Aquino. And there are — all the time sa lahat ng ano, they were protecting Aquino,” Duterte said.

Panelo said Gazmin’s approval of the amnesty is another ground to declare Trillanes’ amnesty “void from the very beginning.” ■

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Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

New continuous trial rules speed up resolution of criminal cases: SC

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) said criminal cases in trial courts are being resolved much faster compared to previous years following the implementation of its Revised Guidelines of Continuous Trial in Criminal Cases since September last year.

Chief Justice Teresita J. Leonardo-de Castro on Sunday noted that trial in many drug cases are being resolved within two to two-and-a-half months from the time they are filed, as required by the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, while trial in other criminal cases are finished within six months, pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act. The pertinent provisions of both laws were incorporated in the guidelines released by the High Court.

The SC reported that 47.82 of cases have complied with the 180-day period for trial provided by law and the Rules of Court compared to the 2.36 percent prior to the effectivity of the revised guidelines.

The high tribunal added that

cases are also being decided more swiftly with 68.5 percent of judgments have been promulgated within the 90-day period required under the Constitution, compared to only 37.75 percent in previous cases.

“We are still at the early stages of implementation and I expect the results to be better in the months ahead,” said SC Justice Associate Diosdado Peralta, who drafted the Revised Guidelines, in a statement issued Sunday.

Peralta explained the innovations and simplification introduced in the Guidelines are intended to remove redundancies in criminal procedure.

“The guidelines try to address the bottlenecks we saw in criminal cases,” the magistrate said.

Among others, the revised guidelines provide a list of prohibited pleadings, which cause delay in criminal cases and requires judges to pre-schedule all hearing dates.

“The trial dates for both the prosecution and defense are set during arraignment. This is binding on the parties and cannot be rescheduled,” said Peralta adding that postponements of hearings have been considered a major cause of delay.

The magistrate added that the 15-day period required under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 to decide drugs cases reached an all-time high of 57.37 percent compared to the pre-Guidelines rate of 12.58 percent.

The SC noted that 2017 saw a rise in the number of drugs cases with a total number of 289,295 filed with the trial courts, but with only 34,673 or 12 percent disposed.

“Although we are failing in drugs cases insofar as the 60day period to finish trial from the filing of the Information is concerned, these cases were nevertheless decided within the 10-month period since the implementation of the Guidelines,” Peralta said.

Out of the 94,209 drug cases filed from September 2017 to June this year, 7.89 percent complied with the 60-day trial period compared to the 0.02 percent before implementation.

“Our judges are trying their best, and we have seen improvements in drug cases because of continuous trial,” Peralta added.

The Revised Guidelines on Continuous Trial in Criminal Cases took effect on Sept. 1,

Veloso family to visit Mary Jane in Indonesia jail

BY FERDINAND PATINIO Philippine News Agency MANILA — A send-off gathering was held Monday for jailed overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Mary Jane Veloso’s family members who are set to fly to Indonesia on Tuesday to visit her in prison.

The event was attended by Veloso’s legal counsel, supporters of the OFW and church workers from the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP).

Veloso’s father, Cesar, will be accompanied by his sons, Daniel and Darren, to Jakarta.

The Veloso’s prison visit will be on September 14 and 15.

Upon arrival in Indonesia, the family will be attending the Interfaith Mission for Solidarity and Service with Migrants, Refugees and Uprooted People that will be held from September 11 to 13. The event was organized by Indonesian Churches and migrant advocates.

During the send-off gathering, Migrante International spokesperson Arman Hernando called on the Duterte government to highlight Veloso’s case to show sincerity to combat human trafficking.

“This is our chance to point out that victims like Mary Jane deserves support from the government and must not be treated as a criminal,” he said in a statement.

Upon their return, the Ve-

losos will start the Supreme Court legal battle for Mary Jane’s right to speak the truth.

Veloso was arrested in 2010

by Indonesian authorities for possession of 2.6 kilos of heroin found inside her luggage upon her arrival from Malaysia.

On May 31, 2011, the Supreme Court of Indonesia upheld the death sentence on Matry Jane by the Court of Appeals of Yogjakarta.

She was granted a reprieve based on the charges filed against her alleged illegal recruiters, Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao.

Last week, the parents of Veloso filed a petition before the Supreme Court to secure their daughter’s deposition. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Supreme Court of the Philippines.

2017 after it was piloted in 54 trial courts in Metro Manila.

The program was implemented with support from The Asia Foundation and the American Bar Association, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The innovations and simplification introduced in the revised guidelines are intended to remove redundancies in criminal procedure. It provides a list of prohibited pleadings that cause delay in criminal cases and requires judges to preschedule all hearing dates.

Under the revised guidelines, if motions for postponements are granted based on exceptional grounds and upon payment of the postponement fee,

PNA

no additional trial dates will be given to the moving party, who is also warned that the presentation of its evidence must still be finished on the dates previously agreed upon in the arraignment and pre-trial order.

“We are successful because of the technical and funding support from our development partners that helped us in this initiative,” Peralta said.

Meanwhile, Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez attributed the improvement to the simplified criminal procedure.

“The streamlining of procedure and the strict requirements under the Guidelines have improved the performance of courts in terms of disposing criminal cases,” Marquez said. ■

Sufficient reserves for ‘Ompong’ response: NDRRMC spox

BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — With typhoon “Ompong” (international name Mangkhut) expected to batter a large portion of the country, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) assured the public that there are sufficient reserves of manpower and equipment for any eventuality.

“We also have reserves, national reserves both in personnel, at saka sa mga (and also) equipment na ipe-preposition natin (that we will pre-position) either sa (in) Clark (Pampanga) or sa (in) Cauayan Airport (Isabela),” NDRRMC spokesperson Edgar Posadas said Tuesday.

He added that the other details on this matter will be discussed in Wednesday’s Pre-Disaster Risk Assessment (PDRA).

“Magkakaroon din po tayo ng follow up PDRA para tingnan natin yung mas na-refine natin na kahandaaan saka yung plans natin to address itong papasok na bagyong ’Mangkhut’ (We will have a follow up PDRA to check our refined preparations and also our plans to address the impact of the typhoon ‘Mangkhut’ that is about tho enter the country),” he added.

Posadas also said President Rodrigo Duterte’s marching order to the Office of Civil Defense and the NDRRMC is to ensure that all preparedness measures are in place, relevant, timely and effective. ■

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FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

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Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

PCIJ report on kin’s infra projects ‘malicious’: SAP Go

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte’s top aide, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, described as “malicious” an investigative report that his relatives were among Davao City’s top contractors.

In an article published on Thursday, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported that documents from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) showed that companies owned by Go’s family are among the 10 biggest contractors of Davao City.

Go said the PCIJ report “seemed to be politically motivated” since it was released when groups have pushed him to join the senatorial race for the 2019 midterm elections.

“I find myself once again a victim of fake news and biased reporting. PCIJ’s report raised malicious issues against me,” Go said in a press statement on September 7.

The report was titled, “Firms of Bong Go kin, top contractors: Many JVs, delayed projects in Davao.”

“To this lucky set of top contractors in Davao Region belong two entities owned by the father and the half-brother of Special Assistant to the President, Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Tesoro Go: CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders and Supply,” the PCIJ report said.

“The company that bears the initials of the presidential aide appears in Davao City’s 10 biggest contractors year on year from 2010 to 2017, according to

Bong Go.

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DPWH data,” it added.

Go explained that although his father had been in the public works industry before he was born, he never allowed him to bid for projects in Davao City when Duterte was mayor.

“My father has been in the industry long before I was born. For delicadeza, I did not allow my father to bid in the projects of the City Government of Davao in all the 15 years when PRRD (President Rodrigo R. Duterte) was mayor,” Go said.

Duterte’s top aide claimed that his father and half-brother were simply “exercising their rights” when they participated in the bidding of projects with DPWH, either as sole contractor or as partner, which did not disqualify them from bidding.

“Being related to me does not disqualify them to bid. These projects are publicly bid anyway. I never intervened nor influenced the DPWH on how they bid or award these projects. My office does not control DPWH to begin with,” Go said.

Go, meanwhile, vowed to resign immediately if the PCIJ report could be proven, stressing that he was never involved in corruption.

“I have never been involved in corruption in the government. I have protected my name over the years. If anyone can prove that I spoke with DPWH or any other agency involved in the funding of these projects, I will resign immediately!” Go said.

Duterte earlier said he will fully support his special assistant’s senatorial bid despite Go saying he has no plan to join the Senate. ■

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Gazmin’s approval voids Trillanes’ amnesty: Panelo

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA – The amnesty granted to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was invalid from the start since it was signed by former Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and not by former president Benigno Aquino III, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said on Monday.

Panelo said he saw a document addressed to Aquino which showed that Gazmin has been given authority to approve and grant the amnesty to Trillanes.

“You know, under the Constitution, the power to grant amnesty as well as pardon is exclusive to the President, you cannot delegate that power to any alter ego. So that makes the grant amnesty void from the very beginning,” Panelo said in an interview with a cable television.

If Gazmin was claiming he was just executing the amnesty Proclamation 75 signed by Aquino, Panelo said the former president should have a separate document granting the applicants the grant of amnesty.

“I haven’t seen that. Unless you can show me that, then, it will be valid,” Panelo said.

Panelo said Gazmin has violated “usurpation of authority” if the documents will indeed show that he, instead of Aquino, who granted amnesty to Trillanes.

When asked if government will file a case against Gazmin, Panelo said, “if that are facts, then it should done.

On Aug. 31, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation 572, declaring void ab initio (from the beginning) the amnesty granted to Trillanes for failure to

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“comply with minimum requirements to qualify under the Amnesty Proclamation.”

The Office of the Solicitor General discovered that Trillanes has no duly received application form where he should have expressly admitted his guilt for leading the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003 and Manila Peninsula in 2007 against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“The theory of SolGen is that there is no compliance of the mandatory requirements,” Panelo said.

Panelo said if Trillanes has indeed a duly received application form, the senator should have included it his petition to the Supreme Court, questioning the validity of Duterte’s proclamation.

Panelo added that Trillanes’ “subsequent acts” like seditious words against the Duterte government is another ground to declare the senator’s amnesty void ab initio.

“So those applicants pleaded to the government to forgive them and admit guilt. Hence, if you are an applicant and your intention really is to apply and ask forgiveness, subsequent to the grant, you would be exercising the obligations as well as the rights of a good a citizen.

But what did Trillanes do? After being granted the same, he committed acts inimical to the state,” Panelo said.

“He has been committing sedition — he has been uttering seditious words against this government, against the President. He has been accusing this government as well as Mr. Duterte as the one’s initiating killing, extrajudicial killings,” Panelo added. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

7

House panel junks impeachment complaint vs.

SC justices

BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency MANILA — The House of Representatives justice committee on Tuesday dismissed the consolidated impeachment complaint against Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Teresita de Castro and six associate justices for insufficiency in substance.

At least 23 members of the committee stood up and found the impeachment complaint insufficient in substance and only one found it sufficient.

“The seven consolidated complaints against Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and six members of the Supreme Court are declared by this committee to be insufficient in substance and thereby dismissed,” House justice committee chairman Salvador Leachon said.

Aside from de Castro, also facing impeachment raps were Associate Justices Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr., Alexander Gesmundo, Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta, and Francis Jardeleza for voting in favor of the ouster of former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno via

quo warranto.

The complainants were Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr., and Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano.

According to House rules, the requirement of substance is met if there is a recital of facts constituting the offense charged and determinative of the jurisdiction of the committee.

The complainants accused the seven justices of allegedly violating the Constitution, saying they are fully aware that impeachment is the only mode or process of removing impeachable officials, like the Chief Justice.

The justices were also charged with culpable violation of the Constitution because they usurped the constitutional power of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) to vet the qualifications of applications for positions in the judiciary, and to nominate applicants to judicial positions to the exclusion of both the executive branch and the SC. “The decision of the Supreme Court was not judicious. It was malicious. It was not fair, but capricious. It was not collegial, but conspiratorial,” Lagman said.

Meanwhile, de Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Tijam, and Jardeleza were charged with betrayal of public trust for their refusal to inhibit themselves in the adjudication of the quo warranto petition.

The five magistrates testified against Sereno during the impeachment hearings at the lower chamber and approved the quo warranto petition during the oral arguments before the SC. Several lawmakers have manifested that the impeachment complaint should be dismissed for insufficiency in substance.

ANGKLA Partylist Rep. Jess Manalo said the seven justices were bound by their constitutional mandate to decide on the quo warranto petition, noting that proceeding with the impeachment process is a violation of the separation of powers.

“The respondents merely acted within the metes and bounds of judicial power set by the Constitution. To prosecute justices who have acted within these metes and bounds of judicial power set by the Constitution would be a true violation of separation of powers,” Manalo

Salvador Leachon.

said.

Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla said the five justices, who testified before the House justice committee hearings on Sereno’s impeachment, should not be punished for respecting a coequal branch of government.

“As resource persons, they helped this committee in performing its constitutional mandate. The five justices had in fact recognized the supremacy of the people, exercised through their duly chosen representatives,” Revilla said.

Misamis Occidental Rep. Henry Oaminal argued that if the impeachment complaint succeeds, there will no longer

ATTY. DOY LEACHON / FACEBOOK

be quorum in the SC and would eventually lead to “political instability” in the country.

“Imagine, Mr. Chair, if this complaint will succeed, then there will no longer be quorum in the Supreme Court and in effect, it’s as if there will no longer be an SC existing because it will take time to fill the vacant seats.

Where now is the judicial independence and political stability in the country?” Oaminal said.

Oaminal said that while the complaint is sufficient in form, it is insufficient in substance.

Last week, the committee voted and found the impeachment complaint sufficient in form. ■

CA affirms raps vs. Chinese bizman in P6.4-B shabu haul PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — The Court of Appeals (CA) denied the petition filed by Chinese businessman Chen Julong, alias Richard Tan, seeking to junk the charges against him in connection with the PHP6.4-billion illegal drugs shipment that slipped past the Bureau of Customs (BOC) last year.

In a 17-page decision dated Aug. 31, penned by Associate Justice Ramon Garcia and concurred by Associate Justices Eduardo Peralta and Geraldine Fiel Macaraig, the CA’s 11th Division upheld the Feb. 22, 2018 order of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46, which denied Chen’s motion to quash the charge of drug impor-

tation under Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The CA ruled that it finds “no compelling reason to reverse or modify the assailed orders of the court a quo (Manila RTC Branch 46).”

The CA added that Chen did not file a motion for reconsideration before the Manila RTC. “At the onset, it must be pointed out that the instant petition for certiorari merits an outright dismissal for the failure of the petitioner to file a motion for reconsideration of the assailed Order dated Feb. 22, 2018 before the court a quo,” the appellate court ruled.

“The rule is well-stated that the failure to file a motion for reconsideration before resort to the special civil action for certiorari is a fatal infirmity.

Such motion is indispensable in order to afford the tribunal, board or office, or in this case, the court a quo, to pass upon and correct its mistakes if there is any,” it added.

The appellate court said the Manila RTC order already showed “the reason for the course of action it had taken, which were thoroughly and sufficiently discussed therein.”

“There was no hint of whimsicality, no gross and patent abuse of discretion as would amount to an evasion of positive duty or a virtual refusal to perform duty enjoined by law or to act at all in contemplation of law,” the CA said.

“Instead, it appears that public respondent judge had painstakingly went over the facts and the law upon which her ruling was based upon,” it added. www.canadianinquirer.net

The CA disagreed with Chen who argued that Manila RTC should have dismissed the case due to forum shopping considering that the Valenzuela RTC Branch 171 has already dismissed the same charge prior being refiled at the Manila RTC. “In any case, petitioner miserably failed to substantiate his allegation that forum shopping is extant in the instant case,” the appellate court ruled.

The CA pointed out that “when the RTC, Branch 171, Valenzuela dismissed the first information for want of jurisdiction, it was only proper for the prosecution to refile the same with the court which actually has jurisdiction thereof, which in this case is the court a quo.”

“Forum shopping is the act of any party against whom an adverse judgment has been

rendered in one forum, seeking another, and possibly favorable opinion forum other than appeal or special civil action of certiorari, or the institution of two or more actions or proceedings grounded on the same cause on the supposition that one or the other court might look with favor upon the party,” it cited.

“Where the elements of litis pendentia are not present or where a final judgment in one case will not amount to res judicata in the other there is no forum shopping,” it explained.

Litis pendentia refers to a situation where two actions are pending between the same parties for the same cause of action. While, res judicata is a matter that has been adjudicat❱❱ PAGE 11 CA affirms

Philippine News

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SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

No TRO vs. Trillanes’ amnesty voiding: SC

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency Correspondent/Hosts Bea Kirstein T. Manalaysay Joanna Belle Deala Gianna Llanes Arianne Grace U. Lacanilao Violeta Arevelo Babes Newland Graphic Design Shanice Garcia Ginno Alcantara Colleene T. Singca Director/Producer Boom Dayupay Photographers/Video Ginno Alcantara Ronnie Garcia Maria Crizandra Baylon Sales Kristopher Yong Aireen De Asis Paul Acosta Dennis Cruz Margarita Perez Operations and Admin Victoria Yong Amelia Insigne Management Alan Yong Victoria Yong For photo submissions, please email editor@canadianinquirer.net For General Inquiries, please email info@canadianinquirer.net For Sales Inquiries, please email sales@canadianinquirer.net Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at 11951 Hammersmith Way, Suite 108 Richmond, B.C. V7A 5H9 Canada

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MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has denied the petition filed by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV seeking the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572, which declared the amnesty granted to him as void ab initio.

“The Court resolved to deny petitioner Senator Trillanes’ prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order,” SC spokesperson, Atty. Maria Victoria Gleoresty Guerra, told reporters in a press conference.

Guerra said that according to the High Court, there is no need for it to issue a TRO as President Duterte has guaranteed that the opposition senator will not be arrested unless an arrest warrant has been issued by a trial court.

“Thus, there is no extreme and urgent necessity for the Court to issue an injunctive relief, considering that the respondents have acknowledged Senator Trillanes’ right to due process,” the SC said.

The SC said it is up to the trial courts to determine the facts of the cases against Trillanes.

“Hence, it is appropriate that the Makati RTCs (Regional Trial Courts) should be given leeway in exercising their concurrent jurisdiction to hear and resolve the pleadings/motions filed by the parties as regards the legality of Proclamation 572,” it added.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the motions after Duterte issued Proclamation 572, which declared as “void ab initio” or void from the start, the amnesty granted to Trillanes for failing to comply with the requirements.

The DOJ has filed separate motions before Makati RTC Branches 148 and 150, asking that arrest warrants and hold departure orders (HDO) be issued against Trillanes.

Branch 148 is handling the coup d’etat case against Trillanes concerning the Oakwood mutiny, while Branch 150 is handling the rebellion case against the senator over the Manila Peninsula siege.

Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano and Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda have set separate hearings on the DOJ’s motion on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Meanwhile, the High Court ordered the respondents, through Solicitor General Jose Calida, to submit a comment within 10 days.

Based on the proclamation signed by

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

Duterte last Aug. 31, Trillanes has no pending application for amnesty granted to all active and former personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and supporters who joined the July 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines stand-off and the November 2007 Manila Peninsula incident.

This, in effect, voided the amnesty extended to him by former president Benigno S. Aquino III through Proclamation 75 issued in November 2010.

The amnesty was granted in 2010 under Proclamation 75 of then president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III regarding the involvement of Trillanes and a number of others in the Oakwood mutiny and Manila Peninsula siege.

In a 36-page petition for certiorari prohibition and injunction, Trillanes questioned the legality of the proclamation, which invalidated his amnesty.

Named as respondents in the petition were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito G. Galvez, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Philippine National Police Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Chief Police Director Roel Obusan.

Sought for a comment, Guevarra welcomed the High Court’s decision.

“The DOJ is very happy to know that the Supreme Court has denied Senator Trillanes’ application for a restraining order. There is really no extreme urgency to speak of, as the trial courts have set the DOJ’s motions for alias warrant of arrest and HDO for hearing, thereby giving Senator Trillanes an opportunity

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AVITO C. DALAN / PNA

to be heard,” he told reporters.

“More significantly, the Supreme Court has recognized that the issue of validity of Proclamation 572 involves factual questions that only the trial courts may properly resolve. In the process, the Supreme Court has also acknowledged the trial courts’ continuing jurisdiction over the coup d’ eta’t and rebellion cases, notwithstanding the alleged ‘finality’ of the orders of dismissal based on the grant of amnesty to Senator Trillanes,” the justice chief explained.

Solicitor General Jose Calida, meanwhile, echoed Guevarra’s remarks.

“The OSG (Office of the Solicitor General) is elated that no less than the Supreme Court has acknowledged that Proclamation No. 572 afforded Mr. Trillanes due process. Hence, the high court found that “there is no extreme and urgent necessity for the Court to issue injunctive relief,” Calida said in a statement.

“The OSG welcomes the development that no temporary retraining order was issued and we nurture the hope that Mr. Trillanes, no matter how remote the possibility, will finally man up and face the charges against him for the unlawful actions he committed against the Filipino people,” he added.

Trillanes, a former Navy captain, is facing charges, including coup d’état, for leading uprisings against the government. These are the mutiny at the Oakwood Premiere Hotel in Makati on July 27, 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege on Nov. 29, 2007.

The coup d’état case that was filed against the senator is a non-bailable offense and has a penalty of life imprisonment. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

9

PH economy continues to grow despite inflation

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency

ROBINSON NIÑAL / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Duterte to personally decide on new telecom player

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he would personally decide on the new major telecommunication player’s entry if the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and other concerned agencies remain undecided by November.

Duterte made this reaction to reports that some applicants have backed out due to many conditions being imposed by the NTC. “If early November wala pa (no decision yet), I will take over,” Duterte said in a tête-àtête with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo at Malacañang Palace.

Last April, Duterte signed Administrative Order No. 11, creating an inter-agency committee to oversee the entry of a third telecom player.

Duterte ordered the creation of the inter-agency oversight committee after the NTC failed to meet the March 2018 deadline for the entry of new player that would break the duopoly of two major players — PLDT and Globe Telecom.

The oversight panel, which is tasked to assist the NTC in the selection of third major telecom player, is composed of the Department of Information and Communication Technology, Department of Finance, Office of Executive Secretary and Office of

the National Security Adviser.

“You know, I’m waiting for that critical decision. Until now, wala (nothing),” the President said.

Duterte said he would prefer to select the company with the best record in business and can deliver expensive but good quality service.

“Because I’m worry about this lowest bid, hao shiao. I select yun pinakamaganda (the best) record na walang (without) breakdown,” he said.

Duterte said he will invite all businessmen and “I will decide in front of them” the new telecom player.

“Give me your position papers and I will read it. Give me 30 minutes and then I will come back and tell them. I will decide and give the line (franchise),” Duterte said.

Duterte, however, assured that he will decide through the help of the Commission on Audit (COA).

“For COA, you decide for me.

I will wait for your decision.

Lowest bid always ends up in disaster,” he said.

The President said the Filipino nation can expect the third major telecom player “by Christmas.”

“I will resolve it by the early of October or by early November,” he added.

Duterte earlier said a third telecom company “is a matter of paramount national interest” and necessary to improve the country’s internet speed. ■

MANILA — Despite rising inflation, the Philippine economy is improving since the proportion of employed Filipinos also rose in July 2018, Malacañang said Tuesday.

“Ang ekonomiya naman, bagama’t meron tayong problema sa inflation, ay talaga naman pong patuloy ang pag-unlad natin (Despite the problem of inflation, our economy continues to improve),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview in Unang Hirit.

Roque cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) labor force survey, which showed that employment rate improved to 94.6 percent last July.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), this is the highest figure in the past 10 years among previous July rounds.

The country’s unemployment rate went down to 5.4 percent for July.

Generated jobs for the month of July reached 488,000, bringing the country’s total employment to 40.7 million, the NEDA said.

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Meanwhile, Roque also cited a PSA report on the manufacturing sector, which showed that the of value production index grew by 12.2 percent while the volume of production index also grew 11.8 percent for the month of July.

The PSA also said that stable domestic demand and robust investments due to heightened infrastructure projects and consumer spending are seen to sustain the country’s strong performance in manufacturing.

“Ang unemployment rate natin pinakamababa. Ang manufacturing rate natin pinakamataas. At patuloy pa rin ang pagtaas ng ating GNP(Our unemployment rate is the lowest, our manufacturing rate is the highest, and our gross national product continues to rise),” Roque said.

He pointed out that if there is inflation coupled with rising unemployment, it would mean that there really is a problem in the economy.

“Kung ang problema ay may inflation at tumaas ang unemployment, meron talagang problema ang ekonomiya (If the problem is, there’s inflation and unemployment rose, there really is a problem in the economy),” Roque said.

“Pero kung ang problema ay inflation, pero bumaba ang unemployment, mas madami ang nagtatrabaho, ibig sabihin niyon, talagang malakas iyong demand na nagiging dahilan para tumaas ang presyo ng mga bilihin. So ibig sabihin, masigla pa rin ang ekonomiya (But if the problem is inflation but unemployment declined, more are working. This means there is a strong demand, which is a reason why prices of commodities are increasing. This means that the economy is still vigorous),” he added.

Headline inflation rose to 6.4 percent last August from the previous month’s 5.7 percent, bringing the average to date to 4.8 percent.

Duterte’s Economic Development Cluster (EDC) has approved an eight-point measure to cushion the effect of inflation — replicating the issuance of certificates being issued by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allow the importation of fish to be distributed in wet markets in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, and immediate distribution of 4.6 million sacks of rice that are available in warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA) to markets nationwide. ■

10

Philippine News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

SC: No P12-T reward for Marcos wealth informer PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition filed by tax informer Danilo Lihaylihay, which seeks to compel the government to pay him close to PHP12 trillion representing his 25 percent reward for his role in the recovery of the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their cronies.

In a 22-page decision dated July 23 and penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC’s Third Division dismissed Lihayhay’s petition for mandamus for lack of merit.

The respondents in the case were former Treasurer of the Philippines Roberto C. Tan, former Secretary of Finance Margarito B. Teves, the Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The SC stressed that the grant of informers’ reward depend on the considerations by the appropriate government officers under Republic Act 2338, also known as An Act to Provide for Reward to Informers of Violations of the Internal Revenue and Customs Laws.

Under the law, the Court noted that the information supplied must be new or not yet known to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

It must not pertain to a pending or previously investigated case, and must have actually led to or was the actual cause for discovering frauds upon tax laws.

It added that the information must have actually led to the recovery of sums relating to the fraud, as well as the conviction and/or punishment of the liable persons.

Lihaylihay, who identified himself as a confidential infor-

Inauguration of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos.

mant of the states (CIS), based his claim on the two letters dated March 11, 1987 which he sent to lawyer Eliseo Pitargue, the former head of the BIRPresidential Commission on Good Government Task Force, concerning the Marcoses’ illgotten wealth.

In his first letter, Lihayhay informed the BIR-PCGG about the ill-gotten wealth of the late President Ferdinand Marcos deposited in 177 banks in 72 countries and include tons of gold and 500,000 pieces of 10-karat diamonds.

The second letter concerned alleged dollar deposits at the Union Bank of Switzerland of Marcos’ daughter, Irene Marcos-Araneta.

In 2006, Lihaylihay also wrote to BIR Commissioner Mario C. Bufiag demanding payment of 25 percent informer’s reward on the PHP18.2 billion supposedly recovered by the Philippine government through compromise agreements with the Marcoses.

He also insisted on the need for the government to collect Fortune Tobacco Corporation’s tax deficiencies amounting to PHP97 billion, to recover PHP47 trillion deposits in

Switzerland, and to deliver to him the informer’s rewards for the recovery of the said ill-gotten wealth.

Lihaylihay said the government owes him a total of PHP11.875 trillion and PHP50 billion, representing his reward for the jewelry recovered from former First Lady Imelda Marcos and several government lands as informer’s rewards.

However, the SC noted that based on Lihaylihay’s letter to the BIR-PCGG in 1987, the petitioner made broad claims about the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth and stressed the need for the government to recover them.

The petitioner, the SC said, failed to cite specific acts of tax fraud, violations of internal revenue and customs laws.

“From his 1987 letters to the present petition, his bases for rewards swelled from the Swiss bank deposits, gold bars, and diamonds mentioned in his original letters to Atty. Pitargue to virtually all forms of the Marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth,” the SC explained.

“He would not even stop there. He also turned his attention to President Marcos’ cronies such as Roberto Benedicto,

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FILE / ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES

Lucio Tan, Fabian Ver, Herminio Disini, and Jose Campos.

Rather than animate the State’s efforts with direct and reliable information, he has embarked on a fishing expedition, casting his lot on a progressively widening net,” it added.

While it may be true that many cases brought against the Marcos family and their cronies involve violations of tax laws, the SC said, the law governing informer’s rewards demand specific information that would help in either securing convictions for tax offenses or recovering proceeds that should have otherwise been paid to the government as taxes.

Furthermore, the SC said Lihaylihay failed to show that his supplied information was the main basis that prompted the government to prosecute the Marcoses and their cronies for possible tax offenses and recovering from them their ill-gotten wealth.

On the contrary, the SC noted the petitioner’s March 11, 1987 letters acknowledged ongoing efforts by the BIR and the PCGG to prosecute the Marcoses and recover their ill-gotten wealth.

The Court added that Lihay-

lihay also failed to prove that he was the sole and exclusive source of information leading to the discovery of fraud and violations of tax laws committed by the Marcos family.

“While this Court appreciates active citizen participation in addressing the iniquities of public officials, it must underscore the need to comply with procedural and substantive standards set by law for the grant of remedies. The availability of reliefs is not a matter of personal preference, but of order and judicial economy, and due process,” the SC said.

“The present Petition could have been dismissed outright for its readily discernible flaws.

This Court has, nevertheless, gone out of its way to painstakingly explain the plethora of grounds for dismissal,” it added.

The High Tribunal also castigated Lihayhay for resorting to forum shopping in his bid to get a reward.

It noted that the petitioner filed a similar petition for mandamus before the SC, raised the same issue before in two cases being tried before the Sandiganbayan and noted several news reports saying that the Commission on Audit has also denied his claim for an informer’s rewards.

“This decision is rendered with a stem warning for petitioner not to trifle with court actions. Frivolous litigation translates to injudicious delays, hampers the resolution of more meritorious cases, and compels courts and tribunals to unnecessarily expend themselves. Its ultimate result is a weakening of the courts’ and tribunals’ capacity to effectively and timely dispense justice,” the Court declared. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

11

Amnesty invalidation, libel raps vs. Trillanes ‘purely coincidental’

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency

cial Prosecutor-Assistant Regional Prosecutor Karl Andre Salcedo.

Guevarra, meanwhile, noted that the DOJ will not intervene in the libel case against the senator.

MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo “No, I will not interfere in the conduct Guevarra on Sunday said the declara- of the preliminary investigation. It is not tion of the amnesty granted to Senator proper,” he said.

Antonio Trillanes IV as void ab initio The justice chief added that the Makaand the filing of libel cases against him ti City Regional Trial Court (RTC) does were “purely coincidental.” not have to wait for the Supreme Court “The timing of the filing of the libel to act on the petition filed by Trillanes. complaints vs. Senator Trillanes, acHe said the Makati RTC can proceed cording to the complainants, had noth- with acting on the criminal cases against ing to do with the nullification of the the beleaguered senator over his inSenator’s amnesty. The libel complaints volvement in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny were filed on the anand the 2007 Manila niversary date of the Peninsula siege. utterance of the al“Unless restrained legedly defamatory by the SC, the trial statements,” Guevarcourts may proceed,” ra told reporters in a The timing of he said. text message. the filing of the The Department The justice chief libel complaints of Justice (DOJ) has was reacting to alvs. Senator already filed sepalegations that the Trillanes, rate motions before two events were an according Makati RTC Branchorchestrated plan to to the es 148 and 150 asking bring down the oppocomplainants, that arrest warrants sition senator. had nothing and hold deparPresident Rodrigo to do with the ture orders (HDO) Duterte’s Proclanullification of be issued against mation No. 572 was the Senator’s Trillanes. signed last Aug. 31 amnesty.

The DOJ filed and was disclosed to the motion before the public only last Branch 148 on TuesSept. 2 while the filday, while the motion ing of the two libel before Branch 150 cases by presidential son and former was filed on Friday.

Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte Branch 148 is handling the coup d’etat and presidential son-in-law Manases case against Trillanes concerning the Carpio against Trillanes, were on Sept. 6 Oakwood mutiny while Branch 150 is but reported on September 7. handling the rebellion case against the Carpio is the husband of presidential senator over the Manila Peninsula siege. daughter and Davao City Mayor Inday Judge Andres Soriano of Branch 148 Sara Z. Duterte. has already ordered a hearing on Sept.

Paolo Duterte’s complaint was re- 13 over the DOJ’s motion. ceived by Davao City Office of the SpeSoriano has also directed Trillanes to

CA affirms... ❰❰ 7

ed by a competent court and may not be pursued further by the same parties.

“Petitioner further faults the prosecution’s and the court a quo’s finding of probable cause against him considering that he has no prior knowledge or information with regard to the shipment of dangerous drugs; that it was he who reported the same to authorities,. These, however, are indubitably evidentiary in nature that are best litigated in a fullblown trial on the merits,” the CA said.

The CA added that “an order denying a motion to quash is interlocutory and

therefore not appealable, nor can it be the subject of a petition for certiorari.”

The case stemmed from the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) discovery of the shabu shipment at the Hong Fei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City on May 26, 2017 based on a tip from the AntiSmuggling Bureau of the China Customs.

The 604-kg. “shabu” (crystal meth) shipment is one of the biggest hauls of smuggled drugs in the country, and was the subject of a congressional probe that also led to the resignation of former BOC Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon. ■

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

file a comment regarding the DOJ’s motion.

On the other hand, Makati RTC Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda is expected to issue an order regarding the DOJ’s motion this coming week.

The DOJ filed the motions after Duterte issued Proclamation 572, which declared as “void ab initio” or void from the start, the amnesty granted to Trillanes for failing to comply with the requirements.

TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The amnesty was granted in 2010 under Proclamation No. 75 of then president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III regarding the involvement of Trillanes and a number of others in the Oakwood mutiny and Manila Peninsula siege.

On Thursday, the camp of Trillanes, led by his lawyer Reynaldo Robles, filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking the issuance of a temporary restraining order against Duterte’s proclamation. ■

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The agency agreement of RC Flyer Force, as represented by Anarciso F. Ramos and LBC has been terminated effective immediately.

Please notify LBC at telephone number

4162927211 | 4162922478 if the abovementioned entity or person continues to represent themselves as agent of LBC.

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12

Philippine News

DND chief mum on Trillanes amnesty issue

BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday declined to comment on Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s petition against Presidential Proclamation 572 which declared the amnesty granted to him as void ab initio. ‘“Yung question ng amnesty na yan, total nandun na sa (Supreme Court), (The question regarding that amnesty is now with the Supreme Court) so let us, let the SC decide on that, kung ano (what are the) merits or demerits ng mga arguments ng both sides, pabayaan na natin ang SC (let’s leave it to the SC),” he added.

When asked on whether Solicitor General Jose Calida coordinated with him regarding Trillanes’s amnesty records, Lorenzana said the top government counsel called him on Aug. 16 to discuss the matter.

“He asked me, he asked me personally by phone kung, kung gusto nya, (if he wants) to get the amnesty records niya (Trillanes) sa (at the) DND at saka sa AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) so I provided him (access to the office’s handling the records),” he added.

And shortly after, someone from the Office of the Solicitor General went to the DND to research, Lorenzana said.

The DND chief, however, clarified he did not personally provide any records to Calida.

“I did not say I provided him any records. What I said was he asked me if we at DND have a record of amnesty of Trillanes and his group. I replied I don’t know as this happened in many years ago. I asked our JAGS (Judge Advocate General Ser-

vice) to assist the SolGen (Solicitor General). SolGen Calida sent one of his staff to the JAGS. The records that came out of DND were Proclamation 75 and the amnesty documents signed by (former DND) Secretary (Voltaire) Gazmin. These were the records that the Office of the SolGen got from us. Later, a Certification that there is no record of the amnesty (for) Sen. Trillanes was also given by GHQ (General Headquarters),” Lorenzana stressed.

The DND chief also dismissed claims that Trillanes was the only one singled out, adding that many persons are included in the review.

“Nakita ko marami yun eh (I saw it. There are so many documents), (I think it was) more than a hundred, tapos ilang pages yung pinirmahan ni (there were a number of pages signed by former DND) Secretary (Voltaire) Gazmin,” he added.

In his arrival speech after visiting Israel and Jordan on Saturday, President Rodrigo Duterte said the invalidation of the amnesty granted to Trillanes was recommended by Calida, who launched a process to review and dig into the amnesty records of some officials.

Based on President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 572, which was signed last Aug. 31, Trillanes has no pending application for amnesty granted to all active and former personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and supporters who joined the July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines stand-off and the Nov. 29, 2007 Manila Peninsula incident.

This, in effect, voided the amnesty extended to him by former president Benigno S. Aquino III through Proclamation 75 issued on November 2010. ■

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

Sison, Alejano... ❰❰ 1

are no talks between the CPP and Magdalo group of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV or the Liberal Party (LP).

“Duterte is lying and bluffing by claiming that there are recorded conversations provided by a foreign government,” Sison said in his statement on Tuesday.

“I know Duterte long enough as a congenital liar and an incorrigible political swindler,” he added.

The communist leader dared the Chief Excutive to release to the public the evidence he was saying.

“The experts will easily expose the fakery if he dares to present anything. This could be something like his invented foreign bank accounts of Trillanes,” he stressed.

But while clarifying that there is no discussion between him or the CPP with Trillanes’s group or the LP regarding the alleged ouster plot, Sison said “it is no secret that the CPP wishes to promote a broad united front of patriotic forces and encourage the broad masses of the people in their millions to rise up and oust Duterte, as [former President Ferdinand] Marcos and [former President Joseph “Erap”] Estrada were ousted in 1986 and 2001, respectively.”

The CPP founding chairman also noted the two ‘currents’ that will lead to his removal from office — his ‘deteriorating’ physical and mental health and his ‘abusive’ moves towards establishing a “fascist dictatorship under the pretext of Charter change (Cha-cha) to federalism.”

Magdalo Party-list Representative Gary Alejano also denied the President’s claim.

“The allegation of our involvement in the destabilization is purely a product of imagination and paranoia of the Duterte administration,” Alejano said also on Tuesday.

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ACE MORANDANTE / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

“This is only meant to divert the attention of the people from the present economic woes they themselves have failed to address. If there is someone destabilizing the present government, they should not look beyond themselves for they are the ones destabilizing it,” he added.

The lawmaker stressed that the Magdalo group is only performing its mandate as opposition members under the check and balance of the country’s democratic government to “strengthen democracy and not to destabilize it.”

Duterte in his speech upon his arrival from his official visits to Israel and Jordan on Saturday told the public to watch out for his critics’ alleged move to remove him from office, which he said will go into a “higher gear” next month.

The LP, through former Quezon City Representative Erin Tañada, the party’s Vice President for External Affairs earlier

denied Duterte’s claim in an interview with GMA News.

Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo also previously made it clear that the LP, the party she chairs, has no plot to oust the President. “[W]ala kaming koneksyon sa Communist Party of the Philippines, ni nag-usap, wala man lang kahit anong klaseng paguusap. Alam naman natin iyong parang role ng Communist Party of the Philippines dito… sa lipunan, sila nag-e-exist sila independently of any political party. Maraming paniniwala na hindi pareho (We have no connection or discussion with the Communist Party of the Philippines. We all know that the Communist Party of the Philippines in our society exists independent of any political party. There are a lot of beliefs which are not the same as us),” Robredo clarified in her weekly radio show, BISErbisong Leni, last Sunday. ■

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

13

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14

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS

Playlist of a DJ: A Ryan Orlanda original soundtrack

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer AS HE sits down in the radio booth, sets up the equipment, untangles and plugs in his headphones—all ears are on him as he starts to talk and play the first song to kick off the hour. If you have ever wondered, this is what it feels like to be on air but there’s more than that. Many of us have already heard the playlist of the world through radio, but not many of us have listened to the tracks a disc jockey (DJ) has on his playlist. Let’s all ignore the world for a little while, plug in our earphones, turn up the volume, and jam with Ryan Orlanda a.k.a “DJ Ryan Pepper” as he shares his playlist to the world.

Rewind: Life in the Philippines

Born and raised in Quezon City, Ryan and his three brothers were under the care of his parents. Loving the magnificent beauty of nature and the overwhelming perfection of it, Ryan’s father chose to stay in Bicol after he worked overseas.

“My father worked in Saudi Arabia before. He’s now staying in Bicol to take care of a land.

Both my father and I are nature lovers; my dad really wants to stay in province because he feels bored every time he is in the city. He wants to be in the province where he is close to nature and everything is fresh.”

While his father enjoys allnatural-scenery, his mother, on the other hand, loves doing voluntary work which includes community service at church.

“She really enjoys doing community service, doing feeding programs on the streets, sometimes they even go to jails and mental hospitals to feed people there. Aside from that, she’s also anchoring a radio program in the Philippines.”

Ryan is the second-born child in siblings of four. He shared that his oldest brother is also living in Canada and has his own physical therapy clinic, the third-born is a call center agent in Mandaluyong, and the youngest works as an information technology (IT) hardware

support engineer in Ortigas.

Ryan grew up in a family of music lovers. With his parents being singers and vocal trainers, Ryan’s voice was already honed at the age of six. He shared that his mother built up his confidence as she taught him to declaim as he eventually bested his contender who was from a family of “champions.”

His father, who is eager to make his son an enormously talented and skilled singer at a young age, forced him to sing songs of Tom Jones.

“I really had a hard time hitting low notes since I had a thin singing voice. During that time, I can only sing songs of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Debbie Gibson.”

Ryan wanted to enhance his singing skills so he exposed himself to different genres such as classical and ballad and made various artists his inspirations.

He also joined chorales to improve his classical voice and dabbled in wedding singing while attending high school.

Being much inclined to entertainment, singing is not the only thing Ryan can do.

He learned to play musical instruments such as drums, keyboard, and guitar. He continued honing his talent by attending piano lessons in Yamaha and took up classes for vocals. As someone who has an insatiable thirst for learning new skills, Ryan challenged himself to learn more about these instruments, even imagining himself playing drums as he produces sounds by tapping his pen.

“Nothing’s hard if you really have to work for it. There’s nothing you can’t do if you really want it. Work hard for it, you will achieve it. Before I don’t want to play a guitar, but when I saw my brother playing that instrument, I became interested and tried to learn how to play it. Until one day, I can finally strum the guitar just like my brother and can even play instruments without reading chords in the music sheet.”

As he grew older, Ryan said that living in the Philippines had brought joy to him as he can spend a lot of time with his family and friends to unwind.

If there are things he misses in the Philippines, it would be Christmas and summer. For Ryan, nothing beats the Filipinos’ unique way of celebrating Christmas. Filipinos can already feel the spirit of Christmas on the first day of ‘ber’ month with people starting to put colorful lights all over the place, putting up parols, and playing Christmas carols.

“Here in Canada, when you start putting up Christmas lights on September, people will laugh at you. They will only start playing Christmas songs on the first day of December, but right after Christmas, they will return to playing love songs in most radio stations.”

“Aside from Christmas, I also miss summer in the Philippines. Before I migrated here in Canada, my wife and I brought our family to Coron, Palawan. If I were to describe the place, it was a heaven-like island; everything about it was so relaxing.

We tried island hopping wherein we were able to see different kind of fish in every island that we visited.”

Pause: First step to success

Ryan first took BS Electronic Communication Engineering (ECE) in Novaliches, Quezon City as his first program. At some point in the past, during his third year in college, someone offered him a chance to be a DJ in Batangas. Not wasting any opportunity that knocked on his door, he did not reject the offer as he really wanted to give it a try. Ryan said he has always wanted to take Mass Communication in college as his dream job is to become a radio DJ someday.

While he was imagining himself as a disc jockey, his mother, however, had her own reasons for not letting her son do what he always wanted to pursue.

“I really wanted to do it but my mom did not allow me. I was really upset to the point that I stopped studying ECE and chose to work full-time in PhilHealth. After that, I studied again and took up Business Management in Makati and later took Public Administration in Pamantasan ng Lungsod www.canadianinquirer.net

Ryan Ordlanda.

ng Maynila. I graduated there in 2006.”

After graduation, he continued to work in the government.

But not being able to visualize his future in PhilHealth in the long run, even though he loves the company and his colleagues, Ryan had to say goodbye to his career since he wanted to walk on another career path.

Ryan did a part-time job in acting where he was given small roles in television shows and documentaries at the two biggest broadcast networks in the Philippines—GMA and ABSCBN. His acting career began when he was in high school and continued it in college as he joined theatre clubs. He admitted that he got himself involved in various things; from singing and playing musical instruments, Ryan made his way to dancing and acting career.

“My interest in acting started when I was just walking along ABC 5 and then someone approached me saying, ‘Can you act?’ and I answered, ‘Why?’ He told me if I want to be paid 500 pesos, I said, ‘Why not?’ since I have a background in acting. That’s where it all started.

I started doing small roles in some of their documentaries. I was also given a chance to act in television programs such as TV Patrol, Umagang Kay Ganda, and 700 Club Asia. I experienced staying in our shooting site for two days when I only had a few lines to say. Although it was a bit stressful, I had fun because you get to know more people and it was really nice seeing yourself in the screen.”

“I am beyond grateful and happy when I was given a chance to be the lead role in one of the reenactments of Kapuso

SUPPLIED

Mo, Jessica Soho wherein I played the role of the 14-million lotto winner who squanders his prize for only 3 months.”

Ryan did not just appear on national television but also in movie houses as he was given small roles in several local movies where he was able to work with famous celebrities today like Coco Martin and Piolo Pascual.

He also served as a talent caster and was interviewed along with prominent personalities like German Moreno, Jose Javier Reyes, Arsi Baltazar and Maryo J. Delos Reyes in a documentary about aspirant artists which aired in GMA 7.

Aside from acting, Ryan also did some part-time jobs as a host and a singer in various events.

“I started as wedding singer when I was in high school and they paid me 50 pesos that time. After that, I was able to sing with other professional musicians in our country. Every time I went to an event, I don’t only sing but I also observe the works of coordinators, videographers, host, and even catering staff.”

Ryan shared that every time there is an event, he handles most of the responsibilities until one day, he had an argument with his coordinator.

“They treat their musicians as if they can’t live without them; I pity our musicians whose life depends on playing instruments. The only thing they do for a living is to play musical instruments to support their family, adding the fact that most of them are old enough.”

“Come to think of it, from ❱❱ PAGE 20 Playlist of

15

Canada News Fighting sexual harassment helps women rise through ranks: PM

BY PAOLA LORIGGIO The Canadian Press TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says movements such as Me Too play a role in changing a workplace culture that often keeps women from top-level positions.

Speaking at a women’s summit in Toronto, the prime minister said sexual harassment is one of the barriers that can prevent women from rising through the ranks in business and in politics.

Asked what the country could do to increase the number of women in senior corporate jobs, Trudeau invoked his own experience in recruiting women to politics so that he could appoint a gender-balanced cabinet, saying it took years of outreach to build his team.

“Now the challenge is around retention, because politics is still a very difficult game… there’s still huge barriers and old boys’ approach in many ways that cause many challenges,” he said.

“Therefore how we’re changing the culture within the political world we’re in — including things like Me Too and sexual harassment — becomes really,

really important around making sure that women make it from that entry level to the top level positions, and more of them.”

Trudeau, a self-professed feminist who has publicly condemned inappropriate behaviour, himself has faced allegations of misconduct dating back to 2000, when he is accused of groping a female journalist.

The prime minister has insisted he did not “act inappropriately” towards the woman, whose story surfaced in an editorial from the Creston Valley Advance newspaper, but has acknowledged she may have a different perspective on the incident.

Critics have denounced Trudeau’s response, accusing him of essentially dismissing the woman’s account, and called on him to order an independent investigation, as he did when allegations of misconduct and harassment were made against then-cabinet minister Kent Hehr.

Trudeau and some members of his cabinet took part in the Women in the World Canada summit, a one-day event bringing together politicians, artists, journalists and other high-profile individuals.

The prime minister, who appeared at the summit for a second year in a row, joined the manager of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, in a conversation with broadcaster Katie Couric on how the global economy could benefit from tapping into the talents of women.

During the panel, he touted the pay equity and transparency legislations planned by his government, saying such measures are key to ensuring women can participate fully in the workforce.

“We’re moving forward with the kind of things that will eventually move the markers in a significant way,” he said.

“Over the past 40 years, in my lifetime, women entering the workforce has added a third to Canada’s GDP. We’re looking for where the next growth is coming from, that’s an obvious place, where proper empowerment of women entrepreneurs, of women in the workforce, is essential to create the kind of growth and benefits that we need in our society.”

Lagarde said it’s important to anticipate future barriers women may face, noting that women will be disproportionately affected by the rise in au-

JUSTIN TRUDEAU / FACEBOOK

tomation.

Trudeau said that while his government has made investments in artificial intelligence, it is equally important to prepare Canadians for that transition.

That includes getting more women into science, technology, engineering and math fields and into trades, and putting pressure on universities to increase gender parity in research chairs, he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, meanwhile, participated in a panel titled “taking on the tyrant” about the global rise of populism and “authoritarian strong men leaders.”

Maryam Monsef, the minister of the status of women, took part in a talk on tackling the stereotypes that hold women back in the private and public sectors.

Other speakers and panellists included bestselling author Gillian Flynn, actress Mira Sorvino and Pam Palmater, Mi’kmaq lawyer and professor.

On its website, the summit says it showcases “women of impact,” but also, increasingly, men who champion women and the issues affecting women. Its founder, Tina Brown, said Trudeau is making the advancement of women a priority in his government, his budget and his policies. ■

A decade later, Alberta project aims to both capture CO2 and boost oil output

BY DAN HEALING The Canadian Press CALGARY — Nearly a decade after winning millions of government dollars in support, a project with the seemingly contradictory goals of trapping greenhouse gas and boosting oil output is poised to bring a new dimension to the Alberta oilpatch.

In August, Enhance Energy

announced it has enlisted Wolf Midstream as a partner on its long-awaited Alberta Carbon Trunk Line project to capture CO2 from two Edmonton-area industrial sites and ship it 240 kilometres south to a legacy oilfield near Clive, Alta.

The wells are to be drilled and the line commissioned by late 2019.

But that’s just the starting point, according to the two private Calgary companies,

who say rising carbon taxes in Canada and producer demand for CO2 to coax oil from some of Alberta’s less productive oilfields could fuel a rapid expansion of the scheme.

It was a different world in 2009 when the project was promised $63 million from Ottawa under then-prime minister Stephen Harper and $495 million from Alberta under former Conservative premier Ed Stelmach. www.canadianinquirer.net

The money was to be spent on upgrading the proposed Sturgeon Refinery to provide a pure CO2 stream for the project, as well as building the pipeline and drilling the wells, with some set aside for operating costs.

Startup was expected in 2012, but delays in building the refinery and difficulty in raising capital after the oil price crunch of 2014 resulted in the project being put on hold.

“Government funding was important for this project because it was built to have a lot of excess capacity … a 40,000-tonne (per day) pipeline that is only going to initially carry 5,000 tonnes per day,” said Enhance CEO Kevin Jabusch in an interview.

“I don’t believe it’s as critical for the next incremental addition to the system.” ❱❱ PAGE 17 A decade

16

Canada News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

Ford fights back against ruling striking down council cutting plan

BY SHAWN JEFFORDS The Canadian Press

tion from critics, who said the size of Toronto’s city council was not the kind of issue the constitutional provision was designed to deal with.

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug The premier, whose government is Ford took the unprecedented step Mon- facing other legal challenges on controday of invoking a rarely used charter versial moves such as the scrapping of a provision known as the notwithstand- modernized sex-ed curriculum, said he ing clause to push ahead with his plan to “won’t be shy” about using the notwithslash the size of Toronto’s city council in standing clause — known as Section 33 the middle of an election, despite a court of the charter — again in the future. deeming the move unconstitutional.

“My concern is democracy,” the preFord said his Progressive Conserva- mier said. “What’s extraordinary is a tive government would also appeal the democratically elected government bejudgment, which concluded the prov- ing tried to be shut down by the courts ince’s council-cutting legislation was … that should be concerning to every hurriedly enacted and interfered with single person in Ontario.” the right to freedom of expression for Toronto Mayor John Tory called the both candidates and voters. use of the notwithstanding clause a “I believe the judge’s decision is deep- “gross overreach” of the province’s powly, deeply concerning,” Ford said hours ers. after the scathing court ruling. “The “To use an oversized hammer to result is unacceptable to the people of abridge the Charter of Rights and FreeOntario.” doms of our country, as if the matter of Ford’s use of the notwithstanding how many councillors we have for this clause, which gives provincial legislaelection is some sort of national emerJoel_CanadianInquirer_print.pdf 1 2017-10-05 3:45 PM tures or Parliament the ability to over- gency involving the overriding of fundaride certain portions of the charter for mental rights, is a mistake,” he said. a five-year term, drew swift condemnaTory said the city will oppose an ap-

Doug Ford.

plication expected from the province to stay the judge’s decision pending an appeal. The mayor also said city staff will advise councillors at a special meeting on Thursday how the municipality can proceed with the upcoming Oct. 22 election.

“The options if you look at the plain wording appear to be extremely limited,” he said. “It’s an uphill struggle but that doesn’t mean that something won’t be found or that some advice won’t be offered when we meet on Thursday.”

In a tweet Monday night, Tory said he had met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in Toronto for a women’s summit, to discuss his concerns about the province’s use of the notwithstanding clause.

“I appreciate his support for democratic principles, democratic institutions, and the importance of respecting cities,” Tory said on Twitter.

Tory also has promised that if he is reelected this fall he will try to take the issue to residents in a referendum.

In his ruling, Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba found the province crossed the line when it rushed to enact the legislation — known as Bill 5 — in July without any consultation.

“There is no evidence that any other options or approaches were considered or that any consultation ever took place,” Belobaba wrote. “It appears that Bill 5 was hurriedly enacted to take effect in the middle of the city’s election without much thought at all, more out of pique than principle. “ Bill 5 cuts the size of Toronto’s city council from 47 seats to 25, aligning them with federal and provincial ridings. Ford, a failed Toronto mayoral candidate and single-term city councillor, argued the move will improve decisionmaking and save $25 million.

His plan wasn’t mentioned during the province’s spring election campaign or in the throne speech. But the premier said Monday that he was elected on a mandate of making the province more

www.canadianinquirer.net

FORDNATION / FACEBOOK

efficient.

McMaster University political science professor Greg Flynn said Ford’s use of the notwithstanding clause is a “nuclear response” and will likely lead to more litigation.

“There has been limited use of the notwithstanding clause across Canada … and usually on significant issues,” he said. “This would seem to be relatively narrow but it would set a really dangerous precedent.”

Constitutional lawyer Asher Honickman said any attempt to fight the legislation ought to be rooted in the law rather than political rhetoric.

“The message that needs to be coming from the government is not that ‘judges can’t overturn laws or shouldn’t overturn laws,’” he said. “(It) has to be, ‘judges have a mandate to overturn unconstitutional laws, but that in this particular instance we disagree with the constitutional reasoning.’”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath called Ford’s latest move an “abuse of power.”

“This is an unprecedented move, literally suspending the Charter rights of Ontario people in order to plow ahead with his revenge plot against his political enemies,” she said. “A good leader doesn’t just ask if he has the right to do it, but whether it’s the right thing to do.”

Ontario’s Liberals called Ford’s decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause unreasonable and said it would lead to “chaos and constitutional mayhem” in Ontario.

Green party Leader Mike Schreiner said the premier’s move appeared motivated by an “apparent personal vendetta” against Toronto city council.

“This is a dangerous sign of what this government is willing to do,” he said.

Ford said he’d be recalling the legislature this week to introduce legislation that will invoke the notwithstanding clause. Advance voting in Toronto’s election starts on Oct. 10. ■ with files from Michelle McQuigge.

Canada News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Freeland to head back to

A decade...

Washington for high level

❰❰ 15

NAFTA negotiations

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Canada and the United States will restart highlevel talks Tuesday on the North American Free Trade Agreement as Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland returns to Washington in hope of making progress on stubborn differences.

Freeland and her counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left the bargaining table Friday without a deal following two weeks of what she has described as intense, but productive, negotiations.

The trip to Washington is expected to be short. Freeland is scheduled to attend the Liberals’ caucus retreat Wednesday in Saskatoon and it’s unclear whether she will return to the U.S. capital late in the week.

Ottawa and Washington are trying to reach an agreement that could be submitted to the U.S. Congress by month’s end.

A deal would see Canada join a preliminary trade agreement the Trump administration struck last month with Mexico.

The two sides have so far been unable to break an impasse over, among other issues, U.S. access to the Canadian dairy market, a cultural exemption for Canada and the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism.

A Canadian source with knowledge of the NAFTA discussions said an agreement is within reach — but they stressed that getting there will require flexibility from all sides. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

The renegotiation of the 24-year-old NAFTA, which also includes Mexico and is integral to the continent’s economy, has dragged on for 13 months.

With so much uncertainty, Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have regularly been dogged by questions about the fate of NAFTA. On Monday, Trudeau provided little information when asked by prominent U.S. journalist Katie Couric for an up-

date on the negotiations during an on-stage interview.

“What’s the latest with NAFTA?” Couric asked Trudeau during the Women in the World Canada summit in Toronto.

The audience laughed and so did the prime minister, who wiped his forehead. Couric continued: “I’m trying to make a little news here people.”

Trudeau replied, “Sorry to disappoint, but we continue to work hard and we are positively optimistic that we can get a win-win-win for all three countries.”

Freeland also appeared at the women’s summit Monday, while Lighthizer was overseas to meet with European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

Even with the top players away from the table, negotiators have continued their efforts to find common ground on a NAFTA 2.0.

After emerging from her meeting with Lighthizer on Friday, Freeland said the negotiations had entered a “very intense” phase, during which officials have been meeting “24-7.”

Freeland said she would meet with Lighthizer when negotiators found issues that needed to be elevated to the ministerial level.

She has declined to discuss specifics about the talks, noting she and Lighthizer have agreed to refrain from negotiating in public.

Trudeau has said Canada could be willing to be flexible on dairy. But Larry Kudlow, the director of U.S. President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council, suggested Friday that Canada isn’t offering enough.

Trump added a layer of urgency to the negotiations late last month after announcing his deal with Mexico. His announcement came with an ultimatum for Canada — join the U.S.-Mexico pact or suffer the consequences of punishing American tariffs on the auto sector.

He also warned that the U.S. and Mexico would move forward bilaterally without Canada. ■

17

Compressed CO2 mixes with oil trapped in spaces in the rock and increasing pressure so that crude flows more easily toward the recovery wells, said Jabusch. At the surface, the CO2 is separated, recompressed and sent back down an injection well.

In the oilfield Enhance initially intends to tap, about half of the original oil in place has been recovered.

“We think we can get another 15 to 20 per cent,” said Jabusch, adding the CO2 will be locked underground when all the recoverable oil has been produced and the well is capped and abandoned.

He said it won’t escape.

“We’re putting it in reservoirs that have held oil and gas for hundreds of millions of years, so we’ve got closed containers.”

The ACTL line is expected Alberta Carbon Trunk Line Project.

ENHANCE ENERGY / WEBSITE to attract customers building several more 2,000- to in overall CO2 emissions if one Heartland region and leads to 5,000-tonne-per-day enhanced assumes that the oil produced mature oilfields that are ripe oil recovery (EOR) projects displaces conventional crude, for CO2-powered enhanced oil over the next five to 10 years, with an even bigger net reduc- recovery.

Wolf CEO Gordon Salahor said. tion if it displaces oil from the “It starts to glue together EOR, the process of injecting oilsands, the study says. different projects that start to substances including hot and The political climate provin- create a bit of an industrial ecocold water, propane, natural cially and federally has shifted system around the use of CO2 gas and chemicals into under- away from carbon capture and for economic purposes,” said ground reservoirs to produce storage but the study’s conclu- Kenyon. more oil, is nothing new. sion that CO2 for EOR is a valid He believes the ACTL project About 20 per cent of non-oil- part of the climate change solu- will be more effective than Cansands crude in Western Canada tion is still relevant, said Dun- ada’s largest CO2 for EOR projis produced using EOR and that can Kenyon, Pembina’s pro- ect, Saskatchewan’s Boundary production is rising, up 83,000 gram director of responsible Dam 3, which he calls a “boonbarrels per day over the past de- fossil fuels. doggle” for its $1.5-billion cost cade, while non-EOR volumes Industries that are among and poor operational track rehave declined by about 116,000 the biggest generators of jobs cord since opening in 2014, as bpd, according to well as its sourca June report by ing of carbon Capital Markets dioxide from a analysts. coal-fired power The same reIt starts to glue together different plant. port dubs carbon projects that start to create a bit Enhance and dioxide for EOR of an industrial ecosystem around Wolf are counta “magic bullet” the use of CO2 for economic ing on more for the sector purposes. than oil to make given Canada’s a profit. The greenhouse gas trapped carbon reduction pledge dioxide qualiand Ottawa’s carfies for emission bon price that rises to $50 per and wealth in the Canadian credits in Alberta that can be tonne by 2022. economy — think energy, fer- purchased by large emitters to Using CO2 for EOR results in tilizer, chemicals, cement and offset the provincial carbon tax a half-tonne increase in down- steel — also produce the biggest — now set at $30 per tonne — stream emissions for every emissions, he said. Capturing they must pay. tonne of CO2 brought to the the CO2 and storing it underThe Alberta government EOR site, because of down- ground doesn’t provide the rev- reports that over 49 million stream consumption of the in- enue needed to make such pro- tonnes of emission offsets have creased oil production, accord- grams financially sustainable. been generated and sold since ing to a 2013 study produced by That’s why the ACTL is a its program began in 2007. It the Pembina Institute environ- “foundational project,” he says offset producers report mental think-tank. said, noting it runs through the getting prices of between $20 But there is a net reduction middle of Alberta’s Industrial and $26 per tonne. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

18

World News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

Trump to mark 17 years since Sept. 11 at Pennsylvania field

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is marking 17 years since the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil by visiting the Pennsylvania field that became a Sept. 11 memorial.

Trump and his wife, Melania, were participating in Tuesday’s sombre remembrance in Shanksville. It’s where hijackers crashed a California-bound commercial airliner on Sept.

11, 2001, after the 40 passengers and crew members learned what was happening and attempted to regain control of the aircraft. Everyone on board was killed.

Nearly 3,000 people died on 9-11 when other airplanes were flown into New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an attack planned by alQaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Nearly a decade later, bin Laden

was killed in May 2011 during a U.S. military operation ordered

by President Barack Obama.

Trump, a New York native making his first visit as president to the Shanksville site, will focus on honouring the many lives that were lost that day.

“Certainly the focus will be on remembering that horrific day and remembering the lives that were lost, and certainly honouring the individuals who were not only lost that day, but also put their lives of the line to help in that process,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

Trump observed the solemn anniversary for the first time as president last year. He and the first lady led a moment of silence at the White House accompanied by aides and administration officials at the exact time that hijackers flew the first of two airplanes into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.

The president also partici-

pated in the Pentagon’s Sept.

11 observance last year. VicePresident Mike Pence will represent the administration there on Tuesday.

Trump was in his Trump Tower penthouse — 4 miles (6.5 kilometres) from the World Trade Center — during the 2001 attacks. He has a mixed history with Sept. 11, often using the terrorist strikes to praise the response of New Yorkers to the attack but also making unsubstantiated claims about what he did and saw that day. He has also accused fellow Republican George W. Bush, who was president on Sept. 11, of failing to keep Americans safe.

Trump has said when talking about Muslims that “thousands of people were cheering” in Jersey City, New Jersey, situated across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan, as the towers collapsed. There is no evidence in news archives of mass celebrations there by Muslims.

www.canadianinquirer.net

DONALD J. TRUMP / FACEBOOK

Trump has also said he lost “hundreds of friends” in the attack on New York City. He has not provided any names but has

mentioned knowing a Roman Catholic priest who died while serving as a chaplain to the city fire department. ■

World News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

19

Bolton: International Criminal Court ‘is already dead to us’

BY MATTHEW LEE The Associated Press WASHINGTON — America’s long-running reluctant relationship with the International Criminal Court came to a crashing halt on Monday as decades of U.S. suspicions about the tribunal and its global jurisdiction spilled into open hostility, amid threats of sanctions if it investigates U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

National security adviser John Bolton denounced the legitimacy of The Hague-based court, which was created in 2002 to prosecute war crimes and crimes of humanity and genocide in areas where perpetrators might not otherwise face justice. It has 123 state parties that recognize its jurisdiction.

Bolton’s speech, on the eve of the anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, came as an ICC judge was expected to soon announce a decision on a request from prosecutors to formally open an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by Afghan national security forces, Taliban and Haqqani network militants, and U.S. forces and intelligence in Afghanistan since May 2003.

The accusations against U.S. personnel include torture and illegal imprisonment.

“The International Criminal Court unacceptably threatens American sovereignty and U.S. national security interests,” Bolton told the Federalist Society, a conservative Washington-based think-tank . Bolton also took aim at Palestinian efforts to press war crime charges against Israel for its policies in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza.

He said the U.S. would use “any means necessary” to protect Americans and citizens of allied countries, like Israel, “from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court.”

The White House said that to the extent permitted by U.S. law, the Trump administration would ban ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the United States, sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system and prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system.

“We will not co-operate with the ICC,” Bolton said, adding that “for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.”

It was an extraordinary rebuke decried by human rights groups who complained it was another Trump administration rollback of U.S. leadership in demanding accountability for gross abuses.

“Any U.S. action to scuttle ICC inquiries on Afghanistan and Palestine would demonstrate that the administration was more concerned with coddling serial rights abusers — and deflecting scrutiny of U.S. conduct in Afghanistan — than supporting impartial justice,” said Human Rights Watch.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents several people who claim they were detained and tortured in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2008 and could be victims or witnesses in any ICC prosecution, said Bolton’s threats were “straight out of an authoritarian playbook.”

“This misguided and harmful policy will only further isolate the United States from its closest allies and give solace to war criminals and authoritarian regimes seeking to evade international accountability,” the ACLU said.

The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since its creation, the court has filed charges against dozens of suspects including former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed by rebels before he could be arrested, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of charges including genocide in Darfur. Al-Bashir remains at large, as does Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who was among the first rebels charged by the court in 2005. The court has convicted just eight defendants.

The court has been hobbled by the refusal of the U.S., Russia, China and other major nations to join. Others have quit: Burundi and the Philippines, whose departure, announced earlier this year, takes effect next March.

The Clinton administration in 2000 signed the Rome Statute that created the ICC but had serious reservations about the scope of the court’s jurisdic-

tion and never submitted it for ratification to the Senate, where there was broad bipartisan opposition to what lawmakers saw as a threat to U.S. sovereignty.

When George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration promoted and passed the American Service Members Protection Act, which sought to immunize U.S. troops from potential prosecution by the ICC. In 2002, Bolton, then a State Department official, travelled to New York to ceremonially “unsign” the Rome Statute at the United Nations.

Bush’s first administration then embarked on a diplomatic drive to get countries who were members of the ICC to sign socalled Article 98 agreements that would bar those nations from prosecuting Americans before the court under penalty of sanctions. The administration was largely successful in its effort, getting more than 100 countries to sign the agreements. Some of those, however, have not been formally ratified.

In Bush’s second term, the U.S. attitude toward the ICC shifted slightly as the world looked on in horror at genocide being committed in Sudan’s western Darfur region. The administration did not oppose and offered limited assistance to an ICC investigation in Darfur.

The Obama administration expanded that co-operation, offering additional support to the ICC as it investigated the then-Uganda-based Lord’s Resistance Army and its top leadership, including Kony.

On Monday, Bolton effectively turned Washington’s back on the court, accusing it of corruption and inefficiency. Above all, he took aim at the court’s view that citizens of nonmember states are subject to its jurisdiction.

“The ICC is an unprecedented effort to vest power in a supranational body without the consent of either nation-states or the individuals over which it purports to exercise jurisdiction,” Bolton said. “It certainly has no consent whatsoever from the United States.” ■ Associated Press writer Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report. www.canadianinquirer.net

People of Addis Ababa welcoming Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

HAILU WUDINEH TSEGAYE / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Ethiopian, Eritrean leaders mark new year at their border

BY ELIAS MESERET The Associated Press ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Celebrating their dramatic diplomatic thaw, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea on Tuesday marked the Ethiopian new year at a border where a bloody war and ensuing tensions had divided them for decades.

Ethiopia’s reformist new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and longtime Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki were visiting the Bure Front along with members of their militaries, Abiy’s chief of staff Fitsum Arega said in a Twitter post.

Photos posted by Arega showed Abiy in camouflage and sunglasses walking alongside Isaias in olive drab.

The former bitter rivals have made a dramatic reconciliation since Abiy weeks after taking office in April announced that Ethiopia would fully embrace a peace deal that ended a 19982000 border war. At the time, he announced that the countries would celebrate the Ethiopian new year together: “We want our brothers and sisters to come here and visit us as soon as possible.”

Embassies have reopened, telephone lines have been restored and commercial flights between the capitals have re-

sumed. Landlocked Ethiopia, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, and Eritrea, one of the world’s most closed-off nations, also plan development co-operation around Eritrea’s Red Sea ports in particular.

The border, however, has yet to open to everyday traffic though reports on social media on Monday indicated that mine-clearing activities were underway in one area.

Abiy on Monday told a new year’s eve concert crowd of thousands in the capital, Addis Ababa, that “as of today, Ethiopian and Eritrean people will prosper together and march in unison. … The last five months have brought hope and reconciliation.”

The Ethiopian new year has roots in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and is related to the Julian calendar. Eritrea has used the Gregorian calendar since it gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.

The reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been warmly welcomed by the international community and has led to a series of further thaws in the fragile Horn of Africa region, with Eritrea resuming diplomatic ties with both turbulent Somalia and the small but strategic port and military nation of Djibouti. ■

20

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

Playlist of... ❰❰ 14

Quezon City, your coordinator will send you a message saying that you have to set-up in Batangas and you don’t have any company service to fetch you. Imagine, you have to bring keyboard, guitars, cellos, and other musical instruments and then you will go to that place on your own and be paid for only P3,000? It’s really hard, so what I did was I fetched each of them since I have my own car.”

He also recalled the time when he had a squabble with one of their clients where the list of songs, which was supposed to be given to the musicians before the event, was just handed out to them on that very day.

“We’re not prepared; we did not practice the songs they just gave during the event. That’s when I told myself ‘This is enough, I’ll create my own company.’”

From all the experiences and challenges that he encountered as he walks through his chosen career path, Ryan decided to put up a business—The R String Ensemble.

In R String Ensemble, Ryan does not only handle wedding singers and musicians, but also events coordinators. Currently, they continuously receive performance offers on special musical concerts and community events.

Play: Across the pond

Just eleven months after he tied the knot, Ryan bravely packed his life in a travel bag, bought a plane ticket, and followed his wife to Canada.

When he first stepped in the Great White North in November 14, 2012, the first thing he did was capture sceneries in Toronto. It fed his soul to spend time walking along the streets, with a camera on hand. Ryan started to look for beauty and noticed things he hadn’t noticed before. His awareness also expanded as he took a closer look at patterns and textures, big-picture views, landscape, abstracts, and even dimension from many angles in downtown.

“I explored everything and enjoyed nature because once you started working, you will never appreciate the beauty of Canada.”

While capturing and admiring the dazzling beauty of Canada, Ryan said he is ready to

of it.”

Ryan said he is still a fan of teleseryes, he passed down Filipino manners to his children such as “po” and “opo.”

Since Ryan is someone who has a deep affection for Original Pinoy Music (OPM) and who’s very proud of his mother tongue, he became a radio DJ in PinoyRadio Toronto.

Forward: The Radio DJ

Ryan at his work.

batten down the hatches as he now lives in a foreign state that he knows little of. He admitted that it was hard for him to find a job that aligned with his professional background since they do not accept someone who does not have any experience working in Canada. Due to this, Ryan decided to start from the bottom.

“I started working as maintenance in McDonald’s. One year had passed, I feel like I was overused since I was the only one doing all the work. There’s nothing inside the store that I did not touch or swept. I had to sweep the entire floor, clean the playground inside the McDonald’s, and plow snow outside the fast food chain.”

Ryan’s hard work suddenly paid off when he was immediately promoted to night branch manager.

“When I was still in maintenance before, we had a conference. The owner of the eight franchise branches of McDonald’s went up to the stage and suddenly asked me, ‘Yo, come up on stage.’ From there, he acknowledged my hard work in front of hundreds of employees and said being in the business for 25 years, it was his first time to see a maintenance worker that’s very diligent and works neatly.”

While he may have faced difficulties in his first job, Ryan was able to conquer it all. Due to his perseverance and hard work, Ryan and his family continue to survive living in Canada.

Unlike other immigrants who had to leave their children in

SUPPLIED

their home country for them to work in another state, Ryan was fortunate enough to have been able to migrate and be with his own family.

“The best thing living here in Canada is that I have my family here with me. If you go alone here, you might feel depressed or homesick. Many migrants don’t survive living in Canada because it’s very depressing.

Good thing I have my family with me. Aside from that, I can also enjoy a healthy lifestyle in Canada; when you go out of your house you can relax, you can jog and even go fishing.”

“Above all, the best thing here in Canada is that I can witness my kids grow up with a Filipino heart. They can still understand and speak ‘Tagalog’; their love and respect for their parents are still there.”

Flying to another country changed his life a lot — everything went back to zero. He studied again taking Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM). Ryan said that it’s better to go back to school and earn a diploma in Canada as the competition there gets even tighter.

Comparing his life when he was still in the Philippines, Ryan said he can do anything he wished to do, however in Canada, every second is important and that one should do something beneficial.

While crossing to the other side of the world, Ryan said that leaving his motherland does not mean that he is abandoning his Filipino identity.

“Nothing has changed. We are still Filipinos and I’m proud www.canadianinquirer.net

To make changes in his life was his reason for migrating to Canada. Who would have thought that one day, his dream of becoming a radio DJ will come true? Ryan never thought that flying to the Great White North will serve as his ticket to fame.

Ryan became known as “DJ Ryan Pepper” in PinoyRadio after its owner offered him to be part of their team during the concert of Side A band in Canada where he performed as the opening act. Every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Ryan serves as the ‘controller’ inside the radio booth where he is tasked to handle the shows as well as manage all the broadcasting equipment. Once the clock hits 1 p.m., Ryan will take over the seat of the host as he kicks off his program called PinoyRadio Centre Stage — a segment in which he features talented Filipino singers and artists, making them sing live on air.

Fulfilling his dreams and doing what he loves, Ryan never felt like he is performing work but simply enjoying his passion in life.

“I love music, I love to sing.

For me, if there’s no music I can’t live because that’s the way I can communicate. I can share my message effectively through singing rather than speaking.”

Although he enjoys his work, Ryan admitted that his job requires him to multitask. If you think his only responsibility is to sit in a booth with his feet up, play music and do some talking — then you should rethink carefully about it. Managing and hosting programs for nine hours is not easy as it seems to be.

As a known singer in his community who was able to perform as a front act in several concerts of well-known artists such as David Pomeranz, Joey Albert, and Jose Marie Chan, among others, Ryan shares his talent and knowledge in singing

to kids, teens, and even adults in Canada and in the Philippines as a vocal coach.

To gain more experience outside the entertainment universe, Ryan also helped his older brother in his clinic as a physical therapist assistant.

Looking into the future, Ryan sees himself having a business in the Philippines. Although he loves and enjoys his career as DJ, Ryan’s thirst for new adventure can’t be quenched. In the future, he hopes to enter the food industry with friends to offer variety to Filipino foodies.

For someone who has already achieved his dream to connect with people through the radio, Ryan said being successful does not mean living in a welldeveloped country or having a higher job position, but to have a simple and happy family.

“They say that if you have male and female children, you are already a millionaire and I felt that. That’s why my wife and I raised a family full of love and God fearing.”

Repeat: Life Pro Tips by DJ Ryan Pepper

As many listeners seek for life tips from a DJ, Ryan shares a piece of advice to the world: “Don’t stop reaching your dreams because once you stop, you’ll stay from where you are right now and you’ll be afraid to get out of the box to take another opportunity. There are a lot of opportunities; don’t be afraid to grab it as it knocks on your door only once.”

For his fellow Filipino-Canadians and to those who are planning to move to Canada, Ryan said that they must learn to overcome depression and sadness especially if you are the only one migrating. Think of your family’s future and do your best to laugh in a sea of sadness.

“When you go here in Canada, you have to fight depression; you came here to give brighter future for your family.

You have to endure loneliness because that will only put you in danger. It is okay for you to cry because once you bottle up your feelings, you will erupt like a volcano. That’s how severe depression is here in Canada especially when you don’t have someone to talk to. So don’t be depressed; just enjoy living in one of the best countries in the world.” ■

World News

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

21

Exit poll projects mixed voter message in Sweden election

BY PIETRO DECRISTOFARO AND JAN OLSEN The Associated Press STOCKHOLM — An exit poll indicated that Sweden’s first general election since the Scandinavian country accepted a significant number of asylumseekers was likely to have the centre-left party governing now as its winner, but an antiimmigrant party with white supremacist roots placing second in balloting Sunday.

Public broadcaster SVT said immediately after polls closed that its exit poll indicated the ruling Social Democrats would remain Sweden’s largest party, but making its worst-ever showing with 26.2 per cent of the vote.

The exit poll projected the far-right Sweden Democrats would get 19.2 per cent of Sunday’s vote after Swedes had the opportunity to make their views on immigration known at polling places.

The Swedish government in 2015 allowed 163,000 migrants

into the country with a population of 10 million. The number was far lower than the asylumseekers Germany accepted that year, but the highest per capita of any European nation.

Ahead of the election, promising prospects for the Sweden Democrats had many Swedes worried about an erosion of the humanitarian values that have long been a foundation of their country’s identity.

“This election is a referendum about our welfare,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said.

“It’s also about decency, about a decent democracy … and not letting the Sweden Democrats, an extremist party, a racist party, get any influence in the government.”

About 7.5 million voters were eligible to choose the next members of the 349-seat Riksdag, or parliament. About 6,300 candidates sought the fouryear terms. It was unlikely any single party would secure a majority of 175 seats.

The latest opinion poll conducted by pollster Novus for public broadcaster SVT sug-

Jimmie Åkesson.

NEWS ORESUND / FLICKR, CC BY 2.0

gested Friday that Lofven’s ruling Social Democrats would lose a substantial number of seats, but emerge with about one-fourth of the vote — the most support predicted for any party. The party has dominated Swedish politics in the postWorld War II era.

The Sweden Democrats — led by Jimmie Akesson — has worked to soften its neo-Nazi image while helping to break down longstanding taboos on what Swedes could say openly about immigration and integration without being shunned as racists.

During a heated debate among party leaders Friday, Akesson caused a stir by blaming migrants for the difficulties they often have in finding employment and not adjusting to Sweden.

The broadcaster that aired the televised debate, SVT, afterward called his remarks degrading and against the democratic mandate of public broadcasting.

Akesson responded that state television shouldn’t take sides, and later announced that he wouldn’t take part in any of SVT’s election programs Sunday.

At the party’s rally on Saturday, he strongly criticized Lofven’s government for “prioritizing” the cause of immigrants over the needs of citizens.

“This government we have had now. they have prioritised, during these four years, asylum-seekers,” Akesson said, giving an exhaustive list of things he says the government has failed to do for Swedish society because of migrants. ■

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22

World News

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

SKorea’s Moon calls for ‘bold decisions’ ahead of Kim summit

BY HYUNG-JIN KIM The Associated Press

Steve Biegun, the new U.S. special envoy on North Korea, stressed the need to maintain nuclear diplomacy.

“We have some hard work to do. But SEOUL, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF — we also have tremendous opportunity South Korea’s president on Tuesday created by President Trump, by Presiurged both North Korea and the United dent Moon and by Chairman Kim. We States to “make bold decisions” to break need to do everything we can to make a deepening diplomatic impasse over the most of this moment of opportunithe North’s nuclear ambitions, saying ty,” Biegun said at the start of his meethe’ll continue to act as mediator. ing with South Korean nuclear envoy President Moon Jae-in’s comments Lee Do-hoon. come days before he’s to meet with South Korean officials said Kim reNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un for cently told them that he remains comthe third time this year to discuss how mitted to a nuclear-free Korean Peninto achieve denuclearization and peace sula and said he still has faith in Trump. on the Korean Peninsula. Moon said the The White House said Monday that summit must lead to another “big step” Trump received a request from Kim toward denuclearization. to schedule a second meeting between The talks come at a crucial moment in them to follow up on their June summit the overall diplomacy, which is current- and that planning is in motion to make ly stuck amid recriminations between it happen.

Washington and South Korea’s ForPyongyang on how eign Ministry said in to follow through on a statement Tuesday vows made at a sumthat it supports a posmit in June between sible second TrumpKim and President North Korea Kim summit that it Donald Trump to rid must carry hopes would help esthe North of its nuout its nuclear tablish denuclearizaclear weapons. dismantling tion and peace on the During a Cabinet and the peninsula. meeting Tuesday, United States But it’s unclear Moon said Kim and must take a whether deadlocked Trump must think corresponding nuclear diplomacy broadly and “make step. will be resolved anybold decisions” to time soon. During his move the diplomaearlier summits with cy forward and get Trump and Moon, North Korea to disKim made vague dismantle its nuclear armament pledges arsenal. without revealing a detailed road map or “North Korea must carry out its nu- timetable for his denuclearization proclear dismantling and the United States cess. must take a corresponding step,” Moon The Koreas will hold military talks on said. “Under such a process, the two Thursday and are pushing to open a liaicountries must pull back their deep- son office at a North Korean border city rooted mutual distrust caused by their on Friday, Seoul officials said, as part of 70 years of hostile relations.” co-operation efforts between the rivals North Korea has dismantled its nu- ahead of the summit. clear and rocket engine testing sites, but Thursday’s military talks will deal U.S. officials have demanded more seri- with issues to ease tensions along their ous steps. Kim has reportedly said that border, such as disarming a jointly conhis efforts must be reciprocated by cor- trolled area at the shared border vilresponding U.S. measures such as a joint lage of Panmunjom, removing frontdeclaration to end the 1950-53 Korean line guard posts and conducting joint War. searches for soldiers missing from the Moon said South Korea has no choice Korean War, according to South Korea’s but to mediate between the two coun- Defence Ministry. tries to promote dialogue, saying both When Kim met South Korean envoys Trump and Kim have asked him to play last week, the sides agreed to try to find such a role. He wants “genuine talks” ways to build up mutual trust and prebetween Washington and Pyongyang to vent armed clashes between their miliresume soon. taries, according to South Korean offiDuring a visit to Seoul on Tuesday, cials. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

23

Entertainment Kelsey Merritt to walk in Victoria’s Secret catwalk

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer FILIPINO-AMERICAN Kelsey Merritt sets a new milestone for Filipinas in the world of high fashion as she announced that she will be walking with international supermodels at the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.

Kelsey broke the good news to the public in an Instagram post on Friday, September 7.

“WE DID IT PHILIPPINES!!!!!! What an honor it is to be the first Filipino to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2018!!! Ahhhhhh I can’t believe this!!” Kelsey, who was

over the moon, wrote as she posted a photo of herself in tears while holding a bouquet of flowers.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show brings together some of the top fashion models every year to walk for the lingerie brand. Among those supermodels who have been featured in the sparkling catwalk are Tyra Banks, Gisele Bündchen, Miranda Kerr, Adriana Lima, and Heidi Klum.

On her post, Kelsey went on and thanked her colleagues for making her dreams come true and for being there for her throughout her journey of proving to the world that she deserves wings in the iconic runway.

“But most of all thank you to all my followers you guys are my rock!!! I couldn’t have done this without you guys. Thank you for your never-ending support I LOVE Y’ALL para sainyo to (this is all for you)!!!” she said.

Kelsey, an alumna of Ateneo de Manila University, has been dreaming of being able to work with Victoria’s Secret.

In her tweet last July 2017, the model said, “Mark this tweet. Makakapag VS din ako balang araw (I will be a Victoria Secret model someday).”

A year later, Kelsey’s wish was granted as she posed for the brand’s sportswear line, Victoria Sport.

Kelsey Merritt.

@KELSEYMERRITT / INSTAGRAM

“Remember this tweet?

Well… I’m shooting with Victoria’s Secret next week!!!!! I cannot contain my happiness.

All for You!!!!” Kelsey tweeted last May 2018, referring to her

tweet in July.

Since then, the FilipinoAmerican model continues to slay photoshoots of the renowned fashion brand’s promotional materials. ■

Barry Jenkins premieres ‘Beale Street’ to tears and applause

BY JAKE COYLE The Associated Press TORONTO — Of the many who were moved by Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation “If Beale Street Could Talk,” none was more shaken than the actor Brian Tyree Henry. “Get it together, Brian,” he told himself on the stage of the Princess of Wales Theatre moments after the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival “Black love is beautiful,” he said, adding an expletive, to loud applause. “I don’t think I have ever seen it like that. Barry, you have no idea how badly we needed and yearned for this.”

Jenkins’ follow-up to his best picture winning “Moonlight” was arguably the most anticipated film at Toronto. It’s the first big-screen adaptation of any novel by Baldwin and just the third film by 38-year-old filmmaker who was catapulted to larger renown by the astonishing “Moonlight,” a low-budget independent film that took

centre stage at last year’s Academy Awards.

Jenkins wrote the script to “If Beale Street Could Talk” the same time he scripted the adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” He did so without the rights to the novel, but later convinced the Baldwin estate to let him make the movie.

“I honestly feel that Mr. Baldwin chose all of us,” said Colman Domingo, an actor in the film. “I believe that Mr. Baldwin chose Mr. Jenkins.

As I’ve gotten to know these people, we know that Baldwin’s words live in us — all that soaring, searing language, all that rage, all that passion, all that love that only Baldwin can write. Baldwin is the Shakespeare of our times.”

Baldwin’s 1974 novel is about two young lovers in Harlem, Tish (newcomer Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), whose life together, just as it’s starting, is shattered by a racist police officer and a false accusation of rape. The film, bathed in the warm cinematography

Barry Jenkins.

of James Laxton and the melancholy Miles Davis “Kind of Blue”-inspired horns of composer Nicholas Britell (both of whom worked on “Moonlight,” too), radiates with the love between two and the sorrow of their unjust but not uncommon circumstance.

“We like to say there’s a Beale Street in every city,” said Jenkins before the screening. “There’s probably a Beale Street on the moon.” www.canadianinquirer.net

YANCY9 / FLICKR, CC BY 2.0

The moon reference was unwittingly ironic; Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong drama “First Man” had its first screening at Toronto right before the premiere of “Beale Street” — a quirky bit of scheduling that put back-to-back the famously intertwined Oscar favourites of 2017. (Chazelle directed “La La Land,” which was mistakenly announced as the best picture Oscar winner before Jenkins’ “Moonlight” was revealed as

the actual winner.)

But while “Beale Street” was quickly added to this year’s lists of awards contenders, its premiere was all about the beauty and hardship of being black in America. Jenkins recalled, in the making of the film, channeling an experience he had in the midst of the post-Oscars “Moonlight” celebrations.

When leaving the Governors Awards, the film academy’s after-party, and heading to a celebration for Justin Simien’s “Dear White People” (Jenkins directed an episode of the series), he overheard his driver refer to him with the n-word.

“If it can happen to me with someone who’s driving me, a person in power, what do you think happens to some dude working a shift at the factory, or some dude walking down the block?” said Jenkins. “I felt this at the height of my public awareness, whatever. If it can happen to me, then it can happen to anyone and we’ve got to tell these damn stories.”

“If Beale Street Could Talk” will be released by Annapurna Pictures on November 30. ■

24

Entertainment

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

RHED BUSTAMANTE / FACEBOOK

Paul McCartney plays concert at New York’s Grand Central

BY JAKE COYLE The Associated Press

Dimming light: Rhed Bustamante’s career

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer

annoying and irritating viewers with her sharp tongue and signature eye-roll as the antagonist Liza in the afternoon drama “Flor de Liza.”

Rhed also got awards in her chilling performance in the award-winning Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) horror entry “Seklusyon” where she played the role of an ‘angel’ that healed people and performed miracles, but is actually the devil incarnate.

However, as blinding as this light of opportunities, Rhed’s career also blindingly sunk to the darkness – away from the

the rent. As the youngest of three, she and the Bustamante family are relying on the head of the family, but Rhed’s father has an illness that prohibits CELEBRITIES CAN be comhim to work. pared to the twinkling stars in But her father is not the only the blanket of the dark sky at one who is sickly in the family, night. Some are small (or scias Rhed, herself, has incontientifically speaking, farther), nentia pigmenti. It is a skin dissome are bright, some are dim ease that affects even the hair and there are different colors. and the teeth.

Not all stars are noticeable. Not “Mahirap po isipin kasi gaall are seen. Not all enlighten nun po talaga ‘yung buhay po the night. tapos minsan po di ko na rin po Unfortunately, the world to alam kung anong gagawin po stardom is not all about the para makatulong sa pamilya flashing lights, the screaming ko po (It is difficult to face but fans, and the this is what life cues of the direcis. Sometimes, I tor. The path to also do not know fame is embedwhat I can do to ded with the unSometimes, I also do not know help my family),” certainty of staywhat I can do to help my family. she said. ing in it.

Rhed still This was probhopes to once ably one of the again step back earliest lessons to the world of that the 11-year old Rhed Busta- celebrity life. the celebrities, not for fame, mante learned.

In a recent episode of Rated but for her family. However, she Six years ago, Rhed called K, the team featured Rhed’s said that she has the resilience “Baby Rhed” first shone in “It’s 180-degree-return to her life of to face this life all over again, Showtime” in the show’s Bida poverty. as she grew up from this before Kapamilya segment – where “Akala ko po kung mag-a-ar- stardom. she was invited to be part of tista ka, maraming mag-o-offer If there was one thing that the family. She soon vanished sa’yo, pero ‘di po pala ganun. ‘Di she learned from all these exfrom the show a few months af- po pala ganun kadali maging periences, it is that “‘Wag po ter, but was seen on television artista po (I thought when you tayong mag-expect kasi po mascreens and big screens in the are a celebrity, a lot will give you sakit po siya kapag hindi nangshoes of different characters. offers, but it is not like that. It is yari (Let us not expect because She starred in the Kapamilya not easy to be a star),” the 11- it hurts if what we expect does show “Galema” and “It’s Show- year old told Rated K. not happen),” Rhed uttered in time” host Vice Ganda’s “Girl, Rhed, who is presently con- the same interview.

Boy, Bakla, Tomboy” and “Pray- tinuing her studies, said that For now, as she faces these beyt Benjamin.” Rhed also she still wishes to be back in the obstacles in her early years, touched the horror scene in her limelight to help her family.

Rhed said that praying to the role in “Maria Leonora Teresa.”

She revealed that they are Lord is one of things that are The opportunities were more looking for a new place to stay important to her. ■ dazzling for Rhed as she started in as they are unable to pay for www.canadianinquirer.net

NEW YORK — Commuters with tickets to ride out of New York’s Grand Central Station heard a special serenade on Friday evening, with Paul McCartney taking over a corner of the majestic hub for a concert.

Only invited guests including Jon Bon Jovi, Meryl Streep, Amy Schumer, Kate Moss and Steve Buscemi were let behind black curtains to see the stage, but everyone could hear a 24song set that spanned more than 50 years of music.

It was a stunt to promote a new album called “Egypt Station.” McCartney said he wondered “what’s the coolest station we could think of?” and settled on the Manhattan landmark. The band set up under a chandelier and in front of a giant clock, just off the 42nd Street entrance.

Despite grey streaks in his famous mop top, the 76-year-old former Beatle was in fighting trim.

He performed familiar hits like “Let it Be,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Lady Madonna.” He also dug deeper into his songbook for “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Hi Hi Hi” and “1985.”

While he played three songs from his new album, McCartney did more from the 50-yearold White Album. The sweaty, dancing crowd hardly minded the trip back in time.

McCartney may be the world’s most famous musician, but he’s also human. Seemingly

nervous as he stood on a riser in the middle of the audience with an acoustic guitar for one song, he flubbed the words to “Blackbird” not once but twice, starting over both times. Surrounding fans, famous and nonfamous, knew all the lyrics and coaxed him on.

“I know this song,” he said in frustration. “I wrote it!”

Before singing the Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do,” McCartney told of his nerves singing the chorus and that he can still hear it in his voice when he hears the recording.

Flash forward a half century, and he talked about a writing session with Kanye West. After a few days in the studio, he wasn’t sure they even had a song. A few months later, West sent him a copy of “4, 5 Seconds” with Rihanna on lead vocals.

“I rang him up and asked, ‘am I on this song?”‘ McCartney said, and West said it included his guitar. At Grand Central, McCartney reclaimed it.

Some members of the Beatles’ extended family were on hand. Sean Lennon, the son of McCartney’s late partner, was in the audience. So was McCartney’s wife, Nancy Shevell, and he dedicated the song “My Valentine” to her. Giles Martin, the son of longtime Beatles producer George Martin, was handling the concert’s sound.

For a new song about bullying, McCartney invited two women from the audience to tell their stories about being treated poorly. “I got made fun of for being a Beatles fan,” one of them said.

That earned her a Beatle hug.■

@PAULMCCARTNEY / INSTAGRAM

Entertainment

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

25

Paulo Avelino sets Twitter on fire with #AskGoyo

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer ALL IT takes is this certain man and a simple hashtag to have girls (and guys?) swooning, netizens laughing, and others wondering.

Twitterverse is shookt for Paulo Avelino, the very man known for keeping his lips sealed on a lot of occasions set the world of Twitter on fire with rapid fingers competing for his attention when he tweeted, “#AskGoyo anyone?”

It is no secret that Paulo, filling in the shoes of historical hero General Gregorio “Goyo” del Pilar was promoting his film “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral.” The thing was to get people talking… but how? Readying his keyboard (or was it the virtual keypad of a smartphone?), the actor used Twitter to invite netizens to ask him any question.

For a simple online user who spends their day scrolling and tapping their phone screens to be noticed by a star (and mind you, an eye candy slash heartthrob born to capture people’s hearts) like Paulo would be an ecstatic experience. Netizens were quick to ride on this trend, having their own questions matched by Paulo’s shocking (for a lot) and fascinating wit.

At first, the questions that Paulo entertained were mostly about his film – things like his favorite line, character, scene, or anything that was etched in his memory. Some were really random too like his skincare routine, some request for shoutouts, and some advice. While these may seem like general questions, some of his answers turned playful which kept the fire burning.

Perhaps the internet is not meant to let you hear the voice of users through text, but one could swear that a scream was heard when Paulo answered Twitter user @faithjobli_ who asked, “Ano ‘yung naging inspirasyon mo para gampanan yung role na bilang si (What was your inspiration in playing the role of ) Gregorio Del Pilar?”

Three words, ladies and gentlemen.

“Ikaw. Tanging ikaw (You. Only you),” Paulo replied.

Perhaps fueled by this, a lot more sent in their own kilig-inducing questions, hoping for a similar reaction. @MyungieIsLove requested the heneral to accompany her in watching the film. “Sagot ko na lahat. Kahit ‘di ka na magsalita, tatabi ka lang sa’kin habang nanonood. Pwede ba ‘yon? (I will pay for everything. You do not have to talk, you will just sit beside me while watching. Is that possible?)” she tweeted.

Perhaps another overjoyed scream was heard in the land of the Philippines

when Paulo replied with, “Kahit mayholding hands pa basta walang picture (We can hold hands if you want as long as there are no pictures).”

Remember when princes riding white horses was still a childhood dream? Perhaps Paulo just granted Twitter user @ Enuuuuuh’s imagination a signifant boost when he responded to her question if he could watch with her.

“Papunta ako ng Maynila sa Sabado, pwede mo ba akong samahan manood ng (I will go to Manila on Saturday, would you watch) Goyo (with me)?” she asked.

“Saan sa Maynila? Sabihan mo agad sakin para ma tantsya ko travel time sakay ‘yung kabayo ko. Traffic pa naman (Where in Manila? Tell me immediately so I can estimate my travel time riding my horse. Especially with the traffic),” the heneral replied.

Paulo even knew how to mend a broken heart, answering @jpsdy_ when she asked him how to move on with “Ako ang papalit sa kanya (I will replace him).”

Probably playing with the reputation of Goyo as a “playboy of Philippine history,” Paulo played it real smooth. @born2fries was drowning in jealousy when she tweeted, “unfollow muna kita.

Follow na lang ulit kita later kapag tapos ka na sa kapapansin sa mga girls. Nakakaselos talaga (I will unfollow you for now. I will follow you again later when you are done getting attention from girls. I really feel jealous).”

This green-eyed monster was most likely tamed when the heneral replied with, “Sorry na. Alam mo namang ikaw lang talaga eh (Sorry. You know that you are the only one anyway).”

Of course, some girls from Philippine Canadian Inquirer accepted the challenge of trying to get the General Goyo’s attention.

Layout artist @colleenesing tweeted, “Pwede ba kita ipakilala sa mama ko after natin manood ng Goyo (May I introduce you to mom after we watch Goyo)?”

She was supported by her co-workers, with yours truly @maliitnababae tweeting, “Notice us Goyo-senpai.”

Sadly, we got no response from the really-busy-typing Goyo, who was most likely entertaining thousands of entries.

It was fun to try though.

More than the hearts that Paulo bombarded, he also sneaked in his own humor in answering other questions. Several times after being asked for his reaction and feelings for being casted as Goyo, Paulo kept on replying that he gave a “thick” envelope just to secure the role. He also maintained that his closeness with director Jerrold Tarog was a factor. These tweets earn lots of “hahas” from his followers.

He also rode on with netizens who asked for attention even with a simple ‘period’ as

Paulo Avelino.

@HENERAL_GOYO / TWITTER

a reply – simply retweeting these requests and adding a “.” as his response.

Amidst the fun, the 30-year-old actor also responded to more serious questions that were both hypothetical and close to the present. @specialchad asked, “Anong masasabi mo sa (What can you say about the) armed revolution sa (in the) present context?”

“Tama na. Oras na para ayusin ang bayan hindi sirain pa lalo (Stop this. It is time to fix the county not to ruin it more),” Paulo replied.

Though Paulo was promoting his film

in a fun, interactive, and witty way, he reminded a netizen that it will not be worth it to cut classes just to watch the film in the big screen.

Students were also concerned with the film as a historical genre, and the actor was more than happy to find some professors requiring the students to watch. Though he was not “requiring” people, Paulo continued to invite more people to watch Goyo.

“Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral,” sequel to “Heneral Luna” is now showing in theaters nationwide. ■

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26

Lifestyle Filipino ingenuity at its best PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — If you think the CCTV (closed-circuit television) camera is sufficient enough as a security device to protect you, you better think twice.

Now, it can be told that Filipinos are really innovative when it comes to information technology development.

In fact, MiGuard, a wholly Filipino-owned company has come up with a whole package of security and surveillance system that fits the needs of every Filipino family and businesses.

Manuel Syquian, Jr., president of MiGuard, in an interview by the Philippine News

Agency (PNA), said “It’s MiGuard’s mission to protect our countrymen.

“We stand firm by our tagline that ‘We Want You Safe,’” Syquian added.

“It is not only your love ones that we want to protect, we also want to take care of your homes.

To safeguard your homes from fire and even flood, a problem most of our people face in times of rainy season,” he said.

The Miguard Security Alarm System Premium Package is consisting of do-it-yourself (DIY) different devices designed to prevent crimes.

Axel Craig Frencillo, MiGuard Account Manager, told the PNA, “We would like to share to the people the MiGuard system of alarms for

home care, family care and real-time monitoring.”

Frencillo added that “the MiGuard System has a 24/7 Command Center which can detect what’s happening around the home or business establishments from the wireless or no cord DIY devices.”

All the devices, which can be up to 100 devices, are connected to the console with siren, which is the “brains” of the system.

The console is activated by passive infrared sensor such that human body heat can be detected even in darkness.

It also comes with a water leak detector, fire or smoke sensor, medical call button, to call for help in cases of medical emergency, a 90-angle camera which

MiGuard security system.

has a 360-degree view, and an SOS or panic button for crime incident to send notification to the Command Center for the dispatching of different rescue.

The Command Center is located in Timog Avenue, Quezon City.

MIGUARD / FACEBOOK

The integrated home security and surveillance system can be subscribed for PHP504.00 a month.

The whole security and surveillance system costs PHP37,154.00, which can be paid on installment basis. ■

A model with Down syndrome fulfills her fashion week dream

BY LEANNE ITALIE The Associated Press NEW YORK — Marian Avila, a 21-year-old Spanish model with Down syndrome, fulfilled her dream to walk at New York Fashion Week thanks to an Atlanta designer she met through the magic of social media.

And she did it with flair Saturday in the ballroom of a Midtown hotel in evening looks of red and gold, her parents and siblings in the audience and other models who have challenges by her side.

“I felt really happy and I really loved the runway,” Avila said through a translator after the Saturday show. “I wanted

to show the world that there are no barriers.”

No barriers for women of all kinds is Talisha White’s mission, as a designer focused on prom, pageant and special occasion outfits and as an active pageant contestant as well.

A model White knew had stumbled on a story about Avila’s fashion week dream online.

She told White of Avila’s quest and they reached out to Avila on Facebook.

“She’s been a busy supermodel, meeting with all types of people,” White said of the attention Avila and her dream have received in the United States, her home country and across Europe. “I’m very glad for her.

She’s been meeting with Vogue.

She’s been meeting with Harper’s Bazaar. She’s been meeting in different showrooms, different modeling agencies.”

Avila is from the Benidorm area, in the province of Alicante in eastern Spain on the Mediterranean coast. She was accompanied by her parents and siblings. At home, she said, “I practice every day,” referring to her love of modeling.

“I’m studying modeling and to become an actress,” Avila said.

She walked the runway with models young and old, including one in a wheelchair, Tae McKenzie of Charlotte, North Carolina, and a young girl who also has Down syndrome.

White’s 43 looks were shown

www.canadianinquirer.net

like a rainbow with glimmering beaded embellishments on some in red, pink, gold, white, black and rose. Some pageant queens walked the runway, too, with a few in the audience, their sashes and crowns in place.

White, 25, thought of a rainbow to represent “women’s empowerment and beauty from the inside out,” she said.

“I wanted to show not just one type of girl is beautiful.

I like to showcase all types of girls, from pageant girls to models in wheelchairs, models with Down syndrome, models who are 4 feet and told they can never be a model. They are my ‘it’ girl,” she explained.

This isn’t White’s first time showing at fashion week. Her

first show was in September 2016, in a church.

“The pastor was mad because we came early and church was still going on and we were loud,” she laughed. “You have to start somewhere.”

As for Avila, White “loves giving girls opportunities to blossom and fulfil their dreams.”

How will she do that?

“The mission of my business is to change the world one stitch at a time, but I know I’m not going to do that just by making pretty dresses. It’s going to be the women who wear those pretty dresses,” White said.

“People like Marian Avila and Tae McKenzie, who are breaking boundaries in the fashion industry.” ■

Lifestyle

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

Have you herd?

Moose, bighorn sheep pass on migration tips

BY MALCOLM RITTER The Associated Press

longer a herd had been established, the better the tracked animals were at finding the best forage, and the more likely they NEW YORK — Looking for the were to migrate at all. best place to eat? Ask a local.

The researchers didn’t study Now scientists say that same how the knowledge is passed insider knowledge shapes along within the herds, but it’s the springtime migrations of probably from young animals moose and bighorn sheep. watching their mothers or other Animals learn from expe- herd members, said the study’s rienced members of the herd lead author, Brett Jesmer of the about where to find the best University of Wyoming. food, building sort of a culThe long, slow improvement tural know-how that’s passed in forage-finding over decades through generations and im- indicates that herds build on the proves over the course of de- cultural knowledge across genercades, new research indicates. ations. A slow curve also showed While scientists have specu- up in the likelihood that animals lated before that this happens in would migrate in the spring. hoofed animals, this is the first Results indicate that within conclusive test herds that had of the idea, said first entered their Matthew Kauffhome range even man, a U.S. Geo30 to 50 years belogical Survey Animals fore, only about researcher who learn from a quarter of the was part of the experienced tracked animals study released members on average miThursday by the of the herd grated. But almost journal Science. about where all the animals Researchto find the migrated if they ers tracked the best food. came from herds movements of that had occupied 267 bighorn their home for sheep and 189 200 years or so. moose in WyoSuch social ming, Idaho and South Dakota learning of migration routes also that wore GPS devices on col- appears to happen with cranes lars. They used satellite data to and geese, but not other birds, track where and when vegeta- said Cornell University ornition along the migration routes thologist Kevin McGowan, who reached the stage of growth that didn’t participate in the study. the animals prefer for eating.

The researchers said the study Some of the collared animals has implications for conservacame from herds that had been tion. When a migration corridor established in an area for at least is blocked, such as by construc200 years, while others came tion of a highway, it can take defrom herds that had been intro- cades for herds of big game aniduced in recent decades. Scien- mals to establish a new route. So tists reasoned that if animals it’s important to identify such learned and then developed corridors and protect them. over time the knowledge of how Marco Festa-Bianchet of the to find the best food, those from University of Sherbrooke in long-established herds would Quebec, Canada, who didn’t perform better at locating the participate in the study, wrote prime forage than those from in a Science commentary that herds with a shorter history. when migratory hoofed aniAnd that’s what they found mals are relocated as a conwhen they compared the GPS servation measure, they might data on the animals to the lo- need several generations to cations of the best forage. The find their seasonal ranges.

27

No more snail mail: Mormons to receive mission calls online

BY BRADY MCCOMBS The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — The days of young Mormons anxiously waiting for letters to arrive in the mailbox telling them where they will serve their missions are over, the latest tradition fading away under the march of technology.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Wednesday in a news release that it will send the letters known as “mission calls” online instead of by traditional mail. The change will save money spent on postage and allow missionaries to find out quicker, the church said.

The news triggered melancholy among Mormons who have fond memories of the dramatic opening of the envelopes and reading the letter as friends and family watched. Mormon homes commonly have pictures of the moment, and YouTube is full of videos.

Joyce Avaemai called it a sad change. She said she cherishes the letter she received in 2014 in her native country of Tahiti informing she would serve her mission in Montreal, Canada.

She keeps the letter in her journal.

“Every word in the letter was for me. It was inspiring,” said Avaemai, a 26-year-old social worker who lives in Montreal.

“You receive emails every day.

But the meaning of that paper was an amazing feeling.”

Missions are considered rites of passage for many Mormons, broadening their perspective on the world, strengthening their faith and helping prepare some for future leadership roles within the church. Men serve two years, while women go for 18 months.

The church said Mormons will receive a text or email letting them the letter is available to read. They suggested the letter-opening tradition could continue if the prospective missionary gathers his or her family and reads it from a tablet, phone or computer.

The change will start in Utah and Idaho and be instituted around the world by end of the year for places with reliable inwww.canadianinquirer.net

ternet access, the church said.

“Technology is there, and it’s so easy to do,” said Brent H. Nielson, the church’s missionary department executive director in the news release. “We just put it online, and they can read it in a matter of minutes.”

It marks the latest change to the missionary experience in recent years.

In 2012, the church lowered the minimum age for missionaries from 21 to 19 for women and from 19 to 18 for men.

In 2014, the church began giving missionaries tablets and broadened proselytizing to social media. Last year, the faith doubled the number of missions where technology is allowed and swapped out tablets for smartphones.

Mormon scholar Matthew Bowman said the move to online letters is an illustration of a broader change afoot in the faith as it adapts to being a more global church and tries to make things more uniform for members everywhere.

The mission letter-opening tradition is reflective of the white, middle-class, Western American Mormonism that dominated the faith for most of the 20th Century, said Bow-

man, a Mormon scholar and associate professor of history at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Today, though, more than half of the faith’s 16 million members live outside the United States.

“A kid in Nigeria and a kid in Nevada will have the same experience now,” Bowman said.

“It is a nod to the increasing globalization of the church and the increasing diversity of the church in such a way that is trying to downplay these older traditions when the church was a much more homogeneous than it is now.”

Rob Heyward, a 48-year-old Mormon father of five, said he doesn’t agree with an online notification system that feels more impersonal and corporate. He said the family gathered and live-streamed as his oldest son opened his letter a few years ago. Heyward keeps his mission letter from 20 years ago in a scrapbook.

“It captured a moment in time where I started a very important two years of my life,” said Heyward, of Fort Meade, Maryland. “If I received a digital copy, it wouldn’t feel the same.” ■

28

Lifestyle

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

ASK A DESIGNER:

Creating a perfectly cozy place to read

BY MELISSA RAYWORTH The Associated Press WE DECORATE our homes in order to enjoy them. For book lovers, adding a cozy and welllit space dedicated to reading can be the perfect finishing touch.

Most homes, of course, don’t have a spare room for use as a library. But interior designers often carve out one section of a living room, sunroom or master bedroom as a dedicated reading area, says designer Pamela Harvey.

Harvey, who splits her time between design projects in Florida and in the northern Virginia/Washington, D.C., area, says that where you put a reading space depends on your habits. Are you seeking a spot that’s private and silent, or would you rather have an open, airy reading space to share with family members?

Here, she and two other interior designers — Kansas Citybased Jaclyn Joslin, founder of Coveted Home, and Bethesda, Maryland-based Kelley Proxmire — suggest ways to create a perfectly luxurious space, even on a budget.

Creative locations

Joslin has helped two clients turn unused formal dining rooms into multi-use spaces.

Although the rooms are used by the whole family, she says, “in both homes we added nice comfy chairs for the adults to sit in and read.”

Proxmire added a reading space to a home office for a woman who wanted her kids to cuddle up and read while she worked.

She has also creatively repurposed spare closets, a trick that’s especially useful in children’s bedrooms. For one client, she removed closet doors, added a padded bench seat across the width of the closet, and then added a wall-mounted light fixture. Built-in drawers underneath the seat and shelf space above mean the closet still offers storage.

Add pillows to the padded seat and a curtain for privacy, Proxmire says, and you’ve got the perfect place for a child to curl up and get lost in books.

And if your reading space must be in a common area, you can still have a measure of privacy. Try adding a decorative screen or strategically placed bookcase that functions as a room divider. That’s “a great way to carve out a little space in a corner of a room for a retreatlike feeling,” Joslin says.

or right next to the chair to provide direct light for reading,” she says. “Swing arm wall sconces are also a great option for a reading nook.”

Along with plenty of spots to plug in all this lighting, don’t forget to have enough outlets for chargers if you’ll be reading on a digital device, Harvey says.

Layered lighting

All the right elements

Build in “the flexibility to have different levels of light” in your reading space, Harvey says.

She suggests a mix of table lamps, floor lamps and small reading lamps.

“Task lamps work really well,” she says.

Joslin agrees: “I love floor lamps that are sleek and minimal that can be tucked under

Reading chairs don’t have to be expensive. But they must be comfortable.

“A chair large enough to curl your legs up into is the ultimate comfy zone for reading,” Joslin says, “so choosing chairs with arms and styles that don’t skimp on seat space is key.”

And no matter how comfortable and large your reading chair may be, all three designwww.canadianinquirer.net

ers suggest including an ottoman or footstool so that your legs can be stretched out and elevated.

“Drink tables next to the chairs are also a priority item, along with a few cozy throw blankets strewn about,” Joslin says.

Keep these items within arm’s reach so you won’t have to get up once you’ve settled in to read. You’ll also want to keep reading material easily at hand.

“If you’re tight on floor space,” Joslin says, “try some wall-mounted shelving to display books or a very utilitarian yet still stylish vertical bookcase.”

Consider adding a small rolling bar cart or even a wet bar if your budget and space permit,

Harvey says.

“Maybe you’ll want a glass of scotch or maybe it’s a coffee bar,” she says. Whatever your preference, having these items in your reading space adds to the sense of luxury.

Library style doesn’t have to be dark and masculine

If you have enough space and love a traditional “library” look, Joslin says, then “go full tilt with a sliding ladder, wing chairs in either leather or some tweed/wool type fabric and a chaise lounger if there is room.”

But Proxmire says you don’t have to be limited to dark paneling and leather upholstery.

Have fun with soft or bold colours and cheerful prints if they’ll bring you joy. ■

29

Sports PH wins four titles in Malaysia tennis tournament

BY JEAN MALANUM Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippines had a successful campaign at the 13th Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) 14-Under Series after winning all four categories in the competition held at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association Centre in Kuching City, Malaysia on Sunday.

Davao City pride John David Velez captured the boys’ singles title over compatriot Rupert Ohrelle Tortal, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1.

Malaysian Lin En Tan, the tournament top seed, defeated fellow Malaysian Muhammad Zhahin Lelyas Kamarul Zaman, 6-2, 6-1, in the battle for third and fourth places.

In the play-off for fifth to eighth places, Brent Signmond Cortes won over Rainier Angeleo Selmar, 6-2, 6-0, to finish fifth, while Hong Kong’s Lai Ching Chung beat Malaysian

Ryan Lai Eng Lim, 6-2, 6-4, to finish seventh.

In the girls’ singles finals, 13-year-old Alexa Joy Milliam of La Carlota, Negros Occidental, downed second seed Malaysian Lim Lim Zan Ning, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.

No. 3 Malaysian Sze Xuan Lim settled for third place after posting a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 4 Thai Pimmada Lim. The Philippines also ruled the boys’ doubles and girls’ doubles categories last Saturday.

Tortal, who hails from Surigao City, and Cortes, a native of Lanao del Norte, prevailed over Velez and Selmar, 6-4, 6-0, in the championship round.

Milliam, on the other hand, won the girls’ doubles title with Filipino-Singaporean Tamryn Brown. They beat the thirdseeded Malaysian pair of Lim Lim Zan Ning and Brittany Jing Yu Michael Tiang, 6-2, 6-1, in the finals.

“I am happy with the overall performance of the kids. We

won all events. They worked hard for this and got the reward,” said Roland Kraut, who served as coach of the team funded by the Unified Tennis Philippines (UTP), in an online interview on Sunday.

“Alexa had a tough test. She actually was up 6-3 ,5-5 serving at 40-15, but she wasn’t able to hold and lost the set. But she had a good start in the third set and never looked back,” said Kraut, who has been coaching the multi-titled De La Salle University tennis team for 20 years now.

“Johndy (Velez) was also up 6-1, 5-3, but Rupert was able to make a comeback and won five straight games. But in the third set, Johndy went up early and never looked back,” the 40-year-old Kraut added.

Kraut, a member of the Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) coaching staff from 2008 to 2017, has stressed the importance of international ex-

Filipino players pose with Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association President Patrick Liew (center) during the awarding ceremony at the 13th Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) 14-Under Series in Sarawak, Malaysia on Sunday (Sept. 9, 2018). The Philippines won all four categories in the tournament.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO VIA PNA

posure to young athletes.

“I think this is the key for the Philippines to get back on track in tennis. We need to make the young kids play in international events,” said Kraut, who coached the national men’s team in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore.

“This ATF Under 14 event is really excellent because the kids get to play five matches,

win or lose, which is excellent for this developmental stage,” said Kraut, who was also captain of the Philippine Davis Cup team from 2013 to 2016.

Velez, Milliam, Cortes, and Selmar are first-timers in the ATF Circuit. Velez and Milliam, both students of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, are trained

by Macs Crankit Tennis Academy of Australia. ■

Nietes, Palicte battle PH team ready to fly to Iran to draw in allfor FIFA World Cup qualifiers Filipino title bout

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine News Agency

BY IVAN STEWART SALDAJENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Donnie Nietes failed in his first try to become a four-division world champion after his match against Ashton Palicte for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight title ended in a split draw at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California, USA on Sunday (Philippine Time).

In the second all-Filipino world boxing title fight of the year, Nietes seemed to have put on a clinic on Palicte through

his veteran smarts, connecting primarily on counter-punches and openings against his younger and taller foe, especially in the latter rounds or right after Palicte got things going in the first four rounds.

However, only one judge found the match in Nietes’ favor with a 118-110 scorecard.

Another judge actually had it 116-112 in favor of Palicte, while the third judge scored a 114-all draw.

With the belt remaining without an owner, it is highly possible that Nietes and Palicte will lock horns again in a rematch. ■

GILAS PILIPINAS is ready to fly to Tehran, Iran on Thursday, September 13 for the second round of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup Qualifiers.

They currently hold the third place behind the Boomers and the Iranians.

The sixteen chosen players were initially announced a few days ago and they started practicing only ten days before the game itself. According to Coach Yeng Guiao, the public will not be aware of the final twelve on the lineup until the qualifiers officially begin. He is bringing all sixteen players abroad, www.canadianinquirer.net

namely: Beau Belga, Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood, Scottie Thompson, Asi Taulava, Alex Cabagnot, Japeth Aguilar, Allein Maliksi, Ian Sangalang, Matthew Wright, Raymond Almazan, Christian Standhardinger, Marcio Lassiter, Greg Slaughter, Stanley Pringle, and Poy Erram.

Unfortunately, for the game against the Iranians, Wright and Aguilar are suspended, while there is still uncertainty on the eligibility of Standhardinger and Pringle.

Coach Yeng Guiao stated the biggest difficulty of training is getting the players to follow the same system as they all come from various professional Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) teams.

After their game against Iran, Gilas will play their next game in the country in Smart Araneta Coliseum against Team Qatar.

Gilas Pilipinas has recently received criticism, with Asi Taulava claiming that the Gilas era is outdated. However, in an interview with Tiebreaker Times, Gabe Norwood begged to disagree saying, “No matter what the name is going out, I think the things that were accomplished by the Gilas program, if you want to call it by the name itself, you can’t go out and ignore it. We were on the world stage and I think that was [the] ultimate goal.” ■

30

Business Measures to curb inflation underway: Lambino

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — An official of the Department of Finance (DOF) allayed fears surrounding the country’s elevated inflation rate, citing recently approved measures aimed at addressing supply constraints.

DOF Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino, during the launch of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) program “The Presser” at the PIA Auditorium Monday, said the eight-point measure approved by the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) last week should address lack of rice supply, among others.

This, amid the further acceleration of food inflation due to supply issues created by weather disturbances.

Headline inflation rose to 6.4 percent last August from month-ago’s 5.7 percent, bringing the average to date to 4.8 percent. Average inflation in the first eight months this year is already way beyond the government’s two to four percent target band until 2020.

The eight-point measures include replicating the issuance of certificates being issued by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to allow importation of fish to be distributed in wet markets in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, and immediate distribution of 4.6 million sacks of rice that are available in warehouses of the National Food Authority (NFA)

and that money will be used to support our farmers,” he said.

Other recommended measures

PRESSING ISSUE. Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar assists Department

of Finance (DOF) Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino in a question and answer forum during the launch of “The Presser”, which aims to address the concerns of the public regarding current issues’ at the ASEAN Theater, Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in Quezon City on Sept.10, 2018.

OLIVER MARQUEZ / PNA

to markets nationwide.

Members of the EDC expect the delivery by the end of this month of about two million sacks of rice that have been contracted earlier.

The supply is expected to be boosted further after the NFA Council authorized the importation of five million sacks of rice for delivery in the next one-and-a-half-months and another five million sacks in early 2019.

Since rice shortage is high in the areas of Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, the EDC agreed that 2.7 million sacks will be allocated in these areas.

Lambino said average price of rice, a staple food in the

Philippines, in these four areas in Mindanao rose to about PHP42.85 per kilo last August from below PHP40 in the past.

“So over the short-term, the National Food Authority is helping address high rice prices by sending more stock to affected provinces and importing more rice,” he said.

Lambino said the NFA is sending around 4,000 bags of rice to Zamboanga alone on a daily basis thus, covering some 80 percent of the province’s rice requirement.

Tarrification

He said economic managers have also called on Senators to approve the proposed rice tariffication bill to liberalize rice

importation.

To date, rice importation is covered by a quantitative restriction (QR), which allows importers to purchase rice from overseas based on their license.

With the proposed tariffication, Lambino said NFA would be mandated to ensure adequate emergency buffer as well as proper logistics “to make sure that this buffer stocks gets to where it’s needed.”

He said the proposed measure is beneficial to local farmers since it will help increase their production or allow them to shift to higher value crops.

“Under a tariff regime, the tariff will be collected from anyone who wants to import rice

Aside from measures aimed at increasing rice supply, the EDC also agreed to recommend to President Rodrigo R. Duterte the issuance of a directive that will further simplify and streamline the licensing procedures for importation of rice.

Other measures include: the formation of monitoring teams to be composed of representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), NFA, Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); farmer groups to closely watch the transport of rice from ports to NFA warehouses and retail outlets; reduction of gap between farm gate prices and retail prices of chicken; the opening by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) of sugar importation to direct users to moderate costs for consumers; and for the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to prioritize the release of essential food items in the ports.

Lambino said the rate of price increases should decelerate once the eight approved measures have been implemented.

“The point is this — implementing the solutions is the priority of the Duterte administration’s economic development cluster. They are based on an understanding of the problem based on data from PSA, not speculations,” he added. ■

No manipulation of Aug. ‘18 inflation report: NEDA chief

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia countered allegations that the government is manipulating inflation figures, especially the rise of the August 2018 rate to 6.4 percent.

There have been talks among economists that initial report for the rate of price in the eighth month this year rose to 6.6 percent, but what the government announced is a lower figure.

In a message to reporters, Pernia, who is also the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General, said initial data releas-

es of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), a NEDA attached agency, are preliminary figures and subject to revisions.

“This applies to national income accounts such as GDP (gross domestic product) etc.,” he said.

Pernia said the GDP report in 2016 was initially reported to be at 6.8 percent but was later www.canadianinquirer.net

revised up to 6.9 percent, and the first quarter growth this year from 6.6 percent to 6.4 percent.

The PSA normally issues the revisions on GDP figures a day before the latest quarter’s output is announced.

“In the case of 2018 August inflation, the revision was also an appropriate and necessary

corrigendum (Latin for ‘to be corrected’) as the error was detected early. There was no intention of hiding it,” he said.

“We just thought it prudent and not necessary to announce it as it might only lead to confusion among the public, especially those unfamiliar with standard procedures,” he added. ■

Business

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

31

Alibaba’s Jack Ma to step down NEDA readies as chairman in September 2019 measures to cushion inflation in Bicol

BY JOE MCDONALD The Associated Press

BEIJING — Jack Ma, who founded e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and helped launch China’s e-commerce boom, announced Monday he will step down as the company’s chairman next September.

In a letter released by Alibaba, Ma said he will be succeeded

by CEO Daniel Zhang, an 11year veteran of the company.

Ma handed over the CEO post to Zhang in 2013 as part of what he said was a long-planned succession process.

Ma, a former English teacher, founded Alibaba in 1999 in an apartment in the eastern city of Hangzhou to connect Chinese exporters with foreign retailers. It expanded into consumer retailing, online finance, cloud computing and other services, becoming the world’s biggest e-commerce company by total value of goods sold across all its platforms.

Ma, who turned 54 on Monday, became one of the world’s richest entrepreneurs and one of China’s best-known business figures. The Hurun Run report, which follows China’s wealthy, estimates his net worth at $37 billion.

Alibaba said Ma will remain a member of the Alibaba Partnership, a group of 36 people that has the right to nominate a majority of the company’s board of directors.

“This transition demonstrates that Alibaba has stepped up to the next level of corporate governance from a company that relies on individuals, to one built on systems of organizational excellence and a culture of talent development,” Ma said in his letter.

Ma said he wants to “return to education” but gave no details of his plans.

Alibaba is one of a group of companies including Tencent Holding Ltd., a games and social media giant, search engine Baidu.com Inc. and e-commerce rival JD.com that have revolutionized shopping, entertainment and consumer services in China.

Alibaba was founded at a time when few Chinese used the in-

BY MAR SERRANO Philippine News Agency

Jack Ma.

ternet. As internet use spread, the company expanded into consumer-focused retailing and services. Few Chinese used credit cards, so Alibaba created its own online payments system, Alipay.

Ma, known in Chinese as Ma Yun, has become one of China’s best-known public figures. He appears regularly on television. At an annual Alibaba employee festival in Hanzhou, he has sung pop songs in costumes that have included blonde wigs and leather jackets. He pokes fun at his own appearance, saying his oversize head and angular features make him look like the alien in director Steven Spielberg’s movie “E.T. The Extraterrestrial.”

Ma also became one of the best-known Chinese businesspeople abroad.

The company’s $25 billion initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 was the biggest to date by a Chinese company.

Zhang, Ma’s planned successor, is a former accountant who joined Alibaba in 2007 after working at Shanda Entertainment, an online games company. Zhang served as president of Alibaba’s consumer-focused Tmall.combusiness unit.

Alibaba’s e-commerce business spans multiple platforms including business-to-business Alibaba.com, which links foreign buyers with Chinese suppliers of goods from furniture to medical technology, and

UNCLIMATECHANGE / FLICKR, CC BY 2.0

Tmall, with online shops for popular brands.

Alipay became a freestanding financial company, Ant Financial, in 2014. Alibaba also has expanded into entertainment, set up its own film studio and invested in logistics and delivery services.

Alibaba reported profit last year of $9.8 billion.

The total value of goods sold on all of its platforms rose 28 per cent over 2016 to 4.8 trillion yuan ($768 billion), according to the company.

Ma has faced controversy, including when it was disclosed in 2011 that Alibaba had transferred control over Alipay to a company controlled by Ma without immediately informing shareholders including Yahoo Inc. and Japan’s Softback.

Alibaba said the move was required to comply with Chinese regulations, but some financial analysts said the company was paid too little for a valuable asset. The dispute was later resolved by Alibaba, Yahoo and Softbank.

Corporate governance specialists also questioned the unusual structure of the Alibaba Partnership, which gives Ma and a group of executives more control over the company than shareholders.

Ma defended the arrangement as necessary to ensure Alibaba focuses on long-term development instead of responding to pressure from financial markets. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

increased by 75,000 metric tons or 1.32 percent during the second half of the year. Delos Santos said that since last year LEGAZPI CITY — National to date the agency has recorded Economic and Development a 120 percent fish sufficiency.

Authority (NEDA) officials in She, however, said that prices Bicol brushed aside gloomy of the commodity remain high prospects following a surge in because fish caught in Bicol are inflation, saying that contin- sold elsewhere, putting a presgency measures are in place sure on supply. to cushion the effects of rising Delos santos also reported a prices.

26.7 percent price increase for Agnes Espinas Tolentino vegetables due to freight and NEDA regional director in an fuel costs. She stressed that interview on Monday said con- “chopsuey vegetables” sold in sumers should not be alarmed the local market all came from because agricultural products Baguio. are available at prices lower Delos Santos added that Bicol than in other rehad consistently gions. She cited attained rice that prices of sufficiency level rice, meat and since 2011. other food prodThe National ucts in Bicol are Food Authority much lower than We start to (NFA) in Bicol in Metro Manila be worried said that there and in Mindanand be are 2.9 million ao. alarmed bags of importTolentino when there ed rice good for said, “we are not is no more 75 days, which moving toward supply in are now stored a crisis situation the market. in warehouses as food prices in the region. and supply (are) NFA has close s u st a i n a b l e .” to 2,000 accred“We start to be ited rice outlets worried and be across the region alarmed when selling rice at there is no more P27.00 per kilo. supply in the market,” she la- Consumers are now allowed to mented. buy 5 kilos of NFA rice a day, The creation of a joint task she added. group that will stay on top of Meantime, Cynthia Perdiz price and supply movements of PSA regional director said the agricultural products in the re- 9 percent inflation rate, which gion was also revealed. placed Bicol in the top rank of The task group will include inflation-hit regions, are due to the Department of Agricul- the following factors: the Train ture and its attached agencies, Law that breached 15 percent Department of Trade and In- level; supply and demand; the dustry, Department of Justice, Peso rate’s drop against the Department of Finance, the Dollar.

Philippine National Police as Perdiz allayed fears of conwell as local government units. sumers saying that the inflation It is mandated to take legal ac- rate is computed using a formution against hoarders, cartels, la that is based on a six-year pesmugglers and economic sabo- riod beginning in 2012. She said teurs. if it were computed on a month Meanwhile, Elena delos San- on month basis, inflation rate tos, DA regional director as- would only a 1.5 percent. sured that there is no shortage Perdiz said, “that since June of supply of agricultural prod- of 2017 to January 2018, it has ucts in Bicol. recorded negative inflation She said fish production has during the 7 month period.” ■

32

Technology Robot boat sails into history by finishing Atlantic crossing

BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND — All summer, the small boat drifted steadily eastward across the churning North Atlantic until it neared the Irish coast, where it made history by becoming the first unmanned sailboat to cross the Atlantic.

The SB Met, built by Norwegian company Offshore Sensing AS, reached the finish line of the Microtransat Challenge for robotic boats on Aug. 26, two and a half months after setting off from Newfoundland, according to preliminary data.

It’s a milestone that shows the technology for unmanned boats is robust enough to carry out extended missions that can dramatically cut costs for ocean research, border security, and surveillance in rough or remote waters. They’re part of wider efforts to develop autonomous marine vessels such as robotic ferries and cargo and container ships that could be operating by the end of the decade, outpacing attempts to commercialize self-driving cars.

“We’ve proved that it’s possible to do,” said David Peddie, CEO of Offshore Sensing , which created the oceangoing drones, known as Sailbuoys. “The North Atlantic is one of the toughest areas to cross” and completing the challenge “really proves that it’s a long endurance vehicle for pretty much any condition the sea can throw at you,” he said.

Under the Microtransat’s rules, boats up to 2.4 metres

(2.6 yards) long can sail between Europe and the Caribbean or North America and Ireland. They must regularly transmit location data.

The Sailbuoy competed in the “unmanned” class, which allows operators to change its course along the way. There’s a separate “autonomous” class that prohibits any such communication.

While self-driving cars have to contend with pedestrians and other traffic, autonomous boats face storms that bring fierce gales and high waves as well as numerous seaborne hazards.

More than 20 previous attempts by various teams to complete the Microtransat since it began in 2010 have ended in failure, with robot boats caught in fishing nets, retrieved by ships, or lost, according to the race website. Peddie said his biggest fear was that a passing boat would pick up the twometer, 60 kilogram (130 pound) vessel as it neared the finish.

The company is in a niche field with few other players. U.S. startup Saildrone is building a fleet of seven-meter “unmanned surface vehicles” that can spend up to 12 months gathering ocean data. Liquid Robotics, owned by Boeing, makes the Wave Glider, a research platform that uses wave rather than wind power for propulsion.

Bigger unmanned ships are coming, too, and the International Maritime Organization is reviewing the safety, security and environmental implications.

Offshore Sensing has built 14 Sailbuoys, which have a surfboard-shaped deck covered in

solar panels that power the onboard technology and a rigid trapezoidal sail mounted near the bow that propels the vessel.

In company videos, it looks like a toy tossed about by waves and passing ships, making its achievement all the more unlikely.

Peddie says robotic sailboats offer important advantages.

Unlike drifting buoys, they can loiter in one place, and they’re nimbler and cheaper than research vessels.

“These vehicles can do stuff which you cannot do with a traditional vehicle, especially in dangerous areas,” such as a hurricane’s path, Peddie said.

Sailbuoys can be fitted with sensors to measure waves, ocean salinity and oxygen levels; echo sounders to look for fish eggs and larvae; or transmitters to communicate with undersea equipment. They sell for about 150,000 euros ($175,000), similar to the cost of renting a research vessel for a few days.

“The great advantage is that you can collect an awful lot of data for very low cost,” Peddie said.

A spinoff contest, the annual World Robot Sailing Championship held late Aug. in the English port city of Southampton, also showcased robotic sailing technology.

Teams from British, French, Finnish and Chinese universities put their machines to the test in a series of challenges including collision avoidance and area scanning, in which vessels have to cover as much of an area as possible.

Self-sailing boats operate on similar principles to self-

www.canadianinquirer.net

SB Met.

driving cars. They use sensors to scan their surroundings and feed the data to an artificial intelligence system that gives instructions to the vehicle.

A team from France’s ENSTA Bretagne graduate engineering research institute dominated the first challenge, a race around a triangle-shaped course, with their sleek, angular fluorescentgreen carbon fiber boat. Servo winches controlled the two transparent plastic sails and the rudder as wind, GPS and compass sensors fed readings to an onboard computer.

Others didn’t fare so well.

One of the two Chinese teams couldn’t stop their boat from being pushed way off course by the strong tide.

“Other ships are thin and long. Ours is too wide and fat,” said Hou Chunxiao of the Shanghai Jiaotong University team, a joint collaboration between students and staff from a maritime company run by their thesis supervisor.

Smaller and lighter electronics, better solar panels, 3D printing and other technological advances are making it easier to build self-sailing boats, competitors said.

OFFSHORE SENSING AS / TWITTER

“We talk more about autonomous cars or drones, but sailboats are also a big thing,” said Ulysse Vautier, of the Plymouth University team. “There’s so much to discover on the ocean. With the environmental and ecological problems we face today,” autonomous sailing boats are an energy-efficient way to do ocean research, Vautier said, adding that future uses could include swarms of sailing drones scanning the sea floor for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

Until Sailbuoy’s achievement, the only unmanned watercraft to cross the Atlantic previously was a batterypowered underwater glider in 2009. Now, more milestones are quickly looming on the horizon line after its feat, said Colin Sauze, the Microtransat’s co-ordinator. A team from Canada’s Dalhousie University is making progress in achieving a trans-Atlantic crossing under the “autonomous” rules, when the boat’s direction is not adjusted remotely during the trip.

And there will be new variations of the contest to come.

Now, Sauze said, “the challenge is to do it faster, cheaper and do it with a smaller boat.” ■

Technology

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

33

Trump: Apple can As Google turns 20, questions avoid tariffs by shifting over whether it’s too powerful production to US

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE The Associated Press

BY DAVID KOENIG The Associated Press PRESIDENT DONALD Trump concedes that some Apple Inc. products may become more expensive if his administration imposes “massive” additional tariffs on Chinese-made goods, but he says the tech company can fix the problem by moving production to the U.S. “Start building new plants now. Exciting!” Trump said Saturday in a tweet aimed at the Cupertino, California-based company.

This week, Apple said that a proposed new round of $200 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese imports would raise prices on some of its products, including the Apple Watch and the Mac mini.

The company is highly exposed to a trade war between the U.S. and China. It makes many of its products for the U.S. market in China, and it also sells gadgets including the iPhone in China, making them a potential target for Chinese retaliation against the Trump tariffs.

Trump tweeted Saturday that “Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China — but there is an easy solution where there would be ZERO tax, and indeed a tax incentive,” if the company made its products in the U.S. instead of China.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has not announced plans to move manufacturing from China to the U.S.

In its letter this week to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Apple said that “because all tariffs ultimately show up as a tax on US consumers, they will increase the cost of Apple products that our customers have come to rely on in their daily lives.”

The company said tariffs would hit “a wide range of Apple products,” including computers, watches, adapters, chargers and tools used in its U.S. manufacturing, repair and data centres. Apple said the tariffs would raise the cost of its U.S. operations and put it at a disadvantage to foreign rivals.

The White House has accused China of stealing U.S. intellectual property and forcing American companies to share their technology with Chinese companies. The tariffs would pressure China to stop that behaviour, the administration has said. Apple said “it is difficult to see” how tariffs would advance the government’s goal.

The presidential tweet is the latest salvo in a dispute between the Trump administration and companies that fear tariffs will hurt their business.

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs of $50 billion on imports from China, mostly equipment and material used by manufacturers. CEO Tim Cook said in July that those measures had no effect on Apple. The company is concerned, however, about the Trump administration’s proposal to add 25 per cent duties on another $200 billion in Chinese goods, including a wider assortment of consumer-related items. ■

SAN FRANCISCO — Twenty years after Larry Page and Sergey Brin set out to organize all of the internet’s information, the search engine they named Google has morphed into a dominating force in smartphones, online video, email, maps and much more.

That resounding success now has regulators and lawmakers around the world questioning whether the company has become too powerful as its ubiquitous services vacuum up sensitive information about billions of people hooked on its products.

Google’s search engine remains entrenched as the internet’s main gateway, and its digital advertising business is on pace to generate about $110 billion in revenue this year. Much of that revenue now flows through Google’s Android operating system, which powers 80 per cent of the world’s smartphones. Google also runs the biggest video site in YouTube, the most popular web browser in Chrome, the top email service in Gmail and the maps that most people use to get around.

Not bad for a company that started 20 years ago Friday with an initial investment of $100,000. Google and its sibling companies operating under the umbrella of Alphabet Inc. are now worth $800 billion.

Although Google wouldn’t comment for this story, the company has repeatedly pointed out that its mostly free products are so widely used because people like them.

Google’s success often draws

JJFARQ / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

comparisons with Microsoft.

By 1998, the year Google started, U.S. regulators had become so concerned about Microsoft’s power through its Windows operating system that they had begun to explore a forced breakup. Although Microsoft remained intact, the multiyear battle with the U.S. government and other disputes with European regulators hobbled and distracted Microsoft, helping to propel the rise of Google and Apple.

Google is now confronting the same potential fate.

“Google is in the government’s crosshairs,” said Ken Auletta, who was given inside access to the company while writing his 2009 book, “Googled: The End of the World As We Know It.” “This company once had a certain glow to it, but it is losing its halo.”

Just this past week, Google raised hackles in Congress by refusing to send Page or its current CEO, Sundar Pichai, to a hearing on Russian manipulation of internet services to sway

U.S. elections. Congressional officials left an empty chair while top executives from Facebook and Twitter appeared.

Offended lawmakers derided Google as “arrogant.”

The European Commission already has imposed fines totalling $7.8 billion after concluding the company had unfairly used its search engine to highlight its own services and illegally bundled together its products in Android.

Google has denied any wrongdoing, but that hasn’t discouraged European regulators from looking into other possible abuses. U.S. President Donald Trump and some U.S. regulators are now raising the possibility of opening new investigations into Google’s business and privacy practices five years after the Federal Trade Commission decided the company was mostly complying with the laws.

It all paints a picture of a company that may spend the next decade fighting to protect the empire it built during its first two decades. ■

Google case set to examine if EU data rules extend globally

BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press

GAGE SKIDMORE / FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0

LONDON — Google is going to Europe’s top court in its legal fight against an order requiring it to extend “right to be forgotwww.canadianinquirer.net

ten” rules to its search engines globally.

The technology giant is set for a showdown at the European Union Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday with France’s data privacy regulator over an order to remove

search results worldwide upon request.

The dispute pits data privacy concerns against the public’s right to know, while also raising thorny questions about how to ❱❱ PAGE 35 Google case

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

34

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www.canadianinquirer.net

35

Travel Gov’t markets PH as major diving hub in Asia

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is currently marketing the Philippines as an ideal diving hub in Asia by highlighting its numerous dive spots for beginners and professional divers who are inclined to underwater photography.

“Part of our commitment is to make sure that we promote the Philippines as a whole to the international diving community and more specifically to look at two segments that we feel we have a distinct advantage in: underwater photography and beginner divers,” DOT Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. said during the second day of the Diving Resort Travel Show in Ortigas Saturday.

Bengzon said he is optimistic the market for dive tourism will further grow with the year-round free diving opportunities in the country.

“We feel that we can be very competitive in this segment because all year round, there are free diving opportunities. And as in the case of mainstream diving, (we have) very rich marine life,” he added.

United Kingdom-based DIVE Magazine had cited the best dive spots in the Philippines — the Dimakya Island in Palawan; Donsol, Sorsogon; Dauin in

The clear blue waters near the shore of Malapascua Island, Cebu.

Negros Oriental; Apo Reef in Occidental Mindoro; Puerto Galera in Mindoro; Anilao in Batangas; Malapascua in Cebu; Coron Bay in Palawan; and the Tubbataha Reef, often called the diving Mecca in the Philippines.

Aside from these popular sites, the DOT shared emerging dive spots in Samal and Talikud Island in Davao del Norte, as well as Camiguin Island in Northern Mindanao.

In an interview, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the agency plans to strengthen the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Div-

ing in a bid to market the country as an ideal dive hub in Asia.

This, while making sure policies are in place to protect all destinations being promoted in the country.

“We will make policies to make sure

that everything is actually protected.

Of course, you know that our overarching theme is sustainable tourism and of course, that goes with all marine resources,” “(We have) a lot of our tourists, we have now 26 countries (nationalities) who came here just for the dive spots.

I just came from Zamboanga del Norte and I’m actually surprised to see that they have really good diving destinations and there were a lot of Japanese there just to go for diving,” RomuloPuyat told reporters.

Meanwhile, as Boracay Island’s soft opening draws near, Romulo-Puyat said the interagency group has yet to discuss if diving activities would be part of the launch on October 26.

“Our last meeting with Task Force Boracay is on Sept. 28 and we will be discussing the following guidelines, one of those is diving,” she added. “We will first see if diving can already be included when we open up on October 26.” ■

Google case... ❰❰ 33

enforce differing legal jurisdictions when it comes to the borderless internet.

The two sides will be seeking clarification on a 2015 decision by the French regulator requiring Google to remove results for all its search engines on request, and not just on European country sites like google.fr.

Google declined to comment ahead of the hearing. Its general counsel, Kent Walker, said in a blog post in November that complying with the order “would encourage other countries, including less democratic regimes, to try to impose their values on citizens in the rest of the world.”

“These cases represent a serious assault on the public’s right to access lawful information,” he added.

In an unusual move, the court has allowed a collection of press freedom, free speech and civil rights groups to submit their opinions on the case. These groups agree with Google that forcing internet companies to remove website

links threatens access to information and could pave the way for censorship by more authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The court’s ruling is expected within months. It will be preceded by an opinion from the court’s advocate general.

The case stems from a landmark 2014 Court of Justice ruling that people have the right to control what appears when their name is searched online. That decision forced Google to delete links to outdated or embarrassing personal information that popped up in searches of their names.

Authorities are now starting to worry about the risk that internet users can easily turn to proxy servers and virtual private networks to spoof their location, allowing them to dig up the blocked search results.

Google said in its most recent transparency report that it has received requests to delete about 2.74 million web links since the ruling, and has deleted about 44 per cent of them. ■

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

www.canadianinquirer.net

36

Travel

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

Tourism industry pushes for TIEZA gets extended Grand Canyon season regulatory powers

BY FELICIA FONSECA The Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. — With less snowfall lately at the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, tourism officials see an opportunity to stretch the visiting season and bring more revenue to the region.

The less popular North Rim is fully open for less than half the year. It’s only lodge wasn’t built to handle harsh winters, and most employees are hired on a seasonal basis. The water system, with pipes buried just inches below the ground, is susceptible to freezing.

But tourism officials say climate change is on their side as they advocate for a way to extend the North Rim season.

Kane County, Utah, tourism director Camille Johnson has been leading the discussion. Grand Canyon’s North Rim. She said it’s frustrating when the only paved road between sits at more than 8,000 feet lobby back in D.C. for additional Jacob Lake, Arizona, and the (2,440 metres) in elevation and staffing, we’re willing to do.”

North Rim closes Dec. 1 with- is bordered by national forThose who visit the North out significant snowfall. est land where a herd of bison Rim typically aren’t seeing “The end game for us is to roam. It has few amenities — a the Grand Canyon for the first get it open year-round or most lodge rebuilt in 1936 that’s been time, Shedlowski said. They’re of the year so we can promote designated a national historic looking for a quieter experiourselves as a four-season des- landmark, a gas station and a ence. Some make the trip as tination,” she said. developed campground. part of the Grand Circle — a colOvernight lodging at the Dirk Clayson, chairman lection of national park sites in North Rim shuts down Oct. 15, of the Kane County Board the Southwest region that inas do ranger-led programs and of Commissioners in south- clude Zion in Utah, Mesa Verde most concessionaire services. ern Utah, said nearly half of in Colorado, the Great Basin The rim is open for day use un- visitors to southern Utah are in Nevada and Chaco Culture til the highway closes. Every- drawn in by the Grand Can- National Historic Park in New thing reopens May 15. yon but cannot get there in the Mexico.

For now, the park said it can wintry season, even with scant One remote and rugged part do a better job of focusing on or no snowfall. of the North Rim that has no the day-use, services and rerather than the quires a highmonths-long clearance vehicle closure. stays open year“That’s a lowThe end game for us is to get it round. lying fruit we open year-round or most of the Will James, the can tackle this year so we can promote ourselves owner of Dreamyear,” said park as a four-season destination. land Safari Tours spokeswoman in Kanab, Utah, Kirby-Lynn Shguides visitors edlowski. “Lonto the Toroweap ger-term stuff is outlook that’s going to be understanding what The 30-year average for lower in elevation and doesn’t is the true capacity of the North snowfall at the North Rim is get much snow. He wonders if Rim.” more than 11 feet, but the av- extending hours at the rest of Another meeting is planned erage over the past decade has the North Rim is necessary and next month. Johnson said she shrunk by more than 3 feet if the economics would play wouldn’t expect any major (0.91 metres), according to the out. changes for five to 10 years.

National Weather Service.

“Part of me feels like, do we The North Rim gets about “The problem is solvable,” have to year-round, over-com10 per cent of the Grand Can- Clayson said. “Whatever we can mercialize everything?” he yon’s 6.25 million visitors. It do to influence, raise funds or said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

over Boracay water concessionaires

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) gets the sole and exclusive right to regulate all utilities on world-famous Boracay Island and other tourist zones.

Citing a Sept. 5 ruling from the Office of the President (OP), TIEZA said the previous decision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) was affirmed, effectively denying the motion for reconsideration filed by the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) under OP Case No. 12-1-212.

This grants the TIEZA Regulatory Office the role to formulate customer service standards and policies applicable to all water service providers in the island.

These will cover the regulation of water supply, as well as wastewater or sewerage system on the island.

“We welcome this decision as it finally resolves the issue on regulatory authority on water utilities in Boracay. It offers a good opportunity to promote

sustainable tourism through effective management of utilities,” TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Pocholo Paragas said Friday.

The case (OSJ Case No. 04331-11) was filed in 2012 to settle the issue of the regulatory authority over all utilities, including waterworks and sewerage systems in Boracay and other tourism zones.

However, since the impasse, the two water service providers (WSPs) on the island, Boracay Tubi System, Inc. and Boracay Island Water Company, Inc., have been separately supervised and regulated by the NWRB and TIEZA, respectively.

Last June 20, the Senate committee on environment and natural resources stressed the need for a delineation of service areas for the two WSPs “to avoid confusion and improve the wastewater management” on the island.

Committee chairman, Senator Cynthia Villar, asserted that a single regulatory office is necessary.

Paragas is optimistic that they can work with the water concessionaires. ■

37

Food COOKING ON DEADLINE:

Instant Pot Mediterranean Lamb Stew

BY KATIE WORKMAN The Associated Press BEEF USUALLY hogs the spotlight when it comes to stews, but there are plenty of other meats that can star in this quintessential, cold-weather comfort food.

Pork, chicken and here, lamb, a big favourite of my younger son, Charlie.

This rich meat also takes well to many flavour combos, and in this recipe, some accessible, Mediterranean-inspired supporting ingredients turn the lamb into a truly delicious stew.

If you are a chickpea lover, feel free to add a second can.

These instructions use an Instant Pot, THE appliance of the decade. The Instant Pot is a plug-in pot that performs as a slow cooker, pressure cooker,

rice cooker, yogurt maker and a few other impressive cooking tools. In this case, you will first be using the saute function and then the pressure cooker function to cook a tender stew in much less time than it would take otherwise.

Don’t have an Instant Pot? You can also make this stew in a slow cooker. Just brown the meat in the slow cooker if it has a saute function, or if not, brown it and saute the vegetables in a pot on the stove, and then transfer everything to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients, and cook on low for 8 hours.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot or a slow cooker, no worries! You can do all of the sauteing in a pot on the stove, and then add the other ingredients as directed and cook the stew,

covered, over low heat for about 3 hours until the meat is tender. Give it an occasional stir to make sure the stew doesn’t stick to the bottom. If you prefer to put it into a 300 degrees F oven after all of the ingredients have been combined, that works, too — this should also take about 3 hours. Give that a stir if you think of it every once in a while.

If you don’t have brandy, add a healthy glug of red wine instead. This is a soupy stew, and would be fantastic ladled over noodles of any kind or chunks of steamed potatoes.

So, whether you approach this old school, new school or somewhere in the middle, the cooler days approaching promise to be flavourful.

Instant pot Mediterranean

lamb stew

Servings: 6 Start to finish: 2 hours in the Instant Pot, 9 hours in a

slow cooker, or 4 hours on the stovetop or in the oven ❱❱ PAGE 38 Instant Pot

For a nutty, risotto style dish, reach for the farro AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN ITALIAN FARROTTO is essentially a risotto-style dish made with farro in place of the usual Arborio rice. Although it is made with a similar method, farro’s more robust, nutty flavour gives the dish new dimension. But because much of farro’s starch is trapped inside the outer bran, achieving a creamy, velvety consistency can be a challenge.

We tested making farrotto with pearled farro, which has had the outer bran removed, but the flavour was lacking and the sauce turned out thin. Instead, we turned back to whole farro and, to make the starch more accessible without losing farro’s hallmark chew, we ran the grains through a blender.

After a few pulses, about half of the farro had cracked, freeing up enough starch to create a creamy, risotto-like consistency.

Adding most of the liquid up front and cooking the farrotto in a lidded Dutch oven helped the grains cook evenly and meant we didn’t have to stir constantly—just twice before stirring in the flavourings. We also created a variation with pancetta, asparagus, and peas, which turned this simple side into a satisfying main course.

We prefer the flavour and texture of whole farro.

Do not use quick-cooking, presteamed, or pearled farro (read the ingredient list on the package to determine this) in this recipe. The consistency of farrotto is a matter of personal taste; if you prefer a looser texture, add more of the hot broth mixture.

Parmesan farrotto

Servings: 6 Start to finish: 1 hour

• 1 1/2 cups whole farro • 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth • 3 cups water

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1/2 onion, chopped fine • 1 garlic clove, minced • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme • Salt and pepper • 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup) • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley • 2 teaspoons lemon juice www.canadianinquirer.net

Pulse farro in blender until about half of grains are broken into smaller pieces, about 6 pulses.

Bring broth and water to boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and keep warm.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Stir in garlic and cook until fra-

grant, about 30 seconds. Add farro and cook, stirring frequently, until grains are lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.

Stir 5 cups warm broth mixture into farro mixture, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until almost all liquid has been absorbed and farro is just al dente, about 25 minutes, stirring twice during cooking.

Add thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until farro becomes creamy, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in Parmesan, parsley, lemon juice, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Adjust consistency with remaining warm broth mixture as needed (you may have broth left over). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 345 calories; 106 calories from fat; 12 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 11 mg cholesterol; 374 mg sodium; 44 g carbohydrate; 8 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 13 g protein.

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Food

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

Pan roasting chicken produces moist meat and crisp skin AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN

HIDEYA HAMANO / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

This Spanish-inspired seafood dish is a simple one pot meal AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN THIS SPANISH-INSPIRED seafood dish is a simple one-pot meal. You can substitute halibut, sea bass, or haddock for the cod in this recipe.

Other varieties of hard, cured sausage (such as linguica) can be substituted for the Spanish chorizo; we do not recommend using fresh chorizo.

When shopping for saffron, look for dark red threads without any interspersion of yellow or orange threads, and be prepared for some sticker shock—they don’t call it the most expensive spice in the world for nothing, but its distinctive flavour is worth it.

You will need a 12-inch skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe.

Cod in saffron broth with chorizo and potatoes

Servings: 4 Start to finish: 1 hour

• 4 ounces small red potatoes • 1 onion • 4 garlic cloves • 3 ounces Spanish-style chorizo sausage • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil • 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads • 1 (8 ounce) bottle clam juice • 1/2 cup dry white wine • 1 bay leaf • 4 (6- to 8 ounce) skinless cod fillets, 1 to 11/2 inches thick • Salt and pepper • 1 lemon • Fresh parsley • 1 loaf rustic bread

Slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick.

Chop onion fine and mince garlic. Slice chorizo into 1/4 inchthick rounds.

Heat oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and chorizo and cook until onion is softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in garlic and crumble saffron into skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in clam juice, 3/4 cup water, wine, potatoes, and bay leaf and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.

Pat cod dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Nestle cod, skinned side down, into skillet and spoon some broth over top. Bring to simmer, cover, and cook until potatoes are fully tender and cod flakes apart when gently prodded with paring knife and registers 140 F, 10 to 15 minutes.

While cod cooks, squeeze 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Mince 2 tablespoons parsley.

Carefully transfer cod to individual shallow bowls. Using slotted spoon, divide potatoes and chorizo evenly among bowls. Discard bay leaf. Stir lemon juice into broth and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon broth over cod, sprinkle with parsley, and drizzle with extra oil. Slice bread and serve with cod. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 238 calories; 109 calories from fat; 12 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 45 mg cholesterol; 567 mg sodium; 9 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 17 g protein.

TO DEVELOP a bone-in chicken breast recipe that produced moist meat, crisp skin, and a quick pan sauce, we turned to pan roasting, where the chicken is browned in a skillet on the stovetop and then slid, skillet and all, into a very hot oven to finish cooking.

This method helped to protect the delicate white meat, which doesn’t have a lot of fat, from drying out. The chicken was added skin side down in a smoking hot skillet, where it formed a gorgeous brown crust and produced plenty of fond.

After lightly browning the second side of the chicken, we moved the skillet to an oven at 450 F where the chicken roasted for just 15 minutes. While the chicken rested, we used the browned bits left in the pan to make a flavourful pan sauce.

You will need a 12-inch ovensafe skillet for this recipe. If using kosher chicken, do not brine. If brining the chicken, do not season with salt in first step.

Pan-roasted chicken breasts with shallot-thyme sauce

Servings: 4 Start to finish: 1 hour

Chicken: • 4 (12-ounce) bone-in split chicken breasts, trimmed, brined if desired • Salt and pepper • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil Sauce: • 1 large shallot, minced • 3/4 cup chicken broth • 1/2 cup dry vermouth or white wine • 2 sprigs fresh thyme • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled • Salt and pepper For the chicken: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 F. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in 12-inch ovensafe skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook breasts, skin side down, until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes.

Flip breasts and brown lightly on second side, about 3 min-

utes. Flip breasts skin side down, transfer skillet to oven, and roast until chicken registers 160 F, 15 to 18 minutes.

Remove skillet from oven (skillet handle will be hot).

Transfer chicken to serving dish and let rest while making sauce.

For the sauce: Being careful of hot skillet handle, pour off all but 1 teaspoon fat left in skillet. Add shallot and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, vermouth, and thyme sprigs, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until thickened and measures 2/3 cup, about 6 minutes.

Discard thyme sprigs and stir in any accumulated chicken juices. Reduce heat to low and whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Off heat, season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 280 calories; 134 calories from fat; 15 g fat (6 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 109 mg cholesterol; 360 mg sodium; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 27 g protein.

Instant Pot... ❰❰ 37

• 1/4 cup flour • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper • 2 pounds 1-inch cubes lamb shoulder or lamb stew meat • 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed, divided • 1/2 cup sliced leeks • 1/2 cup chopped carrots • 1/2 cup chopped celery • 1/2 cup diced fennel • 1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary • 2 tablespoons brandy or cognac • 1 (28-ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes • 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed • 2 cups beef broth • 1 bay leaf • Chopped fresh parsley to serve In a large shallow bowl combine the flour, salt and pepper.

Add the lamb meat and toss to www.canadianinquirer.net

coat it.

Place the inner pot into your Instant Pot. Press the Saute button, and then use the Saute or Adjust buttons (depending on your model) to select the “Normal” or middle temperature.

Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the pot, and let it heat for 1 minute. Add the lamb in two batches and brown on at least a few sides of the cubes, about 2 minutes per side (if you want to brown all of the sides, go ahead, but it’s not necessary, and often the pieces of meat aren’t really six-sided “cubes”). Remove the meat with a slotted spoon to a plate, add the remaining tablespoon olive oil if there is not oil in the pan, and repeat with the other half of the lamb.

Add the leeks, carrots, celery and fennel to the pot and saute without the lid on for 5 minutes, until everything is slightly tender. Stir in the rosemary, then add the brandy to the pot and

stir for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, broth, bay leaf and lamb, and stir to combine.

Close and lock the lid. Set the valve to Sealing. Press Cancel, then press Manual or Pressure Cook and use the Pressure Level Button to select high pressure. Set the timer for 45 minutes. Note that the timer will not start to count down until the correct pressure has been achieved.

When the Instant Pot beeps, press Cancel. Let the pressure come down slowly for 30 minutes. Release the sealing valve, remove the lid and serve hot in bowls, with parsley sprinkled over the stew. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 652 calories; 376 calories from fat; 42 g fat (15g saturated; 2 g trans fats); 97 mg cholesterol; 928 mg sodium; 35 g carbohydrate; 9 g fiber; 11 g sugar; 34 g protein.

39

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

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40

JULY 20, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

FRIDAY

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