Philippine Canadian Inquirer #343

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OCTOBER 26, 2018

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VOL. 10 NO. 343

PRO DEMOCRACY RALLY

The Liga Independencia Filipinas, supporters of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, stage a rally in support of the administration's fight against the CPP-NPA and other sectors in Mendiola, Manila on October 18, 2018. Story on page 9.

KING RODRIGUEZ / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Rights abuses in PH not ‘limited’ to drug war — HRW

9

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

16

HUMAN RIGHTS Watch (HRW) on Tuesday, October 23, said human rights abuses in the Philippines are no longer limited to President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, following the killing of nine sugarcane workers in Sagay City,

PDEA welcomes poll bets’ move to voluntarily undergo drug test

Negros Occidental last Saturday.

The HRW, through its researcher Carlos Conde, urged the Philippine government to launch an investigation and appropriately prosecute the perpetrators behind the massacre of the nine victims, including two minors, who were just resting at their tents in Hacienda Nene

Behind the Curtains: The Jhett Tolentino Story

❱❱ PAGE 4 Rights abuses

Get the latest news & updates www.canadianinquirer.net

❱❱ PAGE 21

Three earthquakes recorded off Vancouver Island, but no damage reported

Philippine News

2

OCTOBER 26, 2018

‘All systems go’ for Boracay reopening: PNP

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social media and enraged some netizens.

Earlier, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it will allow citizens’ arrests against littering in the island.

MANILA — It is ‘all systems go’ for the DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste reopening of Boracay Island to tourists Management and Local Government on Oct. 26, a Philippine National Police Benny Antiporda said this is to prevent (PNP) official said. the same scenario during the first day of “All systems go. In fact on Oct. 25, we the dry run when trash was found on the are conducting the capability demon- beach. stration wherein the chief PNP (Oscar Antiporda said that aside from locals, Albayalde) will grace the occasion. And they are also tapping businesses to help we have a series of activities that will be enforce the anti-littering ordinance of done in Boracay,” Chief Supt. John Bu- Boracay Island, known as the “Antilalacao, Police Regional Office-6 direc- Littering Ordinance of Malay Municipal tor, said in press conference in Camp No. 311.” Fines and imprisonment await Crame on Monday. violators, he warned.

“We are well-preAntiporda said pared insofar as eqmembers of the uipage, the number Compliant Assoof personnel needed, ciation of Boracay the facilities espe(CAB), a group of cially the buildings The CAB would hotels, resorts, and dahil mayroon kamdeputize its restaurants on the ing mga substations members island, were given na kinonstruct doon to become accreditation by the sa lugar (because Boracay Department of Tourwe have substations marshals. ism (DOT). that are being con“The CAB would structed in the area). deputize its memWe transferred the bers to become BoMalay Police Station racay marshals,” he (Headquarters) and many more. We will said, adding that each establishment is be having a press briefing on October 25 required to have pollution control offiin the island,” he added. cers.

Bulalacao also assured that the local CAB member establishments, he addpolice is ready to enforce ordinances on ed, would also install trash bins, espethe island, especially those with puni- cially on the beachfront. tive provisions.

In a previous interview, Environment Six months after it was closed for re- Secretary Roy Cimatu said environmenhabilitation, more than 1,300 people vis- tal enforcers will be deployed to patrol ited the island at the start of the 10-day Boracay’s beaches starting on reopening dry run of Boracay’s reopening on Oct. day.

15.

The campaign against single-use plasHowever, photos of garbage dumped tic will also be strictly implemented on in areas within the island went viral on the island. ■

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EPD, QCPD start preps for ‘Ligtas Undas 2018’

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — With barely a week before All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the Eastern Police District (EPD) have started security preparations for the annual observance.

EPD director Chief Supt. Bernabe Balba set the operational guidelines and procedures to be undertaken during this coming “Undas 2018” to ensure peace and order in cemeteries and other areas.

According to Balba, the occasion creates traffic congestions along major roads leading to transport terminals, thus the occurrence of accidents are inevitable.

Target-hardening measures will also be implemented to preempt possible criminal and terroristic acts like bombing and other attacks.

Likewise, lateral coordination with the Metro East Coordinating Council (MECC) and local government units in the area will also be done. “‘Ligtas Undas 2018’ is not just a normal holiday and people expect that we can strictly implement security measures and prevent crimes that would eventually not hinder the time they can spend with their departed loved ones. So let us not fail them,” Balba added.

EPD, however, made assurances the campaign against crimes and drugs will continue amid the security preparations for All Saints’ and Souls’ Days.

Meanwhile, QCPD director Chief Supt. Joselito Esquivel Jr., said QCPD is all set for security preparations with maximum deployment of uniformed and plainclothes policeman to different cemeteries and columbaria for the up-

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coming “Undas.”

Esquivel said that as early as Oct. 26, policemen will be deployed to different cemeteries and columbaria to ensure the security of those paying respects to their dead.

Around 1,305 policemen will be deployed to man six cemeteries and 16 columbaria in Quezon City, he said.

“Our uniformed personnel will be augmented by members of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) and other force multipliers to ensure peace and order and smooth flow of traffic,” the QCPD Chief said.

He also encouraged the public to report to the established Police Assistance Desks in the cemeteries, columbaria and public transport terminals any suspicious or untoward incidents for appropriate action.

He also reminded them to refrain from bringing prohibited things such as firearms, bladed weapons, liquors, gambling paraphernalia, videoke and also refrain from creating boisterous noise.

Furthermore, he called on those going to the cemetery to properly dispose their trash to avoid penalties.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Guillermo T. Eleazar earlier announced that around 3,409 policemen will be deployed to secure cemeteries in Metro Manila before and during the observance of All Saints’ and Souls’ Days.

Eleazar said under the “Ligtas Undas 2018,” policemen would be assigned to their posts as early as Oct. 31 until November 2. This would double police visibility in cemeteries to ensure public safety.

In Metro Manila alone, there are around 80 cemeteries and 30 columbaria, the biggest of which is the Manila North Cemetery. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

3

Federalism, Bangsamoro Organic Law go hand in hand: DILG PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Shifting to a federal form of government perfectly aligns with the Bangsamoro’s hope for local autonomy, an official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Monday.

“Federalism will cement in the Constitution the asymmetric relationship between the autonomous region of Bangsamoro and the federal government,” DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan E. Malaya said in a news release.

He said this to assure the people of Bangsamoro that federalism will not undo the developments of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), but rather, will serve as the necessary push and support that Muslims in the region need for the autonomy they have been longing for.

The Consultative Commit-

tee’s (ConCom) proposed Bayanihan Federal Constitution recognizes the cultural framework of the Bangsamoro people brought about by their Muslim faith.

“Our Muslim brothers and sisters have a lot to look forward to when we shift to a federal system because it will only help you further the programs and projects needed to handle autonomy,” Malaya said.

In Article XI of ConCom’s proposal, the Federal Republic will have 18 regions, 16 of which will be symmetrical in natural.

Meanwhile, the Bangsamoro and the Cordilleras will have an asymmetrical setup due to provisions for their autonomy, recognizing ethnicity, culture, religion, customs, traditions, language and distinct identities of the Bangsamoro people.

ConCom’s model also gives the Bangsamoro 75 percent share of all net revenues in the

exploration, development, and utilization of its own natural resources.

“This will also strengthen the region through a bigger share in the national income,” Malaya said.

This, Malaya said, will help the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) experience faster growth and development that will lift its people out of poverty and provide better opportunities for the Moros.

ARMM has vast agricultural lands endowed with rich natural resources and is home to Lake Lanao, the largest lake in Mindanao, making the region a source of hydroelectric power for Mindanao.

ARMM is also host to metallic minerals such as gold, silver, copper, manganese, nickel, zinc and iron.

“A vast array of potentials await ARMM under a federal setup. In the same vein, we are

Jonathan E. Malaya.

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also excited to see the Bangsamoro finally attain autonomy if it wins the January 2019 plebiscite for the BOL,” Malaya said.

The DILG has been inviting the people of ARMM to attend

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Philippine News

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Bong Go seeks amendment to juvenile justice law

BY MA. TERESA MONTEMAYOR Philippine News Agency MANILA — Former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Sunday said he would initiate a review of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act if given a Senate seat.

“Kung sakaling papalarin at kawaan ng Panginoon, ay sisilipin ko ang juvenile justice law kasi marami sa mga kabataan natin ang ginagamit ng sindikato para maging drug courier po sila ksi alam po nating hindi naman sila makukulong kapag less than 15 years old kaya ito ang isa sa aking mga unang gagawin (If the Lord wills it, I will check the juvenile justice law because many of our young people are used by syndicate groups as drug couriers since they won’t be jailed if they’re under 15 so this is one of the first things I’m going to do),” he said in an interview in Navotas City.

Lawmakers earlier proposed to lower the criminal age of responsibility, citing that adult criminals are using young people to commit heinous crimes con-

sidering that they cannot be held criminally liable.

Stressing that young people are common victims of illegal drug use and trade, the former presidential aide urged public officials to engage in worthwhile activities, which could provide them positive distraction against drugs.

“Mailayo sa droga ang mga kabataan at mag-basketball na lang sila, may mga rehab centers naman tayo para sa mga gusto magbagong buhay dahil biktima lamang sila ng ipinagbabawal na gamot (Keep the youth away from drugs and they’d just play basketball, we have rehab centers for those who want to start a new life because they are just victims of illegal drugs. Basketball is one of my advocacies in support of the president’s commitment against crime, drugs and corruption),” he added.

In line with his advocacy for the youth, Go lauded the Navotas city government for winning the Galing Pook, a competition on good education governance.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s former aide also vowed to help fire and flood victims if given a seat in the upper house.

“Kaya nga sinasabi ko sa mga buma-

SAP Bong Go.

batikos, wala naman kayong nagagawa sumama nalang kayo sa akin, magtulung-tulong na lang tayo para sa mga kababayan nating nasunugan at nabagyo dahil sila ng tunay na kawawa kapag hindi natulungan (That’s why I tell my critics, there’s nothing you can do so just join me, let’s work together to help fire and flood victims as they’re really pitiful if they don’t receive help),” he said.

Since he has resigned from his post in the government, Go said Duterte is now looking for his replacement while other staff members are working on the tasks he left.

“Isang maliit na opisina lang ang opisina ko na masyado lang nilang pinapalaki.

Marami pong magagaling na Pilipino na kayang gawin at gampanan ang trabaho ko. Hayaan na lang natin ang pangulo kung sino ang mapili niya kasi ang trust and confidence niya lang ang makakadecide diyan (My office is just a small

ALFRED FRIAS / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

office and other people just make it look big. There are many knowledgeable Filipinos who can do and take over my job.

Let’s leave it to the president to decide on it based on trust and confidence),” he added.

Go said he will continue to serve Duterte as a private citizen and without getting any stipend in return.

“May mga personal na pangangailangan ang ating pangulo na hindi ko pwede pabayaan dahil pinangako ko iyon noon pa, wala pa man ang pagtakbo, pangako ko po sa kanya habang buhay ko siya pagsisilbihan at hindi po ako mawawala sa tabi niya (The president has personal needs which I cannot neglect because it is my promise to him, even before I decided to run [for Senate], I promised him I will serve him for life and I will not leave him),” he said.

Go added that he is still SAP — “special assistant to the people.” ■

Rights abuses... ❰❰ 1

in Barangay Bulanon, Sagay City when 40 armed men reportedly shot them.

Conde noted that the victims were members of the National Federation of Sugarcane Workers (NFWS), “who joined the first day of a bungkalan, a land ocupation protest on part of the plantation.”

“Considerable international attention has rightly focused on the unending extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. But the Sagay Massacre highlights the fact that serious rights abuses in the Philippines are not limited to the drug war,” Conde said.

He stressed that agrarian violence is not new in the country, citing the 1985 massacre in Escalante, Negros Occidental, where 20 peasants and activists were killed when policemen and the military opened fire at a protest march.

Peasants, sugar workers, and labor acwww.canadianinquirer.net

tivists, he noted, have also been targeted by security forces in Negros, accusing them of being members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“Agrarian violence is not uncommon in the Philippines, which is still grappling with the landlessness that has been blamed for massive poverty that in turn has fueled a half-century-long communist insurgency,” Conde said.

Malacañang and several senators had condemned the killing of the nine sugar farmers.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Philippine National Police (PNP) has already been instructed to conduct a “thorough and impartial investigation on this dastardly act.”

For its part, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said it already sent a factfinding team through its Region 6 suboffice in Bacolod City to probe the said incident. ■

5

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

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Philippine News

6

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Palace disputes Inquirer headline on fare hike statement

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang has disputed a newspaper headline pertaining to its statement on jeepney fare hikes, saying it never asked the public to “stop whining” but merely sought for more patience amid rising prices of goods.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo was reacting to a Philippine Daily Inquirer article dated Oct. 19, titled “Panelo: Stop Whining About Fare Hires.”

Panelo shared a copy of the transcript released on the same date to dispel doubts about his statement.

“RESPONSE: Well, the message is always: ‘this is just temporary.’ So, hopefully, when everything settles down, babalik tayo sa dati (we’ll return to what we were before),” Panelo’s

statement read.

Panelo clarified that Palace commiserates with the riding public but assured that the fare hike was only “temporary.”

“While we commiserate with the riding public as they endure another round of fare hikes, we appeal for the understanding of the citizenry as the government has no choice but to allow the increase due to soaring prices of oil in the global market,” Panelo said.

“This office has further said that the situation is just ‘temporary,’” he added Panelo also assured that the Duterte administration “hears the plaints of our people” and “will do its best to address this situation.”

On Wednesday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) approved a PHP2 fare increase for public utility jeepneys.

In its decision, the LTFRB

said it has granted a petition filed by various transport groups seeking for a permanent fare hike for jeepneys — from PHP8 to PHP10.

“The Board hereby resolves to grant the petition for a fare increase, to make permanent the provisional increase of PHP1 granted on July 6, 2018 and an additional PHP1 for the first four kilometers or a minimum fare of PHP10 from the original fare of PHP8,” the LTFRB decision read.

Malacañang earlier said President Rodrigo R. Duterte will soon order the temporary suspension of the second tranche of excise tax on fuel.

Panelo said there will soon be proper documents that will be issued on the suspension.

The Department of Finance (DOF) earlier said current price and multiple estimates of crude prices over the next two months show that the average

Motorists fill their tanks along Marcos highway hours before gasoline prices go up by P1 per liter; diesel by P1.35 per liter and kerosene by P1.10 per liter as October started.

JOEY O. RAZON // PNA

price will stay above the USD80 threshold.

Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, suspension of

excise tax levied on petroleum products may be suspended in 2019 if global crude prices average USD80 per barrel for three consecutive months. ■

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Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

7

QCPD lauds new law easing DOJ set to appeal procedure on ordinance violators RTC ruling on

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency

test the violation and is willing to pay the fine, which may be imposed prior to the filing of a complaint, he or she shall be allowed to pay the fine at the City Treasurer or in the barangay where the arrest took place.

The case shall be considered closed after payment and after presenting the OVR to the apprehending authority, who shall attach a certified true copy of the receipt along with the document of the case.

Violators will be given five working days from the issuance of the OVR to pay the fine.

Furthermore, under the new ordinance, the fine shall be the minimum imposable by the ordinance violated. If there are fines imposed in the second and third offenses, the minimum fine in the second and third offenses shall be charged.

If the violator had already availed of the No Contest Provision three times, he/she could no longer avail of the privi-

Anyone below 18 years of age is exempted from the issuance of OVR. A child who is cited for violation of a city ordinance shall be MANILA — The Quezon City recorded as a “child at risk” and Police District (QCPD) on not as a “child in conflict with Wednesday welcomed the apthe law.” proval of a new ordinance The violator shall be brought aimed at easing procedures on to any barangay official at the the apprehension of city ordibarangay hall and referred to nance violators. the City Social Services DevelQCPD director Chief Supt. opment Department (SSDD), Joselito Esquivel said City with the assistance of the baOrdinance 2752-2018 or “An rangay, for release to the cusOrdinance Providing for the tody of parents or guardian, or, Procedure in Cases of Violaif neither is present, the child’s tion of City Ordinances Imposnearest relative. ing Fines, Penalties and ComIf the parents, guardians or munity Services” will make it relatives cannot be located, or if easier for both the apprehendthey refuse to take custody, the ing authorities and suspects to child may be released to a duly address violations and correregistered non-government or sponding penalties, help minireligious organization, baranmize congestion of QCPD cusgay official or a member of the todial facilities, and protect the Barangay Council for the Prorights of the people. tection of Children, SSDD or The city ordinance tapped loany other appropriate agency. cal law enforcement units such The SSDD shall determine as the Barangay and design the Public Safety Ofintervention ficers (BSPO), program for the Department of child.

Public Order and A child who is cited for violation of The program Safety, and Envia city ordinance shall be recorded shall consist of ronmental Proas a “child at risk” and not as a counseling, attection officers “child in conflict with the law.” tendance in to enforce the group activities new measure. for children, and “Nagpapasfor the parents, alamat po kami sa ating butih- lege, and a case with maximum attendance in parenting educaing Mayor (Herbert) Bautista penalty imposed shall be filed tion seminar as provided under sa pag-apruba ng ordinansang against the violator.

Republic Act 10630 or “Juveito. Magsisilbi itong gabay hindi If a violator has no capacity nile Justice and Welfare Act of lamang sa publiko kundi pati na to pay the fine, he/she may ren- 2006.” rin sa ating kapulisan kung paa- der community service from If the child has been found no mapapadali ang pagproseso one to two days of community by the SSDD to be depensa mga lumalabag ng mga ordi- service for the first offense, two dent, abandoned, neglected or nansa ng Lungsod Quezon (We to three days for the second of- abused by their parent and the thank our good Mayor Herbert fense, and three to four days best interest of the child is to be Bautista in approving this ordi- of community service for the placed in the Youth Care Facilnance. This will serve as a guide third offense. ity, the child’s parents or guardnot only for the public but the When an offender is a corpo- ians must first execute a writpolice as well as it will ease pro- ration, partnership, organiza- ten authorization for the child’s cessing of violators of Quezon tion or any similar entity, the voluntary commitment.

City ordinances),” Esquivel said OVR shall be issued to its presiIn the absence of parents or in a message sent to reporters. dent and/or general manager guardians, or if they refuse to Since June 13, a total of 235,427 or managing partner, or any execute a written authorization violators of city ordinances were other officer-in-charge of the for voluntary commitment, the accosted, wherein 205,339 were organization. proper petition for involuntary warned, 2,044 were fined and Fines paid by violators, who commitment shall be immedi28,044 were charged. availed of the “No Contest Pro- ately filed by the SSDD as proUnder the new ordinance, any vision,” shall be equally shared vided under Section 21 of RA person caught for violation of by the city government and 9344, “Procedure for taking the any provision of an ordinance the barangay, which also cover child into custody shall at all may be issued with an Ordi- meals and other allowances of times be observed by any law nance Violation Receipt (OVR). the BPSO and the deputized enforcer who takes a child into If the violator will not con- agent. custody.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Trillanes case

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday said government lawyers will be filing within the week the necessary pleadings to ask Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano to take a second look at his order in connection with the criminal charges against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. “The DOJ (Department of Justice) will file, not later than Friday, a motion for partial reconsideration of the order of RTC-Makati Branch 148 (coup d’ etat) only insofar as it found that Sen. Trillanes had sufficiently shown that he filed his certificate of amnesty, and that therefore it follows that he also admitted his guilt for the offense of coup d’ etat and recanted all statements inconsistent with such admission of guilt,” Guevarra told reporters.

Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo earlier said Solicitor General Jose Calida intends to file ‘very soon’ a petition seeking the reversal of the decision before the Court of Appeals (CA).

Soriano earlier claimed he no longer had jurisdiction over the case against Trillanes under the legal doctrine of immutability of a final judgment, thus he can-

DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

not validly order his arrest as sought by prosecutors or issue a hold departure order anymore.

In the same order, however, Soriano said there is “no basis to believe that Proclamation 572 has breached any constitutional guaranty or that it has encroached on the constitutional power of either the judicial and executive branch.”

Soriano said that while he may no longer order Trillanes arrest, a future situation may be more favorable to the government’s cause.

“Meanwhile, the law is vibrant. Jurisprudence is its lifeblood. Subsequent jurisprudence may forge new horizons in which exceptions to the immutability of a final and executory judgment may be born,” Soriano said in the same order.

The magistrate said that in voiding the grant of amnesty to Trillanes, Proclamation 572 “merely sought to correct what the executive branch perceives to be an erroneous grant of amnesty to Trillanes, who allegedly did not apply for amnesty and who failed to admit guilt and/or participation and involvement in, among others, the Oakwood Mutiny, and/or otherwise failed to recant previous statements contrary to such admissions.”

Proclamation 572, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Aug. 31, declared Trillanes’ amnesty void ab initio (from the beginning). ■

TOTO LOZANO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Philippine News

8

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Palace hits IPU’s ‘biased’ probe on de Lima, Trillanes cases

BY AEROL JOHN PATEÑA 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 Arlnie Colleene Talain Singca Account Manager Kristopher Yong Director/Producer Boom Dayupay Photographers/Video Ginno Alcantara Ronnie Garcia Maria Crizandra Baylon Sales 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 — Malacañang on Monday slammed the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a Geneva-based organization of foreign parliaments, after it announced its intention to probe government cases against Senators Leila de Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo described the IPU’s decision to send an official mission to the Philippines to look into the two senators’ cases as “unfortunate” as it was an “intervention of domestic affairs.”

“We find it unfortunate that another Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo.

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESPERSON / FACEBOOK prying organization has once again cast aspersion on the integrity of the legal pressures,” Panelo said. void, noting that it is “anchored on legal processes of our country,” Panelo said in Panelo stressed that the Office of the justifications.” a press statement.

President had no hand in de Lima’s ar“The amnesty granted to him due to Panelo said the Office of the President rest since an “independent” court issued his involvement in rebellion and coup considered the resolutions adopted by the warrant. d’etat proceeded from a defective prothe IPU and its subsequent decisions on “We should not forget that the arrest cess. It is thus for the government to isthe two senators’ cases “as an affront to of Senator de Lima stemmed from a sue orders protective of the State and its the core of our State’s principles.” warrant issued by an independent and people, and up to Senator Trillanes and “We consider such actions as interven- competent court, which found probable his capable lawyers to defend whatever tions of our domestic affairs for they do cause that she may have committed the rights, if any, he has,” Panelo said. not only show the Philippines in a bad crime charged while she was the Justice Meanwhile, Panelo asked the IPU to light in front of the global community Secretary,” Panelo said. refrain from commenting further in the but worse, such one-sided evaluations He said de Lima’s trial is ongoing and it cases, noting that they could “influence infringe on our sovereignty,” Panelo said. cannot be said she has been denied fun- the outcome of the cases.”

He pointed out He added that the that the IPU did cases are now pending not respect ongoing before the local courts. proceedings being He also assured conducted by local The amnesty granted to him due to his the IPU or any global courts and did not involvement in rebellion and coup d’etat organization that even hear the side of proceeded from a defective process. the country’s justice the government. system remains “inPanelo also tagged dependent, effective, the IPU as “biased” and functioning.” since its actions showed opposite to ad- damental rights because she even faces “The wheels of justice have started to herence to the rule of law and due process. the same with counsels of her choice. grind, and the two lawmakers have been “The act of publishing its findings “She even remains vocal up to this day accorded due process and would coneven before conducting its intended thereby disclosing that her freedom to tinue to be given their respective days probe already exposes how biased this express whatever she feels remains un- in court. Having said this, our State does organization is. Hence, we raise doubts hampered,” Panelo said. not need guidance or directives from as to the organization’s competency, inHe also justified the proclamation de- strangers. We can do well on our own,” tegrity and invulnerability to political claring the amnesty given to Trillanes as Panelo said. ■

Palace leaves P334 wage hike to regional boards

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang said Tuesday it will leave to the regional wage boards the petition for wage increases, including the PHP334 hike in Metro Manila.

“You know, our wage board and this wage board will determine after accept-

ing evidence on both sides, whether or not there is a need for an increase,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace press briefing.

“So the Palace will respect whatever the decision of the wage board is,” he added.

The labor groups headed by the Associated Labor Unions — Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALUTUCP), are reportedly asking for a

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PHP334 wage increase in the National Capital Region (NCR) amid the rising inflation rate.

The approval of a PHP1 fare hike for jeepneys and buses has also prompted the labor groups to push for their wage hike petition.

The NCR’s Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board is set to meet on Oct. 22 to determine the wage increase for workers. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

9

Sison ready to resume PDEA welcomes poll bets’ move talks with Duterte to voluntarily undergo drug test admin ‘anytime’

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer COMMUNIST PARTY of the Philippines (CPP) Jose Maria “Joma” Sison said he is ready to resume peace negotiations with the Philippine government “anytime” President Rodrigo Duterte is ready.

“The standing policy of the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) is to negotiate with the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) anytime he is ready to resume the peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration and further agreements,” Sison wrote on his Facebook post.

CPP’s political wing is the NDFP, while its armed wing is the New People’s Army (NPA).

“It is up to him to end his position of having terminated the peace negotiations with Proclamation 360,” he added.

Sison made these remarks after Duterte, in a speech during the inauguration of the Gaisano Grand Citygate Mall in Davao City on Friday, urged anew members of the NPA to surrender their arms, offering them a comfortable life.

“Listen, NPAs. I’m not fight-

ing with you and I don’t want to kill you, but I don’t know about you. But we are really friends,” the President, who previously had heated exchanges with the communist rebels’ leader, said in Bisaya.

“Your underground movement will not amount to anything. But I am ready to accept you if you surrender. Bring your firearms, give it to me, and I will give you a house and a job. You can be sure of that,” he continued.

In response to this, Sison said his former student was either trying to “sound less hostile” or is “still hostile” for trying to bribe them to surrender to the government.

“He is correct though in saying that the NPA will continue to exist even after he and I are gone from the surface of the earth, if by implication he means positively that the root causes of the armed conflict must be addressed and solved by social, economic and political reforms,” the CPP leader noted.

The relationship between the CPP and the current administration started to turn sour after the President signed Proclamation No. 360, which formally terminates negotiations with the CPPNPA-NDFP, in November 2017.

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency

MANILA — While an amendment to the Omnibus Election Code is necessary to compel candidates to subject themselves to drug testing, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said there is nothing wrong if those seeking public office will voluntarily do so.

In a press conference Tuesday, PDEA Spokesperson Derrick Carreon said “it doesn’t hurt to voluntarily, as personal advocacy, to subject yourself to drug testing.”

He noted that PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino himself said those who will submit themselves to testing sans a mandatory policy, is “well and good.”

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael, for her part, noted that candidates should have the initiative to prove they do not patronize illegal drugs, especially those included on the narco-list.

“Yung mga nasa narco list, of course kung wala pang batas na nagmamandato sa kanila para mag-undergo ng drug testing then voluntary dapat ‘yon sa

PDEA Spokesperson Derrick Carreon.

DERRICK CARREON / FACEBOOK

mga kakandidato, especially na marami sila (Those who are in the narco list, while there is no law that compels them to undergo drug testing, they should voluntarily subject themselves to it, especially because there are so many of them),” she said.

However, the problem with voluntary drug testing is the “timing,” Carreon said.

“As Dir. Gen. Aquino said, timing is of the essence in drug testing because if the person knows he/she will undergo one, most likely, if he/she does God forbid use, he/she can just abstain and submit to the drug test,” he stressed.

Previously, the Supreme

Court (SC) ruled that imposing a mandatory drug testing to candidates running for an office in the 2019 mid-term elections is “unconstitutional” as this runs counter to the requirements already embodied in the omnibus election code.

PDEA earlier proposed the mandatory drug tests for 2019 election candidates.

Malacanañg did not dismissed the proposal on the spot but said it will extensively evaluate it first, citing the SC ruling.

On Tuesday, Carreon did not drop a name but said a candidate already subjected herself to voluntary drug test at the PDEA office. ■

China, PH hold 1st youth exchange program

BY AEROL JOHN PATEÑA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Some 54 delegates joined the first ever ChinaPhilippines Youth Friendly Exchange Program, which is expected to further enhance the relationship of the two countries, from Oct. 18 to Nov. 1 this year.

In an interview Friday, Jiang Fan of the Fujian Foreign Affairs Office said the program, which is sponsored by the Fujian Provincial People’s Government in China and the Friends of the Philippines Foundation, seeks to enhance the relationship between Philippines and China, eventually increasing

the exchange programs for the young people of the two countries in the future.

“If the young people of both countries can know each others’ culture and heritage, it will definitely help both countries maintain good relationship because the youth are the future of the nation or the world, so that’s why we initiated this program,” Jiang said.

He cited the regular youth exchange program between China and Indonesia, wherein participants have maintained their friendship through the years.

College or university students from the different provinces of China, Cebu and Davao are the main participants of the

program.

Jiang added the students from China and the Philippines were chosen through application submitted to their respective university or college, and an oral exam administered by their respective provincial government.

“Since we invited universities and colleges, we expect in the future that the universities from the two countries themselves can do student exchanges,” he said.

Aside from the youth-delegates, some officials of Fujian Provincial Government; Cebu Provincial Government; Davao Provincial Government, members of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and www.canadianinquirer.net

the Philippine News Agency (PNA) are also invited in the program, Jiang said.

The delegates visited the CHED central office; University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman; Vargas Museum; Ateneo De Manila University and its art gallery, and attended a welcoming banquet with the members of the Friends of the Philippines Foundation on Friday.

On Saturday, the delegates visited the Luneta Park, Fort Santiago, Bahay Tsinoy and SM Mall of Asia before flying to Davao and Cebu, where they will also visit different universities, among others. Afterwards, they will spend the last week of the program in China.

“This program is also in co-

operation with the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Consulate General in Cebu and Davao,” Jiang said.

Meanwhile, youth delegates from China commended the hospitality and warmth of the Filipinos as they are expecting to know more about the country’s vibrant culture when they visit Cebu and Davao in the coming days.

“I wanted to see what the Philippine culture is like and the differences between the Chinese and Filipino culture.

It’s my first time here and I like the food a lot and weather also,” Wu Xinyu said.

Dr. Gong Yiran praised the helpfulness and warmth of the Filipinos. ■

10

Philippine News

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Senate, House, SC, Cabinet receive ‘good’ satisfaction rating in Q3 — SWS

PNP orders field units to intensify counter-ops vs. Reds

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency

FILIPINOS GAVE the Senate, House of Representatives, Supreme Court (SC), and President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet a “good” net satisfaction rating in the third quarter of 2018, according to a private pollster.

In its latest survey done from September 15 to 23, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said that 62 percent of its 1,500 survey respondents said they were satisfied with the performance of the Senate, while 14 percent of them were not, giving the upper house a “good” +48 score from the +41 in June 2018.

The seven-point increase in the net satisfaction of the Senate, the SWS said, was because of the increases of 13 points in Balance Luzon, and 12 points in Mindanao even though it dropped by nine points in Metro Manila and one point in the Visayas.

On the other hand, the lower chamber and the High Court’s net satisfaction score both jumped from “moderate” to “good.”

Among the respondents, 53 percent were satisfied with the performance of the lower chamber, while 17 percent were dissatisfied, resulting to a “good” +36 from the “moderate” +25 in June last year.

The 11-point climb in the score of the House was due to increases of 21 points in Balance Luzon, and 15 points in Mindanao, despite the 2-point decrease in the Visayas, and the 10-point decrease in Metro Manila, according to the SWS, The SC’s net satisfaction

SIMEON CELI JR. / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

score boosted from “moderate” +19 in the previous quarter to a “good” +31, with 49 percent of the respondents said they are satisfied with the High Court’s performance and 18 percent are dissatisfied.

The pollster noted that the 12-point rise in the SC’s overall net satisfaction was due to increases of 18 points in Metro Manila, 14 points in Balance Luzon, 15 points in the Visayas, and four points in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the net satisfaction score of Duterte’s Cabinet also escalated to “good” +32 from “moderate” +25 in June 2018.

The SWS showed that 48 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with the Cabinet’s performance, while 16 percent were not satisfied.

The six-point improvement in the SC’s rating was due to in-

creases of 11 points in Balance Luzon, eight points in Mindanao, and six points in Visayas, although down by five points in Metro Manila.

The pollster classified net satisfaction ratings of +70 and above as “excellent,” +50 to +69 as “very good,” +30 to +49 as “good,” +10 to +29 as “moderate,” +9 to -9 as “neutral,” -10 to -29 as “poor,” -30 to -49 as “bad,” -50 to -69 as “very bad,” and -70 and below as “execrable.”

The SWS used face-to-face interviews of its respondents on its September 2018 Social Weather Survey. It also used sampling error margins of plus or minus three percent for national percentages, plus or minus four percent for Balance Luzon, and plus or minus six percent for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday alerted all field units to conduct counter-actions against members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) following the recent attacks against police officers in various provinces.

On instructions of PNP chief, Director General Albayalde, Director for Operations Mao Aplasca alerted all field units to conduct counter-actions against the tactical offensive activities of the CPP-NPA dubbed as “Koda Supermarket” aimed at collecting more firearms and equipment from police and military targets through raids and ambuscades on various targets.

The PNP said the increased activities by the communists could also be part of its “saberrattling” tactics to project an image of strength to highlight the forthcoming CPP anniversary on Dec. 26, and bolster its extortion activities in the forthcoming election season.

Police maneuver forces in Negros Island, in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, launched a manhunt of a group of some 40 armed men who set on fire a bulldozer and a back hoe owned

by PhilSouth Construction in Barangay Bolisong, Manjuyod, Negros Oriental in the evening of Oct. 18.

No casualties were reported in the incident.

Passengers of a commercial bus, who witnessed the incident, told police investigators that the armed men shouted “

Mabuhay ang Bagong Hukbong Bayan” while setting the heavy equipment on fire.

Investigators are looking into possible extortion attempt as motive for the incident.

Local officials of Negros Oriental denounced this latest conmunist atrocity saying it is an obstacle to development because it stalled the ongoing roadworks project of a vital farm-to-market road in the province.

“Those behind this crime are resisting entry of development in the countryside that would have ushered government presence and availability of goods and services that will benefit people in the barrios,” Albayalde said in a statement.

In separate incident, three policemen were killed while three others were wounded in an ambush by suspected NPA rebels in Barangay Napolidan, Lupi, Camarines Sur on Oct. 18.

The casualties were assigned as security escorts of Food and Drug Administration Director General Nela Charade Puno.

On Oct. 16, suspected communist rebels also ambushed a group of policemen in Aurora that resulted in the death of PO2 Ronald Ruidera.

“We condemn these latest acts of lawless terror by the local communist movement against symbols of government authority. We mourn their loss, but assure the ends of justice will be served,” Albayalde said.

“This is not only an attack on the police, but an assault on a national agency that protects consumer welfare,” he added. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

11

PH marks 74th PRRD signs law granting franchise anniversary of the to Villar-owned telco system historic Leyte landing

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency

BY BEN CAL Philippine News Agency

push to other provinces in the Visayas, Luzon and Mindanao crushing all Japanese resistance.

MANILA — The country will The Leyte landing was a wellcelebrate on Saturday the 74th planned strategy to isolate Jaanniversary of the historic pan’s strategic position in ChiLeyte landing by Gen. Douglas na and other areas in the Pacific MacArthur Oct. 20, 1944 that Ocean during the war. liberated the Philippines from It may be recalled that then Japanese occupation in World US President Franklin D. RoosWar II. evelt ordered MacArthur to flee Defense Undersecretary Er- from the Philippines to Austranesto G. Carolina, administra- lia shortly before the fall of Batator of the Philippine Veterans an to organize a force that would Affairs Office (PVAO), will be launch a counter attack later. the guest of honor and speaker However, before leaving, during the ceremony in Palo Gen. MacArthur promised the Beach, Leyte, the exact location Filipinos with the now famous where allied forces led by Gen. words “I shall return.”

MacArthur landed.

He fulfilled his promise on U.S. Ambassador to the Phil- Oct. 20, 1944, returning to the ippines Sung Y. Kim is expected Philippines triumphantly. to attend the annual ceremony.

War records disclosed that The landing was preceded in July 1944, Roosevelt met three days earlier by the great- with MacArthur and Admiral est naval battle Chester Nimitz in history at in Hawaii, where Leyte Gulf that the decision was involved a total made to liberate of 348 warships, People of the the Philippines 216 of which Philippines, in a massive siwere U.S. vessels, I have multaneous air, two Australians, returned! sea and land atand 64 Japanese, tacks. according to reThe fierce natired Brig. Gen. val battle comRestituto Aguimenced at dawn lar, chief of PVAO historical di- of Oct. 17, 1944 that surprised vision. the Japanese.

During the naval battle, the After the victorious landing, Japanese lost four aircraft Gen. MacArthur announced carriers, three battleships, 10 to the people by saying: “Peocruisers, and 11 destroyers, ple of the Philippines, I have while the Americans lost one returned! By the grace of Allight carrier, two escort carri- mighty God, our forces stand ers, and three destroyers. again on Philippine soil.”

The once mighty Japanese The successful Leyte landing Navy was destroyed during the was the beginning of the Japasea battle on Oct. 17, 1944 that nese defeat in the Philippines. paved the way for allied forces, The fighting moved to other led by MacArthur, to beach land parts of the country, includon Palo Beach three days later ing Manila where the Japanese that liberated the Philippines forces suffered a crushing defrom the clutches of Japanese feat. invaders that occupied the Gen. Tomuyuki Yamashita, Philippines following the fall of commander of Japanese forces Bataan on April 9, 1942. in the Philippines, fled to KianThen President Sergio Os- gan, Ifugao to await Japanese meña, Sr. and Brig. Gen. Carlos reinforcement that never came.

Romulo, a ranking Filipino ofYamashita was forced to surficer, accompanied MacArthur render to Filipino guerrillas in during the Leyte Landing.

Mt. Napulawan, Kiangan, IfuMacArthur’s forces knifed gao on Sept. 2, 1945. into Leyte then continued to The rest is history. ■

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law granting Streamtech System Technologies Inc. a franchise to construct, operate and maintain telecommunications systems throughout the country.

Duterte signed Republic Act 11089 on Oct. 18, giving a 25year franchise to the telecom system owned by Villar’s family.

Under the law, Streamtech will “maintain for commercial and in the public interest an international gateway facility to serve and connect the Philippines to other countries and territories.

The company is directed to secure a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity as well as appropriate permits and licenses for the construction, installation and operations of telecom systems from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

“The grantee shall not use any frequency in the radio spectrum without authorization from the NTC,” the law said.

“The NTC, however, shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of such authority, permit, or license,” it added.

The measure also provides

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.

that Streamtech “shall improve and extend its services in areas not served, and in hazard- and typhoon-prone areas” of the country.

“The grantee shall conform to the ethics of honest enterprise and not use its stations or facilities for obscene or indecent transmission or for dissemination of deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts,” it said.

The franchise, according to the law, shall be deemed ‘ipso facto’ revoked if Streamtech fails to commence operations within three years from effec-

SIMEON CELI JR. / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

tivity of the law, and to operate continuously for two years.

The grantee shall also be fined with PHP1 million “per working day of noncompliance” if it fails to submit mandatory annual reports to Congress.

Manuel Paolo Villar, son of businessman Manny and Senator Cynthia Vilar, is reportedly managing Streamtech.

Meanwhile, Duterte also signed on Oct. 18 the Republic Act 11099 renewing for another 25 years the franchise granted to Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation to “construct, install, operate, and maintain radio broadcasting stations.” ■

DFA chief cites Asia-Europe meeting in addressing global issues

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has cited the huge role of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in discussing pressing world issues, stressing the importance of sitting down and tackling ways in addressing global concerns.

Locsin pointed out that regions that account for some of the best functioning economies and organized societies of the present are involved in the meeting. www.canadianinquirer.net

“There’s clearly something of value there we intend to keep growing,” he said.

In a press conference as he concludes his participation at the ASEM in Brussels on Saturday, Locsin said the leaders covered a wide range of concerns in politics, economics, and culture.

On the Philippine side, the foreign affairs chief said he raised the topic on migration.

“The summit brings us to a tighter partnership between Asia and Europe to address challenges in global scale,” he said.

Locsin acknowledged that the Asian experience with Eu-

rope in the past is another aspect of the two regions’ history.

“At this summit, no judgment were made about that experience, what there was instead was a determined and cooperative effort to discover the best possibilities of the greatest mutual benefit by moving forward,” he said.

“ASEM’s value added was to show how informal dialogue can move forward even on the most difficult issues,” he added.

The DFA chief represented President Rodrigo at the highlevel gathering in Brussels, Belgium, which ran from Oct. 18 to 20. ■

12

Philippine News

OCTOBER 26, 2018

‘Honeylet is really my true love’: Duterte

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte described his partner, Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña, as his “true love.”

“Out of everyone else that I know, she’s the one that I will really believe in,” Duterte said during the inauguration of the Gaisano Grand Citygate Mall in Davao City on Friday.

The President made this remark after mentioning in a speech a former girlfriend who happened to be a “gobernadora.”

Duterte and Avanceña have been together for more than 20 years. They have a 13-year-old daughter named Veronica, also known as Kitty.

The President also took pride in their daughter for being smart, just like Avanceña.

“She is good at… Because she’s a valedictorian. That’s true. Her daughter takes after her,” Duterte said.

“Like Honeylet’s daughter.

Comelec starts purging list of senatorial aspirants

BY FERDINAND PATINIO Philippine News Agency

Rodrigo Duterte and Honeylet Avanceña.

KING RODRIGUEZ / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Her lowest grade is 91. That’s the lowest. I told her, ‘Nak, back then I only studied just a little.’

Because she’s always complaining, always studying and rarely goes out anymore,” he added.

Last Oct. 7, Duterte and his

family spent the weekend in Hong Kong to take a break.

His former top aide, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, uploaded photos of himself with Duterte, who was joined by Avanceña and Kitty. ■

FRIDAY

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday started purging the list of senatorial aspirants for the midterm polls next year.

“We have authorized the Law Department to motu proprio (on its own) file petitions to declare nuisance candidates, just to start the process,” Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in an interview.

“In other words, they don’t have to wait for a complaint to declare a candidate as a nuisance candidate,” she added.

Guanzon noted that they began cleansing the list to beat the deadline in releasing the final list of candidates by midDecember.

“These are the processes that are now starting so that we can hit the target before Dec. 15 and we can print the ballots,” she said.

Guanzon said they expect the number of Senate aspirants to be declared nuisance akin to the figures in the 2016 elections — 50 out of the 172 who filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) to run for the upper house of Congress.

For next year’s polls, a total of 152 COCs for senator were filed on October 11-17.

The Omnibus Election Code states that the commission may, motu proprio or upon a verified petition of an interested party, refuse to give due course to or cancel a COC. The Comelec can declare one to be a nuisance candidate if it is proven that the filing of COC aims to put the election process in mockery and disrepute; cause confusion among voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates; or by other circumstances or acts that clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run. ■

Sara’s role in Alvarez’ ouster won’t affect executive-legislative ties

BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — The relations of the executive and legislative branches of government will not be affected by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s role in the ouster of former House of Representatives Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, Malacañang said on Friday.

“Hindi naman (It will not),” Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said when asked in a radio interview if the presidential daughter’s action would ruin the Palace’s relations with the House.

“Kasi, ultimately whoever suggested the ouster, ang magdedecide pa rin ang members ng Kongreso (Because, ultimately whoever suggested the ouster, it is still the Congress members

who decide),” he said.

During Thursday’s 44th Philippine Business Conference and Expo (PBC&E) Concluding Ceremony at the Manila Hotel, President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that his daughter Sara “operated” the ouster of Alvarez more than three months ago.

“Talagang ano yan si Inday (Inday is really), so be careful with that woman. She can oust even a Speaker, she operated in Davao. Babae ‘to ha (This is a woman). She operated in Davao as mayor. Tingnan mo nangyari sa Congress, ’di natanggal si (Look at what happened in Congress, [Alvarez] was ousted),” Duterte said in his speech.

Duterte, however, clarified that he had nothing to do with Alvarez’s ouster despite the former Speaker’s statements last year that he can impeach the President.

“Bebot, he’s a close friend of mine. I will support him. Pero siguro (But perhaps) in… ‘Oh I can also impeach him,’ referring to me,” Duterte said.

“Para sa atin wala ‘yan. Bale wala ‘yan politiko. Bakit mo ako i-impeach? Magkaibigan tayo.

(For us politicians, that’s nothing. Why will you impeach me?

We’re friends.) That’s the usual answer. You banter around but you know siguro. Ang anak (ko), lalo na ito, bantay kayo dito(My children, especially this one, you watch out),” he added.

Alvarez was replaced by former president and Pampanga Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Despite her impressive standing in the senatorial surveys, Sara has decided to seek another term as mayor of Davao in the 2019 mid-term elections.

Sara’s youngest brother Sebastian Duterte will be her vice www.canadianinquirer.net

Former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

CONGRESSMAN PANTALEON ALVAREZ / FACEBOOK

mayor candidate while former vice mayor Paolo Duterte will run for congressman of Davao City’s 1st District.

The President said he does not like political dynasties but “we are forced” because the people of Davao voted for them.

An anti-political dynasty provision of “up to the second

degree of consanguinity or affinity” has been included in the proposed federal Constitution drafted by the Consultative Committee tasked by Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution.

Duterte, the country’s first president from Mindanao, will serve until 2022. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

13

House pushes for free civil registration for IPs

BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency MANILA — A bill providing a free and culture-sensitive system of civil registration for indigenous peoples (IPs) has hurdled second reading at the House of Representatives.

According to a statement on Tuesday, the Lower House approved via voice vote House Bill No. 7849, or the proposed “Indigenous Peoples Civil Registration System (ICPRS) Act.” The bill aims to collect, update, and create a database of the members of the IPs and indigenous cultural communities (ICCs). It also seeks to provide a civil registration system that is responsive to the culture, customs, and traditions of the

ICCs and IPs. Under the bill, IPs shall be exempted from paying all fees in connection with the recording of birth, marriage, and death at the Local Civil Registry Office, and such exemption shall extend to any fine or fee for late registration.

The bill also exempts ICCs and IPs from the payment of notarial fees and documentary stamp tax in cases where the recording of the birth, marriage, or death requires the execution of affidavits or sworn statements and similar documents.

The proposed civil registration system for IPs shall recognize and respect their system of naming their members; the conclusive legal effect of their tribal authorities and elders in officiating and/or dissolving marriages; their elders, tribal

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK

doctors, or midwives as reportorial authorities in cases of birth and death of a member of the IPs or ICCs. ANAC-IP party-list Rep. Jose

Panganiban Jr., author of the bill, said members of ICCs and IPs are discouraged to register birth, marriage, and death events primarily because of fi-

nancial burden.

He noted that the lack of a culturally-sensitive system of civil registration led to nonregistration of IPs. “Because of the non-registration of their civil status, members of the ICCs and IPs are often neglected in the delivery of basic social services from the government,” Panganiban said.

He said no data is available on the ethno-linguistics origin of the country’s populace since almost 60 percent of the 22 million members of the ICCs and IPs are not registered with the civil registration agency.

The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier expressed support for the enactment into law of the bills, noting that it is a step forward in “helping the ICCs and IPs maintain their cultural integrity.” ■

Trillanes amnesty raps deterrent vs. future plotters: Guevarra

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday underscored the importance of proceeding with the amnesty cases against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, saying it serves as a deterrent for like-minded military adventurism in the future.

“With all due respect, pursuing one to answer for the crime of rebellion or coup d’état is not a useless exercise, as it sends a warning to all similarly minded persons who have devious plans of endangering the security of the republic,” Guevarra told reporters.

The justice chief’s remarks were in response to some lawmakers’ call for the executive to back down from the cases following the decision of Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano which was released on Monday.

“The Makati Br. 148 order is not the final word on the matter. Any other judge could have appreciated the same evidence differently,” Guevarra underscored, reiterating that the Supreme Court (SC) will

ultimately decide on Trillanes’ fate.

The court upheld the validity of President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamation against the grant of amnesty to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV but said it can no longer order Trillanes’ arrest as sought by the government citing “the legal doctrine that a final and executory judgment shall be immutable.”

In a 33-page order, Soriano found “no basis to believe that Proclamation 572 has breached any constitutional guaranty or that it has encroached on the constitutional power of either the judicial and executive branch.”

Soriano said that while he may no longer order Trillanes arrest, a future situation may be more favorable to the government’s cause.

“Meanwhile, the law is vibrant. Jurisprudence is its lifeblood. Subsequent jurisprudence may forge new horizons in which exceptions to the immutability of a final and executory judgment may be born,” Soriano said in the same order.

The magistrate said that in voiding the grant of amnesty to Trillanes, Proclamation 572 “merely sought to correct what

the executive branch perceives to be an erroneous grant of amnesty to Trillanes, who allegedly did not apply for amnesty and who failed to admit guilt and/or participation and involvement in, among others, the Oakwood Mutiny, and/or otherwise failed to recant previous statements contrary to such admissions.”

The court turned down the government’s plea for an arrest warrant and a hold departure order against the lawmaker citing that the judgment clearing the lawmaker had long been final and executory.

“The dismissal (of the case) has become final and executory,” Soriano said, citing the legal doctrine of “immutability of a final and executory judgment,” adding that the court had lost jurisdiction over the case after it had lapsed into becoming final.

Proclamation 572, signed by Duterte on Aug. 31, declared Trillanes’ amnesty void ab initio (from the beginning).

Based on the proclamation, 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 www.canadianinquirer.net

Antonio Trillanes IV.

Mutiny, the February 2006 Marines stand-off and the November 2007 Manila Peninsula incident.

The proclamation also tasked the AFP and the PNP “to employ all lawful means to apprehend former (Lieutenant Senior Grade) Antonio Trillanes so that he can be recommitted to the detention facility where he had been incarcerated for

SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK

him to stand trial for the crimes he is charged with,” citing the power of the President under Article VII, Sec. 19 of the Constitution to grant amnesty.

Former President Benigno Aquino III granted amnesty to Trillanes and other soldiers who were involved in the said uprisings through Proclamation 75 issued in November 2010. ■

14

Canada News More pot stores expected in B.C. in coming ‘weeks and months’: attorney general

BY LAURA KANE The Canadian Press

Brunswick have 20 stores each and Alberta has 17. Ontario, on the heels of a recent provincial election, has no physical stores.

Farnworth said other provinces established stores with very little community consultation, but B.C. made clear that local governments could decide what kind of stores, if any, they wanted.

The province also has local government elections on Saturday and many communities have said they want to deal with licences and locations afterward, Farnworth added.

“We’ve taken an approach that was very much collaborating with local governments and we believe that was the right approach to take.”

Farnworth also said the province could not legally issue private retail licences until after the federal Cannabis Act came into force on Wednesday. He wouldn’t explain when asked why the act was a roadblock for B.C. but not for other provinces.

A spokesman for the attorney

VANCOUVER – British Columbia cabinet ministers defended the provincial government’s pace in approving marijuana stores as they toured the only brick-and-mortar shop in Kamloops Friday.

Attorney General David Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth visited the new BC Cannabis Store in the province’s Interior. The Liquor Distribution Branch is currently engaged with a number of David Eby, Attorney General, and Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, touring the province’s municipalities about opening first BC Cannabis Store in Kamloops. additional stores, Eby said.

PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA/FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 “The key for them is what we found in Kamloops, which is a is an official instrument of gov- that process. juana after the local election. municipality with clear guideernment) while it was still fedJag Sandhu, a City of Van“Council endorsement of lines, with an intent to work erally illegal,” he said. couver spokesman, said the the specific details of a Surrey with the (branch) in establishAlberta issued interim li- province has notified it of eight framework, including retail ing a store,” he said. cences to 17 retailers by early applications for stores. Seven sales, has not occurred. This “There’s no question that October that allowed them to applicants have previously will be an issue that the new over the next period of weeks order product and get stores been issued development per- Council will review once they and months, they’re going to ready for legalization. Stores mits, the first step that needs are in office. Until then the exsee more and more stores comwith interim licences that ful- to be completed, and must now isting bylaw is in place,” said ing online, both filled all condi- post a sign on site for 14 days Terry Waterhouse, general public and pritions were issued notifying the public they intend manager of public safety. vate.” a sales licence on to obtain a provincial retail liMost B.C. residents who purThe managers Wednesday so cence. chased legal weed this week of two illicit pot We’ve taken an approach that was they could open Once the provincial licence did so online. There were 9,175 shops that were very much collaborating with local to the public. is granted, the operator can ap- sales online and 805 purchases raided by RCMP governments and we believe that In B.C., the ply for a municipal business li- at the province’s only physical in Port Alberni was the right approach to take. p r o v i n c i a l cence, he said. store in Kamloops on Wedneson Wednesday government “We do not have a timeline on day, according to the Liquor have criticized forwards ap- when the first store will open as Distribution Branch. the province for plications to mu- it will depend on the applicant But on Thursday, sales slid not processing applications general’s office said in an email nicipalities, which review them completing the process and nearly 70 per cent, with 2,563 more quickly. Both stores have that the province could legally and make a recommendation fulfilling all provincial and mu- online transactions and 521 at applied for provincial licences create the regulatory frame- to the province. The province nicipal requirements,” he said. the BC Cannabis Store. and are waiting for approval. work to allow provincial licens- then decides whether to issue The City of Surrey has The branch is not releasWhile B.C. only has one legal ing before legalization. a licence. Some municipalities banned any business growing, ing the total value of the sales, store and a website, Newfound“However, it could not issue a have also established their own producing or storing cannabis, which it says is its policy for liland and Labrador and New licence to sell cannabis (which business licences in addition to and plans to tackle retail mari- quor store sales as well. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

Canada News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

15

Toronto Mayor John Tory cruises to victory; tech issues extend voting elsewhere

BY COLIN PERKEL AND MICHELLE MCQUIGGE The Canadian Press TORONTO MAYOR John Tory easily won re-election on Monday after a spirited campaign marked by unprecedented interference from the provincial government, while dozens of communities were forced to extend voting due to widespread technical difficulties.

Tory took 63 per cent of the vote while his main rival, former chief city planner Jennifer Keesmaat, took 24 per cent – giving the incumbent mayor a far more significant victory than when he was first elected four years ago.

“That’s quite an evening isn’t it,” Tory, 64, joked in his victory speech, calling his mandate historic. “I want to acknowledge Jennifer Keesmaat, who brought ideas forward which I’m sure we’ll discuss in the coming days.”

In all, voters in more than 400 communities across Ontario cast ballots for their next municipal government after campaigns that saw everything from legal battles to electoral reform. Residents in 51 municipalities experienced voting delays, according to the company providing online vote tabulation services.

For some residents, voting was to continue Tuesday after online systems suffered technical problems. Communities in Grey and Bruce counties, the Muskoka region, Bradford West Gwillimbury, the City of Waterloo, and Greater Sudbury all offered a second day of voting, along with five municipalities in eastern Ontario.

The province’s most highprofile race, however, proceeded smoothly, with few surprises.

Keesmaat, who had criticized Tory as weak and unwilling to stand up for Toronto after Premier Doug Ford slashed the size of the city’s council mid-race, was gracious in defeat.

“Mr. Tory has worked hard his whole life in political office, and I’m sure that our mayor will return to office determined to make his time there count,” she said in her concession speech.

Four years ago, Tory took only 40 per cent of the popular vote when he edged out Ford, who finished in second place with 33 per cent. Since then, Tory has positioned himself as a steady, experienced leader who could work with all levels of government.

Myer Siemiatycki, a professor of politics at Ryerson University, called Tory’s win “decisive,” saying he had only one real challenger this time as opposed to two in 2014. The rightof-centre Tory, however, will have to do more to win council to his side now, Siemiatycki said.

“This council will have a lot more opposition voices, as it were, to the mayor than the last council did,” Siemiatycki said.

“It will be an interesting four years ahead – it will test Mayor Tory’s conciliatory abilities and talents, which are there but didn’t reach across the aisle in his first term.”

Preliminary voter turnout in Toronto was pegged at 47 per cent, compared to 54 per cent in 2014.

In Brampton, northwest of Toronto, ousted Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown made good on his politi-

John Tory voting on election day.

cal comeback.

Brown edged out incumbent Linda Jeffrey for mayor. He had been forced to step down from his post as leader of the provincial party in January amid sexual misconduct allegations he denies.

“My party is the people of Brampton and I want results,” Brown said in a victory speech that made no reference to his previous troubles. “Brampton is going to be the envy of Ontario.”

Brown was not the only former provincial legislator to relaunch a political career mere months after being swept from power.

In Thunder Bay, former municipal affairs minister Bill Mauro won a tight mayoral race after current Mayor Keith Hobbs, caught up in extortion and obstruction-of-justice charges, announced he would not seek re-election.

Former provincial transportation minister Kathryn McGarry succeeded in her bid to become mayor of Cambridge,

JOHN TORY / FACEBOOK

handily defeating the previous incumbent. Also, former Liberal Speaker Steve Peters succeeded in his bid to secure a council seat in St. Thomas, where previous Conservative MP Joe Preston was elected mayor.

Jim Bradley and Dipika Damerla, former provincial cabinet ministers who lost their seats in June, were elected to municipal council positions in St. Catharines and Mississauga respectively.

At least one scandal-plagued local leader went down to defeat. Whitchurch-Stouffville Mayor Justin Altmann was investigated by the town’s integrity commissioner after reports of a police-style photo gallery on his washroom wall containing images of residents, journalists and politicians. Council docked him six months pay and barred him from entering his office other than to collect mail or attend meetings.

Many other incumbents fared better, including the longest-

serving municipal leader in the province. Gord Krantz, 81, was re-elected as mayor of Milton, a post he’s held since 1980. Other returning incumbents included Jim Watson of Ottawa, Drew Dilkens of Windsor, Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, and Jim Diodati of Niagara Falls.

In Toronto, some candidates with last names that carried a degree of political cachet were able to clinch victory on council.

Mike Layton, son of late federal NDP leader Jack Layton, was re-elected in his downtown riding. Michael Ford, nephew of Ontario’s premier, won his northwest Toronto ward in the heart of so-called “Ford Nation.”

For the communities where voting continued, Dominion Voting, a provider of online tabulation services, offered an apology, blaming technical issues on an unnamed Toronto provider. Dominion said the issue was resolved after about 90 minutes, but many voters still had problems.

“At no time was the integrity of the system at risk of compromise, or in any way insecure,” it said in a statement.

Results were also slow in coming from London, Ont., the only Canadian municipality to use ranked ballots in a local election. The system allows voters to choose three candidates in order of preference.

Cambridge and Kingston were considering whether to adopt the system for the municipal election in 2022.

According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, 6,645 candidates ran in local council races, with 9.2 million people eligible to vote. ■

Village’s removal of straight pride flag is discrimination, creator says THE CANADIAN PRESS CHIPMAN, N.B. — The man behind a New Brunswick village’s straight-pride flag says he and his supporters are considering legal action or a political challenge of the municipal officials who took it down.

Glenn Bishop, a retired welder, says he is not the least bit anti-gay but is simply proud to be straight, and doesn’t understand why Chipman village officials removed the flag after a single day.

Bishop had watched Sunday as the flag was raised on a village flagpole — and then he re-

turned the next day as LGBT activists celebrated its removal.

Chipman’s village council issued a statement Monday afternoon saying the flag had been raised as a sign of support for all groups in the community, but it was removed as a result of “unintentional attention,” and based on residents’ feedback. www.canadianinquirer.net

Comments had poured in on the village’s Facebook page from residents and neighbours criticizing the flag — black and white stripes underneath the symbols for woman and man — as harmful towards the LGBT community.

But Bishop called the flag’s removal discrimination against

straight people, and says he and his supporters will meet soon to discuss next steps — whether it be through a court battle or perhaps a challenge at the ballot box in the next municipal election.

Bishop said he conceived the flag and it was made by a friend. ■

16

Canada News

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Three earthquakes recorded off Vancouver Island, but no damage reported THE CANADIAN PRESS VANCOUVER — Three relatively strong earthquakes that began Sunday night in the Pacific Ocean off Vancouver Island didn’t trigger a tsunami because they happened along a fault line where sections of the Earth’s crust are moving sideways, says an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada.

“That horizontal type of movement is the least likely to generate a tsunami, because there is no vertical movement of the sea floor. It’s a horizontal slipping,” John Cassidy said in an interview Monday from Victoria.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 6.6 magnitude quake about 260 kilometres west of Tofino, followed by a 6.8 tremor and then a third measuring 6.5.

Survey geophysicist Zachary Reeves in Golden, Colo., said all three quakes occurred in the

same general area over about an hour and at a shallow depth of about 10 kilometres. He described the quakes as “pretty big.”

Emergency Info BC tweeted that the quakes were felt in parts of the province, but there were no reports of damage or injury.At least four aftershocks were reported late Sunday or early Monday ranging in intensity from 5.2 to 4.3. Cassidy said more were expected.

“The most likely scenario now is that the aftershocks will continue for days or weeks, but they will become smaller as time goes on, and they will become less frequent,” he added.

About 200 people reported feeling the quakes to the U.S. Geological Survey website, most of them on the east coast of Vancouver Island.

Three earthquakes of the magnitude recorded within a 45-minute window are unusual, Cassidy said, but he added

they don’t necessarily mean a damaging shaker is imminent.

“These are a very good reminder of plate motions and earthquakes that occur here in this region. We have seen much larger in the past and we will see larger again in the future.”

He said it is important to be aware of earthquakes so people “know what to expect and be prepared.”

British Columbia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an active seismic zone where thousands of mostly small earthquakes are recorded annually by sensors in the province.

Most of the quakes happen near the Cascadia subduction zone, an area where the Juan de Fuca and North American tectonic plates converge, stretching from Vancouver Island to northern California.

An earthquake early-warning system recently tested off the B.C. coast could give residents anywhere from 20 seconds to

ANDREAS CHRISTEN / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

two minutes to prepare before a quake.

The first-of-their-kind warning sensors developed by Ocean Networks Canada are installed

along the Cascadia subduction zone and when fully operating next March will be able to estimate location and magnitude of a megathrust earthquake. ■

Manitoba Tory backbencher forced out after ‘pattern of inappropriate behaviour’

BY STEVE LAMBERT The Canadian Press WINNIPEG – A Manitoba government backbencher who made inappropriate comments to female staff has been ousted from the Progressive Conservative caucus.

Caucus chair Wayne Ewasko said he and his colleagues made the decision Monday to expel Cliff Graydon after discussing what he called “repeated inappropriate behaviour.”

“While we do not take this decision lightly, it has become apparent that previous attempts with Mr. Graydon to address a pattern of inappropriate behaviour have not succeeded,” Ewasko said in a written statement.

“We have acted fairly, swiftly and respectfully in dealing with this difficult matter while ensuring all policies and procedures were followed and that the privacy and confidentiality

of all parties involved were respected.”

Media reports earlier this month quoted unnamed sources as saying Graydon invited two women on separate occasions to sit on his lap, and invited another to lick food off his face.

Premier Brian Pallister said Graydon is also being removed from the board of Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro and will not be allowed to seek the party’s nomination in the next election.

No one in the government caucus would discuss details of Graydon’s actions. Pallister said he wanted to respect the privacy of anyone who came forward, and hoped the dismissal sends a message.

“It sends the right signal, I think, about changing the culture around here.”

Graydon was not in the legislature chamber Monday and did not respond to interview requests. He has previously acknowledged making comments to one staff member, although

Cliff Graydon.

he has not discussed details.

He announced last week that he was going on medical leave for an undisclosed issue and that he would not seek re-election in 2020.

Graydon, in his early 70s, has represented the Emerson constituency near the United States border since 2007. www.canadianinquirer.net

@CLIFFGRAYDONMLA / TWITTER

He faced controversy last winter when he used social media to call asylum-seekers who had been crossing the border “a drain on society.” He also retweeted other people’s posts that called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a traitor, a scumbag and a disgrace.

Graydon apologized, deleted

the tweets and agreed to step back from social media and undergo sensitivity training, the details of which were never made public.

“We took action to move Mr. Graydon into counselling. He was entered into counselling,” Pallister said Monday. “Evidently, that counselling was less than successful.”

Graydon is the third legislature member to be kicked out of a caucus since the last election in 2016. The Opposition New Democrats, saying he had sexually harassed a worker, gave the boot to Mohinder Saran nearly two years ago. Saran has denied the accusation.

The Tories ousted Steven Fletcher last year after he openly questioned government policies that included the creation of a new Crown corporation to promote energy efficiency.

Despite the changes, the Tories continue to have a large majority with 38 of the 57 legislature seats. ■

Canada News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

Cash back for the carbon tax: Trudeau set to unveil rebate plan Tuesday

BY MIA RABSON The Canadian Press

exactly how much to give but also what to do about the fact that the amount of revenue collected from the carbon price will vary by province, largely due to difOTTAWA – The federal government will ferences in the way people generate take some of the sting out of its upcom- electricity. For example, Saskatchewan ing carbon tax Tuesday with a promise and New Brunswick, where most electo give rebates directly to Canadians. tricity still comes from coal, will pay Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will more in carbon levies than Manitoba or be in Toronto with Environment Minis- Ontario, where most electricity comes ter Catherine McKenna where they will from renewable sources. begin making a hard sell of their carbon Ottawa’s price will start at $20 a tonne pricing plan ahead of the next federal on Jan. 1, and rise $10 a year until it hits election. $50 in 2022. At that point, Ottawa has That sell includes offsetting the hit to committed to review the price. a family’s pocketbook with carbon price Individuals will pay the carbon price rebates. on fuels used for running cars, electricThey will also announce Tuesday ity, and heating with some spinoff inwhich provinces will see the federal car- creases expected in the cost of consumer bon price applied. Public Safety Min- goods. ister Ralph Goodale and International Jennifer Winter, director of energy Trade Minister Jim Carr, are being dis- and environmental policy at the School patched to their home provinces to out- of Public Policy at the University of line how the rebate Calgary, estimated system will work in last year that at $20 each province where a tonne, the annual it is in effect. cost to households Announcements would be $413 in are expected in SasCarbon pricing Saskatchewan, $386 katchewan, Maniis expected in New Brunswick, toba and New Brunsto be a key $283 in Ontario and wick. campaign $273 in Manitoba.

British Columbia, issue.

Large industrial Alberta and Quebec emitters will pay the all clearly meet the carbon price through federal threshold of a separate system having a price on carthat gives some leebon of at least $20 a tonne as of Jan. 1. way to industries that are heavily exPrince Edward Island will have a por- posed to foreign competition. That systion of the federal backstop applied at tem sets emissions caps by industry, and its request. Nova Scotia’s cap and trade businesses will only pay the carbon tax system announced last year, and New- on the amount they emit over the limit foundland’s still secret climate plan, will for their specific field. be sufficient for Ottawa’s requirements Most studies suggest that to be effecin year one. tive, a carbon tax has to reach $200 to The amount raised by a national price $400 a year by the middle of this cenon carbon will be substantial. Alberta ex- tury, said Mark Jaccard, a professor pects to raise $1.4 billion from its carbon of sustainable energy in the School of levy this year, which is set at $30 a tonne. Resource and Environmental ManageTrudeau has promised any revenues ment at Simon Fraser University in B.C. raised by a carbon tax will be returned A recent report from the Clean Prosentirely to the people of the province perity Institute said if all the revenues where they are collected. from a carbon price are returned to inInsiders say the amount you qualify dividuals through rebates, households for as a rebate will be determined using will actually get back more than they tax filings, and that the money will flow pay out. next year, in plenty of time for CanadiMark Cameron, the executive director ans to feel their impact before the 2019 of the institute and a former policy dielection. rector in prime minister Stephen HarpCarbon pricing is expected to be a key er’s office, said the incentive to reduce campaign issue, with the federal Con- emissions remains in place because servatives pushing heavily against a car- if you reduce your fuel consumption bon tax and insisting they would elimi- through taking public transit, or buying nate it entirely if they form government. a more efficient furnace or an electric Ottawa has struggled not only with car, you will save even more money. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

17

18

World News

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Trump vilifies caravan, says China opens megahe’ll cut Central American aid bridge linking Hong Kong to mainland

BY ZEKE MILLER AND JILL COLVIN The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared Monday the U.S. will begin cutting aid to three Central American countries he accused of failing to stop thousands of migrants heading for the U.S. border. But across his administration there was no indication of any action in response to what he tweeted was a “National Emergy.”

For hours on Monday, White House officials were unable to provide an explanation for the president’s threats, which reflected both his apparent frustration with the migrant caravan and his determination to transform it into Republican election gains. Federal agencies said they’d received no guidance on the president’s declaration, issued as he attempts to make illegal immigration a focus of next month’s midterm elections.

If Trump should follow through with his threat to end or greatly reduce U.S. aid, that could worsen the poverty and violence that are a root cause of the migration he has been railing against, critics said.

Trump tweeted, “Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States.” He added without evidence that “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in.”

“I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy,” he wrote.

“Must change laws!”

Associated Press journalists travelling with the caravan for more than a week have spoken with Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans but have not met any of the “Middle Easterners” that Trump claimed had “mixed in” with the Central American migrants. It was clear, though, that more migrants were continuing to join the caravan.

Trump’s tweets marked the latest escalation of his efforts to thrust immigration politics into the national conversation in the closing weeks of the con-

BY DAKE KANG The Associated Press

GAGE SKIDMORE / FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0

gressional elections. He and his senior aides have long believed the issue — which was a centerpiece of his winning presidential campaign — is key to revving up his base and motivating GOP voters to turn out in November.

“Blame the Democrats,” he wrote. “Remember the midterms.”

At a campaign rally in Houston on Monday night, he falsely accused Democrats of “encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our borders and overwhelm our nation.”

Trump for months has sought to use foreign aid as a cudgel more broadly, threatening to withhold humanitarian and other aid from “enemies of America” and using it to pressure foreign governments to bend to his will. On Monday, he said he would be making good on his threat.

“Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them,” he wrote.

He added later at the White House: “We have been giving so much money to so many different countries for so long that it’s not fair and it’s not good.

And then when we ask them to

keep their people in their country, they’re unable to do it.”

However, it was unclear whether the president’s tweets had any policy implications.

A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, said the Pentagon had received no new orders to provide troops for border security. And a State Department official said the agency had not been given any instructions on eliminating or reducing aid to Central American countries.

Last April, Defence Secretary James Mattis authorized up to 4,000 members of the National Guard to help the Department of Homeland Security with southern border security, and approximately 2,100 were sent under the control of border state governors. That number, Davis said, has not changed.

The Pentagon also said it was going ahead with plans to include Honduras among the South American nations that will be visited this fall by the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship that Mattis has dispatched to help relieve stress on medical care systems as a result of refugees from Venezuela. The Comfort began treating patients in Ecuador on Monday and is scheduled to make stops in Peru, Colombia and Honduras, according to Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning. ❱❱ PAGE 20 Trump vilifies

www.canadianinquirer.net

comes a month after the inauguration of a new high-speed rail link from Hong Kong to mainland China that runs along ZHUHAI, CHINA — China on a different, shorter route. That Tuesday opened the world’s line has vastly decreased travel longest sea-crossing bridge times but also raised concerns linking Hong Kong to the main- about Beijing’s growing influland, a feat of engineering car- ence because mainland Chirying immense economic and nese law applies within part of political significance. the line’s Hong Kong terminus.

Chinese President Xi Jinping To Claudia Mo, a Hong Kong presided over a ceremony in democratic politician, the the city of Zhuhai to open the bridge’s political significance 55-kilometre (34-mile)-long outweighs its practical usefulbridge linking it to the semi- ness. autonomous regions of Hong “It’s not exactly necessary, Kong and Macau. Digital fire- because Hong Kong is connectworks exploded on a screen be- ed to mainland China in every hind him as leaders of the three way already, by land, by air, by cities watched. sea,” Mo told The Associated The $20 billion bridge took Press. almost a decade “But they still to build while need it as a poincurring malitical symbol or jor delays and icon to remind cost overruns. It Hong Kong peoincludes an unple … that you dersea tunnel We’re now are connected to allowing ships one family. the motherland, to pass through with this very the Pearl River grand bridge. It’s delta, the heart almost like an of China’s crucial umbilical cord.” manufacturing In Zhuhai, sector. however, sentiments revolved Its opening will cut travel around economic growth and time across the delta from sev- national pride. eral hours to just 30 minutes, Airline pilot Liu Gang said something China hopes will he’d been eagerly anticipating bind the region together as a the opening of the bridge, callmajor driver of future econom- ing it a symbol of the mainland’s ic growth. Heavily regulated increasingly close ties with traffic using permits issued un- Hong Kong and Macau. der a quota system will begin “It’ll bring us even closer flowing on Wednesday. together, make us more flexThe bridge forms a physi- ible, economically and in many cal link between the mainland other ways. We’re now one famand Hong Kong, an Asian fi- ily,” Liu said Monday afternoon nancial hub that was handed while strolling along a walkover from British to Chinese way and shooting photos of the control in 1997 with the assur- structure. ance it would maintain its own Luo Fengzhi, who works in legal and economic system for real estate, cited the bridge 50 years. as evidence of China’s growThat carries major political ing economic and engineering significance for Xi’s adminis- prowess. tration, which has rejected calls “For Chinese people, this for political liberalization in makes them feel proud,” she Hong Kong, sparking fears Bei- said. “I hope that every patriotjing will clamp down further on ic Chinese person can come and civil liberties before the end of see this great feat of engineerthe “one country, two systems” ing, and I welcome foreigners arrangement in 2047. to come and see for themselves The bridge’s opening also as well.” ■

World News

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

19

Leaked video shows Khashoggi ‘body double’ after killing

BY SUZAN FRASER, AYSE WIETING AND JON GAMBRELL The Associated Press ISTANBUL — Just hours after writer Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, a man strolled out of the diplomatic post apparently wearing the columnist’s clothes as part of a macabre deception to sow confusion over his fate, according to surveillance video leaked Monday.

The new video broadcast by CNN, as well as a pro-government Turkish newspaper’s report that a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage made four calls to the royal’s office from the consulate around the same time, put ever-increasing pressure on the kingdom. Meanwhile, Turkish crime-scene investigators swarmed a garage Monday night in Istanbul where a Saudi consular vehicle had been parked.

All this came on the eve of Prince Mohammed’s high-profile investment summit in Riyadh, which has seen a raft of the world’s top business leaders decline to attend over the slaying of the writer for The Washington Post. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also has promised that details of Khashoggi’s killing “will be revealed in all its nakedness” in an address he’ll make before parliament around the same time Tuesday.

“We are faced with a situation in which it was a brutally planned (killing) and efforts were made to cover it up,” said

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party. “God willing, the results will be brought into the open, those responsible will be punished and no one will dare think of carrying out such a thing again.”

The kingdom’s announcement Saturday that Khashoggi died in a “fistfight” was met with international skepticism and allegations of a coverup to absolve the 33-year-old crown prince of direct responsibility.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he was “not satisfied with what I’ve heard,” regarding Khashoggi’s death. He added: “We will know very soon.”

Turkish media reports and officials maintain that a 15-member Saudi team flew to Istanbul on Oct. 2, knowing Khashoggi would enter the consulate to get a document he needed to get married. Once he was inside, the Saudis accosted Khashoggi, cut off his fingers, killed and dismembered the 59-year-old writer, according to Turkish media reports.

Surveillance video on CNN showed the man in Khashoggi’s dress shirt, suit jacket and pants, although he wore a different pair of shoes. It cited a Turkish official as describing the man as a “body double” and a member of the Saudi team sent to Istanbul to target the writer. The man walks out of the consulate via its back exit with an accomplice, then takes a taxi to Istanbul’s famed Blue Mosque, where he goes to a public bathroom, changes back out of the clothes and leaves.

He later eats dinner with his accomplice and goes back to a hotel, where footage shows him smiling and laughing.

The state-run broadcaster TRT later also reported that a man who entered the consulate was seen leaving the building in Khashoggi’s clothes.

In the days after Khashoggi vanished, Saudi officials initially said he had left the consulate by its back door. Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Prince Khalid bin Salman, a brother of the crown prince, wrote Oct. 8 that Khashoggi had left, and that claims the kingdom “have detained him or killed him are absolutely false, and baseless.”

The fact that the Saudi team would allegedly have a man walking around in Khashoggi’s clothes would suggest a premeditated plot to kill the writer.

A separate report Monday by newspaper Yeni Safak said Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a member of Prince Mohammed’s entourage seen on trips to the U.S., France and Spain this year, made the calls from the consulate. The newspaper said the four calls went to Bader al-Asaker, the head of Prince Mohammed’s office. It said another call went to the United States.

Yeni Safak cited no source for the information. However, progovernment newspapers have been leaking information about Khashoggi’s killing, apparently with the help of Turkish security forces. Yeni Safak reported last week that Saudi officials cut off Khashoggi’s fingers and then decapitated him at the consulate as his fiancee waited outside.

Jamal Khashoggi.

POMED - MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN'S SAUDI ARABIA: A DEEPER LOOK, CC BY 2.0

Officials in Saudi Arabia have not answered repeated requests for comment from The Associated Press in recent days, including on Monday. Saudi Arabia so far has not acknowledged or explained Mutreb’s presence in Istanbul or the presence of a forensics and autopsy expert at the consulate before Khashoggi arrived.

Last week, a leaked photo apparently taken from surveillance footage showed Mutreb at the consulate, just ahead of Khashoggi’s arrival. Mutreb’s name also matches that of a first secretary who once served as a diplomat at the Saudi Embassy in London, according to a 2007 list compiled by the British Foreign Office.

By nightfall, Turkish police began searching an underground car parking garage in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district.

Surveillance footage on TRT showed what Turkish security officials described as suspicious actions, including an image of a man moving a bag from one vehicle to another.

Meanwhile, Saudi state media reported that both Prince

Mohammed and King Salman made calls to Khashoggi’s son, Salah, early Monday. Statements from the agency said both the king and the crown prince expressed their condolences for Khashoggi’s death.

A Saudi friend of Khashoggi who was in frequent touch with him before his death told the AP that Salah Khashoggi had been under a travel ban and barred from leaving the kingdom since last year as a result of his father’s criticism of the government. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussion. The Saudi statements did not acknowledge the ban.

Five Turkish employees of the consulate also gave testimony to prosecutors Monday, Turkish media reported. Istanbul’s chief prosecutor had summoned 28 more staff members of the Saudi Consulate, including Turkish citizens and foreign nationals, to give testimony. Some Turkish employees reportedly said they were instructed not to go to work around the time that Khashoggi disappeared. ■

PM formally apologizes to Australian child sex abuse victims

BY TREVOR MARSHALLSEA The Associated Press SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivered a formal apology on Monday to Australia’s victims of child sex abuse, saying the nation must acknowledge their long, painful journey and say sorry.

His emotional speech delivered in Parliament before hun-

dreds of survivors followed the conclusions of a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the nations’ highest level of inquiry.

“Today as a nation we confront our failure to listen, to believe, and to provide justice,” he said, adding: “We say sorry.”

The four-year inquest that delivered its final report in December revealed shocking evidence from more than

17,000 survivors and heard allegations against government, church and private institutions, as well as prominent individuals. It also heard evidence from leaders such as Vatican Cardinal George Pell, who is charged with committing historical sex abuses himself and was accused of failing to protect children.

Morrison said it was time for Australia to confront key questions. www.canadianinquirer.net

“Why weren’t the children of our nation loved, nurtured and protected? Why was their trust betrayed?” he said.

“Why did those who know cover it up? Why were the cries of children and parents ignored?

Why was our system of justice blind to injustice? Why has it taken so long to act? Why were other things more important than this, the care of innocent children?

Why didn’t we believe?”

Morrison said nothing could be done to right the wrongs inflicted on children.

“Even after a comprehensive royal commission, which finally enabled the voices to be heard and the silence to be broken, we will all continue to struggle,” he said.

“So today, we gather in this chamber in humility, not just as ❱❱ PAGE 20 PM formally

20

World News

Trump vilifies... ❰❰ 18

“The deployment reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with the Americas,” Manning said.

Asked what the administration was doing to operationalize the president’s tweet, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Monday evening that “we’re continuing to look at all options on the table.”

“The president wants to make sure we’re doing everything we can to secure and protect our borders and that’s exactly what he’s been talking about,” she said.

It is Congress, not the president, that appropriates aid money. The White House would have to notify Congress if it wanted to cut or reallocate aid, which could delay or complicate the process.

Rep. Eliot Engel, the topranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday that “my colleagues and I will not stand idly by as this administration ignores congressional intent.”

The three countries received about $500 million from the U.S. in fiscal year 2017. That

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

PM formally... money funds programs that promote economic development and education, as well as supporting democracy and human rights, among other issues.

It was not immediately clear how much money Trump now hopes to cut, though the administration already had been pushing to reduce the government’s global aid and foreign operations budget by about 30 per cent for fiscal 2019 that began Oct 1.

Paul O’Brien, the vice-president for policy and advocacy at Oxfam America, said that any attempts to decrease aid to the Central American countries would be “devastating” since the U.S. is a key investor in the region, funding programs on issues ranging from workforce development to reducing violence and improving human rights. In addition, other investors look to the U.S. as a guide.

“If you take that money away or you make it unpredictable, you’re actually going to foster the very conditions that are driving people toward migration,” said O’Brien, who accused Trump of “essentially seeking to use migrants as a political chip.” ■

❰❰ 19

representatives of the people of this country, but as fathers, as mothers, as siblings, friends, workmates and, in some cases, indeed, as victims and survivors.”

The lawmakers stood for a minute’s silence following the apology, which came with the announcement of government plans to create a museum and research centre to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse, and to ensure the nation does not forget the horrors victims have suffered.

The research centre will also assist those seeking help, and guide best practice for training and other services.

The government will also commit to reporting every year for the next five years on the progress of the royal commission’s recommendations.

It has already accepted 104 of the commission’s 122 recommendations, including a redress payments program, with the other 18 still under examination.

The government has also established a new office of child safety, to report to the prime minister.

Australian PM Scott Morrison.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten joined the apology, saying Australia had failed tens of thousands of children, across generations.

“Our nation let you down. Today, we offer you our nation’s apology, with humility, with honesty, with hope for healing now, and with a fire in our belly to ensure that our children will grow up safe in the future,” Shorten said.

While many survivors and campaigners went to Canberra to hear the apology, many are still calling for far more work to be done to address the history

SCOT MORRISON (SCOMO) / FACEBOOK

of abuse.

Care Leavers Australia Network chief executive Leonie Sheedy called on the government to remove a charity tax exemption from institutions that are still deciding whether to opt in to the national redress scheme for victims.

She says she’s never healed from being abused.

“You can learn to live with it, but it never goes away. It will be with me and all care leavers until the day that they put the lid on the coffin,” Sheedy told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday. ■

Want to run an Iraqi ministry? Apply online, PM says

BY PHILIP ISSA The Associated Press BAGHDAD — Drain the swamp: it’s a promise leaders around the world are making in this era of voter cynicism and political upheaval.

But Iraq’s Prime Ministerdesignate Adel Abdul-Mahdi may be taking it further than anyone else. To form his government, he opened an online portal for anyone to apply to run Iraq’s 22 ministries, posts that have come to be associated with patronage and graft.

Within days, his office received more than 15,000 applications, according to local media, and offered interviews to 601 candidates.

Still, many here are skeptical that Abdul-Mahdi can change how business is done. Many political parties have their own militias and threaten to disrupt Iraq’s fragile stability if they do

not get the ministries they desire.

Others are asking whether it is wise to appoint political neophytes to the highest positions of government.

“I’m fifty-fifty,” said Hisham al-Dahabi, a social worker and philanthropist, who said he applied reluctantly to be the minister of labour and social affairs, a position that oversees services and pensions for veterans, their widows and children.

“The parties will never waive their shares in the new government,” said al-Dahabi.

On a recent day at the orphanage he runs in the heart of Baghdad, al-Dahabi juggled his responsibilities as manager and social worker while giving media interviews and showing around an admiring delegation from a European embassy.

Children vied for his affections and called him “Baba,” Arabic for “Dad.” He scooped up an armful of the youngest

ones and checked their teeth — a dentist was slated to visit later in the day.

“They all want to see him, but we have to pick two,” he said.

He hadn’t told them he’d applied to be a minister, and in any case he felt it was a long shot. It was a campaign by friends and supporters, he said, that led him to apply.

One week later, al-Dahabi met the prime minister-designate. He said only that they had discussed initiatives to improve the lives of Iraqi children.

Abdul-Mahdi has remained tight-lipped about his Cabinet appointments, and his office declined a request for an interview. By law, he has until Nov. 2 to appoint his ministers, who must be approved by parliament before being sworn in. Iraq’s official newspaper, Al-Sabah, said Monday that 15 appointments could come this week, and that the remainder would be named at a later date. www.canadianinquirer.net

And while it is unlikely he will be able to pry the top ministries from the hands of Iraq’s leading blocs, the online initiative appeared calculated to burnish Abdul-Mahdi’s image as a technocrat and reformer at a time when Iraqis are fed-up with party politics.

In May parliamentary elections, turnout was just 44 per cent — a record low — and Iraqis gave the largest share of their votes to a list championed by the populist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr had vowed to deliver a “government of technocrats,” though his bloc has a poor record of running ministries in the past.

Since returning from exile in 2003, Abdul-Mahdi, an economist, has served as oil minister, finance minister and vice-president, developing a reputation as a political independent. He is Iraq’s first prime minister in 12 years who is not from the Dawa party, blamed by many for presiding over the deterioration of

the country’s civil service and unchecked militia growth.

Alaa Khudair, a retired civil servant, called the online initiative a “positive step” to wrest power away from the established parties that he said “failed to speak for Iraqis and produce a national project.”

Should any ministers be appointed from the online applicants, they will find themselves thrust into a remorseless political environment, civic activist Yahya al-Hafiz warned.

“The political parties are refusing to go along. They’re starting to show their fangs.

This is a government that works on favours and deals. It’s impossible to think they’re going to give that up,” said al-Hafiz.

But Al-Dahabi said he was unfazed, and other experts would not be intimidated either.

“At least we have some experience in our fields, and we have some accomplishments on the ground,” he said. ■

21

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

IN FOCUS

Behind the Curtains: The Jhett Tolentino Story

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer HAMILTON. The Lion King.

The Phantom of the Opera.

These are only some of the most notable stories presented on the Broadway theater stages.

Circles of laughter were heard, tears of sorrow were shed, eyes sparkled with wonder, and teeth were grit out of anger — these different emotions and reactions were emitted by the audience as each unique story and performance unfolded.

However, who knew that a Filipino producer in the world of Broadway, has an intriguing true to life story that can also make strangers’ lips stretch ear to ear, eyes water upon internal realizations, and hearts ache for the reality of life?

Here at Philippine Canadian Inquirer (PCI) it is time to center the limelight on Tony and Grammy award-winning producer, Jhett Tolentino.

First Act: The never-a-problemkid

Perhaps like the start of a new drama series on television for people to look forward to, even Jhett’s entry to the world, seemed extraordinary.

When Jhett’s mom’s water broke during her pregnancy labor in the 70s, she was at home not in a hospital. And instead of feeling unexplainable tensions of pain, Jhett’s narration said that no, she did not feel any.

It may seem like a funny story, but for him, it gave him a deeper sense of being.

“So that’s why I’m named Jhett — I came out straight [like a jet].”

“I live to that everyday. I have to measure up to my name.”

For someone young, this is perhaps quite a tough responsibility, but growing up in his early years, Jhett somehow had this mentality set already without anybody demanding him to.

As early as the age of five or six, he was already able to notice their social standing.

“Growing up with hardly any toys, I remember this… climbing our guava tree just to watch our neighbor play with their toys. But I didn’t blame my parents because I knew they can’t provide. So as the youngest of

four, I also observed how my older siblings kinda handle it.”

Having the youngest pair of eyes in the family, Jhett really became a keen observer.

“People would think that the youngest would be the spoiled one. I was never the spoiled one.”

And this was an important aspect of his personality as the award-winning Broadway producer did not only see poverty, but experienced poverty in his early life in Iloilo.

“We do not have any toilets… no running water. [We lived in] that kind of slum.”

Jhett’s dad was a passenger jeepney driver while his mom worked at the beauty salon.

Watch Jhett Tolentino exclusive interview with PCI Entertainment.

“So my mom would pile up the coins from my dad from worked for their family. not available in Iloilo back then. the day’s work and she would “When it was my turn to gradHe then took up an Accoundivide it to the four of us. Most uate in elementary, my parents tancy degree and immediately likely than not, it wasn’t enough told me to wait for my siblings sought for job opportunities afbecause first, she would pay the to finish college, so they can ter graduation. food for the day because we pay for my high school educaA couple of years later, he would get it on credit… ‘yung tion. And that’s when it hit me, worked in Hong Kong as an mga naglalako (from those who I was like oh my god. What if overseas Filipino worker go around selling food). That’s they won’t make it? What am I (OFW). But finding home how we survived.” gonna do? That’s why I looked abroad did not end in Hong He narrated that whatever for scholarships.”

Kong as he migrated to the ends up as excess would be the Jhett shared a fear of wast- United States (US) in 2002. baon of everyone. This was how ing time developed in him. He Jhett shared that he had a lot Jhett described how life pre- knew his capacity back then. He of “odd jobs” most likely refersented itself to him from his was not the top of the class, but ring to different positions that memories as a kid. he knew that he was smart. He had nothing to do with his eduAnd as the not-a-problem described himself as someone cational degree. kind of kid, he knew that he did who is always in the middle of “I had different odd jobs. I not need to take things person- the pack. was in sales and marketing; I ally. Despite eardid mortgage; I ly on facing these did home care; hardships, he did I did waitering. not get mad at I’ve done it all. anyone, he did That’s what I love about art. We can I’ve worked in a not get mad at express about anything we want. grocery store; I the world. bagged grocer“I just felt that ies; I’ve done I had to find a it all,” this was solution rather Jhett’s narration than rebel against them (my “I was an average student, in an ABS-CBN interview back parents) or blame the world just in the middle… surviving. in 2015. why my friend has rich par- I would just get Most Punctual, He elaborated to PCI that at ents… something like that. I Most Neat or Clean, Most Well the age 23, he made his parents didn’t go that way. I wanted to Behaved — I’m that kind of kid. retire from their respective jobs. become part of the solution, not I’m not the Most Diligent or the Jhett had sales and advertisof the problem.”

Honorable Mention. I wasn’t an ing jobs, as well as mortgage He said that though the ambi- honor student.” jobs. He also jumped to taking tion to work harder was introThis might have been his jobs such as being a waiter and duced in his life through mate- case, but Jhett strived hard not a grocery bag packer. rial stuff, he still never forced to maximize his skills for self“At whatever cost, I just wantgetting those from his parents. interest but to help his family ed to give them the life they Sure, there was disappoint- end living in the slums. deserve, they never thought ment but he got over it.

His undergraduate studies they could have. I saw them, I And as the youngest, being were also funded by Meguko witnessed how they worked so able to determine their current Society, the organization that hard, providing for four chilstate is probably what made granted his high school scholar- dren. They didn’t finish college him go big. After all, he wit- ship. Originally, Jhett wanted to themselves. That was my goal — nessed how hard his parents take a Tourism degree but it was at whatever cost, I just wanted www.canadianinquirer.net

to give them a proper life they deserved.”

Also at the age of 23, Jhett had his own house built.

“My mom… her joy, I can’t forget it for the rest of my life… when she had to sleep on a mattress for the first time.”

Jhett recalled how priceless that moment was when he provided an airconditioned room for his parents. He emphasized on a house that had running water and a toilet — that was what really lacked in their lives in the slums. He also made sure to get an oven as he said that his mom loved to bake and is a great cook.

“The only thing if I can turn back the hands of time, I would have wanted for her to have her first airplane ride. That didn’t happen.”

According to his story, his mom passed away due to cancer. She was unable to witness his success in Broadway.

His mom’s story was also like one of those stories families get to watch on television.

“At her last days, I looked for her siblings that she didn’t see for 25 years. So instead of me coming home to the Philippines, I looked for her siblings and her mom because they were scattered all over Laguna. They grew up in Sorsogon, in Bicol regions, so I had to find them and fly them. There were eight of them [that] flew to Iloilo and spent the last three weeks with her.”

“She died happy, that I could tell you.”

Jhett was able to wrap his poverty days by not forgetting it, but using it as a motivation to strive hard in life.

Second Act: The self-made critique turned producer

For someone who did not take any film or theater degree, and for someone who did not like theater before, no one really saw it coming that Jhett would be where he is now.

“At 2004… in between, because I didn’t have friends and family there [in the US], I found theater.”

Jhett considered theater as an outlet to keep his sanity intact. While New York is known as one of the busiest cities in the world, he knew very well that ❱❱ PAGE 22 Behind the

22

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Behind the... ❰❰ 21

this concrete jungle can be a lot of things and it can be tough for someone like him who is not from there.

“If you want to be called a New Yorker, you need to call for three things: you gotta have an accountant, a lawyer, and a shrink. So for me, my shrink is theater.”

But the spark for theater did not specifically start in his life in the US. He saw Miss Saigon back in 2000, which was Lea Salonga’s last performance. Jhett shared that just because it was the last, he had to fly to Manila to go see it, and while it was out of curiosity, it changed his life.

This curiosity continued to grow as he started getting thoughts of wonder on how theater is done where there are live people performing on stage, costumes wrapping around their bodies, set pieces moving with the story, and so much more that it blew him away.

“When I got to New York, it reminded me of the experience.

So I started watching and going to the theater.”

What started as mere curiosity soon became like a vice to Jhett’s system.

“I would go [watch] three to five… and it was my only, maybe vice? You know I never resorted to drugs or alcohol so it was only the theater. So three to five shows a week, and my record by the way in seeing shows is five shows in one day.”

His free day’s 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. would be occupied with theater-going.

Using theater as some sort of vice and some form of therapy, without realizing, Jhett just became jaded after watching more than a thousand Broadway shows.

“After having those experiences, when I see a show, I would challenge myself. I’d sit down and I would guess who designed the lighting, costume, and the sound. Even the setting.”

“During that course, I met a couple of theater-goers and we would deliberate. After the show, we would sit at a restaurant or a bar, then we would brainstorm.”

Jhett appreciated the discussions that happened after show.

He felt like he was in an exclusive club having all those brainstorming with what he said were the “theater intelligentsia of New York.”

About five years of seeing different theatrical shows, somehow passion influenced Jhett to continue talking and discussing some suggestions for better approaches on the different aspects of a show. The other theater-goers he met were also “fed-up” and suggested for him to start writing about his opinions.

These events led to the birth of “It’s all about theater” — Jhett’s blog.

Just as he considered it as a form of a shrink, he knew how much theater-going cost money. It also cost time as a show takes three hours. This is why he considered his blog as a form of education to the paying public. It was some sort of advocacy that promotes the quality of shows that should be worth the time and money.

A year later, Jhett found himself invited by the people from the Broadway world.

“So I went to the invitations of being in the previous workshops, presentations, and even opening lights. And I was like oh my god, what was happening?

I don’t know how to pay for my tickets. Dressed up to the nines, I went to these parties to these events only to meet those people that I panned in my reviews.”

Briefly remembering the feeling, Jhett chose to compare it to taking a cold shower to prepare for the Simbang Gabi really early in the morning.

“Mind you, I was like… where is Harry Potter? I want to borrow his cloak. I just wanted to be invisible,” he shared laughing and eyes widening at the memory.

“First of all, I didn’t know they would find me. Who would give a rats on this teeny-tiny block?”

This was Jhett’s question as the invitations kept on coming to him.

Somewhere along the way, the continuous invites gave him phobia that made him stop writing for about four months.

“I didn’t do it to be feared… it was just for a small group of theater-goers who are trying to find good deals, to find shows that’s worthy of their hardearned money.”

Jhett stressed that he was not trained for it, especially at such time when blogging was just starting. Some readers even messaged him, sending him shows and asking if they should see it.

The producer said that he did not want to write and did not

want people to read his opinions.

“I didn’t care who they were.

I just didn’t care. I think I educated myself enough having seen almost a thousand shows.

You can imagine how many hours that is and how much money. I don’t have to say that I was in a pretty good position or authority to say my thoughts.”

However, it was still a difficulty for Jhett because after meeting the people of Broadway, he found out that some shows did not close because of his writings. He insisted though that he was not the major reason, yet this was enough to tap on his consciousness.

While he stopped writing, the curtains of theater were definitely not closing for Jhett.

Third Act: The only Filipino Tony and Grammy awardee

Fast forward to now, Jhett Tolentino is not someone known to be that not-a-problem kid.

Nor is he know to be that blogger behind “It’s all about theater.”

Jhett became a worldwide hot topic after he got not just one but three Tony awards with the shows he produced. He is the second Filipino to bag the award with Lea Salonga being the first one to receive it.

However, he is the only person to get three from the prestigious awarding body, after he got two Tonys on his second win. The recognition does not end here as just last year, Jhett also bagged a Grammy award.

While Jhett did not study any course on theater, watching more than a thousand Broadway shows built him. The writer in him that recommended different approaches on the shows he watched, now got the chance to apply these suggestions through producing.

“A producer could be a lot of things, but mainly, the job of a producer is to put things together. He’s like the engineer of everything.”

Perhaps, after witnessing different productions, he started to get an idea on the formula.

“I’ve seen enough for me to somewhat… guess. It’s a calculated guess I’m not saying that I have the crystal ball.”

Jhett emphasizes, though, the world of Broadway is heavily a box office-driven kind of business. According to him, out of 45 Broadway shows in a year, only 20 percent will make it to www.canadianinquirer.net

Jhett Tolentino at the 72nd Tony Awards.

recoupment and half of it will get profit.

Though the different stories that unfolded before his very own eyes guided him, he still maintains that no one in the industry is a god in knowing everything.

Jhett is also the only Filipino Broadway producer and all of these blessings coming his way did not happen overnight.

“I earned it. It was not handed over at all.”

“I was born in the slums.

So I didn’t go to the United States and somebody gave me a million dollars — even ten thousand dollars. That didn’t happen. I operated on my credibility and on how I thought a certain production should go or should be presented.”

Final Act: Concluding lines

It was indeed a from rags to riches type of story when it comes to Jhett’s life.

Before the audience claps at this magnificent reality of hard work paying off, the award-winning Broadway producer has a few words.

“Never assume. Never misrepresent yourself.”

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions, because actually in your most vulnerable times, that’s when you value all the other people.”

For Jhett, who is still a Filipino in his heart, body, and soul, he is a bit torn as though the Philippines is his home, he considers the US and theater as also his home.

However, as he has established his name in the world of Broadway, the international arena of theater, he said that his homeland’s call has been getting louder and louder.

“Hey, what can you do for us?

Where can you bring us? So I’m

JHETT TOLENTINO / FACEBOOK

listening.”

Jhett says that he does not have the money, but what he has is himself and the connections he built through the years.

He plans on producing Filipino stories, but putting Hollywood around these stories.

Whatever is in store for the public’s eyes in connection to this, is something to anticipate for. But for now, Jhett will continue to work on it.

“That’s what I love about art.

We can express about anything we want.”

For someone who has garnered international awards from two prestigious awardgiving bodies for his craft, and for someone who has watched over a thousand Broadway shows, can something still move someone like Jhett?

This question is answered as he shares to the world his story and how he got to where is now through his documentary “Life is what you make it.” And when it was shown in the Philippines last July, he confessed that he woke up emotional.

“Philippines is probably the sixth country that my documentary would be screened. It already won in Venezuela for Best Documentary and Best Script, it was a finalist in India, and it won Best Documentary in Thailand.”

But form some reason, the thought that his film will penetrate Philippine cinema dawned on him.

“I grew up here. I watched all those films since I was in elementary school and I just could not believe I am officially becoming a part of the industry.”

As the curtains close and the lights come back, the audience will not only clap for the shows on stage, but for the reality that happened behind the curtains. ■

23

Entertainment Darren Espanto to JK Labajo: See you in court

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer IT SEEMS that Kapamilya singer Darren Espanto is not yet done engaging himself in a heated argument with his The Voice Kids co-finalist Juan Karlos “JK” Labajo on Twitter, as he now wants to meet the latter in court.

The word war between the two young artists started when JK allegedly tweeted on his account, “@Espanto2001 gayness at its finest.”

This tweet is now deleted from JK’s account, but Darren was able to take a screenshot of the tweet and posted it along with a caption, “Timing ’no? Dinelete ng ”hacker” mo ‘yung tweet na ‘to after kang kausapin ng management. ’Pag nahanap mo ‘yunghacker mo puntahan niyo ako para malaman niyo kung sino ‘yung totoong BAKLA. @ KarlosLabajo (Timing, isn’t it?

Your ‘hacker’ deleted this tweet after the management talked to you. When you find your hacker, come to me so you will know who the real gay is).”

DARREN ESPANTO / FACEBOOK

Darren did not buy JK’s excuse when he said that his account was hacked. On his part, JK said he tried settling the issue privately with Darren.

In his now-deleted tweet thread, JK said, ”nirespeto kita at kinausap in private but orayt ayaw mo so gawin nating public okay (I respected you and talked to you in private but alright, since you do not want it, then let’s make it public, okay)?” the Buwan singer posted this tweet along with screenshots of his

private conversation with Darren.

Included in JK’s thread was him bringing up the issue back when he was in Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) where he talked about a certain “papa biritera [na] marunong mag-piano (guy who knows how to play piano).” Although he did not drop a name, Darren’s fans, he said, suddenly bashed him even calling him a “traitor.”

In their chat, meanwhile, JK suddenly retracted his explana-

tion earlier that he thinks someone uses his Twitter account as he then floated the possibility to Darren that the “gayness at its finest” was “edited.”

On Tuesday, Darren posted new tweets again, explaining that he did not mean to use the word ”bakla (gay)” as a “derogatory term.”

“I’m sorry if this has offended anyone. And to the people who say I have ‘fragile masculinity?’

I’ve been bashed with this since I was in The Voice Kids (I was 12) pero wala kayong narinig (but you did not hear anything from me). I’m 17 now, [na]kakapagod na rin (It is already tiring),” the Kapamilya singer wrote.

After apologizing, Darren turned his head to JK as he questioned the latter’s claim that the tweet which ignited their word war was edited.

“Since pinost mo na din naman ’yung chat natin dito (which you’ve deleted), nung una, hacker, ngayon, edited?

Pero nag-appear sa mismong account mo (Since you already posted our chat here (which you’ve deleted), at first you said

it was the hacker, and then now you are saying it was edited?

But it appeared on your account)?” he said.

He went on saying, “And even if I wasn’t the one you were talking about in PBB, hindi pa rin tama ang magsalita ng masama tungkol sa iba. @KarlosLabajo (it is not right to say anything bad against others),” he said.

Darren also stressed that he will not compete with JK in terms of being ill-mannered because he knows that JK is as rude as the former previously said. “‘Wag mo rin sasabihin na tinuring mo akong kapatid nung The Voice kasi ang plastic nun.

Sa korte na lang tayo magkita kung ’di ka masyadong busy. Sikat mo na eh, ‘brother’ (Also do not tell me that you treated me like a brother when we were in The Voice because that is being hypocritical. Let’s see each other in court when you are not busy. You are already famous, ‘brother’)!” Darren told his The Voice Kids batchmate.

As of writing, JK has not yet issued his statement regarding Darren’s latest remarks. ■

Jodi Sta. Maria: I’m now a certified acupuncture detoxification specialist!

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer BEING BOTH an actress and mom is definitely not an easy job.

Imagine breaking herself into million pieces just to juggle her jam-packed schedule at work attending various shoots and interviews and her duties and responsibilities as a parent that do not have specific working hours.

Perhaps this is impossible to do, but Jodi Sta. Maria proves that it can be done. In fact, these works do not seem to tire her enough because aside from being an actress and a mother, Jodi too, is a student taking up Bachelor of Science in Psychol-

ogy at Southville International School and Colleges, where she topped the Dean’s List last August with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.800.

As she continues to become an inspiration to her millions of fans, Jodi shares another achievement in her life — that she is now a certified acupuncture detoxification specialist.

Posting an all-smiles photo of herself flaunting her certificate of completion from the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) – Philippines on Friday, Jodi wrote, “After a week of intense training, I found a better appreciation for those actively practicing this.”

“When you start your day

healing people from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., you realize that this is hard work. It is when we meet others’ needs that out needs are satisfied in the process. By healing an individual, you heal a community,” she added.

For the Sana Dalawa ang Puso actress, an individual does not need to be a medical practitioner to help in community wellness, it just has to be someone who “cares” for others well-being.

During her training period, Jodi also added that she was able to meet new people and made new friends who she knows will eventually become part of her family as they “share the same advocacy.”

“I am truly grateful for all www.canadianinquirer.net

Jodi and her certificate of completion.

that I have learned here and I am fired up to share it with you!” she ended.

Her fans, of course, congratulated Jodi, with some of them seem to be interested in signing up for the training.

NADA Philippines is an orga-

@JODISTAMARIA / INSTAGRAM

nization that supports the use of NADA protocol or the fivepoint auricular acupuncture.

According to its website, NADA Protocol is being used in various countries for addictions and behavioral health treatment. ■

24

Entertainment

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Showtime Magpasikat 2018 tops Twitter trends worldwide

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer ABS-CBN’S NOONTIME show, It’s Showtime, once again hyped up Twitterverse on Saturday as the madlang people cannot stop posting their hot takes about #ShowtimeMagpasikat2018.

Marking its anniversary every year, It’s Showtime holds the Magpasikat competition wherein the hosts of the show are able to take the stage in front of their live audience to showcase their unique and immense talents for a week. The public, of course, could not wait to see a lavish spectacle of a show that the hosts will offer to them this time.

The hosts, just like in other Magpasikat competitions in the past eight years since the show began, continues to make their audience’s jaws drop and eyes pop in amazement due to their extraordinary and originallyproduced stage performances as well as taking the hearts of the viewers with powerful messages they had delivered through their impressive production numbers.

The Magpasikat Week kicked off on Monday with the heartwarming dramatic stint of Team Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz, telling a story of a father who had gone to immeasurable lengths just to make his

son happy by granting his wish of having a television. It was not a real TV though that you usually see in the mall, in fact, you won’t even find that kind of TV there, but the thought that Teddy, who played the role of the father, did everything for the happiness of his child is what touches the hearts of the madlang people.

On the second day of the competition, the team of Vice Ganda and Tiyang Amy Perez made the audience undeniably hooked on their colorful stage performance as they depict the story of young Vice who was inspired by his teacher that he can be anything he wants to be in life if he just uses his powerful imagination.

Team Anne Curtis and Mariel Padilla, meanwhile, triggered heart palpitations on the viewers as they perform death-defying stunts on their circus-like production number, The Greatest ShowMa-Anne, that portrays the movie “The Greatest Showman.”

On Thursday, the fourth day of Magpasikat, Team Vhong Navarro and Ryan Bang played with the eyes of their viewers as they showed off dumbfounding visual and light effects on their act. But on the top of their eyecatching effects and fascinating body rolls, is the message they administered on their perfor-

#ShowtimeMagpasikat2018.

mance that tackles about one of the social problems in the country — bullying. Team Vhong and Ryan made everyone shed tears as it serves as an eye-opener for many that they should think carefully about their words and actions because it might hurt other people. Aside from that, they also made the crowd realize that they must give importance to someone who has always been there for them before it is too late.

And finally, Jhong Hilario and Karylle’s team ended the week-long Magpasikat Week with a bang on Friday with their original musical production which was a sequel to their last year’s performance that tells the struggles of a cockroach and caterpillar who fought for their love despite being judged

@ITSSHOWTIMEOFFICIAL_IG / INSTAGRAM

by other insects. This time, the play focuses on their son’s story as it highlights self-acceptance, gender equality, and a mother’s unconditional love and care for her child.

On Saturday, Twitterverse went crazy as the madlang people could not wait any longer for the announcement of winners, following the awe-inspiring and intoxicating live performances of It’s Showtime hosts.

It was then declared that the champion of this year’s Magpasikat competition was no other than the touching musical play of Team Karylle and Jhong, bagging P300,000 for their chosen charity.

Landing on the second spot is Team Vice and Tiyang Amy with P200,000, while the third placer, Team Anne and Mariel,

took home P100,000 pesos for their chosen charities.

The team of Vhong and Ryan, and Team Jugs and Teddy certainly did not go home empty handed as they were both awarded with a P50,000 consolation prize for their selected charities.

It was not only the announcement of winners that made #ShowtimeMagpasikat2018 overtook all trending topics on Twitter worldwide. Stealing the spotlight was Hashtag Kid Yambao who made every guy almost fall off their chairs and made every girl feel envious of his beauty when he went out of stage during the show’s Miss Q and A segment as Kid Kardashian, looking stunning in his light pink dress and long blonde hair.

Several netizens could not just hold back laughter as they expressed their reactions about Kid’s appearance on the show, with some of them saying they feel like they are watching the Philippine remake of the American comedy film, White Chicks.

Also joining the Miss Q and A AniBEKSary Special is Jugs as Juggy Sta. Maria, Hashtag Nikko Natividad as Nicole Bermuda, Jhong as AlakDawn Zulueta, and Teddy as Ilongna Tolentino.

These guys surely made madlang people’s jaws and tummies hurt to the highest level. And nine… thank you! ■

‘R&B prince’ Jay-R engaged to longtime girlfriend Mica Javier

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer AFTER FIVE years of dating, Your Face Sounds Familiar’s singer Jay-R is now engaged to It’s Showtime’s GirlTrends member Mica Javier. The RnB star proposed at Nobu Hotel, City of Dreams Manila last Sunday, October 21.

The couple originally were at the hotel to shoot a music video, then had dinner at a nearby restaurant where Jay-R popped the question in front of celebrity friends like Coleen Garcia, Billy Crawford, Kris Lawrence,

Jason Dy, Karylle, Denise Laurel, and Karla Estrada.

Fellow singer Jaya posted a video of the proposal on Instagram, captioned, “Congratulations Jay-R and Mica on your engagement! We are so happy and excited for your new life together. We love you and may God bless you always.”

Coleen also posted, through her Instastory a photo holding up the ring on Mica’s finger saying, “She still has no idea what’s going on.” Rivermaya’s Mark Escueta shared a video of the entire moment and used the caption #NewlyEngaged.

The couple announced the

news as well on their respective social media accounts, Jay-R sharing a photo on Instagram that captioned, “Meet my fiancé.”

Mica posted a photo of herself smiling and showing off the diamond, sharing that she couldn’t believe Jay-R “pulled off the biggest surprise ever.” She said, “I had NO CLUE what was happening even while it was happening. The space went silent as I watched him mouth the words, eyes teared up, our dearest friends and family clamouring in the background… for a fleeting moment I froze in shock, thoughts battling between ‘are we still shooting a music video?!’ www.canadianinquirer.net

Jay-R and fiance Mica Javier.

and ‘hang on is this for real?!’”

She ended with a message to her husband-to-be, saying, “I was stunned and it was surreal but

@ITSSHOWTIMEOFFICIAL_IG / INSTAGRAM

there was no doubt in my mind, my answer was always going to be YES. I love you Jay-R and I’m so excited to be your wifey!” ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

25

Carlo Aquino, Nadine Lustre star in a new film together

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Blowing the Bloody Doors Off.

@THEMICHAELCAINE / TWITTER

Michael Caine looks back in ‘Blowing the Bloody Doors Off’

BY JILL LAWLESS The Associated Press LONDON – Michael Caine has been looking back, and on the whole he likes the view. Regrets? He’s had few.

The 85-year-old star of “Alfie,” “Get Carter” and “The Dark Knight” – among many, many others – reminisces fondly in “Blowing the Bloody Doors Off,” whose title adapts a line from his 1969 heist caper “The Italian Job.” Being published Tuesday in the United States by Hachette, it’s part memoir, part advice manual for aspiring actors and anyone else nursing an elusive dream of success.

Most of the advice is resolutely oldfashioned. Learn your lines. Work hard.

Be nice to people. And be lucky. Caine knows he has been extremely fortunate.

“The luck I’ve had, you couldn’t make it up,” Caine said during an interview in his riverside London apartment, with a panoramic view up and down the Thames. “I mean, even once I was a success, I made a lot of flop movies. But I only made three at a time before I had a hit.”

In print and in person, Caine describes his success as sequence of lucky breaks. His first big movie break, as a British Army officer in “Zulu” in 1964, was followed by a role as a world-weary spy in “The Ipcress File.” On the back of that came his breakthrough as a callous man-about-town in “Alfie.” That film made blond, bespectacled Caine a symbol of Swinging London, brought him American fame and earned him the first of six Academy Award nominations.

He went on to win two Oscars – for “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “The Cider House Rules.” Later came a stint as

butler and mentor Alfred in three Batman movies directed by Christopher Nolan. Along the way, he became an icon, and his signature glasses and Cockney accent spawned a thousand imitators.

Caine says his optimistic outlook is rooted in his hardscrabble early years.

Born Maurice Micklewhite into a working-class London family, he was a child during the London Blitz and later, as a teenage conscript, was sent to fight in the Korean War. “I have found it pretty easy to be happy since then,” he notes in the book.

“Once you’ve been on manoeuvrs in Korea, everything else seems like quite a lot of fun.”

When he returned to London and a dead-end job in a butter factory, Caine resolved to be an actor, although he had little idea how to go about it.

“I was nobody from nowhere who knew nothing about anything,” he said.

His drive to succeed came from “desperation – the determination to become something other than a factory worker.

“My father was an example of what I was and how lucky I was to have been born all those years later,” he said. “My father was an extremely clever, intelligent man but completely uneducated and a complete waste of a brain – and that’s what was happening to me, and I could see that.”

Answering a classified ad led to small parts in a provincial repertory company.

Then came work on the London stage, television parts, movie roles and global stardom. If he has a secret, he says, it’s that he kept going when others gave up.

“If someone rejected me, I never worried about it,” he said. “I tried again,

“EXES BAGGAGE” and former “JCS” star Carlo Aquino has just confirmed an upcoming film entitled “Ulan” with actress Nadine Lustre. The film is produced by Viva Entertainment, Inc. Carlo teased fans with an Instagram photo from the movie, where the two are waiting at a jeepney stop as it rains. The scene is set in the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD). Carlo captioned the post in Filipino saying, “To play again with my childhood.” He followed it with an Instagram story that said, “Without rain, nothing grows.” Ulan the Movie has also been consistently posting content on their Instagram account.

The movie, which Nadine considers a “stepping stone” as she won’t be teamed up with partner James Reid, is themed around a woman’s search for self-acceptance and self-love. This goes with Nadine’s statement denying any allegations

of having separation anxiety when not working with James. She said, “It’s just work. Whatever will help the project best.

I mean, I trust Viva Entertainment and of course, it’s for the good of the film.” Nadine said she is “excited” with the movie’s strong message and that “It’s about finding yourself and learning to love yourself,” something she “really stands for.”

The film is directed by Irene Villamor, who has been very outspoken in defending Nadine from critics who say she’s a “flop queen” and not compatible in starring in a film with Carlo, who is a “box office star.” In Direk Irene’s words to one specific commenter, “The world is already full of hate that any ill wish to anyone should be treated back with kindness. With an understanding of the soul and not with apathy to the human condition. Spread love my dear. Let us now add to the drudgery.”

Shooting for the film is still ongoing. It is reported that Xian Lim, Marco Gumabao, and AJ Muhlach will also be part of “Ulan,” set to release next year. ■

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26

Lifestyle Liz Weston:

How to save money on health care

BY LIZ WESTON The Associated Press AMERICANS ON average spend more on health care than they do on groceries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Expenditure Survey. Saving money on medical care is a lot tougher than saving money on food, however. Two big culprits: opaque pricing and everchanging insurance company rules about what’s covered and what’s not.

For help in cutting costs, I turned to a uniquely qualified individual: Carolyn McClanahan, an emergency room doctor turned certified financial planner. McClanahan, director of financial planning at Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida, frequently speaks at industry conferences, teaching other advisors how to help their clients best navigate the health care system.

These are the three questions she suggests everyone ask: How do I use health care?

McClanahan divides people into low, medium and high health care users. Low users are generally in good health and rarely go to the doctor. High users tend to have chronic health conditions or young children and visit the doctor several times a year. Both can be good fits for high-deductible health care insurance , McClanahan says.

People who spend a lot on health care will quickly meet a high deductible and often end

up spending less overall on high-deductible plans, which have lower premiums.

Conversely, people who use very little health care may also spend less on a low-premium, high-deductible plan. It’s people in the middle — who do visit the doctor, but likely won’t spend enough to meet a high deductible — who should consider lower-deductible plans, she says.

One caveat: People who have a high-deductible plan should have enough savings to cover that deductible. The downside of such plans is that they may discourage people from seeking the care they need. Earmarking cash to cover the deductible can help thwart that tendency.

If that’s not possible, a low-deductible plan may be better for someone’s health.

Also, routine services that can detect or prevent illness — such as vaccinations and certain cancer screenings — are free in many health insurance plans, regardless of the deductible.

Are you covered in my network?

This is a much better question to ask a provider than “Do you take my insurance?” An out-of-network provider may be willing to bill your insurer but can wind up costing you much more than an in-network provider. Also, insurance companies offer many different plans, and doctors that are in an insurer’s preferred provider organization may not be in its high-deductible health plan network.

People should ask, “Is this in network?” for every aspect of their health care, from the laboratory that tests their blood to the anesthesiologist who’s scheduled for their surgery.

Keep a written record of whom you talked to and when, McClanahan recommends. This can give you ammunition to get bills covered or discounted if the information you were given is wrong.

For prescription medications, ask your insurer, “How is this covered?” Insurers have formularies with different copays for different drugs, and some may not be covered. Patients can ask their pharmacists if there is a less expensive version available, such as a generic.

For some drugs, paying cash is cheaper than an insurance company’s co-pay. A 30-day supply of metformin, a drug to treat high blood sugar, may have a $10 co-pay but be available for $4 cash at Walmart and other outlets.

You also can look for coupons and other discounts at GoodRx. com. Another way to save: Regularly ask your doctor to review the medications you’re taking to see if you can stop or swap any for a less expensive version.

“Doctors are too quick to throw a pill at you,” McClanahan says. “Ask, ask, ask, and shop around.”

What else can I do?

Sometimes, medications or surgery are less effective than alternative treatments. Treating lower back pain with exercise, cognitive behaviour therapy and focused breathing

www.canadianinquirer.net

is more effective than the treatments doctors usually prescribe, including rest, surgery and injections, according to articles in the British medical journal The Lancet in March.

Doctors may not suggest lifestyle changes because they believe most patients won’t make the effort, McClanahan says.

But losing weight, exercising and quitting tobacco can lessen symptoms or prevent many diseases. Those with prediabetes, for example, can often avoid developing Type 2 diabetes with changes in diet and exer-

cise.

“If the doctors aren’t able to provide that education, ask if they will refer you to someone who will, a nutritionist or physical therapist,” she says.

Not all doctors welcome empowered patients who ask questions, McClanahan notes.

If yours doesn’t, she recommends finding one who is more collaborative.

“Doctors are not gods. They should work with you,” she says. ■

Lifestyle

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

27

More than just a Madrasah teacher

BY REY-LUIS BANAGUDOS Philippine News Agency

among peers has been reduced or eliminated in his campus.

The values being inculcated in the program include respect, ZAMBOANGA CITY — If teach- honesty, solidarity, piety, huers are key to the destiny of mility, obedience to parents their students and consequent- and laws, and the like. It is ly their ever-unfolding society, similar to the olden-day school then Abou-Benhar Sihabon is training in good manners and devoting his life to prove that right conduct. dictum right.

Sihabon said aside from lecHis success in his profession- tures, the lessons are also deal and personal missions is vali- livered through dialogues, singdated by the Most Outstanding ing of folk songs and nursery Teacher for Madrasah Educa- rhymes, role playing and the tion award that was conferred like, except dancing. They also on him by the Department of take academic tests to check Education during the World their learning progress.

Teachers’ Day celebration last The lessons, he explained, October 5 in Zamboanga City. are totally free of any political At present, Sior religious conhabon teaches tent. The same madrasah educaDepEd-made tion to 72 Grade curriculum is 6 students diused in all MEP ALS is more vided into six schools, which in challenging sections at the Zamboanga City, because Arena Blanco Elalso involves ementary School the four supervised — East. students private elemenHis pupils inare tary schools. clude Muslim dropouts.

All private Badjaos, Tausugs, weekend madaris Sama Bangingis (plural of maand a few Chrisdrasah) are also tians as well. monitored by Sihabon, howDepEd, he said, ever, is more than just a plain which helps to overcome appreand simple classroom teacher hensions that these schools enof that school for the past two courage violent religious beliefs years. and attitudes.

Under the Madrasah EduThe use of uniform lessons in cation Program (MEP) which all madrasah schools, according was initiated by DepEd back in to Sihabon, also aims to teach 2004, kindergarten and Grades identical traits and attitudes 1 to 6 Muslim pupils in public el- among all students so that even ementary schools are required if they belong to different tribes to attend classes where they or come from different places, learn the “Arabic Language and whenever they mingle, they are Islamic Values” (ALIVE). less likely to exhibit conflicting The instructions intend to cultural biases or prejudices. build good character along IsFrom kinder to Grade 3, the lamic traits and equip learn- mother tongue is used as mediers with a functional ability to um of instruction, then Pilipino speak, read and write Arabic so and English in Grades 4 to 6. they could better participate in What made Sihabon, who religious events or practices in is a cheerful 45-year old halftheir respective communities.

Tausug and half-Sama from the “It is a social education that municipality of Tongkil, Sulu, aims to build character as well deserving of the Most Outas solidarity among the stu- standing Teacher for Madrasah dents especially among those Education award? who belong to different tribal He is currently the president groups,” Sihabon said. “I have of the Zamboanga City Assobeen seeing this happening in ciation of ALIVE Teachers. He my students ever since I started continually undergoes MEP teaching ALIVE in 2008.”

For instance, he said, bullying ❱❱ PAGE 28 More than

Educators must commit now to tackle grade inflation

By LOUIS VOLANTE Professor of Education Brock University, CHRISTOPHER DELUCA Associate Professor in Classroom Assessment and Acting Associate Dean Graduate Studies & Reserch Faculty of Education Queen's University Ontario, The Canadian Press THOUSANDS OF students received unsettling news this fall regarding the rigour of their high school grades. They learned that at least one university in Ontario — the University of Waterloo — assesses new engineering applicants partially on the basis of which high school they attended and not solely on their grades.

By tracking high school students’ graduating averages and comparing them against their first-year university GPA, the university was able to determine the average percentage drop of students from different schools when they moved to university.

Schools that exceeded the provincial average drop (in this case more than 16.3 per cent) were flagged — so that grade inflation was considered for their students during the admissions process.

In practical terms, this means that high school students with an identical graduating average from different schools are not considered to be the same in the eyes of this university. They use an “adjustment factor” as one mechanism to “level the field” in program admissions. www.canadianinquirer.net

The trouble with grade inflation

Educators have been studying grade inflation for decades.

However, this recent news suggests serious fairness issues may become a pervasive feature of our education system.

It alerts us to the fact that some students, presumably from high schools with more generous grading, have a false sense of their academic ability which may lead to a rude awakening at university.

An inflated sense of one’s academic achievement is problematic and will become worse if a correction to the system is not forthcoming. Starting university is difficult enough without anxiety and frustration from excessive drops in first year grades.

Even more disconcerting is the prospect that a student, who had the misfortune of attending a high school with more rigorous grading procedures, may have lost out on a spot in a coveted university program — to a peer with slightly higher, inflated grades.

In the province of Ontario, where education is largely publicly funded, schools should present equitable opportunities for learning with grades that reliably reflect student achievement. This is the first “fundamental principle” of Growing Success — Ontario’s 2010 provincial assessment and evaluation policy document.

Similar policy statements exist in nearly every province and territory. Clearly, the use of adjustment factors suggests

Ontario, and likely all Canadian provinces, have work to do in supporting grading and assessment in schools.

Standardized assessment is not a fix

Perhaps the simplest solution to this problem is to emulate other jurisdictions around the world and rely on standardized tests to make decisions about post-secondary admission.

This can be very appealing as it eliminates variability between teachers, schools, districts and provinces — so that students are judged against one another in a reliablefashion.

Unfortunately, standardized admissions tests, such as the SAT used in the United States, have their own flaws. Such tests have been shown to have significant gender and racial or cultural biases, among other measurement issues.

Similarly, the use of the SAT or related measures does not necessarily reduce grade inflation at the high school level, as the evidence suggests that grade inflation continues within universities and colleges in the U.S. and Canada.

External standardized measures also diminish the importance of daily classroom assessment strategies and their power to positively influence student learning.

In fact, a broad group of “assessment for learning” strategies — such as questioning techniques, feedback without grades, peer assessment, self❱❱ PAGE 30 Educators must

28

Lifestyle

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

How peace movement transformed a Muslim village

BY REY-LUIS BANAGUDOS Philippine News Agency ZAMBOANGA CITY — The great Sta. Cruz Island, which lies four kilometers away south of the southernmost tip of the city, is famous for its awesome beaches.

Members of the Sama Bangingi tribe live in a small village, according to their lore, on the island since time immemorial.

Today, the village boasts of young residents who finished college and are well-employed, and of solar-powered homes that contain amenities.

But only 28 years ago, the Sta. Cruz village, as it is known, was socially and economically backward, and was populated by hand-to-mouth fishermen whose children did not attend school.

Despite its ecological attractions, a few residents of the city dared to venture there due to perceived security risks.

So what brought about the transformation?

In 1990, the Silsilah Dialogue Movement founded by Fr. Sebastiano D’Ambra six years earlier, was firming up its “Culture of Dialogue, Path to Peace” peace-making paradigm.

One of its chosen threads was to reach out to children to become “bridges of peace.”

Minda Sano, executive director of the movement, decided to bring the brand new program to the Sta. Cruz Island village, through the establishment of a kindergarten school, with her spearheading the effort.

“At first the parents of the village were suspicious, even hostile to the idea of a basically Christian organization coming

to help them,” Minda said.

“Initially we just oriented and motivated the children on the value of education, just giving them loosely organized lessons. We did not build a schoolhouse right away, just held classes under a tree until eventually we won their trust and friendship and they and their parents became enthusiastic,” she recalled.

Minda said it was not easy to “gain their trust and friendship.”

But after having achieved that, Silsilah began building schoolhouses, first for kindergarten students.

One of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement's chosen threads was to reach out to children to become bridges of peace.

Year after year, more strucPNA tures were added, and currently, six school buildings are housing Cruz, the residents were afraid working in the government or gay Sta. Barbara, which is locatGrades 1 to 6 pupils, add to that of vaccination or getting injec- other establishments. ed in ground zero of the Zamboa day-care center funded by the tions when sick,” Minda said.

Others, who are literate, work anga Siege. local government.

“By extending them medical as environmental wardens or With the success of the The present school popu- help, which they asked for, they so-called “bantay dagat” of the school project in Sta. Cruz, Sillation is 72, with four under learned the need for medicines government on the island. silah has established five more board teachers whose salary is and hospitalization, the need Poorer parents are eligible similar kindergarten schools in paid for by Silsilah. Two of the for sanitation and hygiene. for the government 4Ps pro- Zamboanga City — in the multiteachers finished elementary in But we did not impose those gram. cultural communities of Mamthe same school. to them; we waited for them to Too far from the city to be pang, Sta. Catalina, Sinunuc, The elementary school is ac- seek our help.” connected to the power grid, Baluno, Paniran. credited by the they can afford The movement also trains Department of to set up solar kindergarten teachers on the Education. Its panels.

They essentials of peace education graduates are have outboards and values under an expanded eligible to enWe did not build a schoolhouse and pumpboats program it calls “ Tulay Bata for roll in secondary right away, just held classes under to ferry picnick- Dialogue and Peace.” schools located a tree until eventually we won their ers and divers The program includes a feedon the city maintrust and friendship and they and to the island, ing, healing and bonding sesland. their parents became enthusiastic. now numbering sion twice a month for children G r a d u a l l y, thousands every living in Sta. Catalina, who were Minda said, the month, and local victims of the 2013 siege. parents were women sell them “We know that the process also educated souvenirs and of education is an “Art in Prog— in ways of civic and parenUntil now, Minda said Sil- refreshments. ress” that needs preparation. It tal responsibility to send their silah helps them get hospital The economic progress has is the “Art of the Heart” that has children to school, to cooperate treatment and confinement. been attracting people of other to guide people to live and prowith one another for the welThe gift of education has tribes to set up homes on the mote dialogue and peace,” D’ fare of the community, and to radically changed the villagers’ island, Minda said, with appre- Ambra said in an article on the co-exist harmoniously. lives. Many children went on hension. movement’s website. ■ “When we first came to Sta. to finish college and are now The island is a sitio of Baran-

More than... ❰❰ 27

trainings and exposures, and regularly echoes his learnings to the members of the association on his own initiative — that is, even without support from DepEd — to level up their teaching capacities.

If only for this commitment, he is outstanding indeed.

It is a personal vocation, too.

In his youth, he said he studied in a private weekend madrasah.

He completed a course on Islamic Studies in the Western Mindanao State University.

But even while in college, he would do rounds in public elementary schools in the city having Muslim enrollees to teach them the basics of Islam and Islamic values, in the same

manner of Catholic catechists.

After finishing college, he became a DepEd contractual ALIVE teacher, and was later qualified for scholarship to study a two-year course in B.S. Elementary Education and eventually passed the teachers board exams.

Sihabon became a regular DepEd teacher in 2016.

Since then, he said he has been www.canadianinquirer.net

tapped to join a team that includes ulamas (Islamic teachers) who rewrite ALIVE textbooks.

Among the textbooks are those intended to also teach ALIVE to junior high schoolers possibly to start by next school year. Others, he said, are targeted to level up the quality of the contents.

Textbooks are also prepared for use in DepEd’s Alternative

Learning System (ALS)..

“ALS is more challenging because the students are dropouts,” he said.

But wherever they may be, in campuses or in the nooks and crannies of barangays, these children and youths will not escape Sihabon’s noble mindbending profession, vision and mission. ■

29

Sports PH lawn bowlers win PH women’s rugby wins silver 3 medals in China in 2018 Asia Trophy Series

BY JEAN MALANUM Philippine News Agency MANILA — The national lawn bowlers have returned to the country with the three medals they won in the 13th Asian Championships in Xinxiang, China last week.

Rosita Bradborn and Asuncion Bruce captured the women's pairs silver medal in the prestigious tournament which was participated by top-level athletes from Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and host China.

Bradborn and Bruce also won the women's fours team bronze medal with Hazel Jagonoy and Ronalyn Greenlees, while Ainie Knight pocketed the women's singles bronze medal.

The Philippines finished second overall in the women's division with 27 points, behind Malaysia, which garnered 34 points after winning two golds (pairs and fours) and two bronzes (singles and triples).

Singapore placed third with 25 points for winning the one gold (singles) and one bronze (triples).

Greenlees, who also served as coach, was happy that the team was able to bring home three medals.

In an interview on Tuesday, Greenlees said: “Overall, we performed well, considering that the Philippines is the only country that has no artificial bowling green. We practice on real grass which has a speed of 10 seconds. This is slow, compared to the faster green (17-18 seconds) in China.”

The speed on a bowling green is determined by the number of seconds for a bowl to roll from where it is delivered to where it comes to a rest.

Meanwhile, Greenlees has revealed that the Philippines will compete in the Hong Kong International Bowls Classic Carnival slated on November 8-18.

Greenlees will act as coach

and manager of the team composed of Bradborn, Bruce, Robert Guarin and Angelo Morales.

The national lawn bowlers have began their preparation for the 2019 SEA Games as early as March this year.

The team of Hommer Mercado, Paul Kitchen and Errol Johnson bagged the gold medal while the women's team of Bradborn, Jagonoy, Marisa Baronda and Sharon Hauters pocketed the bronze medal at the 21st Tiger Bowls World Invitational tournament, which was held on March 10-11 in Hong Kong.

The same women’s team clinched the silver medal in the Belt and Road China Lawn Bowls Open in Shenzhen and Zhuhai on March 16.

Last month, Greenlees and Mercado won the silver medal in the mixed pair event at the Asian Lawn Bowls Championships in Terengganu, Malaysia.

“We want to improve our skills and the best way to do that is by continuously training and competing abroad. Our goal is to win more medals in the SEA Games next year,” said Greenlees, a quarterfinalist in the 2008 World Outdoor Bowls Championships at Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2016, she won the bronze medal in the same tournament with Bradborn, Jagonoy and Bruce in the fours event.

The Philippines won one gold, three silvers and two bronzes in the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The medalists were Guarin, Emmanuel Portacio and Leoncio Carreon Jr. (men’s fours, gold); Baronda, Nancy Toyco and Nenita Tabiano (women’s fours, silver); Greenlees, Jagonoy and Bradborn (women’s triples, silver); Marcelito Pancho and Morales (men’s pairs, silver); Bruce and Knight (women’s pairs, bronze); and Elmer Abatayo (men’s singles, bronze). ■

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer THE LADY Volcanoes, representing the Philippines, won second place last Sunday, October 21 at the 2018 Asia Trophy Series in Brunei.

Team Philippines was on an undefeated run with all five games during the two-day competition, but eventually lost to Malaysia, the first place winners, during the final match.

Malaysia Coach Nik Ismade is surprised with the result, saying, “We can’t believe we have actually won the final,” while Philippine team skipper Helena Indigne shared, “The final match was very tough as we’re expecting it to be. We played our hearts and minds out; it just happens we didn’t get the final trophy but I believe our team did everything we could as individuals and as a team to get where we are and we’re very grateful.”

Nonetheless, Coach Ada Milby

PHILIPPINE RUGBY - PHILIPPINE VOLCANOES NATIONAL TEAM / FACEBOOK

“couldn’t be more proud of how the team performed overall, although [they] wish the final result was different.” He stated, “Not only is the best result the team has ever had in a single tournament, the entire team was composed of Philippine homegrown players,” retrospectively speaking that, “It was a fantastic weekend for women’s rugby in Asia to see 10 teams represented in this tournament— the most we’ve ever had competing for the trophy.”

The team’s first game was

against Uzbekistan, which they beat 12-10, then Pakistan, who scored no points against the Filipinos. The Lady Volcanoes then ended their first day of the tournament against India at 1710. The next day consisted of games against Nepal and Guam, whose scores ended at 43-0 and 10-7 respectively.

On the other hand, the U-18 team is set to compete in India starting October 24 for the U18s Asia Sevens Championships in Bhubaneswar. ■

Kiteboarder Christian Tio expresses aim for gold in 2024 Olympics

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer AFTER STANDING second place on the podium for the Philippines’ only medal in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, seventeen-year-old kiteboarder Christian Tio shared about his desire to fare just as well in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

At a press conference held in the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Monday, October 22, Tio shared with the media that “Kiteboarding will be an Olympic sport 2024 in Paris, that’s part of the plan,” and that he’s using the next six years “to prepare and get better every day.”

Philippine Sports Commiswww.canadianinquirer.net

sion (PSC) chief Arnold Agustin then assured his full support. Jonne Go, President of the Philippine Canoe Kayak Dragonboat Federation added, “I looked over his credentials and had a gut-feel he will deliver.”

The athlete from Boracay returned to his home country last week after receiving the silver medal in men’s kiteboarding in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last October 14, sharing the podium with Deury Corniel from the Dominican Republic.

Looking back at his performance, Tio said he was “already expecting a fourth-place finish or just a bronze with all the postponements happening for the finals race because of the inclement weather,” adding, “But I just

went all in and made it through.”

Tio’s mother Liezl introduced the teenager to the sport at the age of seven, telling the press, “I am very proud of Christian for what he’s achieved.”

Tio will be visiting the Malacañang Palace later this November in order to pick up his P2.5 million incentive from the government, while his coach for the half of that. This is under the recently expanded Republic Act 10699, or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act. Tio told the press that he has one message for the public about kiteboarding, that “Hopefully more will enter the sport and it will get much bigger because we have so many islands.” ■

30

Business PH, US resolve trade issues, eye stronger economic ties

BY KRIS CRISMUNDO Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippine and United States governments jointly announced that huge strides have been made towards resolving bilateral trade issues under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), saying that both parties are committed to enhance economic ties.

This was contained in a joint statement issued by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez on Monday evening here.

In the joint statement, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recognized the Philippines’ adherence to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, ensuring WTOconsistent valuation on agricultural imports as well as the country’s commitment to fair trade by not launching policies that would restrict or prohibit the entry of US products to the Philippine market.

The USTR also noted that Philippine government’s effort to protect geographical indications (GI).

On the other hand, the Philippine government welcomed the resolution of the issues on market access for its agricultural products such as mango, young green coconuts, and carrageenan, as well as the inclusion of travel goods under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) granted by the US government to the Philippines.

Under the US GSP, some USD1.5 billion worth of Philippine exports to the US entered the market duty-free.

Moving forward, the two governments committed to strengthen bilateral economic relations.

“Both governments agree that enhanced bilateral engagement on trade under the TIFA should include work that

DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez.

yields benefits for agricultural producers, importers, exporters and consumers, and intend to work together in a number of areas,” the joint statement read.

Lighthizer and Lopez stated that the two countries will collaborate on the “development of cold chain requirements and best practices in the Philippines, taking into account international guidelines and codes of practice regarding food hygiene adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission”.

The trade officials said they will involve the private sector in improving the existing cold chain here, while the US government, subject to the availability of its resources, will provide technical assistance to enhance cold chain development and management in the Philippines.

“Both governments agree to continue technical dialogue and policy discussions on the National Retail Payments System (NRPS) and other measures related to electronic payment services, including domestic retail debit and credit electronic payment transactions,” noting the US government’s support to boost the e-commerce in the Philippines.

“Both governments agree to a continued dialogue on priority

DTI PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK

issues of interest to both countries, including for the Philippines, discussions on seeking relief from U.S. safeguard measures on solar cells and Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum,” it added.

The Philippines and the US likewise committed to collaborate for a work program under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-US TIFA for automotive standard issues.

Meanwhile, during the visit of US President Donald Trump in Manila for the ASEAN Summit, he welcomed the suggestion of the DTI for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the US and the Philippines and considered to explore FTA discussions.

In a text message on Tuesday, Lopez said following his joint statement with the USTR that both governments are planning to launch scoping discussions for an FTA. However, the USTR has to notify the US Congress before it starts any formal negotiations for a free trade deal with any country.

In 2016, two-way trade between the Philippines and US reached USD27 billion, making the US one of the top trade partners of the Philippines. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Educators must... ❰❰ 27

assessment and the formative use of summative assessments — have been shown to have a significant positive impact on student learning, regardless of school district and jurisdiction, within Canada and internationally.

sional development later in a teacher’s career.

Impetus for change

The grade inflation problem requires a long-term educational change initiative. And this requires commitment from across institutions, provinces, school boards and ministries of Teachers unprepared for fair education. grading One must concede that there How do we navigate this ten- is always going to be some sion within classroom-based variability across schools as assessment, which can both ef- teachers must exercise their fectively support learning but professional judgement when also contribute to detrimental arriving at final grades. Grading grade inflation? is inherently a subjective evaluThe solution rests within ation of assessment evidence. universities across Canada, However, the key is to ensure which are largely responsible teachers have the skills and for the training and education knowledge to ensure their evalof teachers. At uations are relithe heart of this able and fair for issue is teachtheir students ers’ competency — in relation to to effectively An inflated provincial curuse assessment sense riculum expectato support stuof one’s tions. dent learning academic Unless we and to accurately achievement — university report on that is programs, minlearning — a problematic istries of educacompetency we and will tion and school call “assessment become districts — better literacy.” worse if a support teachThe research correction ers’ assessment shows that to the literacy then we teachers feel system is not will continue to largely unpreforthcoming. see the negative pared for assesseffects of grade ment in schools, inflation across with new teachour educational ers feeling parsystems. ticularly vulnerable. So we must With enough data, one can find ways to effectively prepare envision adjustment factors teachers — so that they are bet- across all provinces, universiter able to make fair assessment ties and specific programs. But and grading decisions. this solution does not address Both pre-service teacher edu- the root cause of the problem. cation programs and in-service Perhaps the recent news — professional learning opportu- and the knowledge that univernities are sites for enhancing sities might be partially “corteacher assessment literacy. recting” for inflated students’ While pre-service teacher grades — could be the impetus education programs have in- we need for a conversation in creased levels of direct instruc- schools across Canada. And tion in the area of assessment this could enable us to better over the past five years, there support our teachers in student appears to be a need for addi- assessment. ■ tional work. Importantly, this must extend out of the class- This article is republished from room and into the field — both The Conversation under a Creduring initial teacher placeative Commons license. ments and through profes-

Business

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

31

Robust gov’t spending to drive H2 growth: economist

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — An economist of ING Bank Manila remains optimistic that the Philippine economy will continue to expand in the second half of 2018, largely driven by robust government spending.

Citing data released by the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) Monday, ING Bank Manila senior economist Nicholas Mapa, in a report, said non-interest expenditures rose for the third consecutive month last September.

BTr data show that expenditures last September alone reached PHP298.6 billion, 26 percent higher than the PHP237 billion same month in 2017.

Of the total, interest payments rose 24 percent year-onyear to PHP32.7 billion while Other expenditures jumped 26 percent year-on-year to PHP265.9 billion.

In end-September this, total expenditures reached PHP2.489 trillion, up 24 percent than the PHP2.014 trillion in the first nine months of 2017 and three percent higher than the PHP2.427 trillion programmed for the same period.

Revenues last September totaled to PHP202.4 billion, up one percent year-on-year while the end-September figure rose 17 percent to PHP2.111 trillion.

The programmed revenues for the first three quarters this year is PHP2.030 trillion.

These figures resulted in a budget gap of PHP96.2 billion last September, an increase of 161 percent, as the government ups its spending, particularly on infrastructure projects.

To date, budget deficit amounts to PHP378.2 billion, 78 percent higher than yearago’s PHP213.1 billion but lower than the PHP396.6 billion program.

With these developments, Mapa is optimistic that growth will remain strong despite

an expected deceleration in household spending.

“Strong government spending will likely bolster growth into H2 2018 and offset a likely slowdown in household spending due to accelerating inflation and elevated borrowing costs,” he said.

In the first half of the year, growth, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), averaged at 6.3 percent, with the first quarter figure at 6.6 percent and the second at six percent.

The slowdown in the second quarter was traced partly to the lower contribution of the agriculture sector, which, in turn, resulted in faster rate of price increases given the lack of supply of food items like rice and vegetables due to weatherrelated disturbances.

Authorities, however, are optimistic that faster rise of inflation will be addressed by several measures that have been put in place following the issuance

by Malacañang of several Executive Orders (EOs) targeted

to ensure the adequate supply of food items like rice and meat.

Aside from the aim to slow inflation rate, these measures are also targeted to ensure sustained strong growth of the economy, with the target for this year alone cut to 6.5-6.9 percent from the original seven to eight percent, which is also the goal until 2022.

Mapa said that for the third quarter alone, the government’s spending grew by 31.1 percent and the budget deficit, to date, accounts for 72 percent of the PHP523.6 billion programmed for the year.

He said that for the government to meet its PHP3.76 trillion spending target this year, it “will need to approach 40 percent growth on top of last year’s impressive 4Q print.”

“Given the recent resolve the government has displayed in spending these past months, our forecast for 6.0-6.5 percent growth in the H2 will rely more heavily on the national government’s ability to pump prime to

offset the projected deceleration in household consumption as the twin effects of accelerating inflation and higher borrowing costs begin to bite,” he said.

The economist also noted that “on top of the current build-build-build efforts of the government, election-related expenditures are also seen to kick into high gear ahead of May 2019.”

“Given their current cash position and projected aggressive expenditure program, government will be pressured to finance the expected pump priming efforts,” he said.

“Such financing will likely employ a mix of foreign-denominated and local borrowings as the administration closes in on its expenditure target for the year,” he added.

Finance officials have disclosed plans to issue US dollardenominated bonds, among others, in the last quarter of the year to take advantage of investors’ continued interest in the Philippine economy. ■

Gov’t reforms making PH more competitive: DTI

BY KRIS CRISMUNDO Philippine News Agency

(global competitiveness index) is a testament of the fruits of all of these reform initiatives,” Lopez said. “[W]e are gearing up for better. We are optimistic that with our ongoing reform initiatives with the enactment of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Act (EODB law), and efforts to promote government technology, the country will move us further closer to

roeconomic stability, health, skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism, MANILA — The government’s and innovation capability. continued effort to improve the DTI noted that the country’s business environment in order ranking in all pillars improved to make the Philippines a more in the latest competitiveness competitive investment destiindex. nation has been bearing fruit, On the other hand, the counthe Department of Trade and try’s distance to frontier score Industry (DTI) said. for the 2018 GCR is at 62.1 from In a statement, Trade Seclast year’s 59.8 score. retary Ramon Aside from Lopez welcomes WEF’s GCR, the country’s the country 12-notch jump in also monitors the 2018 Global From day one, the Duterte its ranking in Competitiveness administration has worked on the Doing BusiReport (GCR) of various reform initiatives to improve ness Report by the World Ecothe country’s competitiveness. the World Bank, nomic Forum which is expect(WEF) to rank ed to be released 56 from rank 68 in the next few last year. the frontier,” he added. weeks.

“From day one, the Duterte The GCR measures a counAlthough the passage of the administration has worked on try’s competitiveness using 12 EODB law will not be counted various reform initiatives to pillars which include institu- in this year’s report, DTI is opimprove the country’s competi- tions, infrastructure, infor- timistic that this legislation tiveness. The recent positive mation and communication will lift the country’s ranking in performance in the refined GCI technology adoption, mac- next year’s report. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Charito Plaza.

PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC ZONE AUTHORITY / FACEBOOK

PEZA chief open to hike in GIE perk under Trabaho bill

BY KRIS CRISMUNDO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza on Thursday reiterated her call to legislators not to scrap the

gross income earned (GIE) incentive under the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and HighQuality Opportunities or TRABAHO bill, but the agency is willing to increase the tax rate of this perk. ❱❱ PAGE 33 PEZA chief

32

Technology How consumer tech is changing the way developers build condominiums

BY TARA DESCHAMPS The Canadian Press

working apps and install hightech Peloton exercise bikes that are outfitted with screens to let users cycle alongside celebrity fitness instructors.

This tech-based condo revolution has come in the last two years and is changing quickly, said Shane Fenton, the chief operating officer of Reserve Properties, who attributed the shift as the reason why his company has grown obsessed with what thousands of future occupants of the Line 5 towers will want in their condos when they start moving in around Sept. 2022.

“A lot of condo developments have to catch up to the way we are living,” Fenton said. “In two more years, God knows how different it is going to be.”

Experts are already expecting autonomous car, electric scooter and bike companies to invade Canada in the coming years, giving condo developers and operators a whole new set of challenges. They could be

roads in Canada yet, but auto-sharing, food delivery and home rental services have, said Fenton.

TORONTO — When the future Car-sharing service Car2Go, residents of Toronto’s Line 5 for example, has eyed partnercondo building order home deships like one it struck with livery of groceries or a bite from Knightsbridge Homes at CalUber Eats or Foodora, there gary’s first condo development will be no need to rush home without parking, the N3. The to ensure their food isn’t left at partnership involved Knightsthe front desk to get cold. bridge purchasing Car2Go Instead, the products will minutes and splitting them wait in designated hot and cold amongst tenants in the buildfood storage rooms — just one ing’s 120 units, eliminating the of the ways developers are kitneed to own a vehicle. ting out their projects with Car2Go has also worked with technology-driven designs. real estate company Strategic In addition to the haven for Group on their one6 building in grocery and food delivery, Line Calgary to offer two dedicated 5 will have a designated spot for Car2Go vehicle spaces and with Uber and Lyft rides, a high-tech Austeville Properties and Seyshared working space for those lynn Village in downtown and who want to work from home North Vancouver to offer simiand an exercise room outfitted lar Car2Go spaces. with a gym system that mixes Condo developers are also arcade-style activities with fitdabbling in the social meness. dia world when building new Such features are slowly beunits. In 2014, condo developer coming more Tridel partnered common as dewith Vancouvervelopers across based social netthe country conworking busitend with techA lot of condo developments ness Bazinga, nology that is have to catch up to the way we which runs a redefining how are living. In two more years, God platform that people live, work knows how different it is going to lets residents and play, creatbe. chat with each ing a demand other and buildfor new kinds of ing staff, book condo features amenities, acand amenities. joined by drone-based delivery cess important documents and That demand has pushed services, pet-sharing compa- receive news about their comdevelopers from Vancouver to nies or businesses centred en- munity. Bazinga said it is curHalifax to reserve parking spac- tirely on delivering products rently used in more than 1,000 es for autoshare companies, like cannabis or medicine. buildings across Canada and carve out delivery spaces, deThose tech-based services close to 100,000 units in Albervelop condo-focused social net- haven’t made significant in- ta, British Columbia, Quebec,

www.canadianinquirer.net

New Brunswick and Ontario.

When rolling out tech-based offerings, Fenton said developers often think about the features they most yearn for in their own homes. Sometimes they’ll even turn to tech companies for advice on what they can do to make their space more conducive to newly emerging services.

Uber Canada’s director of public affairs Adam Blinick said the company is aware of a developer behind a Los Angeles project making an effort to ensure parking areas are flat and

rampless, so they can be repurposed as gyms or other amenities when condo dwellers own fewer cars and rely more on ride-hailing services.

Blinick said Uber has had recent conversations with Canadian developers around how to make buildings more tech friendly, but they have mostly been of an “exploratory nature.”

However, he added, “I do anticipate these will be things we see more and more of and they will become more concrete as time goes on.” ■

Technology

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26, 2018

WhatsApp tells companies to stop spam amid Brazil elections

BY SARAH DILORENZO The Associated Press SAO PAULO — The WhatsApp messaging service said Friday that it has sent “cease and desist” letters to stop companies from sending bulk messages related to Brazil’s election, after a report that businessmen were bankrolling a campaign to spread fake news in support of leading far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro.

The company framed the move as part of its larger efforts to combat the spread of false information on its service, revealing that it had banned hundreds of thousands of accounts since August, when the election campaign officially got under way in Brazil.

It said it uses “spam detection technology that spots accounts that engage in abnormal behaviour so they can’t be used to spread spam or misinformation.”

Among the accounts it has blocked are those belonging to the companies that received the “cease and desist” letters.

The action came after a report in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper on Thursday that said a blast messaging campaign was planned for the week before the Oct. 28 runoff.

Bolsonaro’s rival, Fernando Haddad, said that, if true, the scheme would amount to illegal campaign practices and asked Brazil’s electoral court to investigate. Haddad, who became the candidate for the left-leaning Workers’ Party after former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was banned because of a corruption conviction, alleged that hundreds of thousands of fake messages were already sent out in support of the farright hopeful.

Bolsonaro has said any support he received from businessmen was voluntary and his Social and Liberal Party said all donations they have received were legal.

WhatsApp said in a statement that it was taking the allegation seriously. It declined to name the companies that it sent the letters to, but the Folha report identified marketing companies it said allegedly received money to do the

blast messaging. None of the companies mentioned immediately responded to requests to confirm they had received the “cease and desist” letters.

WhatsApp is immensely popular in Brazil, which is home to nearly one in 10 users worldwide, but it has come under scrutiny during this election as concerns grow about whether false or manipulated messages are influencing voters. While fake news is a concern on many social media platforms, like Twitter and Facebook, WhatsApp is more difficult to police because users exchange information directly and rumours there can gain added credibility since they’re shared privately by friends.

Later, members of Haddad’s Workers’ Party met in Brasilia with the head of Brazil’s electoral court. Chairwoman Gleisi Hoffmann said she feared there would not be a timely response to avert the false news wave before the runoff.

“I leave this meeting with a lot of concerns about the court’s ability to face this new situation in the electoral process,” Hoffmann told journalists. “Yesterday we filed a suit to request searches to gather evidence and so far the court had no decision.

The court will treat this suit as if we were in normal times, so I am very worried.”

Haddad also criticized Brazil’s electoral court on Friday. “We have an analogue judiciary dealing with digital problems,” he told journalists in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil’s top electoral court had been expected to hold a press conference on false news and

electoral crimes, but it was postponed until Sunday. No details were given about the change.

Also on Friday Brazil’s Labor Democratic Party filed a request to the country’s top electoral court to cancel the results of the first round of voting on Oct.7. The left-leaning party of third-place Ciro Gomes argues Bolsonaro’s campaign received illegal funds and used false news to thrive.

Meanwhile, amid the backand-forth about whether WhatsApp was being weaponized in the campaign, Flavio Bolsonaro, who is a senator-elect for Rio de Janeiro and the presidential candidate’s son, tweeted that his own account had been banned but hours later said it had been unblocked. WhatsApp confirmed that the account was blocked about a week ago for spamming users and reinstated a few days later.

“The persecution knows no limits!” Flavio Bolsonaro tweeted Friday when he initially revealed his account had been blocked. Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign has frequently alleged that the mainstream media and others are working against the front-runner’s candidacy.

WhatsApp noted that an account for former President Dilma Rousseff, who is from the rival Workers’ Party and ran for senator in this election and lost, was also blocked during her campaign. ■ Associated Press writers Stan Lehman and Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo and video journalist Mario Lobao in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report. www.canadianinquirer.net

33

Michael Caine... ❰❰ 25

because my only alternative was working back in the butter

a scene and they all shit on us.

“I learned from them – also earned from them,” he said of factory. his critical duds. “I got the same “But also, timing played a money for the flops as I did massive part in my career.” from the successes.”

Caine was starting out just When leading-man parts as a new generation of writers dried up, Caine retired – briefwas emerging – playwrights ly. The last two decades have like John Osborne and Harold brought some of the most rePinter, telling stories about warding parts of his career, inworking-class life. cluding his six films with Nolan, “Suddenly every working- whom Caine calls “a brilliant class boy who was going to work director … the new David Lean.” said: ‘Sod this. I’m going to do These days, Caine is contentsomething I want to do and do edly unretired, balancing work it my way,”‘ he and time with recalled.

“And his family: Shathat’s the way the kira, his wife of 60s started.”

45 years; his two Albayalde The 60s made daughters; and advised Caine a star, his three grandmembers and he wasn’t children aged of the labor alone. Sudden9 and 10, with sector not to ly, he writes in whom he is “bebe swayed the book, “evsotted.” by calls of erybody I knew “I have such left-leaning seemed to begreat times with groups to join come a housethem,” Caine mass actions. hold name.” said. “What asCaine enjoyed tonishes me fame, when it the things they came, but also know. It’s like worked extremetalking to a ly hard, at one point making 12 20-year-old.” films in four years.

Of his recent films, he’s The result is a resume of proudest of Italian director more than 100 features, of vary- Paolo Sorrentino’s “Youth,” in ing quality. Caine is cheerful which he played an aging orabout the low points, films like chestra conductor. schlocky shark sequel “Jaws: “I don’t play the leads in movThe Revenge” or “The Swarm,” ies now – I’m too bloody old to a disaster movie in both senses be getting up every morning of the word where Caine and his at half past six,” he said. “I just co-stars learned another les- take little character parts and son: Never work with bees. have a bit of fun.

“None of us realized it was “You don’t give up movies – a disaster till about halfway they give up you. And while I through, when the bees turned get these parts, I’ll keep doing up,” Caine said. “We were doing them.” ■

PEZA chief... ❰❰ 31

Plaza told reporters that PEZA is amenable to increasing the GIE incentive to 7 percent from the current 5-percent rate.

“We can increase it to 7 percent. We have been consulting our locators. They are amenable to increase it to 7 percent,” she said during the EU-Philippines Business Summit.

Raising the GIE rate could also increase the share of local government units (LGUs) from the taxes of PEZA-registered companies, she added.

Plaza added that in the 5-per-

cent GIE rate, 3 percent goes to the national government, while the remaining 2 percent is for the city or municipality that is hosting the economic zone.

Plaza said by increasing the GIE rate to 7 percent, the provincial government could also gain taxes from PEZA locators.

She said the agency is also amenable to set a period for granting the GIE incentive.

The agency, she said, can provide a perpetual GIE perk to its locators as long as they are operating within the PEZA ecozones. ■

OCTOBER 26, 2018

34

CANADA

AMP PROMATIC IS LOOKING FOR PRODUCTION WORKERS Sheet metal manufacturing company is looking to hire workers with some experience on metal cutting machines, plus general labor.

If you don’t have experience but are hard worker we will train and will oer you good wages.

This can be a full-time or part-time position and we are located in Vaughan, Hwy 7 and Weston Rd.

Contact: Walter at 416-991-1007 or send e-mail ampincwf@gmail.com

HIRING

NANNY/BABYSITTER

LOCATION: BRAMPTON Employer: Romelo Perez for 2 children (15 & 11 y.o.), Mon-Fri, $14/hr for 40 hrs/wk. 3 year-contract Requirements: LanguageEnglish. Education- Completion of secondary school (min.)

Experience- 1-2 yrs. child care/babysitting exp; criminal record check, in good health. Duties: Supervise and care for children, prepare and serve meals, assist with feeding, grooming, hygiene, homework and school projects. Perform light housekeeping & cleaning duties including wash/iron clothes and household linens.

Take children to and from school and appointments, travel with family if needed.

LUCKY SUPERMARKET 10628 King George Blvd, Surrey B.C is hiring all positions such as: store manager, grocery manager, produce manager, office administration, file maintenance clerk, head cashier, cook, BBQ chef, meat cutter, baker, bakery clerk, grocery clerk, frozen clerk, meat clerk, produce clerk, cashier, truck driver and kitchen helper.

APPLY BY EMAIL: melo.perez@outlook.com

Please email resume to: hrsurrey@luckysupermarket.ca

Electronic Technicians Needed Experience in Low Voltage Electrical System installation and Servicing Computers with Networking Email resume to suda@alarmboss.com Call 416-432-1902

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35

Travel What the world can learn from Greece’s passion for the arts

BY CONSTANTINE PASSARIS Professor of Economics University of New Brunswick, The Canadian Press THROUGHOUT THE ages, Greece has created an inspiring legacy in the arts and culture. Renowned Greek philosophers, architects, sculptors, poets and playwrights like Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Herodotus, Sophocles, Euripedes and Aeschylus have made remarkable contributions over the centuries to the arts and culture and have left an indelible foundation for future generations.

The Greek model of supporting the arts is both old and ongoing; it embraces difference and internationalism and believes art is the cornerstone to civil society. We should learn from that model.

At the core of the Greek approach to culture is the idea of philoxenia. Philoxenia is a Greek word that has its roots in ancient Greek phraseology; it does not have an equivalent in any of the western languages. The literal translation of philoxenia is “welcoming of foreigners.”

Philoxenia

But philoxenia has a deeper and broader cultural connotation. It embraces an ethos, a concept and a mindset. It denotes a global outreach, a comfort level with diversity and a cultural ethos of embracing universality.

Philoxenia projects a comfort level with engaging the rest of the world. It encourages seeking out of global contexts instead of limiting society to its local environment. It suggests good will towards international cultural outreach. It’s an incubator for a diversity of perspectives and ideas.

This ethos of supporting the arts is not just in the past. As a visiting professor at the International Writers and Translators Centre of Rhodes in the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to witness first-hand the continuing Greek passion for incubating, nurturing and promoting arts and culture.

This foundational and unwavering cultural ethos is their basic philosophy for the arts. The principal belief is that supporting the arts and culture is not a luxury but an investment in human progress. It is the necessary scaffolding for building and sustaining civil society.

It is the cornerstone for human growth and development.

Canadian municipalities could stand to learn a lot from this concept of philoxenia.

was bankrolling the cost of instructors to teach modern Greek studies at some Ca-

nadian universities, including my own at the University of New Brunswick.

The International Writers and Translators Centre of Rhodes where I was a visiting professor is a beacon for implementing the local cultural policy.

A handful of dedicated professionals administer its programs, supported by the community. Their annual cultural and artistic events includes writers’ workshops, music recitals, school outreach programs, book launches and translation workshops. They support an international talented and creative group of individuals who are shaping the modern face of arts and culture.

The island of Rhodes is one of the larger Greek islands nestled in the Aegean Sea. The capital city, also called Rhodes, is home to the UNESCO world heritage ❱❱ PAGE 36 What the

The cornerstone to cities

Inherent in this governance model is the recognition that supporting and funding arts and culture is not an expense but an investment in the aesthetic development and the progress of civilization and humanity.

Canadian municipalities are the foundational stepping stone for supporting, nurturing and promoting the arts and culture; they are the cornerstone for their cities’ cultural panorama and artistic expression.

Municipalities hold the key for turning civil society’s cultural aspirations into a pragmatic reality. What is missing from our Canadian municipal cultural policies is the spirit of philoxenia.

Incorporating a form of Canadian philoxenia will allow our cities to embrace a global mindset and an international mission. More importantly, it will require that municipalities acknowledge that their cultural budget is not a frivolous expense but an investment that will deliver cultural dividends in the future.

A role model for cultural policies

Greece has been resolute in achieving the ambitious objectives of its cultural policy. Despite wars, natural disasters and economic crises, Greece did not falter in its mission to support, nurture and promote arts and culture. For example, during the heights of the recent economic crisis from 2010-2013, Greece

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

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Travel

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Nebraska’s message New Brunswick’s Beaverbrook Art for tourists? ‘It’s Gallery offers world class experience not for everyone’

BY TARA DESCHAMPS The Canadian Press

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LINCOLN, NEB. — Nebraska’s no longer nice, at least in its next tourism campaign. The new sales pitch has a decidedly self-deprecating bent: “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”

The slogan, which the Nebraska Tourism Commission unveiled Wednesday at a Nebraska City conference, will replace the current “Through My Eyes” campaign this spring, commission marketing manager Jenn Gjerde said Thursday.

State tourism director John Ricks told the Omaha WorldHerald that because Nebraska consistently ranks as the least likely state tourists plan to visit, the marketing campaign needed to be different.

“To make people listen, you have to hook them somehow,” Ricks said. “We had to shake people up.”

Nebraska has used several slogans in its efforts to entice tourists, including, “America’s Frontier,” “My Choice, Nebraska” and “Nebraska ... the good life.”

The slogan that debuted in 2014 was: “Visit Nebraska. Visit

nice.”

One of the new video ads that will begin running next spring opens with a boy peering through oversized glasses into the camera. The background music is quirky.

Then comes a voice: “Nebraska is kind of like that odd kid. Didn’t say much in school.

Slightly peculiar maybe. But when you took the time to get to know him, turned out he was pretty interesting.”

Another ad shows two people walking and jumping over the toadstool rock formations at Toadstool Geologic Park in northwestern Nebraska. Words appearing on the photo say: “Famous for our flat, boring landscape.”

Ricks told the Lincoln Journal Star that “the perception of a place to visit in people’s heads is more important than the things to see and do when you get there.”

“Because, if they’re not here, they don’t get to enjoy those things. ... So we had to find a way to get people here,” he said. ■

What the... ❰❰ 35

site of the medieval city, which is the only European medieval city in continuous habitation.

Rhodes is a city where natural beauty, a rich history, a vibrant society and a flourishing cultural scene merge to create a powerful synergy of cultural and artistic expression.

Rhodes has become a role model when it comes to promoting a visionary cultural policy and supporting a vibrant arts and culture community.

The cultural centre in Rhodes is serving as an incubator for the next wave of significant contributions to the arts and culture worldwide.

In my opinion, Canadian municipalities are duty-bound to

fulfil the hopes and aspirations of its residents. To that government support, artists and cultural producers can add a dash of vision and experimentation while embracing an international and multicultural context.

The financial support plus creative vision can help the arts and culture flourish as a tribute to the enduring value of civil society’s aesthetic elegance and as a monument to the everlasting glory of contemporary civilization. ■ This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Disclosure information is available on the original site.

FREDERICTON — Jon Shrubsole made the pilgrimage all the way from Dayton, Ohio.

On the edge of the Saint John River, Fredericton’s Beaverbrook Art Gallery has a back story — and a collection of works — ordinarily unlikely to be found in a sleepy provincial capital.

“There are many famous artists — the Group of Seven, really great world class artists,” Shrubsole says as he walks through the gallery for the first time.

“I knew they had added the new wing about a year ago and rehung everything, and I wanted to see it.”

Shrubsole said he’s visited many galleries around the world and was impressed.

The gallery — which turns 60 next year — is home to more than 5,300 works by artists including Salvador Dali, Lucian Freud, J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Gainsborough.

“It has an international reputation and is one of the finest art galleries in Canada of its kind,” director Thomas Smart says on a stroll through the building.

The gallery was given to the province of New Brunswick by Ontario-born British press baron Lord Beaverbrook in 1959.

He built the original building and endowed it with a collection.

That collection has grown ever since, and the building has seen numerous additions including an impressive new pavilion that opened in 2017 — expanding the gallery by about 30 per cent and making it the largest in Atlantic Canada.

“If you haven’t been here for a few years, you’re seeing a whole new Beaverbrook Art Gallery, not just in the new pavilion, but in the way the whole space has been retrofitted,” Smart said.

“We have some of the finest international works, British modern paintings, French paintings, some medieval ivories. It really is a large collection that shows not only Beaverbrook’s hand as a collector but his taste as an international collector of young contemwww.canadianinquirer.net

Beaverbrook Art Gallery in New Brunswick.

VERNE EQUINOX/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

poraries. We have a beautiful Freud. It was purchased by Beaverbrook when Freud was really at the beginning of his career,” he said.

The gallery is broken into different areas, some small, some large, featuring different collections and themes. There are new things at every turn, giving an impression that the inside of the building is much larger than the outside view would imply.

Past visitors will remember the huge and impressive Dali painting Santiago el Grande, which commanded a large wall near the main entrance. It now has a new location far from the entrance but well worth the stroll.

Dali intended the painting to be viewed from below, and visitors are encouraged to lay on the floor with their feet to the wall and look up. The viewer is left with the impression that the horse is coming out of the painting.

The gallery gets more than 40,000 visitors each year, and on any given day that can include classes of students and tourists who have travelled from points across the country and around the world.

Despite the recent expansion, only about 20 per cent of the collection is on display at any time.

“Our vaults are full and our galleries are full,” Smart said.

He said some works are on loan to other galleries or part of travelling exhibits, and the gal-

lery continues to add to its collection.

Smart said they have been working closely with First Nations, and recently took possession of a unique birch bark hat.

The gallery also hosts a variety of events, especially since the addition of the huge pavilion with its high ceilings and large windows overlooking the river.

“We like to think of it as the front room of Fredericton. It showcases the art beautifully, we have performances in here, readings, we have dance, it is such a flexible space,” Smart said.

Going forward, Smart says the next year will see development of more of the outside space around the gallery, including the relocation of the large statute of Lord Beaverbrook from Officers’ Square to the grassy area next to the gallery, known as The Green.

If you go

The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is open Tuesdays through Sundays.

Gallery admission is free for members and children six and under. General admission of $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $5 for students and $20 for families. On Thursday evenings, admission is by donation. www.beaverbrookartgallery. org The gallery also has Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. ■

37

Food Discover the secret ingredient for creating a great chili AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN GROUND BEEF chili is way more convenient than chili made with whole chunks of meat, but a truly great version requires a few tricks. To keep the meat moist and tender, we treated it with salt and baking soda.

Both ingredients helped the meat hold on to moisture, so it stayed juicy and didn’t shed liquid during cooking, which would water down the chili. We also simmered the meat for 90 minutes to fully tenderize it.

We made a simple but deeply flavoured homemade chili powder, bolstered that with canned chipotles, and cooked both in the fat rendered by the beef to bloom the flavours of the fatsoluble spices throughout the dish. This chili is intensely flavoured and should be served with tortilla chips and/or white rice and your favourite chili garnishes, such as lime wedges, chopped cilantro, and minced onion. Diced avocado, sour cream, and shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese are also good options for garnishing.

Best ground beef chili

Servings: 8-10 Start to finish: 2 hours, 45 minutes • 2 pounds of 85 per cent lean ground beef • 2 tablespoons plus 2 cups water • Salt and pepper • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda • 6 dried ancho chilies, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1 inch pieces • 1 ounce tortilla chips, crushed (1/4 cup) • 2 tablespoons ground cumin • 1 tablespoon paprika • 1 tablespoon garlic powder • 1 tablespoon ground coriander • 2 teaspoons dried oregano • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme • 1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • 1 onion, chopped fine • 3 garlic cloves, minced • 1-2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce • 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans • 2 teaspoons sugar • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar Adjust oven rack to lower-

middle position and heat oven to 275 F. Toss beef with 2 tablespoons water, 11/2 teaspoons salt, and baking soda in bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast anchos in Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 4 to 6 minutes, reducing heat if anchos begin to smoke. Transfer to food processor and let cool.

Add tortilla chips, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, coriander, oregano, thyme, and 2 teaspoons pepper to food processor with anchos and process until finely ground, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl. Process tomatoes and their juice in now-empty work bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Heat oil in now-empty pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beef and cook, stirring to break meat up into 1/4 inch pieces, until beef is browned and fond begins to form on pot bottom, 12 to 14 minutes. Add ancho mixture

JEFFREYW/FLICKR, CC BY 2.0

and chipotle; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add tomato puree, remaining 2 cups water, beans and their liquid, and sugar. Bring to boil, scraping bottom of pot to loosen any browned bits. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until meat is tender and chili is slightly thickened, 11/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

Remove chili from oven and let stand, uncovered, for 10

minutes. Stir in any fat that has risen to top of chili, then add vinegar and season with salt to taste. Serve. (Chili can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; add water as needed when reheating to adjust consistency.) ■ Nutrition information per serving: 387 calories; 189 calories from fat; 21 g fat (7 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 77 mg cholesterol; 502 mg sodium; 23 g carbohydrate; 7 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 27 g protein.

Pair a roasted salmon with a spiced up honey lime glaze AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN

LUCAS RICHARZ/FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

PAIRING PERFECTLY roasted salmon with a spiced-up honeylime glaze required a cooking technique all its own. Slashing the skin encouraged it to render and crisp quickly, but we also needed to give the flesh a strong, flavourful crust that would stand up to (as well as hold on to) a thick coating of glaze.

Applying a rub of cornstarch and brown sugar to the flesh www.canadianinquirer.net

and searing it in a hot skillet provided that browned crust and firm texture on the double. Once flipped, the skin side needed just a minute to crisp.

We spooned the thickened glaze over the fillets and transferred the skillet to a moderate oven where our salmon hit its target temperature in less than 10 minutes. Glossy and appealingly sweet-tart, these fillets were an easy, satisfying upgrade.

To ensure uniform pieces of fish, buy a whole centre-cut fil-

let and cut it into four pieces. If your knife is not sharp enough to cut through the skin easily, try a serrated knife. You will need a 12-inch oven-safe nonstick skillet for this recipe.

Honey-lime glazed roast salmon

Servings: 4 Start to finish: 40 minutes

Honey-Lime Glaze: • 1/4 cup honey ❱❱ PAGE 38 Pair a

38

Food

OCTOBER 26, 2018

FRIDAY

Forget the mess: This shepherd’s pie uses only one skillet AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN DESPITE ITS status as a classic comfort food, there’s nothing comforting about the many steps and piles of dirty dishes that shepherd’s pie usually requires. Using the cast-iron skillet as our sauteing, baking, and serving pan streamlined the process.

We used ground beef as our base and added tomato paste, garlic, and thyme to bump up the flavour. Flour, chicken broth, and Worcestershire sauce were all that we needed to create a rich gravy, and a final addition of green peas added a pop of freshness.

To give our potato topping necessary structure, we added milk, butter, and an egg. We used a zipper-lock bag to pipe the potato mixture on top of the pie and finished the dish under the broiler to give it an attractive golden crust. Don’t use ground beef that’s fattier than 93 per cent or the dish will be greasy.

Shepered’s pie

Servings: 4-6 Start to finish: 1 hour, 15 minutes • 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces • Salt and pepper • 1/2 cup milk • 1 large egg • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped • 1 onion, chopped fine • 1 1/2 pounds of 93 per cent lean ground beef • 2 tablespoons tomato paste • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce • 1 cup frozen peas Cover potatoes with water in large saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon salt, bring to simmer over medium-high heat, and cook until potatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and return

CYCLONEBILL/FLICKR, CC BY-SA 2.0

them to saucepan. Using potato masher, mash potatoes until smooth. Whisk milk and egg together, then stir into potatoes along with melted butter, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cover and set aside.

Heat 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in skillet.

Add carrots, onion, and 3/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add beef and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste, garlic, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.

Slowly stir in broth and Worcestershire, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps. Bring to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, un-

til mixture has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in peas and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Adjust oven rack 5 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Transfer potato mixture to 1-gallon zipperlock bag and snip off 1 corner to create 1-inch opening. Pipe mixture in even layer over filling. Smooth topping with back of spoon, then use tines of fork to make ridges on surface. Place skillet in rimmed baking sheet and broil until topping is golden brown and crusty, 5 to 10 minutes. Let casserole cool for 10 minutes before serving. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 442 calories; 183 calories from fat; 21 g fat (11 g saturated; g trans fats); 139 mg cholesterol; 379 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 31 g protein.

Pair a... ❰❰ 37

• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons juice • 1 teaspoon chili powder • 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper Salmon: 1 teaspoon packed light brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 (13/4- to 2-pound) centre-cut skinon salmon fillet, 1 1/2 inches thick 1 teaspoon vegetable oil For the honey-lime glaze: Whisk all ingredients together in small saucepan and simmer over medium-high heat until thickened, about 1 minute; remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

For the salmon: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 F. Combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, and pepper in bowl. Cut salmon crosswise www.canadianinquirer.net

into 4 fillets. Make 3 or 4 shallow slashes diagonally, about 1 inch apart, on skin side of each fillet, being careful not to cut into flesh. Pat salmon dry with paper towels, and rub sugar mixture evenly over flesh side of salmon.

Heat oil in 12 inch oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Lay salmon flesh side down in skillet and cook until well browned, about 1 minute. Carefully flip salmon and cook on skin side for 1 minute.

Off heat, spoon glaze over salmon fillets. Transfer skillet to oven and roast until centre is still translucent when checked with tip of paring knife and registers 125 F (for medium-rare), 7 to 10 minutes. Serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 364 calories; 123 calories from fat; 14 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 109 mg cholesterol; 254 mg sodium; 20 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 19 g sugar; 39 g protein.

39

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