Philippine Canadian Inquirer #352

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JANUARY 4, 2019

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VOL. 1 NO. 352

FIREWORKS DISPLAY Revelers welcome 2019 with a fireworks display at Rizal Park in Manila during New Year's eve.

AVITO C. DALAN / PNA

PRRD’s remarks vs. Church meant to initiate discussion: Palace

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The remarks made by President Rodrigo R. Duterte against the Catholic Church are meant to initiate an

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PCI Entertainment.

“intellectual discussion” for the faithful’s enlightenment, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after the

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❱❱ PAGE 9 PRRD’s remarks

PCI Life.

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BOL, nat’l ID top new laws Duterte signed in 2018

Fil-Can in Focus: JR Gallarza: Fulfilling a basketball player’s teaching dream ❱❱ PAGE 21

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PH banking system resilient amid external concerns

Philippine Canadian Inquirer Wishes all our readers and advertisers a very Happy New Year!

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PH addressing airport security DOH reports ‘historic’ measures amid US advisory decline in fireworksrelated injuries

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Thursday underscored that the Philippines is addressing airport security concerns, so it remains safe to tourists and locals amid an advisory issued by the United States (US) on its primary airport’s aviation security measures.

“We assure the international community that the Philippines remains a safe haven for our visitors and residents alike,” the DOT said.

In a travel advisory released December 26, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reminded passengers that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport does not carry out effective aviation security measures.

The Tourism agency said the Philippine government “respects” this announcement and

BY MA. TERESA MONTEMAYOR Philippine News Agency

PNA

assured the management and security officers of the Manila International Airport Authority, together with the Department of Transportation (DOTr), “have committed to positively address this concern.”

“We are confident in their capabilities to handle this issue and we are ready to help them in any way to expedite the resolution,” it said.

Meanwhile, DOT is in close

coordination with the Philippine National Police and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines tasked to oversee aviation security measures in airports.

“Both agencies have repeatedly assured the DOT of their readiness to assess and respond to threats to ensure the safety and security of our tourists, both domestic and international,” it said. ■

Joma behind Plaza Miranda bombing: comrade PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Jose Ma. Sison is the mastermind in the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing that left nine people dead and more than 90 others injured, one of CPP’s founding fathers said.

In a documentary produced

by Sambayanan, CPP founding member Ruben Guevarra tagged Sison as the one who gave orders to throw grenades at the said gathering.

“Ang Plaza Miranda bombing ay bahagi lamang ng isang serye ng kampanya na ginawa ng CPP. Ito’y bahagi nung sinasabi naming Oplan Big Leap Forward (The Plaza Miranda bombing is only a part of a series of campaign done by the CPP. This is part of what we call Oplan Big Leap Forward),” recalled Guevarra, who was also then part of CPP’s Central Committee.

Guevarra said anyone who will reveal the CPP’s involvement in the bombing will suffer the highest form of punishment in their organization but added that bombman Danny Cordero himself stands firm on the fact that it was Sison who gave them the command for the bombing.

Guevarra said the CPP also conspired with the government of then-Chinese leader Mao Zedong to wage an armed battle.

“Nung naipakita na namin yung umiral na yung revolutionary situation, may kakayahan na talaga na armado ang NPA na sumagupa, ipagkakaloob na samin ni Cho In Li yung tulong na pinansyal at armaments (When we were able to show a revolutionary situation, and that the NPA was ready to go against an armed battle, thenChinese Premier Cho In Li would grant us financial help and armaments).” he said.

In the same documentary, former top New People’s Army (NPA) commander Victor Corpus corroborated Guevarra’s

story saying he was the one who gathered the firearms in Isabela.

Guevarra said the fact that the communist struggle lasted for 50 years showed that Filipinos do not want the ideology.

“Huwag na tayong patangay diyan sa sinasabi ng mga komunista, limampung taon na ito (Let us not be swayed by the words of the communists, it has been 50 years), my God,” Guevarra added.

Guevarra said the communist ideology is not the solution, as it destroyed Filipino values of being God-centered and family-oriented.

In an earlier statement, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also tagged Sison as the mastermind behind the Plaza Miranda bombing.

In August 1971, Liberal Party members held a miting de avance at the Plaza Miranda where two grenades were thrown at the stage, killing nine people and injuring more than 90, including party leaders. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

MANILA — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Monday there had been a significant drop in the number of fireworks-related injuries (FWRIs) this year compared to last year.

“We are happy to see a 68 percent decline in the number of cases, but we also expect cases to increase as there are still late reports coming from other regions. Additional cases may come from children picking up unexploded fireworks on the streets, so we remind parents to be on the lookout for their children’s safety,” he said in a press briefing at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City.

Duque said the 139 FWRIs this year is much lower compared to the 289 cases last year.

The FWRIs were recorded by 60 sentinel hospitals from Dec. 21, 2018 to 6 a.m. of Jan. 1, 2019.

Two of the total cases included fireworks ingestion. There were no cases of death and stray bullets.

The FWRIs mostly involved males aged between two and 69 years old and 64 percent of them are active users of fireworks while the rest are passive users.

A total of 102 cases suffered from blast or burn without amputation, while five suffered from blasts resulting in amputation. The remaining 36 cases suffered eye injuries.

Senior Supt. Cecilio Ison, Philippine National Police (PNP) Public Safety Division officer-in-charge, said the increase in the number of eye injuries could be related to the increase of “Boga” users in lieu of piccolo.

“Ito po iyong gawa sa PVC pipe o lata ng softdrinks na pinagdugtong tapos nilalagyan ng denatured alcohol tapos sinisindihan. Maaring magkaroon ng injury dahil sa back blast, kasi kapag may mga batang naglalaro nito ang nasa likod nila puwede matamaan (This is made from PVC pipe

or connected soda cans filled with denatured alcohol then lit up. There could be injuries due to back blast, if there’s a child playing with this the one at his back could be hit),” he said.

The fireworks which caused the most injuries are Kwitis with 30 cases, Boga with 16 cases, Piccolo with 15 cases, Luces with eight cases, and Five Star and Triangle with seven cases each.

The regions with the most number of cases include the National Capital Region with 53 cases, Western Visayas with 26 cases, Central Visayas with 13 cases, and Central Luzon and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) with 10 cases each.

A total of 73 cases happened on the streets; 59 took place at home; five occurred in other places, while the remaining two happened in the designated fireworks display area.

Duque said the FWRIs in the designated fireworks display area could have been caused by incorrect management of fireworks display.

“Baka hindi miyembro ng kapulisan ang nagsindi ng paputok. Baka hindi (The fireworks could have been lit not by the policemen. They could have not been) trained... I’m just theorizing but this warrants the investigation of our field epidemiologist,” he added.

Citing his earlier experience as a Department of Health (DOH) secretary, Duque said this year’s FWRI statistics is the historic low in the many years of surveillance done by the DOH every New Year’s Eve. “This is because of that executive order the substantive downward in the FWRIs began, because of which there was a 27 percent decline last year compared to the year before it. Nature this time took the side of DOH as it has been raining in the past days,” he said.

Under Executive Order No. 28, the use of firecrackers shall be confined to community fireworks display areas to minimize the risk of injuries and casualties. ■

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Esperon optimistic about ‘brighter, more secure’ PH in 2019 PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Overall, the Philippines is safe as far as security in 2018 is concerned and the future looks bright for an even secure country in 2019, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said.

“The National Security Council and the security sector succeeded in adequately managing national security in the face of numerous issues and concerns that continue to challenge the security of the nation,” Esperon said in a statement released on Sunday.

Esperon cited the creation of the National Security Strategy (NSS) and the issuance of Executive Order 70 establishing a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s initiatives to fulfill his promise in providing a safer and better future for Filipinos.

“The NSS that was issued by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in May was instrumental in integrating the country’s major security policies, defining responsibilities,

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr..

and coordinating the actions of all concerned agencies, to effectively address security threats, issues, and concerns both within and outside the country. The President himself is leading the way by taking the role of National Task Force Commander (in NTL-ELCAC),” he said.

ROBINSON NIÑAL/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Esperon expressed optimism that the country will be “brighter, continually stable, and more secure” in 2019, as he cited various security concerns such as trans-boundary crimes posed by international syndicates and terrorist groups, threats from local terrorist groups, illegal drugs and the overlapping territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea as some issues which the country faced and addressed this year.

“The security sector will become more robust in addressing future security challenges. We are optimistic that as we are able to provide continuing stability, more developmental prospects, small and big — such as our ‘Build, Build,

Build’ projects — will see fruition,” he said.

Esperon reiterated the need to address local communist and extremist terror groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, Maute, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), saying these groups hamper the country’s full economic potentials.

“The operations will be relentless.

More security forces will be deployed, as necessary. The government remained persistent in implementing the Enhanced Comprehensive Localized Integration Program (E-CLIP), wherein rebel returnees have found alternatives to a life of crime and violence,” he said.

Esperon said trans-boundary crimes “are being addressed through the strong collaborative mechanisms within the ASEAN framework.”

He said the campaign against illegal drugs will be “more intensified to eradicate the menace.”

Meanwhile, Esperon said the Duterte administration has adopted a “middle ground” approach in the West Philippine Sea issue where the Philippines is a friend to all and an enemy to none in order to secure the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“We continue the use of diplomatic engagements with China and other claimant states without compromising Philippine national interest. The improvement of facilities in the Philippineoccupied features in the West Philippine Sea were also undertaken,” he added.

Peace and order is one of the major campaign promises by President Duterte when he ran for office in 2016. ■

Japan, EU offer condolences to ‘Usman’ victims

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The European Union (EU) and Japan on Tuesday sent condolences to the Philippines and the bereaved families of those who perished in the onslaught of tropical cyclone Usman that brought heavy rainfall and triggered landslides in the Mimaropa, Bicol and Central Visayas regions days before New Year’s celebration.

In a statement sent to the media, Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda and EU Ambassador Franz Jessen offered “sincerest condolences” and prayers to the kin of those killed due to the storm.

“As a country tackling natural disasters,” Haneda said, noting that Japan www.canadianinquirer.net

stands in solidarity with the Filipino people.

Earlier, Taiwan also offered assistance to the Philippine government in tending to the people affected by the weather disturbance.

Although still subject for “validation,” the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said there were 75 dead, 16 missing, and 12 injured reported in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), Bicol Region and Central Visayas as of January 1.

A total of 45,348 families or 191,597 individuals were affected by the tropical depression, 6,637 of which are families being served inside evacuation centers.

The provinces of Albay and Sorsogon are still under a state of calamity. ■

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Rizal’s martyrdom should propel DENR pleads to Pinoys to rise to challenge #DropBalloonDrop,

Okada Manila cancels event

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang called on Filipinos, particularly the youth, to be inspired by the martyrdom of national hero Jose Rizal in facing challenging and crucial times for the benefit of the country.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark as the nation commemorates the 122nd anniversary of Rizal’s martyrdom on Sunday, Dec. 30.

“Jose Rizal’s martyrdom should propel us to rise to the challenge of the times and unchain ourselves from our stupor of indifference and race to the finish line of genuine change and prosperity,” Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo said the youth should also follow Rizal’s footsteps by taking courage and serving a purpose in order to lead a more meaningful life.

“As we commemorate the anniversary of his death, we ask our people, the youth in particular, to take inspiration from Rizal’s life story and emulate the principles that made him the country’s greatest hero, taking a leaf from one of his immortal legacies and a truism that it is a

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Jose Rizal statue in Biñan, Laguna.

BENJO SIM / DERIVATIVE WORK BY JBARTA / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

useless life that is not consecrated to a vision and fulfillment of a great ideal,” Panelo said.

“In these challenging and crucial times, we need equally courageous and principled Filipinos, stripped of apathy and selfishness, to become modernday heroes to sustain our fight for freedom from all the ills of society,” he added.

Panelo, meanwhile, described Rizal’s legacy as “a walking testament to a person’s magnificent and consuming love for his country that sparked a leap for freedom and an assertion of na-

tional dignity.”

He pointed out that Rizal’s “ultimate sacrifice” awakened Filipinos from its subjugation to a colonial master for more than thirty decades.

After more than one century since his execution, Panelo emphasized that Rizal’s influence remains relevant today as it was 122 years ago.

In an advisory released by Malacañang, President Rodrigo R. Duterte is scheduled to lead the 122nd commemoration of Rizal’s martyrdom in his hometown in Davao City. ■

Duterte increases bounty for the arrest of Batocabe killers to P50-million

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer FROM P30-MILLION, President Rodrigo Duterte increased the bounty for the arrest of perpetrators behind the killing of AKO Bicol Representative Rodel Batocabe to P50-million.

Duterte said this in an interview with reporters on Wednesday, December 26, as he paid his last respects to the slain lawmaker at the Bicol University.

“The reward is at this time is 30 million. I’m raising the ante.

I’m putting it at plus 20 to 50.

Ang sabihin mo lang, tip lang.

Bigyan mo isang tip lang (Just

say a tip. Just at least one tip),” Duterte told the media.

While the police have not yet named the suspects, the President said Batocabe’s murder was “politically motivated.”

“It could be a politician, it could be the mayor, it could the governor, or a barangay (village) captain. But my favorite name now is mayor. But I’m not saying who that mayor is,” Duterte said.

The Chief Executive said he is joining Batocabe’s widow, Gertie, in eyeing a certain politician who may be behind the assassination of the congressman.

“Baka ikaw nga. Kaya may tatakbo as substitute.P****** i**

OKADA MANILA’S club Cove Manila has officially decided to terminate their plans in celebrating New Year’s Eve through the dropping of 130,000 balloons in their indoor dome after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) sent out a letter to the company urging for the discontinuation of the event.

In a statement by the DENR’s Biodiversity Management, they were “urging Cove Manila and Okada Manila to cancel the balloon drop activity and to redirect their efforts towards more sustainable, environmentallyfriendly activities that the majority of Filipinos will enjoy and be proud of.”

Initially, Cove Manila defended themselves stating that “the balloons are biodegradable,” but the DENR explained, “Biodegradable balloons, although made of natural latex, may take six months to four years or more to decompose naturally, depending on the amount and on the ability of microorganisms to breakdown large quantities.”

Cove Manila still attempted to defend their case assuring the DENR that they have proven their “cooperation with so-

cial responsibility” by recalling their participation in Las Pinas-Paranaque’s Coastal Cleanup earlier in the year as an example, but the DENR clarified “With this balloon drop event, it was made clear to us that Okada Manila did not actually grasp the rationale of the cleanup activity.” Furthermore, the sector’s Undersecretary Benny Antiporda shared with the media that pushing through with the plan can cause legal action against the night club’s owners as they are in violation of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Eventually, the DENR’s plea proved effective as Cove Manila released a statement last Sunday night that they are aware of the “many concerns raised from the various sectors about the environmental impact of the event” and as a result, that they have “voluntarily decided to cancel the Balloon Drop event as a sign of respect… and in support of the Government’s campaign to protect and save the environment.” Cove Manila concludes, “While the Balloon Drop event has been cancelled, the public is advised that the New Year’s Eve Countdown Party at Cove Manila and all other festivities in Okada Manila will proceed as scheduled and will not be affected.” ■

mo, matatalo ka man talaga (It may be you. That is why someone will be running as a substitute. Motherf*cker you will lose anyway),” Duterte said.

He continued, “Do not try to be desperate and do folly things because you’ll have to deal with the government, the people, the Armed Forces [of the Philippines], pati (and) the Philippine National Police (PNP). Huwag ka talagang… Baka susunod ka (Do not even… you might be next).”

Duterte noted that Bicolanos also “knew” who ordered the murder of Batocabe. ❱❱ PAGE 11 Duterte increases

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Cove Manila NYE 2019.

COVE MANILA / FACEBOOK

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2018: A year of twists and turns at the Supreme Court

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency MANILA — For the Supreme Court (SC), 2018 has been a roller coaster year as it saw a shake-up in its leadership, new faces and decisions that shaped the country’s recent history and future.

Two Chief Justices in less than a year

This year, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed two top magistrates of the High Court following a tumultuous upheaval over its decision last June on questions clouding the leadership of Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Meeting the press for the first time last November, Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, the SC’s 25th top magistrate, vowed to do his best to institute longstanding reforms in the judiciary even as his term will last for only a year. He will reach the mandatory retirement age next year days apart on the same month as Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

Bersamin, in his public appearances, has echoed calls for dedication in public service by those in the judiciary and urged subordinates to forgo even checking their social media accounts during office hours which he insists are minutes in work which had been paid for by taxpayers.

Speaking at a recent event for children in conflict with the law, Bersamin consoled the minors who had run afoul with the law pointing out that rehabilitation and reform is a fresh chance and reminded them not to let it define the rest of their lives.

Bersamin is the most senior justice in the judiciary in terms of length of service, at the time of his appointment.

He succeeded another veteran, Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro.

De Castro, who served as chief magistrate for less than two months, implemented key programs and projects.

These include increasing the monthly salary of first-level court judges all over the country; increasing the cost of living

allowance for justices, judges and court personnel for the month of August chargeable to the 80 percent judiciary development fund (JDF) as well as additional grant of rice subsidy allowance for the first and second quarters of this year.

She also worked for the creation of technical working groups on planning, budgeting, data reconciliation and evidence management system. De Castro was an associate justice at the high court for 10 years and eight months prior to her appointment as top magistrate.

The Sereno debacle and new faces

The appointment of Chief Justice de Castro brought to a somber conclusion one of the dramatic turn of events in the high court’s history involving its Chief Justice.

What would have been an 18-year term from her appointment by President Benigno Aquino III abruptly ended for Sereno after the Court en banc on May 11, 2018, voted 8-6 , to grant a the petition for quo warranto filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to declare her appointment as void from the beginning for her failure to comply with the mandatory legal requirements for her appointment in 2012.

The Court also ruled Sereno was disqualified for the Chief Justice post when she failed to submit her Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) from 2002 to 2011.

This year, President Duterte appointed three new members of the SC following the retirement of Chief Justice De Castro, Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., and the appointment of Associate Justice Samuel Martires as Ombudsman.

These are Court of Appeals Associate Justices Jose Reyes Jr., Ramon Paul Hernando and Rosmari Carandang.

Big rulings

Earlier in December, the High Court ruled that government agencies can regulate the motorcycle transport-for-hire mobile phone application.

In a two-page order dated Dec. 5, the SC’s Second Division

ruled in favor of a petition filed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) seeking to stop the operations of Angkas run by DBDOYC Inc. This reversed the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court’s order dated Aug. 20, 2018 against the LTFRB and in favor of Angkas.

In October, the SC upheld the constitutionality of two laws — Republic Act 10533 (K to 12 Law) and Republic Act 10157 (Kindergarten Education Act, which overhaul the country’s basic education system and expanding basic education from 10 to 12 years. The SC denied the consolidated petitions questioning them.

RA 10157, or the Kindergarten Education Act insitutionalized kindergarten education, which is one year of preparatory education for children at least five years old, as part of basic education and is made mandatory and compulsory before entering Grade 1.

The law was passed in fulfillment of the country’s commitments to improve education standards in the country during the 2000 World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, where 164 governments, including the Philippines, pledged “Education for All” goals.

Likewise, to adjust to international standards, the K to 12 Law was enacted. Prior to this, the Philippines, along with Djibouti and Angola, were the only countries in the world with a 10-year basic education system.

In November, the tribunal upheld the legality of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) memorandum excluding Filipino, Panitikan, and Philippine Constitution among the core subjects in the general education curriculum in college.

It held that Section 6, Article XIV of the Constitution on the use of the Filipino language as medium of instruction is not “self-executory.”

The SC ruled that the assailed CHED memorandum does not violate any existing laws such as Republic Act 7104 or the Commission on the Filipino Language Act, RA No. 7356 or the Law Creating the National www.canadianinquirer.net

SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES / WEBSITE

Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the Education Act of 1982.

In criminal law, the Court declared that the “good faith” doctrine it laid down in its previous ruling cannot be used as an absolute defense to escape criminal prosecution for graft.

The Court made the clarification in a ruling which affirmed the decision of the Sandiganbayan finding three officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) guilty of several counts of violation of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act involving anomalous transactions for the implementation of the PHP615 million regional and provincial infrastructure projects for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The Court had ruled that its earlier ruling that heads of offices may, in good faith, rely to a certain extent on the acts of their subordinates “who prepare bids, purchase supplies, or enter into negotiations” does not exempt a public official to inquire more closely into transactions he processes when there are circumstances that should have prompted a closer look.

In a separate case this year, the SC also allowed the Quezon City government to implement an ordinance increasing the existing fair market values (FMVs) of land, buildings, and other structures in the city from 100 percent to as much as 500 percent.

The Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the petitioner in the case, the Alliance of Quezon City Homeowners’ Association, Inc. (AQCHI) has not legal

standing to file the suit.

In February, the High Court also upheld the legality of the extension of Martial Law in Mindanao until the end of 2018.

Voting 10-5, the SC dismissed the four petitions filed by congressmen led by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman et al; another group led by Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate and Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao, et al; former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales; and a group led by Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the Constitution seeking to declare the martial law extension in Mindanao as unconstitutional.

The Court pointed out that Congress had discretionary authority to formulate, adopt and promulgate its own rules.

It also rejected the argument of petitioners that the extension should have only been limited to 60 days, saying the Constitution did not fix a period of duration for such extension and was also actually silent as to how many times the Congress could extend martial law declaration by the President.

Even the alleged undue haste in granting the request for extension, according to the Court, cannot be a ground to nullify the extension However, the SC noted that it can only intervene when there is a clear showing of such arbitrary and improvident use of the power such as would constitute a “denial of due process.”

The Court explained that it can only step in once there is clear showing of arbitrary and improvident use of such power

by Congress under Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution, which it said is lacking in this case. ■

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BOL, nat’l ID top new laws Duterte signed in 2018 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/Videographers Ginno Alcantara Ronnie Garcia Maria Crizandra Baylon Aldyn R. Soriano 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 or contact 778-788-4998 Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at 11951 Hammersmith Way, Suite 108 Richmond, B.C. V7A 5H9 Canada

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BY JELLY MUSICO Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) and the Philippine System Identification (PhilSys) were among the list of 183 new laws signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018.

Duterte signed Republic Act 11154 on July 27 to replace the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARRM) with a new Bangsamoro government designed to bring the elusive lasting peace in Mindanao.

The BOL, previously known as the Bangsamoro Basic Law, is considered as one of Duterte’s biggest legislative achievements which will give the Moro ALFRED FRIAS / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO people basic legal tools to chart their Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. own destiny within the country’s Constitutional framework.

Executive Orders, Memorandum The EO was supported by MemoranThe BOL has yet to be approved Circulars dum Circular 53 signed by Executive through a plebiscite in Muslim-populatFor 2018, Duterte also made sub- Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Nov. ed regions in Mindanao. stantial achievements in governance 12, directing all government offices and Eleven days after he enacted BOL, through the issuance of Executive Or- public universities and colleges to take Duterte approved RA 11155 creating ders (EOs) and Memorandum Circulars “active role” in the war against illicit PhilSys or National ID which serves as (MCs) particularly those that bolstered drugs. a single official identification card for his campaign against environment exTo address insurgency, Duterte signed all citizens and foreign residents in the ploitation, terrorism, insurgency and EO 70 on Dec. 4 to institutionalize the country. illegal drugs. ‘whole-of-nation’ approach in attaining Duterte has said the PhilSys will boost Two weeks after he ordered the clo- and sustainable peace by creating a nahis drive against “social menaces of pov- sure of Boracay, Duterte signed EO 53 tional task force aimed at ending local erty, corruption, and criminal issues as on May 8 creating an inter-agency task communist armed conflict. well as terrorism and violent extrem- force to address the degradation of the He also issued EO 68 adopting the ism.” national anti-money This year, the laundering and counPresident also signed tering the financing equally important of terrorism (AML/ laws such as RA 11053 A total of 241 presidential proclamations have CFT) strategy, and or the ‘Anti-Hazing also been approved in 2018, many of them EO 69 granting fiAct of 2018’ which declaring special (non-working) days in different nancial support to completely prohibits areas of the country. the Citizen Armed all forms of hazing Force Geographical and imposes harsher Unit Active Auxiliary penalties.

Serve (CAFGU-AAS).

To encourage more local and foreign island paradise which the President deTo sustain economic growth, Duterte investors, Duterte also signed RA 11032 scribed as ‘cesspool’ due to illegal waste signed EO 65 promulgating the Eleventh or an act promoting ease of doing busi- discharge and other environmental Regular Foreign Investment Negative ness and efficient delivery of govern- problems brought by years of neglect.

List; EO 64 reviving barter in Mindanment services.

After six-month cleanup and rehabili- ao; EO 61 modifying the rates of import Other significant measures signed tation, the famous island tourist desti- duty on certain imported articles; EO 57 into law include: RA 11148 or the so- nation reopened on Oct. 26 with clean reducing rates of duty on imported capicalled ‘First 1,000 Days’ Law which waters, proper sewerage system, wid- tal equipment, spare parts and accessoseeks to provide health and nutrition to ened roads and new rules and regula- ries, EO 51 which protects the right to children during their early days of de- tions that will protect Boracay. security of tenure of all workers. velopment; RA 11037 institutionalizing Duterte’s order to rehabilitate BoraDuterte also strengthened the micro, a national feeding program for “under- cay has prompted the Department of small, and medium enterprise (MSME) nourished” grade school pupils; and RA Environment and Natural Resources through EO 50 directing all concerned 11036 creating National Mental Health (DENR) to also correct possible envi- government agencies and local governpolicy. ronmental flaws in other tourist desti- ment units to implement the MSME DeSince his overwhelming victory as nations of the country. velopment Plan 2017-2022. the first President from Mindanao in The President also boosted his drug Aside from EO 53 on drug war, anoththe 2016 elections, Duterte has signed a war by issuing EO 66 which directed all er important circular issued by the Paltotal of 227 laws, many of them for the government offices, departments, bu- ace was MC No. 52 creating inter-agency establishment of national high schools, reaus, agencies and offices to implement task force on federalism and constitubarangays and hospitals. the Philippine anti-illegal drugs strategy (PADS). ❱❱ PAGE 12 BOL, nat’l www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

9

No politics in DILG raps vs. Garins: Año

BY EARL JED ROQUE Philippine News Agency MANILA — There should be no talk of partisanship or politicking in the cases filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) against Iloilo 1st District Rep. Richard Garin and his father, Guimbal Mayor Oscar Garin, for allegedly mauling a police officer, Secretary Eduardo Año said Friday.

“Ang gusto nating ipakita dito (What we want to show here is that) no one is above the law. Kahit anong posisyon mo sa government (Whatever your position is in government), whether you are a small

ordinary citizen or you are a high-level government official, pare-parehas lang tayo sa batas (we are all the same in the eyes of the law),” Año said in a press conference on the sidelines of the 2018 National Anti-Drug Abuse Council Performance Award, held at the Manila Hotel.

He said the DILG has already filed criminal cases of direct assault, grave coercion, grave threats, physical injuries, slander by deed, alarm and scandal, and serious illegal detention against the Garins.

Administrative cases have also been filed at the Ombudsman for grave misconduct, oppression, abuse of authority, and conduct prejudicial to the

best interest of the public, he added.

“We will not tolerate that kind of abuse of authority and arrogance on display of power. Kung may pagkakamali man ang police officer (If the policeman committed any wrongdoing), there are so many bodies that can investigate the policeman but you do not beat up and humiliate a police officer in front of the public,” Año said.

The National Police Commission (Napolcom), he said, is also discussing the removal of Mayor Garin’s authority over the local police.

“We cannot entrust (in) his hand the PNP (Philippine National Police) unit. We cannot

Don’t listen to communists, Duterte tells farmers

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Saturday urged farmworkers to refrain from being persuaded by communist rebels assuring them anew that land reform will continue under his administration.

Duterte made this remark during the distribution of certificates of land ownerships award (CLOA) to agrarian reform beneficiaries in Kidapawan City, Cotabato.

“Bakit kayo makinig sa mga komunista? Bakit kayo makinig kay Sison (Why do you have to listen to communists? Why do you have to listen to Sison)?”

Duterte said referring to Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison.

Duterte criticized Sison for acting as if he was the only “thinking Filipino,” stressing that although he agreed with Reds’ efforts to push for land reform, he did not agree with pushing for efforts to resume peace talks without them laying down their arms.

“Sang-ayon kami sa land reform ninyo. Sang-ayon ako sa mga bagay, social justice. Pero huwag ninyong ipadaan sa armed struggle (I agree with

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte hands over a land title to one of the agrarian reform beneficiaries.

RICHARD MADELO / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

your efforts to push for land reform. I agree with some things like social justice. But don’t settle this through armed struggle),” Duterte said.

Duterte added that he has asked Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones to prioritize placing government lands in Quezon, Bicol, and Negros under land reform.

“I-land reform mo lahat ang gobyernong lupa bago ako matapos pagka-Presidente (Distribute all government lands before my term ends),” Duterte said.

He noted that even without the communists, there will al-

ways be friction for as long as there is no real land reform.

Meanwhile, Duterte reminded members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines to be “neutral” and not support any candidates running for next year’s midterm elections.

“Huwag kayong makialam sa election. Huwag kayong magpabor sa kandidato ko at huwag kayong pumabor doon sa kalaban. Neutral kayo(Don’t get involved in elections. Don’t favor candidates and don’t side with the opponents. You should be neutral),” Duterte said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año.

be sure of his actuations and

DILG WEBSITE

behavior,” Año said. ■

PRRD’s remarks... ❰❰ 1

President, in a speech and spiritual awakening, which in Kidapawan City could lead them to tread the last Saturday, asked path of uprightness so necesclergymen to stop criticizing sary in the moral regeneration his drug war anew, pointing of a nation so abundant with out that they too had their own religiosity but wanting in spirishare of wrongdoings. tuality,” Panelo said.

“The latest controversial reHe said the President, known marks of President Rodrigo for his unconventional way Roa Duterte on the Church is of speaking, is also trying to his way of shak“set the limits ing long-held of the freedom religious tenets of expression to and beliefs that a notch higher instead of moldthan its common ing them into use.” being righteous “In fulfilling individuals make his constitutionthem cling to reIn making al duty to serve ligion as an opithose and to protect um,” Panelo said unconventional the people, the in a press statediscourses, President enment. the President deavors to be He said in dois unmindful creative, using ing so, the Presi(of) any means that may dent “puts to a consequential be unnerving to test the validity erosion of his the conservaof the religious public support. tives unused to rituals bordering his ways of gov(on) fanaticism ernance but efas against the fective in putting practice of genuacross message ine spirituality.” he wants to conHe noted that vey to the majorinstead of being ity of the people offended by the President’s re- who, surveys show, approves of marks, the Church and its be- his maverick methods,” Panelo lievers should welcome it as “a said. process to strengthen further “In making those unconventheir faith or enlighten those tional discourses, the President who seek the truth.” is unmindful (of ) any conse“His intention being to initi- quential erosion of his public ate an intellectual discussion support,” he added. ■ for the faithful’s enlightenment

10

Philippine News

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

CHR conducts probe Trillanes slams Duterte’s vs. viral Laguna ‘very good’ net satisfaction child abuse video rating in Q4 of 2018

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

to their home in Laguna, the father recorded himself punching and slapping his son after he tied him to the window.

THE COMMISSION on HuThe incident took place last man Rights (CHR) on Thurs- December 18, but the man only day, December 27, said it has sent the video to his wife’s solaunched an investigation over cial media account on Christthe viral video of a father hang- mas Day, December 25. ing his son upside down to a Guevarra, in his statement, window of their house in Sta. said the CHR condemned such Rosa, Laguna to make his wife “reprehensible act” committed come back home. by the father to his four-year“While the CHR lauds the old son. concerned government agen“The CHR reiterates that cies that assisted in the report- due to their special condition, ed swift rescue of the victim children are entitled to special from his father care and assiswho has since tance as a matter reportedly abof right, and that sconded, it has no child deserves launched its own such abominable probe on the inTo make his treatment from cident to ensure wife come anyone, least that the perpeback to from the very trator is brought their home people that law before the bars in Laguna, and society exof justice with the father pects to endow dispatch, and recorded them with love the child-victim himself and nurturance,” is provided with punching and he stressed. appropriate asslapping his According to sistance, includson after he Superintendent ing the physical tied him to Eugene Orate, and psychosocial the window. chief of Sta. Rosa treatment,” lawpolice, the auyer Rexford Guethorities already varra, director of arrested the faCHR Region IVther on ThursA, said. day noon and is now under the In the video that runs for al- custody of the Sta. Rosa Police most three minutes, the father Station. can be heard asking his son if The father will undergo a his mom was happy leaving drug test and will be slapped them alone in the house. with charges for violating the It was reported that the child abuse law. child’s mother left their house His son, meanwhile, was aland went back to her province ready brought to the Departin Iloilo after she apparently ment of Social Welfare and had a misunderstanding with Development (DSWD) and will her husband. also undergo a medical examiTo make his wife come back nation. ■

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer SENATOR ANTONIO Trillanes IV on Saturday, December 29, slammed the recent survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), showing that majority of Filipinos remained satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte’s performance as the country’s chief executive.

“Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon at sa kaliwa’t kanang kapalpakan ni Duterte ay walang maniniwala sa SWS survey na 7 out of 10 Filipinos ay masaya sa pamamahala nito (Due to the high cost of living today and Duterte’s failures, no one will believe the SWS survey that seven out of 10 Filipinos are happy with his leadership),” Trillanes said in a statement.

“Either may sampling errors ito o ‘di kaya ay ang mga nagsabi nito ay nakakaramdam ng takot (Either the survey has sampling errors or the survey respondents are feeling afraid),” he added.

In the Fourth Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey, done from December 16-19 this year, the pollster found that 74 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied with Duterte’s performance, while 15 percent were dissatisfied and 11 percent were undecided.

This brings Duterte’s net satisfaction rating to +60, classified by SWS as “very good.”

This latest figure increased by six points from the “very good” +54 in September 2018.

The six-point rise in Duterte’s net satisfaction rating, the SWS noted, was due to increases in Metro Manila at 22 points, Visayas at 13 points, Balance Lu-

www.canadianinquirer.net

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

zon at three points, combined with a four-point decline in Mindanao.

Urban net satisfaction with the Chief Executive also rose from “good” to “very good,” at +54, while rural net satisfaction remained “very good,” at +57.

In conducting the survey, the SWS used face-to-face interviews to its 1,440 respondents, whose age ranging from 18 years old and above, nationwide. It has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.6 percent for national percentages and plus or minus five percent for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

On Friday, Malacañang lauded the result of the SWS survey, saying that it only “puts a lie to critics and detractors” of the Duterte administration.

“The support of the Filipinos

ANTONIO “SONNY” TRILLANES / FACEBOOK

for our Chief Executive also sends a strong message to foreign human rights groups and foreign governments to put a stop to their baseless and unkind accusations on his war on drugs,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

“In addition, the survey result is a slap on their faces for their outrageous intrusion on the sovereignty of our country,” it added.

The Palace official then thanked the Filipino people for their continued support for Duterte, adding that it motivates them to work harder and serve the public better. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

11

2018 a good year for PNP: Albayalde

BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said the year 2018 proved to be a year of both great challenge and success for the PNP. “The greatest achievement of the year is best quantified in real numbers in terms of continuing significant decline of crime incidents, swift solution of most sensational cases and marked improvement in our capability to prevent and solve crime with greater discipline, professionalism and dedication in the ranks,” Albayalde said in his New Year’s message sent to reporters.

Albayalde, the country’s 22nd PNP chief, who replaced Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa who retired last April, admitted that the PNP continued to struggle through the institutional and social obstacles that often got in the way of law enforcement and public safety mission.

“The mission at hand was to sustain the gains of our campaign against illegal drugs and ‘sensitising’ other stakeholders within and outside of government to fully recognize the destructive effects on the lives of drug users and their families, including the complexities brought by this problem to the larger picture of criminality and lawlessness,” the PNP Chief said.

But to meet the problem head-on, we had to break the

Duterte increases... ❰❰ 6

“I have my reasons also to suspect the guy. Huwag mong gawain ‘yan kasi hindi lahat tao matatakot nang ganun. Kaya ‘pag ikaw ang natamaan nito, babalik ako dito, pahiyain kita.

You know what, akyatin kita sa bahay mo, sampalin kita. Kung gusto mong subukan, gagawa ka pa ng isang kalokohan (Do not do that because not all people are afraid of you. If you get offended by this, I will come back here and shame you. You know what, I will go to your house and slap you. If you want to try me, then do something like this again),” the President said.

“Ngayon, ‘pag napundi ako sa’yo, p***** i** mo babarilin kita. Kung ‘yan ang paraan lang para magkaroon tayo ng kapayapaan, na peaceful election (Now, if I have had enough of you, motherf*cker I will shoot you. If that is the only way we can have peace, a peaceful election) then do not f*** the system. Better behave,” he added.

Duterte then gave a warning to those candidates who attack their political opponents just so they could win the elections.

“They are there not really to protect or to serve their constituents but their personal interest and ‘yung — their desire to win by hook or by crook. Killing could be a — a remedy para sa kanila mawala ‘yung kalaban nila (for them to get rid of their

enemies),” he said.

“Let me just say, I promise the Filipino people, my country that I will not allow political terrorism, oppression, and intimidation,” he added.

Batocabe, who was eyeing the mayoral seat of Daraga, Albay in the 2019 elections, was killed on Saturday, December 22, along with his security escort, Senior Police Officer I Orlando Diaz.

The 52-year-old lawmaker was attending a gift-giving event for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Barangay Burgos in Daraga when he was shot by unidentified gunmen. Batocabe died after suffering from eight gunshot wounds.

The PNP earlier said it has already six persons of interest in the Batocabe’s killing but their names were not revealed to the public yet.

The cops are also considering possible involvement of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the crime.

However, the communists denied any role in Batocabe’s slay, saying that it has been “automatic” for the policemen to tag members of the NPA in such cases of murder and other crimes to “cover up” their seriousness in investigating and arresting perpetrators who are “usually from their ranks.” ■

PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde.

wall of social indifference in people’s attitude towards the problem and at the same time untangle the web of corruption

PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE / FACEBOOK

that allowed this situation to pervade through the years,” he noted.

Albayalde, who is cum laude

of the PMA Sinagtala Class of 1986, has found an effective leadership with the full support of national government.

The PNP, he said, went full steam in this national crusade against the three-headed hydra of crime, drugs and corruption in the one whole of nation campaign, enlisting inter-agency and multi-sectoral support and advocacy.

“The popular empirical expression of safety and security among our people manifested positive change in the quality of life for a large plurality of Filipinos consistent with President Duterte’s vision of a “comfortable life for all,” said Albayalde, who will be retiring on November 8, 2019 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56. ■

Ex-NPA rebels being trained to become soldiers PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY

enced greater hardships being an NPA member, which made him surrender.

“Rain or shine, night and MANILA — Former members of day, we would walk and pass the New People’s Army (NPA), through different areas. If there who surrendered to the govwas an operation/encounter, at ernment, are being trained to times we would not eat for three become soldiers under the 4th days. It takes us a long time to Division Training School (DTS) find food. We did not even have in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. a single peso as salary. Our visIn a documentary produced its to our community/families by the 4th Infantry Division were limited,” Gambota said. released on He denied the Facebook last CPP-NPA-NDF’s December 26, allegation that the surrenderthey were forced ers will undergo Rain or shine, night and day, we by the military to intensive trainwould walk and pass through surrender. “No ing under the different areas. one forced me to g o v e r n m e n t ’s surrender. They Integrated Terdid not even hurt ritorial Defense me. I voluntarily System (ITDS). organizer for the Communist surrendered to soldiers beThe ITDS aims to address Party of the Philippines (CPP) cause I want a new life,” he said. communist insurgency by com- – NPA -National Democratic Gambota said that while he plementing military operations Front (NDF). also undergoes hardship in with a holistic community sup“One of the reasons why I got training to become a soldier, he port approach. interested to join the NPA was knows these will pay off.

Candidate soldiers in the to know the real reason why we “I can see a future here where program are grateful that Pres- experience hardships. Another I’ll be able to provide for my ident Rodrigo Duterte’s admin- reason is because my relatives family. The hardships have istration has kept its promise of on (my) mother’s side were something in return. In the providing them a new life after NPA members,” said Gambota, NPA, you go through hardships leaving the communist group. who was exposed to the NPA’s until you die, without providing Aside from the military train- influence since he was 13 years a better future for your family,” ing, these former NPAs or even old. he said. ■ recruits, who are not former However, he said he experiwww.canadianinquirer.net

communist members, more importantly are being taught and trained to raise their love of country, love and respect for countrymen, love for freedom and human rights, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said.

One of the candidate soldiers in the program is 22-year old Reynaldo Gambota, a former NPA commander.

Gambota admitted being a runner, recruiter, and rally

Philippine News

12

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

OFW pre-screen counters to lessen queues at NAIA

BY FERDINAND PATINIO Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has formed a special team that will focus on conducting pre-screening of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and attend to their immigration needs at the airport.

In a memorandum order, BI Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina has designated OFW counters which shall only be used exclusively by OFWs. The BI personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other ports have implemented a scheme to expeditiously process departing OFWs. The directive complies with the order of President Rodrigo

Duterte to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente that immigration departure formalities for OFWs be conducted expeditiously and efficiently.

“Our objective is to see to it that our modern-day heroes are given all the care and courtesy that they deserve in sacrificing not only for their families but for the country as well,” Medina said in a recent statement.

In case of long lines in OFW counters, members of the Bureau’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) shall speed up the queues by inspecting and ensuring that the passengers’ travel requirements are complete while they are still on the line.

“It’s a matter of deploying more people to focus on OFWs,” said Medina. “It’s a small move,

BOL, nat’l... ❰❰ 8

tional reforms.

Presidential proclamations

A total of 241 presidential proclamations have also been approved in 2018, many of them declaring special (non-working) days in different areas of the country.

Proclamation 572 was the most controversial as it revoked the amnesty granted to the Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. According to the proclamation, the grant of amnesty to Trillanes is declared “void ab initio” (invalid from the beginning) because the lawmaker did not comply with the minimum requirements such as filing of the official amnesty application form and “expressly” admission of guilt for the crimes of rebellion.

Trillanes, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, was one of the military officers who led at least three military uprisings — the Oakwood Mutiny, Marines Stand-off and Manila Peninsula siege against former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Duterte also issued Proclamation 489 on May 15 to formally declare 352,390 hectares of the Philippine Rise within the country’s executive economic zone (EEZ) as the Philippine Rise Marine Resource

Reserve (PRMRR).

In 2017, Duterte issued EO No. 25 renaming the 13-million-hectare area undersea landmass off Aurora from Benham Rise to Philippine Rise.

Administrative orders

Duterte, meanwhile, signed five administrative orders (AO) in 2018 including AO No. 13 which removed non-tariff barriers and streamlined administrative procedures on the importation of agricultural products particularly rice.

The order was the government’s solution to the rising prices of rice and other agricultural products while waiting for the Rice Tariffication Bill to be signed into law.

The bill, certified as urgent by the President in October, was approved by the bicameral conference committee of Congress on Nov. 22 and is expected to be signed “anytime” soon by Duterte, according to Malacañang.

Other important administrative orders signed this year were AO No. 10 centralizing all government efforts for the reintegration of former rebels; AO No. 11 which created an oversight panel for the entry of third telecommunications player; and, AO No. 12 directing all government agencies in implementing the National Security Strategy 2018. ■

AVITO C. DALAN / PNA

but you’ll be surprised at the impact on easing the lines for them,” he added.

The BI official also instructed

officers to “expeditiously process the documents of OFWs.” Ordinarily, a passenger is processed within 45 seconds.

Medina sees that the scheme may decrease the processing time up to 33 percent.

Medina said OFWs referred for secondary inspection due to concerns on their travel documents will likewise be prioritized and the matter resolved within 10 minutes.

He noted that OFWs are also given priority at the arrival area, through the installation of 21 e-gates in major airports.

On the other hand, Morente said scheme is only part of the series of improvements he plans to implement.

“The year 2019 will be all about process improvement.

We have studied what can do to provide better service. The egates and the pre-screening of OFWs are just the beginning,” he added. ■

PNP tags local terrorist groups in Cotabato blast PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday that local terror groups could be responsible for the mall blast in Cotabato City which left two persons dead and 34 others wounded on New Year’s Eve. Chief Supt. Benigno Durana, PNP spokesperson, said based on the result of the post-blast investigation, they found that the modus operandi and “signature” on the bombing incident, initially tagging ISIS-inspired local terrorist groups in the area.

“Terrorism, extremism and terror attacks coming from these extremist groups most of them are ISIS and Daesh inspired. Itong (this) Maute group, ito yung (this is the) local ISIS-inspired elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters etc. Ito po ay kagagawan nila sa kanilang mga ’signatures’ (This is their handiwork based on their ‘signatures’),” Durana said in a radio interview.

He said PNP chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde has ordered the creation of a spewww.canadianinquirer.net

cial investigation task group to probe the incident.

“It’s a good principle in any investigation that we are not in just one possible suspect at the early stage of the investigation. We are casting a wider net, so we will not be missing some areas. The Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) that the PNP chief ordered to probe is now following a lot of leads to know these perpetrators, the individuals so that we can arrest them as soon as possible and we can crack this case as soon as possible,” he added.

Durana said there could have been more attacks from local terror groups had martial law not been not imposed in Mindanao.

“The security forces cannot guard every inch of Mindanao.

That’s why the people’s cooperation and vigilance not just security sector’s vigilance is equally if not much more important in keeping our communities safe and secure. But one way or the other one or two incidents may fall on some cracks.

This is true not only in the Philippines but also in much more developed countries like in Europe who are likewise facing the same global problem of terrorism,” Durana said.

Durana said the safety and security of the people in Mindanao are better now due to the signed peace agreements with Moro National Liberation Front and recently the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that brought, despite some challenges, more stability and more positive economic outlook in the region.

Based on reports, a loud explosion occurred in front of South Seas Mall located on Don Rufino Alonzo Avenue, Poblacion 5, Cotabato City at around 1:59 p.m.

Senior Supt. Rolly Octavio, Cotabato City police director, immediately ordered the nearby police units to cordon off the area, secure the people, flash an alarm to all concerned units and evacuate all the casualties to different hospitals.

Police found a second bomb at the baggage counter on the second floor which was eventually disarmed by military bomb disposal experts. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

13

Tagle to faithful on New Year: People who work ‘Serve, so there will be peace’ during holidays

BY FERDINAND PATINIO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Monday urged the people to serve as they welcome the first day of the new year.

“Let us bring back the true meaning of service in our families, in schools, in business, in government, in the Church, everywhere,” he said in his New Year message posted on Facebook.

The Cardinal said there will be peace in resurrecting the true essence of service.

“It is saddening that it is because of the lack of real service, there are conflicts. In all levels, what we want is for a peaceful new year,” Tagle said.

The head of the Archdiocese of Manila added that one being available to other people would result in peace.

“As long as there is true and

BY SEVERINO SAMONTE Philippine News Agency

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.

LORENZO ATIENZA VIA THE MANILA CATHEDRAL / FACEBOOK

real service, one that is not meant for oneself only and not by taking advantage of others, there will be peace,” he said.

Tagle issued the message in line with the recent call of Pope Francis for peace by giving service in its truest essence. ■

Anti-Drug Abuse Councils vital in PH success on war vs drugs: Año

BY EARL JED ROQUE Philippine News Agency MANILA — Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said local government units (LGUs) serving as frontliners in the government’s war on drugs is vital to its success.

In a press briefing at the 2018 National Anti-Drug Abuse Council (ADAC) Performance Award on Friday, Año said unlike Latin American countries faced by the same illegal drug problems, the Philippines managed to curb the drug trade as it strengthened barangays, municipalities, and provincial governments to combat illegal drugs on the ground.

“If we are going to compare our efforts with what happened in some Latin American countries like Columbia, Mexico, Guatemala, I think ito yung wala sa kanila eh, wala silang ADAC (they do not have (ADAC), wala silang (they do

not have) institutionalized rehab centers, and even the commitment of the government to fight drugs,” Año said The DILG conferred the 1st National ADAC Performance Awards to 241 outstanding LGUs with exemplary efforts, through their ADACs, in complementing the national government’s measures to eradicate the country’s illegal drugs problem.

The audit criteria for the selection of awardees are organized local ADAC, implementation of ADAC plans and programs, fund allocation, support to ADACs in component LGUs, and conduct of quarterly meetings.

Año said they intend to institutionalize the ADAC program by urging Congress to pass it through legislation, a move supported by former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go. “Sana maisabatas itong AntiDrug Abuse Council, not only sa

memorandum circular ng DILG but maisabatas na ito para magkaroon sila ng sarili nilang pondo at magiging mandatory na po sa bawat local government units (We hope the Anti-Drug Abuse Council gets legislated, not only through a DILG memorandum circular but a legislation so that they can have their own funds and it will be mandatory for every local government units),” Go, who is running for senator in the 2019 polls, said.

Año cited that narco-politicians’ municipalities were disqualified for the ADAC awards and the Seal of Good Local Governance award.

Año said the war against drugs is a “whole-of-government approach” and can only be won when everyone “chips in” their contribution.

LGUs in the barangay, municipal, and provincial levels are mandated to convene their ADACs in order to address first-hand drug issues in areas of their jurisdiction. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Print and broadcast media personnel — reporters, photographers, deskmen and editors, radio-television crew, includMANILA – The dictionary de- ing reporters and cameramen scribes briefly the noun holiday — need to work on rotation ba“as a day or period of rest from sis seven days a week to inform work, or of recreation.” the people about what is hapIn observance of such a day, pening around them. private employers normally do Members of the Armed Forcnot require their employees to es of the Philippines (AFP) have report for work. Those who are to remain always in their posts, required to work on such a day even during holidays, as part of of rest are entitled to extra pay their tasks to keep the country as provided for by labor laws safe from terrorists and crimicrafted by the government. nals who do not observe holiThe government itself al- days themselves. lows its officials This is true and other perwith policemen sonnel to enjoy and firemen who non-working have to respond holidays. This is to emergency the reason why Those who situations such the Office of the are required as accidents and President in to work on fire incidents, Malacañang ocsuch a day among other cacasionally issues of rest are tastrophes. executive memoentitled to Weathermen, randa providing extra pay as geologists, seisfor special nonprovided for mologists, geoworking holidays by labor laws physicists and nationwide or in crafted by the other employees specific areas in government. of the Philippine, addition to the Atmospheric, 12 national legal Geophysical and holidays.

Astronomical However, Services Adminthere are existration (PAceptions to this GASA) and Philpolicy. Such memos also pro- ippine Institute of Volcanology vide that government employ- and Seismology (Phivolcs) have ees in offices performing vital to stay alert on the possible octasks must have skeletal forces currences of adverse weather to work in emergency cases or and natural conditions such as situations. storms, floods, earthquakes and This is the reason we see per- volcanic eruptions. sonnel working even on holiDoctors, nurses and other days, when most people are en- hospital staff need to be on duty joying staying in malls, beaches, day and night to attend to peoshrines, movie houses and oth- ple needing health care. er places of entertainment and Personnel of shopping malls, amusement. hotels, fast food outlets, and Who are these people? They movie houses have to attend to include: print and broadcast shoppers, travelers, diners and media personnel; soldiers; po- theater enthusiasts. licemen; firemen; weathermen Aircraft pilots and stewardand volcanologists; doctors, esses are needed round the nurses and other hospital crew; clock to attend to both incommall employees; movie house ing and outgoing travelers, staff; pilots, stewardesses and along with immigration perother personnel of airports sonnel at airports. and immigration bureau; bus, Bus, jeepney, taxicab and trijeepney, taxicab, tricycle driv- cycle drivers are necessary to caers, and personnel of Metro ter to travelers who do not have Rail Transit (MRT) and Light their own vehicles. The same Rail Transit (LRT). is true with the operators and Why do they have to report other personnel of the MRT and for work on a holiday?

LRT in Metro Manila. ■

14

Canada News Toronto homicide squad being revamped under new leader after tough year

BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press TORONTO’S homicide squad has had a difficult year — the team has had to investigate a record-breaking number of killings in Canada’s most populous city, grapple with a rise in deadly gang violence, address criticism about a perceived lack of action in some cases and deal with several high-profile slayings that have strained resources.

Heading into 2019, however, the team’s new leader is revamping the unit by bringing in more members and launching a video analysis unit in an effort to solve more cases faster — changes that are needed if the city’s homicide figures stay around their current levels.

“I think 2019 will be a real decision-making year,” Insp. Hank Idsinga says in an interview at police headquarters. “If we’re going to keep a pace of 90-100 murders a year, we have to re-think how we’re staffing investigations.”

Toronto recorded 96 homicides in 2018, a figure that broke the record of 89 homicides in 1991.

About 70 per cent of those cases have been solved, Idsinga says, although that success is also an indicator of more work ahead for his team.

“That means about 70 cases will go before the courts, and that takes up a lot of manpower and time,” he says.

The force’s statistics indicate 51 of the year’s homicides were by shooting, 20 by stabbing, 10 were part of an April van attack

and 15 were by “other means.”

The city’s police chief has attributed the overall rise in homicides to an increase in gang violence.

But the force has also noted that the city’s homicide figures have remained relatively stable in the years since 1991 even as the city’s population has grown considerably. Toronto boasted 2.3 million residents in 1991, compared to a population of 2.7 million as of the 2016 census.

For Idsinga, who was told in early December that he was formally being made head of the homicide squad, the year has been marked by several highprofile cases and new developments within the team.

The 51-year-old spent the first six months of 2018 as the lead detective on the investigation into alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, who faces eight counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of men with ties to the city’s gay village.

In July, Idsinga became the acting head of the homicide squad and began planning his transformation of the team.

“We will have a lot of new faces and a lot of movement within the squad,” he says, noting six detectives have already been brought to help alleviate the workload of the unit’s 48 detectives.

A new missing persons unit has also begun operating under his watch with four detectives — a team formed in response to complaints from the community about how the force dealt with missing people. Members of the LGBTQ community in particular had long said there

was a serial killer preying on men in the gay village, raising their concerns before McArthur’s arrest.

Idsinga is also starting a video analysis unit to help ease the squad’s workload.

“The nature of homicide work in 2018 involves an awful lot of video surveillance,” he says.

“To properly extract that video surveillance, to properly analyze that surveillance, to make it presentable for court, it’s a lot of work and is labour intensive.”

He points to the van attack in April that killed 10 and injured 16 in the city’s north end as an “extreme example” of video collection and analysis. Detectives are still working on video collected from dozens of businesses and scores more from cellphones to build the case. The trial for the alleged attacker, Alek Minassian, is set for early 2020.

That incident along with a shooting rampage in Toronto’s Greektown in July that left two dead — and 13 others injured — was a “game changer” for the city, according to Police Chief Mark Saunders.

“It’s one thing when you’re dealing with gunplay,” Saunders said last week. “It’s another thing when you’re walking down the street and looking over your shoulder.”

Other brazen gun-related incidents in the city this year included the daylight killing of rising rapper Smoke Dawg and brand manager Ernest Modekwe in June, several drive-by shootings and a shooting at a playground that wounded two young girls earlier this year.

www.canadianinquirer.net

Toronto.

Idsinga said he hopes to be able to provide closure in one prominent case early in the new year, with plans to have a report on the Greektown shooting presented at a public police board meeting. Shooter Faisal Hussain killed a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman before killing himself. Because Hussain died by suicide, there is no formal avenue for police to present their case, as prosecutors would do in court.

“We’ll never be able to answer everybody’s questions, but we’ll say here’s what we know and you can draw your own conclusions,” Idsinga says.

The homicide squad is also wrapping its investigation into McArthur, confident that there are no other alleged victims, Idsinga says. Officers and cadaver dogs searched 100 properties linked to McArthur and found nothing, he says, calling it the biggest forensic investigation in the force’s history.

The force’s cold case squad also continues to look into cases dating back to the 1970s, but so far they haven’t linked any of those deaths to McArthur, Idsinga says.

Another big case that has dogged the squad is the unsolved late 2017 murders of billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman.

The family has blasted the force for numerous alleged errors and lapses, and hired its own team of former homicide detectives, Ontario’s former chief pathologist and forensic experts to perform a separate private probe. The family recently announced a $10-million reward for information that would solve the case and proposed a “public-private partnership” with police where the shadow team would work alongside the force.

Idsinga called the proposal “interesting” but said it would involve onerous restrictions.

He welcomed any tips and information but wouldn’t go for a situation where police would have to share information with the family’s team.

Looking ahead, Idsinga hopes 2019 will bring fewer homicides.

“We’re very tired,” he says, rubbing his temples. “The pace really picked up in the summer of 2017 and it was just constant for a year.” ■

Canada News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

15

Job cuts ahead: Liberals look to infrastructure Layoff protection bank to finance rural, for Manitoba’s civil remote broadband internet servants about to end

BY JORDAN PRESS The Canadian Press

BY STEVE LAMBERT The Canadian Press

es to pay and they’ve got children to feed.”

The government already has served notice about a small WINNIPEG — More public- number of potential layoffs sector job cuts appear to be for when the collective agreecoming in Manitoba and a long- ment expires — up to 11 workstanding ban on civil service ers in real estate services, up to layoffs is about to expire. eight employees in government Premier Brian Pallister, in his translation services and some third year of a promise to elimi- others. nate the deficit by 2024, says he Pallister said the layoffs are is not planning any large-scale a small fraction of the provinlayoffs, but some trimming cial workforce and spending remains to be done — largely restraint is needed to end years by not filling vacant positions of red ink that led to two credit when someone retires or quits. downgrades by bond-rating “Senior management is still agencies. heavy outside The province’s of core governannual deficits ment, in the sohave dropped, called MUSH but this year’s sector (municiis forecast to palities, univerOur members come in at $518 sities, school themselves million. Rising boards and hosare very interest rates pitals) and in the nervous and and uncertainty Crowns,” Pallisvery scared of over global trade ter said in a yearwhat is going agreements are end interview to happen. also threats, Palwith The Canalister said. dian Press.

“Apart from “(It’s) heavier management than we would trim at the top of like, and so there the organization, is that aspect there’s been virthat has to be dealt with.” tually no layoffs,” the premier Pallister was elected in 2016 said. on a promise to end a string of “Any Manitoban who has to deficits that started under the manage money and has to get former NDP government. He value out of their paycheque has already cut civil service jobs will appreciate the fact that this by eight per cent through attri- is a government that is keeping tion and has ordered Crown its word and stabilizing our fiagencies to reduce manage- nances in the province.” ment positions.

Gawronsky said Pallister Some 13,000 civil servants also made promises to protect have been protected from out- front-line jobs and services. right layoffs by a special clause Since the 2016 election, some the NDP agreed to in the last hospital emergency rooms have five-year collective agreement. closed, services such as forestThat deal expires in March, and fire water bombers have been the Manitoba Government and privatized and subsidies for General Employees’ Union ex- things such as chiropractic care pects the axe could fall on many have been reduced. workers.

“It was a promise this pre“Our members themselves mier and his government made, are very nervous and very that they were going to … proscared of what is going to hap- tect the services Manitobans pen,” union president Michelle rely on,” she said.

Gawronsky said.

“We’re not seeing that in any “These people have mortgag- way, shape or form.” ■

OTTAWA — The federal infrastructure minister says he is looking to connect private backers with some of the country’s rural and northern communities to pay for badly needed broadband internet connections.

Provincial governments have leaned heavily on the Liberals to use whatever influence they have with the Canada Infrastructure Bank to get it to fund broadband internet projects, particularly in rural and remote locations.

The Liberals created the bank in 2017 to take $35 billion in federal financing, and use it to leverage three-to-four times that from the private sector to help pay for major highways, bridges, and water and electrical systems to ease the financial burden on public coffers.

Provinces argue broadband yields a long-term revenue stream that would be enticing to any private investor willing to pay the connection costs.

Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says a single broadband line into one rural community is unlikely to grab the attention of large institutional investors, such as pension funds. He is therefore looking at how different revenue models could entice private backers or help bundle several smaller projects into one large proposal.

“I often say it’s about us in 2018 thinking like our founders were thinking about a railway connecting Canada,” Champagne said during a recent wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press.

“So we’re looking at different business models, which would be possible because now we have a new tool, which I think is allowing us to accelerate the process.”

The Liberals have pledged $500 million to build broadband connections, but provinces told the government in late 2017 that “doesn’t scratch the surface” of what is needed nawww.canadianinquirer.net

Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. @FP_CHAMPAGNE / TWITTER

tionwide, according to internal federal documents.

As a result, provinces turned their attention to the infrastructure bank. It operates at arm’s-length from the federal government, although Ottawa has to sign off on any loan the bank intends to make.

Notes from a September 2017 meeting of federal and provincial infrastructure officials show provinces argued the mandate of the agency included funding broadband internet systems.

Provincial and territorial ministers said helping bankroll broadband “doesn’t have to take a long time. Push the button and make it happen.”

Amarjeet Sohi, infrastructure minister at the time, said the only thing the federal government could do was ensure any project funded through the agency was in the public interest. After that, “it is hands off and no political involvement,” the notes say.

The Canadian Press obtained copies of the notes under the federal Access to Information law.

Champagne said he has told provinces, territories and municipalities to make sure their broadband projects are “bankable,” meaning they must be able to generate revenue.

Broadband internet, an issue

in Champagne’s own, largely rural, Quebec riding, can be transformative for businesses, giving them reliable access to the outside world, the minister said.

“Now, in its execution you have to see, because some of these networks are usually very local and part of the challenge to ‘crowd in’ investment is to find a revenue model that would be self-sustaining for that particular project.”

The bank hasn’t published a list of projects it is working on and it’s not clear when such a list will become public.

Federal officials noted a number of project proposals that could be eligible for financing through the nascent agency, which they then “set aside for the bank to take the lead on,” the internal documents say.

Only one project has been approved for financing through the bank: a $1.28-billion loan to help build a $6.3-billion electric rail system in Montreal — known by its French acronym REM — largely managed and funded by Quebec’s pension regime.

The bank’s most recent quarterly financial report says it is securing $1.28 billion of debt for the project between now and 2021 — debt that must be repaid within 15 years. ■

16

Canada News

JANUARY 4, 2019

Trudeau says it’s The changing nature of worth ‘pointing out’ Canada’s forest supply as similarities between fires, bugs, and climate bite Scheer and Harper

BY IAN BICKIS The Canadian Press

BY JANICE DICKSON The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Andrew Scheer’s Conservative party is in the exact same place it was under Stephen Harper’s leadership and that’s why he and his Liberals will continue “pointing out” the similarities.

The Liberal party put the Harper stamp on Scheer the day he was elected leader of the Conservative party, billing him as a far-right social conservative. The Liberals raise Harper frequently and drop his name in fundraising emails to supporters.

“We are focused on what is truly important while Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are stepping up the same divisive and negative politics we saw from Stephen Harper,” wrote Liberal party president Suzanne Cowan in an email blast sent this week.

In an interview, Trudeau told The Canadian Press that the Conservative party’s approach to a range of issues shows that

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.

it does not have plans or ideas that differ from Harper’s.

“Canadians so clearly rejected Stephen Harper’s approach to government, the approach in the 2015 election, and yet on climate, on the economy, on international engagement, on migration issues, on Indigenous issues, they are very much still in the exact same mode that they were pre the 2015 election.”

“I think that’s sort of something that is worthwhile pointing out to Canadians,” said Trudeau.

In almost the same breath Trudeau said that in the next election he’s not going to try to “vilify” or “demonize” his opponents. But he suggested that he doesn’t view his comparison of Scheer to Harper as vilifying him.

Trudeau said when he was emphasizing his “sunny ways” during the last campaign, people were quick to point out any time he said something critical of Harper. But, he said, he’s going to be very sharp any ❱❱ PAGE 20 Trudeau says

JUSTIN TRUDEAU / FACEBOOK

MILLS IN the heart of Canada’s timber industry have fallen quieter this winter as wildfires and infestations made worse by climate change have made vast tracts of once valuable forest into barren stands of dead trees.

After seeing record high softwood lumber prices earlier this year, Canada’s forestry industry is facing an uncertain future due to falling demand from a cooling U.S. housing market, increasingly frequent and intense forest fires and the continuing damage from pests such as the mountain pine beetle.

“We’re kind of at that point in the cycle where, unfortunately, permanent reductions have to happen,” said Ed Sustar, a forestry products analyst at Moody’s Investor Service.

“It’s going to be a relatively sizable part of the B.C. lumber industry, but it’s not a surprise.”

British Columbia, home to close to a third of Canada’s wood manufacturing jobs, is showing the most visible effects of reduced supplies as numerous companies have cut back mill production in recent months.

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. cited timber supply shortages brought on by the mountain pine beetle for permanently cutting 300 million board feet of production, at a cost of upwards of 75 jobs in the new year, at its Fraser Lake and Quesnel sawmills. That was on top of production cuts in the last stretch of the year at a string of interior mills from log supply constraints.

Interfor Corp. cut about 20 per cent of production for this last quarter, citing escalating log costs, while Canfor Corp. curtailed B.C. production by 10 per cent due to log supply constraints. Conifex Timber Inc. cut production by 15 per cent at its Fort St. James, and then by another 10 per cent for the next half year.

The supply issue has, howevwww.canadianinquirer.net

er, been looming for some time, as the large swaths of B.C. forest killed by a pine beetle epidemic decay into worthless dead stands. The tinderbox created by the outbreak, combined with warmer, drier weather, have in turn helped create back-toback record forest fire seasons in the province.

In 2017 wildfires destroyed about 1.2 million hectares of forest. This fiscal year it’s estimated at 1.4 million, compared with an average of 151,000 hectares for the 10 prior years.

The decrease in the amount of healthy B.C. forest has pushed companies to expand further into the U.S. or abroad, said Sustar.

“All these companies where B.C. was their base, they’re all expanding and diversifying outside of B.C., and B.C.’s become a smaller portion.”

The provincially-set amount of timber that industry can harvest has already dropped by about 25 per cent in the past decade to around 52 million cubic metres, noted Sustar. B.C. government projections on the impacts of the 2017 fires alone are expected to reduce the midterm supply by more than half in Williams Lake and 100 Mile House and by about 44 per cent in Quesnel.

“We do and we will have a mid-term challenge with respect to availability,” said Susan Yurkovich, president of the B.C. Council of Forest Industries.

“Fibre availability is a key issue for the industry, it’s our main product input, so of course it’s very significant.”

The wild card in all of this continues to be the effects of climate change, and how much it will change the supply picture.

“It’s already really created huge problems in terms of timber supply,” said Sally Aitken, a professor at the University of British Columbia.

“Climate change will touch pretty much everything we do in forestry, and everything that lives in forests.”

She’s studying how to create forests that will be more resil-

FRIDAY

ient to climate change, by selecting genetic varieties of trees that could better withstand the changes coming.

The impact of climate change on the health of forests is hard to predict, however, as changing weather patterns lead to both wetter and drier conditions, while a variety of threats including insects like the pine beetle, fir beetle, spruce budworm as well as diseases and fungi get worse.

Barry Cooke, a forestry researcher at Natural Resources Canada, describes the trend as climate weirding, since so many factors are at play.

“You have climate changes percolating through this cascade of physical and biotic consequences,” said Cooke.

His research has focused in part on Canada’s far north forests, where melting permafrost has let to what he describes as drunken trees falling over in the waterlogged soil.

But he notes that government research is showing climate change impacts are coming to all areas of the Canadian woods, including the fires of the west coming east.

He also sees a deterioration in the quality of the forests, as growth-rings thin and faster-growing but lower quality plants and trees mask the decline of core species.

“Yeah there are a lot of trees here, but they’re not as healthy as they used to be…the forest is in a process of transforming,” said Cooke.

“We are seeing growth declines in Eastern Canada, and this wasn’t predicted to happen this soon. We thought maybe in 20, 30 years we might see this, but it’s happening already.”

The changing trends means lots of uncertainty for Canada’s forests going forward, said Cooke. Trees can endure wide fluctuations of weather, he noted, but their health can change suddenly once critical thresholds like moisture balance are tipped.

“Everything looks fine until it’s not.” ■

Canada News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

17

Roiled in oil: Alberta votes in 2019 as energy issues, Trudeau dominate debate

BY DEAN BENNETT The Canadian Press EDMONTON — The year 2019 will decide whether Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP gets to finish the job of getting more oil to market or become the first party in provincial history to be one and done.

“I know that the opposition wants to sort of revel in what they insist on hoping is defeat, but we’ve made more progress on getting a pipeline to tidewater than any other government has in the last 70 years,” Notley told The Canadian Press in a year-end interview.

Notley will take voters to the polls in the spring after a 2018 that saw her tightly wrapped in the Gordian knot of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

It received a green light two years ago and would triple the amount of oil moving to the B.C. coast and from there over-

seas where it could fetch a better price.

Notley, while fighting court challenges and the B.C. government over the project, pulled it back from the abyss after the pipeline’s owner started questioning whether it would ever get built. She got the federal government to buy it for $4.5 billion No sooner had the champagne corks popped than the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in the fall that Ottawa hadn’t properly consulted with First Nation or examined the impact on marine life.

The project is in limbo until those failings are addressed. “(The court ruling) means it has slowed down, but it is still alive and I think it is going to get done,” said Notley.

The line has come to symbolize not only Alberta’s struggles to get resources to market but also frustration over a stubbornly slow rebound in the oil-

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.

based economy.

There have been pro-pipeline demonstrations in recent weeks along with renewed fringe commentary for Alberta to leave Confederation.

Notley has taken to sniping at Quebec for criticizing Alberta’s

RACHEL NOTLEY / FACEBOOK

“dirty energy” and has joined critics who say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government has failed — offering sympathy but little else — to sustain one of the core drivers of the national economy.

Political analysts and recent

opinion polls suggest Notley remains popular. But Jason Kenney and his United Conservatives will pick up the fight when the election is held, by law, sometime in March, April or May. Kenney suggests Notley is the author of her own misfortune by bringing in a carbon tax and working with Trudeau, who is making it harder to get approval for energy megaprojects.

“I can understand perhaps why they tried to make it (work with Trudeau) but it has been a complete failure,” said Kenney in an interview. “Even the premier now seems to acknowledge that through the change in her tone. Too little, too late.”

Kenney has a more combative approach and has promised to take the federal government to court over its carbon tax plan. ❱❱ PAGE 18 Roiled in

Scientist, business owner seeking Liberal nomination to take on NDP’s Singh

BY AMY SMART The Canadian Press BURNABY, B.C. — A scientist and a small business owner are vying for the Liberal nomination in the riding of Burnaby South, where the winner will go on to challenge NDP leader Jagmeet Singh in a federal byelection.

Cyrus Eduljeem, who has worked in the science and business of biotechnology, and Karen Wang, who owns a daycare business, each told voters at the party’s nomination meeting Saturday that they have what it takes to defeat Singh in the upcoming race.

Eduljee, a senior product manager for Stemcell Technologies, told a crowd of about 100 party members gathered at a banquet hall in Burnaby that the “whole country” will be watching people vote in Burnaby South’s byelection.

“As Liberals, we will be go-

ing up against the leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh, who has come all the way out here from Toronto to stake his leadership and his reputation on this byelection,” Eduljee said.

“We will also be up against the resurgent Conservative party that stands against so many of the liberal ideals we believe in.”

Eduljee said he sees housing affordability as the biggest issue affecting voters in the riding. He said he has the experience and expertise to understand and tackle that issue, as well as climate change, protecting the coast line and growing the economy.

Asked if he supports the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, he said he believes in a more “comprehensive” plan to support the environment including the Trudeau government’s Oceans Protection Plan, rather than focusing on a single pipeline.

The project, which would

involve twinning an existing pipeline to the company’s Burnaby terminal, has met with fierce opposition locally, while the prime minister has insisted it will be built.

Wang, who said she has lived in Burnaby for 20 years, questioned Singh’s ability to connect with local voters as a Toronto politician and federal leader with other responsibilities.

“He’s not from our local community, he cannot represent you, represent us,” she said.

“I believe we will have a good chance to win in Burnaby South as I believe right now I’m very familiar with our community.

I’m one of the people here.”

Wang ran in the 2017 provincial election with the B.C. Liberals, but was defeated by the NDP’s Anne Kang.

She said her top three priorities would be improving housing affordability by increasing the supply, creating more jobs and improving public transit.

Prime Minister Justin www.canadianinquirer.net

Trudeau has not yet set a date for the byelection in Burnaby South, which was vacated by former New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart, now Vancouver’s mayor. He expected to call byelections for the Burnaby South, Outremont, Que., and York-Simcoe, Ont., ridings early in the new year.

The byelection, expected for February, marks Singh’s biggest political test to date, while he also tries to calm party fears about fundraising, slumping polls and a growing list of veteran MPs who say they won’t run in 2019.

Singh has said he plans to focus on campaigning in the riding over the next month, so he can check “elected” off his todo list for the critical campaign year ahead.

In the 2015 federal election, the NDP won Burnaby South by just over 500 votes.

A party leader who can’t win a seat customarily steps aside, though that hasn’t happened

in a byelection since the 1940s.

Singh won’t say what he’ll do if he loses the Burnaby South byelection.

Corporate lawyer Jay Shin is running for the Conservatives in the byelection, while Green party leader Elizabeth May has said the Greens won’t field a candidate.

Maxime Bernier’s People’s Party of Canada plans to name a candidate in the next two weeks, spokesman Martin Masse said. Because the party is so new and only recently established electoral district associations in the riding, the candidate won’t be selected through a typical nomination voting process.

“Essentially, the leader will choose the candidate in each byelection,” Masse said.

Liberal party spokesman Braeden Caley said whoever is nominated today will reflect the Liberal party’s values and plans for the region. ■

World News

18

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

Trump’s pick for AG once questioned value of border wall

BY ERIC TUCKE The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, William Barr, once questioned the value of a wall along the Mexican border similar to the one the president has advocated, describing the idea as “overkill.”

Barr was attorney general under President George H.W. Bush when he was asked in a Feb. 24, 1992, interview whether he supported a proposal from Republican presidential challenger Pat Buchanan to erect a barrier of ditches and fences along the border to stop illegal immigration.

“I don’t think it’s necessary. I think that’s overkill to put a barrier from one side of the border to the other,” Barr replied on “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” on PBS. “In fact, the problem with illegal immigration across the border is really confined to major metropolitan areas. Illegal immigrants do not cross in the middle of the desert and walk hun-

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dreds of miles,” instead choosing more “certain specified routes.”

Those routes through more populated areas have since largely been closed off, pushing migrants to riskier desert routes.

Other public statements by Barr from his tenure as attorney general and within the last year suggest a hardened immigration approach more in line with the broader security measures Trump and his advisers have discussed.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Barr’s views on a wall have changed, but pointed to other comments from his tenure in which he described fences as effective in stopping drugs and illegal immigration.

As attorney general, he also announced the hiring of additional agents to patrol the border and promoted upgraded fencing and investments in sensors and other technology.

Barr’s positions on immigration are significant because of the Justice Department’s role in defending and enforcing administration policies and because

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Polls and political observers say the dominant election issues will be the economy, jobs, and who can help put food on the table.

“If we had an election today, we’d have an overwhelming UCP majority,” said Calgary-based pollster Janet Brown.

“Albertans are singularly focused on the economy and what’s necessary to get the economy moving. At this moment in time, they think Jason Kenney and the UCP would be more competent at managing those things.”

The NDP has already signalled its attack lines by warning that a Kenney government would gut departmental budgets and threaten hard-won gains for women and the LGBTQ community.

Brown said United Conservative numbers have remained strong since the party was formed in 2017 in a merger of the Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties. So far, NDP attacks have not resonated.

“They keep trying to throw stuff at Jason Kenney, trying to paint him as anti-LGBTQ, a bigot, a racist all sorts of things. My polling numbers just don’t suggest that any of that stuff is sticking.

I’m just impressed not just where that UCP number is, but how unchanging it is.”

Calgary political scientist Duane Bratt said Alberta may statistically be out of a

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responsibilities largely folded into the Department of Homeland Security following the 9-11 attacks.

Barr’s past comments on the effectiveness of a wall reflect a nuance often missing from Trump’s rhetoric, who made the construction of a “big beautiful wall” of concrete and steel a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, ❱❱ PAGE 20 Trump’s pick

Roiled in... ❰❰ 17

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border security has been a top priority of Trump’s White House. While the Justice Department today prosecutes people who cross the border illegally and defends the administration’s policies, the agency was probably more directly involved in immigration enforcement during Barr’s earlier tenure as attorney general — 1991 to 1993 — because it included the Immigration and Naturalization Service. INS was dissolved and its

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International border between United States and Mexico.

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recession but that’s not how people feel.

“And when times are bad, you lash out at the incumbent government. That’s a simple fact.”

Fighting hard to come up the middle is the Alberta Party under new leader and former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel.

The party has long been a small-time player. It elected just one member in 2015 but added two more in floor-crossings. But it already has more than 50 candidates and expects to soon fill the full slate of 87.

Mandel said the Alberta Party is the perfect middle-ground choice, because it combines the United Conservatives’ fiscal conservatism with the NDP’s socially progressive outlook.

“People don’t like the polarization of the province,” he said. “They want to see more balance.”

If a vote were held as early as the first week of March, a writ could be dropped as early as February. Political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said that’s when voters will really get engaged and fortunes could change quickly.

“Right now the UCP is looking good, but I think it’s too early to conclude that the election is over,” said Mensah of MacEwan University in Edmonton.

“The campaign and its dynamics will really tell the tale.” ■

World News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

19

No talk of solution to shutdown, president tweets blame

BY ZEKE MILLER The Associated Press

He also said the compromise should include changes in federal law to discourage people from trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

“Democrats have a chance here to work with me and others, including the president, to bring legal status to people who have very uncertain lives,” Graham said.

He said he would discuss the proposal with Trump Sunday over lunch at the White House, though it was unclear if the president or Democrats were open to such an approach. A previous deal that addressed the status of Dreamers failed to pass as a result of escalating White House demands.

As he called for Democrats to negotiate on the wall, Trump brushed off criticism that his administration bore any responsibility for the recent deaths of two migrant children in Border Patrol custody.

Trump claimed the deaths were “strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally.” His comments on Twitter came as his Homeland Security secretary

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was firing Twitter barbs at Democrats this weekend as talks to end a weeklong partial government shutdown remained at a stalemate.

Trump was cooped up in the White House after cancelling a vacation to his private Florida club.

As the disruption in federal services and public employees’ pay appeared set to continue into the new year, there were no signs of any substantive negotiation between the blametrading parties.

US Pres. Donald Trump.

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday that Trump is not reaching out mate for more than a week, afto Democrats, rather he’s waitter Democrats said the White ing for Democrats to reach out House offered to accept $2.5 to him. “It is with them,” she billion for border security last told Fox News Sunday.

Saturday. Senate Democratic Trump is holding out for billeader Chuck Schumer told lions in federal funds for a borVice-President Mike Pence that der wall between the U.S. and it wasn’t acceptable, nor was it Mexico, which Democrats have guaranteed that Trump, under said they were intent on blockintense pressure from his coning. servative base to fulfil his signaThere has been little direct ture campaign promise, would contact between the sides dursettle for that amount. ing the stalemate, and Trump Conway claimed Sunday that did not ask Re“the president publicans, who has already comhold a monoppromised” by oly on power in dropping his reWashington unDemocrats have a chance here to quest for the wall til Jan. 3, to keep work with me and others, including from $25 billion, Congress in sesthe president, to bring legal status and she called on sion. to people who have very uncertain Democrats to reSenator Lindlives. turn to the negosey Graham, tiating table.

R-S.C., said he But Conway hoped to end the indicated that shutdown by offering Demo- met with medical profession- Trump has moved off his decrats incentives to get them to als and ordered policy changes mand for a physical wall along vote for wall funding. meant to better protect chil- parts of the border, as he prom“To my Democratic friends, dren detained at the border. ised during his 2016 campaign, there will never be a deal withTrump earlier had upped the calling discussion of a wall “is a out wall funding,” Graham said brinkmanship by threatening silly semantic argument.”

Sunday on CNN. anew to close the border with “There may be a wall in some Graham is proposing to help Mexico to press Congress to places, there may be steel slats, two groups of immigrants to cave to his demand for money there may be technological continue living in the U.S. with to pay for a wall. Democrats enhancements,” Conway said. permission from the federal are vowing to pass legislation “But only saying ‘wall or no government: about 700,000 restoring the government as wall’ is being very disingenuous young “Dreamer” immigrants soon as they take control of the and turning a complete blind brought illegally as children House on Thursday, but that eye to what is a crisis at the borand about 400,000 people re- won’t accomplish anything un- der.” ceiving temporary protected less Trump and the RepubliTrump has remained out of status because they are from can-controlled Senate go along the public eye since returncountries struggling with natu- with it. ing to the White House early ral disasters or armed conflicts.

Talks have been at a stale- Thursday from a 29-hour visit www.canadianinquirer.net

@REALDONALDTRUMP / TWITTER

to U.S. troops in Iraq, instead taking to Twitter to attack Democrats. He also moved to defend himself from criticism that he couldn’t deliver on the wall while the GOP controlled both the House and Senate.

“For those that naively ask why didn’t the Republicans get approval to build the Wall over the last year, it is because IN THE SENATE WE NEED 10 DEMOCRAT VOTES, and they will gives us “NONE” for Border Security!,” he tweeted.

“Now we have to do it the hard way, with a Shutdown.”

Meanwhile, the effects to the public of the impasse grew as the Environmental Protection Agency, which had the money to function a week longer than some agencies, implemented its shutdown plan at midnight Friday night. EPA spokeswoman Molly Block said many of the agency’s 14,000 employees were being furloughed, while disaster-response teams and certain other employees deemed essential would stay on the job. That includes workers needed for preventing immediate public health threats at more than 800 Superfund hazardous-waste sites.

Also running short on money: the Smithsonian Institution, which said its museums, art galleries and zoo in the capital will close starting midweek if the partial shutdown drags on.

But federal flood insurance policies will continue to be issued and renewed, in a rever-

sal prompted by pressure from lawmakers, said Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

Trump appeared no closer to securing money for his signature border wall, which he vowed during the campaign that he would make Mexico pay for. He’s failed to do so. Now Democratic leaders are adamant that they will not authorize money for the project, calling it wasteful and ineffective.

They show no signs of bending, either.

The shutdown is forcing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors to stay home or work without pay.

The White House has not directly engaged in weeks with the House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who has all but locked up the support she needs to win the speaker’s gavel after the new Congress convenes on Thursday.

Pelosi has vowed to pass legislation to reopen the nine shuttered departments and dozens of agencies now hit by the partial shutdown as soon as she takes the gavel.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill added that Democrats are united against the wall and won’t seriously consider any White House offer unless Trump backs it publicly because he “has changed his position so many times.” ■ Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.

20

World News

JANUARY 4, 2019

Trump’s pick... ❰❰ 18

and who has more recently cited a lack of additional funding for it as the reason for partially shutting down the government.

Trump’s ambition for a wall has given way to a more modest reality, with the president now describing the barrier as “artistically designed steel slats” and saying he doesn’t care what people call it.

His former chief of staff John Kelly told The Los Angeles Times in an interview published Sunday that Trump had abandoned the notion of “a solid concrete wall early on in the administration.” The president seemed to respond to Kelly with a tweet Monday morning saying “an all concrete Wall was NEVER ABANDONED.” Whatever the terminology, border security remains the central sticking point in the partial government shutdown.

Trump is seeking $5 billion for a wall. Newly empowered congressional Democrats have resisted the demand, unveiling a package of bills Monday that would re-open the federal government without approving

FRIDAY

Trudeau says... border wall funding.

The president selected Barr to return as attorney general and replace Jeff Sessions, who was forced out amid Trump’s lingering outrage for his recusal from the Russia investigation. A transcript of the PBS interview was included in thousands of pages of documents Barr produced to the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of a confirmation hearing.

In the 1992 interview with PBS host Jim Lehrer, Barr said the Justice Department was taking steps to control illegal immigration and that “there are some barriers that have reduced violence and made it easier to interdict the aliens crossing.”

But he expressed ambivalence about an expansive wall, saying, “They generally try to go up through certain specified routes and, in fact, we’re only talking about a 200-mile area where there’s appreciable crossings, illegal crossings, and in fact, 40 to 50 per cent of the illegal crossings in the United States occur on a 14-mile

stretch south of San Diego.”

Even if Barr does not embrace a sprawling border wall, there are other indications his immigration views won’t depart much from the aggressive stance of the White House and of Sessions, whose Justice Department defended a travel ban that blocked arrivals from some Muslim-majority countries and backed a since-abandoned enforcement policy that separated children from parents at the border.

Barr defended the legality of Trump’s travel ban in a February 2017 Washington Post opinion piece, saying complaints that it was discriminatory were “baseless” since only a handful of countries were singled out and the criterion for their inclusion “was not that they were Muslim but that the risk of terrorist infiltration from these countries is especially high.”

In addition, he and other recent Republican attorneys general praised Sessions in a separate op-ed for having “attacked the rampant illegality that riddled our immigration system. ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

❰❰ 16

time there are clear distinctions of policy between him and Scheer, or when he thinks Conservatives are trying to divide the country.

“I will make no apologies for being very passionate, sometimes overly enthusiastic, in the way I engage in robust debate but I am as much as possible going to keep it on a substantive level.”

He also said Scheer himself has not been able to articulate his differences from his predecessor. He pointed to an Assembly of First Nations meeting earlier this year where a chief directly asked Scheer how he’s different from Harper and Scheer asked for “a little bit of patience for when our platform gets released.”

Brock Harrison, a spokesman for Scheer, said if anyone is stuck in 2015, it’s Trudeau.

“He wants to re-fight the 2015 campaign because virtually everything he and his government have done since then has been a failure,” said Harrison, adding that Trudeau will have to explain why he’s “failed

to balance the budget, secure the border, build pipelines, and provide relief for Canadian families.”

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre made similar comments in an interview recently, suggesting Trudeau points to Harper to deflect from his faults and because he’s feeling nervous about his chief opponent.

“You know the fact that he keeps trying to change the channel from Scheer is probably a good indication that he’s afraid of running against Scheer,” he said.

Poilievre said Trudeau uses the strategy to avoid taking responsibility for his own “failures,” and that whenever he’s asked about something he quickly deflects.

“It doesn’t have to be Stephen Harper, it can be anyone. But it’s the No. 1 rhetorical technique he employs — to quickly change the subject to another human being as soon as he is caught in trouble or failing. So we expect more of that, it’s actually a common tactic among privileged trust-fund babies.” ■

World News

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

21

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS

JR Gallarza: Fulfilling a basketball player’s teaching dream

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer BRIGHT LIGHTS, surrounded by cameras, and bleachers filled with people screaming your name – for an aspiring professional basketball player, this is the dream. You’re in the middle of one of the biggest venues in the country, wearing the State University’s jersey with pride.

Ball in hand, degree completed, you realize that this is what you’ve always wanted to pursue, or is it?

That’s the question that Canadian-born JR Gallarza had to face upon graduating from the University of the Philippines (UP), after years of representing his school in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP). He had it all in the works for himself to become a professional basketball player but chose to step away from that dream because home really remained in the quaint town of Brantford, Ontario.

From Brantford

JR grew up with first-generation immigrant parents Reynaldo and Rosalinda from Pampanga, admitting that they initially “struggled” to adjust upon arriving in Canada. “They would tell me stories about how hard it was for them immigrating. From losing multiple jobs at the worst times to having to do jobs they didn’t necessarily like,” even recalling how his parents had to once face losing their jobs as soon as they had enough to pay for a home, leaving them with only $100 Canadian dollars left in their bank account.

With that, JR had to face the “pros and cons” in growing up in a predominantly Caucasian community as well.

Initially, JR couldn’t even understand English as his parents raised his household to speak Filipino and Kapampangan, so when attending Kindergarten, he was not responsive to the people around him. He laughs, “Funny story, my parents actually got called into the principal’s office because I didn’t speak to anyone. So, the teacher and principal asked my parents

to speak to me in only English.”

Although JR was aware that he didn’t look like the people around him, he decided to use that to his advantage. “My dad would always tell me that if I were to do anything bad, or the same ‘bad thing’ my friends were, I would most likely be the one to get more of the blame because I stick out more.” However, that did not stop him from being himself, claiming, “that was true,” but he liked sticking out, “I would use my ‘exotic look’ to my advantage at times as the outgoing person I was in school,” he shared.

And ‘sticking out’ did work in his favor, as JR was recognized for being exceptional in basketball at a young age. At the age of four, he began participating in a house league, but he says he “never looked back after that and other sports or activities never really interested [him] the way basketball did.”

“Basketball truly had my heart. I also stood out more when it came to accomplishments and being on the basketball court in Canada [because of my race].”

around $30,000 – $40,000 Canadian dollars if he remained in Ontario.

Staying in Manila

JR was actually a Green Archer when he first moved to the Philippines, until he decided to pursue his studies at UP, where he took up Elementary Education.

“It was a beautiful struggle at UP. Both on and off the court.

They really made me earn my diploma and Magna honoursthey made me earn my maroon stripes.”

Two years into his studies, JR hit a curveball, which eventually gave him a sense of purpose.

At the age of 19, he found out that he would become a father to his son Reinen.

“The birth of my son changed everything but in the best way.

It made life 100x more difficult, but he’s worth it and more.

Reinen came two years after I was in the Philippines and with that being said, I was halfway finished school. So, he and I just had to hang in there to be together again.”

For the next two years, JR

JR graduates Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Education from University of the Philippines.

JR shares that his priorities always focused on academics.

“I had to earn my parents’ trust each semester because of Reinen coming unexpectedly, so I had to show them I wasn’t just goofing around in the Philippines by showing them my grades and doing my best on the court.”

Because of “the promise” he made to his parents of “keeping the scholarship” he has been blessed with and “to make the sacrifice worth it,” JR successfully juggled going to-and-from To Manila practice to class, When he was eventually gradin the 11th grade, I just want to keep helping our uating Magna JR and his basathletes chase and reach their Cum Laude in ketball teamgoals, be the best father and fiancé his major. He mates visited I can be, and just keep living a was even awardthe Philippines, positive lifestyle. ed during the where he “fell Spin.ph Sportsin love with the man of the Year lifestyle” and ceremony for the soon received offers to play in watched his son grow up in his category Sportsmen who ExFilipino universities. parents’ household through celled Academically.

“Wake up, workout, class, endless amounts of video calls On what he learned in going to practice, games, fans, the lights while he continued to pursue one of the toughest universities and camera, the repetition, I what he started – a collegiate in the country, JR states, “From loved it all,” he adds, saying basketball career and obtain- stressing to set up the perfect that their visit came at a perfect ing an Education degree. With class schedule around baskettime because tuition in Canada his basketball skills, he soon ball, to stressing to get to class, was too pricey and he wanted to became a crowd favorite for to stressing when actually being seek out other options. the Fighting Maroon fans, who in class, to stressing about class Although his dad Rey and mom were looking for a win after 27 when going to games (I brought Linda worked modest jobs as a loses. And after 720 days since homework to the locker rooms bus driver and factory worker, UP has tasted victory, JR be- in extreme cases or hide work which are “higher scale stan- came the second-highest point- on my phone so I didn’t look disdard jobs in Canada over the er for the game that finally had tracted)… I really learned how to Philippines,” JR wanted to re- his school celebrating with a breathe and be still and to take lieve his parents from the fi- bonfire. things one step at a time, one nancial responsibility by using As he enjoyed the attention task at a time.” his talents to acquire a scholar- of being an athlete with magaWith national recognition ship. With an interest in study- zine features, brand deals, and for breaking the odds of an ing Education, his program cost a bigger social media following, athlete’s inability to focus on www.canadianinquirer.net

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school as well, JR was also predicted to be one of the top picks for the upcoming Philippine Basketball Association Draft.

The odds were all in his favor and what he had established himself as for the past few years he’s been in the country were a dream come true. However, something was missing – which led to an aching feeling and a sense of depression.

And back to Brantford

“Reinen. 100% hands down, my son. He was about to turn four and start kindergarten and I just had to suck it up and decide to go home to my son. I told myself that I had a good run with basketball, but it was now my responsibility to provide a life where my son can grow up having dreams – and I help him reach them.”

From overflowing directions in Manila to an empty hand in Canada, initially moving from the glitz and glam to a more simple life took a strain in JR’s mental and emotional health. A lot of occupations and masteral schools in Canada did not credit a Philippine university diploma, despite its Magna Cum Laude status.

He says, “They were telling me it would be a one-year process just to review my papers, and another two to three years of school most likely.”

Not knowing what to do, he decided to take a leap of faith.

“I just felt lost for a span of months and would literally be in tears contemplating what ❱❱ PAGE 22 JR Gallarza

22

World News

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

Kansas judge rules telemedicine abortions can continue

BY JOHN HANNA The Associated Press TOPEKA, KAN. — A judge ruled Monday that Kansas cannot stop telemedicine abortions, thwarting the latest attempt by state lawmakers to prevent doctors from providing pregnancyending pills to women they see by remote video conferences.

District Judge Franklin Theis ruled that a law barring telemedicine abortions and set to take effect in January has no legal force. During an earlier hearing, Theis derided the law as an “air ball” because of how lawmakers wrote it.

That law was challenged in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Trust Women Wichita, which operates a clinic that performs abortions and provides other health care services.

Theis also ruled that other, older parts of the state’s abortion laws that could ban tele-

medicine abortions are on hold indefinitely because of a separate lawsuit challenging them that’s still pending.

The Wichita clinic began offering telemedicine abortions in October because its doctors live outside Kansas and could be on site only two days a week. It also hopes to provide the pills to women in rural areas and have them confer by teleconference with doctors.

The centre argues that banning telemedicine abortions violates the state constitution by placing an undue burden on women seeking abortions and singling out abortion for special treatment when state policies intend to encourage telemedicine. Kansas has no clinics that provide abortions outside Wichita and the Kansas City area.

“That procedure by telemedicine is going to be legal after midnight (Monday), and the clinic will continue to offer it,” said Bob Eye, one of the attorneys for Trust Women. “This is a good outcome.”

The anti-abortion group Kansans for Life, influential with the Republican-controlled Legislature, contends telemedicine abortions are dangerous. But a study of abortions in California, published in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ journal in 2015, said less than one-third of 1 per cent of medication abortions resulted in major complications.

Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, called Theis’ ruling “infuriating.”

“This judge has a long history of taking laws designed by the Legislature to protect unborn babies and women and turning them into laws that instead protect the abortion industry,” Culp said.

Seventeen other states have telemedicine abortion bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a group that advocates for abortion rights.

The 2018 law represents the third time Kansas legislators passed a measure meant to out-

law telemedicine abortions.

In 2011, a ban was part of legislation imposing special regulations on abortion clinics that critics argued were meant to shut them down. Providers sued, and Theis blocked all of the regulations. The case is still pending.

Legislators passed another version of the telemedicine abortion ban in 2015, but Theis ruled Monday that it also is covered by his order blocking the 2011 clinic regulations. He called that 2011 injunction a “safe harbour” for the clinic.

The 2018 law says that in policies promoting telemedicine, “nothing” authorizes “any abortion procedure via telemedicine.” Theis concluded that it’s toothless because it does not give prosecutors a way to bring a criminal case over a violation.

He said in his order Monday that it “has no anchor for operation” — essentially rendering the clinic’s lawsuit moot.

The Kansas health department has reported that in 2017, the lat-

est data available, nearly 4,000 medication abortions were reported, or 58 per cent of the state’s total, all in the first trimester. It’s not clear how many of them were telemedicine abortions.

While abortion opponents have a long list of legislative victories over the past decade, they’ve fared less well in the courts. The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear an appeal of lower federal court orders barring Kansas from stripping Medicaid funds for non-abortion services provided

by Planned Parenthood.

The state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second trimester procedure anti-abortion lawmakers called “dismemberment abortion” has been on hold since 2015. In that case, the Kansas Supreme Court has yet to decide whether the state constitution protects abortion rights independently of the federal constitution — so that state courts could chart their own, more liberal course. ■

JR Gallarza... ❰❰ 21

was next in my life. I gave up chasing a pro basketball career to be in Canada, I had this woman that supported me in everything,” referring to his now-fiancé, Holly Wolf, whom he met just three weeks before moving back to Canada and was coincidentally based in Toronto, “and I just wanted to be able to provide for her, and of course I had this beautiful boy that needed his dad to be a provider.”

He continues, “My parents were pushing me to go back to school and I was very against that. I hated school to be honest. More so after the news that was broken to me, so I stepped back and typed in, ‘How to start a business’ on Google.”

And that’s where his business ROLE came about, a training camp that promotes “confidence building and leadership development” while also focusing on “skill development and fitness development” in the sport of basketball.

The brand, which was created in February 2016 states on its website: “Role is named and built on the foundation that with all of his life experiences, Coach JR Gallarza has never

really been a “superstar”. He was always a ‘role player’ who played with heart and integrity.

These attributes created amazing highs in his life that he now hopes to share with others.”

With this, JR was able to find a profession that combines his love for basketball and passion for teaching.

“I graduated as a teacher and I have so much love and respect for teachers, but I personally couldn’t do what they did on an everyday basis. Although I fell out of love with teaching in a classroom, I still love educating and empowering our youth, which is why I do it in our unique way now with basketball skill training and holistic development.”

ROLE has been successfully running for more than two years, with JR and his coaching staff working with 250+ athletes. Starting with elementary students and younger, they have expanded to various ages and fitness levels and one of their trainees even recently received a sports scholarship offer.

“As a person, as a business, as a family man- growth is number one. I just want to keep helping our athletes chase and reach their goals, be the best father

JR with then two year-old son, Reinen.

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and fiancé I can be, and just keep living a positive lifestyle.”

At the age of 26, JR currently lives in the same humble home he grew up in that his parents purchased years ago, yet, just a few months ago, he announced accomplishing another milestone – buying his own house with fiancé Holly, where they will soon live with six year-old Reinen and dog Kovu.

“Holly and I actually plan on getting married there! It will be a small destination wedding and one she agreed to plan around the UAAP season for me so Reinen and I can watch UP play. But that will be for after our home is finished and my business is more steady.”

He elaborates even possibly relocating to “the country that made his dreams come true” in the future.

“Holly and I talk about actually living on a beach or just traveling for a year there once Reinen is finished high school.

So definitely a possibility for us in the future! Honestly, life is too beautiful to be stressed and

Back to the Philippines (someday)

Despite finding his identity in Canada and stabilizing his life, JR shares that the Philippines still remains constantly in his thoughts. www.canadianinquirer.net

worried about what’s supposed to come next. Our backup plan is to literally just eat mangoes and coconuts all day somewhere on Palawan.”

On whether he identifies being a Canadian or a Filipino more, JR says that he “identifies with the other one more when [he’s] in the opposite country.”

“I know I stand-out in one way or another when I’m in Canada and when I’m in the Philippines – so I just try and own it.

I’m a 6'3" – 6'4" moreno Filipino with a ‘Canadian accent’ and has a slang that turns on and off every now and then. In Canada I stand out by how I look, in the Philippines, I stand-out by how I sound and carry myself. Race aside, I just hope I’m doing all of my people proud by being the best human I can be.”

And amidst the crazy rollercoaster of finding stability in one location, looking back at the highs and lows, he shares the mindset that kept him persevering and keeping his priorities straight.

“I am so thankful for my past, good or bad, as it has made me appreciate what I have today and tomorrow.” ■

23

Entertainment After 8 years, Robin Sue Ramirez warns basher of legal Padilla finally meets action over insulting remarks Mariel Rodriguez’ father

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer CHRISTMAS DAY was special for television host Mariel Rodriguez, as her husband Robin Padilla finally met her her dad, Abelardo Termulo after eight years of the couple’s marriage.

In an Instagram post, Robin elaborates how happy he was meeting his father-in-law, “after more than eight years of waiting and more than three visa applications to the US embassy,” saying in Filipino, “A very important scene in my life took place and fulfilled this holiday season. God is great!”

He adds, “We have so many dreams in life but sometimes He does not give it to us even when we have done everything to get it, but we know that we have the things we ask for him.”

In a separate post, Mariel describes how “[her] heart is so full,” expressing gratitude by saying, “Thank you so much to everyone in my family for being so supportive of this moment.

It means so much to me.” She concludes, “My 2018 is complete. I have been waiting for this day for 8 years… thank you, God for giving it to me.”

Robin and Mariel got married in 2010 at the Taj Mahal in India without Aberlardo pres-

ent because he was based in the United States. This was also the first time he met his granddaughter, the couple’s twoyear-old Isabella.

The day before redirecting their followers to the joyous affair, Robin was under fire for ‘celebrating Christmas’ as a Muslim. This was after his wife’s post of the family’s “first Christmas together,” explaining how Isabella’s first Christmas last year was in the United States while Robin was in Marawi. The photo received 47,000 likes as of writing, however, many netizens were quick to comment on how a Muslim should know what is ‘forbidden’ and ‘permissible’ in Islamic law.

Mariel was quick to disable viewers from commenting on the photo, while Robin defended himself stating that “Christmas is love and sharing.” In his words, “Christmas in the Philippines is more of culture and traditions not of religious extremism. We all believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ (PBUH) let us focus [our] energy and conversation on things that we are the same God-willing.” Mariel agrees, saying, “As parents, it is our duty to teach our children how to respect ALL religions. It is also our responsibility to guide them but never to dictate to them.” ■

“Sa ngalan ng Allah ang pinakamapagpala at ang pinakamahabagin. Sa nag iisang Panginoong maylikha lamang ang pagpupuri. Isang napakahalagang tagpo sa aking buhay ang naganap at natupad nitong kapaskuhan. God is great!” @ROBINHOODPADILLA / INSTAGRAM

TIRED OF receiving insulting comments from a netizen who has been attacking her on social media, Kapamilya actress Sue Ramirez warned her basher that she will take legal action against her if the “bullying” does not stop.

The 22-year-old actress recently took to Twitter to answer the online bully as she posted a screenshot of the basher’s comments from her Instagram account.

In the comment section of one of Sue’s Instagram posts, netizen @krystleodavarborromeo told the actress, “Bukas mag two piece ka na lang sa show para bongga para mga lalaki lahat dilaan ka hahaha yuck ewww dumi-dumi mong babae ka. Nakikipaglaplapan sa Star Magic ball duuhhh nakakahiya (Just wear a two-piece tomorrow in the show so it will be extra and that all boys will lick you hahaha yuck ewww you are a filthy woman. You were kissing someone torridly during the Star Magic Ball duuhhh how shameful).”

The netizen again commented, “Hahahaha what a big eyes hahahaha ang pangetttttt (so ugly).”

Even with all these disrespectful comments, the netizen seems like she was not yet done bashing the actress as she posted another comment, saying, “Hahaha as if GRO (prostitute)…. hahahaha pasalamat ka nalahian ka ng konti kasi kung hindi ewan ko lang mukha kang tae. Ngipin mo pa lang jusko (Hahahaha as if [you are a] prostitute…. hahahaha be thankful because you got mixed with foreign genes because if not you will probably look like poop. Just look at your teeth).”

On her Tweet, Sue shared that the netizen has been “continuously bashing and harassing” her on Instagram.

“To everyone who has the www.canadianinquirer.net

Sue Ramirez.

nerve to bash people online, always take note that there are laws against cyberbullying. Do not wait for us to fight back,” she told her 324,000 Twitter followers.

Along with her tweet, was also a screenshot of her response to her basher.

Addressing @krystleodavarborromeo, Sue told her that she has no idea what she did to the netizen for her to give such derogatory comments to the celebrity.

“I have put up with it for a while, but this time I will not keep quiet about it anymore.

What do you gain from calling me names?” she asked.

“If you do not stop this bullying, I will take action against it. If it is not yet in your knowledge that there are laws against cyberbullying, then I am telling you now. STOP HARASSING ME,” she added.

Sue then urged her harasser to stop checking her social media account if she did not like the actress.

“I hope you find it in your heart to change your ugly ways and I wish that your children don’t grow up to be someone like you who takes joy in degrading other people,” she wrote.

Reacting to her Tweet, her fans expressed their support to

@SUEANNADOODLES / INSTAGRAM

Sue, with some lauding the way she addressed the online bully.

Netizen @mxrxxstxllx told Sue, “You handled this hater so well! Her comments were so distasteful and your reaction was truly admirable. Hopefully, people will be kinder next time.

May God bless your kind and peace-filled heart. Wishing you all the best.”

Twitter user @DulceM08, on the other hand, said Sue should have ignored her bashers as they do not see how beautiful the actress is inside and out.

Sharing the same thoughts, netizen @inclllmlndrs wrote, “Pagpasensyahan mo na ‘yan.

Nakulangan at nabitin ‘yan sa aruga ng magulang kaya ganyan (Just be patient with her.

Maybe she is lacking and is unsatisfied with her parents’ care that is why she is like that).”

Meanwhile, social media user @junarddvllhrmsa said she pitied Sue’s basher because she turned out to be the way her parents had raised her.

In her another post, Sue made a meaningful tweet about bullying, saying, “No one in their right mind finds joy in hurting other people. #NoTobullying” As of writing, the basher’s comment has already been deleted from the comment section of Sue’s post. ■

24

Entertainment

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

Fans in rage after Kapamilya show calls Super Junior ‘baduy’

BY ARLNIE COLLEENE TALAIN SINGCA Philippine Canadian Inquirer HOW WOULD you react if someone insults your idol and tells them they’re now oldfashioned and outdated? For ELFs, or Everlasting Friends, as what the fans of the famous 13-year-old Kpop group is collectively known, this is a very big insult to the group, or more so to the fandom itself.

That is why when the local Kapamilya TV show ‘Home Sweetie Home’ mentioned the legendary Kpop group in an ‘insulting’ manner, fans were outraged.

In its December 22 episode, the cast of the show was in South Korea for a vacation.

As they were touring around Seoul, Empoy Marquez’s character – which was apparently older than the three girls – told Miles Ocampo’s, Michelle Vito’s, and Trina Legaspi’s characters that if their Seoul bucket list includes seeing and meeting Super Junior, he’d want to join them. But the girls reacted to him with a laugh and displeased comments, and comparing the said group to another and younger K-pop group called BTS. Miles’s character told him, “Super Junior? Uy Sir Nards, BTS na uso ngayon. Napaka-tito mo talaga.” (“Super Junior? Sir Nards, BTS is now the trend.

You’re really such an uncle!”) followed by mixed laughter and even calling the group baduy (old fashioned) and ‘ew’ remarks from Michelle’s and Trina’s characters.

The scene quickly escalated on the social media with fans calling out the Home Sweetie Home production team and ABS-CBN network, angered with the insulting dialogue from the said show.

Many ELFs expressed their disappointment and rage through social media, demanding an apology from the network and the show.

With very much dismay, @ spritelyseok tweeted: “It was really disappointing to hear them say the foul words. Very unnecessary. They involved two very different groups that

are very hardworking and passionate to music. The bandwagon jumped out.”

While another Twitter user and an ELF, @adira_q24 just wanted an apology, tweeting: “We worldwide ELF just want [an] open apology for our boys.

ELF are protecting them at all costs. #RespectSuperJunior #ApologizeToSuperJunior” ELFs also poked their Inang, whom they treat as a fairy godmother for her contributions in the K-pop community in the country, to react on the issue.

Happee Sy of Pulp Live World, the promoter of some of Super Junior’s major concerts in the Philippines, the one who brought the group to the Philippines for the very first time back in 2010; and also an ELF, finally expressed her feelings toward the said dialogue.

On a Twitter thread, she said: “I can’t believe I just watched something so ignorant & sensitive. It saddens me. I didn’t see the need for the “eew” and “so baduy” comments. Do you know how your words had hurt and insulted so many? Was it intended to be funny? @HomeSweetieHome @ABSCBNChannel2 @ABSCBN_Showbiz.”

Happee also expressed that she understands the show’s purpose in adding the line, but adding the ‘eew’ and ‘so baduy’ remarks were not needed.

“Please remember @HomeSweetieHome, Kpop Fandom & Fanaticism is not just a funny hobby that you guys can just play with. We are a COMMUNITY. We have grown together for years, we are family and have respected each other’s choices of who we stan. Please respect and be more sensitive of our world,” she wrote.

“The problem with some people is that they do not know how much history we have in our Kpop community. They only see the outside, the current and how big it is now. They do not understand that we’d react the same had it been another group. #ApologizeToSuperJunior #RespectSuperJunior,” she continued.

Another Kpop organization reacted to the issue. Bryan ‘Snow’ Osorio, the chief executive officer of AstPro Me-

Super Junior.

dia Group/HallyuLife said in a statement: “…here at HallyuLife, we believe that respect is important not only when it comes to K-Pop, but also to all aspects of life. And speaking not only as a member of the media but also as a fan of Super Junior, it is really awful to see that a TV show from my own land speaks without thinking about its possible consequences. Super Junior has nothing to do with them yet they call them out like they have a handful of grudge against them. We believe that to put this into an end, the concerned party should apologize not only to the group but also to the fans.”

But sooner, on December 23, the involved actors and the Home Sweetie Home management accepted their mistakes and apologized through social media.

Miles, who delivered most of the lines that disappointed many, took to her Instagram story and said, “Everyone. This is too much. I really don’t want to react about this. Pero hindi pwedeng hindi. Ang sakit sakit niyo po magsalita. (But I cannot just ignore this. Your words are really hurtful.)”

The young actress admitted that she has no idea on the Kpop verse may it be K-dramas or the music when she flew to South Korea.

“Wala po akong alam at kilala. Kaya kung ano man po ang nasa script, wala po akong alam dun. And for those who are saying na ’wag mong idahilan na nasa script yun!’ or dapat alam ko yung sinasabi ko, pasensya na po, (I don’t know anything or anyone. So whatever’s on the script, I don’t know anything about it. And for those who are www.canadianinquirer.net

@SUPERJUNIOR / INSTAGRAM

saying ‘don’t reason out that it’s on script!’ or I should know what I’m saying, I’m sorry),” she said.

She also added that as an artist, they are given the opportunity to scrutinize their lines and even ask about it, but this time, since she had no idea, she thought it would be best to simply trust the writers.

“Whatever it is, it was my character. NOT ME. So for the first and last time, I AM SORRY. Please please please PLEASE stop bashing me. Ang sakit sakit niyo po magsalita. (Your words are really hurting.) Please stop it,” Miles continued.

While hurt with all the bashing, nonetheless, she still thanks the people who are still watching their show.

Meanwhile, Michelle and Trina took to their Twitter accounts for a short and straight to the point apologies.

Michelle said, “Bago ko po simulan ang araw na po ito. Humihingi po ako ng sorry sa lahat po na nasaktan namin lalo na po sa Super Junior at kanilang fans (and even non-fans) Sorry po talaga. I’m praying this coming Christmas na matanggap po namin ang forgiveness niyo po.

Sorry po ulit.” (Before I start my day. I want to apologize to all we have hurt especially to Super Junior and their fans (and even non-fans) I’m really sorry, I’m praying this coming Christmas that we receive your forgiveness. Again, I’m sorry.)

While Trina tweeted, “Good morning po! I would like to apologize po to the members and fans of Super Junior. Super sorry po sa mga na-offend at nasaktan. (to those who were offended and hurt.) Thank you po

for understanding.”

Later on, the Home Sweetie Home management also released a statement through their Facebook page, saying “Home Sweetie Home apologizes for a dialogue on our December 22 episode which has offended some of our Kapamilya Super Junior fans. We have high respect for SuJu and acknowledge that they are one of the first groups to pave the way for KPop Revolution in the PH. We intended to establish their seniority, but we admit that we should have used better terms to say it. We truly regret the mistake, and it’s a learning experience for us. We will be better po next time. Maraming salamat po sa pag-unawa (Thank you so much for understanding), and Merry Christmas, Kapamilya!”

Super Junior is the first Kpop group to hold a full solo concert here in the Philippines in April 2010 as the last leg to their Super Show 2, and later followed their concert series Super Show 3 (February 2011), Super Show 5 (October 2013), and the latest which was announced a month before its show date and still managed to fill the whole Mall of Asia arena, Super Show 7 (June 2018.)

Super Junior first debuted in South Korea in 2005 under the agency SM Entertainment.

After different kinds of issues and controversies the group has been through, they are still actively promoting and making their every ELF happy. And finally, after the long wait, fans will finally see the Super Junior as a whole again after the last member to serve the military, Kyuhyun, discharges on 2019. ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

25

MMFF celebrates LGBT community during awards night, ‘Rainbow’s Sunset’ wins big

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Iza posts: "Our reunion project soon on @iflix.ph" @MISSIZACALZADO / INSTAGRAM

Asshenti! Magic of ‘original’ Sang’gres to come back in February 2019

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer ASSHENTI (LISTEN) Encantadia fans, time to… ekoshme (charge)! The year 2019 is a good year for the fans of the original series from 13 years ago, whose ‘fresh’ eyes landed on the first series back when it was still airing on television can now finally cry tears of joy.

While a remake of the fantaserye was aired in 2016 and was also the talk on social media and the subject of memes, a different kind of nostalgia is experienced for many in seeing the ‘OG sang’gres.’

Adnes nesa aduwa iva (What is the meaning of this)? Speculations have been buzzing on a magic-induced project as early as January.

It was only in June this year when the original Pirena, Sunshine Dizon started giving hints on making this reunion ‘official’ through a series of Instagram posts with Encantadia director Mark Reyes.

Together with Iza Calzado-Wintle, Diana Zubiri-Smith, and Karylle Tatlonghari-Yuzon are executive producers under Director Mark’s Sang’gre Productions.

Just to add more to the building anticipation, Diana on September told Bulletin Entertainment “Tuloy na tuloy na (It is really happening)!”

Around this time, Diana reveals that the movie was already in pre-production stage, yet she made sure to keep her lips sealed. Instead, she segued by saying that after the show ended with flying colors and with a movie back in 2006,

working with her Sang’gres remained to be a dream of hers.

“I miss our chikahans (talks), our fight scenes, our actings, so I’m really looking forward to working with them again,” she said in the same interview.

In a recent article by Spot, Sunshine was quoted as saying that their fanbase is still with them until now, many years after.

“Even our simple social media posts, every time na sabay kaming nagpo-post, grabe ‘yong likes and comments. Amazing talaga, May clamor talaga ang fans na magsama-sama kami (we post at the same time, the likes and comments are overwhelming. It is really amazing, There really is clamor from the fans for us to be together again),” she said.

But will the four sisters be back together in their elemental outfits and Enchanta-trained tongues in the land of Enctantadia?

Direk Mark’s production has been secretive about the project, dropping behind-the-scenes teasers with carefullypicked hashtags.

However, on a latest post on his Instagram account, he posted a photo of the Sang’gres, saying “First official sneak peek photo from our #iflixoriginals movie. Watch out for the teaser trailer very soon. #newcharacterscoming #newstory #sanggreproductions #iflixph” While a lot of questions are still unanswered, fans should mark February 2019 on their calendars, because that is the day that the Sang’gres will be together once again. ■

THE 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries were celebrated during the “Gabi ng Parangal” Awards Night last Thursday, December 27 at The Theater at Solaire, with Director Joel Lamangan’s “Rainbow’s Sunset” bringing home the most awards at the end of the night.

“Rainbow’s Sunset,” which revolves around a gay elderly couple, received 11 out of 24 awards, including, Best Picture, Best Director Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award, Best Screenplay, Best Production Design, and Best Original Theme Song. Gloria Romero received Best Actress, Tony Mabesa bagged Best Supporting Actor, Aiko Melendez won Best Supporting Actress, while Eddie Garcia and Max Collins both received the Special Jury Prize for the movie.

When accepting his Antonio J. Villegas

Cultural Award on behalf of all artists, Director Joel expressed his thoughts on the local film industry, saying in Filipino, “I hope that the commercial is not the only thing [people] think about. I hope movie theaters also respect art and the industry.”

Coming in at second, receiving five awards is Yam Laranas’ horror/drama/ thriller “Aurora,” starring Anne Curtis.

The entry went home with titles Second Best Picture, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Design, Best Cinematography, and Best Child Performance by Phoebe Villamor.

Students from Bulacan State University were present as well to receive their award for Best Short Student Film with their entry “Kasilyas.”

Other MMFF 2018 entries include “Fantastica,” “The Girl in the Orange Dress,” “Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles,” “Mary, Marry Me,” “One Great Love,” and “Otlum.” The 44th edition of the MMFF will continue to show in cinemas until January 7, 2019. ■

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26

Lifestyle Agri-preneur’s success for a perfect lechón PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY CANDELARIA, QUEZON — Even before finalizing and splurging on the Yuletide holiday season and New Year’s fare, try this lechón (roasted suckling pig) specialty, not from Cebu’s famed outlets but of semi-organic pigs raised from this town’s successful agri-preneurship, which is behind the “Pambansang Lechón” of the Elarz fame.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency, Raffy Antes, corporate communications officer of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD)-Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (MRI) based in Bay, Laguna shared how pig quality also contributes to getting the perfect taste for this mouth-watering delicacy popular among Filipinos.

“Every celebration in the Philippines calls for a feast. While native delicacies are always present on the buffet table, lechón is absolutely the dish that should not be missed,” Antes said, pointing to this roasted fare as Cuba’s national dish and obviously a gastronomic delight in Spain and other Latin-American countries throughout the centuries.

He said that while there’s no doubt the lechón of Cebu is the most famous in terms of the quality of pig, as recognized by the late American chef Anthony Bourdain, the quest for making a perfect lechón also entails the way pig farmers raise semiorganic “lechónables” (readyto-roast) as proven by successful ‘Candelarian’ agri-preneur Ruel Mariano Marquez.

Ruel, fondly referred to as the “Boss” by his neighbors “is not the typical boss you’ll see holding meetings in a conference room or someone who is in suit roaming around the metro,” but rather the boss of the masses.

“People in their community give high respect to this man because of his dedication in supporting local farmers by letting them venture into hog raising business,” CARD-MRI said of Ruel as a client of CARD-Business Development Service Foundation Inc. (CARD-BDSFI).

Up close, Ruel grew up in a family, whose source of living comes from pig farming and an outsourcing business venture that is now profitable — considering the short span of time needed to grow a pig for lechón.

As second to the eldest among seven siblings, Ruel has been supplying pigs to lechón producers, of course to the popular Elarz owned by Manuel Enrique Zalamea, whom he met in 2015.

Zalamea also prompted him and his wife to encourage neighbors to likewise raise pigs in a production sharing scheme to start business.

At a young age, Ruel mustered the determination to take charge of their family business due to his father and eldest sibling’s illnesses, and has since skipped plan to pursue high school education and instead devote himself to the pig raising business.

He has expanded his farm’s pigpen to accommodate the number of pigs they can outsource every day.

“I have seen and experienced the spite of poverty. I know it is hard that is why I am doing this to at least help my neigh-

_KATATTACK / FLICKR, CC BY-ND 2.0

bors earn additional income,” revealed Ruel, recalling how he provided every household the piglets and their needed feeds and organic foods.

As a simple requirement, every household should have their own pigpen but the challenge for some of the potential hog raisers was that they have no budget for the pigpen construction.

Like Ruel, these households are also clients of CARD Bank, a microfinance-oriented rural bank, which provided them loans to start their desired business venture.

As the demand for pig supply increases, so is the need for additional capitalization, prompting Ruel to seek help from Elarz, which introduced him to CARD-BDSFI in 2017 through the foundation’s chief executive, Julius Adrian Alip.

The foundation, through CARD Leasing and Finance Corporation (CLFC), helped Ruel in acquiring the huge lot he needs for his pigpen.

The CLFC, on the other hand, finances social enterprise and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have

www.canadianinquirer.net

potential in creating value proposition for microentrepreneurs.

According to Ruel, the income of this kind of business venture is derived after the cost of piglet and its food are subtracted from the gross sales.

The minimum number of pigs every household can accommodate is at least 30, which could generate more than PHP 15,000 in just two months.

Inspired by these two CARDMRI micro-finance institutions, Ruel has expanded his investment in Oriental Mindoro.

“This is a dream realized because my only hope is to make every household have the opportunity to earn money and save for their family,” he said.

While in Oriental Mindoro, Ruel, along with CARD-BDSFI, organized a series of community meetings and introduced his advocacy, finding it easy to look for hog raisers there because majority of them are also clients of CARD financial institutions.

“Our scheme in Mindoro is different because majority of the households have the capacity already to buy and raise pigs.

What they are just afraid of are

sure buyers. So, I assured them by constructing a pigpen where they could stock their ready-tolechón pigs,” shared Ruel.

From two pigs, every household tapped by Ruel and CARDBDSFI in Mindoro is now raising up to seven pigs. CARDBDSFI and Ruel also organized a series of trainings, especially on how to naturally raise pigs.

To date, Ruel has 12 hog raisers in Quezon Province while more than 600 families in 12 areas in Oriental Mindoro are now supplying him with pigs.

His and his co-farmers’ businesses in Quezon are now producing at least 800 pigs every two months while they also harvest at least 350 pigs per week in Mindoro.

So, that’s a great deal of “lechónables” and the Candelarian pig raiser expressed optimism to beef-up the number of household-suppliers of pigs next year, this time covering Mindoro Occidental.

Ruel’s partner hog raisers Vilma and Edelberto de Chavez for more than three years now disclosed that the business has provided them the opportunity to provide food on their table every day.

“Every week, we sold at least 10 pigs to Ruel. Then another set of piglets are given to us to be raised for a few months. This flow of business is keeping our family needs intact,” added Vilma.

Ruel has also advised them of the importance of financial management, that is to be mindful of managing cash flow.

“That is why, after initial harvest, I remind them to save and invest for something that they could benefit from in a short or long term basis,” he said. ■

Lifestyle

27

Davao BJMP lantern making.

PNA

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

PDL-made Christmas lanterns light up PH streets, parks

BY EARL JED ROQUE Philippine News Agency MANILA — This holiday season may be the merriest of the year for most of Filipinos, who lengthily observe Christmas with many saying the celebration starts as early as September.

While most people are celebrating with the traditionalSimbang Gabi, puto bumbong, and bibingka, persons deprived of liberty (PDL) under the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) were busy early in crafting beautiful lanterns that now bedeck the streets and parks in some of the bustling towns and cities in the country.

Most of the livelihood programs they’re engaged in are parol-making (lantern mak-

ing), bonsai-décor making, bead works, bamboo crafts, and other Christmas decors, depending on the design commissioned by different local government units (LGUs) and private entities.

“Malaking tulong ito lalo sa pamilya nila. Livelihood program kasi ito ng BJMP habang nasa piitan sila (It’s a big help, especially to their families. It is the livelihood program of the BJMP while they are in detention),” BJMP chief Jail Director Deogracias Tapayan said. The LGUs provide the materials for production and pay the PDLs labor fees.

Private individuals can also order lanterns, snowman, and gift boxes made by PDL at BJMP offices with prices ranging from PHP700 to PHP1,800.

“Ngayong taon, hinihikayat ng BJMP ang lahat na maging

bahagi ng pasko ng ating mga PDL sa pamamagitan ng pagtangkilik ng gawa nilang mga parol (This year, the BJMP encourages everyone to include the PDL in celebrating Christmas by patronizing their lanterns)”, Tapayan said in a statement.

Based on records, 65 percent or 100,452 PDLs detained in 478 jails nationwide are engaged in livelihood projects in time for the Christmas season.

A 10-percent increase in the number of PDLs engaged in livelihood projects was documented from the first to the third quarter of 2018.

“The PDLs are encouraged to participate in livelihood and skills enhancement programs in the BJMP not only because this is a part of their development plan while in detention, but this serves as an additional

source of income for their families,” Tapayan added.

For Christmas 2018, the PDLs in Davao City Jail-Annex produced a total of 475 handcrafted parols (lanterns) with labor cost of PHP436,200.

These were installed on the streets of Davao City and have become one of the Christmas attractions in the metro.

The local government of Nabunturan, Compostela Val-

ley, meanwhile, ordered 50 pieces of custom-built lanterns crafted by PDLs in Montevista District Jail.

These lanterns are now seen sparkling the busy town streets of Nabunturan. The PDL from Urdaneta City District Jail made lanterns out of plastic bottles, which are now hung on the corridors of Labayug National High School in Sison, Pangasinan. ■

‘Uniting’ people through Mimaropa festivities BYJOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The only knot in having too many festivals in the country, which is never a thousand short, is the struggle of choosing where and what to attend.

Although the extravagant and world-prominent ones may top your list, there are three quarters more that can’t be missed– those equally spectacular yet little-known festivities that celebrate heritage, culture, and the Filipino way of life altogether.

Some of these undiscovered gems are held in various parts of MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan). And lucky for you, the MIMAROPA Festivals are held annually to bring these best festivities in one place. In November 2019, the 5th MIMAROPA Festival will take place in Marinduque.

Last month, it drew a crowd that filled Occidental Mindoro’s provincial capitol in Mamburao full packed.

The 2018 grand champion was Occidental Mindoro fol-

lowed by the Palawan contingent, and Puerto Princesa.

Meanwhile, Calapan City came in third place with Oriental Mindoro in fourth and Romblon in fifth.

Costumed in distinct traditional clothing, the young street dancers put a spotlight on the identity of each provinces– marble for Romblon, tamaraws for Mindoro, Moriones festival for Marinduque, and the reefs and underground river for Palawan.

Mixed with anticipation for 2019, Occidental Mindoro Representative Josephine Ramirez-Sato shares the annual affair brings to spotlight both the colorful Filipino culture and unity among the people of Region 4B. We have never felt so united before and as I’ve said, we’ve never experienced that kind of pride for MIMAROPA and I think that’s the best outcome or the thing that happend from the festival,” mused the congresswoman.

“Before, 4B is a poor region but you know, you’ve seen that there’s economic development,” she added, noting its potentials, particularly in tourism.

Captured moments before a grand preformance.

The region is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, namely the Tubbataha Reefs and the otherworldly Puerto Princesa Subterranean River.

The Apo Reef Natural Park in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro is also on UNESCO’s tentative list of heritage sites.

These alone serve as a drive for the local government to fix the island group’s connectivity.

In the two provinces, Ramirez-Sato said a plan to dock yachts in their major ports, as well as the construction of a world-class hotel in Occidental Mindoro, are under discussion. www.canadianinquirer.net

TEODORO PELAEZ / PNA

Moreover, medium-sized cruise ships are also set to ply through the region. Though still being finalized, the representative said “this will connect the provinces of MIMAROPA.” ‘Occ. Mindoro introduced’

Not only the festival brought unity among the provinces of MIMAROPA, it also highlighted Occidental Mindoro’s undiscovered jewels–one of the benefits the event brings to its host province.

At a trade fair, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro proved it was more than a gateway to Coron as it showcased its abun-

dant beach sites: the Inasakan Beach, the Manadi Island, locally known as White Island, and its Aroma beach a few meters from the airport.

Sablayan’s booth featured the famous Apo Reef Natural Park and Mindoro’s emerging tuna industry propelled by the sudden change in the tuna’s migratory route.

The fair also boasted the “cleanest inland body of water” in Paluan, and the Cabra Island Lighthouse in Lubang, where the Blessed Virgin Mary was sighted some time in 1960s.

Aside from heritage and ecotourism, Occidental Mindoro is keen to develop its agritourism.

“We would also like to have the agritourism because as we all know Occidental Mindoro has become the number two or three in rice production and we are now the number one salt producer in the country,” Ramirez-Sato said.

“We would like the people to see what we have, and specially we have the tamaraws, the critically endangered species, which can only be found in the island of Mindoro.” As of 2018, there were only 523 tamaraws recorded in the Philippines. ■

28

Lifestyle

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

Love on borrowed time: Cancer patients find romance despite terminal prognosis

BY ADINA BRESGE The Canadian Press TORONTO — It could have been a meet-cute in a romantic comedy between a man and a “mutant.”

After weeks of online flirting, Patrick Bardos was en route to meet Anne Marie Cerato for their first date at a coffee shop in downtown Toronto. He texted Cerato to let her know he was only a few blocks away on a packed streetcar crawling through rush-hour traffic.

Cerato said she had just passed the same intersection. “Are you wearing blue shoes?” she asked.

Bardos looked down at his lapis-blue sneakers, then up to search for Cerato among the thicket of commuters. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Bardos turned around, and there was Cerato, just like the photo on her dating profile — long dark hair and brown eyes sharpened by angular glasses. Better yet, unlike many of his previous dates, he was taller than her.

“You’re short,” Bardos blurted out. “But I’m short too. And that’s not what I meant.”

Bardos must have said something to redeem himself, because the two kept talking until the coffee shop closed. They decided to grab a bite at a nearby restaurant, and once again shut down the house. It was then Bardos realized that he was late for his own birthday celebration, so he rushed back to his apartment to attend to his peeved party guests, who spent the night listening to him rave about this woman he just met.

As smitten as Cerato, then 33, was with Bardos, she knew she didn’t have time to waste on a dead-end relationship. So on their second date, she decided to drop “the bomb.”

Knowing Bardos was a comic book fan, Cerato tried to soften the blow by appealing to his superhero sensibilities. “I’m not an alien,” she said, “but I am a mutant.”

To Bardos’ disappointment, Cerato admitted she wasn’t a member of the X-Men. However, she had been exposed to her fair share of radiation in treating a form of lung cancer driven by a genetic mutation.

After two years in remission, Cerato had recently learned her cancer had spread, and chances were, she wouldn’t be around in five years.

This was Bardos’ chance to run for the hills, Cerato said.

Bardos took a moment to consider his dilemma: How does one fall in love knowing loss is imminent?

When facing a disease with life-or-death stakes, matters of the heart may seem like a secondary concern. But cancer can serve as a “litmus test” for a relationship — and many fail, said Dr. Robert Rutledge, a Halifax radiation oncologist.

He said it’s not uncommon for people to sever ties, even marriages, with partners rather than confront the prospect of losing a loved one to cancer, and by proxy, face their own mortality.

But while some couples collapse under the strain of sickness, Rutledge said, for others, it can heighten emotional connections. The people who stand by their partners when the end seems near tend to be the ones who are worth the time patients have left, he said.

Sitting across from the “mutant” he was falling for, Bardos resolved to be that kind of partner for Cerato.

That was in fall 2011. Seven years later, Bardos and Cerato are married, own a house, have travelled the world and even celebrated their “25th anniversary,” adjusting their romantic milestones for love on a condensed timeline.

Before he met Cerato, Bardos said he would waver between ruminating about the past, and fretting about the future. Now, Bardos said he’s able to immerse himself in the moment, so he can spend it with her.

“She made me a better person, very quickly, just by being herself,” he said.

At 40, Cerato said she has defied survival statistics thanks to recent developments in targeted-gene therapy. But knowing her time is finite, she was forced to decide what she could live without and whom she could not.

“I feel like, in a way, it’s a gift that I was able to realize that at 30 and not at 60.”

For Morgan McNeely in Edmonton, this realization came a month before she turned 25 when she found out she had terminal stage-4 colon cancer.

After her diagnosis in 2015, McNeely found herself without her studies, her scientific research and her restaurant job, and short a few relationships she thought she could count on.

She suddenly had a lot of free time on her hands, so she and a friend decided to amuse themselves by swiping through Tinder.

McNeely turned down a number of propositions, including one lothario who offered to assist her in crossing items off her “sexual bucket list.”

She was expressly not looking for love — the last guy she had dated split because of her “cancer drama” — but one of her www.canadianinquirer.net

Tinder matches proved persistent, and they started dating.

Having lost so much, McNeely was afraid to let her guard down. But he told her, “I see you beyond cancer.” And soon, he helped McNeely see that too.

“I feel lucky every day, because of him,” she said. “I’m not happy I have cancer, but I’m still thankful for what it’s brought me.”

Still, McNeely said disease can complicate a relationship.

When she and her boyfriend got a cat together, McNeely said they had to consider whether he could take care of the pet without her. When they discuss the prospect of marriage, she worries about whether debts related to her illness would transfer to him after she dies.

This is the case for many terminal cancer patients: Their greatest concern is not their own death, but the impact it will have on loved ones they leave behind.

Julie Easley is all too familiar with this tension, not only as a social scientist whose research has focused on young people with cancer, but as a survivor who has suffered loss herself.

When Easley met Randy Cable at a bar in Fredericton in 2004, she felt an instant jolt of recognition. At 28, Easley’s life had recently been handed back to her after beating stage-2 Hodgkin lymphoma. Cable, then 29, had been diagnosed with colon cancer and told he had three months to live — that day, the clock had run out.

From then on, it was love on borrowed time.

Easley knew the isolation that can come with fighting cancer. She was doing research at the hospital where Cable was being treated, so she started visiting him after work.

One night, Cable was too afraid to fall asleep, having been told he could go into cardiac arrest at any moment. Easley offered to stay over to monitor his breathing. She crawled into bed with him and put her hand over his chest, feeling it rise and fall as they both drifted off.

After that, she slept over more often than not, holding hands throughout the night.

At times, it almost felt like they were a “normal” couple. To entertain themselves, they would pretend the reflection in the TV screen revealed another room in their imaginary apartment.

“There’s something about seeing that strength of character and that beauty of the human spirit when you’re stripped down to your most vulnerable state,” she said. “I fell in love with that.”

Easley said it took Cable some time to realize she was more than just the “girl he was sleeping with.” When Easley first told Cable she loved him, he fell silent. He had told his mother that his biggest regret was that he had never been in love, according to Easley, but she had proved him wrong. “I love you too,” he said, eyes welling up with tears.

In fall 2005, little more than a year after they met, it became clear the end was near. Cable’s friends and relatives gathered around his bed, and he asked Easley to climb in with him.

This time, instead of her holding him, he cradled her in his arms as he died at 31.

Thirteen years later, Easley continues to honour Cable’s memory through her work in the young adult cancer community, and feels grateful for the memories he gave her.

“If you ever truly want to know the value of life, you spend time with someone who’s fighting for every scrap of it,” said Easley. “I knew it would end. The part I didn’t know is the unexpected beauty that happened within that.” ■

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Sports Pacquiao spends Christmas Eve training, reunites with Coach Freddie Roach

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer WITH THE upcoming PacquiaoBroner match happening in Las Vegas on January 19, 40-year-old Manny Pacquiao spends Christmas Eve at the Wildcard gym in Hollywood training with Hall of Famer and his former coach, Freddie Roach.

The two had a falling out in 2017 after Pacquiao’s loss to Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane, but now Roach had agreed to supervise the boxer’s training with close pal Buboy Fernandez. In a press conference upon his arrival to the United States last Tuesday, December 18, Pacquiao also revealed that he “doesn’t have any problem with Freddie Roach,” and that “Freddie can supervise or instruct Buboy, this is what we’re going to do.”

Coach Freddie even found a way to open the Wild Card gym on Sundays when it is usually closed to accommodate the eight-division world champion’s first training in Los Angeles in the last two years. “Manny reached out directly,” Roach reportED, “We sat together one-on-one. I’ll be in his corner January 19,” previously also sharing, “I’ve been like a father to Manny for 15 years.”

“Late Friday post of my first fight working with Manny Pacquiao.” @FREDDIEROACH / INSTAGRAM

In an exclusive with Boxing News, Pacquiao’s head coach Fernandez shared that “[he and Pacquiao] are glad to be back where [they] first started as a team” and that “[he] has no problem working with Coach Freddie,” saying, “We’re sharing inputs and observations to plug every hole or cover all angles to ensure our victory come January 19.” Fernandez’s team also includes strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, Nonoy Neri, and Roger “Haplas” Fernandez.

Before heading to Wildcard

Gym on December 24, Pacquiao was also spotted building up leg power at the uphill slopes of Griffith Park. Assistant trainer Haplas Fernandez joked to the media that despite Christmas Day being devoted to sparring, “[we] know how Boss is,” and they are only depending to resume training again on Wednesday, because “Christmas is over by then,” with regular sparring partner George Kambosos ready to get back to work with the World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion as well. ■

Pringle is PBA’s top scorer for 2018 season

BY IVAN STEWART SALDAJENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Stanley Pringle dethroned former teammate Terrence Romeo as the best scorer of the season in the Philippine Basketball Association.

The NorthPort guard averaged 21.0 points per game (ppg) during the 2018 season, way ahead of the incoming San Miguel combo guard, who had a tumultuous season with NorthPort and TNT, and even failed to make the Top 20.

Pringle’s fellow Most Valuable Player contender, Junemar Fajardo, is second with 20.6 markers a night.

Matt Wright of Phoenix is third with 17.6 ppg, while Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar is fourth

with 16.4. NorthPort’s Sean Anthony rounded up the Top 5 with a 16.3 point-per-game average.

Fajardo, however, emerged as the top rebounder of the year with 12.3 boards a game.

Anthony, on the other hand, led the league in steals with 2 interceptions a match.

Alaska’s Chris Banchero was the top disher for 2018 with 5 assists per game, while incoming NLEX big man Poy Erram was the league’s top blocker, getting 1.9 swats per game in his stint with Blackwater last season.

Meralco’s Baser Amer was the league’s best long-range shooter with a 40 percent clip from beyond the arc, while Alaska’s Jvee Casio was the most efficient free throw shooter with a 92.4 percent clip. ■

Stanley Pringle.

@STACKPRINGLEZ / INSTAGRAM

Former Azkals stopper Cuaresma retires

BY IVAN STEWART SALDAJENO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Just as 2018 came to an end, Ref Cuaresma announced that his playing days draw to a close.

The Kaya Iloilo goalkeeper announced on Monday his retirement from football.

“They say it’s still young to stop, but it’s time to give way for the younger potentials who are hungrier and faster,” the 36-year-old Cuaresma said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.

The 18-year veteran played for five clubs, getting the start at the poles.

Cuaresma started with Navy from 2001-2008, eventually

witnessing the birth of the United Football League.

After a two-year break, he then played for Meralco Manila, which was then known by the names Smart San Beda and Loyola Meralco, from 2010-2014.

He also had a short stop at Manila Jeepney in 2014 before suiting up for Stallion Laguna until 2016.

He then found his way to Ilwww.canadianinquirer.net

oilo the following year, joining the club, which was then calling Makati its home, in time for the new Philippines Football League, which is now known as the Philippine Premier League.

He remained with the squad when it moved to Iloilo City, and he would call it a career as a champion as his squad won the Copa Paulino Alcantara on October 27.

He also had stints with the national team, especially in the current era under the Azkals moniker, but he made history during the pre-Azkals days when he, at age 17, was called up for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

“I would like to step down with pride and joy from competitive football,” Cuaresma said. ■

30

Business PH banking system resilient amid external concerns

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippine banking system has remained fundamentally strong despite having its share of challenges over the years, and 2018 proved to be no exception.

Its resiliency has been timeproven and has been cited by several rating agencies, as well as research firms, as among the strongest globally.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier said the country’s banking system “remained robust and continued to exhibit strong capital position and sustained growth in core earnings.”

Citing BSP data, Fonacier told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that industry’s assets expanded by 11 percent year-on-year and totaled to PHP16.239 trillion as of endOctober this year.

These assets were primarily funded by deposits, which grew 9 percent at the end of the third quarter this year, she said.

“The expansion of the banking system’s assets was evident in the broad-based growth of the total loan portfolio (TLP) across various borrower and industry types,” she said.

At the end of the first nine months this year, TLP amounted to PHP9.758 trillion while non-performing loan (NPL) ratio remained low at 1.8 percent.

“The satisfactory quality of the banking system’s loan portfolio shows that banks continued to adhere to sound credit underwriting standards,” she said, citing that “banks are prepared to bear credit losses as they have set up adequate provisions for possible defaults.”

To date, domestic banks’ NPL coverage ratio is over 100 percent, she said.

This positive ratio, along with a very little exposure to foreign funds, are the main factors why the domestic banking system is

not greatly affected by the neg- good asset quality and strong ative developments that their regulatory supervision. counterparts overseas had exHe also cited that NPL and perienced. restructured loans or the “disThe BSP official said do- tressed asset ratio” account for mestic banks’ have sufficient only 2.4 percent of TLP. liquidity and funding buffers This figure, he said, is “a low even as regulators continue to level by historical and regional increase capital requirements. comparison.”

As of August this year, the “Bank capital buffers are exliquidity coverage ratio (LCR) pected to remain robust in the of universal and commercial near term, strengthening furbanks (U/KBs) stood at 161.8 ther after full BASEL III implepercent on solo basis, higher mentation in 2019,” he added. than the 90 percent threshold BASEL III is the third BASEL set by the BSP. reform on banks’ capital base During the same period, big that is focused on the quality banks’ capital adequacy ratio of capital to increase resilience (CAR) remained above the 10 of banking systems around the percent regulatory require- world to periods of stress.

The Board may also raise the ment, with the solo basis at 15.2 The Basel Committee on CCyB during positive periods percent and 15.8 percent on Banking Supervision (BCBS) to allow banks to be more ready consolidated basis. has set a staggered implemen- in times of needs, it said.

“Banks’ sustained core earn- tation of BASEL III from 2016“The CCyB expands our ings have contributed to the 18 but the BSP’s policy-making toolkit for systemic risk manindustry’s strong capital posi- Monetary Board (MB) decided agement and is specifically detion,” she said. to implement it in full four signed to provide a steadying The industry’s net profit as years ahead of the deadline, hand to counter the common of end-September this year starting on January 4, 2014 for occurrence of boom-and-bust reached PHP129.9 billion, 6.6 U/KBs. periods within the financial percent up yearcycle,” BSP Govon-year. ernor Nestor A. “The overall Espenilla Jr. said profitability was earlier. buoyed by the The expansion of the banking Aside from 13.2 percent insystem’s assets was evident in the this new policy, crease in net inbroad-based growth of the total Fonacier said terest income to loan portfolio (TLP) across various the central bank PHP371.2 billion borrower and industry types. “shall continue primarily from to build on our lending activiexisting regulaties,” she said. tory and superviIHS Markit Asia Pacific Chief This reform requires banks sory framework to proactively Economist Rajiv Biswas told to have not only a 10 percent mitigate emerging risks that the PNA that the research firm CAR but also a Common Equity may affect the financial syshas a moderate risk assessment Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of at least 6 tem.” with a stable outlook on the percent and Tier 1 capital ratio She stressed that “over the Philippines’ banking system. of at least 7.5 percent by 2019. years, the BSP has adopted He explained that the moderRecently, the BSP announced significant policy reforms covate risk score “is due to a com- the BASEL III countercycli- ering capital, liquidity and bination of factors signaling a cal capital buffer (CCyB) rules, enhanced risk governance healthy banking sector.” which covers U/KBs and their standards that are aligned with He said the industry enjoys subsidiary, as well as the quasi- international standards.” low credit risk amid strong banks, using the players’ CET1 “Our policy reform agenda credit growth. capital. for 2019 shall further embed This, he pointed out, reflects The BSP said that during effective risk management sys“a balanced loan portfolio and periods of stress, the MB can tems in banks.” robust economic growth.” lower the CCyB requirement, Fonacier said monetary ofOther factors that boost the which was initially set at zero ficials “will also look into the domestic banking sector are percent, to provide banks with conduct and culture in our suthe higher capital ratios with more risk capital to deploy. pervised financial institutions www.canadianinquirer.net

cognizant that good corporate governance is the underpinning of safe and sound financial institutions.”

“Apart from promoting risk management at the institutional level, the BSP shall expand our existing financial risk surveillance toolkit through improvements in our supervisory processes, better capture of data to gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of the financial system and potential spillover and feedback effects of external developments and the prudent use of pioneering technology,” she said.

The BSP executive stressed that “enhancements to our financial risk surveillance toolkit shall be accompanied by an interactive, transparent and clear communication agenda and strengthened collaborative arrangements with a wider stakeholder base, including financial regulators, the financial industry associations as well as information technology experts and providers, given the country’s shift towards a more digital economy.”

“Insights obtained from these arrangements enable the BSP to better understand industry developments and emerging risks which are used as input to the BSP’s surveillance and policy-making process,” she added. ■

Business

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

31

Biz groups optimistic as 2018 Grab users spent ends on stable note average of P7K for rides in 2018

BY KRIS CRISMUNDO Philippine News Agency

MANILA — Entrepreneurs have every reason to be optimistic about business prospects next year after the country’s economy ended 2018 in much better shape, business leaders told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

International Chamber of Commerce Philippines (ICCP) founder and chairman Francis Chua said the economy faced headwinds in the early part of the year such as the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, rising world oil prices, inflation, and interest rates, and challenges in the tourism and agriculture sectors, among others.

“We started the year with very high fuel price, high inflation,” said Chua.

According to the Hamburgbased database firm Statista, the average Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil price for this year is at USD71.2 per barrel.

This is the highest in four years as average crude oil price in 2015 was at just USD46.49 per barrel, USD40.68 per barrel in 2016, and USD52.51 per barrel in 2017.

Industry sources attributed the hike in world oil price in 2018 to the United States’ threat of sanctions on Iran, the situation of civil unrest and economic collapse in major oil exporter Venezuela, and the continuing robust demand in petroleum.

“Anything that’s due to energy is beyond our control, and even rice to some extent, because we import,” the ICCP chief said.

The rising fuel prices also pumped pressures on prices of local consumer goods, driving inflation rate to breach the government’s target. A 6.7-percent inflation rate was recorded in the months of September and October.

Aside from the oil prices, the supply situation of agricultural products such as rice, fish, and vegetables, among others, were also challenged this year. Severe weather conditions have

PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY

The rising fuel prices also pumped pressures on prices of local consumer goods, driving inflation rate to breach the government’s target.

damaged crops and delayed harvest that affected the supply of some agricultural products.

Meanwhile, global oil prices started to improve around October as OPEC member-states increased their output, while the US softened its sanctions on Iran by granting waivers to eight importers, allowing them to temporarily source oil from the Middle East country.

“Luckily, the world price of fuel collapsed. We are back to normal,” Chua said.

“With the government imposing measures, CPI (consumer price index) being monitored, inflation next year will be very much in control. Thanks to the government. It’s now in control. We end everything, so far, in order,” Chua stressed.

Improve agriculture, infrastructure, ease of doing business The country’s largest business organization, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), has urged the government to implement policies that will improve the agriculture sector, roll-out the Ease of Doing Business law, and fasttrack its “Build, Build, Build” program.

PCCI President Alegria Sibal-Limjoco noted that the agribusiness sector should be a priority of the administration in 2019, improving the local supply of rice and sugar, as well as other agricultural products.

Building infrastructure is also crucial to make logistics and transportation costs low, Limjoco added.

“We need to build more infrastructure, and fast-track the completion of these projects so that Filipinos will feel the impact of these projects — better roads, more choices of transportation, decongest airports by building more airports in strategic areas, and more farmto-market roads so we have better access to our local farmers’ products,” the PCCI chief said.

Limjoco added that enterprises are also awaiting the full implementation of the Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) and Efficient Government services Act of 2018, which was signed

by President Rodrigo Duterte in May this year (2018).

The EODB law aims to streamline business processes and to reduce processing time in all government agencies, including local government units (LGUs) and governmentowned and controlled corporations, which will make it easier to start a business in the country.

“We also welcome the second package of TRAIN law that will lower corporate income taxes.

Although it will take us around 10 years to reduce taxes to 20 percent, this will invite our small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to operate in the formal sector. When you’re in the formal sector, it is easy for you to grow your business,” she said.

“There were challenges that came in 2018, but we are ending the year better. We are optimistic for next year,” Limjoco said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

MANILA — Customers of ridesharing firm, Grab, spent an average of PHP7,000 in fares for their trips in 2018.

This, as the company has traveled more than 920 million kilometers reaching destinations across the country this year.

“Our most engaged users — the top 5 percent — spent an average of P4HP5,000 and did around eight times more trips than the average user,” Grab Philippines Country Head Brian Cu said in a statement over the weekend.

“The uptake in demand for Grab rides this year reflects the Filipinos’ strong need for convenient and safe transportation solutions,” he added.

Cu made the disclosure following Grab’s initiative to release to the public its report on the number of rides and their corresponding amounts for 2018.

He said users may log on to the website: https://hub.grab. com/login to view their book-

ing history and accumulated amount spent for their trips.

Cu vowed that Grab’s management will continue to implement initiatives to improve the quality of its services, as it lauded the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for approving an additional 30,000 slots for transportation network vehicle services (TNVS) units in the latter part of the year.

“We continue to improve the quality of our services and further enhance app features and protocols as part of our 100-day plan, #SaferEveryday roadmap and #BetterEveryday campaign. In 2019, Grab will continue to double down on safety by reinforcing features, protocols and existing government partnerships to ensure safer trips every day,” Cu added.

The ridesharing firm has earlier urged the LTFRB to increase the common supply base for TNVS units to around 80,000 to meet the riding public’s growing demand.

The current supply base for TNVS units stands at 66,750 in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Pampanga. ■

GRAB / FACEBOOK

32

Technology Are holograms the real deal? Musicians confront questions of ethics, quality

BY DAVID FRIEND The Canadian Press

He imagined the soullessness of performing a set of favourites like “Angel Eyes” with a digital version of Healey. The comradery would be missing, he decided.

“How would it be to interact night-to-night with a hologram of a bandmate you spent 18 years with?” he remembers thinking.

“Personally, I would find that very difficult.”

Stephen declined the company’s offer, but acknowledges the possibility of a Healey hologram could be revived again as the technology seeps further into the mainstream.

In the coming year, both musicians and concertgoers will confront the growing presence of “hologram” shows at local concert venues.

The experiment has already dipped into some North American venues where the virtual likeness of deceased crooner Roy Orbison received mixed

with the late Canadian pianist accompanied by live orchestras as part of a tour organized in cooperation with his estate.

TORONTO — Bringing back Around the same time, Amy late guitarist Jeff Healey as a Winehouse’s hologram is set hologram might seem like sacto embark on a multi-year run rilege to many of his fans, but with a backing band, while the possibility intrigued one of Swedish pop superstars ABBA his former bandmates. will launch a digital reunion.

Tom Stephen, one-time These shows aren’t true hodrummer and manager of the lograms in the technical sense, Jeff Healey Band, says he was but rather three-dimensional of two minds when an Austraimages projected through mirlian entertainment company rors onto a transparent screen, approached him several years kind of like a movie. ago with a proposal to incorpoAnd most performances rate Healey’s likeness in a blues aren’t just an illusion on the revue. stage, they’re also part of an The show was pictured as a elaborate studio production celebration of the genre’s icons, where the faces of the deceased with other names like B.B. King performers are transposed floated as holograms who might onto the bodies of living actors. appear.

In the case of Orbison, another The company suggested the musician imitated his perforCanadian blues-rock outfit’s mance before the singer’s fatwo surviving members reunite mous face was digitally pasted alongside a hologram of their onto the body of the stand-in. star player, who died of canSo many levels of artificiality cer at age 41. It can be difficult to would give audipull off convincences a chance to ingly, suggests witness Healey’s Kiran Bhumber, unconventionHow would it be to interact nightco-creator of al live perforto-night with a hologram of a Telepresence, a mances, which bandmate you spent 18 years with? recent virtual reinvolved him ality experience laying an electric at Vancouver’s guitar flat across Western Front his lap to play it. arts centre that But Stephen was reluctant reviews a few months ago. Op- merged a live trumpet player to hop on the hologram band- era singer Maria Callas was also with visuals displayed on a VR wagon. resurrected in a performance headset.

“It felt a little exploitative,” some critics say looked more “(The challenge is) how to he says of the pitch. like she was a floating ghost create a meaningful experience “Are you really getting to see than a physical entity. that stays with audiences,” she that musical experience you Glenn Gould will be added to says. missed?” the hologram circuit in 2019, “Because it risks becoming a

www.canadianinquirer.net

gimmick.”

Last summer at Toronto’s Yonge and Dundas Square the perils of a virtual performance were on full display. Casual onlookers gathered for a showcase of famous faces converted into holograms, including a young Michael Jackson circa his Jackson 5 years, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and members of the Black Eyed Peas.

Most people watched the holograms like they might a television screen and occasionally held up their smartphones to capture footage for their social media feeds. But the smattering of applause suggested the excitement was muted, even as real-life hosts encouraged more energy.

While audiences consider how to respond to holograms, some performers are fascinated with the potential of the evolving technology.

Walk Off the Earth singer Sarah Blackwood was intrigued after she witnessed a projection of Feist that was beamed simultaneously to crowds in

three Canadian cities as part of a smartphone launch in 2012.

She says the moment inspired her to think about the benefits of a holographic future.

“As an artist, one of things we always talk about is how we’re going to leave our legacy,” she says.

“I don’t want to disappear into the pile of musicians that aren’t remembered. So to have the possibility to come back and share music with people, and live on like that, I think that’s a really interesting concept.”

Serena Ryder thinks holograms might have a more practical application for living artists like herself who aren’t fans of long tours.

The pop-rock singer considers herself a “reclusive” performer, so replacing some of her live shows with a virtual rendering of herself sounds appealing, she says.

But Ryder is not convinced her hologram would recreate the thrill of a live performance ❱❱ PAGE 36 Are holograms

Technology

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

33

Hello, proptech: NASA spacecraft hurtles toward Real estate industry tiny, icy world beyond Pluto poised for a tech disruption in 2019

BY MARCIA DUNN The Associated Press

BY LINDA NGUYEN The Canadian Press TORONTO — Real estate agent Shawn Zigelstein remembers a time, just a few years ago, when a printer, scanner and fax machine were the most important tools of his trade.

Now, those gadgets are nearly obsolete.

“I don’t even know the last time I sent a fax, to be honest with you,” laughs Zigelstein, a sales rep with a Royal LePage brokerage in Richmond Hill, Ont. “Oh the dilemmas we used to have were unbelievable. Now our clients can open their phone up, push a few buttons and the (offer) papers are signed.”

Zigelstein says the adoption of technology in real estate has grown exponentially over the past few years and it’s a trend he thinks will only grow as more options become available and realtors scramble to lure in the millennial market.

“The agents that are not adapting to this change are going to see their business drop considerably because they can’t adapt fast enough,” he said.

From smartphone apps like Loom, which allows realtors to remotely share screens and presentation slides with clients, to digital signatures that can be sent verified with phones and tablets, technology is shaping a new way for realtors do business.

Historically, the real estate industry has been a “laggard” when it comes to embracing technology, says Frank Magliocco, a partner at PwC Canada who specializes in the housing market.

“But I think what you’re going to see now is a fairly significant ramp up in embracing that technology once it becomes more mainstream,” he said.

According to PwC, proptech, broadly defined as technology used in the real estate market, was a US$4.6 billion industry in Canada and the U.S. in 2016.

Last year, that figure climbed to US$7.3 billion, an indication

that interest and opportunity in the space has also grown.

Magliocco says proptech, which he called the cousin to the banking industry’s fintech, can refer to anything from online listings websites to smart buildings that use big data to automate heating and lighting to 3D printing homes.

“Real estate used to be every transaction had to be heavy on the paper with lots of lawyers involved and surveyors going out to check the space and measure the space. That’s not needed anymore.”

Stephen Jagger, the cofounder of IMRE, a company that runs an artificial intelligence personal assistant for realtors, says technology is so embedded in daily life that clients expect to be able to use it in their real estate transactions.

IMRE’s chatbot can respond to basic questions from prospective clients on behalf of a realtor 24 hours a day through text and social networks. It uses machine learning to answer questions about a listing, such as price, the number of bedrooms and what school district the home is located in. However, the bot can’t answer subjective queries meant for a realtor, such as comparisons of different neighbourhoods.

Jagger says this type of technology doesn’t replace a real estate agent, but like all good technology, it enhances their jobs. “(Realtors know) you have to be responsive in five minutes or you lose the lead,” said Jagger, whose company is based in Vancouver. “It lets realtors focus on the high-level tasks, like showing a house, instead of answering random questions all the time.”

However, Toronto realtor Cam Woolfrey says technology isn’t going to make the real estate industry obsolete. “(A realtor) with experience can make the experience,” he said.

“Clients actually see a dollar value in that. If you have the knowledge and experience, then clients will see that as invaluable.” ■

LAUREL, MD. — The NASA spacecraft that yielded the first close-up views of Pluto hurtled toward a New Year’s Day rendezvous with a tiny, icy world a billion miles farther out, in what would make it the most distant cosmic body ever explored by humankind.

New Horizons was on course to fly past the mysterious, ancient object nicknamed Ultima Thule at 12:33 a.m. Tuesday.

The close encounter comes 3 1/2 years after the spacecraft swung past Pluto.

This time, the drama was set to unfold more than 4 billion miles (6.5 billion kilometres) from Earth, so far away that it will be 10 hours before flight controllers at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel find out whether the probe survived the flyby.

A few black-and-white pictures of Ultima Thule might be available following that official confirmation, but the highly anticipated close-ups won’t be ready until Wednesday or Thursday, in colour, it is hoped.

“Today is the day we explore worlds farther than ever in history!! EVER,” tweeted the project’s lead scientist, Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute.

He called it an auspicious beginning to 2019, which will mark the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s footsteps on the moon in July 1969.

“Ultima Thule is 17,000 times as far away as the ‘giant leap’ of Apollo’s lunar missions,” Stern noted in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

New Horizons, which is the size of a baby grand piano and part of an $800 million mission, was expected to hurtle to within 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometres) of Ultima Thule, considerably closer than the Pluto encounter of 2015.

Its seven science instruments were to continue collecting data for four hours after the flyby. Then the spacecraft was to turn briefly toward Earth to transmit word of its success. It www.canadianinquirer.net

Artist's impression of Pluto.

NASA SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

takes over six hours for radio signals to reach Earth from that far away.

Scientists believe there should be no rings or moons around Ultima Thule that might endanger New Horizons. Traveling at 31,500 mph (50,700 kph), the spacecraft could easily be knocked out by a rice-size particle. It’s a tougher encounter than at Pluto because of the distance and the considerable unknowns, and because the spacecraft is older now.

“I can’t promise you success.

We are straining the capabilities of this spacecraft,” Stern said at a news conference Monday. “By tomorrow, we’ll know how we did. So stay tuned.

There are no second chances for New Horizons.”

The risk added to the excitement.

Queen guitarist Brian May, who also happens to be an astrophysicist, joined the team at Johns Hopkins with plans to present around midnight the cosmic premiere of a song he wrote for the big event.

“There’s nothing more exciting in the world of exploration than going to a place about which we know nothing,” May said.

Despite the government shutdown, several NASA scientists and other employees showed up at Johns Hopkins as private citizens, unwilling to miss the historic event.

Ultima Thule was unknown

until 2014, eight years after New Horizons departed Earth.

It was discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope and added to New Horizons’ itinerary.

Deep inside the so-called Kuiper Belt, a frigid expanse beyond Neptune that is also known as the Twilight Zone, Ultima Thule is believed to date back 4.5 billion years to the formation of our solar system. As such, it is “probably the best time capsule we’ve ever had for understanding the birth of our solar system and the planets in it,” Stern said.

In classic and medieval literature, Thule was the most distant, northernmost place beyond the known world.

Scientists suspect Ultima Thule is a single object no more than 20 miles (32 kilometres) long, though there’s a chance it could prove to be two smaller bodies orbiting each other or connected by a slender neck. It is thought to be potato-shaped and dark-colored with a touch of red, possibly from being zapped by cosmic rays for eons.

The exact shape and composition won’t be known until Ultima Thule starts sending back data in a process expected to last almost two years.

“Who knows what we might find? … Anything’s possible out there in this very unknown region,” said John Spencer, a deputy project scientist from Southwest Research Institute.

“We’ll find out soon enough.” ■

JANUARY 4, 2019

34

CANADA

A reputed fast growing Plumbing & Heating company is Hiring full time Licensed Plumbers and Registered Apprentice.

Desired Qualification minimum 5 years for Plumber minimum 3 years for Apprentice G License with clean Driving record.

Interested candidates are requested to send their Resume at

km.ali@senergyheating.com

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.

APPLY BY EMAIL: melo.perez@outlook.com

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 offer 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 FOR 8 TIM HORTON STORES IN VANCOUVER Food Service Supervisors, Bakers, and Food Counter Attendants Permanent/Full Time. 6 mos.to 2 yrs. experience Salary range $13.00 to $14.70 per hour + benefits Willing to work shifts; Spoken English knowledge Anyone who is authorized to work in Canada can apply.

Send application w/complete work history and references to:

fmellin10@gmail.com

HIRING 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.

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

Spectrum Health Care is Hiring

Personal Support Workers who want more!

More hours Benefits plus pension $500 Signing Bonus Learn more at www.spectrumhealthcare.com

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35

Travel Grand Canyon celebrates 100 years as a national park in 2019

BY FELICIA FONSECA The Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. — The first European American who reached the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon marveled at what was before him: an astounding system of canyons, profound fissures and slender spires that seemingly tottered from their bases.

The scenery wasn’t enough to convince Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives that anyone would visit after his group that set out in a steamboat wrapped up an expedition in 1858.

“Ours has been the first and, doubtless, will be the last party of whites to visit this profitless locality,” he wrote.

“It seems intended by nature that the Colorado River along the greater portion of its lonely and majestic way shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed.”

That clearly wasn’t the way things worked out, and the Grand Canyon in 2019 will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a national park.

It now draws more than 6 million tourists a year who peer over the popular South Rim into the gorge a mile (1.6 kilometres) deep, navigate river rapids, hike the trails and camp under the stars.

Early explorers came on boat, foot and horseback often with the help of Native American guides. The wealthy travelled by stagecoach in a two-day trip from Flagstaff to the southernmost point on the canyon’s South Rim in the 1880s.

The first passenger train rolled in from Williams in 1901, but the railroad was more interested in mining copper than carrying tourists. The automobile became the more popular way to reach the Grand Canyon in the 1930s.

Early entrepreneurs charged $1 to hike down the Bright Angel Trail used by the Havasupai people whose currentday reservation lies in the depths of the Grand Canyon, developed camping spots and built hotels. Tourists paid for drinking water, to use outhouses and for curios in a tent pitched at the South Rim. Ralph Cameron, a prospector for whom the Navajo Nation community of Cameron is named, was one of the major opponents of naming the Grand Canyon a national park because he saw how much money could be made from tourism.

President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation to create the park in 1919 but

Teddy Roosevelt is credited for its early preservation as a game reserve and a national monument.

He famously said: “Leave it as it is.

You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”

Centennial events will include Roosevelt impersonators, a historical symposium, a living history week and efforts to get visitors beyond the South Rim by showcasing lesser-known sites on social media. The park’s actual birthday is Feb. 26.

Vanessa Ceja Cervantes, one of the centennial co-ordinators, said the park will broadcast ranger talks, the founder’s day event and other virtual tours throughout the year.

“A lot of our visitors come for the day and they’re drawn here for this amazing landscape,” she said. “But we really want to give them reasons to stay, to learn about the geology, the natural resources, cultural or historic because there’s something here for everyone.”

Visitors might even learn about the Apollo 11 astronauts who trained at the Grand Canyon, a spotted skunk there who does a handstand when it feels threatened, a commercial airline crash that spurred the creation of the Federal Aviation Administration or the story of a heart-shaped rock embedded in wall for a hotel waitress.

Before Grand Canyon became a national park, the land was home to and visited frequently by Native American tribes.

As the story goes, Spanish explorers reached the canyon in the 1540s, led by Hopi guides. They descended into the canyon but misjudged its depth and vastness, turning back before they could reach the Colorado River. Their reports likely deterred others from exploring the region for centuries.

Gertrude Smith, who works in the cultural office for the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Camp Verde, said tribes continue to revere the Grand Canyon as a place of emergence and where they forage for plants and nuts, and hunted before it became outlawed.

“People do forget the Native people were the first people to dwell in these places and use the resources,” she said.

Wayne Ranney, the immediate past president of the Grand Canyon Historical Society, moved to Phantom Ranch to work as a backcountry ranger in 1975,

Horseshoe bend in Grand Canyon National Park.

a job that would create a bond with his paternal grandfather who first visited Grand Canyon National Park in 1919. He worked for the railroad and could get a roundtrip ticket for $5, Ranney said.

In the years after World War II ended, the National Park Service began to modernize places like the Grand Canyon.

The gorge hit 1 million visitors annually in 1956, a number that has only grown since.

“Its popularity is never diminished,” Ranney said. “For most people, even though it may be crowded when they visit, they still come away with a feeling of awe.” ■

# 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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36

Travel

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

American man first to solo across Antarctica unaided

BY AMANDA LEE MYERS The Associated Press AN OREGON man became the first person to traverse Antarctica alone without any assistance on Wednesday, trekking across the polar continent in an epic 54-day journey that was previously deemed impossible.

Colin O’Brady, of Portland, finished the bone-chilling, 930mile (1,500-kilometre) journey as friends, family and fans tracked the endurance athlete’s progress in real time online.

“I did it!” a tearful O’Brady said on a call to his family gathered in Portland for the holidays, according to his wife, Jenna Besaw.

“It was an emotional call,” she said. “He seemed overwhelmed by love and gratitude, and he really wanted to say ‘Thank you’ to all of us.”

O’Brady was sleeping near the finish line in Antarctica late Wednesday and could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 33-year-old O’Brady documented his nearly entirely uphill journey — which he called The Impossible First — on his Instagram page . He wrote Wednesday that he covered the last roughly 80 miles (129 kilometres) in one big, impromptu final push to the finish line that took well over an entire day.

“While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced,” O’Brady posted.

The day before, he posted that he was “in the zone” and thought he could make it to the

end in one go.

“I’m listening to my body and taking care of the details to keep myself safe,” he wrote. “I called home and talked to my mom, sister and wife — I promised them I will stop when I need to.”

Though others have traversed Antarctica, they either had assistance with reinforced supplies or kites that helped propel them forward.

In 2016, British explorer Henry Worsley died attempting an unassisted solo trip across Antarctica, collapsing from exhaustion toward the end of the trek. Worsley’s friend and fellow English adventurer Louis Rudd is currently attempting an unaided solo in Worsley’s honour and was competing against O’Brady to be the first to do it.

Besaw said O’Brady plans to stay on Antarctica until Rudd finishes his trek, hopefully in the next few days.

“It’s a small club,” she joked.

“His intention is to wait for Louis and have kind of a celebratory moment with the only other person on the planet to have accomplished this same thing.”

O’Brady described in detail the ups and downs along the way since he began the trek on Nov. 3. He had to haul 375 pounds (170 kilograms) of gear largely uphill and over sastrugi, wave-like ridges created by wind.

“Not only am I pulling my … sled all day, but I’m pulling it up and over thousands of these sastrugi speed bumps created by the violent wind,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Nov. 12. “It’s a frustrating process at

times to say the least.”

On Nov. 18, he wrote that he awoke to find his sled completely buried from an all-night blasting of wind and snow. That day he battled a 30 mph (48 kph) headwind for eight hours as he trudged along.

“There were several times I considered stopping, putting my tent back up and calling it a day,” he wrote. “I wanted so badly to quit today as I was feeling exhausted and alone, but remembering all of the positivity that so many people have been sending, I took a deep breath and focused on maintaining forward progress one step at a time and managed to finish a full day.”

On Day 37, or Dec. 9, O’Brady wrote about how much he’s changed, along with a selfie in which he looks almost in pain, snow gathered around his furry hat.

“I’m no longer the same person I was when I left on the journey, can you see it in my face?” he wrote. “I’ve suffered, been deathly afraid, cold and alone. I’ve laughed and danced, cried tears of joy and been awestruck with love and inspiration.”

Though O’Brady had initially thought he’d want a cheeseburger at the end of his nearly impossible journey, Besaw said her husband has been fantasizing about fresh fish and salad because he has mostly been eating freeze-dried foods.

As for what’s next for O’Brady, who also has summited Mount Everest, Besaw said she’s not entirely sure.

“We are just so in the moment celebrating this right now,” she said. “Then we’ll see what’s next on the horizon.” ■

There are a few shows he’d shell out cash to see, if the circumstances are right, he supposes. One of them would be seeing the Beatles play their Liverpool hometown, if that hologram ever took shape.

“I think that would blow my mind and be a really interesting experience,” he says.

Stephen reflects on his experiences in the Jeff Healey Band

in his recent book “Best Seat in the House,” but recognizes that one day he won’t necessarily have control over the band’s narrative, or whether they’re recreated as holograms.

“My suspicion is as we move into the future this will become common, whether it’s right or wrong,” he says.

“I don’t know if you can stand in the way of that.” ■

Are holograms... ❰❰ 32

in the flesh.

“I don’t think there’s really anything that can replace actual human skin — the feeling of actual human emotions,” she says.

Even Stephen admits that he’s still captivated by the technological possibilities, even if he didn’t warm to the idea of a Jeff Healey Band hologram show.

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Alaska winter tourism gains popularity THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ANCHORAGE, ALASKA — Winter tourism is growing in Alaska, a state known as a popular summer destination.

Visitor volume grew 33 per cent for the fall and winter season over the past decade, the Anchorage Daily News reported .

Winter business also has been up for the Alaska Railroad for the past few years, including a rise in visitors from Asia coming to see Alaska’s night sky.

Ridership on winter passenger trains grew 33 per cent between the winter of 2015-2016 and the following year, according to railroad spokeswoman Meghan Clemons.

The railroad has added more train service to accommodate the larger numbers.

The railroad’s vice-president of marketing, Dale Wade, said visitors from Asia are one factor for the upswing. Seeing the aurora borealis is a popular goal for many of them.

“Winter is suddenly very popular, and it’s growing steadily for the last three years,” said Wade. There wasn’t a “significant market for it” before that, he said.

Winter passenger train service between Anchorage and Fairbanks typically operated only on weekends for years.

Midweek winter runs between the two cities were added in 2014, with more added since then, Clemons said.

The Chinese market has “exploded” over the past several fall and winter seasons, according to a report by the McDowell Group, an Anchorage research company.

Alaska Skylar Travel focuses on bringing Chinese tourists to the state. The Anchorage company, whose roots are in Beijing, targets the Mandarinspeaking market.

The business had about 350 clients in its first winter, according to operations manager Glen Hemingson. In its fourth winter last season, that number had grown to about 5,000 clients.

“Increasingly we see visitors from more Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore,” Hemingson said.

Wade, with the railroad, said Alaska as a visitor destination for the Asian market doesn’t seem to have been harmed by a recent tariff war that strained trade relations between the U.S. and China.

“I think Alaska is a favoured location for Asian visitors, despite the conflicts that seem to be arising politically between U.S. and China relations,” he said. “We’re enjoying the sweet spot in between that.” ■

37

Food For foolproof poached chicken, turn to sous vide cooking AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN POACHED CHICKEN gets a bad rap for being tough, dry, and a little squeaky between your teeth. But that's probably because poaching is a relatively imprecise cooking method.

If your poaching water's too hot, the meat overcooks; if you leave the meat in the water too long, it overcooks; if you use too little water, the meat--you guessed it--undercooks. There are a lot of variables when poaching chicken. Thankfully, cooking sous vide eliminates most of them.

For foolproof poached chicken, we cook chicken breasts at a moderate temperature for about an hour, which results in a juicy, tender texture that's just firm enough that it doesn't fall apart. While this recipe is finished in an hour, you can hold the chicken in the bath for up to 3 hours before the texture

starts to change--giving you some flexibility.

This perfectly poached chicken is great on its own or sliced over salad. In addition, this method is a great starting point for experimentation and variation, so feel free to add spices, herbs, or boldly flavoured marinades to the bag ( just don't add fresh garlic; it is particularly susceptible to botulism).

Foolproof poached chicken breasts

F

Servings: 4 Sous Vide Temperature: 150

Sous Vide Time: 1 to 3 hours Active Cooking Time: 25 minutes • 4 8 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed • Salt and pepper • 1/4cup vegetable oil Using sous vide circulator, bring water to 150 F in 7 quart container.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place chicken and oil in 1 gallon zipper-lock freezer bag and toss to coat. Seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible.

Gently lower bag into prepared water bath until chicken is fully submerged, and then clip top corner of bag to side of water bath container, allowing remaining air bubbles to rise to top of bag. Reopen 1 corner of zipper, release remaining air bubbles, and reseal bag. Cover and cook for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours.

Transfer chicken to paper towel-lined plate and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.

Variations

Foolproof Lemon-Thyme Poached Chicken -- Combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme, and 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest in bowl. Sprinkle chicken with salt mixture.

Foolproof Soy-Ginger Poached Chicken -- Omit salt and pepper.

Whisk 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil, and 1/2 teaspoon white pepper together in bowl.

Substitute soy sauce mixture for oil. ■ Nutrition information per lemon-thyme variation serving: 395

calories; 174 calories from fat; 20 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 166 mg cholesterol; 684 mg sodium; 1 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 51 g protein.

Nutrition information per soyginger variation serving: 325 calories; 64 calories from fat; 7 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 166 mg cholesterol; 1262 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 10 g sugar; 52 g protein.

Key tips on how to avoid making your tabbouleh salad soggy AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN TABBOULEH IS a signature Levantine salad made of bulgur, parsley, tomato, and onion steeped in a penetrating mint and lemon dressing.

We started by salting the tomatoes to rid them of excess moisture that otherwise made our salad soggy. Soaking the bulgur in lemon juice and some of the drained tomato liquid, rather than in water, allowed it to absorb lots of flavour as it softened.

Chopped onion overwhelmed the salad; two mild scallions added just the right amount of oniony flavour. Parsley, mint, and a bit of cayenne pepper rounded out the dish. Adding the herbs and vegetables while

the bulgur was still soaking gave the components time to mingle, resulting in a cohesive dish.

Don't confuse bulgur with cracked wheat, which has a much longer cooking time and will not work in this recipe.

juice and reserved tomato juice in bowl and let sit until grains begin to soften, 30 to 40 minutes.

Whisk remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, oil, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon salt together in large bowl. Add tomatoes, bulgur, parsley, mint, and scallions and toss gently to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature until flavours have blended and bulgur is tender, about 1 hour. Before serving, toss salad to recombine and season with salt and pepper to taste. ■

Tabbouleh

Servings: 4-6 Start to finish: 2 hours, 30 minutes • 3 tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces • Salt and pepper • 1/2 cup medium-grind bulgur, rinsed • 1/4 cup lemon juice (2 lemons) • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper • 1 1/2 cups minced fresh parsley

• 1/2 cup minced fresh mint • 2 scallions, sliced thin Toss tomatoes with 1/4 teaspoon salt in fine-mesh strainwww.canadianinquirer.net

er set over bowl and let drain, tossing occasionally, for 30 minutes; reserve 2 tablespoons drained tomato juice. Toss bulgur with 2 tablespoons lemon

Nutrition information per serving: 194 calories; 131 calories from fat; 15 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 17 mg sodium; 15 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 3 g protein.

38

Food

JANUARY 4, 2019

FRIDAY

Make tomato sauce and cook spaghetti squash in one pot AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN DELICATELY FLAVOURED spaghetti squash makes for a fun and interesting vegetarian main, but often the squash must be roasted in the oven while a separate sauce is made on the stove. In the multicooker, however, we could make a simple fresh tomato sauce and cook a large 4-pound spaghetti squash together in one pot.

First, we bloomed aromatic garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes with tomato paste to provide our sauce with a deeply flavoured base. We opted for plum tomatoes for our sauce; because they contain less juice compared with larger tomatoes and less skin compared with an equal amount of small cherry tomatoes, we didn't need to worry about seeding or peeling, saving time.

Finally, we added the squash, halved and seeded, to the pot, and cooked it until it was tender. We found that the liquid from the tomatoes was enough to steam our squash to perfection, but to rid the final dish of excess moisture, we drained the shredded squash in a strainer and further reduced and concentrated the sauce using the saute function. A sprinkling of fresh basil and shaved Parmesan cheese completed the plate.

Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce

Servings: 4 Pressure Cooker: 50 minutes Slow Cooker: 5 hours, 30 minutes • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil • 3 garlic cloves, minced • 1 tablespoon tomato paste • 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried • Pinch red pepper flakes • Salt and pepper • 2 pounds plum tomatoes, cored and cut into 1 inch pieces • 1 4-pound spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

• Shaved Parmesan Using highest saute or browning function, heat oil in multicooker until shimmering. Add garlic, tomato paste, oregano, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes. Season squash halves with salt and pepper and nestle cut side down into multicooker.

-- To pressure cook: Lock lid in place and close pressure release valve. Select high pressure cook function and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off multicooker and quick-release pressure.

Carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you.

-- To slow cook: Lock lid in place and open pressure release valve. Select low slow cook function and cook until squash is tender, 4 to 5 hours. (If using Instant Pot, select high slow cook function and increase cooking range to 5 to 6 hours.)

Carefully remove lid, allowing steam to escape away from you.

Transfer squash to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred flesh into strands using two forks; discard skins. Transfer squash to fine-mesh strainer and let drain while finishing sauce.

Cook sauce using highest saute or browning function until tomatoes are completely broken down and sauce is thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.

Transfer squash to serving dish, spoon sauce over top, and sprinkle with basil and Parmesan. Serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 289 calories; 125 calories from fat; 14 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 1 mg cholesterol; 125 mg sodium; 42 g carbohydrate; 10 g fiber; 19 g sugar; 6 g protein.

Make a hearty chicken and sausage gumbo without all the work AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN THIS CLASSIC New Orleans specialty is built on a roux--a cooked mixture of fat and flour that must be stirred constantly, sometimes for an hour or more, until it is deep brown.

To get the same depth of flavour with much less hands-on work, we turned to a dry roux: We toasted the flour alone in the oven until it was the colour of cinnamon. Using our Dutch oven prevented hot spots and encouraged even toasting.

Whisking half of the broth right into the toasted flour avoided clumps and made it easy to incorporate into the gumbo.

Rich and flavourful boneless, skinless chicken thighs and andouille sausage were the proteins favoured by tasters.

For the sake of efficiency, start toasting the flour in the oven before prepping the remaining ingredients.

We strongly recommend using andouille, but in a pinch you can substitute kielbasa, if desired. Be sure to whisk the broth into the toasted flour in small increments to prevent lumps from forming. Serve over white rice.

Chicken and sausage gumbo

Servings: 6 Start to finish: 2 hours

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• 1 cup all-purpose flour • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil • 1 onion, chopped fine • 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped fine • 2 celery ribs, chopped fine • 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme • 3 garlic cloves, minced • 1 teaspoon paprika • 2 bay leaves • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper • Salt and pepper • 4 cups chicken broth, room temperature • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed • 8 ounces andouille sausage, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick • 6 scallions, sliced thin • 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar • Hot sauce Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Place flour in Dutch oven and bake, stirring occasionally, until colour of ground cinnamon, 40 to 55 minutes. (As flour approaches desired colour, it will take on very nutty aroma that will smell faintly of burnt popcorn, and it will need to be stirred more frequently.) Remove pot from oven. Transfer flour to medium bowl and let cool. Wipe pot clean with paper towels.

Heat oil in now-empty pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, bell pepper,

and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in thyme, garlic, paprika, bay leaves, cayenne, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups broth. Nestle chicken into pot in single layer (chicken will not be completely submerged in liquid) and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until chicken is fork-tender, 15 to 17 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces using 2 forks.

Meanwhile, slowly whisk remaining 2 cups broth in small increments into toasted flour until thick, smooth, batter-like paste forms. Increase heat to medium and slowly whisk paste into gumbo, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding next. Stir in andouille.

Simmer, uncovered, until gumbo thickens slightly, 20 to 25 minutes.

Stir chicken and scallions into gumbo. Off heat, stir in vinegar and season with salt to taste. Discard bay leaves. Serve, passing hot sauce separately. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 384 calories; 121 calories from fat; 14 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 143 mg cholesterol; 471 mg sodium; 23 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 3 g sugar; 42 g protein.

39

FRIDAY JANUARY 4, 2019

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40

JANUARY 4, 2019

TO A MORE COLORFUL 2019 As the whole world welcomes the year 2019, the whole Philippine Canadian Inquirer (PCI) staff wants to greet all its readers, subscribers and advertisers a very happy and prosperous new year!

May the coming months be filled with blessings.

PCI News.

PCI Entertainment.

PCI Exclusive.

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PCI Life.

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