Philippine Canadian Inquirer #356

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FEBRUARY 1, 2019

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VOL. 1 NO. 356

CROWD-DRAWER

President Rodrigo R. Duterte greets the crowd on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the San Lorenzo Ruiz General Hospital in Malabon City.

REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Zambo mosque blast challenges gov’t to protect Mindanaoans

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang described the explosion at a mosque in Zamboanga City on Wednesday as a “taunting chal-

2

‘French Spiderman’ Alain Robert sued after climbing a high-rise Makati building

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lenge” to the government’s ability to protect Mindanaoans since it happened in wake of the twin bomb attacks in a Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu on January 27.

Study: Corruption levels linked to health of democracies

❱❱ PAGE 7 Zambo mosque

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❱❱ PAGE 22

Two years after shootings, recovery continues for Quebec City’s Muslims

Philippine News

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FEBRUARY 1, 2019

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‘French Spiderman’ Alain Robert sued after climbing a high-rise Makati building

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer ‘FRENCH SPIDERMAN’ Alain Robert was sued after scaling a high-rise Makati building on Tuesday, January 29, without any safety gears.

Robert, a 56-year-old French urban climber, is facing charges of alarm and scandal and other forms of trespassing, according to the Makati City Police.

He became the subject of netizens’ commotion on Twitter as a video of him climbing down the GT International Tower in Ayala Avenue circulated online.

He was wearing black long sleeves and yellow pants with a camera on his forehead, but he did not bring a harness with him when he scaled the skyscraper.

Reacting to the video, netizen @joy_twiz said, “Alain Robert scared the sh*t out of me. I’m

glad he made it back safe[ly] to the ground.”

Twitter user @zeradg, meanwhile, said, “Nahinto kami nang panandalian sa trabaho dahil kay Alain Robert na umaakyat ng GT Tower kaninang umaga (We stopped working for a while because of Alain Robert who climbed the GT Tower this morning).”

Having witnessed the scene, netizen @ldyeyGarcia tweeted, “Na-alarma ang buong Makati peeps dahil sa’yo. Sir, namawis ang mga kamay at talampakan ko sa katitingala sa’yo (All Makati people were alarmed because of you. Sir, I felt my hands and feet sweat by watching you).”

While other netizens were scared seeing what Robert did, some social media users, on the other hand, made light of the situation.

Netizen @JoseMarioAlas said Marvel fans maybe mistaken when they thought that Spi-

ALAIN ROBERT / FACEBOOK

der-Man turned into dust after Thanos snapped his fingers in

Avengers: Infinity War. “It turns out that he’s well

and good, scaling the heights of GT Tower right now. But he has changed drastically, looking more like Alain Robert,” he wrote on his tweet.

Twitter user @AkoSiOllie, meanwhile, said, “Hi Alain Robert! Bilang inaakyat mo na ‘yang GT Tower, pasabay naman pabili ng Banh Mi dyan sa (Since you climbed the GT Tower, you might as well also buy me a Banh Mi in the) 12th Floor.

Kthnkbye (Okay, thanks, bye)!”

Robert has already climbed several of the world’s skyscrapers including Paris’s Eiffel Tower, Malaysia’s Petronas Towers, New York’s Empire State Building, and the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, among others.

Just last October 2018, Robert was arrested for causing public nuisance after he scaled one of London’s tallest buildings, the Heron Tower, without safety equipment. ■

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Philippine News

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Thousands join ‘Battle for Manila Bay’ solidarity walk

VANCOUVER TO CLARK FOR AS LOW AS VANCOUVER TO MANILA FOR AS LOW AS

MANILA — Some 5,000 volunteers gathered on Sunday at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila for a solidarity walk to signify the start of the Manila Bay rehabilitation efforts.

Multi-sectorial groups, stakeholders, officials and personnel of government agencies, religious groups, academe, students, civic and other non-government organizations attended the event to show their cooperation in the Save Manila Bay project.

DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu led the walk, together with Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Acting Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr., Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Danilo Lim. The walk ended at the Rajah Sulayman Park, where the officials gave their keynote messages and urged the public to further support the project.

In his speech, Lim defined the rehabilitation of Manila Bay as a ‘Herculean’ task as it requires the effort of various government agencies and the public.

“Sa amin sa MMDA kasama sa aming mandatos ang paglilinis ng waterways and sewerages, pero ngayon nagsasama tayong lahat, naniniwala ako wala nang dahilan para hindi tayo magtagumpay sa pagbabalik ng linis, kaayusan at kagandahan ng (It is included in the mandate of MMDA to clean the waterways and sewerages, but now that we’re all together, I believe there is no reason for us not

to succeed in bringing back the cleanliness, order and beauty of Manila Bay,” he said.

For his part, Villar said the event showed President Rodrigo Duterte’s firm decision and strong political will to clean the popular bay.

“We will allocate heavy equipment, we will procure a new technology, trash skimmers — this will collect garbage and full-time solely allocated for Manila Bay. This is just the beginning and you can expect us to allocate a bigger budget for Manila Bay,” he said.

Meanwhile, Año said the rehabilitation of Manila Bay covers 190 kilometers involving three regions, 5,700 barangays and 178 local government units.

“Sa DILG, bubusisiin natin ang establishments dito kung sila ay sumusunod sa (At DILG, we will scrutinize the establishments if they are in compliance with the) Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Solid Waste Management Act. Every week the barangay captains will conduct cleanup in their respective areas where there are rivers leading to Manila Bay,” he said.

Año clarified that establishments will be given enough time to correct their lapses but they will be shut down or sued if unable to comply within deadlines.

For his part, Cimatu urged the public to take part in cleaning up Manila Bay. “As I declare the start of Battle for Manila Bay, I direct the DENR and the LLDA (Laguna Lake Development Authority) to issue a cease and desist order for those who violated environmental laws here in Manila Bay,” he added.

Cimatu led an inspection of the food establishments circling the bay and the three drainage canals leading to it right after the event. ■

Various sectors walk together in support of the rehabilitation program of Manila Bay in Roxas Boulevard on January 27, 2019.

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Soldier who died in Jolo cathedral bombings was a breadwinner

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer A SOLDIER who was killed in the twin bombings that hit a Catholic cathedral in Jolo, Sulu last Sunday was his family’s breadwinner.

This was revealed by Victor Ayuman, uncle of Corporal Alison Ayuman of the 35th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, to ABS-CBN news as they seek justice for the death of his nephew.

The victim’s family member said Ayuman was the one shouldering his younger siblings’ tuition fee and supports his family’s everyday expenses.

The soldier started to become his family’s support after his father died in 2017.

Prior to his death, the victim’s uncle said his nephew wants to fix their old house in Lanao del Norte and buy their own lot.

“Sana ay mabigyan ng hustisya ang pagkamatay nila (I hope that justice will be given for their deaths),” the older Ayuman said.

Mass-goers on January 27 were supposed to have peaceful worship at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo when two improvised devices (IED) detonated.

CNN Philippines reported that Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the death toll has risen to 22 as of writing. A total of 112 people, meanwhile, were injured from the incident.

President Rodrigo Duterte went to Jolo, Sulu on Monday, January 28, at around 2 p.m. and paid his last respect to the victims of the twin bombings.

www.canadianinquirer.net

He was accompanied by his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Chief Oscar Albayalde.

Authorities have placed Jolo, Sulu under lockdown to ensure safety in the area as perpetrators of the deadly bombings have not yet been caught.

CCTV caught alleged suspect

Meanwhile, reports said that the brother of a slain Abu Sayyaf leader, a certain Alias Kamah whom the police believe to be behind the bomb attacks, was caught in a closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage released by the authorities on Tuesday, January 29.

Wearing a blue-green jacket, the suspected perpetrator was giving something to his companion and then ran away when the bomb exploded.

Kamah is reported to be a member of Ajang-Ajang, a group affiliated with the Abu Sayyaf.

Malacañang earlier vowed that the military will go after and crush the “godless criminals” who bombed the Jolo cathedral.

“We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless perpetrators behind this dastardly crime until every killer is brought to justice and put behind bars.

The law will give them no mercy,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said. ■

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Philippine News

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Tribal leaders get ‘threats’ for speaking up vs. NPA

BY CHRISTINE CUDIS Philippine News Agency

our actions so we may be spared from them),” the IP leader said.

MANILA — Indigenous peoples (IP) leaders have raised concern of fearing for their lives as members of New People’s Army continue to keep an eye on them after tribal chieftains surfaced to reveal the rebel group’s atrocities.

In a hearing conducted by the House Committee on Indigenous Cultural Communities and Indigenous Peoples on Monday, tribes who expressed support for government soldiers and protest the rebels lingering in their lands said they “shocked” the Salugpungan representatives with their presence.

“Nakuyawan na sila nga naabot mi kay wala sila nagtuo nga makaya namo adto. Nianhi mi diri para makabalo gyud ang tanan- ang kongreso og ang mga tao sa mga nahitabo didto sa amoang lugar (They were shocked to see us here because they did not expect that we can.

We really went here so the Congress and the public may know the real events in our communities),” said Joel Dahusay, IP Leader from the municipality of Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

Dahusay said the founders and teachers of Salugpungan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Inc. are guised as teachers but in truth, they lure young and innocent children into joining the communist movement.

Dahusay, along with other tribal chieftains, travelled from their remote areas in Mindanao — Talaingod and North Cotabato — to “align everyone’s perception” with the truth.

Kidapawan City, North Cotabato tribal leader Datu Ramon Bayaan also joined the force to support his tribe, who are only wishing for peace in their communities.

“Karon nga nakit-an na mi nila nga dili mi angay sa ilahang ginabuhat, masuko na sila sa amoa. Ang amoa na lang gyud tinuod nga pag amping aron maluwas mi sa ilaha (After speaking up against these [Salugpungan members], they can already identify us and we know that this angers them. We can only be careful and aware of

Executive Director of Salugpungan Meggie Nolasco, on the other hand, pleaded to Congress that they still want to serve the IPs through educating them, but she said government forces are intimidating them to move out of the communities.

“Nagreklamo na po kami sa lahat po para lang po makatawag ng pansin, nagreklamo kami sa local police, sa DepEd (Department of Education), sa mayor (We already went to the local police, to DepEd, to the local government unit just to inform that we were being intimidated by these soldiers),” Nolasco expressed.

Talaingod Chief of Police, Supt. Rogaciano Rosales Gara, confirmed that the group reported to the cops, however, he said they did not request for assistance.

“Ang Salugpungan teacher ay naka record. At nagsabi sila na pinasara ang school nila.

Inaksyunan po namin pero sabi po nila na i-attach lang nila ang blotter for DepEd. Hindi sila nagrequest ng police assistance, nagpa-record lang sila (A Salugpungan teacher reported to us but insisted that we no longer need to assist them and check their schools because they only need the blotter report so they can attach it as a formal certification and proof that somebody harassed them to DepEd),” Gara said.

Nolasco said “paramilitary groups” forcibly closed their schools because they urgently want them shut. “‘Yung mga paramilitary groups po hinaharass po kami, tapos sila po sapilitan nilang sinasara yung mga school namin eh legal naman po kami (Paramilitary groups harass us and send us away even if we are a legal establishment),” Nolasco added.

Datu Andigao Agay, a tribal leader in Talaingod, however said there are no paramilitary groups in the area.

“Bakak man na. Walay paramilitary group sa Talaingod, Bagani naa. Kami man nagpasirado sa ilahang mga eskwelahan kay wala may maayong gibuhat sa amoa tanan (Lies! There

No ‘paramilitary groups’

is no such thing as ‘paramilitary groups’ in Talaingod, there are only Baganis to protect us. We, the tribal leaders along with the community members closed their schools because it does not serve good to anyone).”

Agay also said the Salugpungan schools do not release formal certifications so the students can enter high school.

“Wala man nagahatag ug Form 137 ang school, ang mga nag-eskwela didto nga mga bata namo kay dili makapadayun ug college, high school kay walay Form 137 (They cannot even release a Form 137 required by high schools and colleges, our children cannot enroll because they lack those),” he said.

North Cotabato 2nd District Rep. Nancy Catamco, for her part, explained that Baganis are part of structure in IP communities.

Legitimacy, not the issue

Dioleto Diarog, Tugbok District tribal leader, meanwhile, said they were actually the ones intimidated by the presence of NPA rebels.

“Amoang mga silingan nga makabalo didto kay naa puy connection sa taas kay muingon nga naapil na amoang mga pangalan didto sa OB , order of battle, List nila (Our neighbors who have connections in the NPA said that our names are already up on their ‘Order of Battle’ list),” he said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief-of-staff for operations, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., showed his sympathy to the tribal chieftains.

“Makabayan Bloc is bent on establishing the legitimacy of the private school Salugpungan and that it should not be closed.

What the AFP wants to hear is their concern on the lives of the IP leaders being threatened by NPA for not allowing the Salugpungan,” he said.

“More significant is the issue whether to continue with these Salugpungan, legit or not, knowing now that the NPAs are training children to become rebels in these schools.

With so many evidence/visuals presented as proof, the debate should have been whether to close them down or not,” he added. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY

DQ cases vs.

Pimentel, Osmeña still pending: Comelec

BY FERDINAND PATINIO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Though their names have been included on the partial list of senatorial bets, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and former Senator Sergio Osmeña III are not yet sure if they would be able to participate in the May 2019 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez explained that the Comelec has yet to decide on the disqualification cases filed against Pimentel and Osmeña.

“These stories are not yet over. We are still awaiting their resolutions. We asked the Clerk of Commission and they said the cases of Senator Koko and former senator Serge are not yet resolved,” Jimenez said.

“It is still pending resolution.

So, at this point, they are still with the Division (level),” he added.

Jimenez explained that the two veteran lawmakers are still on the partial list of 77 senatorial candidates “because their cases are different.”

“They are on the (partial) list because they are not nuisance candidates. And on the face of their Certificates of Candidacy,

they are not disqualified,” he said.

He said 13 other individuals have pending petitions to declare them nuisance candidates but are still included on the partial list.

Jimenez said the names of Pimentel and Osmeña will remain in the ballots if no decision is made before the printing of the ballots.

“If we are already printing, their names will remain. If they are somehow disqualified, then notices will go out,” he said.

Jimenez also said if Pimentel and Osmeña, if nominated by political parties, would be entitled to substitutes.

“If they are disqualified prior to election day and their names are on the ballot, substitution may be something they may want to consider,” he said.

Two disqualification cases were filed against Pimentel, claiming the former Senate president is no longer qualified to run for another term as he already served for two terms from 2007 to 2019.

On the other hand, Osmeña is facing perpetual disqualification case for reportedly not filing his Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) during the 2010 and 2016 elections. ■

ELMER B. DOMINGO / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

Philippine News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

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Duterte sees bombed church, tells army to crush Abu Sayyaf

BY JIM GOMEZ The Associated Press

disarray. At one point he looked at the ceiling, where many panels were ripped off by the blasts.

Duterte ordered the armed forces to crush the Abu Sayyaf.

The group has an estimated 300 to 400 members, mostly in Sulu where it is holding several foreign and Filipino kidnap victims.

Duterte later met with families of the victims at a military camp in Jolo where coffins were laid side by side.

Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was with the president, blamed the attack on Abu Sayyaf commander Hatib Sawadjaan, who he said has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

“This is an act of terrorism,” Lorenzana said. “This is not a religious war.”

Sawadjaan is based in the jungles of Patikul town, near Jolo, and has been blamed for ransom kidnappings and be-

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — President Rodrigo Duterte and his top security officials on Monday visited a Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines where suspected Islamic militants set off bombs that killed 20 people and wounded more than 100.

The first blast sent people, some of them wounded, fleeing out the church’s main door.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte conducts an inspection inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu Army troops and police were where two explosions occurred inside and outside the church last January 27. Accompanying the President are Defense rushing inside when the secSecretary Delfin Lorenzana, former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, Davao City ond bomb exploded a minute Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and National Security Adviser later. The explosions scattered Hermogenes Esperon Jr. wooden pews inside the main hall, blasted out window glass KING RODRIGUEZ / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO panels and hurled human remains and debris across a town The bombings came nearly a A statement by the Islamic Western governments have square fronting the Cathedral week after minority Muslims State group posted on social welcomed the autonomy pact of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in the predominantly Roman media claimed the attack was in part to ease concerns that witnesses said.

Catholic nation endorsed a carried out by two suicide Filipino militants could ally The attack occurred in the new autonomous region in the bombers who wore explosive themselves with foreigners and Sulu provincial southern Philip- belts, one detonating at the turn the southern region into a capital on Jolo pines in hopes gate and the other in the park- breeding ground for extremists. island, where of ending nearly ing lot.

Aside from Abu Sayyaf, other Abu Sayyaf milifive decades of a Police said at least 20 people militant groups in Sulu include tants have carThe group has an estimated 300 to separatist rebel- died and 111 were wounded. The a small band of young jihadis ried out years of 400 members, mostly in Sulu where lion that has left fatalities were 15 civilians and aligned with the Islamic State bombings, kidit is holding several foreign and 150,000 people five troops. Among the wound- group. nappings and Filipino kidnap victims. dead. Although ed, about 90 are civilians.

Government forces have beheadings and most Muslim arThe United Nations and pressed on sporadic offensives have aligned eas approved the others denounced the attack. to crush the militants, and themselves with autonomy deal, The U.N. Security Council late Duterte has extended martial the Islamic State group, which headings of hostages, including voters in Sulu province rejected Monday condemned “the hei- law in the entire southern third claimed responsibility for the two Canadian men, in recent it. The province is home to a ri- nous and cowardly” attack and of the country to allow troops attack. years. val rebel faction that is opposed “underlined the need to hold to finish off radical Muslim Duterte walked slowly into Police put forces around the to the deal as well as smaller perpetrators, organizers, finan- groups and other insurgents, the bombed cathedral, where country on heightened alert to militant cells that are not part ciers and sponsors” of the at- but bombings and other attacks the wooden pews were still in prevent similar attacks. of any peace process. tacks accountable. have continued. ■

Zambo mosque... ❰❰ 1

“This latest act of murder apart from the terrorists sowing terror in the Mindanao region, coming as it does in the wake of the Jolo dastardly bombing, is a taunting challenge to the capability of the government to secure the safety of the inhabitants in Mindanao,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo described the perpetrators of both explosions as “ruthless” and “godless” as they happened in two different religious institutions.

“The successive attacks on

two different places of worship depict the ruthlessness and the godlessness of these mass murderers,” Panelo said.

Panelo assured that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

“The armed forces of the Philippines will unleash its might and weaponry against these enemies of the state and hunt them ferociously and relentlessly until the law rolls down its guillotine on them,” Panelo said.

Panelo said government will

secure the safety of residents and provide them with whatever support they need with dispatch and sufficiency.

He asked Mindanaoans not to be “cowed” and “intimidated” by the attacks but remain “vigilant” and “alert” on any noticeable abnormality in their surroundings.

Moreover, he told residents to immediately provide authorities with the information so they can undertake “appropriate measures to prevent the occurrence of any act of deathly violence.”

Panelo, meanwhile, stressed www.canadianinquirer.net

that the government’s efforts to achieve long-lasting peace in Mindanao will proceed despite these attacks.

“The quest for peace and progress by the Bangsamoro people will not be stalled by any obstacle thrown at their path,” Panelo said.

“The movement to change the face of Mindanao and the oppressive conditions affecting its people shall move forward despite these acts of terrorism,” he added.

Reports showed that two persons were killed and three others injured when a bomb exploded inside a mosque in

Logoy Diutay, Barangay Talon-talon, Zamboanga City on Wednesday.

Authorities have yet to determine whether this is connected with the bombings at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu that killed 22 people and wounded a hundred others.

Both bombings took place just days after the historic ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) on January 21.

Earlier, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he is certain the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is behind the Jolo twin explosions. ■

Philippine News

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FEBRUARY 1, 2019

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SWS: Pinoys give Senate ‘very good’ satisfaction rating; House, SC, Cabinet get ‘good’

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer AMONG THE Senate, House of Representatives, Supreme Court (SC), and President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet, it is only the upper chamber that got a “very good” net satisfaction score, while the remaining executive and legislative bodies received a “good” net satisfaction rating, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

In the Fourth Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey, 71 percent of the survey respondents said they were satisfied with the Senate’s performance, while 13 percent were dissatisfied.

“The net satisfaction rating of the Senate rose by one grade from good to very good, up by 10 points from +48 in September 2018 to +58 in December 2018,” the SWS said, adding that the latest record is the “highest” since the very good +67 in August 2012.

The pollster noted that the 10-point jump in the upper chamber’s overall net satisfaction was because of the increases in all areas, particularly in Metro Manila.

It rose by 23 points, 13 points, nine points, and six points in Metro Manila, Visayas, Mindanao, and Balance Luzon, respectively.

‘Good’ rating for SC, House, Cabinet

Meanwhile, 57 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the performance of the House of Representatives,

while 54 percent of them were satisfied with the SC’s performance and 52 percent said they were satisfied with the Cabinet’s performance.

The House’s net satisfaction score remained “good,” gaining four points from +36 in September 2018 to +40 in December 2018.

The SWS said it is the lower chamber’s “highest” since the good +42 recorded in June 2016.

It added that the four-point improvement was due to increases in Metro Manila and Visayas, combined with steady scores in Mindanao and Balance Luzon.

From a moderate satisfaction rating, it jumped to good in Metro Manila, earning 17 points from +19 in September to +36 in December.

The House’s net satisfaction rating stayed good in Visayas, Mindanao, and Balance Luzon.

On the other hand, the high court’s net satisfaction rating remained “good,” climbing by six points from +31 in September 2018 to +37 in December 2018.

It is the same with the good +37 in December 2017, according to the SWS. The six-point rise in the SC’s rating was because of the increases in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, and the Visayas, combined with a slight decline in Mindanao.

It rose from moderate to good in Metro Manila, while it remained good in Balance Luzon and Visayas.

However, it stayed moderate in Mindanao as the House’s score went down by two points from +29 in September to

www.canadianinquirer.net

+27 in December.

The Cabinet’s net satisfaction rating, meanwhile, stayed “good,” rising by three points from +32 in September 2018 to +35 in December 2018.

The pollster said this is the Cabinet’s “highest” rating since the good +38 in December 2017.

The three-point jump in its net satisfaction rating, the latest survey showed, was due to increases in Metro Manila and Visayas, combined with a steady score in Balance Luzon and a slight decline in Mindanao.

It rose to good in Metro Manila, while it stayed good in Visayas and Balance Luzon.

But the Cabinet’s net satisfaction rating did not move upward in Mindanao as it stayed moderate, down by two points from +29 in September to +27 in December.

The SWS terminology for net satisfaction ratings are as follows: +70 and above, “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate,” +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 to -69, “very bad”; -70 and below, “execrable.”

“SWS considers the movement from one classification to another as either an ‘upgrade or ‘downgrade,’” it said.

The SWS’s latest survey was done from December 16 to 19, 2018, through face-to-face interviews of its 1,440 respondents nationwide, with 360 Filipinos each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

9

China, Russia, SC asked to drop all suits France support PH vs. martial law extension efforts vs. terrorism

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Chinese, Russian, and French governments renewed their commitment to support and step up engagement with the Philippines in fighting violent extremism and terrorism following the deadly blasts in Jolo, Sulu that killed 20 and injured hundred others on Sunday.

China Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said Beijing “strongly condemns” the violent attacks in Sulu province and condoles with the bereaved families of those killed.

“China opposes all forms of terrorism and stands ready to work with the international community including the Philippines to jointly combat threats and challenges posed by terrorism and safeguard international and regional peace and stability,” he said in a presscon in Beijing Monday night.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telegram sent to President Rodrigo R. Duterte, stated Russia’s “readiness to further step up interaction” with Philippine partners in combating terrorist threat in all its forms and manifestations.

“A crime committed against civilians who had congregated for church services is shocking in its cynicism and cruelty. I expect that the masterminds and perpetrators of this crime will sustain the punishment they deserve,” he said.

“People in Russia share the grief of the victims’ friends and families and hope for a prompt recovery of the injured,” he added.

In a statement Tuesday, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs said it is one with the Philippines in its fight against terrorism “France utterly condemns the attack against the cathedral in Jolo Island last January 27, for which Daesh has claimed responsibility and which killed some 20 people and injured

around 100 others, according to the information available,” its statement reads.

“France extends its condolences to the victims’ families, as well as to the Filipino people.

It stands alongside the Philippines in the fight against terrorism,” it added.

‘Expressing solidarity’

The Japanese Embassy in Manila on Tuesday also offered “sincerest condolences” to the victims of the explosions.

“Such terrorist attacks shall never be tolerated. Japan firmly condemns this terrorist act in the strongest terms,” Ambassador to Manila Koji Haneda said as he expressed solidarity with the Philippine government.

Meanwhile, he reiterated Tokyo’s support to the peace process in Mindanao and the recently ratified Bangsamoro Organic Law. “Japan will continue to support the Philippines in achieving sustainable peace and stability in Mindanao in accordance with the ongoing political transition process under the Bangsamoro Organic Law,” he stressed.

Further joining the international community in deploring the terror act, considered the worst in recent years, was United Kingdom Asia and the Pacific Minister Mark Field.

“Our prayers are with all the victims and their loved ones.

The UK stands with the Philippines against terror and hatred,” he said in a tweet on his official account.

Twin explosions on Sunday morning ripped through the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu in the middle of a church service, killing 20 and injuring 112.

The entire Jolo is currently on lockdown as the perpetrators remain at large.

Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Brig.

Gen. Edgard Arevalo dismissed the claims made by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) it is responsible for the cathedral attack, describing it as “propaganda.” ■

MANILA — Government lawyers have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss the three new petitions questioning the validity of the extension of martial law in Mindanao.

In a manifestation filed over the weekend, Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the SC to dismiss the petitions filed by Makabayan bloc led by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, the group led by former Commission on Elections chair Christian Monsod, and the petition lodged by a group of Indigenous People’s teachers and students represented by the Free Legal Assistance Group.

The OSG earlier sought a ruling from the high court to throw out the original petition filed by lawmakers led by Albay (1st District) Rep. Edcel Lagman.

Oral arguments on the cases have been set by the court on Tuesday (January 29).

Calida explained that all four suits encapsulate the same arguments and should be dismissed for lack of merit.

Calida cited an official report from the Armed Forces of the Philippines about the “ongoing

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AEROUS / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

rebellion of the Daesh-Inspired groups and its local and foreign allies, particularly the Daulah Islamiyah (DI) and also of the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) forces in Mindanao.”

He said “Daesh- inspired groups have shifted their strategy from establishing a Wilayat to global insurgency or rebellion” and that “they continue their recruitment and radicalization activities teaching their new members how to launch deadlier attacks and to sow chaos and instability that will ex-

tremely endanger the public.”

Calida also cited the attacks by the said groups from January to December last year as well as the “consistent influx of foreign terrorists in the country who are primarily responsible for the conduct of trainings to local terrorist fighters, especially in making improvised explosive devices and motivating locals to serve as suicide bombers.”

The solicitor general also submitted the confidential report of the military that was used as basis for the extension of martial law for another year or until December 2019. ■

10

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

NDFP peace consultant gunned down in Nueva Vizcaya

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Tobacco tax hike could prevent 850,000 new smokers

BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency MANILA — Senator Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday said his proposal to double the excise tax on cigarettes is seen to prevent 850,000 new smokers on its first year of implementation.

During the Senate ways and means committee hearing on tobacco tax bills, Pacquiao said increasing the tax on the sin product will not only raise funds for the government’s Universal Health Care (UHC) program but will also help curb smoking.

“Tobacco tax increase will help raise revenues. Magkakaroon ng funding ang universal health care (There would be funding for the universal health care). We need that, but remember: there are other benefits beyond the revenues and funding,” Pacquiao said.

“By increasing tobacco tax, we would be able to prevent an estimated 850,000 new smokers on the first year of implementation. Kapag may ginawa tayo, kaya nating pigilan ang

masamang epekto ng paninigarilyo (If we do something, we could prevent the harmful effects of smoking),” he added.

He said there are currently 13 million Filipino smokers, and 1.2 million more are expected by 2022.

“Most of the victims are from the youth and marginalized sectors, people who have no means of paying for the harmful effects of smoking. We have to protect the youth from smoking, which is highly addictive,” Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao filed Senate Bill 1599, which seeks to increase the current cigarette tax rate from PHP30 per pack to PHP60 per pack. This is aside from the annual increase of 9 percent from the current 4 percent increase in excise tax per year.

Pacquiao said his tax bill is supported by the Department of Health and Department of Finance, noting that President Rodrigo Duterte even approved the recommendation of the agencies to back this bill.

He urged the committee to approve the “very urgent measure” before session ends next week. ■

with the rebels whom he said have been continuing their offensives against government troops.

A PEACE consultant of the “Ganun rin sa NPA (New National Democratic Front of People’s Army). Hindi na ako the Philippines (NDFP) was makipag-usap sa inyo. Eh gunned down inside a bus in walang magawa eh. MagpakaNueva Vizcaya on Wednesday, buti ka, pasunud-sunuran ka January 30. lang (Same with the NPA. I will Media reports stated that the no longer talk to you. I cannot victim, identified as Randy Fedo anything. You do something lix Malayao, was onboard a bus good, you just follow what they which was on a stopover when want),” Duterte said in a speech an unidentified gunman went in Jolo, Sulu. inside the vehicle and shot him.

“Tapos in return ito ang ibigThe 49-year-old peace conay ninyo sa akin. Mga kabaong sultant was killed at 2:30 this pati iyong mga naputol mga morning. paa. Ay p***** i** (And then Citing a police in return you incident report, give this to me.

GMA News said Coffins and disthat the police membered legs. found one fired We see no other motive and Motherf*cker),” bullet and two possible perpetrator. His death is he added. pieces of fired clearly linked to his involvement The peace cartridge case in in the peace talks and his other talks between the scene. advocacies as a social activist. the government The suspect and the CPPand the motive NPA-NDFP was behind the killformally termiing has yet to be determined.

Bagong Alyansang Maka- nated by Duterte in November Human rights group Karapa- bayan (Bayan), meanwhile, also 2017 through Proclamation No. tan condemned the murder of condemned “in the strongest 360, saying that the commuMalayao, saying that they join term” Malayao’s killing, saying nist rebels did not show their the latter’s family in their call his death is a “case of extraju- “sincerity and commitment” in for justice. dicial killing done by suspected pursuing “genuine and mean“We ascribe Malayao’s kill- state forces gone berserk.” ingful” peace negotiations. ■ ing, as with the deaths of Fr. “We see no other motive and Marcelito Paez, Elisa Badayos possible perpetrator. His death and Eleuterio Moises, and Atty. is clearly linked to his involveBenjamin Ramos and thou- ment in the peace talks and his sands others in the counter- other advocacies as a social acinsurgency program and the tivist,” it said. sham drug war, to the death Communist Party of the Philsquads of the [President Rodri- ippines (CPP) founding chair go] Duterte regime, which has Jose Maria “Joma” Sison last ceaselessly incited and ordered January 5 said he welcomes the the killing of peace and human remarks of Duterte where the rights advocates, peasants and latter said his administration indigenous peoples, the urban is still open to peace talks with poor, church people and many communist rebels. others,” it said.

However, the President on According to the group, Ma- Monday changed his tune again layao participated in peace about resuming peace talks

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negotiations between the Philippine government and the NDFP, and that he was actively taking part in forums and gatherings to pursue agenda for just peace.

It added that it was in 2008 when Malayao was abducted, tortured, and slapped with trumped-up charges. While he was serving his time in prison, Malayao conducted literacy classes for other detainees and attended their needs. He was released in 2012.

Apart from being a peace consultant, Karapatan said he also became an active human rights campaigner in Cagayan Valley.

Philippine News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

11

Int’l community condemns twin bombings in Jolo, Sulu

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The United States, Australia, the European Union (EU) as well as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday “strongly condemned” the twin explosions during a Sunday mass service in Jolo, Sulu that left 20 dead and 112 others wounded.

In a tweet on his official page, the Canadian leader described the attack as a “despicable act of cowardice,” and stressed that Canada strongly condemns the cathedral bombing.

“My deepest condolences to all the families affected by this tragedy,” he said.

In a statement, Guterres called for the perpetrators of the crime to be “swiftly brought to justice.”

This, as he reiterated UN support for the Philippine gov-

ernment to fight terrorism and violent extremism, and to carry forward the peace process in Bangsamoro region.

US Ambassador to the Philippine Sung Kim committed America’s support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“We condemn this senseless violence and we will do everything possible to support the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he said.

Tagging the Department of Foreign Affairs and Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr., Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne also sent Canberra’s condolences to those affected by the bomb attacks.

“We stand with the Government and people of the Philippines in condemning acts of terror and in striving for a lasting peace in Mindanao,” she said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, the EU, through its spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Maja Kocijancic, described the blasts as a “human tragedy”

and an “attack against the basic right to practice one’s religion.”

“The European Union sends its sincere condolences to the many victims of today’s bombing during mass in the Cathedral of Jolo in the southern Philippines,” Kocijancic said.

The EU official also relayed the bloc’s support to the Mindanao Peace Process and last week’s plebiscite on greater Bangsamoro regional autonomy. “The EU plans to continue such support in the future,” Kocijancic said.

The two explosions on Sunday, which tore through the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Jolo, came a week before the second Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite on February 6.

The Philippine government is currently still trying to determine if the bombings are linked to the BOL’s recent ratification and the second round of referendum.

On January 21, an overwhelming majority voted in favor of the establishment of the

President Rodrigo R. Duterte conducts an inspection inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu on January 28, 2019 where two explosions occurred inside and outside the church last January 27.

KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao effectively ratifying the BOL. The second phase of the BOL plebiscite will determine if the province of Lanao del Norte except Iligan City; the munici-

palities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, and Pigkawayan in the province of North Cotabato will be part of the new autonomous political entity. ■

Beijing opens maritime rescue Malacañang center at Kagitingan Reef expects 2019 budget passed this week

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

CHINA HAS put up a maritime rescue center at Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef in the West Philippines Sea on Tuesday, January 29, according to Chinese state-run Xinhua.

Quoting Beijing’s Ministry of Transport, the report stated that the maritime rescue center “will offer better support to maritime rescue operations in the southern part of the South China Sea.” Xinhua also said the ministry, On July 27, 2018, sent a rescue ship to Zamora (Subi) Reef which was used for emergency response operations. It was boarded by eight to 10 rescuers with diving equipment.

China replaced the first rescue ship it deployed with another vessel in October.

“Over the past six months, the

two ships have rescued 16 people and two ships in eight operations. Property worth about 12 million yuan (1.7 million U.S. dollars) has been salvaged,” Xinhua said in its report.

Earlier this month, the Chinese news outfit reported that Beijing installed facilities in Kagitingan Reef, Panganiban (Mischief ) Reef, and Zamora Reef to protect and restore coral reefs in those areas.

Citing China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, Xinhua said these facilities are “key to the ecological security of the Nansha (Spratly) Islands and the whole South China Sea region.”

“They will lead to better understanding of the coral reef ecosystem of the Nansha Islands and tailored conservation and rehabilitation measures,” the ministry was quoted as saying.

Reacting to this, Magdalo party-list Representative Gary

Alejano had said China’s coral reef rehabilitation was “laudable,” however, he still urged the Philippine government to monitor it as “there is an existing territorial conflict.”

“Dapat makialam ang gobyerno natin sa proyektong ito dahil isa tayo sa claimants ng mga teritoryo sa South China Sea (The government should intervene in this project because we are one of the claimants of the territories in the South China Sea),” he said.

“This rehab project could be just one of the many ways of China’s occupation,” he added.

Prior to this, China reportedly placed weather monitoring stations on the three reefs which, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, enable China to “better provide public services to nations across the South China Sea.” ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

BY AZER PARROCHA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Malacañang on Monday said that it expects the proposed PHP3.757-trillion national budget for 2019 to be passed this week.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark amid ongoing bicameral conference committee deliberations on the General Appropriations Act for 2019.

“I think so,” Panelo said when asked if Palace expects the budget to be passed within the week.

Panelo earlier said that Palace hopes the bicam to be “smooth-sailing.”

Meanwhile, Panelo said Palace will leave it to Congress to decide what to do with the PHP75 billion worth of flood control proj-

ects allegedly inserted into the 2019 national budget.

“Well, that’s the job of the Congress — to review, to amend, to restructure whatever,” Panelo said.

He, however, said that the amount has been “redistributed” to certain departments.

“I don’t think that was scrapped. From what I gather from Senator (Panfilo) Lacson, that was redistributed to certain departments. So, it’s still there,” Panelo said.

On January 21, the Senate approved on third and final reading the proposed 2019 budget after deleting the questionable PHP75-billion “insertion” from the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The House of Representatives approved their version of the bill on third and final reading on November 20. ■

12

Philippine News

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

House approves bill lowering age of ‘social responsibility’ to 12

BY JOSE CIELITO REGANIT Philippine News Agency MANILA — The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a proposed bill lowering the minimum “age of social responsibility” from 15 years to 12 years old.

House Bill 8858, otherwise known as An Act Expanding the Scope of the Reformation and Rehabilitation of Children in Conflict with the Law and Strengthening the Social Reintegration Programs, Amending for the purpose Republic Act 9344 (Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006) as amended, was passed with a vote of 146-34 with no abstentions.

Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon, chair of the House committee on justice, said the proposed law uses the term “minimum age of social responsibility” (MASR) instead of minimum age of criminal responsibility to reflect the measure’s objectives.

He said under the proposed measure, children in conflict with the law would not spend jail time but would be treated in youth care facilities called Ba-

hay Pag-asa.

As provided under HB 8858, children below 12 years old would be exempt from criminal liability.

Likewise, children 12 years and above but below 18 years old who are in conflict with the law shall also be exempted from liability and be subjected to intervention programs, unless the minor acted with discernment.

As provided in the proposed measure, Bahay Pag-asa refers to the a 24-hour child-care institution established, funded and managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and licensed and/or accredited nongovernmental organization (NGOs) providing short-term care for children in conflict with the law who are 12 years and above but below 18 years old who are committed for rehabilitation or awaiting court disposition of their cases or transfer to other agencies or disposition.

Part of the features of a Bahay Pag-asa is an Intensive Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (IJISC) which will cater to children who committed serious offenses.

Children 12 years old but be-

low 18 years who commit petty offenses would not be confined in a Bahay Pag-asa.

The exception is when the child has no family or deemed as “neglected.”

Only children 12 years old and above but below 18 years of age who commit serious crimes like parricide, infanticide, murder, kidnapping, rape, destructive arson and offenses under the Comprehensive Dangerous Act punishable by more than 12 years imprisonment among others shall be mandatorily placed in the IJISC. Any person who uses or exploits a child in the commission of a crime shall be punished to a maximum of reclusion perpetua.

Parents of children who commit serious crimes or are repeat offenders shall undergo mandatory intervention programs including parenting seminars and counseling.

The failure of such parents to undergo mandatory intervention programs, unless prevented by a lawful cause, shall be a ground for imprisonment from 30 days to six months.

The parents shall be primarily liable for civil damages arising out of the actions of children in conflict with the law.

Children 12 years old but below 18 years who commit petty offenses would not be confined in a Bahay Pag-asa.

The court shall impose the penalty two degrees lower than that prescribed by the law for crimes committed by children who are in conflict with the law. In cases where the law prescribes a fixed period of imprisonment, the period shall be reduced by two-thirds.

For crimes punishable by life imprisonment, the penalty to be imposed shall be imprisonment of up to 12 years.

Leachon explained that if children 12 years and above

but less than 18 years of age are convicted, they will be detained at agricultural camps under the supervision of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

“If the child reaches 18 years of age and does not reform under proper intervention, the execution of judgment shall be made but only up to 25 years of age,” Leachon said. ■

OSG appeals Makati court’s amnesty ruling before CA

BY BENJAMIN PULTA Philippine News Agency MANILA — State lawyers have challenged the move of a Makati court to dismiss the government’s appeal to pursue criminal cases against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for his involvement in a number of uprisings to oust the government.

In its petition dated January 17 filed before the Court of Appeals, Solicitor General Jose Calida urged the court to nullify the October ruling of Makati RTC Branch 148 against the government’s plea to revive the case against the outspoken lawmaker.

A motion for reconsideration filed by the government and the defense was likewise turned

down by the Makati court on November 22.

The OSG also sought the issuance of a warrant of arrest against Trillanes and remand the case to the trial court for continuation of proceedings.

“An amnesty can only be valid if it is granted by the President and the accused admits his guilt for the crime he was charged with. In the case at bar, it was (then) Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin who granted Senator Antonio Trillanes IV amnesty, not the President. Worse, Trillanes was given amnesty although he did not even admit having committed the crimes for which he was indicted,” the OSG stated in its petition.

Makati RTC Branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano last year turned down the motions for

partial reconsideration filed by both the government and Trillanes.

Prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier challenged Soriano’s factual findings — that Trillanes filed an application for amnesty and admitted his guilt for the offense of coup d’etat — which contradicted the position of the government.

In his original ruling, Soriano found “no basis to believe that Proclamation 572 has breached any constitutional guaranty or that it has encroached on the constitutional power of either the judicial and executive branch.”

Soriano said in voiding the grant of amnesty to Trillanes, Proclamation 572 “merely sought to correct what the exwww.canadianinquirer.net

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

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

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

had lapsed into becoming final.

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

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

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

Philippine News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

13

Mislatel franchise ‘ipso facto’ Jolo blast an revocation has legal effect: IBP isolated case: AFP

BY FILANE MIKEE CERVANTES Philippine News Agency

BY PRIAM NEPOMUCENO Philippine News Agency

MANILA — The “ipso facto” revocation of Mislatel’s franchise must be seriously considered with regard to its status as the country’s new major player in the telecommunications industry, the national president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) said Wednesday.

During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services, Abdiel Dan Fajardo said the panel’s finding that Mislatel violated Section 7 of the company’s franchise is of “great importance” and must not be disregarded.

Section 7 provides that the franchise shall be deemed ipso facto (in fact) revoked, in the Senate Committee on Public Services Chairperson Grace Poe. SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / FACEBOOK event the franchisee fails to commence operations within one year from approval.

Fajardo cited a Supreme the existence of the franchise,” “These have legal effect. In Court decision that the “the vi- Tamano said.

Black’s Law Dictionary, ipso ability of the quo warranto, in He also explained that there facto means by the very fact. this instant case, does not pre- was no sale of controlling inTherefore, we are of the belief, clude Congress from enforcing terest of Mislatel, but rather a at the present time, that such its own prerogative by abrogat- subscription and an increase of be considered with respect to ing the legislative franchise of capital stock. the status of the winning bid- respondents should it be dis“In fact, what happened was der,” Fajardo said. tressed enough by franchisee’s the initial entry of Nicanor Es“We are of the belief that we violation of the franchise ex- calante and the other shareshould not move forward with- tended to them.” holders into Mislatel was not out considering the impact of He noted that the language through a sale of controlling insuch status in this particular of the franchise itself already terest, which is basis for an ipso endeavor,” he added. represents the act of Congress facto revocation, but rather it The previous hearing bared abrogating the franchise by was through subscription and that Mislatel appeared to have “virtue of the wording of the increase of capital stock,” Tafailed to comply with the con- franchise itself.” mano said. ditions set by Poe earlier Congress when said holding a reit handed the bidding for the firm its franselection of the chise, such as the We are of the belief that we third telco could requirement to should not move forward without be more favoroperate within considering the impact of such able to the public one year after status in this particular endeavor. than allowing a the acquisition company to opof the franchise erate hounded and the need to by questions on seek Congress the validity of its approval when it sold majority For his part, Mislatel spokes- franchise. of its shares in 2015. person, lawyer Adel Tamano, Poe said having a new major Senator Grace Poe, com- maintained the validity of the player that would later on enmittee chair, asked the IBP company’s franchise. counter legal entanglements in president if the Supreme Court “No quo warranto proceed- the courts could further delay should review the franchise of ing has been filed against the the country’s goal to provide Mislatel, or if it is well within franchise of Mislatel. There has the consumers with fast and the Congress’ power to grant or been no revocation by the Con- reliable internet and telecomwithdraw a franchise. Mislatel gress of the franchise of Misla- munications. earlier argued only a quo war- tel. Without going into the leThe panel is expected to reranto petition can cause a revo- gal matters, there has been no lease its committee report next cation of its franchise. positive act that would revoke week. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

MANILA — The recent bombing in Jolo, Sulu which claimed the lives of at least 20 people and wounded 112 others, is a just an isolated incident, a military official said Tuesday.

“It was an isolated case as there was apparently an unconfirmed information as revealed by a priest in Jolo in a media interview that there is a bombing threat against the Church,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato told the Philippine News Agency when asked if Sunday’s blast is an isolated one or just the beginning of a wave of attacks in the area.

He also added that the Mount Carmel Cathedral has already a long list of bombing incidents in the past.

“It is in this light that a community effort has to be tapped as security against terrorism is a complex activity,” Detoyato added.

Earlier, the AFP public affairs office chief said the military will take “extra precautionary measures” to secure the second Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite on February 6 following the incident in Sulu’s capital town.

“We will take extra precautionary measures in the advent of the Jolo incident. Meanwhile, our troops are advised to be always on the alert for any changes in the security protocols to anticipate the fluid situation. All other security arrangements stay the same,” he said.

Another plebiscite for the BOL will be held next week in the province of Lanao del Norte, except Iligan City; the municipalities of Aleosan, Carmen, Kabacan, Midsayap, Pikit, and Pigkawayan in the province of North Cotabato and the 28 barangays to be included in the region.

The military has deployed over 10,000 troops and support units to help secure the BOL plebiscite along with the Philippine National Police. ■

GOP leaders... ❰❰ 21

going to try to find common ground,” said No. 3 House Democratic leader James Clyburn of South Carolina.

McConnell and many GOP lawmakers have long sought to avoid government shutdowns, aware of the tactic’s long and consistent history of backfiring badly on whoever sparks one. In the one that just ended, 800,000 federal workers went unpaid for five weeks, countless Americans were denied federal services and mushrooming problems included slowed air travel and delayed IRS refunds.

“There certainly would be no education in the third kick of a mule,” said McConnell, adding an additional kick to the homily he frequently cites about how shutdowns don’t work.

Members of both parties have opposed Trump declaring an emergency on the Mexican border. They say it would set a dangerous precedent for future presidents who might use

the strategy to push their own agendas that stall in Congress.

If he issued the declaration, it would trigger near-immediate lawsuits that might block the money anyway.

“There’s no appetite for government shutdowns and there’s not much appetite for an emergency declaration. For a lot of reasons, our members are very wary of that,” said No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Thune of South Dakota.

Interviews with numerous Republican lawmakers showed little taste for a new shutdown.

“Most members, whatever faction in the Republican caucus, would be opposed to a shutdown and would do everything they can to work some kind of deal,” said Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, a member of House GOP leadership. ■ AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro and reporters Matthew Daly and Jill Colvin contributed.

14

Canada News Two years after shootings, recovery continues for Quebec City’s Muslims

BY MORGAN LOWRIE The Canadian Press QUEBEC — Almost two years after being hit by seven bullets in Quebec City’s biggest mosque, Aymen Derbali says the nightmares have finally stopped.

The 42-year-old was one of more than 50 people attending evening prayers when a shooter opened fire on Jan 29, 2017, killing six people and wounding several others including Derbali. He was left paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair to get around.

After a long and painful recovery, Derbali said he’s now in a better place.

Last summer, he was able to move out of the rehabilitation centre where he’d lived since the shooting and into a new wheelchair-accessible home that was bought for him after a fundraising campaign raised more than $400,000.

While his own plans are unsure, he said he is grateful for the support he has received, and grateful he’ll be able to watch his three children grow up.

“My future is for them now,” he said in a recent interview.

The mosque shooting claimed the lives of six men: Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, Khaled Belkacemi, 60, Aboubaker Thabti, 44, Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, and Ibrahima Barry, 39.

Alexandre Bissonnette pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six

counts of attempted murder last March.

For Said Akjour, who was shot in the shoulder, recovery has been a slow process.

He remembers everything: crouching in an alcove with his “brothers,” watching Derbali get shot, the bullet that pierced his own left shoulder “like an arrow,” and the fear in the eyes of the responding police officers.

“There were many bullets, and time was like an eternity, even if it’s only two minutes,” he said.

Akjour had to undergo a year of physiotherapy, and his arm still bothers him sometimes as he carries out physical tasks at the seniors’ care facility where he has returned to work parttime.

He has also struggled with feelings of shame, helplessness and guilt.

“Why didn’t I do more?” he said. “It was a feeling that was present. It was changing between gratitude at being alive, but at the same time, brothers were dead.”

Akjour, 46, said his recovery was made easier by writing Arabic poetry and by the solidarity he felt from colleagues, family, and the public.

He briefly considered moving to Ontario, but decided to stay, in part because he feels it’s his responsibility to talk about what happened. “In 10 years, will there be (the victims’ children) coming to ask me about how their father died?” he said.

“I will be here to pass on memories.”

Mohamed Yangui, a former president of the mosque, is worried about the message broader society is sending to Muslims.

He feels let down by the new provincial government’s plan to ban religious face coverings for public servants in positions of authority, which he said targets Muslim women. And he is troubled by the rise of right-wing, anti-immigrant sentiment.

“We haven’t yet found a way of bringing together people who have lived here 20 years with those who have lived here 50 years, or two centuries,” he said.

After guiding the mosque through the tumultuous year following the shooting, he said he’s too tired and sad to go back to a place that is haunted by painful memories.

Another former president of the mosque is hopeful things are slowly “returning to normal” at the Islamic Cultural Centre.

The bullet holes in the wall remain, and some people are still fearful no matter how many new security measures are brought in. But Mohamed Labidi said hateful incidents directed at the mosque have declined significantly in the last year, and the community continues to receive messages of solidarity from across Canada and the world.

“It’s still a trauma for the community, and there are people who have been weakened,” he said in an interview at the mosque. “But there is a big dose of resilience in our lives, in our principles. It is a fundamental part of our religion.”

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A vigil in Montreal’s Park Extension for the victims of the shooting.

GREAT11 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 4.0

Labidi said the Feb. 8 sentencing of Bissonnette will be an important moment in the community’s recovery. The killer faces a potential prison term of 150 years before being eligible for parole if a judge decides the six life sentences should be served consecutively.

Labidi said the community is “waiting for justice” and is “almost unanimous” in believing that a 25-year sentence would not be enough, considering six lives were taken. “Each life is important,” he said.

Labidi said the mosque is slowly moving from a recovery phase towards creating a legacy for the victims. The rooms in the building are being renamed, one for each of the six men who died.

And the administration has worked with the city on a new, more permanent memorial to be announced in the coming

days. It has also spoken out in support of the province’s new long-gun registry and called for stronger background checks for those seeking gun permits.

Some of the other victims’ loved ones have begun initiatives of their own. The Quebec Guinean Association began a fundraising campaign to dig wells in the African hometown of the two Guinean victims, Mamadou Tanou Barry and Ibrahima Barry, according to association member Souleymane Bah. So far, the $36,000 project is about half funded.

And Labidi said the mosque is still committed to outreach, both hosting and attending events designed to build bridges with other communities.

“Everything we do is to show that from this bad, we will germinate good,” he said, “not just for us but for all of society, for Quebec and for Canada.” ■

Canada News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

15

B.C. government has little power for legislature oversight: Premier Horgan

BY LAURA KANE The Canadian Press VANCOUVER — British Columbia Premier John Horgan says a recent report alleging spending abuses by the clerk and sergeant-at-arms raises concerns about a broader culture of “entitlement” in the legislature, but there isn’t much he can do as premier.

Horgan said the Speaker and a management committee are responsible for the legislature, while as premier he is head of the government. All the government can do is pass legislation to increase oversight, he said.

“I appreciate this sounds odd but it’s just the way it is,” he told reporters Monday.

“I raised these issues five, six years ago, when I was on the Legislative Assembly Management Committee. I said, ‘Why are these two guys exempt?

Why are they not covered by any of the oversight that anybody else is?’”

The committee, chaired by the Speaker and made up of the three house leaders and other legislature members, is responsible for the financial accounting of the legislature.

Speaker Darryl Plecas released a report last week that

alleged clerk Craig James and sergeant-at-arms Gary Lenz overspent on trips, purchased personal items at taxpayers’ expense, and misappropriated alcohol and equipment.

James and Lenz were placed on administrative leave in November during an ongoing police investigation. Both men deny any wrongdoing and say the allegations will be proven untrue.

Horgan, a New Democrat, said the previous Liberal government ignored the concerns he raised on the committee.

He said the allegations in the report by Plecas “absolutely” raise concerns about the culture of the legislature.

When James was appointed clerk, the Opposition NDP voted against it because there was no process and no competition, Horgan said. The Liberals had previously “arbitrarily” installed James as chief electoral officer, he added.

“It’s a big deal and we raised it at the time but the Liberals were in government,” he said.

“They should be the ones answering these questions, not me.”

Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the Liberal caucus wants to see the situation fixed, but Horgan is looking for someone to blame. Horgan has

been premier for the past 18 months while the alleged improper spending occurred, he noted in a telephone interview.

Wilkinson disputed that Horgan raised concerns on the management committee several years ago.

“He said nothing about expenses. It’s a little bit rich now,” he said.

A transcript of a 2012 committee meeting shows Horgan did raise concerns about the committee not having jurisdiction over “management” of legislature officers including the sergeant-at-arms and clerk.

Horgan said he was concerned the officers were only accountable to the Speaker.

The transcript shows that James responded he was not opposed to additional oversight, but he believed it would require a legislative change.

The Liberal government did not pursue such a change, nor did the Liberal-controlled management committee.

In response to Horgan’s comment that he has little influence over the legislature, Wilkinson said NDP members of the legislature, including House Leader Mike Farnworth, now control the management committee.

“John Horgan squarely is responsible for the events of the last 18 months, and he was on

B.C. Premier John Horgan.

the management committee when things started to go sideways seven, eight years ago. It’s him that needs to be accountable for this.”

Wilkinson has called for the immediate public posting online of all legislature expenses, a ban on foreign travel unless approved six weeks in advance by the all-party committee that manages the legislature’s finances, and a review of accounting procedures by the auditor general.

Horgan said the management committee must decide whether to call a review by Auditor General Carol Bellringer.

“I have no problem with her going in and doing the audit,” he said.

After the report by Plecas was

JOHN HORGAN / FACEBOOK

released last week, Lenz and James said in a joint statement they had only just learned of its contents.

“We are only now able to read the allegations for the first time and we are confident that time will show that they are completely false and untrue,” they said.

Horgan fielded a number of questions on Monday. On the issue of Canada’s relationship with China after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Vancouver’s airport last month, Horgan said the association is deteriorating.

He said B.C. does a lot of business with China and although there’s uncertainty at the moment he’s confident the two jurisdictions will move past it. ■

Some provinces creating challenges for infrastructure projects: Trudeau

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Un-cooperative provincial governments have been making the effort to get more infrastructure dollars into Canada’s cities a challenge, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.

Trudeau, whose government has struggled to fulfil tens of billions worth of infrastructure commitments, made the remarks in Ottawa before a meeting with more than a dozen of Canada’s big-city mayors. He didn’t single any provinces out

by name.

His Liberal government has been criticized for how slowly federal money has moved for big civic construction projects, despite its big-ticket plan to spend more than $185 billion on them over 12 years.

“It’s not always easy — we understand that the political context varies a little bit from one end of this country to the other and there are provinces that don’t completely have the same attitude when it comes to tangible investments in their communities and in the big cities,” Trudeau said in French before switching to English.

“We’re having sometimes certain challenges with the provinces in various ways.”

Trudeau called big cities the economic engines of the whole country and argued that investing in infrastructure is one of the best ways to create jobs in the short term and growth over the long term.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who also met with the big city mayors Monday, said challenges have surfaced following several recent provincial elections.

Champagne, for whom speeding up the rollout of infrawww.canadianinquirer.net

structure investments is a top priority, said the arrival of new governments has slowed down some of the intake, review and approval of projects. He did note these delays are normal when there’s a change in government.

“But I think now everyone should be well settled,” said Champagne, who added that with construction season approaching he would like to see progress. “We have big needs … Now it’s delivery time — it’s game time.”

After the meeting with Trudeau, Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume said his Ontar-

io peers shared their concerns about a lack of progress from their province on public transit.

Basically, they said projects on Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s desk aren’t moving much, Labeaume said.

“My Ontario colleagues find this a bit difficult,” Labeaume said when asked about Trudeau’s comments on provincial challenges. “I don’t know why — maybe it’s politics.”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau also met with the mayors Monday. He was asked about ❱❱ PAGE 18 Some provinces

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FRIDAY

Canada to host Venezuela summit to support anti-Maduro forces: Freeland

BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Canada will host a meeting of Western Hemisphere countries next Monday to address the political and economic crisis in Venezuela.

The Lima Group, a coalition of more than a dozen countries in the Americas, minus the United States, was formed in August 2017 to address Venezuela’s growing backslide into authoritarianism. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland confirmed its next session will be in Ottawa.

Canada needs to play a leading role in the Lima Group because the crisis in Venezuela is unfolding in Canada’s global backyard, she said.

“This is our neighbourhood,” said Freeland said Monday.

“For Canadians, we have a very direct interest in what happens

in our hemisphere. That is why we have been so active and will continue to be so active.”

The group has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, saying President Nicolas Maduro’s continuing dictatorial rule is creating an economic and humanitarian crisis that has swelled beyond his country’s borders. Maduro was populist leader Hugo Chavez’s vicepresident and came to power with Chavez’s death in 2013.

Freeland praised the role of Canadian diplomats in Caracas, who helped get the country’s opposition parties to coalesce behind the 35-year-old Guaido.

The Canadian Press interviewed senior Canadian government officials who have described Canada’s role in aiding democratic forces to help rescue the once oil-rich country from the economic and politi-

cal spiral that has forced three million Venezuelans from their homes.

Freeland said Monday’s talks will focus in part on the refugee crisis has that has forced a flood of displaced people into neighbouring Colombia and Brazil.

“Some of the stories of people coming across the border, unaccompanied children for example, in terrible conditions are really heart-wrenching,” said Freeland. “We’ve seen with Syria the way in which a refugee crisis can have much broader destabilizing impacts.”

The Lima Group has also called for Maduro’s ouster, saying Guaido is the only “legitimately elected” Venezuelan leader after he won control of its National Assembly.

On Jan. 10, Maduro was sworn in as president with support of countries such as Cuba, Russia and China. The Lima Group de-

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Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

nounced Maduro as illegitimate and Freeland said, “the Maduro regime is now fully entrenched as a dictatorship.”

Freeland has branded the rise of authoritarian leaders as a major foreign-policy challenge and she suggested Monday that Canada needs to work against it in the Americas.

“Our hemisphere has been going in the right direction and it is really important to stand

CHRYSTIA FREELAND / FACEBOOK

up or to speak up for democracy and human rights.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken to Colombian President Ivan Duque and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to affirm their support of Guaido in recent days. On Sunday, Trudeau and Sanchez also agreed on “the imperative for new, free and fair elections in Venezuela,” according to Trudeau’s office. ■

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FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

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‘Debacle’ with China latest foreign MPs try to find way in policy flub for Trudeau, says Scheer temporary digs for last sitting before election

BY MIKE BLANCHFIELD The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The “debacle” over the firing of Canada’s ambassador to China is the latest in a string of foreign-policy failures for the prime minister, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer charged on Monday.

Scheer also cited Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s controversial photo-op-filled trip to India last winter, said Trudeau made “concession after concession” on the trade front to U.S. President Donald Trump, and frustrated Japan and Australia when Canada didn’t immediately sign on to a rebooted Trans-Pacific Partnership in late 2017.

“It’s clear that the prime minister’s foreign policy is a disaster and Canadians are paying for his mistakes,” Scheer said in the first question of the government in the newly constructed House of Commons in the West Block of Parliament Hill.

The final sitting of Parliament before this fall’s federal election opened with the Liberals on the defensive, following Trudeau’s decision on Friday to fire ambassador John McCallum.

The move came after a turbulent week that saw McCallum — an experienced cabinet minister who was parachuted into a sensitive diplomatic job with Canada’s second-largest trading partner — go off script in Canada’s efforts to win the release of two men imprisoned by the People’s Republic after Canada arrested a Chinese telecommunications executive.

“After clowning around in India and inviting a convicted terrorist along with him, he then was forced to take concession after concession from Donald Trump. He even angered our partners in Japan and Australia.

And now we have the debacle with China. Why did the prime minister show such weakness and wait so long to fire his ambassador?” Scheer demanded.

Trudeau sidestepped the question and reiterated taking points about how the government is devoted to the rule of law and remains committed to marshalling international sup-

BY TERESA WRIGHT The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.

port to win the release of the two Canadians and seek clemency for a third man facing a death sentence on drug charges.

Earlier Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said McCallum was fired because he didn’t toe the government’s line in the current China crisis.

McCallum apologized last week for misspeaking about the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested on Dec. 1 in Vancouver at the request of the United States, which wants to extradite her on fraud charges.

He was then fired after telling a Vancouver newspaper it would be “great for Canada” if the U.S. dropped its extradition request for Meng.

Freeland said McCallum’s comments were inconsistent with the position of the government, which is that Meng is the subject of a legal proceeding that is not politically motivated.

The “foremost job” of any Canadian ambassador is to accurately represent the government’s views, she said.

“That is what made it untenable for ambassador McCallum to remain in his role.”

Freeland said she considers McCallum a friend and that he visited her home earlier this month. But Freeland offered no explanation for why McCallum

ANDREW SCHEER / FACEBOOK

chose to say what he did.

The government remains focused on gaining the release of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor, who have been arrested on vague suspicions of violating Chinese national security, she said.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman had little to say Monday about McCallum’s departure in his government’s daily press briefing, saying that it was an internal Canadian matter. But Geng Shuang also made it clear China still wasn’t buying Canada’s insistence that Meng’s case was an independent legal matter and reiterated his government’s demand that Canada release her unconditionally.

“I want to point out that the Meng Wanzhou case is definitely not a pure judicial case,” he said in translated remarks on his department’s website.

“There are strong political motives and maneuverings behind it. The Chinese people and the international community know that very well.”

Justice Minister David Lametti said Canada is following its treaty obligations with the United States.

“We are protecting Ms. Meng’s rights within that process and will continue to do so,” he said. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

OTTAWA — Newly minted Treasury Board President Jane Philpott was just finishing a scrum with reporters in the foyer of the new House of Commons in Ottawa Monday.

She told journalists to “enjoy the new building,” turned and walked through the wrong door.

Instead of going into the legislative chamber, the minister set out for the exit.

This was a familiar sight Monday as MPs, staffers and media negotiated their way through the Commons’ temporary new home in the refurbished West Block while Centre Block undergoes a major makeover, expected to take at least a decade.

Cabinet ministers, MPs and their staff had to elbow their way through a melee of reporters and cameras in a smaller-thanthey’re-used-to foyer outside the chamber. Some tried to get in through a locked door reserved for parliamentary officials. Staff were posted throughout the building to give directions. Inside, MPs joked about how they still felt lost in their new quarters.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used his first answer in question period to note the work of designers and engineers who helped to make the temporary new chamber a reality.

“If we who serve Canadians in this place work even half as hard as they worked to build this place for us, we will be very well served as a country indeed,” Trudeau said.

The change in location did not dilute the partisan vitriol of question period. Trudeau faced pointed questions from Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on the firing of former Liberal MP John McCallum as Canada’s ambassador to Beijing over the weekend.

Pointing also to the prime minister’s troubled trip to India last year, which featured events attended by convicted attempted murderer Jaspal Atwal, Scheer accused the prime minister’s foreign policy of being in a state of “disaster.”

Trudeau batted away Conser-

vative critiques on the China file, saying his government is working with “integrity and firmness” to ensure the liberation of two Canadians — Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — detained in there and is seeking clemency on a third Canadian, Robert Schellenberg, who has been sentenced to death for smuggling drugs.

NDP MPs, meanwhile, focused their questions on housing shortages across Canada, asking Trudeau to commit funding in his upcoming budget to alleviate this “crisis.”

Although question period did not lack for fireworks, one new feature did get a particularly loud standing ovation — when Winnipeg Liberal MP RobertFalcon Oullette asked a question in Cree and it was translated simultaneously into English and French. Earlier in the day, he’d delivered a statement in Plains Cree, which was also translated and will be printed in Hansard.

This historic first came as a result of a committee report adopted by all parties in the House last fall that recommended interpretation services be made available on request for any MP who wishes to use one of more than 60 Indigenous languages in the Commons or in a Commons committee.

MPs also erupted into song at one point, singing “Happy Birthday” to Canadian hockey player Paul Henderson, who was in the Speaker’s gallery to hear a number of statements calling for him to be inducted into Canada’s Hockey Hall of Fame. Henderson is known for his winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union.

As question period came to a close Monday, Speaker Geoff Regan invited all members to a party for Henderson in a room behind the chamber.

“And where would that be?”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale joked, eliciting laughs from members on all sides of the house.

It may be a while before the new House will feel like home for returning MPs in this final session before the election scheduled for October. ■

World News

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FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

US charges against Huawei could inflame China trade talks

BY LINDSEY BAHR The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s unveiling of criminal charges against the Chinese tech giant Huawei has complicated high-level talks set to begin Wednesday in Washington that are intended to defuse the trade war between the administration and Beijing.

The Justice Department charged Monday that Huawei had violated U.S. sanctions against sales to Iran and stolen trade secrets from T-Mobile, a U.S. partner. Those charges cut to the heart of some of the administration’s key complaints about China’s trade practices.

Analysts said the trade talks would likely proceed, but reaching any substantive agreement would probably be harder. And unless the two sides can forge some sort of accord by March 1, U.S. tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports are set to rise from 10 per cent to 25 per cent.

“The Chinese will keep talking,” said David Dollar, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former U.S. Treasury official. “They won’t be happy

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with the Justice Department action, but I think they would like to keep it separate from the trade talks.”

Representatives of U.S. business groups privately raised concerns that the administration’s actions could poison the atmosphere between the two sides. Any backlash in China against the indictment of Huawei, one of the country’s global powerhouses, could limit Beijing’s ability to agree to anything that might be seen as bowing too willingly to U.S. demands.

The Justice Department has also charged Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. The United States is seeking to extradite Meng, who has been held in Canada since Dec. 1.

Sarah Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, was asked whether the criminal charges against Huawei were linked to the trade talks with China and amounted to a carrot-and-stick approach.

“No, those two things are not linked,” she said. “They are a totally separate process.”

This week’s negotiations were already facing low expectations.

“We are anticipating no big outcomes

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this week,” Erin Ennis, senior vice-pres- which would make it difficult to verify ident at the U.S.-China Business Coun- whether Beijing has complied with any cil, said Monday before the Huawei major agreement. charges were announced.

In previous rounds of talks, China has The Trump administration, with sup- shown little inclination to yield to the port from U.S. businesses, wants China administration’s demands. to make fundamental changes to its “China has yet to show any indication economy that China is reluctant to ac- that it is ready to address U.S. and global cept and that will be difficult to verify, concerns about its structural issues,” analysts say. The administration has said Scott Kennedy, a China specialist accused Beijing of deploying predatory at the Center for Strategic and Internatrade tactics, ranging from requiring tional Studies. “The two sides are pretty U.S. and other foreign far apart.” companies to hand Beijing has previover technology in ously offered to inreturn for access crease its purchases to the vast Chinese China has yet of U.S. products, nomarket to outright to show any tably soybeans and cyber-theft. indication that other agricultural Robert Lighthizer, it is ready to goods as well as natuthe U.S. trade repreaddress U.S. ral gas. This would sentative and lead and global help address Trump’s negotiator in this concerns about concern about the week’s talks, wants its structural gaping U.S. trade defChina to toughen its issues. icit with China. Beiprotections of inteljing could also open lectual property and more industries to to stop unfairly subU.S. companies and sidizing its state-owned enterprises. pledge better protection for U.S. intel“The scope of these talks will be the lectual property. In return, China could broadest and deepest in U.S.-China his- press the U.S. to remove the tariffs that tory,” Larry Kudlow, a top White House President Donald Trump imposed last economic adviser, said Monday. year.

Yet reaching the kind of deal the UnitDerek Scissors, a China expert at the ed States wants could prove elusive if American Enterprise Institute, said that not impossible. Chinese officials deny China would likely accept such a deal, if that they force U.S. companies to trans- it were offered. Doing so would outweigh fer technology. And they regard the sup- any concerns China has about Huawei. port of their state-owned companies “If they think they can get the deal and the acquisition of cutting-edge tech- that they want, they won’t cancel the nology, much of it from abroad, as vital talks over Huawei,” he said. ■ to China’s economic development.

U.S. companies in China say that AP Business Writers Marcy Gordon and forced technology transfers typically Martin Crutsinger in Washington and happen at the local level and stem from Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed to informal pressure by Chinese officials, this report.

❰❰ 15

Trudeau’s comments on challenges with some provinces.

“What he’s identifying is that in order for us to actually conclude on infrastructure projects it requires alignment between the federal government, the provincial government and municipalities,” Morneau said. “If there’s not agreement on which project is most high priority, it can present challenges.”

The mayors, who make up the bigcity caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said they pressed Trudeau in the meeting to create a direct, formal channel between local communities and Ottawa — one that circumvents provinces, if necessary.

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson told reporters that the groups asked Trudeau

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to establish an intergovernmental forum that would put cities at the decision-making table along with the provinces and Ottawa.

“It’s crucially important if you’ve got provinces that are not willing to engage on transit or not willing to engage on housing or not willing to engage on climate for there to be a more formal mechanism for local government and the federal government to work together to achieve those policy outcomes,” he said.

Iveson said the mayors also urged Trudeau to top up the federal fund for disaster mitigation by $2 billion in his spring budget and to create a permanent federal mechanism that commits to public transit funding well beyond a 10-year time horizon to help local leaders make long-term plans. ■

World News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

19

Trump, Pelosi agree UK leader under new pressure on Feb. 5 for State of to secure EU Brexit concessions the Union address

BY LAURIE KELLMAN The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday accepted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to deliver his State of the Union speech on Feb. 5, a week later than originally scheduled because of the partial government shutdown.

“It is my great honour to accept,” Trump said in a letter to Pelosi. “We have a great story to tell and yet, great goals to achieve!”

The speech had initially been scheduled for Jan. 29, but Pelosi postponed it amid what turned into a 35-day partial government shutdown over Trump’s demand for border wall funding. It was the first known time that a speaker had rescinded an invitation to deliver the State of the Union.

“When I wrote to you on January 23rd, I stated that we should work together to find a mutually agreeable date when government has reopened to schedule this year’s State of the Union address,” Pelosi wrote.

“In our conversation today, we agreed on February 5th.

“Therefore,” she continued, “I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on February 5, 2019 in the House Chamber.”

Pelosi’s office and the White House told The Associated Press that the House speaker and president had spoken by

US Pres. Donald Trump.

phone Monday afternoon. A Pelosi spokesman said she placed the call at 3:55 p.m. and it lasted about 12 minutes.

The House and Senate still must pass a resolution officially inviting Trump to speak to a joint session of Congress.

Pelosi had postponed the speech, first as a “suggestion” and later, after Trump declared his intent to appear anyway, as a formal rescission. The president then refused to allow her to lead a delegation overseas on the military jets he commands.

The president said he was considering an “alternative” plan.

Finally, last Friday, Trump capitulated. All sides agreed to fund the government through Feb. 15 to give negotiators time to discuss border security. And on Monday, Pelosi confirmed the State of the Union was back on — on her schedule.

The Constitution states only that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union,” meaning the president can speak anywhere he chooses or give his update in writing.

But a joint address in the House chamber, in front of lawmakers from both parties, the Supreme Court justices and invited guests, provides the kind of grand backdrop that is hard to mimic and that this president, especially, enjoys. ■ Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

DROP OF LIGHT / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

BY JILL LAWLESS AND DANICA KIRKA The Associated Press

LONDON — Pro-Brexit British lawmakers were mounting a campaign Monday to rescue Prime Minister Theresa May’s rejected European Union divorce deal in a parliamentary showdown, as major retailers warned the U.K. could face food shortages if it leaves the bloc without an agreement.

Lawmakers threw out May’s Brexit deal two weeks ago and will debate and vote Tuesday on competing plans for what to do next. Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, with or without a deal.

Businesses say a no-deal Brexit would cause economic chaos by eliminating trade agreements and imposing tariffs, customs checks and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its biggest trading partner.

Chief executives of fast-food company McDonald’s and supermarket chains Sainsbury’s and Waitrose were among signatories to a letter to lawmakers warning of “significant disruption” if the U.K. leaves without a deal, given that nearly a third of Britain’s food comes from the EU. “While we have been working closely with our suppliers on contingency plans it is not possible to mitigate all the risks to our supply chains,” said the retailers, who urged lawmakers to avoid a no-deal departure.

“We anticipate significant risks to maintaining the choice, quality and durability of food that our customers have come to expect in our stores,” they added.

May says she wants a deal, and insists her agreement can still win parliament’s backing, if it is tweaked to alleviate concerns about a provision for the Irish border. The measure, known as the backstop, would keep the U.K. in a customs union with the EU in order to remove the need for checks along the frontier between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Britain leaves the bloc.

That border is crucial to the divorce deal because it will be the only land frontier between www.canadianinquirer.net

UK PM Theresa May.

the U.K. and the EU after Brexit.

Border checkpoints have disappeared since Ireland and Britain both became members of the EU single market in the 1990s, and the 1998 Good Friday peace accord largely ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Opposition to the backstop by pro-Brexit lawmakers — who fear it will trap Britain in regulatory lockstep with the EU — helped sink May’s deal earlier this month. A new proposal submitted by Conservative legislator Graham Brady commits to backing May’s deal if the backstop is replaced by “alternative arrangements.”

Brady said if the motion was approved by Parliament, it would give May “enormous firepower” to go back to Brussels and renegotiate the Brexit divorce deal.

The government hopes to bring the deal back for a new vote in Parliament in February, with enough changes to reverse its thumping defeat on Jan. 15, when lawmakers rejected it by 432 votes to 202.

Some members of Parliament who voted against May’s deal the first time say they would support it if the Irish backstop was removed.

Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a leading Brexiteer, said the prime minister was trying to secure a “freedom clause” that would ensure Britain could get out of the backstop. In his weekly Daily Telegraph column, Johnson said May would have “the whole country full-throatedly behind her” if she secured such a change.

But EU leaders insist they will not change the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement.

“This withdrawal agreement

THERESA MAY / FACEBOOK

has been agreed with the U.K. government, it is endorsed by leaders and is not open for renegotiation,” EU spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Sunday that Northern Ireland’s peace process depended on avoiding the return of a hard border.

“That won’t be easy, and those who misrepresent the backstop don’t have an alternative to it,” he said. “The EU has been clear that the backstop is an integral part of the withdrawal agreement.”

Brady’s backstop proposal is one of more than a dozen amendments proposed by U.K. lawmakers that aim to alter the course of Britain’s departure.

Some others seek to rule out a no-deal Brexit so Britain can’t tumble out of the bloc on March 29 without an agreement in place to cushion the shock.

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow will announce Tuesday which amendments have been selected for debate and vote.

Conservative lawmaker Nick Boles, who is backing an amendment designed to rule out a no-deal Brexit and seek a delay to Britain’s EU departure, said that Tuesday “is probably the only opportunity that Parliament is going to have to intervene in this process, to take control.”

“If we don’t seize the moment tomorrow afternoon, then we are at grave risk of just driving off the edge on March 29 without really wanting to and when there might be a compromise we could achieve, if we just had a few more months,” he told the BBC. ■

World News

20

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

Trump rollbacks for fossil fuel industries carry steep cost

BY MATTHEW BROWN The Associated Press BILLINGS, MONT. — As the Trump administration rolls back environmental and safety rules for the energy sector, government projections show billions of dollars in savings reaped by companies will come at a steep cost: more premature deaths and illnesses from air pollution, a jump in climatewarming emissions and more severe derailments of trains carrying explosive fuels.

The Associated Press analyzed 11 major rules targeted for repeal or relaxation under Trump, using the administration’s own estimates to tally how its actions would boost businesses and harm society.

The AP identified up to $11.6 billion in potential future savings for companies that extract, burn and transport fossil fuels.

Industry windfalls of billions of dollars more could come from

a freeze in vehicle efficiency standards that will yield an estimated 79 billion-gallon (300 million-litre) increase in fuel consumption.

On the opposite side of the government’s ledger, buried in thousands of pages of analyses, are the “social costs” of rolling back the regulations. Among them: — Up to 1,400 additional premature deaths annually due to the pending repeal of a rule to cut coal plant pollution.

— An increase in greenhouse gas emissions by about 1 billion tons (907 million metric tons) from vehicles produced over the next decade — a figure equivalent to annual emissions of almost 200 million vehicles.

— Increased risk of water contamination from a drilling technique known as “fracking.”

— Fewer safety checks to prevent offshore oil spills.

For the Trump administration and its supporters, the rule changes examined by AP mark a

Pandit Mahadeva

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much-needed pivot away from heavy regulations that threatened to hold back the Republican president’s goal of increasing U.S. energy production. But the AP’s findings also underscore the administration’s willingness to put company profits ahead of safety considerations and pollution effects.

Siding with industry

The AP found the administration has sought to bolster the changes by emphasizing, and sometimes exaggerating, economic gains while minimizing negative impacts.

For example, when calculating future damages from greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants, the Trump administration looked only at U.S. effects, instead of globally. That drastically reduced the benefits of emission restrictions and allowed the administration to conclude the Obama-era rule was no longer justified, given costs to the coal industry.

In another instance, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to stop considering secondary benefits of controlling mercury emissions — namely reductions in other pollutants projected to prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths.

Last month, the AP revealed that the administration understated the advantages of installing better brakes on trains carrying crude oil and ethanol.

Transportation Department officials acknowledged they miscalculated potential benefits by up to $117 million because they failed to include some projected future derailments.

In explaining its actions, the Trump administration said in some cases that the previous administration understated the price tag on new industry restrictions. In others, it said President Barack Obama’s administration had been overly expansive in how it defined benefits to society.

Michael Greenstone, a University of Chicago professor who served as chief economist for Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, said the Trump administration was downplaying the health and environmental impacts of its actions.

“When you start fudging the www.canadianinquirer.net

numbers, it’s not that the costs just evaporate into thin air.

We will pay,” Greenstone said.

“They are reducing the costs for industries where pollution is a byproduct.”

The rules being targeted were largely crafted under Obama in response to climate change, the disastrous 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, massive releases from coal ash dumps and fuel train explosions.

Administration: negligible risks

Trump’s administration has stressed that savings for companies were greater than any increased perils to safety or the environment.

“We fully recognize every significant policy decision has a consequence and that those consequences can differ,” acting U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told the AP. “I think when you look at the track record, holistically, what you see is our deregulatory efforts are still pretty protective.”

The AP’s tally of savings was derived from government projections required under a 1993 executive order. Five of the rule changes are still pending.

On rules for toxic coal ash, offshore safety and refinery pollution, the administration said companies would save hundreds of millions of dollars with little or no added risk — an assertion former federal officials and environmental groups have disputed.

The potential industry savings were projected largely over the next decade.

Sectors of the coal industry see lifting costly rules as a matter of survival because demand

has plummeted as utilities switch to cleaner-burning fuels.

For the oil and gas industry, with hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue, the economic impact of the Obama-era rules was comparatively small. But they were vigorously opposed as restrictions on business.

“We need to make sure we’re putting together rules that are flexible enough to apply the latest, greatest technologies,” said Erik Milito, vice-president for the American Petroleum institute. He said the group focused on whether rules make sense, rather than cost savings.

Critics say the impact on public health and the environment will be even worse than projected.

“I don’t think it’s well understood what the death toll of these policies will be for the American people,” said Paul Billings, of the American Lung Association.

Obama climate agenda assailed

Two sweeping changes under Trump — the rollback of the Clean Power Plan that threatened to close many coal power plants and a reversal of plans to increase vehicle fuel efficiency standards — were centerpieces of Obama’s climate change actions.

Killing the power plan would save companies up to $6.4 billion, the EPA concluded.

The trade-off is almost 61 million tons (55 million metric tons) annually of additional carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The administration cal❱❱ PAGE 22 Trump rollbacks

World News

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

21

GOP leaders signal no taste for renewing shutdown over wall

BY ALAN FRAM AND ANDREW TAYLOR The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Wary of reigniting a clash that proved damaging to Republicans, congressional GOP leaders signalled Tuesday that they want to deescalate the battle over President Donald Trump’s border wall and suggested they could be flexible as bargainers seek a bipartisan agreement.

In what seemed a message aimed at the White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the two confrontational tactics that Trump has threatened to employ if negotiators can’t craft a border security accord to his liking. The president has said he’d trigger a fresh shutdown or declare a national emergency on the Southwest boundary, a disputed move that could let him redirect budget funds to building segments of the wall.

The remarks by McConnell, R-Ky., were noteworthy because the guarded lawmaker seldom volunteers his opinions and reporters had not specifically asked him about a shutdown or a possible emergency

declaration. The comments underscored his party’s eagerness to put the 35-day partial federal shutdown behind them and avoid additional jarring clashes, and suggested possible divisions between GOP lawmakers and the White House.

“I’m for whatever works that would prevent the level of dysfunction we’ve seen on full display here the last month and also doesn’t bring about a view on the president’s part that he needs to declare a national emergency,” McConnell said when asked to describe a border security agreement he’d support.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said he would not insist that any deal include the word “wall.” The comment signalled the GOP’s latest rhetorical retreat from a battle cry — “Build the wall!” — that Trump made a keystone of his presidential campaign.

The longest shutdown ever was initiated by Trump after Democrats refused his demand for $5.7 billion to build segments of his long-sought border wall. Polls show people chiefly blame Trump and Republicans for the shutdown and widely dislike the wall.

The president surrendered last Friday and agreed to reopen government for three weeks so negotiators can seek a border security deal, but with no commitments for wall funds.

House-Senate bargainers plan their first negotiating session Wednesday.

Some lawmakers have suggested broadening whatever package emerges, perhaps adding protections from deportation for young “Dreamer” immigrants in the U.S. illegally or making it harder for future shutdowns to occur. Disagreements over those issues make their inclusion unlikely, most lawmakers say.

McCarthy told reporters Tuesday that the wording of an agreement “could be barrier. It doesn’t have to be a wall.”

Trump has retreated increasingly from “wall” as it became apparent that he lacked the votes in Congress to win taxpayer financing for the project, which he initially said would be financed by Mexico.

“They can name it ‘Peaches,”‘ Trump said earlier this month.

“I don’t care what they name it.

But we need money for that barrier.” He’s also recently tweeted a new mantra, “BUILD A WALL

McCarthy told reporters Tuesday that the wording of an agreement “could be barrier. It doesn’t have to be a wall.”

& CRIME WILL FALL!” McCarthy said wall and barrier mean the same thing to him and Trump.

“Inside the meetings we’ve had, he’s said it could be a barrier, it could be a wall,” said McCarthy. “Because what a barrier does, it’s still the same thing.

It’s the 30-foot steel slat, that’s a barrier.”

White House spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp said, “The president has perfectly set this table for the negotiations with Congress. He wants to give Congress one more chance.”

Democrats have repeatedly said they wouldn’t finance the wall, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has called “immoral.” In recent weeks, they’ve expressed support for fencing or physical barriers but have left ambiguous exactly what they would back.

They’ve said they want to spend money on more border patrol agents and technology like scanning devices and drones.

“There are many kinds of walls, and so I think that we’re

others when it comes to charging infrastructure. For instance, who should pay for the installation and running costs of charging points in condos? What sort of upgrades are needed to deal with the extra electrical loads from EV charging?

Non-governmental associations such as the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C. and the Building Owners and Managers Association of B.C. offer some guidance, but confusion remains.

Finally, governments can help raise public awareness and acceptance of EVs by introducing programs to educate people who have less trust in, and understanding of, EV technology.

Many municipalities around the world could adopt these suggestions to encourage the installation of at-home EV charging points, while also

boosting urban density.

Cities generate 80 per cent of global GDP and are responsible for 70 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions, so they are critical arenas for addressing the sources and effects of climate change.

As vehicle electrification gains ground in Canada and elsewhere, we will need policies that do a better job of recognizing the obstacles and opportunities around residential charging. The high densification and mobility challenges experienced in B.C.’s urban areas illustrates the challenges faced by many modern cities. ■

❱❱ PAGE 13 GOP leaders

How growing... ❰❰ 32

still beset by the classic chicken-and-egg problem: fuel providers will not invest in fuelling infrastructure until enough EVs are in circulation, and people will avoid buying an EV until sufficient charging points exist.

Few incentives to retrofit

While a dense network of public charging points will be important for reducing range anxiety among users, almost 90 per cent of charging takes place at home. Yet the installation of home charging stations is complicated in buildings with multiple dwelling units, because of competing interests in the common spaces shared by residents. So-called “MultiUnit Residential Buildings” now account for over a quarter of all households in B.C. and are forecast to make up 70 per cent

of all new residential constructions in the province by 2020.

As of 2019, all new multifamily residential developments built in Vancouver must include EV charging infrastructure. But the city has no policies to encourage building owners to retrofit existing buildings with charging points.

Our research found financial and technical issues were the most significant barriers to installing charging points in multi-unit residential buildings, mostly due to the imposing electrical loads EV charging stations place on the buildings’ existing power systems. Other barriers include the lack of support from non-EV drivers, unclear regulation concerning the rights and obligations of drivers and landlords, and overly conservative regulatory requirements for buildings.

Breaking down barriers

Municipal governments throughout B.C. could break down these barriers with a few key policy changes.

They could start by introducing financial policies that create incentives for both EV owners and building owners. So-called “demand-focused” policies include programs that provide financial aid to building owners to develop retrofit plans, and to mandate them to retrofit a minimum number of charging stations. EV ownership could be incentivized through rebates that cover the cost of a new vehicle: B.C. already offers rebates of up to $5,000, but this is much lower than in Quebec.

Municipal governments should also clarify the rights and obligations of builders, building owners, residents and www.canadianinquirer.net

This piece was written in conjunction with Diana LopezBehar, Martino Tran, Thomas Froese, Omar Herrera and Walter Merida (University of British Columbia).

22

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

Trump rollbacks...

Study:

Corruption levels linked to health of democracies

BY DAVID RISING The Associated Press BERLIN — Countries like Hungary and Turkey are growing more corrupt as they become more autocratic, and threats to the American system of checks and balances have knocked the United States out of the top 20 “cleanest” countries, according to a closely watched annual survey released Tuesday.

Watchdog group Transparency International said its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018 showed more than twothirds of countries scoring be- Full democracies scored an average of 75 on the corruption index, flawed low 50, on its scale where 100 is democracies averaged 49, and autocratic regimes averaged 30, the very clean and zero is very cor- organization said. rupt.

With a score of 71, the U.S. cited Freedom House’s an- pore, Sweden and Switzerland. lost four points over 2017 and nual democracy survey, noting Rounding out the top group dropped out of the top 20 na- Turkey was downgraded from were Norway, Netherlands, tions for the first time since “partly free” to “not free,” while Canada, Luxembourg, Germa2011.

Hungary registered its lowest ny and Britain.

“A four point drop in the CPI score for political rights since Somalia was rated the most score is a red flag and comes at the fall of communism in 1989. corrupt with a score of 10, fola time when the U.S. is experiThe ratings reflect the “de- lowed by Syria, South Sudan, encing threats to its system of terioration of rule of law and Yemen, North Korea, Sudan, checks and balance, as well as democratic institutions, as well Guinea Bissau, Equatorial an erosion of ethical norms at as a rapidly shrinking space for Guinea, Afghanistan and Libya. the highest levels of power,” the civil society and independent Since 2012, only 20 nations Berlin-based organization said. media,” the organization said. had significantly improved “If this trend their scores, incontinues, it cluding Argenwould indicate a tina and Ivory serious corrupCoast, which tion problem in a Corruption is much more likely scored 40 and 35 country that has to flourish where democratic respectively, up taken a lead on foundations are weak and, as from 35 and 29. the issue globally we have seen in many countries, At the same —this is a biparwhere undemocratic and populist time, 16 have tisan issue that politicians can use it to their declined sigrequires a biparadvantage. nificantly in that tisan solution.” time, including In a crossAustralia, which analysis of its slipped from survey with global democracy “Our research makes a clear a score of 85 to 77, and Chile, data, Transparency said a link link between having a healthy which dropped from 72 to 67. could be drawn between cor- democracy and successfully The index is calculated using ruption and the health of a de- fighting public sector corrup- 13 different data sources that mocracy. tion,” said Delia Ferreira Ru- provide perceptions of public Full democracies scored an bio, the head of Transparency. sector corruption from busiaverage of 75 on the corrup- “Corruption is much more like- ness people and country extion index, flawed democracies ly to flourish where democratic perts. These include the African averaged 49, and autocratic re- foundations are weak and, as Development Bank Country gimes averaged 30, the organi- we have seen in many coun- Policy and Institutional Assesszation said. tries, where undemocratic and ment, the World Bank Country It noted that Hungary populist politicians can use it to Policy and Institutional Assessdropped eight points and Tur- their advantage.” ment, the World Economic Fokey nine over the past five Overall, Denmark led the sur- rum Executive Opinion Survey years, to scores of 46 and 41, re- vey as the least corrupt nation, and the World Justice Project spectively. with a score of 88, followed by Rule of Law Index Expert SurAt the same time, the report New Zealand, Finland, Singa- vey. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

❰❰ 20

culated that those emissions carry a maximum of $3.2 billion in “social costs,” such as flood damage and higher air conditioning costs.

Since company savings outweighed pollution costs, the administration said scrapping the power plan was justified.

That conclusion was possible largely because the EPA limited social costs to effects in the U.S., instead of globally as under Obama.

EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said the analysis complied with a 2003 directive under President George W. Bush that said such reviews should focus on costs and benefits to people in the U.S. Joe Goffman, a former EPA official who helped create the clean power plan and now at Harvard Law School, said the omission of international impacts “doesn’t track with reality” given that climate change is a worldwide problem.

The Trump administration also limited pollution cost considerations in its proposal last month on mercury emitted by coal plants.

When the mercury rule was finalized in 2012, the EPA projected up to $90 billion in benefits, including avoidance of up to 11,000 premature deaths from other power plant pollutants.

Now, the EPA says those benefits could not be considered because they are not directly tied to mercury reductions. The only benefits that should be counted, the agency said, were improvements to IQ scores as a result of less mercury exposure, valued at up to $6 million annually.

The National Mining Association had urged the change.

Spokesman Conor Bernstein said Obama’s EPA misused the concept of secondary pollution benefits to justify its actions.

The rollback’s impact is unclear since utilities already have spent an estimated $18 billion on new pollution controls.

Fuel standards and drilling safety

Some experts outside government take issue with the rationale for relaxing the fuel economy rule.

The Trump administration says reducing standards would save as many as 1,000 lives an-

nually and spare consumers and car companies hundreds of billions of dollars on vehicles with higher gas mileage. To reach that conclusion, officials lowered estimates of how many vehicles people would buy.

But economists including from the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research say that assumption was fundamentally flawed, since looser standards would make cars cheaper and therefore increase demand. The economists said the government used misleading findings to wipe out at least $112 billion in potential societal benefits while falsely claiming its change would save numerous lives.

“Every change they made was made in the direction to make the standards look more expensive and the rollback to look cheaper and better,” said Jeff Alson, who worked 40 years at an EPA lab in Michigan.

Several rules reworked under Trump tie directly to worker and public safety.

The administration rescinded requirements for improved fuel train brakes after determining the costs to industry would be higher than previously calculated. It acknowledged more spills from derailments would likely occur.

After AP’s story about the agency’s $117 million benefits understatement, spokesman Bobby Fraser said the decision to rescind the Obama rule would stand because the costs were still greater.

Two safety rules for offshore oil and gas drilling were adopted following the Deepwater Horizon accident, which killed 11 people and spilled 134 million gallons (507 million litres) of oil.

The Interior Department now says less rigid inspection and equipment requirements would save drilling companies hundreds of millions of dollars with “negligible” safety and environmental risks.

Lynn Scarlett, acting Interior Secretary under George W. Bush, said the changes ignore a government commission’s findings on the Gulf spill.

“You’re removing a tool that was developed intentionally to help reduce the risks,” Scarlett said. “The failure to have those protections raises the risk, such that actions can result in accidents like Deepwater Horizon.”

23

Entertainment Final bow: Pepe Smith’s last rock n roll at 71

BY BEA KIRSTEIN T. MANALAYSAY Philippine Canadian Inquirer THE PHILIPPINE music industry mourns as one of the recognized founding fathers of rock in the country – Joseph William Feliciano “Pepe” Smith – takes his final bow at the age of 71.

Ang himig natin Ang inyong awitin Upang tayo’y magsama-sama Sa langit ng pag-asa Indeed Juan de la Cruz band’s “Ang Himig Natin” composed by none other than Pepe, resonates with the hearts crying for his passing around 7:00 a.m. on Monday, January 28; for now, they can only hear his trademark rock n roll live in their

memories.

The news first broke out as one of his daughters, Daisy Smith-Owen took to Facebook to post about it.

“Thank you for everything (my) papa bear ko. Thank you for being the best dad in the world. I know you’re in the best place now, no more pains papa…,” Daisy writes as a caption to a photo with her father.

Scrolling downward in her timeline though is a series of updates regarding her father’s condition moments before.

On 6:48 a.m. she asked her friends to pray for her dad, whom she said was rushed to the hospital that morning.

7:02 a.m. on the clock, Daisy says, “Papa! Don’t! Please!” which was followed by a “Papa…

Late Pepe Smith with daughter Sanya.

@SANYASMITH007 / INSTAGRAM

please come back! Don’t leave us! Please come back!” a couple

of minutes after.

Meanwhile, his other daugh-

ter Sanya Smith uploaded a photo, captioned with a heart and a cloud icon.

No other details were revealed by his family on his cause of death but he has reportedly suffered from stroke in 2017 and undergone a gallbladder surgery in September last year.

As posted in his Facebook timeline, he had shared to his friends and followers on November 2018 that he has a cataract, elaborating that he is “really depressed” in the state that he is in, as he is “hopeless,” “almost blind,” and “useless.”

In 1971, Pepe joined the Juan de la Cruz band founded

by Wally Gonzales as a singerdrummer-composer; forming the iconic trio with Mike Hanopol. ■

Princess Mia is coming back!

BY ARLNIE COLLEENE TALAIN SINGCA Philippine Canadian Inquirer PREPARE YOUR ball gowns and rehearse your curtsies, ladies. Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldi, or mostly adored as the quirky princess-turned-queen of Genovia, Mia, is coming back for the third sequel of childhood favorite movie, Princess Diaries.

Princess Diaries’ fans were delighted to hear last week from Princess Mia herself, Anne Hathaway, that Princess Diaries 3 is on its way. On her Watch What Happens Live guesting, Anne confirmed that the third installment to the movie is actually happening, and even the Queen, Julie Andrews, wants to do it.

“There is a script for the third movie… There is a script,” Anne broke the news on her interview, “I want to do it. Julie wants to do it. Debra Martin Chase, our producer, wants to do it. We all really want it to happen.”

But the princess explained,

“It’s just we don’t want to unless it’s perfect because we love it just as much as you guys love it.” She went on, relating to the fans of the film, “It’s as important to us as it is to you, and we don’t want to deliver anything until it’s ready, but we’re working on it.”

Even with just those words, fans were still blissful to hear that Princess Mia is actually returning to Genovia.

This just rose up the hopes of the fans patiently waiting for nearly 15 years. On 2017, Julie told on her Buzzfeed interview that both her and Anne were actually willing to do it, “There’s a talk about it. And [Hathaway]’s very keen to do it. I would be very willingly and happily do it.”

She even mentioned about doing the third sequel in honor of the late director of the first two films, Garry Marshall, who died in 2016.

The first movie revolved around how Mia found out about her true identity as a daughter of a prince of a kingdom far away from San Francisco, Genovia. Her grandmother, the queen, did everything to

reconnect to her, and eventually tried to make her a princess that she has always been since her birth. At the end of the film, she wholly accepted her crown and flew all the way to her own kingdom.

While on Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement, Princess Mia is bound to be crowned as the Queen of Genovia. But in order to claim the throne, she has to marry an eligible prince. Things got complicated, though, when in the middle of trying to fall in love with Duke of Kenilworth, Andrew Jacoby, Lord Nicholas Deveraux, another heir to the Genovian throne, came into the picture. Suddenly, Princess Mia found herself falling for Nicholas instead.

And the last thing we heard about the princess? She’s been crowned as the new Queen of Genovia, even without getting married.

Now, everyone’s still curious to know what’s next for our favorite royalty. Would there be another story, another man in Mia’s life? Or would Lord Nicholas still be there by her side?

Another source of hope of the www.canadianinquirer.net

Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway as Queen Clarisse and Princes Mia. @ANNEHATHAWAY_ / INSTAGRAM

fans is The Princess Diaries’ book series author, Meg Cabot, who told Entertainment Weekly that a script to the movie actually exists. But there were no hints from the author regarding the story of the third movie, if ever.

However, Meg’s recent installment to the book series, The Princess Diaries, Volume XI: Royal Wedding could be a good thinking on what to expect on the next film.

As much as Anne and Julie were excited and very interested in stepping in their royal shoes again, other actors were also open in fitting theirs, too.

Chris Pine, who played as the love interest of Anne on the 2004 movie, jokingly answered the question if he was ever praying for Princess Diaries 3 in a Q&A for Entertainment Weekly with “Have you been reading my diary?”

Also, Heather Matarrazzo, who played as Princess Mia’s best friend, said that she would definitely return for the movie, saying, “If Annie and Julie are down, of course!”

A lot are positive about the idea of Princess Diaries 3, but who is not thrilled to see Princess—Queen Mia, rather, again anyway? ■

24

Entertainment

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

Live audience member dies in accident during ‘Wowowin’ taping

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Awkwafina.

@AWKWAFINA / INSTAGRAM

Sundance:

A different side of Awkwafina in ‘The Farewell’

BY LINDSEY BAHR The Associated Press PARK CITY, UTAH — Awkwafina’s dramatic turn in “The Farewell” has quickly become one of the must-sees at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. After rising to household name status last summer with breakout comedic roles in “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Ocean’s 8,” audiences in Park City, Utah, have been raving over the discovery that she’s got the chops to make you cry, and not just from laughter.

Still, the 30-year-old New York native wasn’t entirely sure she could even pull it off.

“I didn’t think that I would be able to cry. I just didn’t think that I would ever be able to harness that. But with this movie, I would cry like even when we were blocking a scene,” she said.

“I guess I discovered a whole other side of something that I never knew existed. But it all really stemmed from thinking about my grandma. That’s really what it was. So it’s very real. It was a very real role for me.”

The title card says the film is “based on an actual lie.” The lie would be writer and director Lulu Wang’s who along with her family decided not to tell her grandmother that she’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer with only three months to live.

“My mother was the one who called me and said that in China, they don’t tell the patient.

They tell the family members,” Wang said. “I said immediately,

‘I have to go back. I have to see her right away.’ And she’s like, ‘Well, slow down. Actually, because you can’t tell her if you go back. If you’re too emotional, that will give it away.”‘ So Wang’s father constructed a plan to have her only cousin get married in two weeks, which would provide a reasonable excuse for the whole family to travel to China to see her grandmother one last time.

If it sounds familiar it’s likely because her story was also featured on an episode of “This American Life.”

“The Farewell,” which is competing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition of the festival and does not yet have a distributor, follows this same structure with Awkwafina playing Billi, the stand-in for the director. It’s an intimate, emotional and often quite funny portrait of family, culture-clashes as Billi and her Chinese-American family venture to mainland China to put on a real fake wedding and try to say goodbye without ever letting on that that’s what they’re doing.

Awkwafina said the film also captures the “struggle of going back to China.”

“It’s hard to describe. Because you’re made to feel like you’re not American in America. But you go to China and … you’re a stranger there as well,” Awkwafina said. “It really hit that on the head.” ■ AP Entertainment Reporter Ryan Pearson contributed from Park City.

WHAT WAS supposed to be a fun and lucky day turns tragic as a woman, who is part of the live audience, died in an accident on the set of Wowowin, a variety show aired by GMA Network and hosted by Willie Revillame.

It was on Tuesday, January 22, when the tragedy happened during the show’s taping at around 5:25 p.m.

One member of the audience, identified as Estrella Bognot, fell from the bleachers of the studio and hit her head on a fire extinguisher.

But it was not only Bognot

who fell from the bleachers as another woman, named Milagros Espiritu, also toppled.

While Espiritu suffered a fracture from the fall, Bognot, however, died in the incident.

In a joint statement by GMA Network and WBR Entertainment, it was Security Marshal Roel Batang who witnessed the accident, saying that the two members of the audience “lost their balance while singing and dancing during the opening act.”

Bognot and Espiritu, according to GMA and WBR, were immediately attended by the in-house paramedic and were brought to the Delgado Hospital.

“WBR Entertainment and GMA Network deeply commiser-

ate with, and extended immediate assistance to, the families and loved ones of the victims,” it said.

As of writing, the program’s host has not yet issued a statement regarding the incident.

Before Wowowin, Willie had hosted a hit noontime television show, Wowowee, which was aired by ABS-CBN. A stampede that became infamously known as the “Ultra Stampede” occurred during the show’s first anniversary in February 2006 at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City after tens of thousands of people pushed their way to the stadium to be part of the event.

More than 70 were killed while hundreds were injured during the stampede. ■

Karen Gallman becomes first Filipina to win Miss Intercontinental crown

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR- OLD Karen Gallman makes Philippine pageant history last Sunday, January 27 as she bested out more than 80 other contestants by winning the top crown of Miss Intercontinental 2019, being the first from the country to win the title in 47 years.

During the final question and answer portion, Karen was asked to define success, which she answered, “For me, success is not just about winning in life but setting goals — smaller goals — and achieving your dreams and working hard for everything you want and always looking up to God and being thankful for everything. For me, that is success.”

Gallman shares after being crowned that she was “very happy [she] could do this for the Philippines,” stating that “it means a lot to [her]” because “this is the first time the Philippines has won Miss Intercontinental.” In her words, “I am speechless. I can’t stop smiling.

I am just so grateful.” Karen also elaborates on her gratitude for the Filipino pageant fanatics, saying, “I have such an www.canadianinquirer.net

And the new Miss Intercontinental is... PHILIPPINES! Congratulations @karen_ gallman! Welcome to the family. @MISSINTERCONTINENTALORG / INSTAGRAM

amazing support system and I am so grateful for each and one of them who came out here tonight to cheer me on. It gave me more confidence on stage when they were waving their flags and screaming Philippines.”

At interviews, Gallman further promotes her advocacy in improving education in the Philippines’ rural areas, sharing, “You know, so many young girls look up to beauty queens.

For me, I want to be a great role model for these young women and girls. I also want to be a spokesperson for the marginalized and the voiceless. I want to

inspire a lot of people out there.

Hopefully, I can do that with this crown.” She also voiced out her desire to visit the pageant’s headquarters in Panama during her reign.

In the top five with Gallman during Miss Intercontinental 2019 were first runner-up Adriana Moya Alvarado from Costa Rica, second runner-up Laura Longauerova from the Slovak Republic, Hillary Hollman of Colombia, Ngan Ang Au Lee of Vietnam, and Bella Lire Lapso of Ethiopia as second, third, fourth, and fifth runners-up respectively. ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

25

ASP urges netizens to stop ‘The Boyet Challenge’

BY GIANNA LLANES Philippine Canadian Inquirer

Representing the #Philippines as one of the 50 #walloftheworld judges in @theworldsbestcbs. @POPSFERNANDEZOFFICIAL / INSTAGRAM

Pops Fernandez among judges in global talent show ‘The World’s Best’

BY JOANNA BELLE DEALA Philippine Canadian Inquirer CONCERT QUEEN Pops Fernandez will be raising the Philippine flag in the international scene as she proudly announced on Friday, January 25, that she will become one of the judges in an upcoming international talent search, The World’s Best.

Pops could not contain her excitement when she said she will be part of the 50 “Wall of the World” judges, an international panel who are experts in various fields of entertainment.

The Filipina singer will be joining not only the other 49 global experts, but also the three American all-star judges Drew Barrymore, RuPaul Charles, and Faith Hill.

“This is the best show ever!” Pops wrote in her Instagram post.

The World’s Best, hosted by James Corden, will be featuring performances “from every genre imaginable, from every corner of the planet,” according to CBS Network.

In another Instagram post, Pops posted a photo of herself splendidly holding the Philippine flag on the show’s set.

“Watch the BEST talents from all over the world compete for #theworldsbest title,” she said.

Upon making the announcement, Pops’ fans and supporters were quick to congratulate her, saying that they could no longer wait to see her on their television screens.

“Congratulations Pops! I’ve seen the

trailer and I’ve been looking up in your IG stories and your posts if you’re that excited just kidding! You’re one of my faves in the Philippines since Penthouse Live wow I’m saying how old I am hahaha looking forward to see the show!” netizen @jojomonsanto said.

Meanwhile, Instagram user @bingltorres wrote, “So happy for you Ms. Pops you’re so blessed and so deserving thank you for representing the Philippines.”

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION Autism Society PH (ASP) begs netizens to stop “The Boyet Challenge,” which imitates actor Ken Chan’s character who is a young father who has mild Autism Spectrum Disorder and mild intellectual disability on GMA-7 teleserye My Special Tatay.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the ASP “condemns the latest social media experiment called ‘The Boyet Challenge’ as thinly-veiled instruments of ridicule of those who live with autism and intellectual disabilities” referencing Republic Act 9442 saying that the law “protects persons with disabilities *(PWDs) from ridicule and vilification; and imposes fines and imprisonment as penalties to violators.”

The organization adds in Filipino, “But even if there is no law, are we still human if we laugh at our brothers and sisters with a disability? Don’t make having autism a mockery or something to be ridiculed.” In conclusion, the state-

PSYCHIC FAITH

TNT Boys

Filipinos still have one thing to be proud of aside from Pops being a judge — Keifer Sanchez, Mackie Empuerto, and Francis Concepcion, better known as the TNT Boys, will also be appearing in the international talent competition.

In a video teaser posted by Drew on her Instagram account, the young singers, all wearing blue suits, amazed the audience, particularly the American actress, when they sang a powerful rendition of Beyoncé’s “Listen.”

Drew, in the video, told the trio, “You possess a gift. You’re just… that good.”

The actress’ post was shared by Pops on her Instagram and wrote,” These uber-talented boys @thetntboys wowed not just James Corden, @drewbarrymore, @faithhill, and @rupaulofficial but also the 50 #walloftheworld judges.”

She continued, “They are amazing and I was so proud to witness their outstanding performance.”

The World’s Best will premiere in the United States (US) on February 3 in the CBS Network. ■

ment ends, “All this as we commemorate the National Autism Consciousness Week!”

With its statement, the group launches the #1bansa#1pangako advocacy, which aims to end the use of ‘autistic’ as an insult. In its words, “Let us promise to act to stop the derogatory use of the word ‘autistic’ and to promote the true acceptance and inclusion of Filipinos with disabilities. One simple promise can spur the change that may make life better for millions of Filipinos with autism.”

Most recently, ASP also posted an article on its page answering “six common questions on the logic behind the #no2boyetchallenge,” stating “There is no need to pick fights. Many who have participated in this challenge quickly recognize the disability slur once it is pointed out. Think of this as an opportunity to teach and inspire change. Peace to all!”

ASP is celebrating their 30th year as a non-profit organization this 2019, promoting “a society where persons with autism become the best of their potentials, self-reliant, independent, productive, socially-accepted citizens.” ■

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26

Lifestyle Hey foodie, do you know where your meal came from?

BY SARAH DUIGNAN PhD Candidate Host of AnthroDish Podcast McMaster University, The Canadian Press “FOODIE,” A term once relegated to food writers and gourmet appreciators, now encompasses a broader group.

Many of these new foodies like to keep an online record of their eating habits: posting photos on Instagram or reviews on Yelp.

What many consider to be a hobby, however, can also be an indictment of lurking Western values around health and culture that appropriate, marginalize and exclude crucial voices.

The rising cultural appreciation of what we eat in North America comes with increasing connections between how our food choices mark our identity.

Are we sustainable consumers, eating organic and non-GMO foods that are healthy for us and our environment? Or are we social media users concerned with trendy foods, ingredients and cuisines?

More importantly, how does the new foodie culture complicate racial and socioeconomic issues?

In the last decade, mass foodie-ism has grown into a social awareness of food systems and a heightened appreciation of taste. Early in the 2000s, food writers like Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle highlighted North America’s unsustainable food systems and challenged the public to be engaged with what and how they ate.

This conscious awaken-

ing grew even more through documentaries like Food, Inc., and food television like Chef’s Table. With that, food morality and food politics really blossomed.

The late Anthony Bourdain said the North American food fascination is connected to its relative cultural youthfulness: less than 300 years old.

Bourdain argues that we’re in the process of growing up and learning what older cultures have known for a long time: food is more than just food. It’s conversation, politics and social status.

Food morality

Foodie movements, like Slow Food, are often rooted in undertones of morality. For example, common words used to describe food on vegan or health blogs are: natural, organic, pure, unprocessed. The implication is the opposite: that foods that don’t fit into this category are bad.

Canadian attitudes towards some traditionally basic ingredients has shifted. For example, milk is no longer a main recommendation on Canada’s updated Food Guide. Lean fats are encouraged and less salty or sugary foods are recommended to maintain a healthy diet.

Individuals who can’t live up to these new expectations are blamed for their own failure to adapt.

The moral superiority expressed with these diets can act as harmful barriers to some, socioeconomically. Also, the appropriation of global cuisines

that come with foodie culture can work to maintain structural racism.

The “Five White Gifts:” flour, sugar, salt, milk and lard. are ingredients that are full of historic injustices and ongoing colonial legacies. These five foods were given out in ration boxes by the government of Canada during the 1940s to Indigenous families living on reserves.

The Canadian government believed these “gifts” would make up for the lack of access to traditional hunting and fishing spaces. These ingredients became staple foods for many Indigenous families and contributed to forcing a disconnect for communities from their traditional food sources. This caused ongoing health concerns, most notably higher rates of type 2 diabetes.

Food morality can reinforce racially-charged power structures and food gentrification

www.canadianinquirer.net

means that some communities can no longer afford their own foods.

Appealing to Western palates

Chef Andrew Zimmern positioned himself as a cultural navigator of Chinese cuisine.

Last fall, his launch of Lucky Cricket restaurant in a Minneapolis suburb has been raised as an example of food appropriation. The restaurant serves Chinese foods to a mostly white community, focusing on small plates, “adventurous eating” and organic, local ingredients.

Zimmern, concerned that the neighbourhood he served wouldn’t understand his food, aimed to “introduce them to a real duck roast.”

After public outrage of his cultural appropriation ensued, Zimmern responded in a Facebook post saying he believes his role is “making invisible communities, cultures, tribes and businesses visible.”

This Westerner-as-culturalexpert mentality maintains imperialist notions, similar to the idea of early Western explorers “discovering” the New World.

It’s a one-way exchange where “the Westerner” gains “insider” knowledge and has the power to re-purpose and profit from these foods.

Toronto-based writer Lorraine Cheun explored these intersections of food, race and power by researching who is considered to be an authority on “ethnic recipes.” Cheun sampled recipes from the New York Times recipe section and found those writing about cuisines from different cultures were white writers. Therefore, in the example of the publication and circulation of the New York Times recipes, it is often white foodies who control how dishes are cooked at home and interpreted, thereby erasing ❱❱ PAGE 29 Hey foodie

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27

Liz Weston:

5 divorce mistakes that can cost you

BY JILL COLVIN The Associated Press IF YOU’RE getting a divorce, it pays to keep quiet on social media, says New York divorce attorney Jacqueline Newman.

Trashing a soon-to-be ex or boasting about your great new life can complicate divorce negotiations.

One client’s husband, for

closed,” Newman says. “And I said, ‘Thank you very much.’”

Oversharing isn’t the only mistake people make when their marriages are ending.

Here are four more that can have significant financial consequences.

Not getting all the paperwork

You may not know that you need certain documents until years down the road, when your e x

• Account numbers and balances for all of your financial accounts.

• Social Security statements showing your spouse’s earnings record and expected future benefits.

• Amounts paid for major assets, including your house.

• Receipts documenting home improvements.

These documents may help not only with the divorce settlement but with future retirement and tax planning, Stolz says. For example, someone who was married for at least 10 years may be able to claim spousal or survivor benefits from Social Security based on an ex’s earnings record.

Ignoring tax consequences

example, insisted he couldn’t afford a proposed settlement.

Then, he inadvertently gave Newman leverage to get a better deal.

“He bragged (on social media) about the great vacation he just took and the big deal he just

may be unwilling or unable to provide them, says David Stolz, a CPA and personal financial specialist in Tacoma, Washington, who is active in the American Institute of CPAs. While you can, gather paperwork that shows:

Investments, property, retirement accounts and other assets may have the same face value now, but trigger different tax treatments later — and that can dramatically affect how much they’re worth, says Kathy Longo, certified financial planner and certified divorce financial analyst in Edina, Minn., and author of “Flourish Financially: Values, Transitions, and Big Conversations.”

A Roth IRA is worth more than a traditional IRA with the same balance, for example, because Roth withdrawals won’t be taxed in retirement. Likewise, a stock or other investment that’s grown a lot in value could trigger a big tax bill that reduces its ultimate value.

Homes can be particularly problematic, especially in high-

cost areas. A married couple can exclude up to $500,000 of home sale profit from their taxes, but a single person can avoid tax on only $250,000. Couples need to consider the future, after-tax value of assets during their negotiations, Longo says.

Another big change that can affect divorce negotiations is spousal support. Also known as alimony, spousal support used to be taxable to the person receiving it and tax-deductible for the person paying. That’s no longer true. Starting with divorce agreements made this year, recipients won’t owe taxes on spousal support, and those who pay it can’t deduct it — which could make support agreements trickier to negotiate.

Leaving joint accounts open

Even if one spouse agrees to take responsibility for a debt, the other spouse can still be held liable if his or her name is on the account. Creditors aren’t bound by divorce agreements, since your contract with them predates the split.

Ideally, divorcing couples would close joint accounts, remove authorized users from credit cards and transfer the debt to new accounts or loans in the responsible spouse’s name only.

Assuming a court fight is inevitable

One survey by Nolo, a selfhelp legal publisher, found divorce costs among those surveyed averaged $15,500 in 2015.

Divorces involving child custo-

dy and support issues averaged $19,200, and costs can shoot far higher if cases go to trial.

Mediation or collaborative divorce can save people money compared with traditional divorce proceedings, Newman says. Mediation, an alternative dispute resolution process, may not involve lawyers and relies on a neutral third party to help devise an agreement. With a collaborative divorce, each spouse is represented by an attorney trained in the collaborative process of negotiating deals that are fair to both parties.

Mediation requires spouses to be co-operative and open, especially about finances. Collaborative divorce can be an option when the relationship is more problematic but both parties want to avoid expensive litigation.

With a traditional divorce, people may dig in their heels and have to turn to a judge — sometimes repeatedly — to decide issues as they’re negotiating an agreement. Avoiding that adversarial process as much as possible can make a lot of financial sense, Newman says.

“I tell my clients, ‘You’re going to settle eventually anyway.

The only question is how long it will take and how much you’ll pay me,’” she says. ■ This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a certified financial planner and author of “Your Credit Score.”

Loneliness can be a big factor in getting good nutrition, experts say

BY CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI The Canadian Press TORONTO — Flo Elliott was never a big eater, but her appetite plummeted when her husband died.

Suddenly alone after 54 years of marriage, Elliott says she lost interest in food and would routinely skip meals.

It would take about seven years to recover that appetite, says the now 89-year-old.

“It’s really, really hard after living with someone for so long to be alone,” she says from her home in the eastern Ontario hamlet of Wilberforce.

“That was the worst of it. I think I couldn’t seem to enjoy food. I didn’t care, I guess.”

Loneliness is a big factor in getting good nutrition, say

experts in the field of senior health.

Many, including nutrition professor Catherine Morley, are applauding a section of Canada’s new food guide that encourages people to eat with others when possible, to prepare more foods at home and to plan their meals.

Morley, who teaches at Aca❱❱ PAGE 28 Loneliness can

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FRIDAY

Loneliness can... ❰❰ 27

4 tips on teaching emotional, social skills through craft

BY MICHELLE R. SMITH The Associated Press TEACHING KIDS social and emotional skills is getting renewed attention, and arts and crafts are a good way to do that, at home as well as at school.

“Anxiety and depression are on the rise for young people,” says Melissa Schlinger, a vicepresident at the Chicago-based Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, an advocacy and research organization that tries to make social and emotional learning a priority in education.

Jacqueline Jodl, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, concurs.”Families and parents are requesting help with social and emotional learning,” she says.”Teachers also are really starting to express demand for it, and the business community continues to express demand for students with a broader cross-section of skills.”

Why does art help?

“Because there is a lot of invention and also trials and tribulations that get worked out in the creative process, a child can learn how to manage frustration,” says Marygrace Berberian, a licensed art therapist and

clinical social worker.”They’re also learning to connect to more emotional aspects of themselves that are not necessarily encouraged in other aspects of their lives.”

Four ways to more intentionally integrate social and emotional learning into youth art projects, at home, school or anywhere:

to them, he says.

Berberian advises parents not to dictate how a child should do an art project at home. Rather, they should be “affirming the child’s process” through dialogue: Ask kids about their creations, the decisions they made and why.

Consider the specific needs of the child when selecting materials

Melissa Mellor, a spokeswoman for Jodl’s commission at the Aspen Institute, recalls an art project that her firstgrade son did in school that focused on learning from mistakes. The class read a book about a girl who made a mistake on a project and turned it into something beautiful. Then, each student received a piece of paper with marks already on it and, using permanent marker, was tasked with turning it into a new piece of art. The goal was to teach flexibility, problem solving, creativity and the ability to grow from mistakes.

“Art materials range from being controlled to very expressive,” Berberian says. A child seeking control might benefit from beading or pencil drawing, for example, whereas a child who needs to let go and be more expressive might learn more from working with paints or clay, which encourage spontaneity.

Give kids agency over their projects

Give students the freedom to “interpret a project or prompt through their own experience and perspectives,” says Christian Ortiz, senior manager of studio programs at Marwen, a visual-arts organization for youth in Chicago. For example, Marwen hosted a printmaking class in which students were asked to create small patches depicting what was important

Create a lesson along with a project

Make art together

“When people make art together or engage in creative processes together, it’s a natural form of empathy-building because you’re doing something together, mirroring each other and celebrating each other’s artistic practice,” says Berberian. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

dia University in cook” but tries to eat well by Wolfville, N.S., notes limiting meat and favouring seniors often have vegetables. She will buy frozen lower appetites but “when they prepared meals, such as the are with other people they do meat pie she had recently with eat more.” a baked potato and carrots.

A good mood, attractive plat- Back trouble makes it hard for ing, and colourful, delicious- her to stand for long periods in looking food all play a role in the kitchen. encouraging eaters to savour a “The last two or three years meal, she notes.

I’ve come to realize you have But finding fellow diners can to take care of yourself because seem like an insurmountable you’re not doing anybody any challenge for those grappling good being sick,” she says, notwith depression, mobility is- ing that her adult son lives in sues or poverty, Morley adds, Peterborough, which is about arguing that this portion of the an hour-and-a-half drive away. guide’s suggestion shouldn’t Elliott goes out to lunch regentirely rest on the individual. ularly with two senior friends “The evidence is absolutely who are also living alone, and there that cookthey call each ing together as other nearly evfamilies and eatery day. ing together as “It’s almost families builds It’s really, like family,” she stronger comreally hard says of their relamunities, that’s after living tionship. been documentwith someone Of course, exed for quite a for so long to perts say the long time,” says be alone. benefits of eatMorley. ing with others “The responextend to all age sibility that I’m groups. The food feeling isn’t restguide encouraging with the person who’s the es people to foster connections old person, it’s resting with the between generations — especommunity around them.” cially children who learn from She cites a 2015 study by the behaviour modelled by parents Canadian Malnutrition Task and caregivers.

Force that found 45 per cent of U of T social and behavioural older adults admitted to hospi- health sciences professor Kate tal for a non-nutrition diagno- Mulligan says social isolation is sis were malnourished. known to put health at risk.

Aside from financial hurdles, “All kinds of things happen seniors may have mobility and when we eat alone — we may be health issues preventing them in a rush, we may not be focusfrom grocery shopping, or vi- ing on the foods we’re eating, sually determining whether a and we may eat standing up, piece of fruit is fresh or rotten, eat at our desks,” says Mulligan, experts say. Arthritis can make whose work includes drawing holding a knife well enough to links between social well-being chop vegetables difficult, while and nutrition with the Alliance back trouble can limit ability to for Healthier Communities. stand at the stove or sink.

“Being together allows us to “It takes a village in a situ- slow down, to focus on the culation like this,” says Carol ture of eating and being around Greenwood, an emeritus at the food to spend time together University of Toronto in nu- preparing food, learning about tritional sciences and a senior food, building food literacy.” scientist at Baycrest’s Rotman Morley encourages people Research Institute. to consider the hurdles fac“Families are not tight-knit ing older neighbours and famthe way they used to be four ily members who may not be as generations ago when people fortunate as Elliott. moved a block away from one “I’d like to see us as a whole another.” culture do that better,” she says.

Elliott credits her friends and “Let’s think about the people various activities — a book club, who you’ve seen or live close historical society, and a commu- by. Simple things like: ‘Do you nity cooking group — with keep- need a lift to get to that church ing her mindful of healthy eating. lunch?’ That would be all that’s She considers herself a “plain needed.” ■

29

Sports Filipino tennis player improves world junior ranking

BY EARL JED ROQUE Philippine News Agency MANILA — Filipino tennis player Alexandra Eala has improved her International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior ranking from No. 218 to No. 152 after bagging two runner-up honors in India.

Eala defeated Kazakhstan’s Anastasia Astakhova, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-1 in the semifinals but lost to Thailand’s Mai Napati Nirundorn, 6-2, 3-6, 2-6, in the finals of the DKS ITF Junior Championships held in Kolkata, India on Saturday.

She reached the semifinals after beating Hu Xinyue of China, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round; Federicca Sacco of Italy, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 (second round); and Chang Ting-Pei of Chinese Taipei, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the quarterfinals.

The 13-year-old Eala also fin-

ished second at the India ITF Juniors Leg 2 in New Delhi last week, losing to Sacco, 5-7, 3-6 in the finals. ITF is the world governing body of tennis.

She eliminated No. 4 Han Jiangxue of China, 6-4, 7-5, (second round), No. 5 Lunda Kumhom of Thailand, 6-4, 7-5 (quarterfinal) and No. 1 Weronika Baszak of Poland, 6-2, 6-3 (semifinal).

As a member of the Asian 16 and Under Touring Team supported by the ITF and the Grand Slam Development Fund, Eala was required to compete in the Grade 2 events both held in India.

The other members of the team are Li Yu-Yun of Chinese Taipei, Meshkatolzahra Safi of Iran, Wang Xiaofei of China, Saud Alhaqbani of Saudi Arabia, Tim Thomas Gauntlett of Hong Kong and Credit Chaiyarin of Thailand.

Czarina Arevalo, herself a standout during her juniors and

Hey foodie... ❰❰ 26

people of colour from their cultural heritages.

How foodie interactions shape cultural attitudes

It may be easy to critique food personalities perpetuating existing power dynamics by being “benevolent” authorities and translators of global foods.

A more difficult task is to critically self-reflect. How might we as Instagram-users perpetuate harmful attitudes and practices?

Social media is a useful everyday tool for foodies to solidify their social power. Foodies impart knowledge through visuals and reviews that fuel certain spaces as the more authentic dining experiences. Mass-foodies are then crowned as the primary sources for other people’s indirect knowledge of “good” food.

What’s a food-loving person to

do?

We can think more consciously about how we use food as a symbol for our own self-expression. We can examine how we morally position ourselves and our food choices. We could skip the foodie influencers who feel the need to translate cuisines of different cultures.

We could support an authentic food industry.

Shows like David Chang’s Ugly Delicious are tackling harmful food stereotypes. Indigenous chefs like Rich Francis of Seventh Fire Catering are fostering cultural healing and reconciliation through food.

If we want to truly make food and life more sustainable, we should think about the power dynamics of our food. If we respect the humanity of the communities we interact with, our food experiences and global curiosities are enriched by all cultures on their own terms and power. ■

has represented the Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games, Asian Games and Fed Cup, was appointed by the Asian Tennis Federation to coach the girls while Kumar Mahajan of India mentored the boys.

Being named to the Asian 16 and Under Team was another feather in the cap for Eala, who will turn 14 on May 23.

Last year, she was granted a scholarship to train at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain and study at the American International School of Mallorca, which is inside the academy.

She is in Grade 8.

Eala kicked off her 2018 campaign by joining and winning the prestigious Les Petits As (small champions in English) tournament for players 12 to 14 years old in Tarbes, France in January. She is the first wild card champion in the tournament’s 36-year-old history.

Runner-up here in my first Grade 2 - 18under ITF Tournament! Thanks for all your messages and cheers!

ALEX EALA / FACEBOOK

Eala’s victory at Les Petits As earned her a wild card in the Qualifying of the French Open Juniors in May. She made it to the final qualifying round.

From July to August, Eala won both singles and doubles at the Category 1 events in Hasselt (Belgium) and Oosterbeck (Netherlands) as well as the singles and doubles at a Category 2 event in Nantes (France).

Eala was awarded the 2018 Overseas Player of the Year in the girls division by Tennis Europe “for her massive impact on the Tennis Europe Junior Tour.”

She has played in the ITF Juniors Circuit events in Alicante, Spain (singles and doubles champions), Manila (first leg champion and second leg runner-up) and Indonesia (runnerup). ■

POC, PSI agree to resolve tryout for PH swimming team PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY MANILA — Philippine Olympic Committee president Ricky Vargas and Philippine Swimming Institute (PSI) president Lani Velasco agreed to thresh out issues involving tryouts for the national swimming team that will compete in the Southeast Asian Games to be hosted by the Philippines in November this year.

POC membership committee chairman Robert Bachmann facilitated the meeting held recently after several swimming groups expressed their concern about their swimmers not being allowed to try out for the national team since they are not members of PSI. Former national swimmers www.canadianinquirer.net

Eric Buhain, Ral Rosario and Susan Papa, among others, have indicated that they will do separate tryouts in their respective groups and let the time results of the swimmers reveal who deserve to be in the team.

“Obviously we should have the best athletes available to us for the SEA Games. That’s why we have always stressed inclusivity in these matters,” Vargas said.

While the POC will only recognize the PSI tryout results because it is the recognized association by the international swimming federation (FINA), both Vargas and Velasco agreed that the tryouts will be open and inclusive to all swimming clubs in the country under FINA rules and guidelines.

Velasco said they will be lenient in allowing participation

and registration of those who are not yet members of the PSI. “I will even personally assist non-PSI members with their membership applications,” Velasco said.

Vargas said he is “very encouraged by Ms. Velasco’s gesture. We all need to put our misunderstandings and heartaches aside and come together to get the best Filipino swimmers in the SEA Games”.

“There is no need for acrimony and divisiveness. We can work this out. Lani has announced she is willing to do this. I call on the other groups to cooperate and work as one for the country’s interest,” he added.

Bachmann, for his part, said he is “pleased with the outcome of the meeting, this is a big step forward to unity.” ■

30

Business Workspaces centred on women on the rise in #MeToo movement

BY MICHELLE R. SMITH The Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — Entering the year-old workspace ModernWell feels like coming into a comfortable spa. Clean lines give way to cozy touches like footstools covered with faux fur and a roaring fire surrounded by comfortable armchairs.

Women type away on laptops at tables scattered throughout.

There is not a man in sight.

ModernWell is one of a growing number of women-only and women-focused workspaces around the country. While many predate the #MeToo movement, their growth has been interlinked with it as it put combating workplace harassment on the national agenda. They’re also tapping into a desire among many women to build a community and supportive environment at work that’s different from a stereotypical corporate workplace culture.

The spaces provide more than just desks and a coffee machine. They offer programs like high-profile speakers or yoga classes, and a chance to build a social and business network with like-minded women. It’s like WeWork, minus the beer on tap and tech bro atmosphere.

“I think women, especially, are craving safe spaces where they can go and be inspired and do really important work without interruption, and without being reminded of all that, too.

There’s literally no risk that somebody’s going to sexually harass me here,” said Renee Powers, a ModernWell member who founded her business, Feminist Book Club, in the space.

The biggest player is The Wing, which opened in 2016 in New York and has been expanding rapidly across the country. Its San Francisco location opened in October with a nod to the #MeToo movement, naming a conference room after Christine Blasey Ford,

who testified before Congress that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in high school.

Kavanaugh denied the allegation and was confirmed to the court. Membership to use one location costs $2,350 annually, and the company now has more than 6,000 members, spokeswoman Zara Rahim said.

Most of the spaces allow men, but some do not. The Wing was sued by a Washington, D.C. man who alleged discrimination. Its board soon after approved a membership policy providing that an applicant’s gender identity would not be considered, a development first reported by Insider. Rahim said the policy was being developed before the lawsuit and was unrelated to it.

The Wing is also under investigation by the New York City Commission on Human Rights activities such as office hours themselves. for gender-based discrimina- with a venture capital firm and “Whether you are out marchtion. The Wing said it is work- seminars on digital mindful- ing or not marching, I felt we ing with the commission. ness or wellness. That kind of had work to do, and I wanted to Another fast-growing space programming sets the spaces be part of the work,” she said. is The Riveter, with five loca- apart from more general ones, The space has given women tions in Seattle and Los Ange- said Steve King of Emergent from different industries and les and plans to open in Austin, Research, who studies the fu- professional backgrounds a Texas, in March. About 20 per ture of work and the rise of the chance to connect, she said. cent of its memThose connecbers are building tions help womventure-scale en support each startups, but other, battling the majority are Whether you are out marching or feelings such as small businesses not marching, I felt we had work to “imposter synwith just a few do, and I wanted to be part of the drome,” where employees, or work. women question people who work whether they on their own have the qualifisuch as lawyers cations to start a or real estate agents, founder independent workforce. company or embark on a parand CEO Amy Nelson said. It ModernWell founder Julie ticular venture, Burton said. ranges from $99 to hundreds of Burton, an author and wellness That community feeling is dollars monthly. instructor, teaches yoga at her what draws some women to the About one-quarter of The space, which also offers events spaces, said Jamie Russo, exRiveter’s 2,000 members are such as a class on women’s ecutive director of the Global men, Nelson said, but the dif- memoir writing. Burton said Workspace Association. ference is that “out of the gate her space grew out of a writing Co-working spaces in genwe’re putting women first.” group she co-founded in 2015, eral are on the rise, and as the “I think that we’re seeing a which coincidentally was wom- sector grows, different niches societal shift that isn’t going to en-only. After the 2016 presi- have developed to serve differgo away,” she said. “Women’s dential election, she said many ent groups, such as attorneys or voices are being heard.” women she knew were upset people working in real estate, The space has brought in and she felt galvanized to build technology, big data or artificial high-profile speakers such as a business to help women sup- intelligence. For the operators, Sheryl Sandberg and offers port each other and empower niche spaces tend to be more www.canadianinquirer.net

profitable than more general workspaces, Russo said.

An analysis by King’s firm estimated more than 14,000 coworking spaces and 1.7 million members globally in 2017 and forecast around 30,000 spaces and 5.1 million members by 2022. There’s little data about women-centric spaces, and while the segment is growing, it is expected to remain a relatively small niche in the industry, King said.

Some spaces offer child care, but until now it’s been rare, likely due to complicated state and local laws around child care, King said. That may be changing. The Wing will offer child care starting this week in one of its New York City locations and soon in Los Angeles.

Jasna Burza, a life and business coach, has a home office but prefers to do her work at ModernWell, where there is a community of women to greet her. She compares coming to the space to the old TV show ‘Cheers,’ where everyone knows her name.

“It can be really isolating to be on my own,” Burza said. “I come here, and it’s my happy place.” ■

Business

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

31

PH on track toward upper PH-based businesses middle income status: NEDA most optimistic

BY LESLIE GATPOLINTAN Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippines is on track to becoming an upper middle economy by end-2019 on the back of reforms imperative in boosting growth amid global uncertainties, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said Monday.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia expressed confidence the country could reach the threshold for becoming an upper middleincome country, with about USD3,900 gross national income (GNI) per capita this year, after hitting USD3,800 GNI per capita in 2017.

“If GNI per capita grows by 3 percent because population is now growing at 1.7 percent I think, we could still hurdle the threshold. (This is) just a conservative estimate,” he said in a media briefing on the initial results of the Socioeconomic Report (SER) 2018.

Pernia noted the country has

made “great strides” in putting in place some critical reforms that will have long-term benefits, including the Philippine Identification System Act (PhilSys), the Ease of Doing Business Act, and the 11th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List, among others.

“With these key reforms, we expect the performance of the economy to be robust despite domestic and external risks and uncertainties. These reforms will likely strengthen economic and financial inclusion, make the delivery of public services more efficient, facilitate ease of doing business, and encourage more domestic and foreign investments,” he said.

“These reforms will help ensure that the economy will stay on a higher growth trajectory over the medium term and beyond,” he added.

The government targets the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growing to 7 to 8 percent this 2019 and next year. It accelerated 6.2 percent in 2018.

NEDA Undersecretary Rose-

marie Edillon noted “it is important that we keep our macroeconomic fundamentals very stable, very sound.”

Edillon is optimistic these key reforms could help the country achieve upper middle income status.

“Because all the reforms we are pushing for is really to open up more opportunities. That’s what we need, more opportunities for growth,” she said in an interview.

The NEDA official also cited the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program and the tourism sector which could support economic growth under the Duterte administration.

“Apart from that, if we can have other drivers, so much the better. If we can have more investors coming in for the manufacturing, to boost our housing for instance. The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) will actually be very, very important for this. That one will really give a boost to housing,” Edillon added. ■

in ASEAN: survey

BY KRIS CRISMUNDO Philippine News Agency MANILA — Philippine-based businesses are the most optimistic in Southeast Asia in terms of outlook on the local economy this year, according to Grant Thornton’s International Business Report (IBR).

The IBR recently reported that 66 percent of surveyed businesses in the country are positive about the Philippine economy this year, even higher that the optimism in ASEAN, which stood only at 42 percent.

The optimistic outlook in Indonesia posted at 61 percent, Malaysia and Vietnam both at 38 percent, and Singapore at 18 percent.

The global outlook for businesses this year is also “more reserved” with the cooling of economic cycle and political uncertainties around the world, the Grand Thornton report said.

“Economic uncertainty is

identified by business leaders as the biggest risk, peaking at 50 percent, a rise of 22 percent from second quarter 2018.

This can be partly attributed to geopolitical tensions, such as the United States-China trade war,” it noted.

“While global financial markets are increasingly volatile, business leaders in the real economy remain optimistic because global GDP is forecast to continue growing and they know their business will grow with it. Despite increasing down side risk, economic fundamentals remain strong and opportunities exist,” Grant Thornton Global Leader Francesca Lagerberg said.

However, for the Philippines alone, 70 percent of surveyed businesses projected that their revenues will increase this year, 52 percent forecast that their exports will grow, and 62 percent said that they will hire more in 2019. ■

PRRD admin posts highest public construction value since 1999

BY JOANN VILLANUEVA Philippine News Agency MANILA — Commitment to modernize public infrastructure in the Philippines prompted the Duterte administration to post the highest gross value in public sector construction since the Estrada administration.

Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno stressed this during the Presidential Communications Operations Office’s (PCOO) “The Presser: Dutertenomics 2.O” at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Monday.

Diokno said the current government’s “Build, Build, Build” program “is not only a press release but is, in fact, a reality.”

“The spending numbers confirm that “Build, Build, Build” program is firing on all cylinders,” he said.

Diokno explained that in the first 11 months of 2018, investment in infrastructure rose about 50 percent year-on-year to PHP728.1 billion.

“This brings us closer to our goal of spending at least five percent to a high of seven percent of GDP (gross domestic product) for public infrastructure,” he said.

The current government targets to increase infrastructure investment to account for as much as seven percent of domestic output by 2022, in a bid to ensure that strong domestic growth will be sustained beyond the end of its term.

Citing the national income accounts, the Budget and Management chief said the Duterte government registered the highest gross value in construction in public sector, with an average of 17 percent in 2017 and 2018.

He said public construction

grew by 12.7 percent in 2017 and to 21.2 percent in 2018, which, he pointed out, is “in sharp contrast with the decline in public construction during the first two years of previous administrations.”

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Diokno said public construction posted a negative growth of 16.8 percent in the first full year of former President Joseph Estrada’s administration but recovered the following year and went up by 10.8 percent.

Public construction in the first full year of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration fell by 16.1 percent and by 1.3 percent in the second year.

In the first full year of former President Benigno Aquino III’s term, public construction fell 38.8 percent but went up by 17.3 percent the following year.

During the current adminwww.canadianinquirer.net

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

DEPARTMENT OF BUDGET AND MANAGEMENT / FACEBOOK

istration, gross value in public construction grew by 12.7 percent in 2017 and rose further to 21.2 percent last year.

“In short where others failed Duterte hit the ground running,” he said.

These growth figures for public construction helped ensure the sustained 6 percent level GDP expansion to date, with the 2017 level at 6.7 percent and the 2018 at 6.2 percent.

Economic managers have set a GDP target of between seven to eight percent for 2019-22.

Domestic growth slowed last year on account of mostly external factors as well as elevated domestic inflation rate but Diokno stressed that the economy’s output “made the Philippines one of the fastest-growing economies in the world’s fastest growing region, which is the ASEAN region.” ■

32

Technology Apple News coming to Canada next week after developer debut this week THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO — Apple Inc. will debut its Apple News app in Canada early next week, after years of operating in the U.S. and a handful of other countries.

The U.S.-based tech giant’s iOS and macOS app, which curates news based on a user’s interests, will launch with English and French content from publications including CBC, Radio Canada, La Presse, CTV News, the Toronto Star, Hockey News, the Walrus and Global News, but will eventually grow to include stories from other publications.

Publications will keep 100 per cent of the revenue from ads they sell in Apple News, but will give up a slice of the revenue they make from subscriptions on the platform.

According to a developer page on Apple’s website, publications will keep 70 per cent of revenues in the first year of a new subscription. If that subscriber hangs on past a year, the publication’s net revenue will increase to 85 per cent of the subscription price. The model will not count free trials and bonus periods.

Apple News’ move into Canada comes after Apple faced criticism in the U.S. for its app’s potential to cut into the profits of the struggling media industry, which has dealt with declining newspaper ad revenues and subscribers, closures of local papers

How growing cities can support at home electric vehicle charging

BY DIRK MEISSNER The Canadian Press

APPLE / WEBSITE

and layoffs in recent years.

Social media and technology companies have also caught flak for widely disseminating online journalism without sharing the cash they earn from it — primarily through clicks and advertising — with the content’s creators.

Asked to discuss the revenuesharing aspect of their agreements, La Presse declined, saying, “we do not comment on our strategies.”

Randy Lennox, President of CTV’s parent company Bell Media, said in an email that “One of the key priorities at Bell Media is to deliver our content to audiences wherever they are, and we’re excited and committed to providing real-time leading news and sports information on Apple News.”

CBC spokesman Chuck Thompson noted that his organization’s content has been on the app since 2017 and available to the U.S., Australian and U.K.

markets.

“We look forward to when Apple News launches in Canada as this will provide another opportunity to reach more Canadians with our news service,” he said.

Jon Festinger, a faculty member at the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver, said whether Apple News is a good or bad idea for a publisher depends in part on their exact compensation and extra terms and conditions that could have been built into agreements.

He figures some publications might have gotten involved with the app primarily for exposure and to ensure they keep up with the digital age.

“Some entities might be joining Apple News because they want to be everywhere, even if it isn’t purely profitable,” he said. “Even if it is break even for them, it might be worth it because they might see it as not losing ground.” ■

www.canadianinquirer.net

RAPID URBAN population growth is driving many cities around the world to reduce their carbon footprints. In Canada, two major policy agendas are designed to achieve this: boosting urban density and promoting low-carbon transportation such as electric vehicles (EVs).

Despite their overlap, these goals are often pursued separately through disjointed planning strategies. In time, ad-hoc policies could be counterproductive and stall the shift to EVs, by making ownership expensive, inefficient and complicated.

Most Canadians live in cities, where the deployment of EVs has two main advantages.

First, EVs can drastically reduce local emissions as long as their electricity comes from sustainable sources. Second, their driving ranges are suited to short urban trips. For example, 95 per cent of driving trips in Vancouver are less than 30 kilometres, well within the range of an EV. However, as cities swap single-family homes for multiunit dwellings to increase population density, reduce housing prices and lower carbon emissions, the installation of EV charging stations in existing multi-unit dwellings is lagging

behind. Our research found ways to change that.

EV sales on the rise in British Columbia

British Columbia is an attractive location for EVs because roughly 90 per cent of the province’s electricity comes from large renewable hydropower.

Widespread EV usage could cut B.C.’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 98 per cent. Residential electricity rates in B.C. are now low enough that charging a vehicle at home is less expensive than fuelling a conventional gasoline vehicle.

Together with B.C.’s EV subsidies, these factors more than doubled provincial EV sales between 2013 and 2017. However, EVs still make up only two per cent of all vehicles on B.C.’s roads. What’s more, B.C.’s current regulations mean that EVs will likely only have a 10 per cent market share by 2040, far below the Canadian government’s goal of 30 per cent by 2030. This suggests more stringent policies are needed.

Consumers are switching to EVs as the number of models on the market grows and battery prices decrease, but drivers want to be sure they will be able to charge their vehicles quickly, easily and cheaply.

Electrified transportation is ❱❱ PAGE 21 How growing

Technology

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

33

Researchers say Amazon face detection technology shows bias

BY TALI ARBEL The Associated Press NEW YORK — Facial-detection technology that Amazon is marketing to law enforcement often misidentifies women, particularly those with darker skin, according to researchers from MIT and the University of Toronto.

Privacy and civil rights advocates have called on Amazon to stop marketing its Rekognition service because of worries about discrimination against minorities. Some Amazon investors have also asked the company to stop out of fear that it makes Amazon vulnerable to lawsuits.

The researchers said that in their tests, Amazon’s technology labeled darker-skinned women as men 31 per cent of the time. Lighter-skinned women were misidentified 7 per cent of

the time. Darker-skinned men had a 1 per cent error rate, while lighter-skinned men had none.

Artificial intelligence can mimic the biases of their human creators as they make their way into everyday life. The new study, released late Thursday, warns of the potential of abuse and threats to privacy and civil liberties from facial-detection technology.

Matt Wood, general manager of artificial intelligence with Amazon’s cloud-computing unit, said the study uses a “facial analysis” and not “facial recognition” technology. Wood said facial analysis “can spot faces in videos or images and assign generic attributes such as wearing glasses; recognition is a different technique by which an individual face is matched to faces in videos and images.”

In a Friday post on the Medium website, MIT Media Lab

researcher Joy Buolamwini responded that companies should check all systems that analyze human faces for bias.

“If you sell one system that has been shown to have bias on human faces, it is doubtful your other face-based products are also completely bias free,” she wrote.

Amazon’s reaction shows that it isn’t taking the “really grave concerns revealed by this study seriously,” said Jacob Snow, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Buolamwini and Inioluwa Deborah Raji of the University of Toronto said they studied Amazon’s technology because the company has marketed it to law enforcement. Raji’s LinkedIn account says she is currently a research mentee for artificial intelligence at Google, which competes with Amazon in offering cloud-computing services.

Buolamwini and Raji say Mi-

crosoft and IBM have improved their facial-recognition technology since researchers discovered similar problems in a May 2017 study. Their second study, which included Amazon, was done in August 2018. Their paper will be presented on Monday at an artificial intelligence conference in Honolulu.

Wood said Amazon has up-

dated its technology since the study and done its own analysis with “zero false positive matches.”

Amazon’s website credits Rekognition for helping the Washington County Sheriff Office in Oregon speed up how long it took to identify suspects from hundreds of thousands of photo records. ■

Chefs and truck drivers beware: AI is coming for your jobs

BY MATT O’BRIEN The Associated Press ROBOTS AREN’T replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of existing work, according to a new Brookings Institution report.

The report, published Thursday, says roughly 36 million Americans hold jobs with “high exposure” to automation — meaning at least 70 per cent of their tasks could soon be performed by machines using current technology. Among those most likely to be affected are cooks, waiters and others in food services; short-haul truck drivers; and clerical office workers.

“That population is going to need to upskill, reskill or change jobs fast,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings and lead author of the report.

Muro said the timeline for the changes could be “a few years or it could be two decades.” But it’s likely that automation will happen more swiftly during the

next economic downturn. Businesses are typically eager to implement cost-cutting technology as they lay off workers.

Some economic studies have found similar shifts toward automating production happened in the early part of previous recessions — and may have contributed to the “jobless recovery” that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

But with new advances in artificial intelligence, it’s not just industrial and warehouse robots that will alter the American workforce. Self-checkout kiosks and computerized hotel concierges will do their part.

Most jobs will change somewhat as machines take over routine tasks, but a majority of U.S. workers will be able to adapt to that shift without being displaced.

The changes will hit hardest in smaller cities, especially those in the heartland and Rust Belt and in states like Indiana and Kentucky, according to the report by the Washington think-tank . They will also disproportionately affect the younger workers who domi-

nate food services and other industries at highest risk for automation.

Some chain restaurants have already shifted to self-ordering machines ; a handful have experimented with robot-assisted kitchens .

Google this year is piloting the use of its digital voice assistant at hotel lobbies to instantly interpret conversations across a few dozen languages. Autonomous vehicles could replace short-haul delivery drivers.

Walmart and other retailers are preparing to open cashier-less stores powered by in-store senwww.canadianinquirer.net

sors or cameras with facial recognition technology.

“Restaurants will be able to get along with significantly reduced workforces,” Muro said.

“In the hotel industry, instead of five people manning a desk to greet people, there’s one and people basically serve themselves.”

Many economists find that automation has an overall positive effect on the labour market, said Matias Cortes, an assistant professor at York University in Toronto who was not involved with the Brookings report. It can create economic growth,

reduce prices and increase demand while also creating new jobs that make up for those that disappear.

But Cortes said there’s no doubt there are “clear winners and losers.” In the recent past, those hardest hit were men with low levels of education who dominated manufacturing and other blue-collar jobs, and women with intermediate levels of education who dominated clerical and administrative positions.

In the future, the class of workers affected by automation could grow as machines become more intelligent. The Brookings report analyzed each occupation’s automation potential based on research by the McKinsey management consulting firm. Those jobs that remain largely unscathed will be those requiring not just advanced education, but also interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.

“These high-paying jobs require a lot of creativity and problem-solving,” Cortes said.

“That’s going to be difficult for new technologies to replace.” ■

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

34

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35

Travel Surviving Baguio: How to deal with bonechilling cold

BY LIZA AGOOT, PAMELA MARIZ GEMINIANO, AND DIONISIO DENNIS JR. Philippine News Agency BAGUIO CITY — Tourists who plan to visit the city between now and late February should brace for bone-chilling temperatures to fully enjoy their escapades in the City of Pines.

Here are some tips collected by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) from Baguio residents on what visitors must stuff in their travel bags, during this time of the year: – A thick jacket is mandatory — or two thinner ones for layering.

– Socks to keep the feet warm and a beanie or bonnet, as cold seeps on the head and causes a runny nose. Ear muffs would come in handy.

– A muffler or scarf, and a fleece or a light but warm shawl to battle the cold and achieve a stylish OOTD (outfit of the day).

– Thermal wear — tights, a turtle neck shirt, long sleeves, windproof jackets, thermal gloves and socks — to help maintain body heat.

– Lip balm to protect the lips from chapping, and skin or face

moisturizer to prevent dryness.

– A Queen flower balm or the locally produced “aceite alcanforado” or “aceite manzanilla” to manage clogged noses, headache, stomach pain, and rashes resulting from the cold wind and temperature.

— Vitamin C supplements to boost the immune system and prevent colds and cough.

— Handy hot pads and travel blankets for children.

Three of the respondents suggested “don’t wear very short shorts,” “bring someone to hug, embrace or cuddle,” and “bring your sense of adventure,” as nowhere else in the country offers the same experience as Baguio and other parts of the Cordillera.

Visitors to this city have been advised by local health authorities to protect themselves from the chilly air that could lead to the so-called cold day illnesses.

Temperature has been dropping for the past days because of the surging northeast monsoon that will last until the end of February, during the two grand parades of the Baguio Flower Festival or “Panagbenga”.

City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo said among the com-

Baguio City.

mon illnesses in the city during the cold season are pneumonia, colds and cough, bronchitis, and upper respiratory infections.

Galpo advised residents, especially visitors coming from the lowlands, to keep themselves warm while in the city.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) recorded 10.4 degrees at 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Baguio woke up to a cool 10.4 degrees Celsius; 10.5 degrees Celsius in La Trinidad; 9.5

ARLENE / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

degrees Celsius at Sto. Tomas relay station; and 8 degrees Celsius in Atok, Benguet,” PAGASA Baguio senior weather specialist Ceferino Hulipas said.

He added that the cold front from China has intensified and made the “amihan” (northwest monsoon wind) stronger, causing the dip in temperature from Luzon to Visayas.

Hulipas said the cold temperature will continue for a few weeks more as the northeast monsoon strengthens until February.

“This is the lowest tempera-

ture recorded since the peak of ‘amihan’ in October last year,” he said.

On January 15, PAGASA recorded 12.5 degrees Celsius.

The weather at the Summer Capital usually drops during the months of January and February which, in recent years, has extended to March.

The lowest recorded temperature in Baguio was 6.3 degrees Celsius on Jan. 18, 1961, with temperatures seldom exceeding 26 degrees Celsius, even during the warmest month of the year. ■

PH posts 7.1-M record-breaking tourist arrivals: DOT

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Philippines has set a record-breaking 7.1 million international tourist arrivals in 2018, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported Thursday.

Data from the DOT showed that at least 7,127,168 foreign tourists visited the country, the “highest ever number” in the Philippines’ tourism industry, surpassing the 6,620,908 arrivals in 2017 by 7.68 percent.

“This is a time that celebrates

the 7.1 million tourist arrival count — the highest ever in our country’s history, while at the same time championing the cause of an economic activity that can support and transform lives of common Filipinos,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a statement The agency boasts that the country’s tourism growth rate has outdone the world average tourism growth and average growth for Asia and the Pacific of 6 percent as identified by the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s World Tourism Barometer.

Consistent as the country’s top source market is South Korea with 1,587,959, followed by China with 1,255,258, and the United States that recorded 1,034,396 arrivals.

Meanwhile, Japan and Australia wound up the top five markets with 631,801, and 279,821 arrivals, respectively.

Trailing behind are Taiwan with 240,842; Canada at 226,429; United Kingdom with 201,039; Singapore with 171,795; Malaysia with 145,242; India with 121,124; and Hong Kong with 117,984.

December 2018 registered 687,726 foreign tourist arrivals www.canadianinquirer.net

second best to the month of January 2018 at 732,506 and 12.12 percent higher compared to 2017.

While the arrivals observed growth, the tally lagged behind the agency’s initial 7.4-million target. Earlier, Romulo-Puyat projected the Philippines may not meet its 7.4 million goal given the six-month shutdown of Boracay, one of the Philippines’ top destinations.

Boracay receives an average 80,000 tourists every month meaning it lost around 480,000 due to the closure.

Despite this, she still described the closure as a “blessing in disguise.”

“The challenging act of closing down Boracay — a flagship destination, the country’s top sun-and-beach destination has evidently become a blessing in disguise for secondary tourism spots to have a share of the lime light and attention they truly deserve,” she said.

“It shows that turning off the faucet when the water is unclear can bring a fresher flow in just an unexpected period of time.

With this, we have also seen the transition from a mass tourism perspective shifting into highvalue tourism direction that prioritizes quality over mere quantity,” she added. ■

36

Travel

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

FRIDAY

Duty Free to open stores Tribal land known for waterfalls in Palawan, Bohol won’t allow tour guides

BY JOYCE ANN L. ROCAMORA Philippine News Agency MANILA — The Duty Free Philippines Corporation (DFPC) is planning to expand its operations in Palawan and Bohol by end of this year, a ranking official said Wednesday.

“We are set to open Duty Free Philippines stores in Palawan and Bohol-Panglao International Airport this year,” DFPC chief operating officer Vicente Angala told a press briefing in Pasay City.

Angala said no definite date is set but these stores are slated to open within 2019.

“It’s still with the DOTr (Department of Transportation), it should be eventually transferred to CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines),” he said.

“We still don’t have the de-

tails yet as to how big these stores will be but definitely it will happen this year,” he added.

Angala said the DFPC has also allotted a budget of PHP27.2 million for the renovation of Duty Free Fiestamall in Parañaque City.

In its newest upscale store — the Luxe Duty Free — the DFPC seeks to feature more exportquality local products through a collaboration with the Department of Tourism.

During a walk tour at Luxe, Angala showcased the store’s designated space for Filipinoowned Kultura and its kiosk for Philippine-made confectioneries such as the world-class Malagos chocolates.

“These plans and programs bode well for the higher target sales for 2019,” he said.

For 2019, the state-owned corporation targets to reach USD220 million in total sales. ■

BY FELICIA FONSECA The Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. — The thousands of tourists who travel to a remote Native American reservation deep in the Grand Canyon each year to camp near a series of picturesque, bluegreen waterfalls will have to do so without the benefit of professional guides.

The Havasupai Tribe has decided not to allow outfitters to escort visitors this year down the long, winding path that leads to its small, roadless reservation and on to its main tourist draw: towering waterfalls that cascade into swimming holes that are warm yearround.

Tourists can visit the waterfalls, either by reserving a room at the tribe’s only lodge or by snapping up a coveted permit for one of its hundreds of camping spots scattered amid a creek. But starting in February, they’ll have to find their own way to the reservation’s waterfalls and caves, and carry their own food and gear.

Abbie Fink, a spokeswoman for the Havasupai Tribe, said the Tribal Council’s decision isn’t a reflection on the outfitters. Rather, she said the tribe wanted to manage all tourist traffic itself.

“It’s not solving a problem.

It’s returning the enterprise to the control of the tribe,” she told The Associated Press.

For years, the tribe has set aside spots for tour companies, which often bought permits in bulk. The outfitters paid a licensing fee of several thousand dollars, and some had elaborate setups with gourmet meals, inflatable couches and massage therapists. Most brought just the essentials.

Fink couldn’t say exactly how much tour guides paid or how many licenses have been issued in the past. She said the Tribal Council would re-evaluate outfitter licenses for 2020.

The tribe relies heavily on tourism and estimates that between February and November, it gets 30,000 to 40,000 visitors per year to its reservation deep in a gorge west of Grand Canyon National Park that’s acceswww.canadianinquirer.net

sible only by foot or helicopter, or by riding a horse or mule.

The tribe does maintenance in the campground and on the trails in December and January.

The tribe doesn’t allow day hikes, so visitors wanting to take in its waterfalls and other sights must reserve overnight trips in the campground or at the sole lodge.

Rooms in the lodge, which can be booked only by phone, are sold out for the rest of this year. Reservations for 2020 start June 1.

Permits for 2019 camping spots become available online Feb. 1 and are expected to sell out in minutes. People on social media have been strategizing for months about how to boost their chances, including by setting up an account early, recruiting friends and family to try to book a trip and repeatedly refreshing multiple internet browsers.

The permits are $100 per person per night Monday through Thursday, and $125 a night Friday through Sunday, slight increases over last year. The tribe grants about 300 camping permits a day, Fink has said.

Adam Henry, co-owner of Discovery Treks, books between 100 and 200 people on the Havasupai trip each year but has had to stick to offering trips in other spots of the Grand Canyon. He says that’s not al-

ways welcome news for tourists intent on venturing to the waterfalls.

The hike takes tourists 8 miles (13 kilometres) down a winding trail through desert landscape before they reach the first waterfall. Then comes the village of Supai, where 600 tribal members live year-round. Another 2 miles (3 kilometres) down the trail is the campground with waterfalls on both ends.

“The blue-green water is what people want to see,” Henry said. “It’s certainly a significant bummer for people who aren’t going to be able to get out there on their own.”

Christine Miller, who works with the tour guide company Wildland Trekking, said tourists can find packing lists online and videos on Havasupai to help plan their trip. The advantage to having a tour guide is knowing how to reach the sights off the main trail, including other waterfalls, caves and swimming pools.

“There are not really any good maps out there to tell you when to cross, when not to cross” the creek, she said.

The tribe temporarily suspended licenses for outfitters in 2016 in part to review the impact that supplies loaded onto pack animals had on the animals and the trail. Fink did not respond to questions about what came out of that review. ■

37

Food A boozy, coffee soaked dessert awaits you with a tiramisu AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN WITH ITS boozy, coffee-soaked ladyfingers and sweet, creamy filling, it’s no wonder tiramisu is Italian for “pick me up.”

Instead of making a custard filling, we simply whipped egg yolks, sugar, salt, rum and mascarpone together and lightened it with whipped cream.

We briefly moistened the ladyfingers in a mixture of coffee, espresso powder, and more rum.

We prefer a tiramisu with a pronounced rum flavour; for a less potent rum flavour, reduce the amount of rum in the coffee mixture. Brandy or whiskey can be substituted for the rum.

Don’t let the mascarpone warm to room temperature before whipping. Dried ladyfingers are also called savoiardi; you will need between 42 and 60, depending on their size and the brand.

Tiramisu

Servings: 10-12 Start to finish: 1 hour, plus cooling time • 2 1/2 cups strong brewed coffee, room temperature • 1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder • 9 tablespoons dark rum • 6 large egg yolks • 2/3 cup (4 2/3 ounces) sugar • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 1 1/2 pounds (3 cups) mascarpone cheese, chilled • 3/4 cup heavy cream, chilled • 14 ounces dried ladyfingers • 3 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder • 1/4 cup grated semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (optional) Combine coffee, espresso powder, and 5 tablespoons rum in wide bowl or baking dish until espresso dissolves.

Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, mix egg yolks at low speed until just combined. Add sugar and salt

and mix at medium-high speed until pale yellow, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium, add remaining 1/4 cup rum, and mix at medium speed until just combined, 20 to 30 seconds; scrape bowl. Add mascarpone and mix until no lumps remain, 30 to 45 seconds, scraping down bowl as needed.

Transfer mixture to large bowl.

In now-empty mixer bowl (no need to clean mixer bowl), whip cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Using rubber spatula, fold 1/3 whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream until no white streaks remain.

Working with one ladyfinger at a time, drop half of ladyfingers into coffee mixture, roll, remove, and transfer to 13 by 9-inch baking dish. (Do not submerge ladyfingers in coffee mixture; entire process should

take no longer than 2 to 3 seconds for each cookie.) Arrange soaked cookies in single layer in baking dish, breaking or trimming ladyfingers as needed to fit neatly into dish.

Spread half of mascarpone mixture over ladyfingers, spreading it to sides and into corners of dish, and smooth top. Place 2 tablespoons cocoa in fine-mesh strainer and dust cocoa over mascarpone. Repeat with remaining ladyfingers, mascarpone, and 1 1/2 table-

spoons cocoa to make second layer. Clean edges of dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Before serving, sprinkle with grated chocolate, if using. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 641 calories; 420 calories from fat; 47 g fat ( 24 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 308 mg cholesterol; 166 mg sodium; 41 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 15 g sugar; 12 g protein.

Make an intense and buttery molten chocolate cake at home AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN FALLEN CHOCOLATE cake, or molten chocolate cake, is an undercooked-in-the-centre mound of intense, buttery chocolate cake. We wanted to turn this restaurant-menu standard into a practical recipe for home cooks.

Beating the egg whites and yolks separately and then folding them together as some recipes instruct resulted in a cottony cake; we found that beating the eggs with sugar to a foam and then folding them into melted chocolate delivered cakes with the rich, moist texture we wanted. A mere 2 tablespoons of flour did an able job of holding the souffle-like cakes www.canadianinquirer.net

together — any more and the cakes were dry, with no fluid centre.

Finally, we wanted to ensure that these decadent desserts would arrive at the table hot and still molten; happily, we found that we could prepare the batter ahead of time, refrigerating the filled ramekins until ready to use and then placing them in the oven to bake during dinner.

You can substitute bittersweet chocolate for the semisweet; the flavour will be slightly more intense.

Fallen chocolate cake

Servings: 8 Start to finish: 1 hour

• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting • 8 ounces semisweet choco-

late, chopped coarse • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces • 4 large eggs plus 1 large yolk, room temperature • 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour • Confectioners’ sugar Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 F. Grease eight 6-ounce ramekins and dust with cocoa. Arrange ramekins on rimmed baking sheet. Microwave chocolate in large bowl at 50 per cent power for 2 minutes. Stir chocolate, add butter, and microwave at 50 ❱❱ PAGE 38 Make an

38

Food

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

A cookie in a skillet? Sure, you’re skeptical. But try it AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN A COOKIE in a skillet? We admit this Internet phenom made us skeptical — until we tried it. Unlike making a traditional batch of cookies, this treatment doesn’t require scooping, baking and cooling multiple sheets of treats; the whole thing bakes at once in a single skillet.

Plus, the hot bottom and tall sides of a well-seasoned castiron pan create a great crust on the cookie. And this treat can go straight from the oven to the table for a fun, hands-on dessert — or you can slice it and serve it like a tart for a more elegant presentation.

What’s not to like?

We cut back on butter and chocolate chips from our usual cookie dough recipe to ensure that the skillet cookie remained crisp on the edges and baked through in the middle while staying perfectly chewy.

We also increased the baking time to accommodate the giant size, but otherwise this recipe was simpler and faster than baking regular cookies.

Top with ice cream for an extradecadent treat.

Chocolate chip skillet cookie

Servings: 8 Start to finish: 1 hour

• 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) allpurpose flour • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup packed (5 1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar • 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon salt • 1 large egg plus 1 large yolk • 1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips Adjust oven rack to uppermiddle position and heat oven to 375 F. Whisk flour and baking soda together in bowl.

Melt 9 tablespoons butter in 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, about 5 minutes. Transfer browned butter to large bowl and stir in remaining 3 tablespoons butter until melted. Whisk in brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt until incorporated. Whisk in egg and yolk until smooth with no lumps, about 30 seconds.

Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds.

Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips.

Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Transfer dough to now-empty skillet and press into even layer with spatula.

Bake until cookie is golden brown and edges are set, about 20 minutes, rotating skillet halfway through baking. Using potholders, transfer skillet to wire rack and let cookie cool for 30 minutes. Slice cookie into wedges and serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 488 calories; 222 calories from fat; 25 g fat (15 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 96 mg cholesterol; 384 mg sodium; 65 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 42 g sugar; 5 g protein.

Make an... ❰❰ 37

per cent power for 2 minutes longer, stopping to stir after 1 minute. If chocolate is not yet entirely melted, microwave for an additional 30 seconds; set aside.

Using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip eggs, yolk, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt on high speed until eggs are pale yellow and have nearly tripled in volume. (Egg foam will form ribbon that sits on top of mixture for 5 seconds when dribbled from whisk.) Scrape egg mixture over chocolate

Turn a plain brown paper bag into the perfect popcorn maker AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN

LITTLEREDKITCHEN / FLICKR, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

mixture, then sprinkle flour on top. Using rubber spatula, gently fold egg mixture and flour into chocolate until mixture is uniformly colored.

Divide batter evenly among prepared ramekins. (Unbaked cakes can be refrigerated for up to 8 hours. Return to room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.) Bake until cakes have puffed about 1/2 inch above rims of ramekins, have thin crust on top, and jiggle slightly at centre when ramekins are shaken very gently, 12

to 13 minutes. Run thin knife around edges of ramekins to loosen cakes. Invert each ramekin onto plate and let sit until cakes release themselves from ramekins, about 1 minute. Lift off ramekins, dust with confectioners’ sugar, and serve. ■ Nutrition information per serving: 318 calories; 153 calories from fat; 17 g fat (8 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 161 mg cholesterol; 108 mg sodium; 33 g carbohydrate; 6 g fiber; 14 g sugar; 9 g protein. www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY

remove plate from microwave (plate will be very hot, ask an adult to help). Set aside to cool slightly.

Place butter in large microwave-safe bowl (big enough to hold popcorn), cover, and heat in microwave at 50 per cent power until melted, 30 to 60 seconds. Use oven mitts to remove bowl from microwave.

Carefully open paper bag (be careful of hot steam) and pour popcorn into bowl with melted butter. Use rubber spatula to toss popcorn with butter.

Sprinkle with salt. Serve.

MICROWAVE POPCORN is a great idea — in theory. But most packaged options have a long list of unnatural ingredients and don’t taste very good.

This fun recipe turns a plain old brown paper bag — the kind you might use to hold your lunch — into a microwave-safe package for popping corn kernels.

Make sure to use a plain bag without any writing (colored inks are often not microwavesafe).

Microwaves vary in Make It Your strength so rathWay er than watchWhy stick ing the clock, This fun recipe with just butter listen for the turns a plain and salt when it popping sounds: old brown comes to popwhen they slow paper bag — corn flavourdown, the popthe kind you ings? Here are corn is ready. might use some inventive Be careful when to hold your ways to make opening the bag lunch — into a popcorn special with the popped microwave-safe — perfect for a kernels — there package for sleepover or a will be a lot of popping corn movie night with steam in the bag, kernels. friends. so open it away — Parmesanfrom your face Herb Popcorn: or hands. Follow In small bowl, this recipe with your kids. stir together 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon Real buttered popcorn Italian seasoning blend. SprinServings: 3 to 4 (Makes 6 kle over popcorn along with salt cups) just before serving.

Start to finish: 15 minutes — Sriracha-Lime Popcorn: Stir 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce • 1/4 cup popcorn kernels into melted butter. Sprinkle 1/2 • 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil teaspoon grated lime zest over • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter popcorn along with salt just be• 1/4 teaspoon salt fore serving.

— Cinnamon-Malt Popcorn: Place popcorn kernels in In small bowl, stir together 1 clean brown paper lunch bag. tablespoon malted milk powDrizzle kernels with oil. Fold der, 1 tablespoon packed brown over top of bag three times to sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon ground seal (do not tape or staple). cinnamon. Sprinkle over popShake bag to coat kernels corn along with salt just before with oil, place bag on its side on serving. ■ large microwave-safe plate, and shake kernels into even layer in Nutrition information per servbag. ing: 98 calories; 47 calories from Place plate in microwave and fat; 5 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g cook until popping slows down trans fats); 10 mg cholesterol; 195 to one or two pops at a time, 3 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 2 g to 5 minutes. Use oven mitts to fiber; 0 g sugar; 2 g protein.

39

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2019

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40

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Canada

FRIDAY

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