Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #16

CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER VOL. 6 NO. 16

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

CANADA NEWS Premier Clark Joins Filipino Community in Independence Day Celebration ( On page 16 )

B.C. adds family time to winter with new statutory holiday in February ( On page 16 )

What are the needs of Filipino elderly in Canada?

Marianne Bermudez

( On page 18 )

Restore funding for Adult Education classes, says MLA Mable Elmore STANDARD-BEARER A public works employee prepares Philippine flags that will adorn the stretch of Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, Metro Manila’s widest road, in preparation for the celebration of Independence Day on June 12.

Noy, UK premier to talk on trade ties

BY JULIET L. JAVELLANA in London and CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO in Manila Philippine Daily Inquirer

LONDON (via PLDT)—He will miss Elizabeth II, the British queen, but he will have some time with Barack Obama, the US President, and with Jessica Sanchez, the half-Filipino “American Idol” singing sensation.

Leaving Manila on his 15th foreign trip since he took office two years ago, President Aquino was expected to arrive in London at the start of a weeklong trip to the United Kingdom and the United States.

He was flying into London in the middle of royal festivities marking the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

The royal pageantry for the queen’s diamond jubilee started with what was touted as the biggest fluvial parade in London’s history since the 17th century. The pageantry ends with the queen’s appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Unlike his predecessors, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Fidel Ramos, who both met the queen during their visits here, Mr. Aquino would not be meeting with the 82-year-old monarch.

But the President will be meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron and with Elizabeth’s son, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.

In the United States, Mr. Aquino will have a one-on-one with Obama.

Before flying back home on June 10,

he will also meet Sanchez, the petite singer who landed runner-up in this year’s “American Idol” competition, Malacañang officials said.

Philippine interest “You can be sure of that in the seven days of my visits in the UK and the US, it’s only the interest of the country which will be my main focus,” Mr. Aquino said in his departure speech in Manila before boarding a chartered Philippine Airlines flight. “(The UK) is one of our top European investors, our biggest market in tourism in Europe and one of our active partners in trade,” he also said.

More on page 5

( On page 20 )

Getting to know the Vancouver School Board Settlement Workers in Schools program ( On page 21 )

( On page 27 )

Montreal’s Ritz Carlton shows off results of $200 million restoration ( On page 36 )

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3 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

CJ’S removal is immediately effective–Sotto

BY TJ BURGONIO Philippine Daily Inquirer WHILE SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile did not expressly state it, Chief Justice Renato Corona’s removal from office was “immediately effective” after 20 senator-judges found him guilty, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III. After reading the judgment of 20 senators finding Corona guilty of Article 2, Enrile surprisingly failed to mention the penalty on Corona, which is removal from public office and disqualification from public office.

“There was no need to mention the penalty. It’s explicit in the Constitution. We need not elaborate it,” Sotto said by phone.

After the verdict was handed down at 6 p. m. May 29, the penalty was “immediately effective” and that the notice to be delivered

by Senate Secretary Emma Reyes to the Supreme Court was only a formality, Sotto said.

“As far as we’re concerned, it’s immediately effective. The judiciary would know what to do. That’s out of our hands,” Sotto said. “The office of Chief Justice Corona would know what to do.”

Section 7, Article 11 of the 1987 Constitution states that judgment in impeachment cases “shall not extend further than removal from office and disqualification to hold any office,” but the party convicted “shall nevertheless be liable and subject to prosecution, trial and punishment, according to law.”

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., one of the three senators who voted to acquit Corona, agreed with Sotto, and said there was no need for Enrile to state the penalty.

“It’s clear to all of us that the penalty is removal from public office,” he told reporters.

After reading the verdict, Enrile ordered the Senate Secretary, as clerk of impeachment court, to furnish Corona, his counsel, the Supreme Court en banc, President Aquino, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and the Judicial and Bar Council a certified copy of the judgment.

Corona’s replacement Malacañang said that Mr. Aquino would have 90 days to find Corona’s replacement.

“The President has 90 days, if I’m not mistaken, to appoint the next Chief Justice,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters less than an hour after the Senate impeachment trial of Corona ended with his conviction.

Valte said the short list of nominees for the top Supreme Court post would come from the Judicial and Bar Council.

Mr. Aquino is expected to give a statement on the verdict in Malacañang, according to Valte. ■ With a report from Christine O. Avendaño

News-Phils Conviction of court interpreter serves as template for Senate decision

BY CATHY YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer A 15-YEAR-OLD Supreme Court decision dismissing a lowly court interpreter from government service for not reporting a market stall in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) served as template for the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said the Supreme Court had issued “numerous” decisions on SALN violations by government officials and employees.

But the Rabe vs Flores case of 1997 deserves notice since it was also about a court worker who failed to disclose a property, he said.

The Regional Trial Court Branch 4 in Panabo, Davao, dismissed Delsa Flores from service for failing to disclose ownership of a stall in a public market in her SALN. The high court also forfeited her retirement benefits and accrued leave credits and barred her from reemployment in government, including in government-owned or -controlled corporations.

The Court said Flores’ failure “to disclose her business interest, which she herself admitted, is inexcusable and is a clear violation” of Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Perpetually disqualified “Ms. Flores was perpetually disqualified from holding office. If the court was supplied with bank passbook of Flores (that contained) $10,000 that was not reported in her SALN, would the court ruling be the same? Dismissal and perpetual disqualification? Yes. The Supreme Court would have ruled similarly,” Osmeña surmised.

“If these public officers are dismissed for failing to declare far less valuable assets in their SALNS despite and

regardless of excuses, there is more reason to apply the law when assets in question amount to more than P80M,” he added.

Osmeña referred to the $2.4 million and P80.7 million in hard cash that Corona admitted as his deposits in several banks.

“We should not penalize a poor man for stealing bicycle but rule that the rich man must first steal a Mercedes before he is subject to a similar penalty,” Osmeña said.

“We must tell all the Ms. Floreses that justice is to the best of our ability, applied equally to the rich and powerful as well as the poor and powerless,” he added.

Flores’ case was cited several times as the Supreme Court precedent that must be observed in disciplining one who works in the judiciary.

Majority Leader Tito Sotto said he had encountered many Supreme Court decisions “whereby lower court judges were dismissed and deprived of all their benefits for simple infractions of law or missteps.”

“Should the same strict measures ought to be applied to members of the Supreme Court?” he asked.

Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and several other senators also referred to the Flores case in casting a vote against Corona.

“The court clerk who did not declare her stall was immediately dismissed. Why is it that when a rich man is arrested, he can explain, make excuses, twist the laws and invent technicalities?” Cayetano asked.

Sen. Loren Legarda said that if Flores can be dismissed, “I do not see any reason why we cannot apply the same law to the Chief Justice.”

“If we acquit the Chief Justice, we would tragically lift the floodgates for public suspicion and widespread disgust for the highest judicial institution. We also lower the bar for accountability of public officials,” she said. ■

‘I now accept the calvary we endured’

BY PHILIP C. TUBEZA Philippine Daily Inquirer IN A STATEMENT simply signed as Renato C. Corona issued from his hospital bed, the sacked Chief Justice said he was now accepting the calvary he had endured for the last six months.

The 63- year- old Corona, a diabetic who has been confined at The Medical City since he suffered a dizzying spell after a dramatic three-hour appearance last week in the Senate, thanked his supporters and urged the country to move forward.

“If this will be for the good of the country, I now accept the calvary we endured. Because even from the start, I was ready to lay my life for the nation,” Corona said in Filipino in a statement e-mailed to reporters.

“Therefore, I leave it up to God and to the public, who are more powerful in our democracy, my future and the future of our judiciary,” he added.

Corona insisted that he was innocent and accused the Aquino administration of using the entire government machinery to pin him down.

“My conscience is clear. But it is a sad political reality that sometimes what the majority believes to have happened is not according to what really occurred,” Corona said.

“Especially when one man or group has a grip on the entire machinery of the government, and even the media as well, and to use these to create fake documents and publish misleading information and news to destroy adversaries,” he said.

“The frequent question is, ‘If the case was strong, why invent?’” he added.

Corona said the President used Congress, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Land Registration Authority, Anti-money Laundering Council, Office of the Ombudsman, and “others” to go after him.

He also alleged that public funds were used for a media campaign in radio, television, and the newspapers to blacken his name and that of his family.

“I accepted all of these for the independence of the judiciary, which is a very important part of our democracy ... But bad politics prevailed. I am not guilty. There is no truth to the accusations against me in the Articles of Impeachment,” he said.

“I’m deeply saddened by the decision of the Senate impeachment court. As Chief Justice, I faced the challenge of impeachment head on with courage and wisdom and participated in the process according to the Constitution, in the hope that I will get the justice I’ve been seeking for the last five months,” he added.

“Our country has long been troubled by this impeachment.

And tonight, I invite you to turn away from what had become the center of this show these past five months, to again rebuild the threads that were scattered, and turn our focus on the other challenges and promises of the Philippines in the next century,” Corona said.

“Let us put a stop to the politics of personal attacks. Let us put an end to the poison brought about by too much partisanship, divisiveness and uncontrolled anger,” he said.

“This is not right for our country. This is not the story of the Philippines. It is time to push forward our life as a nation,” he added.

Corona thanked the three senators—Joker Arroyo, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.—for voting to acquit him.

“I also ask for forgiveness from my wife, my children and grandchildren, because in my struggle to defend the independence of the judiciary, they had to endure a calvary that they did not need to experience,” Corona said.

“Also to those who helped and supported me, I ask for forgiveness because my abilities were not enough to succeed in our hope for truth to prevail.” ■ With reports from Tarra Quismundo and Niña Calleja

News-Phils Wanted: Doctors, lawyers, priests

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE NATIONAL police force is looking for a few good men and women, especially doctors, lawyers and priests.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has announced 75 vacancies for professionals who may wish to join the ranks of commissioned officers in the 140,000-strong force.

In a statement, PNP spokesperson Senior Supt.

Generoso Cerbo Jr. said the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management was conducting another

round of lateral entry screenings to fill openings for technical service officers in the police force’s National Support Units.

Successful applicants who are medical doctors, lawyers and chaplains will be appointed to the entry rank of senior inspector with a monthly base salary of P35,312, he said.

Other professionals whowill also be taken in will be given the entry rank of inspector with a monthly salary of P32,341, Cerbo said.

Needed are four lawyers for the PNP Legal Service, nine officers for the Communication and Electronics Service, 12 medico-legal officers and 20 forensic and chemical officers for the PNP Crime Laboratory,

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 4

two pilots for the Special Action Force, one chaplain officer for the Chaplain Service, and 12 medical officers and 15 nurses for the PNP Health Service.

Applicants are required to undergo a mandatory written competitive examination and physical, medical and dental exams, Cerbo said.

“To broaden the pool of applicants, the Lateral Entry Program has allowed qualified personnel from different PNP units to apply even if the vacancies are in other units,” Cerbo said.

“We want to have as many qualified applicants as possible in order to have a wider range for selection because we want to get only the best and most qualified officers for the job,” the spokesperson said. ■

Enrile cites defense’s blunders

BY CATHY C. YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer

CHIEF JUSTICE Renato Corona was convicted not because of the prosecutorial skills of his accusers but the blunders committed by his lawyers.

In separate interviews, senators listed the following errors: The presentation of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales as a hostile witness; the “staged” walkout of Corona that incurred the ire of senatorjudges; the conditions that Corona imposed on his accusers after his first offer of a waiver; and, the discussion of the sale of the BasaGuidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI) shares worth P34.7 million to Corona’s daughter Carla Castillo for P28,000.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile smirked when asked whether the House prosecutors brought about the “guilty” vote of 20 senator-judges against Corona.

“It was the judges who were good, isn’t it?” he insisted in jest in an ambush interview.

Senators noted that until Rep. Niel Tupas, the lead House prosecutor, rested his case after presenting evidence on three articles against Corona, his panel had very weak evidence against the Chief Justice.

They also chastised the prosecution for relying on spurious sources, including a “little lady” who was said to have provided evidence on Corona’s bank deposits and photocopies of dollar transactions.

“Actually, the prosecution started with no case.

They just produced evidence as the trial went along.

Even Rep. (Rodolfo) Fariñas admitted in open court that he did not sign the impeachment complaint because it was defective,” recalled Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

“When the Ombudsman testified, the fire went out of control,” Enrile remarked.

Plan backfired “My suspicion was that the lawyers wanted Morales to disprove the news reports that she did not have evidence on the Chief Justice’s $10M in bank deposits. But the plan backfired,” said Sen. Edgardo Angara.

Angara said Morales had many documents provided by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to prove that the deposits were not declared in Corona’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), Angara said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson called Morales’ appearance in the impeachment trial “a big mistake, a big blunder on the part of the defense.”

“Had the Ombudsman not appeared, the Chief Justice might have been acquitted. Remember that until then, the prosecution panel carried the heavy burden on its shoulders of hyping up evidence that did not live up to the real facts like the dud about the Chief Justice’s 45 properties,” he explained.

During her testimony, Morales produced documents which she said came from the AMLC tracing the dollar time deposits entered into by Corona in five banks amounting to $10 million to $12 million from 2004 to early 2012.

The defense held that the supposed AMLC documents were never authenticated and had no probative value. Experts said that the so-called “transactional balance” was concocted by Morales and the Commission on Audit.

Enrile said Morales “presented a report based on documents so detailed—a myriad of details!”

“No mind, even Einstein, can invent the details covered by those transactions. A legal mind or a financial mind could not concoct or invent the contents of those documents and the numbers and the transactions that happened over a period of eight years,” he added.

In explaining his guilty verdict on Tuesday, Enrile made it clear that Corona “does not stand accused of having amassed any ill-gotten wealth before this impeachment court.”

Damaging walkout Angara pointed out that Corona inadvertently painted himself into a corner by revealing that he actually had $2.4 million and P80.7 million in banks.

Corona’s walkout right after his first appearance spoiled whatever gains he earned that day. “Everyone had this fear of a unanimous vote for conviction after he did that,” Lacson said.

Lacson added that senators were initially elated at Corona’s offer of a waiver on his deposits during his initial appearance. However, the subsequent challenge to sign a similar waiver given to Sen. Franklin Drilon and the 188 congressmen who signed the impeachment complaint turned them off. “The patina of sincerity collapsed,” he said.

Enrile said Corona was also damaged by the testimony of a former sheriff who admitted supervising an auction where Corona’s daughter bought 90 percent of BGEI shares worth millions for only P28,000. “To me, that was an unjust enrichment,” he explained.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. cited the critical role that media played in the conviction of Corona.

“But at the end of the day, the media pushed us, pushed the Senate, pushed the public, and the defense as well, to confront all of the issues that were brought out in the course of the investigation and the court trial and faced them up to it,” Belmonte said on Tuesday.

“The fact that the media was looking at them also made them (senator-judges) decisive, their decisions clear, not fuzzy, and the whole process has been resolved in a clear, clean way in accordance with our Constitution and our laws, that is in effect a changing event,” he said. ■

Cops get DNA capability

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer

WITH new genetic research technology, the authorities can now literally catch a culprit by a hair.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has finally acquired a new facility for the forensic analysis of human genetic material, such as hair strands.

The PNP Crime Laboratory Group (CLG) on Monday opened its new DNA Investigative and Research Center (DIRC), highlighting the unit’s 67th founding anniversary.

The DIRC can now assist crime investigators in the identification of a suspect using even limited specimens, PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said.

The CLG director, Chief Supt. Lorlie N. Arroyo, said the DIRC would provide forensic analysis of DNA material and fingerprints to match the suspects in a certain crime with biological samples recovered at a crime scene.

In a statement, Cerbo said the DNA facility is part of the CLG’s efforts to enhance its capabilities, and help PNP forensic experts perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

Arroyo said it would be particularly helpful in rape cases and other sexual crimes.

The official said DNA analysis could also help establish the identities of unrecognizable crime victims.

“The DIRC will also help in the identification of victims of mass disasters and establish paternity or maternity in child custody conflicts and inheritance lawsuits to link consanguinity,” Cerbo said.■

News-Phils

5 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

The 89-member presidential delegation includes 27 of the country’s top business leaders, like Manny V. Pangilinan, Washington Sycip, Lance Gokongwei, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Enrique Razon Jr. and Teresita Sy. Eight Cabinet ministers are traveling with the President. They include Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Energy Secretary Rene Almendras and Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang.

care of the expenses for his June 4-6 official visit, the officials said.

Mr. Aquino is expected to witness the signing of business agreements between leading British and Filipino companies.

“We are very proud that the President has chosen to visit the United Kingdom at a very historic moment during the queen’s jubilee,” Philippine Ambassador to the UK Enrique Manalo said.

“We’re looking forward to a very successful visit and to bring our relationship with the UK to much greater heights,” he said.

Manalo said the visit was timely because the UK considered the Philippines an “emerging power in Asia.”

Business deals Palace officials said Mr. Aquino’s trip would cost P87.1 million, covering accommodations, communication, transportation, food and equipment, among others. He is expected to return to Manila in time to lead the nation’s June 12 Independence Day celebrations.

Philippine officials don’t seem to mind that the President’s visit comes at such a busy time for the British monarchy and government. He comes as a government guest, which means his British hosts are taking

Talks with Cameron He said Mr. Aquino and Cameron would discuss “wideranging issues.”

“They will touch on trade and investments promotion, how to increase our economic relationships … They will also discuss the growth of our Filipino communities here and of course on regional issues perhaps … issues of the West Philippine Sea,” Manalo said without elaborating.

While the queen attends the diamond jubilee revelry, Mr. Aquino would be meeting with British and Philippine businessmen at

Noy, UK premier...from page 1

Intercontinental London Park Lane Hotel away from the spotlight.

“We expect signing of some very important business agreements, seven or eight companies be involved and I know that they will be covering such areas as renewable energy, gas, minerals, et cetera,” Manalo said.

They include agreements between Rolls Royce and Cebu Pacific, Asea Gaz Asia Ltd. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures Gas Project, as well as with Shell and Nestlé. The embassy has yet to release details of the deals.

Prince Andrew On his last day in London, Mr. Aquino will have a meeting with Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace.

Mr. Aquino will also be interviewed by the BBC network and meet with the Filipino community. At least 250,000 Filipinos work and live in the UK. There will be no city tour for the President.

Instead, Mr. Aquino will do his share in attracting British tourists to the country’s pristine beaches and famed diving spots. He and his Cabinet are to participate in a photoshoot featuring London cabs sporting the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” ads.

PH scored for ‘empty chair’ at UN meet on Syria

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer THE PHILIPPINES’ decision to leave an empty chair at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s discussions on atrocities in Syria was “reprehensible,” according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

HRW Asia researcher Carlos Conde said the wish to protect Filipino workers in Syria need not have stopped the Philippines from participating in the UN council’s discussions, especially since the country could abstain from voting on a council resolution as it had done in the past.

The Philippines was reportedly the only country absent when the UN Human Rights Council met on June 1 to vote on a draft resolution condemning the recent massacre of over 100 civilians in Syria, which was blamed on the regime of President Bashar Assad.

“What is reprehensible is for a member state of the Human Rights Council to leave an empty chair. The June 1 session focused on the killing of more than 100 innocent civilians, including children, and the Philippines didn’t even take the time to participate in discussions and the vote on the killings,” Conde told the INQUIRER. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told the INQUIRER the Philippines was not joining other United Nations member states in condemning the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for the massacre of more than 100 civilians.

Instead, Del Rosario said in a text message that the Philippines was “maintaining a strategic silence on the situation in Syria, as we are focused on the safety and welfare of several thousands of our people that remain there.”

Conde said the government did not have to forego its duty to protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) while it did its part to help improve the situation in the Middle East country.

“While we understand the Philippine government’s position that it needs the Syrian government’s cooperation to evacuate OFWs from Syria, we think the Philippines is creating a false choice between doing what’s best to protect the Filipino workers and helping to end the human rights crisis in Syria,” he said.

Conde pointed out that Filipino workers would face greater risks if the situation in Syria worsened.

“The Human Rights Council is one avenue for trying to prevent that downslide and the Philippines should be working with other countries to end the atrocities. Virtually all the Human Rights Council members supported the June 1 resolution denouncing Syria,” he said.

The Philippines could have abstained from voting on the resolution even if it participated in the discussion, Conde said, adding that the country had taken this tack in previous instances.

He also scored Del Rosario for saying the country’s stance on Syria was one of “strategic silence.”

“We think this position only explains the government’s decision to abstain from three past votes on Syria at the UN but not the empty chair,” he said. ■

Richard de Villa, technology and marketing officer of the DOT office, said there were 40 cabs carrying the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” sign around the streets of London.

President Aquino will also tour the Imperial War Museum.

Manalo described the UK as the Philippines’ biggest tourism market in Europe. More than 100,000 British tourists visited the Philippines last year, he said.

US trip From London, he will proceed to Washington for a three-day “working visit.”

The President said in Manila he was looking forward to his meetings with Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US lawmakers.

“We will also review our current cooperation in terms of security so we can find out how to strengthen the capability of the Philippines as their ally in ensuring order in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said he would also meet with American businessmen “to tell them of our stand: Good governance result in a better economy and this can be seen in the good news coming from the Philippines today.”

In both trips, he said he would not miss the chance of meeting with the Filipino communities. ■

News-Phils

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 6

Fight Big Tobacco, urges WHO on No Tobacco Day

BY JOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE WORLD Health Organization (WHO) marked World No Tobacco Day with a strong call to the public to oppose the aggressive attempts of the tobacco industry to undermine laws that protect the people from the harm of smoking.

“The tobacco industry is throwing more of its huge power and resources at the laws that protect people from exposure to tobacco marketing and smoke. Its goal is simple—to increase profits at the cost of human misery,” said Dr. Shin Young-soo, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.

“We must resist. Denounce industry interference wherever you see it... tell Big Tobacco to keep its hands off public health,” the WHO official said.

Tobacco use is among the leading causes of preventable death, killing nearly six million people per year, of whom more than 600,000 are nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke, according to the WHO.

At least 33 percent of the world’s roughly one billion smokers are in the Western Pacific region, which includes the Philippines. The region has the highest prevalence of smoking among men. But the trend is also fast increasing among women and the youth, the WHO said.

17-M Pinoy smokers According to the Department of Health, the Philippines has approximately

Grenade found near Ombudsman’s house

BY DJ YAP

Philippine Daily Inquirer

INTERIOR Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered police to beef up security for Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales after a grenade was discovered near the gate of her home in Muntinlupa City.

He also directed the Metro Manila police to investigate the incident.

The Muntinlupa police said a live M-26 hand grenade was found

inside a small canister left at the back perimeter fence near the gate of Morales’ residence at Carpio Compound, Soldier Hills Village, Putatan.

Police had been called to verify the contents of the suspicious package, said Edgardo Diansuy, media affairs chief of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Police said the package contained a handwritten note which reads “Pang densa [sic] kay CCM – nagmamalasakit.” They have yet to identify the person who left the canister.

Bomb disposal operatives removed the package.

Morales, a former Supreme Court associate justice, took the stand at the impeachment trial of Corona as a hostile witness for the defense. Her revelations of a report from the Anti-Money Laundering Council indicating undeclared dollar deposits of the Chief Justice were seen to have bolstered the case against him. ■

17.3 million smokers. Smoking is one of the three major risk factors of cardiovascular disease, cancer and other respiratory illnesses, which make up 60 percent of all the deaths in the country.

Globally, smoking caused over 100 million deaths in the 20th century. If no urgent action is taken to control the tobacco epidemic, the annual death toll could reach one billion in the 21st century, said the WHO.

“The tobacco industry is getting more aggressive and brazen,” said Shin. “On World No Tobacco Day and throughout the year, the WHO will educate policymakers and the public about the industry’s nefarious and harmful interference with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.”

The WHO-FCTC is a global treaty signed by 174 countries, including the Philippines, which aims to curb tobacco use and its promotion.

The WHO noted that the parties’ efforts to meet their obligations under the treaty had sparked a “fierce counterreaction” from the tobacco industry.

The organization cited Philip Morris International’s legal action against Australia under the country’s bilateral investment treaty with Hong Kong on the grounds that the former’s plain packaging law infringed on international trademarks.

The WHO also noted that the tobacco industry continued to amplify its “corporate social responsibility” programs, undermining public health laws and supposedly making people forget that its products cause addiction, suffering and death. ■

Deped sets rainy day guidelines

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer

PARENTS and students no longer have to wait for an official announcement on class suspensions on stormy days under the new automatic suspension guidelines issued by the Department of Education.

All they need to do is monitor the storm signal bulletins of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) to see if the automatic suspensions cover their students, said Education Secretary Armin Luistro in DepEd Order No. 43.

Under the order, classes in preschool and kindergarten are automatically suspended under storm signal no. 1.

Classes and work in all preschool, kindergarten, elementary and high schools are automatically suspended under signal No. 2.

All classes and work in all educational institutions are suspended under signal no. 3.

The DepEd said whole-day suspensions will be in effect in areas Pagasa places under storm signals in bulletins issued previously from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

Half-day or afternoon suspensions will be automatic for the levels concerned when Pagasa raises a storm signal at 11 a.m.

Local government officials can also call for the suspension of classes in cases of emergencies such as flooding (even without a storm signal), earthquakes, tsunami, landslides and fire in their localities.

Luistro said local school officials should keep communication lines open with local government officials in such cases.

School heads may likewise cancel classes “in cases where urgent action is needed to prevent loss of life or bodily harm.”

Luistro also called on parents to exercise proper judgment.

“The DepEd still maintains that parents have the ultimate responsibility for determining whether or not their children should go to school, even if no order for cancellation or suspension of classes has been issued if they feel that travelling to or from school will place their children at risk,” he said.

The guidelines were issued “to streamline procedures on the suspension of classes and work in government offices” and spare the public “from unnecessary dangers” in times of typhoons, flooding and other disasters or calamities. ■

7 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

News-Phils

China alarmed by Clinton’s comments

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer

CHINA has expressed concern about remarks made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said that Beijing’s claim in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) exceeded what was permitted by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In a report posted on its website, the Chinese Embassy in Makati City quoted Hong Lei, spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, as saying that China had raised concerns about Clinton’s opinion when other countries had chosen to adopt a hands-off policy on the issue.

“On the issue of the South China Sea, nonclaimant (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries and countries outside the region have adopted a position of not getting involved in territorial disputes,” Hong said.

“On this important prerequisite and foundation, the Chinese side has consistently committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea, region by means, such as negotiating and signing with Asean countries the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in parallel with our efforts to pursue dispute settlement through negotiations with countries directly concerned,” she said.

Two Democratic senators—John Kerry

and Barbara Boxer—also criticized China’s claim in the West Philippine Sea at last week’s hearing of the US Senate committee on foreign relations.

Illegal claims Kerry, the panel chair, said “China and other countries are staking out illegal claims to the South China Sea and elsewhere.”

Boxer produced a map that showed that China’s claims exceeded far beyond its 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone provided for in UNCLOS and amounted to a “significant territorial grab that comes very close to the land borders of countries in the region.”

China, which is among the 160-plus nations that are party to Unclos that was concluded in 1982 and has been in force since 1994, has made expansive claims in the West Philippine Sea based mainly on ancient maps.

A map that China submitted to the UN in 2009 virtually claimed the entire West Philippine Sea. However, it failed to clarify the exact extent of its claims that overlap those of Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines.

According to the Chinese embassy, Hong also expressed concern about Manila’s supposed attempts to involve third parties in its conflict with Beijing over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal also Bajo de Masinloc

to the Philippines and Huangyan Island to China.

“Attempts by the Philippine side to draw a third party into interfering or intervening through whatever means in Huangyan Island will surely escalate the situation and meet with firm opposition from the Chinese side,” Hong said.

Provocative actions She also claimed that “the Philippine side has taken some provocative actions recently in the Huangyan Island waters, and the Chinese side has correspondingly strengthened management and control measures.”

“It was learned that the Huangyan Island waters is now stable on the whole. About 20 Chinese fishing boats are working in that area and the number is basically the same with that in the same period of previous years. The so-called around 100 boats are mostly oneperson dinghies from the fishing boats,” she said.

Hong pointed out the operations of these fishing boats are in line with related Chinese laws and China’s fishing moratorium.

“China’s public service ships are exercising strict supervision over these fishing boats to prevent any law-breaching operation,” she said.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario expressed confidence that the Philippines could settle the Panatag Shoal dispute with

China, as well as other West Philippine Searelated issues, citing what he called the Department of Foreign Affairs’ comprehensive “overall plan.”

Del Rosario pointed out that the Chinese were “in violation of the Asean Declaration on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea when they are preventing us from enforcing our laws in our EEZ.” According to the DFA head, they had “broken up the overall plan into diplomatic or political, legal and defense tracks.”

Political track For the political track, he said the country would continue to push for the transformation of the West Philippine Sea into a zone of peace, freedom, friendship and cooperation, where Manila would observe a rules-based approach to all disputes in accordance with Unclos.

For the legal track, the DFA plans to continue coordinating with other government agencies concerned as it resorts to a dispute settlement mechanism under Unclos.

For the defense track, Del Rosario said the foreign office had committed to help improve national defense by building a minimum credible defense posture to protect the country’s territorial integrity.

Del Rosario told the INQUIRER that aside from the United States, at least three other countries—Japan, South Korea and Australia—were also helping the Philippines establish that defense posture. ■

News-Phils Brady breezes through commission WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 8

P-noy won’t get full pension

BY CHRISTINE O. AVENDAÑO Philippine Daily Inquirer

PRESIDENT Aquino said he did not expect to receive a full pension credit when he steps down from office in 2016 because by then, he would have served in the government for only 18 years and six months.

That would be short one year and six months from the required 20 years for a government employee to receive a full pension.

The President said he would retire from government service four years from today.

But before his term ends, Mr. Aquino expects more reforms that would result in wider services and more benefits for government workers, he told employees in ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) held at the GSIS gym in Pasay City.

He said that when he came into office in 2010, he made sure the GSIS mandate would be strengthened, noting that the institution had become a tool of some people in power who had used government money “for their own selfish agenda.”

“After two years, we now feel the reforms— wider services and more benefits for the 1.7 million members and pensioners of the GSIS,” he said.

Among these reforms, he said, are the 500 automated processing system kiosks—set up with the help of the National Statistics Office and local civil registry—for the benefit of aged and ailing GSIS members who find difficulty in going to the institution’s main office to transact business.

Members can also get their loans and benefits through the 1,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) of Landbank and 224 ATMs of the Union Bank of the Philippines, the President said.

“Aside from this, there are more people who can receive survivorship benefits, as this now covers the employed spouse of a deceased member or members who had received pensions from other institutions,” he said.

The President also said the National Museum will soon take over the administration of the GSIS’ elaborate art collection so that the latter can concentrate on its original mandate.

“My appeal is for you to remain focused on your mandate. Let us continue working well and for sure, we can go far,” he told the GSIS employees.

Mr. Aquino also disclosed that the government, with the help of the GSIS, will release P25 billion—“the biggest fund it will put out for the country’s infrastructure,” in July.

The President said the government will launch in July the Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure, where the GSIS will lead in establishing the fund that will be managed by the Macquarie Group.■

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE COMMISSION on Appointments (CA) has waived the requirement for the publication of Sonia Brady’s appointment as ambassador to China, swiftly confirming her within an hour of opening discussions on her appointment.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said he would not object to Malacañang’s choice of Brady, a veteran diplomat who retired in 2010, as envoy to Beijing “because we have a critical national matter that would have to be attended to. She served there already for four years.”

Osmeña thrice blocked the appointment of President Aquino’s original choice for ambassador, businessman Domingo Lee, for failing to answer questions about the Philippines’ conflict with China in the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The current disagreement over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal off the coast of Zambales has raised tensions anew between the two countries.

Osmeña urged commission members to confirm Brady “while the iron is hot,” lest Malacañang changes its mind and appoints another undeserving non-career diplomat, he said.

Sen. Francis Escudero, acting chair of the CA foreign relations committee, pointed out that under the rules, a notice and publication of Brady’s appointment are required before she could be confirmed.

Usually, a week passes after publication before the commission discusses an appointment.

CA member Rep. Roilo Golez noted that no violent objection from any sector was heard when newspapers

carried stories about Brady’s appointment earlier this week.

Since the appointment was given front-page treatment in some newspapers, Golez said that could be considered as meeting the requirement of publication.

CA member Rep. Simeon Datumanong, however, questioned the haste with which Brady’s appointment was being taken up.

“Is there a big difference considering the problem between the Philippines and China? What is a matter of one week from today and next week?” he asked.

Escudero warned that the number of Chinese boats at Panatag Shoal continued to rise. “The count could go higher as we delay assigning an ambassador,” he said.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino, another commission member, noted that China had indicated its support for Brady’s appointment.

“The Chinese government through its ambassador welcomed the appointment. It is something that is not normal, for a government to express its approval of a nomination in advance,” he said.

“I think that shows the importance that the Chinese government is putting (on this issue). And we need a competent and well-respected career ambassador in Beijing as soon as possible,” Antonino told Datumanong.

Brady was eventually called before the CA members.

Under oath, she talked of plans to “de-escalate” the ongoing tensions between the two countries.

Brady said there was a need to “turn off the fire” so both countries could “talk and find a solution to the problem.” ■

Mindanao on Binay agenda in Malaysia

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA

Philippine Daily Inquirer

VICE President Jejomar Binay will actively promote Mindanao as an investment destination when he addresses the Philippines Malaysia Investment Partnership Forum today in Kuala Lumpur.

Binay, the forum’s keynote speaker, said his speech would be “proof of the government’s determination to bring more investments, stimulate economic growth and generate more jobs in the southern Philippines.”

In a statement, Binay expressed confidence his trip “will be able to capture the interest of the Malaysian business community.”

The business forum is “expected to further boost the strong economic ties between the Philippines and Malaysia,” he said.

He said he “expects around 200 business leaders and investors from the Philippines and Malaysia to come together to exchange ideas on how to further enhance the already dynamic economic partnership between our two countries.”

9th largest trading partner “Malaysia is the Philippines’ ninth largest trading partner with total trade amounting to almost $3.8 billion, meanwhile, our country is Malaysia’s 11th largest export market with trade valued at $2.4 billion,” he noted.

“During the forum, the Philippine delegation will highlight investment opportunities in tourism infrastructure, energy and electricity, Islamic banking and finance, processed food, information technology, business process outsourcing and other services,

electronics, and automotive parts and components,” the Vice President said.

While in the Malaysian capital, Binay will meet with top government officials, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato Sri Mustapa Bin Mohamed and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato Sri Anifah Aman, as well as former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Binay is also scheduled to meet with executives of the Malaysian firm Berjaya Corp.

Newly renovated embassy He has also been asked to grace the opening of the newly renovated Philippine Embassy.

“Our ambassador (J. Eduardo Malaya) has asked me to grace the inauguration of the newly renovated embassy. And in keeping with my role as presidential adviser on OFW concerns, I will hold a dialogue with the Filipino community to check on their living and working conditions here and find out how the government could further extend assistance to them and to their families in the Philippines,” he said.

In an earlier statement, Binay described his official visit an “excellent opportunity to bring the good news about the Philippines to the leaders and ranking officials of Malaysia.”

On hand to welcome him Sunday night at Kuala Lumpur International Airport were Ambassador Malaya, Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Dato Sri Ibrahim Saad and Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohillan Pillay.

From Malaysia, Binay will fly to the United States where he has several official activities lined up from May 30 to June 4. He will head home just as President Aquino leaves for the US himself for a meeting with President Barack Obama. ■

News-Phils

9 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

PH, China still miles apart on shoal

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer

More than three weeks after they resumed talks, the Philippines and China have yet to find a temporary solution to their dispute over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

But Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has indicated that diplomats from the two countries are not giving up. “It’s a work in progress,” he said Wednesday in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“We continue to seek a peaceful solution in addressing the current impasse through diplomatic consultations,” Del Rosario said.

Asked about the two countries’ relations, he said, “We would like to believe that the Philippines and China will adhere to our Beijing agreement on

treating contentious issues separately as we endeavor to move our bilateral agenda forward.”

Sometime in mid-2011, Del Rosario flew to China on the invitation of Chinese Foreign Secretary Yang Jiechi amid rising tensions over the two countries’ conflicting claims in the Spratlys group of islands in the West Philippine Sea. Del Rosario and Yang discussed the maritime disputes between the Philippines and China and agreed “not to let them affect the broader picture of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.”

Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement that Manila was “committed to efforts aimed at defusing the tensions” in Scarborough Shoal, which the Philippines calls Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal. On the other hand, China refers to Scarborough as Huangyan Island.

“Talks are continuing between DFA and Chinese Embassy officials,” the DFA said. “However, we have received reports from the Coast Guard that there is an increasing number and pattern of Chinese government vessels and fishing boats in the area … The Philippines protests these actions as clear violations of Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction over the shoal and sovereign rights over the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that covers the waters around Bajo de Masinloc.”

The DFA said “these actions of China are also in violation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-China Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea.”

Call to the

At the same time, the foreign office demanded that China’s vessels “immediately pull out from Bajo de Masinloc and the Philippines’ EEZ and for China to refrain from taking further actions that may exacerbate the situation in the West Philippine Sea.” Early this month, Del Rosario disclosed that the two sides had resumed consultations to break the stalemate over Panatag Shoal.

Del Rosario did not disclose the negotiation points, but going by China’s reported “requirement”—that Chinese public service ships at the shoal not to be disturbed—the consultations would lead to, at best, temporary agreements that would allow the two sides to disengage without losing face.

He also did not say how Manila was responding to Beijing’s demand. But he indicated that both sides did not expect to reach a lasting solution to the dispute this early.

“A diplomatic result ending the current impasse in Bajo de Masinloc, which we hope can be achieved, will at best be a temporary one,” Del Rosario said.

“Ultimately, we will need an overall solution.”

Del Rosario has repeatedly said the West Philippine Sea remains a core national interest for the country, and “diplomatically, we are working to ensure that what is ours is ours, and a rules-based approach would be the only legitimate and viable way of addressing disputes.”

Citing the DFA’s comprehensive “overall plan” in promoting national security, Del Rosario said he was confident the Philippines could settle peacefully its Panatag Shoal dispute with China, as well as other West Philippine Sea-related issues. ■

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News-Phils P-noy thanks, hails reviled prosecutors

BY NORMAN BORDADORA and GIL C. CABACUNGAN Philippine Daily Inquirer

THEY MAY have been reviled repeatedly for coming to the trial unprepared, but members of the House prosecution panel won the conviction of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona and that’s all President Benigno Aquino III needed to heap praise and gratitude on them.

In his post-impeachment address Wednesday night, Mr. Aquino singled out the lead prosecutor, Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas, who he said stood his ground despite being subjected to verbal abuse, and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, who he said clarified issues that had gotten muddled.

“Our prosecution team, led by Congressman Niel Tupas, who didn’t back down despite being reviled and threatened, I also thank,” Mr. Aquino said.

“I also thank Congressman Rudy Fariñas, who made clear the issues that the defense panel were trying to muddle,” he added.

Mr. Aquino thanked the private prosecutors, “who risked their livelihood and fought the highest magistrate [in the land].”

To the Senate, the President said: “We thank the whole impeachment court, especially Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. If all magistrates were as sharp as you when you think and are just like you in being partial to no one, perhaps, we didn’t have to endure this episode.”

The President thanked Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, who joined the closing arguments in the Senate on Monday, calling on the senators to convict Corona. “To Speaker Sonny Belmonte, who found it fit to stand as the voice and as the leader of the institution that sent the articles of impeachment to the Senate, also my gratitude,” he said.

Mr. Aquino also thanked Corona’s defense lawyers. “Whether deliberate or not, you were able to contribute to the coming out of the truth,” he said.

It was the defense panel that subpoenaed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales as a hostile witness.

It was Morales who submitted to the Senate a report from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) that detailed Corona’s US dollar accounts that he did not report in his financial disclosures.

Tuesday night’s call Belmonte, members of the prosecution team, private prosecutors and their staff called on Mr. Aquino in Malacañang on Tuesday night hours after the Senate convicted Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the President personally thanked his allies in the House of Representatives for impeaching Corona and prosecuting him in the Senate.

Voting 20-3 on Tuesday, the Senate impeachment court convicted Corona of culpable violation of the Constitution for dishonesty in disclosing his personal finances. The Senate ordered him removed from office and disqualified from public office.

The action against Corona, who accepted the appointment as Chief Justice from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in May 2010, less than two months before she was to step down, despite a constitutional ban on “midnight appointments,” does not end with his removal from office.

Some of the House prosecutors began calling on Ombudsman Morales to bring criminal charges against Corona for the recovery of his hidden wealth.

Whether they discussed the next step with the President on Tuesday night was not clear, though. Among those who called on Mr. Aquino after Corona’s conviction were Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tanada III, Fariñas, Quezon City Rep. Jorge Banal, Akbayan Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo.

Valte said among the private prosecutors present were lawyers Demetrio Custodio and Jose Justiniano. “President Aquino met most of them for the first time and thanked them for volunteering to help,” Valte said.

Institutions strengthened Valte said Corona’s removal from office strengthened the country’s democratic institutions.

“Mr. Corona is merely the public face of the things that ail our justice system,” Valte said. “Let us never forget that those who come to court, be they rich or poor, must do so in the expectation of receiving impartial justice from those who uphold both the spirit and the letter of the law,” she said.

“The verdict of the Senate is a step forward in terms of restoring public confidence in our courts, and trust in the members of the judiciary,” she said Forfeiture proceedings Some of the House prosecutors began urging Morales to initiate forfeiture proceedings immediately against Corona, who admitted in his Senate trial to having P80 million and $2.4 million in the bank that he did not report in his financial disclosures.

Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, a House prosecutor, said the wide discrepancy in Corona’s income tax payments from 2002 to 2010 and the numerous bank transactions in the AMLC report that Morales submitted to the Senate impeachment court was enough for the Ombudsman to open forfeiture proceedings against Corona.

“There is a wide, inexplicable variance of cash assets and income,” Aggabao said in a text message. “In such an instance, the presumption of unexplained wealth under the antigraft law kicks in,” Aggabao said.

“The onus to show they are legitimate assets rests with Corona during the forfeiture proceedings.”

Hidden wealth Fariñas said it was up to Morales to pursue the government’s case against Corona for hidden wealth.

“Remember, she had already asked CJ Corona to comment on the complaints filed against him [in the Office of the Ombudsman],” Fariñas said, referring to the April 20 letter of Morales ordering Corona to explain in writing how he managed to amass millions in peso and US-dollar accounts in several banks despite his modest government salary.

Fariñas said that while the Constitution states that the judgment in cases of impeachment should not extend further than removal from office and disqualification from public office, Corona would still be liable for criminal prosecution for breaking the laws.

Rebuilding integrity Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, a spokesperson for the prosecution, said that the Ombudsman had “very broad powers” to pursue the forfeiture case if it desired to punish Corona.

“Certainly the impeachment trial may have given some leads that they can pursue,” Angara said, noting that Corona himself admitted that he had P80 million and $2.4 million in the bank.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who testified against Corona, welcomed the Senate’s decision.

“Foremost of my initial reaction to the verdict, to be honest, is one of cautious relief,” said De Lima, who is attending a human rights conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Relief because, finally, this trying and delicate matter has been settled in such a manner that reason, justice and, most of all, truth ultimately prevailed,” she said.

“Cautious because we now have the opportunity to rebuild the integrity and nobility of several important government institutions,” she said. ■ With a report from Marlon Ramos

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 10

Massacre witness killed, says prosecution lawyer

BY PHILIP C. TUBEZA

Philippine Daily Inquirer

A FORMER militiaman who was a state witness in the Maguindanao massacre case has been brutally murdered, his body reportedly cut to pieces, according to a private prosecutor.

Esmail Amil Enog, who testified at the trial in July last year, had been missing for two months before Maguindanao police confirmed his murder, said lawyer Nena Santos.

“We have informed the court that he has been killed. Chinop-chop. Parang chainsaw massacre,” Santos said.

She said another possible witness, Alijol Ampatuan, who was mentioned

by Enog in his testimony was also feared to have been killed. Alijol is a distant relative of the Ampatuans who are the main accused in the massacre.

Santos said Enog was not included in the government witness protection program because he did not want to be confined to a government safe house.

Enog was reportedly killed in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao.

The prosecutors initially heard about it two weeks ago, Santos said.

“We are now waiting for the full report from the police. Maybe some of the accused he was to identify decided to finally silence him,” she said.

In his July 28, 2011 testimony, Enog told the court that on the orders of his immediate superior, Alijol Ampatuan, he drove 36 armed men in two batches to Malating, Ampatuan town, the site of the massacre, on the morning of Nov. 23, 2009, the day of the killings.

He positively identified the four accused who were present in court—Mohamad Datumanong alias Nicomedes Tolentino; Tato Tampogao, and Mohades and Misuari Ampatuan—as among the armed men that he had driven in a truck from the house of Kanor Ampatuan in Shariff Aguak to the massacre site.

He also testified that on returning to Shariff Aguak, he heard gunshots ring out “for about an hour” from the direction of Ampatuan town at around noon that day. Other witnesses had testified that the massacre that left 57 dead happened at around 11 a.m.

However, Enog failed to identify in court Moktar Daud, an alleged aide of Ampatuan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr. Defense lawyer Sigfrid Fortun also tried to destroy Enog’s credibility by noting that the witness could not present an identification card, birth certificate or driver’s license. ■

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 12

THERE’S THE RUB

Glimmer of hope

BY CONRADO DE QUIROS Philippine Daily Inquirer I IMAGINED that once Renato Corona would be convicted he would look like the most pitiful man on earth. That was the way Ferdinand Marcos looked when the pictures came out of him dazed and confused, bent and ill, heaving himself onto the plane that would take him to Hawaii. That was the way Erap looked when he wrenched himself from Malacañang, slipping into a barge by the Pasig that floated funereally on water.

That was the way Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at least tried to look when she went to the airport armed with a TRO from Corona to flee to parts unknown, propped on a wheelchair, staring fixedly ahead from the neck brace she was wearing. An image she would cling to, the way she clung to power, in the months ahead. Alas, soliciting little sympathy from the public, alas sparking only text jokes.

And that is the way, I imagined, Corona would look when the verdict would be handed down on him. Probably soliciting more sympathy than his boss, probably eliciting less text jokes than before.

This is a country with a tremendous culture of awa, something its less than sterling citizens, something its more than abusive leaders, have banked on to bail them out of the consequences of their transgressions. The attitude that accompanies their fall is not “Time to see the inexorable march of justice”; it is “Time to forgive and forget, they have been humiliated

enough, they have been punished enough, to do more would be vindictive.” Which makes their clones appear again and again. Which makes their crimes happen again and again.

You’ve got to wonder when we’ll direct the culture of awa at ourselves and ask: When will we start pitying ourselves? Kailan ba tayo maaawa sa sarili natin?

Two, it’s just the beginning. Before we bring out the champagne, let’s remember that this isn’t the end, this is just the beginning.

The point of the impeachment was not to bring down Corona, it was to pave the way for the prosecution of Arroyo. For the theft of more things than just earthly possessions.

For corruption in the sense of the poisoning of the well, in the sense of the perversion of institutions.

Corona’s impeachment though hasn’t at all been a waste of time. I did think at the beginning it was a huge distraction from the real project, which was to finally bring a tyrant to justice, which was to finally give this country a lesson in crime and punishment, a lesson that has eluded us all this time. But Corona’s impeachment also taught us a vital lesson in justice by drawing attention to how tyrants make it a point to alienate law from it, to disconnect law from it, to make the world forget that law is just the means to an end, and that end is justice.

The first two casualties of despotism are the military and the courts, the first employed to mount and enforce it, the second to justify and perpetuate it. The first is easy to see, both

Marcos and Arroyo conscripted the military to keep themselves in power—Marcos unleashing a war of terror against the people in the name of fighting communism, Arroyo unleashing a war of terror against the people in the name of fighting communism. The second is more subtle but it is there. Both Marcos and Arroyo also used the law resolutely to foment lawlessness, to thwart justice, to make right wrong, and wrong right.

Arroyo went on to corrupt a third institution, something Marcos was never able to do. Which was the Church. Marcos only raised Jaime Cardinal Sin, Arroyo produced Fernando Capalla. But that’s another story.

That a chief justice himself should be facing the law, that took on a world of meaning by itself. In the end, it was Corona himself who would show what the law had become in this country in the wake of the Arroyo regime. He would justify not paying taxes on the bulk of his fortune, which was in dollars, because the law allowed him to, because the courts excused him so, because he was the law in and of himself. In the end he would break down and cry, or tried to look so. That was the sound of law catching up with justice. That was the quietness of law rediscovering justice.

Three, there’s hope for the future. This is not the first time a disgraced leader was tried and convicted, but this is the first time a disgraced leader was finally brought to justice.

Erap was the first leader to have suffered the fate, Marcos having escaped to the fringes

of America before him. After Erap fell and the new government wanted to preempt any possibility of his comeback, which he hinted at with the abortive and aborted “Edsa III,” he was arrested, fingerprinted and thrown into jail. Such as his quarters in Veterans Memorial Medical Center and Tanay— he also claimed to have developed a lifethreatening affliction—could be called jail. A few years later, at the cusp of protest against “Hello Garci,” aided in no small way by the Erap hordes, he was brought to court, tried and found guilty.

There was no universal rejoicing, there was no ringing of the bells. It was all very well and good that Erap was being punished for his sins, it wasn’t so that Arroyo was doing the punishing.

Not so today. Today, a wayward leader will soon be brought to court, which Corona’s dismissal by the senator-judges and the people has made possible. It will be carried out by someone who has shown a determination to lead, a loftiness to dream, a character to bring it all to fruition. When that wayward leader is finally tried and sentenced by his peers, this country will not see it as vested interest, it will see it as justice. When that wayward leader is finally weighed and found wanting, this country will not see it as political opportunism, it will see it as a cause for ringing the bells and dancing in the streets.

It’s still one long road ahead. But there’s a shimmer of light in the horizon. ■

figure standing above the common throng, the public caught a glimpse of the ambitious palace courtier who was able to worm his way to the highest position in the judiciary through loyal service to a discredited patron.

Alluding to the practice of ancient religions, the Nobel laureate Elias Canetti wrote: “The wearer knows perfectly well who he really is; but his task is to act the mask. While doing so he must remain within certain limits, corresponding to the nature of the mask he wears…. The more often he has worn it and the better he knows it, the more of himself will flow into the figure it represents. But there is always one part of him which necessarily remains separate from it: the part that fears discovery, the part which knows that the terror he spreads is not his due.” Once the wearer forgets this, meaning that he cannot be completely identical with the mask he wears, he opens himself up to unmasking.

This is precisely what the impeachment process became for Corona—a ritual of unmasking performed by those who felt he had overstepped the bounds of his own role. “It is part of the nature of this process of unmasking that the perpetrator always knows exactly what he will find. He goes for it with a terrible assurance, despising all the metamorphoses he penetrates as irrelevancies.” I doubt if the prosecutors knew beforehand how much money Corona held in those bank deposits. But they were sure they were quite substantial.

In the end, when the law caught up with

Corona, it was not for exceeding the limits of his constitutional authority or for abuse of power, but for the less grave offense of not truthfully disclosing his net worth. Given the cavalier way in which most public officials comply with the requirement of an annual sworn statement of one’s assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), Corona’s omission of the bulk of his cash assets in his declaration would have been easily allowed to pass as a non-impeachable fault. But viewed alongside the numerous instances when the high court itself used its awesome powers to dismiss lowly government officials from the service for lying in their SALNs, the Chief Justice’s own untruthful declarations could not be excused.

Chief Justice Corona’s conviction has been hailed as the birth of a new paradigm of governance. I do hope its lessons endure for a long time. For we cannot go through the rigors of unmasking without at some point putting the rest of our institutions in peril. Canetti warns: “If it is practiced often, the whole world shrinks.

The wealth of appearances comes to mean nothing; all variety is suspect… every ray of light is extinguished in a night of suspicion.”

It is this, ironically, that we are bound to reap if God grants Sen. Miriam Santiago’s wish for a second life so she could rip apart the veil of hypocrisy that she says shrouds our corrupt society.■ *** public.lives@gmail.com

PUBLIC LIVES

A god in ruins

BY RANDY DAVID Philippine Daily Inquirer MOST OF us do not get to know the names of the members of the Supreme Court because, unlike politicians, they are seldom in the public eye. Neither do we remember how they look, apart from the thick robes they wear. It is as it should be. We stand in awe of the members of the Court not for who they are, but for what they represent. They are the best examples of figures of pure authority. Indeed, one may be forgiven for thinking they are the gods who control our destinies. But, in truth, what they represent is no more than the condensed power of society.

We don’t see the magistrates of the high court mingling with ordinary mortals in daily life. They are generally inaccessible to the mass media simply because they should have no need to court public opinion. Their remoteness gives them the aura of grandeur and stability that we associate with the law. The less we know of their personal circumstances, the more we permit them to draw from the mystique of their offices.

In light of this, one can imagine what powerful feelings are unleashed when the chief justice of the Supreme Court no less is put on trial.

To the ordinary citizen, the event evokes the giddy sensation of having to stand up to one’s own father for the first time and asking him to measure himself by the same rules he expects you to live by. To the accused magistrate, the

experience becomes a severe test of character.

He either comes out of it greatly strengthened and affirmed in his nobility, or he ends up shattered like an ordinary man who could not rise to the level of a god.

In the eyes of the public, Renato Corona was found morally unworthy to remain in office not just because of the overwhelming evidence against him, but also because of the manner in which he conducted himself throughout this ordeal. He manifested a total lack of forthrightness and a penchant for blaming others for his troubles. Particularly during his testimony, Corona showed himself to be petty and ordinary, mean-spirited and spiteful. All this only confirmed the darkest perceptions that people came to have of him when he accepted his controversial midnight appointment as chief justice of the Supreme Court.

He had two years to grow, as it were, into the mask he took for himself. Surrounded by politicians whom the public generally regards with scorn, he could have sharpened the contrast between the world of the gods who administer justice and the murky world of mortals who crave for nothing but wealth and power. Instead, he conducted himself like a small town official, more concerned with scoring little points against his accusers than with winning a battle far greater than him or them. The crude language he used in these skirmishes and the pathetic sentiments he tried to stir up betrayed the man behind the imposing mask of the chief justice. Instead of a

Opinion

13 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

LOOKING BACK

Virgin of Balintawak

BY AMBETH R. OCAMPO Philippine Daily Inquirer BALINTAWAK TO a 21st-century Pinoy is a part of Quezon City marked by an LRT station, or the entry point or first stop in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

Balintawak can also refer to a singlestick fighting style of Philippine martial arts ( eskrima or arnis), as well as the colorful rural costume worn by the smiling dalaga that fill the sunlit canvases of Fernando Amorsolo.

We also see the Balintawak on women doing the tinikling.

Unlike the one-piece modern terno with the signature “butterfly sleeves,” the Balintawak has four basic components: the baro (blouse), the saya (skirt), the tapis (cloth wrapped around the skirt), and the pañuelo. Compared to the formal traje de mestiza with a longer skirt and a train, the Balintawak is informal with a shorter skirt for use in the fields. The pañuelo in a Balintawak, often used as a scarf on the head or a shawl over the shoulders, is simply folded and left to hang on one shoulder, ready for use on a sweaty brow. Used in this way, the pañuelo is often referred to today as an alampay, like that conspicuously worn by Imelda Marcos and Risa Hontiveros.

Historically, Balintawak was where the Philippine Revolution of 1896 was launched when Andres Bonifacio tore up his cedula and shouted words of defiance, including,

I believe, a cuss word that begins with “p.”

Balintawak was home to Melchora Aquino, whose 200th birthday was celebrated early in the year. Better known as (ma)tandang Sora, she is sometimes referred to as the Mother of Balintawak.

Browsing on the Net for images of the Virgin of Balintawak venerated by the Philippine Independent Church, I came across an English translation of Gregorio Aglipay’s Novenario or Novena of 1925 that was supposed to mark nine days in August to commemorate the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution (traditionally known as the “Cry of Balintawak” until it was officially changed into the Battle of Pugadlawin).

The novena or “Pagsisiyam ng Birhen sa Balintawak” made reference to a dream that saved Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Gregoria de Jesus and other Katipuneros from capture by the Spanish Guardia Civil.

The original source, that I have yet to trace, is an article that appeared in the prewar newspaper La Vanguardia. What appeared in the novena reads: “When he was still living, the journalist Aurelio Tolentino used to say that one night when Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto and other comrades were sleeping in the house of [Tandang Sora] in Balintawak, one of them saw in a dream a beautiful Mother dressed in the style of the farmers of Balintawak, leading a pretty child by the hand, dressed

like a farmer with short red pants and holding a shiny bolo, crying Liberty! Liberty!

[Kalayaan!]

“The beautiful woman approached the one dreaming and said to him, ‘Be careful.’

“When the dreamer woke, he told his comrades what he had dreamed, saying that the Mother and Child had the face of Europeans though dressed like Filipinos.

“Because of this, they did not follow their plan to return to Manila for their regular work but decided to wait in Balintawak awhile.

It was not long before news came that the Guardia Civil Veterana had raided the press of the Diario de Manila and captured a number of Katipuneros and their papers.

“Because of this dream, Aurelio Tolentino adds, ‘the first soldiers of the Katipunan wore red trousers.’

“But for this dream, Andres Bonifacio and his staff would have been captured and we would still not be free even now.

“The Mother of Balintawak, says Mons.

Aglipay, ‘reminds you constantly of your sacred and inescapable duty to make every effort possible to obtain our longed-for independence; and she is the sacred image of our Country.’ The voice of the people will constantly resound from our pulpits, reminding you of the great teachings of Rizal, Mabini, Bonifacio and other Filipinos, and these teachings of our greatest compatriots will form the special seal of our National Church.”

Elsewhere in the novena, Obispo Maximo Aglipay stated: “The Mother of Balintawak symbolizes our Country, and the Katipunan child expresses the Filipino people, the rising generation which longs for independence, and both figures consistently reminds us of the tremendous sacrifices of the liberators of our Country and of our sacred and inescapable duty to follow them, also making all possible sacrifices on our own part to achieve our independence.”

And again Aglipay wrote: “In this image of the Motherland, we symbolize all our natural drive for national independence.

The VirginMother is the Country, for the Country is the only mother that can truly be called Virgin, Virgin as it is of all lust.

The Katipunero child represents the People, eager for their liberty, and their spokesmen, prophets and evangelists are the great Filipino teachers: Rizal, Mabini, Bonifacio, and our other countrymen whose modern sapient teachings will form the best national Gospel.”

Historians Reynaldo C. Ileto and Francis Gealogo have published articles on the Virgin of Balintawak and the Santo Niño brandishing a bolo that should be better known outside the Iglesia Filipina Independiente because it is part of Philippine history and a reflection of how an imported foreign faith is taken and Filipinized until it becomes unmistakably our own, like the Catholic Birheng Barangay. ■ Comments are welcome in my Facebook Fan Page.

AT LARGE

Talking about education

BY RINA JIMENEZ-DAVID Philippine Daily Inquirer LET’S talk about an event that happens every year, and which will transpire next week. As I write these words, the verdict of the Senate impeachment court is still being handed down. Sen. Pia Cayetano is speaking at the moment, and the current tally stands at 2-1.

From what I have heard so far, Senator Pia seems inclined to find the Chief Justice guilty.

Before I sat down to write this column, I was giving the welcome remarks at a trainers’ meeting for Pilipina members who would conduct orientations for local women leaders on good governance. The training is part of a regional program with the Asociacion Paz y Desarrollo (PYD, or Peace and Development Foundation) and with the Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) of Miriam College, part of a regional program sponsored by the Spanish government.

Even before the meeting began, many of us fretted that the occasion would coincide with the hearing. Suggestions were made to have the opening formalities done with, after which the rest of the proceedings would be suspended so everyone could watch the “show of the moment.” I had an “out,” excusing myself because of my deadline, and just as I boarded my vehicle, the handing of the verdict was just beginning.

Despite the theatrics (Senator Miriam is in full throttle as I write this), despite

the legalese, despite the cynicism, the proceedings are proving entertaining and absorbing. It is certainly historic since this is the first time in our history that a Chief Justice has been impeached and tried. But sometimes I wonder what the implications of the outcome—whatever it is—would be on the lives of the unwashed millions who still today struggle for one, let alone three, decent meals a day.

I’m sure the poor are as—if not more— interested in the goings-on at the Senate, thrilled at seeing one of their social and political betters being put before the bar of public opinion. But let them be the judges of what this event means to them, to their lives and to the future of their children. My suspicion is that the outcome would have little bearing on their lives today and in the future, unless Corona’s fate leads to genuine reform. as hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young people troop to schools, colleges and universities for the start of a new school year.

In preparation for this event, leaders of the Philippine Business for Education (PBED), a private-sector-led organization committed to improving public education standards in the country, invited members of the media to a discussion with Education Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro. More specifically, the get-together was meant to better explain to the media the ramifications of the “K to 12” program that the Department of Education has adopted starting this school year.

The format for the roundtable, as designed

by PBED’S Chito Salazar, was informal and free-wheeling, save for some introductory remarks by Luistro. It was a revelation breaking bread with the education secretary, for he was unusually relaxed and open that evening, freely sharing anecdotes and even trading jokes with his dinner companions. *** “MORE than two years will be added” to the existing number of school years that is required for a student to graduate from high school, said Luistro. The “K to 12” program will actually cover the years from preschool or kindergarten (Luistro said it was intended to cover even early childhood education) to Grade 12, the last two years actually covering the first two years of a basic college education. The last two years, said Luistro, are not required to acquire a high school diploma, but, he reminded his audience, “more jobs will be available to those who finished the additional two years.”

Also part of the entire reform of the educational system initiated by “K to 12” is the strengthening of the “mother tongue” initiative.

Most commonly the “mother tongue” program has been described simply as starting with the exclusive use in the classroom of the language most used in a child’s home and environment, only to be supplemented later on with training in the national language (Filipino) and in English.

But Luistro clarified that the “mother tongue” initiative is not just about language, permeating as it does an education in all the basic aspects of

life. Teaching in the “mother tongue,” he said, teaches children not just how to form thoughts into words, but how to appreciate the world they see and experience. *** ALSO present at the dinner were representatives of other private organizations working with government in raising the standards of both public and private education.

One of them was Rapa Lopa, who is working with the Philippine Business for Social Progress in constructing public school buildings especially in far-flung areas where there is a glaring shortfall. In 2010, said Lopa, the total shortfall of classrooms in public schools was placed at 66,800. Currently, that “classroom gap” has been narrowed down to about 50,000.

While they are in general guided by the needs as tracked by Deped, donors are also welcome to build school houses in areas of their choosing.

The PBED has also launched the “One Thousand Teachers Program,” and according to Chair Ramon del Rosario, they have been campaigning among high school students to convince them to take up an education course with the help of tuition scholarships and allowances.

It seems obvious that the educational system needs the support of both government and the private sector, if the next generation is to be more capable in a vastly more complicated world. That was the good news we got in Monday’s dinner: that everybody is linking arms for a better future for our children.■

Business PH banks seen weathering global crisis Bangko Sentral cites adequate loan-loss reserves

Q1 GDP growth seen at 4.3% Rebound in electronics exports drove growth in total shipments

BY MICHELLE V. REMO

Philippine Daily Inquirer UNIVERSAL and commercial banks in the country are seen able to absorb potential loan losses arising from global economic uncertainties given their rising reserves.

“The industry’s provisioning against potential credit losses remained adequate,” the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a report.

Documents from the central bank showed that the average NPL coverage ratio of the universal and commercial banks in the country improved to 124.94 percent as of end March from 120.37 percent in the same period last year.

The NPL (non-performing loans) coverage ratio is the proportion of soured loans to capital provisioning or “loan-loss reserves” for those loans. A loan becomes “non-performing” or “soured” if these remain unpaid at least 30 days upon maturity.

The BSP said the fact that the loan-loss reserves exceeded the bad debts showed that Philippine banks would remain stable even if a significant number of borrowers would default on their loans.

Amid the prolonged debt crisis in the euro zone, a key export market, economists said there was a likelihood earnings of export-oriented firms would remain anemic this year. They said this posed the risk of defaults by exporters on their obligations, including bank loans.

The BSP said, however, that in the case of the Philippines, banks were expected to withstand the adverse effects of a rise in loan defaults. It noted that an increase in loan defaults was even a remote scenario, citing that universal and commercial banks in the country generally adopt prudent lending standards.

The central bank earlier reported that the combined nonperforming loans of universal and commercial banks in the country amounted to P74.65 billion as of end-march, while their combined outstanding loans reached P3.16 trillion. This resulted in an NPL ratio of 2.36 percent, down from 2.99 percent over the same period.

Non-performing assets (NPAS) of the banks amounted to P184.19 billion, while total assets reached P6.5 trillion as of end-march. NPAS are bad debts plus properties acquired from borrowers who defaulted on their loans.

This resulted in an NPA ratio of 2.83 percent as of endmarch, better than the 3.32 percent as of the same period last year.

With the favorable indicators, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the country’s banking system was generally sound and stable. Whatever drag the euro-zone crisis might cause the Philippine banking sector was something that could be manageable, he said. ■

BY RONNEL W. DOMINGO Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE PHILIPPINE economy may have grown by 4.3 percent in the first quarter amid improvements in exports, inflows of remittances and government expenditure, according to the DBS Group.

The financial service provider said in a research note that the country’s gross domestic product was expected to show “a solid growth number” for January to March as high- frequency indicators pointed to a rebound in economic activity.

For one, DBS noted that a sharp rebound in electronics exports in the first quarter drove an

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 14

18.6percent growth in total exports from 5.2 percent a year ago.

“On the domestic front, a robust pace of credit growth and stable remittance inflows should help support domestic consumer spending,” it said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said earlier this month that remittances from overseas Filipinos grew by 5.4 percent in the first quarter to $ 4.8 billion.

“Government spending also rose by 13.1 percent ( in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2011), indicating that progress has been made toward overcoming underspending in the last few quarters due to bottlenecks and more stringent budget disbursement measures,” DBS added.

“These numbers suggest that growth will get off on a strong note in 2012,” the group said.

However, DBS said the outlook for the remaining quarters “has turned decidedly cloudier.”

“To be sure, trade numbers across the region have already softened in April and financial market turbulence over the last few weeks— on fears of a largerthan- expected slowdown in China and policy directions for the euro zone— will do little for the Philippines’ export outlook,” DBS said.

“As such, we are maintaining our GDP growth forecast for this year at 4.2 percent, noting that the upside risks from a strong first quarter will be balanced by downside risks in the subsequent quarters,” it added.

The Singapore-based firm said domestic demand would be crucial in cushioning the impact of the slowdown in global demand on Philippine exports. ■

BSP seen maintaining Sugar processing project gets BOI incentives policy rates Tightening may be done in second quarter of 2013

BY RONNEL W. DOMINGO Philippine Daily Inquirer A WORSE-THAN-EXPECTED slowdown in global demand for Philippine export products may temper domestic growth and prompt monetary authorities to keep policy rates unchanged until the second quarter of 2013, according to DBS Group.

The Singapore-based financial service provider said in a research note that a harmless inflation situation also contributed to its decision to revise its earlier projection that policy rates would be maintained for the rest of the year and would be tightened by the first quarter of next year.

With the drop in oil prices in the previous weeks, DBS Group lowered its Philippine inflation forecast for 2012 to 3.5 percent from 4 percent early this month.

“Although this figure is likely to tick up as base effects turn unfavorable, inflation for the whole year will be comfortably within the central bank’s target range of 3 percent to 5 percent,” DBS said.

Also, the company said risk to the growth of gross domestic product had been building up in the light of the worsening fiscal crisis in the Eurozone.

Earlier this week, DBS said Philippine GDP might have grown by 4.3 percent in the first quarter, given the improvements in exports, government expenditures and inflows of remittances.

It, however, said that the outlook for the remaining quarters “has turned decidedly cloudier.”

The group said the surge in electronics demand in the early months of this year could be attributed to restocking in the market and it was not clear whether final demand would pick up in the second semester.

“As such, although we expect a strong first-quarter GDP number, downside risks to economic growth still dominate,” DBS said. ■

BY AMY R. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE BOARD of Investments has approved the granting of incentives to Forever Nutriliving Corp. for its P21.5-million sugar processing plant, which will produce antioxidants and soft sugar primarily for export.

In a statement, Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said the proposed sugar processing plant would be put up in the sugar milling complex in Negros Occidental of Sagay Central Inc. Forever Nutriliving will source its raw materials from Sagay Central and export 70 percent of its production.

The company is expected to produce 32,400 kilos of antioxidants and 7,020 tons of soft sugar yearly, according to Cristobal.

Apart from boosting sugar exports, the sugar processing plant will also help address the sugar needs of local industries and create more jobs in Negros.

“This is one of the tracks we are taking to further develop Philippine industries and achieve our export goals. Investments in agricultural products with added value will enhance the competitiveness and marketability of our products,” Cristobal said.

Extracted from cane syrup, the antioxidants are used as food additives to counter food deterioration, as medication for various forms of brain injury and as stabilizers in fuel, lubricants and gasoline to prevent oxidation and smelly residues.

Soft sugar is a partially refined sugar product with distinctive brown color, and is used for culinary purposes. ■

Sports

15 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

photogolfer / Shutterstock.com

Tiger Woods plays practice round at Olympic, then says he’s closer to honing his game

BY RUSTY MILLER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DUBLIN, Ohio - After a ``comfortable’’ practice round at the site of the U.S. Open, Tiger Woods mingled with hand-picked fans in an online chat that touched

on everything from if he can regain his winning ways to whether he’s still having fun playing golf.

Woods took questions from several fans and TV analyst Roger Maltbie.

A winner of 14 major championships but none since the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods says he and coach Sean Foley have corrected problems in Woods’ swing and are now trying to build his trust in the changes.

Woods is entered this week in the Memorial, founded by Jack Nicklaus, who won a record 18 majors. Woods says Nicklaus needed 24 years to win his titles and he’s only into his 17th year trying to catch him.■

Palaro, youth Santos rules two stars vying in events 15 minutes SEA swimfest apart

BY JASMINE W. PAYO Philippine Daily Inquirer

BY MARC ANTHONY REYES Philippine Daily Inquirer

NATIONAL youth mainstays and Palarong Pambansa standouts banner the Philippine team competing in the 36th Southeast Asia Age Group Swimming Championship in Palembang, Indonesia.

Raissa Gavino, this year’s most bemedalled Palaro grade school athlete with six gold medals, leads the 23-member delegation that also includes national youth pool members Courtney Gray, Arianna Herranz and Colleen Simbulan.

“This is the youngest team I’m handling, most of them are 11 to 12 years old,” national team coach Archie Lim said during the send-off party yesterday at the Lamoiyan Corp. compound in Parañaque.

Lamoiyan, owned by Dr. Cecilio Pedro, had pledged to bankroll the squad.

“I was a swimmer in Ateneo for four years and I know how difficult it is to train.

Sometimes, government support is not enough,” said Pedro.

Pedro said he learned about the swimmers’ plight through Bernard Yang, team manager of former PBL team Hapee Toothpaste.

Yang’s son, Joshua Benzi-Co Yang, copped four gold medals in the Palaro and is also a member of the boys’ team.

OTHER TEAM MEMBERS: Regina Castrillo, Roxanne Yu, Kirsten Daos, Coleen Limsui, Maurize Dabi, Thea Caluma, Shannen Ng, Roxine Kee, Andrae Pogiongko, Jose Mari Arcilla, Alfonso Bautista, Gabriel Flores, Jeremy Lim, Rafael Sta. Maria, Joshua Taleon, John Jeric Santos, Mark Joseph Rominquit, Ianiko Limfilipino. ■

DUMAGUETE CITY—Philippine athletics found a new golden girl in Katherine Santos.

Flashing a stunning figure and possessing limitless potential, the 21-yearold Santos crossed the ends of the Perdices Sports Complex to compete in the women’s triple jump and 100-meter dash that were held almost simultaneously.

And in dramatic fashion the Baguio City native and member of the national team won both events, stealing the limelight from Loralie Sermona’s record-breaking hammer throw at the POC-PSC National Games here.

Still covered in sand, an emotional Santos yelled and broke down in tears after crossing the finish line in the century dash, just some 15 minutes after nearly breaking the national mark in dominating triple jump.

“I’m overwhelmed. I have personal reasons for crying,” said Santos who clocked 12.17 seconds for the century dash gold.

She then walked back to the triple jump officials’ table asking if she can try to beat the 12.67 meters PH mark of Marestella Torres but was turned down. Instead, her 12.62m, done on her first try, stood as her official distance for the gold.

“I’m very tired I was shaking on the starting blocks,” said the 5-foot-4 Santos, a senior Hrmstudent at the University of Baguio. She placed third in the last Southeast Asian Games behind gold medalist Torres.

Bradley now oozing with confidence

BY ROY LUARCA

Philippine Daily Inquirer

HOLLYWOOD—Either it’s a promotional ploy or Timothy Bradley really feels he’s the guy to prick Manny Pacquiao’s bubble.

Brimming with confidence, Bradley brought custom-designed posters and media credentials in his open workout at the Fortune Gym here.

Conspicuous was the notice: Bradley-Pacquiao 2 Nov. 10.

With Pacquiao and Bradley still to clash on June 9, the poster insinuates that the flamboyant American is going to beat the Filipino icon, which would lead to the rematch on Nov. 10 as stipulated in Pacquiao’s fight contract.

The poster also announced that tickets for the supposed rematch will be up for sale on June 10.

Timid in the early build-up to the pay-perview fight, Bradley has taken the offensive in press releases lately, Thirty-year-old Sermona, whose husband Julius was crowned 10,000m run king Monday, found the hot, windless weather much to her liking in smashing the old mark in hammer throw. She threw the ball and chain to 50.03m, improving on her own 49.79m benchmark set in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand.

“I have a good training under coach Lerma Bulauitan and we really aimed to break the record,” said Sermona who married Julius two years ago.

She used to compete in shotput and discus throw but decided to concentrate on hammer throw, which is her only event here. The 2011 SEA Games bronze medalist made her record throw on her third attempt.

National athlete Narcisa Atienza also plucked easy golds in shotput and high jump in the event organized by Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission, and sponsored by Smart Communications,

claiming that he’s in the best shape of his life and ready to dislodge Pacquiao from his lofty perch in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Bradley, who admitted the presence of cameras pumps him up, went as far as boasting that he’s going to “destroy” Pacquiao.

Though he refused to predict a knockout victory, Bradley said all he’s certain of is he’d eventually emerge the winner over Pacquiao by playing it smart.

Even Joel Diaz, Bradley’s chief trainer, is becoming bolder in his pronouncements.

Diaz told BoxingScene.com that his ward “will be better than he was for the (Carlos) Abregu fight, which Bradley won by unanimous decision at 147 pounds in July 17, 2010.

According to Diaz, he’d given premium on keeping Bradley’s speed, the way he moves and maneuvers at 140 pounds; because he feels it will be crucial in deciding the outcome of his fight against Pacquiao. ■ Summit Mineral Water, Standard Insurance, TV5, AKTV, 2Go, Ayala Corp., Cebu Pacific, Accel, Pocari Sweat, Scratch It Go for Gold, SM Investments and Puregold Price Club.

Making a splash in nearby Lorenzo Teves Aquatics Center was Olympicbound national swimmer Jessie King Lacuna who was hardly challenged in scoring 400m freestyle gold medal.

He timed four minutes, 12.95 seconds, still far from his personal best of 3:59.75.

“I’m still not peaking yet, we are still loading on techniques and maybe try to peak by end of June,” said the 18-yearold Lacuna from Bulacan. He will try to make the Olympics through his own merit when he competes in the Singapore Southeast Asian Championships next month which is also a qualifying event for London.

“I have been in the Youth Olympics but this will be the real deal,” said Lacuna. ■

16 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Premier Clark Joins Filipino Community in Independence Day Celebration

“I may not look like Jessica Sanchez, and I certainly can’t sing like Jessica Sanchez,” Clark said of the American Idol finalist, who captured the island nation’s imagination and the backing of the country’s president. “I may not look like I’m of Filipino descent, but in my heart, in my heart, I am Filipina.” - Premier Christy Clark

B.C. adds family time to winter with new statutory holiday in February

BY TERRI THEODORE THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER - Dust off the skis, get out the toque and find the hiking boots - B.C. officially has a holiday in February.

Family Day will now fall on the second Monday of every February starting in 2013, fulfilling a promise made by Premier Christy Clark even before she became the premier. ``So mark your calendars, it’s a day to spend with your family,’’ Clark said

smiling. ``It’s a day to spend with all the people that you love, doing something that you love, hopefully right here in British Columbia.’’

Clark, who made her announcement at Vancouver’s Aquarium while the whales did a beluga ballet in the background, said Family Day would be a great day to spend on the ski hill, in the park for a walk or at the local community centre. ``One of the things that I know is that its not true that it’s the quality of time that you spend with your family, it’s actually the quantity that matters too.’’

Sherry Sinclair, a board member of the B.C. Association of Family Resource Programs, said the announcement is a cause for celebration.

Her organization supports thousands of families in B.C. through almost 270 resource programs. ``I can assure you that this is more than a holiday or a day off,’’ she told the gathered crowd and media. ``It’s a day that values the broad diversity of families in this province and their hard work and dedication.’’

VANCOUVER - Premier Christy Clark was joined last Sunday by Jose Ampeso, Consul General of the Philippines, and by the Vancouver Filipino community at the Pista ng Bayan celebration in honour of Philippine Independence Day, marking the nation’s independence from Spanish rule.

“I was proud to be the first B.C. Premier to officially visit the Philippines. It is a beautiful country with wonderful and welcoming people,” said Premier Clark. “We are so lucky to have so many Filipinos who make B.C. their home, and our communities are richer and more dynamic because of their contributions. I’m proud to recognize and celebrate the 114th anniversary of Philippine Independence Day.” Premier Clark recently returned from a Jobs and Trade Mission that included a visit to the Philippines, where she signed a Joint Communiqué on labour mobility, and highlighted

the tremendous opportunities and economic partnerships available in British Columbia, such as the new, made-in-B.C. clean-energy facility to be built in the city of Mactan in Cebu Province.

While in the Philippines, Premier Clark attended a Jobs Fair to help connect B.C. employers with recruitment agencies and educational institutions to help fill skilled-worker vacancies in the province. She also met with Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Albert Del Rosario, to promote British Columbia’s labour market and emphasize strong cultural ties with the Philippines.

“Our first priority is always to find employment for British Columbians, but with so many jobs to fill in the next decade, we know that new immigrants will be key to maintaining the growth of our economy, and we know the Filipino community in B.C. is a critical element of that growth” said Premier Clark. ■

The Tourism Association of B.C. said in a statement the holiday provides a good opportunity to reinforce the message to stay and play in B.C. B.C. now has 10 statutory holidays each year.

Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan also celebrate Family Day, while the February holiday in Manitoba is Louis Riel Day and Islander Day in Prince Edward Island.

However, not everyone is thrilled with the extra holiday.

B.C. Conservative MLA John van Dongen said the government announcement won’t create a single job, and in fact would lwikely cost jobs. ``A new stat holiday will be another overhead cost for the business community,’’ he said in a news release. ``With an average cost of $1,135 to small business with fewer than five employees, small businesses are already struggling.’’

The government delayed the implementation of the holiday by a year because they recognized the economy was fragile, but the economy is recovering, Clark said.

``We’re going to be able to create a big economic impact that we otherwise wouldn’t have, for the tourism sector, for the retail sector, for the recreation sector. I think there is going to be a big positive impact of it as well,’’ she told reporters.

The government chose the day after one of the largest web-based polls ever conducted by the province.

More than 31,000 people weighed in with their choices and comments.

The second Monday garnered over 18,000 votes while the third Monday had the support of about 9,400 and several thousand more had no preference, but wanted to give their input.

The holiday also falls one day after the 2013 Chinese Lunar New Year. Labour Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said they had some people who advocated for the second Monday in February because it was often closer to the Chinese New Year.

The Chinese New Year falls on a different day every year, but is often around the end of January or beginning of February. ■

17 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Canada News

Canadian poverty has ‘child’s face:’ UNICEF report finds Canada lags others

BY COLIN PERKEL THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO - Canadians should be doing much more for children growing up in poverty, according to a new UNICEF report that finds Canada lags many other advanced countries.

The report by the United Nations child advocacy agency ranks Canada 18th out of 35 industrialized countries when child-poverty rates are compared with overall poverty rates.

In addition, Canada is in the bottom third - at 13.3 per cent - when it comes to the percentage of kids in poverty - a slight improvement over the past five years. ``The face of poverty in Canada is a child’s face, UNICEF Canada’s executive director David Morley said. ‘’This is unacceptable.`` The report takes its poverty line to be half the median individual income for the relevant country.

It also uses a ``deprivation index,’’ which looks at the percentage of children in advanced countries who lack items such as three meals a day, an Internet connection, some new clothes or proper fitting shoes.

Overall, the report ranks Iceland best, with just five per cent of its children growing up deprived.

Romania is at the bottom of the list.

Other countries that do better than Canada include Scandinavian countries, Japan and Australia.

Kim Snow, an associate professor in child and youth care at Ryerson University, called it ``quite sad’’ to see the results.

Snow said the problem is particularly acute for aboriginal children. ``Our child poverty is no better evident than on our reserves,’’ Snow said. ``We’re really robbing the next generation due to the social impacts of living in poverty.’’

Quebec unrest generates more than 3,000 news reports in 77 countries: analysis

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL - The civil unrest consuming Quebec is also seizing media attention abroad - with more than 3,000 news reports from 77 different countries in recent weeks.

That’s according to an analysis released Monday by Montreal-based company Influence Communication, which is monitoring Canadian and foreign media coverage of the conflict.

Influence analyst Caroline Roy said the student crisis generated 66 times more foreign news coverage in two months than Canada’s entire mission in Afghanistanthis country’s most extensive international undertaking since the Korean War. ``It’s pretty significant and I would say that we have rarely seen Quebec get so much coverage internationally,’’ Roy said.

She said the volume of foreign coverage spiked a couple of weeks ago, after Quebec adopted an emergency law that sets out to clamp down on demonstrations with strict rules and steep fines.

The nature of the coverage has shifted, even inside Quebec.

Earlier in the dispute, 79 per cent of news stories focused on the tuition-fee increase that initially ignited the student movement.

More recently, however, only four per cent of the Quebec-based coverage has focused on the tuition hikes, the analysis said.

Lately the government has been attacked over its Bill 78, which critics are calling unconstitutional and trying to defeat in legal challenges. There have been more protests, in more cities, with more diverse crowds, since the legislation was adopted almost two weeks ago. ``All the tensions caused by the special law, led to an increase in the number of reports,’’ Roy said. ``It’s still going up.’’

Roy said foreign headlines about Quebec are usually related to subjects such

as Montreal festivals, Cirque du Soleil, the provincial film industry and natural resources. ``But right now it’s been completely eclipsed by the student conflict, and it’s coverage that has lasted for several weeks,’’ she said.

She added that much of the recent news wasn’t positive.

A significant part of the coverage, she said, focused on nightly demonstrations in Montreal and their sometimes-violent confrontations between police and protesters.

The analysis found that in the last two weeks 39 per cent of what was written about Montreal, from around the world, included at least one of the following expressions: ``massive arrests,’’ ``riots’’ and ``violence.’’

Some international coverage has painted the protests in a more favourable light.

Writers who follow the Occupy movement have been covering the situation in Quebec, even describing it as an inspiration for other social causes.

The company examined newspaper, TV, radio and online coverage of major international media organizations between March 22 and May 28. Influence monitors major media outlets in 160 countries.

It also analyzed coverage within Canada.

In Quebec, local media had already dedicated 20 per cent more news reports to the student crisis than their exhaustive, yearslong coverage of the sponsorship scandal.

Influence found that the student conflict had already attracted more media attention in Quebec than any other story since 2001.

The unrest also generated more headlines in the province in a one-week period than any other event since 2001, except for 9-11, the 2010 Haitian earthquake and Barack Obama becoming president. ``But these were international events,’’ Roy said. ``The student conflict is truly a subject that’s purely Quebecois.’’ ■

The report suggests that child poverty in the industrialized world has much to do with government policies.

While Canada does better than the United States when it comes to using taxes and transfers to help kids, it falls behind countries in Scandinavia and even Ireland. ``It is clearly time for Canada to make children a priority when planning budgets and spending our nation’s resources, even in tough economic times,’’ Morley said.

Among ways governments could help improve the situation, UNICEF suggests, is to increase child benefits and tax credits.

Canada invests $40.4 billion in elderly benefits - about triple the amount invested in children with the result that the rate of low income among the elderly is half that for children, the report says.

It also urges Canada to establish a national strategy aimed at reducing poverty - particularly for children. ``There have been calls for this for years but we need to address it and take it seriously,’’ Snow said. ``We don’t seem to actually embrace a strategy on a national level to set targets and systematically reduce them.’’

Canada has no official definition of poverty, UNICEF notes, making it difficult to come to grips with the situation or help remedy the problem.

It has also been more than 20 years since the federal government announced plans to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000. ``Yet Canada’s child poverty rate is higher today than when that target was first announced,’’ the report states. ``In part this is because the commitment was not backed by a compelling political and public consensus or by any firm agreement on how child poverty should be defined and monitored.’’

In the House of Commons, New Democrat Jean Crowder urged the Harper government to do more to help impoverished children. ``Will the government live up to its responsibilities under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and act now to end child and family poverty?’’ Crowder asked.

In response, Human Resources Minister Diane Finley said the percentage of children in poverty is now half of what it was under the Liberal government. ``We’ve done a lot of things that the NDP voted against, such as enhancing the national child benefit and the child tax benefit,’’ Finley said. ■

BRIEFS by The Canadian Press

Teachers warn of fight if contract is imposed VANCOUVER - The BC Teachers’ Federation says it won’t back down despite threats of back-to-work legislation if a bitter contract dispute is not resolved by the end of June.

BCTF president Susan Lambert warns her members will be ready to fight if Education Minister George Abbott makes good on suggestions that a new contract could be imposed over the summer. ■

Flaherty worried shocks will disrupt recovery OTTAWA - The Canadian economy remains fragile almost three years removed from the recession and must avoid ``shocks’’ that can derail the recovery, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday. The relatively sober assessment followed more worrying news coming out of Europe and Ottawa’s tabling of legislation to bring a quick end to the Canadian Pacific (TSX:CP) rail strike. ■

Grandparents appeal neglect conviction REGINA - A Saskatchewan couple sent to jail for starving their granddaughter say the trial judge made a mistake and they are appealing their conviction. The couple, who cannot be named to protect the child’s identity, were convicted of failing to provide the necessities of life to the girl and sentenced to three years in prison. ■

Canada News

What are the needs of Filipino Elderly in Canada?

Research focus of new university-community collaboration TORONTO, ON. (May 2012) - Filipinos are the fourth largest radicalized minority group in Canada, and the Philippines is the largest source of migrants to this country.

Yet little is know about the needs and experiences of the elderly members of this community.

A new university-community research collaboration called the “Filipino Elderly Wellbeing Project” is aiming to address this gap. According to Roland Sintos Coloma, a University of Toronto professor and the project’s principal investigator, there is no published research study on Filipino elderlies in Canada. He says, “It is difficult to address policy, funding, medical-social services, and family issues without data. Our research will have to be comprehensive, so that our findings can have a positive impact on the lives and conditions of our elderlies.”

Linda Javier, the president of Filipino Centre Toronto and the project’s community partner, has been a Toronto resident for over 40 years and has seen the demographic changes over time. She says, “We have Filipinos who immigrated to Canada as professionals in the 1970s and 1980s and who are now retired. We also have elderlies who came within the

past decade through the family sponsorship program. Although these two groups are of the same age bracket, their situations are quite different.” Knowing the varying situations of Filipino elderlies is important so that appropriate services can be provided to them.

The Filipino Elderly Wellbeing Project is seeking over 200 participants in the Greater Toronto Area to complete a questionnaire.

To qualify, participants have to be at least 65 years old, of Filipino ancestry, and a citizen or permanent resident of Canada. The survey will ask questions about migration history, family in Canada, housing, employment and finances, food and health, medical and social services, and mobility and social networks. After the surveys are completed, a small number of participants will be interviewed to obtain more specific details.

Frank Villanueva, a board member of the Filipino Center Toronto, initiated this collaboration after seeing the facilities and services for other ethnic elderlies in Toronto.

He says, “The time has come for Filipinos to face the reality that we have an increasing greying population. So that we can properly support them, we need to ask, what are their needs? And that is where we will begin.”■

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 18

Horseplay not wanted when crossing Canada U.S. border at Peace Bridge THE CANADIAN PRESS FORT ERIE, Ont. - The Peace Bridge Authority, owner of the international bridge between Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo, N.Y., is offering border-crossing motorists some ``friendly advice’’—some of which seems a tad unfriendly. ``Avoid horseplay and do not fool around,’’ says the binational organization. ``Customs and immigration officers on both sides of the border are law enforcement officials who take their duties very seriously.’’

The organization has issued its summer travel tips for crossing the bridge. Besides indicating that border officials may lack a sense of humour, the authority offers this instruction: ``Be patient. Customs officers are responsible for protecting our nations’ borders and public safety.’’

Travellers concerned about possible delays can visit mobile.peacebridge.com on a web-enabled mobile device or call 1-800715-6722 to get wait times for Buffalo/ Niagara Region international crossings, including the Peace Bridge. Updates are issued hourly.

Among the common-sense tips: - Approach inspection booths slowly and follow signage instructions.

- Turn off radios and cellphones when approaching inspection booths and speaking with officers.

- Roll down the driver and rear passenger windows, remove sunglasses and make eye contact with customs officers.

And lastly, for motorists needing to be told the blindingly obvious: ``Do not drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.’’ ■ To see all border-crossing tips, go to http://bit.ly/JSOI5s.

Montreal downpour floods museum basement, damages hundreds of artworks

Montreal’s downtown, including the Place des Arts complex, was one of the hardest hit by the flooding.

BY CAROLINE ST-PIERRE THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL - Hundreds of works of rare art have been damaged at one of Montreal’s main museums by heavy rains that battered the city, flooding basements and overwhelming the city’s aging infrastructure. ``We have one to three feet of water in our basements,’’ Paulette Gagnon, director of the Montreal museum of contemporary art, said. ``Part of the basement holds our reserves so of course some of our reserves were damaged.’’

Between 50 and 75 millimetres of rain fell in a half-hour Tuesday evening, causing water and sewage to erupt from some city manholes. One line of the subway system was shut down as water poured into stations, an expressway was flooded and homes and businesses reported torrents of water pouring into their basements.

Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said that city workers were prepared for the deluge and pointed out that no sewer system could have handled that much of a downpour in such a short period. ``The experts are unanimous in saying that if we had not invested the money we have invested in recent years - more than $1 billion dollars - the consequences of this deluge would have been worse,’’ Tremblay told a news conference.

One hard-hit area was Montreal’s downtown, including the Place des Arts complex, where the museum is located.

Gagnon said it is still too early to say the extent of the damage or its cost but she says most of the objects can be repaired. ``It’s a lot of work, a long process,’’ she said in a telephone interview. ``It’s not a dozen works, it’s hundreds. But we still don’t know the exact number. We don’t know the total losses. We still have to make an evaluation.’’

This is the fourth time the museum has seen serious flooding, which has been blamed on a drainage problem. Gagnon said this is the worst, however, ``because it’s the largest number of works that have been affected.’’

A special cleaning and decontamination team has been at work in the museum since Tuesday night and are expected to take at least a week to complete the task.

Gagnon said a solution must be found to the problem so a similar incident won’t happen again. ``It doesn’t make any sense,’’ she said. ``It’s a museum. It can’t be flooded every time there is a downpour. ``It’s part of our heritage ... we have to protect it and put it in a secure place. That’s why museums exist and if our basements aren’t adequate then there’s a big problem.’’

The extent of the damage caused the museum to cut short one exhibit. It was not damaged by the flood but it was located in the basement where the cleaning crews are working. Another event planned has also been postponed.

Tremblay said the city is also taking stock of the damage on its territory and pointed out the emergency 911 line had gotten 961 calls within minutes, including 98 for floods and 94 for accidents.

Officials which oversee the city’s sewer system said they were surprised by the power of the storm on the system, saying the pressure buildup had popped some welds that had be done to repair certain pipes. Tremblay said the city would be reviewing the system’s capacity. ■ (With files from Pierre St-Arnaud)

World News

19 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Dutch lawmakers vote to reject international Tokyo governor Ishihara criticizes citizens over lack of support for Olympic bid treaty aimed at reining in online piracy Innovation—said the government had earlier this year stated it would avoid signing the treaty until it was clear it did not breach the Dutch or EU constitutions. That clarity must come from the European Court of Justice, which the EU has asked to check whether ACTA violates any fundamental EU rights.

The treaty has been under negotiation for years. Its drafters say it is needed to harmonize international standards to protect the rights of those who produce music, movies, pharmaceuticals, fashion goods, and a range of other products that often fall victim to piracy and intellectual property theft.

The U.S. has signed the agreement.

The EU and 22 EU member states signed ACTA on Jan. 26, 2012 in Tokyo.

Although the European Council - the European Union heads of government - unanimously approved ACTA in December, for the EU to be a party to the treaty, all 27 member countries —including the Netherlands—would have to formally ratify it. ■

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Dutch lawmakers adopted a motion urging the government not to sign a controversial international treaty aimed at reining in online piracy.

The motion was another setback for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, known as ACTA, which has run into opposition around the world.

The European Union suspended efforts to ratify the treaty in February amid a storm of protest from activists who say the agreement would stifle free speech and access to information.

Lisa Neves Goncalves—a spokeswoman for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOKYO - Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara criticized citizens of the Japanese capital for their lack of support for the city’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee last week selected Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul as finalists in the 2020 race.

But an IOC poll found that only 47 per cent of Tokyo residents support the bid, far below the rate of support enjoyed by the two other bidders.

``When it comes to the Olympics, Tokyo citizens are spoiled,’’ Ishihara said at a news conference on Tuesday. ``They think everything is a given.

They’re full of themselves and they care only about themselves. They’ve become a different species from other Japanese people, unfortunately.’’

The IOC poll showed 78 per cent supported Madrid’s effort while 73 per cent are behind the Istanbul bid.

Tokyo, which hosted the 1964 Olympics, is bidding for a second consecutive time. Low public support was cited as one of the main reasons Tokyo failed in its bid to host the 2016 Games.

The outspoken Ishihara, who is chairman of the Tokyo 2020 bid committee, dismissed claims that his sometimes abrasive personality and occasional nationalistic views would cause trouble for the Tokyo bid. ``I’m quite popular when it comes to elections,’’ Ishihara said. ``If I could be assured that the Olympics would come to Tokyo if I were to step down, I’d be happy to step down even tomorrow.’’ ■

Facebook stock follows market, falls sharply 2 weeks after public debut NEW YORK - Facebook’s stock fell with the broader market following a weak jobs report that showed the U.S. economy adding far fewer jobs than expected.

Shares of Facebook Inc. fell $1.88, or 6.4 per cent, to close at $27.72 on Friday. That’s down 27 per cent from its initial public offering price of $38. And it’s down about 13 per cent for the week.

Facebook began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market two weeks ago on a day marred by trading glitches and general investor confusion. The IPO capped the worst week for the U.S. stock market so far this year.

Baird analyst Colin Sebastian started coverage of Facebook’s stock with

lev radin / Shutterstock.com

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

an ``Outperform’’ rating and a target price of $37. The keyword, he said, is potential. ``Despite near-term headwinds from the shift to mobile and sluggish social game trends, we believe Facebook represents an attractive long-term investment

devices, where advertising is still scant.

Sebastian added that Facebook collects an ``unprecedented amount of personal data and is in the early stages of monetizing these assets via targeted advertising.’’

Morningstar analyst James Krapfel, meanwhile, advised investors to be cautious and said the company ``is likely to disappoint investors over the next 12 to 18 months.’’

Other social media company stocks declined as well. Shares of online game maker Zynga Inc. slid 25 cents, or 4 per cent, to in advertising, digital media, close at $6.01. LinkedIn payments and e-commerce,’’ Corp., the online social he wrote in a note to investors. network for professionals, He is referring to concerns fell $4.59, or 4.8 per cent, about the company’s ability to to $91.51. Online reviews make money from the growing site Yelp Inc., meanwhile, number of people who access fell $1.02, or 6.1 per cent, Facebook through their mobile to $15.69. ■

Immigration

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 20

Restore funding for Adult Education classes, says MLA Mable Elmore THE PROVINCIAL government’s decision to cut funding for Adult Education classes is a short-sighted move that will hit newcomers and immigrants especially hard.

This funding should be restored immediately, says Mable Elmore, MLA for Vancouver-Kensington and Critic for Multiculturalism.

Starting this summer, the Ministry of Education will no longer fund many grade 10 to 12 courses that used to be offered free since 2007 under the Education Guarantee Fund. The list of affected courses include English 11, Biology 11, Accounting 12 and Law 12.

“People need access to education for a prosperous future. Many simply won’t be able to pursue their academic goals or even get perhaps higher paying jobs if they’re charged $400 to $500 per course,” said Elmore during a press conference on the issue at her Community Office.

For many immigrants, the news is devastating and many Filipinos are also affected.

“A number of Filipinos trying to get into Licensed Practical Nursing or

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Registered Nursing Programs need to upgrade their education by taking these courses. They say that with the funding cut, they just can’t afford the high tuition fees that will now be charged,” said Jane Ordinario, Migrante-BC Coordinator.

“It’s not fair because already our education and work experience overseas isn’t being recognized by the local employers and colleges. So how are we supposed to improve ourselves?” she added.

Rong Lu, an adult student from China who joined Elmore and other students at the press conference said, “I know that education can change my life here.

I want to go to college and university for a better education. I want to be a police officer. I am improving now.

(When I heard about the cuts) I feel disappointed. If the courses are not funded, I don’t know what to do for the future,” he said.

Another student from Syria, Louma Ayoub, said she “learned a lot about her rights through her Law and Women’s Studies courses. When I came to Canada, I couldn’t talk English.

Now I can speak. Without the Adult Education courses, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

For his part, Robert Slinger, said many local high school graduates are also affected.

Robert is a retired Air Force veteran that developed Aphasia (an impairment

of his language ability) after suffering a stroke several years ago. He said the Adult Education courses were helping him in his recovery program and he was hoping to recommend it to others like him.

The President of the Vancouver Adult Educators Teachers Association, Sasha Wiley-Shaw, estimates that adult students comprise about 23% of all students in Adult Education courses in Vancouver. With these funding cuts, she estimates that 70 to 80 adult classes may be cancelled.

She also stressed that “unless you have the level of computer, math and English skills as a Canadian high school graduate, you should be able to take these academic courses for free.”

People who have not completed their High School diploma are not affected by the funding cut. But in 2007, the provincial government began recognizing everyone with a high school degree from anywhere in the world as a Graduated student, regardless of the outcome of an assessment of their educational level.

Elmore concluded that, “the money purportedly being saved by the provincial government through this move cannot compare with the damage this will exact on people’s lives. The benefits of granting people access to education far outweigh the few dollars that may be saved through this shortsighted move.” ■

21 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Immigration

BY GRACE HIZONQUIDDAOEN

BC AS CAN BE

Getting to Know the Vancouver School Board’s Settlement Workers In Schools Program ONE OF our family’s first points of contact upon arriving in Vancouver last September was a Settlement Workers In Schools at the District Reception and Placement Center (DRPC) located at Walter Moberly Elementary School on East 59th Avenue and Ross Street, Vancouver. As newcomers, we visited DRPC to register our school age boys for assessment and placement in schools within our area. Our Filipino–speaking settlement school worker met us with a warm smile and entertained us with lots of amusing and interesting stories about his experiences when his family moved to Canada. His enthusiasm, high commitment to his work and passion to reach out to his clients made a strong impression on us. We surely felt encouraged to face the challenges that lay ahead of families like us who were starting a new life in Canada.

Recently, through our settlement school worker, I met Mr. Jerry Wu, the affable manager of the Vancouver Settlement Workers In Schools (SWIS) Program who also holds office at the DPRC at Moberly School. In an interview, he discussed how the SWIS Program came to be implemented in British Columbia, the different forms of assistance that the program provides to its target clientele and how it has benefited client families.

SWIS Program History In 2005-2007, consultations involving the Integration and Multiculturalism branch of the Ministry on Regional Economic and Skills Development and the Ministry of Education (including school district representatives) were held and it was identified as a priority need to develop a specialized programming for immigrant students and their families.

Thus, the school-based SWIS program was launched in the school year 2007-2008 in ten school districts in Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, New Westminster, Greater Victoria, North Vancouver, Conseil Scolaire Francophone, Abbotsford, Delta and Surrey.

The 10 districts were selected based on the highest concentration of immigrant students as shown by the number of ESL students per district. The SWIS program aimed to provide settlement services for immigrants, refugees and other eligible families who have children in elementary and secondary schools.

Settlement workers are placed in schools in each district to link-up with parents and

Mr. Jerry Wu, manager of the Vancouver Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) Program

caregivers and to deliver programs that aim to meet clients’ immediate settlement or ongoing needs upon arrival in Canada and to help them in their adjustment and transition phase.

SWIS Program Services The following services may be availed of by immigrant families who have children in elementary and secondary schools in districts where the SWIS program is implemented: Information and Workshops. The SWIS Program provides information and conducts workshops on various issues that concern immigrant and refugee families with school age children. Workshops on health, housing and accommodation, employment, income assistance, caregiver support, senior benefits, transit, financial and legal services and citizenship/immigration issues are regularly offered throughout the year.

Assistance in Filling-out Forms. Parents and caregivers could come to the SWIS worker for assistance to fill-out form for Social Insurance, Medical Services Plan, Child Tax Benefits, BC Housing and Immigration, Citizenship forms.

Referrals, Linking and Accompaniment.

Clients are provided referrals and service linking to access resources and avail of community services and programs such as parenting and pre-school programs, ESL support services, adult continuing education, job search training, daycare and youth service, parent support groups, settlement and family counselling. Accompaniment services may also be extended in going to public library, parks and recreation or even places of worship.

The VSB SWIS Program website (http:// www.vsb.bc.ca/swis-services) features news, services, information, videos and links to community groups that parents and children will find useful.

Your Settlement Workers There are now 23 settlement workers in various elementary and secondary schools across Vancouver who assist clients and make them feel at ease in the language they are comfortable with such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Farsi, Filipino (Tagalog), Korean, Punjabi/Hindi, Russian, Spanish or Vietnamese. The settlement workers in schools work in partnership with the Vancouver School Board’s Multi-cultural Liaison Workers who are also based in schools to “support learners and learning”.

Mr. Wu happily shares that the program continues to draw positive feedbacks from client families who have been helped by it in countless ways. The SWIS program which is continuously enhanced to improve the quality of service delivery has serviced about 12,000 families in ways that help empower them. As a client myself, I am only too thankful that there is a settlement worker in school whom one can turn to for advice, support, useful information and tips on how to access resources and is a veritable source of inspiration and a much willing and accommodating reference as well. Thru our

settlement worker, our children were able to participate in various youth workshops where they met wonderful people and have since been engaged in challenging and creative activities.

When asked about what he could say about the Filipino families as clients, Mr. Wu notes that the challenges faced by Filipino families in Canada are quite unique in that a big number of Filipino immigrants were from the Livein Caregiver Program. Struggling to settle in Canada, sometimes holding 2 to 3 jobs at a time, the Filipino caregivers had to endure being away from their families who were left behind in the Philippines. When the family members came over to Canada after having been sponsored, there were still sacrifices to be made as the caregivers or their spouses or partners continue to work long hours to meet the family expenses. The children were not spared the difficulties of separation and lack of parental care and this sometimes translates into inadequate academic skills on the part of the students which the SWIS Program is helping to address.

In reflection, Mr. Wu imparted the following message to the client-families of the SWIS program particularly the parents and caregivers: “Spend time with your children and make an effort to know how they are doing in school and what activities interest them. As well, don’t give up hope in rising above the challenges of raising children and living in Canada. Your settlement worker will be hand-in-hand with you as you go through the phases of settlement and integration.” ■

24 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Children make art to help other children Now on its seventh year, the fundraising exhibit at Chef Jessie’s will benefit the children of CRIBS

BY ANNE A. JAMBORA Philippine Daily Inquirer

THERE HAS always been something extraordinary about Olivia Torres, said her mother Richie. At 11 months old, for instance, she already knew how to hold a pencil properly—with a firm, tripod grip, as compared to other babies’ fist-like grasp.

At age 1, she began doodling, and at 2 started drawing. Today, at 5, she is comfortable working with Cray Pas and watercolor, and has participated in her first ever art exhibit along with about 50 other children.

Called “Small Hands, Big Art,” the exhibit is chef Jessie Sincioco’s annual fundraising for children’s charity. Now on its seventh year, the exhibit runs until tomorrow, May 31, at Chef Jessie’s, Amorsolo Building, Rockwell, Makati City.

This is so far the biggest exhibit, with artworks hanging on walls all the way up to the second floor of the restaurant.

Olivia’s painting of flowers hangs on the first floor. She likes painting flowers and trees, she said, mostly inspired by flowers in their house.

When she wakes up in the morning, she goes straight to her canvas and sketch pads to paint or draw, while still in her jammies. Some days she’ll rummage through her mother’s trash bin, looking for papers she can draw on. In fact, every time the family goes out malling, she gets excited not at the sight of clothes and shoes and toys, but at the bright red-and-white sign of National Book Store.

“She goes crazy when she sees one, and spends a long time lingering in the arts section. We never go out emptyhanded,” said Richie, laughing.

“We’re not forcing her to do it, and we’re not stopping her from creating

GUESTS of honor Beth Day Romulo and Juvenal Sanso.

JACK Vincent, 8, with mom Noemi

art, either. We just let her be. Come school time, though, she will have to follow a schedule that will balance her time for art and studies.”

In awe Artist and art teacher Paul Mesina is in awe of Olivia’s talent. “Every child loves art. Some become good over time, and some are naturally gifted. Olivia is one of the gifted ones.”

Mesina was there for his nephew, Ryan Steven Mesina, 11, whose parents couldn’t attend the exhibit.

His dad was in the hospital, he said, and his mom was taking care of him.

Ryan Steven, whose dad is a silkscreen print artist, has two acrylic paintings on exhibit. One is a painting of a fish, a favorite

“SARA the Fire God,” by Michaela Herrera

subject, the young boy said, because his mother often cooks fish.

“Koi 1” and “Koi 2” are the titles of the works of Ryan Steven, who’s now on his second year of participating in Chef Jessie’s show. He said he would love to learn portraiture someday. He’s already learning, he said, but needs to work on the shading and color of the face.

When he’s good enough, he said, he’d like to paint a portrait of his mom so he’ll have something to give her on Mother’s Day. Eight-year-old Jack Vincent Atienza likes to use pastel for his works. Done mainly in his favorite color, green, Jack Vincent’s artwork on exhibit is a painting of a house by the lake. It was a scene,

“ASHI Cat,” by Michaela Herrera

“KKK (Katipunero, Kabayo, Kalabaw),”

by Bea Gomez

the boy said, that he saw in a photo.

His parents Noemi and Rick said that while discipline must be instilled early on, they give young Jack enough freedom to explore his newfound love for the arts.

“Small Hands, Big Art” guests of honor are Beth Day Romulo and master painter Juvenal Sanso.

The asking price for the paintings start at P5,000. Proceeds from last year’s exhibit funded the heart surgeries of Hans Christian Manalili, Baby Cloud Ugayan and Regina Benipayo, who were suffering from congenital heart diseases. This year, through Children’s Hour, proceeds will help abandoned, neglected and sexually abused children of CRIBS Foundation Inc. ■

25 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Lifestyle

How Mark Millar conquered Manila book stores,” Millar said. “But I’m really delighted it’s the Philippines because I’ve never been here LIKE AN interdimensional warlord before, and I’ve got friends here. from one of his action-packed comic And it gave me an excuse to hang books, Mark Millar descended upon out with my friends and pretend to Manila and changed reality—his my wife that I’m working.”

The response to his arrival has own.

The superstar comic book writer, simply stunned Millar, who gamely who has written everything from battled jet lag throughout his stay.

“Wanted” and “The Ultimates” to He was received like a rock star “Kick-Ass,” had not known much at the Summer Komikon. On the about Manila prior to his arrival day of his signing at Glorietta 5 in Makati, fans lined up hours prior to this past month.

He knew that émigré artists the signing. Millar would eventually such as Alfredo Alcala and Tony sign for more than 1,000 fans.

DeZuniga were originally from the Philippines, but a lot more of Born in Scotland what he knows came from the two The Scotland-based Millar was born Filipinos he had been working with, in 1969 in the town of Coatbridge, hotshot penciller Leinil Francis Yu right outside Glasgow. When he was and veteran inker Gerry Alanguilan. only five, he remembers drawing “So I had a kind of long-distance his own comic books, painstakingly relationship with it, through e-mail creating multiple copies by hand and so on. I’d get lots of glimpses and selling them to friends.

He would quit school to become a into Filipino life, but I’d never even been near here so it’s not entirely writer, eventually transitioning into what I expected—it’s better than I work with British comic books. He rose to prominence when he brought expected,” he said.

Earlier this year, Millar had a controversially violent, profane announced that whichever comic but always compelling style to book store ordered the most copies comic books like “The Authority,” of the first issue of his brightly dark and truly came to his own with titles new mini-series “Supercrooks” like the kinetic “Wanted” (which would win a visit from him, was transformed into a similarly kinetic motion picture) and the wherever in the world it was.

The winner was none other than hilarious “Kick-Ass” (also morphed the venerable National Book Store, into a film).

He has taken on daring projects in a masterful gambit orchestrated

by NBS marketing director Miguel such as the Bible in “American Ramos. Millar was as surprised as Jesus,” and reinvented the Avengers through “The Ultimates” at Marvel. everyone else.

“I thought it was going to be Now he midwifes his creator-owned New York, Los Angeles or London projects over at his Millarworld because they had famous comic imprint, with series like “The Secret

BY RUEL S. DE VERA Philippine Daily Inquirer

Service” about Her Majesty’s agents; “Hit Girl,” starring the scene-stealing minor with major violence from “Kick-Ass,” and, of course, “Supercrooks.”

“Supercrooks,” currently on the third of its scheduled four issues, tells the story of super-villain Johnny Bolt, who realizes that the United States has way too many superheroes for a villain to make a living. So he organizes an ambitious heist, where he recruits his former colleagues (and one surprise) to steal from a powerful super-villain in Europe—where there are no superheroes.

It’s a smart, tight caper that features art by Yu and Alanguilan, with colors by Indonesia-based Sunny Gho (who also flew in to be with his “Supercrooks” teammates during Millar’s weekend run).

Millar admits to being a big fan of Filipino talent, but is particularly impressed with partner in crime Yu. “You guys might not be aware of what a big deal Leinil is, but he is a really big deal in the States. There are maybe three artists in the world who work for Marvel and DC who have made a big impact, and I think Leinil is one of those three guys.

I think a lot of the people in the States aren’t even aware he lives in the Philippines. I think that’s what makes the work interesting, because he’s bringing a fresh perspective to American comics. You know we’ve gotten used to the same old stuff, but Leinil’s got a fresh take on it, all of which I absolutely adore. I’m very fortunate to have done ‘Supercrooks’ with him and hopefully we’ll work together forever. He likes working with me and I like working with him. It’s like a marriage.”

Testing the limits Millar’s comic books have always tested the limits of the format in every way, often going over-thetop but not quite overkill, but he has also worked hard to get there.

He makes sure to be behind the keyboard by 8 a.m. and then works pretty much straight until 7 p.m., fueled by cups of tea.

In the process, he creates worlds, invades other worlds and redefines superhero convention. This is the guy after all who reimagined Superman as a communist (“Superman: Red Son”) and between his work on “The Ultimates,” “Old Man Logan” and his creation of the Marvel Zombies franchise, has pretty much killed off every Marvel superhero at one point.

“Yes, I probably have,” he admits.

“I feel like Magneto. It’s just that I like to be dramatic all the time. I get bored very quickly.”

He adds that he still likes realism in his work, so he enjoys “juxtaposing the idea of the fantastic with the very normal.”

Saying he has done pretty much everything he wanted to do at Marvel, Millar has been concentrating on his creator-owned properties, among other projects. Aside from “Hit Girl,” he is deploying an epic, sci-fi series called “Jupiter’s Children” with “Authority” collaborator Frank Quitely. He has a children’s book coming out later this year (“Kindergarten Heroes” with artist Curtis Tiegs) and may even write a novel in the future.

“But even if I write a novel, that won’t be my full-time job. Comics are much more fun.”

What he also loves are the opportunities afforded by other forms of media. Millar is working hard to shepherd his other series to the big screen, with “Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall” currently in the works as a film.

He even received movie offers for the yet-unreleased “Jupiter’s Children” (He’s refused for now, saying he can get a better deal later once the book is out).

Warm, charming Perhaps the most interesting thing about Millar is how his personality is quite unlike the larger-than-life dramatics of his work. In person, he is warm, charming and quick to laughter. He enjoys talking about his new baby. He is a practicing Catholic and has been a vegetarian since he was 19. He likes having a lot of dinners and parties in Glasgow.

“In Scotland, my hobby is really just going to the pub five nights a week.”

Yet for all the normalcy, Millar remains someone always working at the edge of the fantastic. His work on “The Ultimates” informed much of Joss Whedon’s blockbuster film “Marvel’s The Avengers.” Millar enjoyed the movie and loves the elements from his book that made its way to the movie.

At the end of his Manila sojourn, Millar can’t get over the overwhelming reception by his devoted local following. On the day of his departure, he tweeted: “The Manila signing was the best signing I’ve done and amazed at the patience of the people queuing up to eight hours. What a lovely country and people!”

Well done, Filipino fans. This is the Mark Millar—and you simply blew his mind. ■

Lifestyle

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 26

The Cake Club goes beyond the cakes It has the baked salmon, slow-roasted beef belly and roast chicken

Non-meat items Non-meat eaters may try the Baked Salmon, juicy salmon slab with crisp skin, served on a bed of spinach and fragrant saffron risotto. Other veggie choices are the Red Beet Burger with goat cheese, walnuts and arugula on halved ciabatta roll, and the Porcini Mushroom Crepe in light cream sauce.

The Cake Club also offers specialty sandwiches and burgers such as the Grilled Reuben, homemade corned-beef sandwich with sauerkraut, emmental cheese and thousand-island dressing; US Angus Beef Burger; and Lamb Burger with cheese and yogurt.

These burgers (which are quite big, and may be for sharing) may be paired with the Sato-San’s Mentaiko Spaghetti, a spicy cod roe and dried seaweed pasta in cream sauce.

THE CAKE CLUB is not all about cakes. It has not only good cakes and desserts but also a proper meal.

The new branch at Bonifacio High Street Central serves real food.

The Cake Club started out as Diamond Hotel’s pastry shop. A kiosk was later opened at Power Plant Mall at Rockwell for those craving for the bakery’s popular cheese ensaymada and mini cakes. Now in the Taguig branch, The Cake Club has become a full-service restaurant.

Diamond Hotel executive chef Nickolai Stoyanov describes the menu as “international.” It is lean and edited, and includes well-thoughtout starters and mains, desserts and ice cream. Drinks include Malongo coffee, Hediard Tea, beer and wine.

Diamond Hotel president Cecilia Ang said The Cake Club—the restaurant—was established to make more people aware of the cuisine

Anton Diaz | OurAwesomePlanet.com

BY IRENE C. PEREZ Philippine Daily Inquirer

at Diamond Hotel. According to Diamond Hotel GM Vanessa Suatengco, some entreés are bestsellers from Corniche, Diamond’s in-house restaurant.

Flag Mitsubishi Welcomes Mary Ann Roque to the Team For Over 35 years Flag Mitsubishi has been recognized as one of the top dealerships in the Lower mainland. The term used at Flag “Buy with confidence” is their foundation backed by a 10 year/160,000 KM warranty on New vehicles, 5 year/50,000 KM customer care program on used and lifetime warranty on all repairs.

At Flag, we recognize it takes knowledgeable staff to help our customers make the right decisions.

With the addition of Mary Ann Roque to our sales team, we feel confident she will far exceed your expectations in customer service.

Mary Ann is the First Filipina Sales Representative to join the Flag Mitsubishi Team in Surrey. She is a B.S. Animal Science graduate. She came to Canada as a Caregiver and worked her way up becoming the Idealist of the First Filipino Newspaper Stands along Skytrain Stations in BC. Mary Ann is excited about her new career path at Flag Mitsubishi and welcomes everyone from the Filipino Community to come visit her “Right Under the Flag”, in sunny Surrey.

Mary Ann Roque (604) 358-4985 maroque@flagmitsubishi.ca Office Phone Number: (604) 584-7411 website: www.flagmitsubishi.ca

Slow-roasted beef belly We recently had lunch at The Cake Club and had for starters the Roasted Red Beet Soup with goat cheese, green apples and toasted walnuts, and Hobart’s Spicy Tomato Soup with tomato jam and fresh basil.

Red beet may be acquired taste to some; try this soup if you want something new. The tomato soup is a safer but spicier choice.

There are two salad choices. One is the GM Salad (GM is for general manager) served on a crunchy parmesan basket. It has pan-roasted mushrooms, baby greens and shallot vinaigrette. The other is Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart Salad with white-wine vinaigrette dressing.

For first-time diners, chef Stoyanov recommends the Slow-Roasted Beef Belly—tender beef slices with honeyroasted baby carrots, brown rice and a dollop of horseradish cream.

Kids would like the slightly sweet Roast Chicken, half-chicken with a siding of haricot verts, mushrooms and potatoes.

Super moist chocolate cake The strength of The Cake Club is still the dessert selection. The inviting cake display which greets you at the door shows off delicate mini cakes. We love the Ispahan macaron cake with raspberries, lychee and rose essence, and the Super Moist Chocolate Cake that melts into a smooth chocolate crème in the mouth. Both have icecream counterparts.

Non-chocolate desserts are Vanessa, pistachio macaron with fresh strawberries, and Mont Blanc, chestnut paste on an almond crust.

Ang came up with desserts with local flavor—the St. Honore Ube, ube ganache in puff pastry, and Cecilia, a glammed-up buko pie.

“We also have Danielle, a sugarless white chocolate raspberry cheesecake,” Ang added.

If you are dining on a weekend, check out the Weekend Treats—Le Reve chocolate parfait, L’Obsession mango-coco parfait and chef Stoyanov’s Foie Gras Macaron.

The Cake Club’s simple and cozy interiors makes it an ideal afterdinner place. With the new menu, it hopes to be known as a restaurant that serves filling food with hotellike service. ■ The Cake Club is at Bonifacio High Street Central, Taguig.

27 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Lifestyle

Filipino-Canadian in Focus: Mama Ching I had the opportunity to use my potentials and I have helped others in many ways. Coming to Canada was like the turtle having been thrown into the river.

What is your advice to Filipinos who have recently immigrated to Canada?

Canada is a land of opportunity and I would advise new immigrants to persevere if they find it difficult in the beginning. The Canadian Government helps newcomers while they get settled, health care and education are socialized , there are subsidized housing and many more privileges. While these immigrants are looking for the right job, they should be willing to do any decent work. Opportunity comes when they are least expected so patience, perseverance and hard work will pay off. We don’t have the opportunities we have here in our country. I feel happy to see fellow Filipinos living in big houses, drive their own cars and send their children to universities. These are possible when one works hard. Magsipag, magtiyaga, at huwag kalimutan magpasalamat sa Diyos sa mga biyaya at magpakabait sa kapwa lalo na sa mga kapos ng palad for there are those who find it difficult to get on. And let us help each other whenever we can.

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES PHILIPPINE CANADIAN INQUIRER

CONSOLACION “CHING” QUEJAS is fondly called Mama Ching by the community she has cared for in Mississauga. It is an apt name, for she has taken under her wing—for 30 years—the denizens and members of Ontario’s Kalayaan Cultural Community Center and took to heart the Center’s mission of affirming, strengthening and empowering her fellow FilipinoCanadians. She describes Canada as a land of opportunity, and urges new and old immigrants alike to persevere and imbibe the Filipino values of hard work and tiyaga to succeed. Most importantly, she says, “let us help each other whenever we can.”

You were a Philippine lawyer, teacher and businesswoman when you left the Philippines for Canada. Can you tell us about your early years as a new immigrant? Did you and your family have a difficult time adjusting?

I did not have any difficult time adjusting during my early years as a new immigrant in Canada. My husband and I came after our children were well settled, we lived with them and we did not have to look for work. It was like we were in our own home in the Philippines. I had established friendships here earlier during my visits so socializing and interacting with others was no problem.

We also found that friends, acquaintances and former co-workers were in the greater Toronto area where we lived and the parties we attended were Filipino parties so we did not long for any Filipino food nor feel nostalgic of home. I joined the Filipino Seniors Club that met every Saturday in the community centre located within walking distance from where we lived and we just walked three to five minutes to be with other seniors.

Three months after arrival, I was elected Secretary of the club. After a year, I became President. I still hold the position concurrently serving as President of the Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre which I have served for 10 years. There were four other presidents with a one-year term each interspersed between my 23 years of service. My years here have been happy, memorable and fruitful. I love it here, I love my work.

From your experience, how can Filipino professionals and/or businessmen do in Canada what they used to do in the Philippines?

In Canada, accreditation of professionals was difficult in earlier years, one had to go back to school to get accredited. Those who could afford went back to school but those who couldn’t had to work outside of their profession to survive. We have some very successful professional and businessmen who complied with the requirements for accreditation. Some worked on their accreditation by going to school taking just a few subjects at a time and finish after many years.

That is where “tiyaga” comes in again. We do have a lot of Filipinos who go through it that way. Some took other courses related to what they finished but took less time to finish and changed their line of work.

Most of them became successful. Some businessmen and professionals are lucky to have joined mainstream professional establishments. They work hard and are recognized for their skills and industry and they are eventually absorbed as partners or executives in the business. Filipinos are resourceful and hardworking.

That is their key to their successful climb to the top of the ladder.

You have devoted 30 years of your life in volunteer community work. What inspires you to continue doing this?

The inner satisfaction of having helped others that makes me go to sleep with a good feeling and a light heart has made me go on with my community service thru the years. The quiet expression of gratitude of those we serve means more than any amount of money that I would get if I were to be paid. That satisfaction makes me look forward to the next morning and gets me up on my feet everyday to go back to the centre and stay until late in the night if necessary. That nice feeling buoys me up as I go about my work. Community service has become my passion. Sometimes in my thankfulness I shed tears as I go to bed after a difficult but successful day. I don’t easily forget the smile on the faces of those we serve. Their body language telling you without words that they are thankful is priceless. I don’t receive remuneration for my work but I feel blessed, rich and

happy. Thinking about the work at the centre makes me leave my sick bed. Many times I tell myself that my work makes me get well. And I think it is true and I sometimes tell my friends, illness is a state of mind. I love to listen to people’s stories and I learn things about life from them. Their humor is about themselves not of others. They are candid and honest you would really want to be able t do something for them.

What are your future plans for the Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre?

By God’s grace, I would like to expand the centre to make it a one-stop centre—a training and education centre, recreation and health, athletic, social and convention centre; it may include a dormitory and camp ground. It sounds very ambitious and remote but it can be done by phases and there is no timeline, we do one phase at a time if and when we can. Remember, Rome was not built in a day. No matter how long it will take if that is the goal and we finally have it in place, we’ll say with pride, that it was a dream come true. “It is not bad to dream if we don’t make dreams our master”. I encourage the youth who will take over at the helm of the centre, to “dare to dream”. I know these plans will not be finished in my lifetime but I am hoping there will be someone who will be inspired enough to continue the dream, someone I can rub off some of my enthusiasm.

You received several awards, some of which include the Outstanding Filipino-Canadian, Mississauga Senior Citizen of the Year 2002, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee medal, Ontario Senior of the Year and Outstanding Asian Canadian. What’s next for Mama Ching?

Oh, I wouldn’t know, Melissa. All the awards that I have received were each a surprise including certificates of appreciation and /or recognition from other institutions. I hope I deserve all of them.

What’s next for mama Ching? I would not know. I was interviewed 2 weeks ago—but it is not for me personally. It is for the centre. Of course it would make anybody happy to receive one more on top of many but for me, I don’t even venture to guess, I have no idea.

When you are not busy with your volunteer work, what is it that you enjoy doing?

I love gardening and I enjoy watching the plants grow. As of this writing, I have already planted 8 varieties of vegetables. I am planting some more. My garden is planted with ampalaya, eggplant, pepper, beans, zucchini, camote, alugbati, tomatoes. My second love is fishing. I have had many adventures as a fisherwoman that I will never forget. We are already planning to go out fishing. It’s usually late afternoon to early morning and go back to work before noon. I love the hito and the bass but whatever specie bites makes me scream with delight. I also had beautiful flowers but I have slowed down on that. I am in the centre 24/7 but I see to it that I do gardening and go fishing even if it is much less frequent now. In winter, there is not much activity except our mahjong sessions with my fellow seniors on Sundays after mass. Dr. S of the Kalayaan Centre board of directors encourages us to play mah-jong to prevent the big “A” from setting in too soon. Twenty dollars in the pot for each lasts from afternoon to late evening. It is also in winter when I do most paper work with the least distractions from visitors and I can work for longer hours . ■

Lifestyle

When packing portable feast ensure picnic food is safe by keeping it cold

BY SUSAN GREER THE CANADIAN PRESS LONDON, Ont. - Anyone who has ever tried to snag a good picnic table at a popular park on a Sunday afternoon doesn’t need to be told Canadians love to eat outdoors.

Whether it’s on a blanket at the beach, in the bleachers at your kids’ soccer tournament or on your own backyard patio, there’s something special about eating al fresco. ``I think everything tastes a little better,’’ says Carol Jensson of Vancouver, co-author with Judie Glick of ``The New Granville Island Market Cookbook.’’ ``It’s just the idea of being outside, sitting on the grass and watching the sailboats go by or just sitting in a beautiful park and enjoying it.’’

The ``ambience,’’ fresh air and friends and family are even more important than the food, she says. ``It can be a sandwich you bought at the gas station.’’

Amy Snider-Whitson, a professional home economist and president of The Test Kitchen Inc., a Maple, Ont., firm that specializes in recipe development, research and food-trend tracking, agrees a picnic ``can be really anything.’’

That’s not to say both women wouldn’t prefer something other than a gas station sandwich. Both are big fans of salads.

One of Jensson’s favourites is a beet and goat cheese pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing. It travels well and is particularly good for potluck-type picnics. ``Likely nobody else is going to bring that.’’

Snider-Whitson also prefers ``substantial’’ salads that can act as the main course. One developed at The Test Kitchen for a corporate client is a pad Thai salad, with vermicelli noodles, chicken, bean sprouts and lots of vegetables.

She also recommends ``combinations that include grains and legumes, marinated vegetables, things that are a little hardier and are less likely to deteriorate if packed in a cooler. You’re better to stay away from leafy greens because they wilt.’’

One idea for keeping foods fresh is to fold a moist paper towel on top of them before sealing the container.

Sandwiches are always a popular choice for picnics, but if making them at home avoid ingredients or condiments that will make the bread soggy long before you’re ready to eat. For build-yourown sandwiches, Snider-Whitson advises cutting the bread or buns and other ingredients, such as tomatoes, onions, meats and cheeses, at home.

``The less stuff you have to do on site, the easier it is to enjoy.’’

As an alternative to a plates-andcutlery type of meal, she suggests ``more grazeable items,’’ bitesized snacks that can be assembled at home, don’t take as much room to store if you’re hiking to a picnic site, for example, and don’t require anything but your fingers to eat.

Choices could include things like a vegetable roll made with rice paper and served with a dipping sauce or tortilla wraps with cream cheese, veggies and salsa cut into pinwheels. Add some trail mix and whole fresh fruit and you’re good to go.

But there is one essential that applies to all picnickers, regardless of what they’re serving - KEEP IT COLD! This means using insulated coolers or bags and lots of ice or ice packs to transport the food, says Dave Pavletic, food safety manager in environmental health for the Middlesex London Health Unit. Even the standards such as cooked chicken and potato salad are fine to take to a picnic as long as they’re kept cold, he says. ``We want to make sure the temperature of those food items is not elevated above 4 C, that they’re kept really cold for as long as we can.’’

Food can become unsafe after only two hours in temperatures warmer than 4 C (40 F), says the Ontario Ministry of Health, which also says food should not be left out for more than one hour.

Raw meats should be avoided entirely, Pavletic says, but cooked meat is OK as long as it was cooked to the proper temperature originally and is kept cold until it’s eaten. All salads and dressings should be kept cold whether they’re dressed at home or on site; likewise anything containing at-risk foods such as dairy products, cold cuts or cheeses.

Keeping food separated and in sealed containers is important, he says.

It’s also a good idea to put the most at-risk foods in the bottom of the cooler where they will benefit most from the ice or ice packs and so they’re the last to be removed before eating. From a practical point of view, it also makes sense to have the items you’ll need first, such as the tablecloth, plates and utensils, at the top of the cooler or picnic basket.

Pavletic also advises taking a bottle of hand sanitizer. ``It’s not as effective as diligent washing with soap and hot water, but it’s a good alternative.’’

And don’t forget to take extra water and trash bags for cleanup. ■ To contact Susan Greer, email her at susan.greer(at)rogers.com.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 28

BRIEFS by The Canadian Press

Kids not getting enough active play: report TORONTO - Many Canadian kids are failing to make the grade when it comes to reaching physical activity targets, with too few hours devoted to active play and too much free time fixated on TV, computer and game screens. Active Healthy Kids Canada released its annual Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth on Tuesday which paints a grim picture of the activity levels of many Canadian youngsters. ■

Regina boy, 7, tops organ waiting list REGINA A seven-year-old Saskatchewan boy is fighting for his life in an Edmonton hospital while he waits for a new liver.Doctors at the Stollery Children’s Hospital say a donor needs to be found for Harrison Aikman of Regina within three days. ■

A burger for Dad so good it seems bad for him Dads love grilling. Dads love burgers.

Trouble is, good burgers don’t always love Dad back.That’s because great burgers often start with fatty ground beef. All that fat keeps the burgers juicy and flavourful as they grill. And then of course there is the temptation to pile on toppings and condiments, like heaps of melting cheese and thick spreads of mayonnaise.■

29 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

TV5 launches int’l channels

Derek Ramsay

Mariel Rodriguez

Willie Revillame

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer

LOS ANGELES, California—Crescencia Go waited for over four hours at the LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) just so she could have some snapshots taken with TV game show host Willie Revillame.

Go, 64, said this was the first time she got excited about a Filipino celebrity.

The host of “Wil Time Bigtime” flew in Thursday to lead the launch of TV5’s two international channels—Kapatid TV5 and Aksyon TV International—in North America.

An office assistant at a financial firm in Panorama City, Go had taken a leave from work just to see Revillame: “My husband is also a fan of Willie’s.

He wanted to come, but he couldn’t leave work.

We just made sure to buy tickets to Willie’s show.”

A large group of Filipinos had gathered at the LAX by the time Revillame arrived, cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo, who was here to watch the “American Idol Season 11” grand finale, had been at the airport for over an hour.

The Belo Medical Group was among the advertisers that pulled out of “Willing Willie” (the show’s former title) in the wake of a controversy involving a 6-year-old contestant in April 2011. “’Di naman kami nagkatampuhan. Willie and I are good friends.

I came here to say hello,” said the celebrity doctor, who was scheduled to fly home to Manila soon after.

“Wil Time Bigtime” co-hosts Mariel Rodriguez and Camille Villar, actor Derek Ramsay and News5 head Luchi Cruz-Valdez were in the same Philippine Airlines flight as Revillame. Actress Nora Aunor had flown in a day earlier.

“Wil Time Bigtime” was held at the Shrine Auditorium on May 26. It also featured Ruffa Gutierrez and Aga Muhlach.

SF launch A second launch is scheduled at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on June.

Expected to join the event is TV5’s newest contract artist, Rufa Mae Quinto. ■

Sa Amin, KAYO PO ANG

LAGING

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Entertainment

‘Manoy’ for all seasons

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer

HE IS 83 and proud of it.

According to show biz lore, Eddie Garcia is irreversibly tight-lipped about his age, which thus assumed the preeminence of a state secret.

Actually, it took very little coaxing for the actor-director to make the big reveal. After all, he is an ageless wonder in the eyes of movie fans.

“In the 1980s, a reporter wrote a feature story that put my age at 10 years older,” he told the Inquirer.

He didn’t make a fuss; another actor, Ramon Revilla Sr., did. “Ramon said I should demand an erratum. He felt wronged because he is two years older than I am,” Garcia said.

Another urban legend about Garcia is his supposed daily intake of over a dozen nutritional supplements—said to be the secret of his vitality.

Garcia tackled this one with unusual candor: “After breakfast, I take about 20 supplements: vitamin A, B, C, D … Iron. One each … since I don’t like multivitamins.”

In the 1970s, Garcia, or Manoy as he is known in the biz, kept to a Spartan physical fitness regimen— and that was before it became all the rage.

These days, his pastime of choice is target shooting. “It’s good exercise,” he said. “It keeps me mentally alert and physically fit. I go to the firing range thrice a week and spend the entire day there, running and sweating.”

He added: “It teaches gun owners the safe handling of firearms. There’s a great sense of camaraderie among gun enthusiasts, too. The shooting community in the Philippines has over 3,000 members.”

He’s a competitive shooter, too, traveling across the country to join tournaments.

Before the movies beckoned, Garcia was a sergeant in the military police (MP) of the Philippine Scouts, which was under the US Army after World War II. “I joined the service when I turned 17,” he recounted. “I was part of the 116th MP Company, the Ryukyus Command, assigned in Okinawa, Japan, from 1946 to 1949.”

On his return to the country, he considered re-enlisting and flying back to Okinawa, but his friend George Sanderson had other plans. He showed Garcia a newspaper ad for a screen test.

Actor-director Manuel Conde was looking for new stars for the swashbuckling costume flick “Siete Infantes de Lara.”

Garcia recalled that there were over 40 applicants and only seven, including him, got in. The other six were Sanderson, Johnny Monteiro, Albert Madison, Jaime Castellvi III, Terry Campillos and Mario Montenegro.

Trained in stunts “We trained in fencing and stunts for three months,” Garcia recounted. “In the morning, we lifted weights and in the afternoon we had sword-fighting lessons.” That was in 1949.

“Manuel’s son Jun was only 10 years old. As an adult, Jun (Urbano) became Mr. Shooli on TV and in the movies.”

The former Army man never dreamt of becoming an actor. “Everything was strange to me,” he said. “Our family and I used to live on Gilmore Street, near the studio of Sampaguita Pictures. One time, while I was on a monthlong furlough, I caught the shooting of a movie starring Oscar Moreno, the father of Boots Anson-Roa.”

Roa would later become Garcia’s frequent costar.

When he became a contract star of Sampaguita, he became the resident contravida.

“I always played the guardia civil with the thin mustache,” he said. “That was because I spoke Spanish. My grandfather was a captain in the Spanish Army.”

He counts himself fortunate that, in his youth, he worked with the country’s finest directors, including two National Artists for Film, Conde and Eddie Romero.

Good example In an earlier interview with the Inquirer, Romero asserted that Garcia was a good example of an actor who improved in his craft through sheer hard work and determination.

“A good actor is born. There are a few exceptions. The one I am proudest of is Eddie,” said Romero of his namesake. “In the beginning, he was clumsy. But he refused to give up. Now, he is a fine actor.”

Garcia acknowledged that he learned a lot from Romero about filmmaking. Back then, Garcia said, Romero was already meticulous.

“He knew exactly what he wanted to achieve.

His background as scriptwriter helped a lot. He was a disciplinarian and was particular about punctuality, but was very cool on the set.”

His stint with Sampaguita instilled in him a strong work ethic, said Garcia. “Our producer, Dr. Jose Perez, and his wife Azucena were quite strict. They imposed fines on tardiness. Romeo Vasquez’s take-home pay would be almost down to zero because of the penalties.”

In his 12 years in Sampaguita, Garcia picked up precious pointers from other master directors like Octavio Silos, Nardo Vercudia, Armando Garces, Mar S. Torres and Olive La Torre (father of singer-actress Sylvia La Torre), among others.

“Sampaguita gave me my directorial break right before I went freelance in 1962,” he noted. That first job as director, “Karugtong ng Kahapon,” topbilled Rita Gomez, Ric Rodrigo, Marlene Dauden and his “Siete Infantes” costar Montenegro.

Garcia admitted that working behind the camera entailed birthing pains. “Nanganay ako. But as a new actor, I had vowed that, in 15 years, I would direct.” He was ahead of schedule. “I learned by hanging out in the studio. Nagbabad ako sa editing room. I consulted the directors and cinematographers,” he said.

“Karugtong” did well, so he was assigned to direct a series of drama movies: “Historia de un Amor,” “Mga Anak sa Pagkakasala, “Ang Manananggol ni Ruben.”

Diversifying In the mid-’60s, Garcia diversified, putting his military training to good use via a number of action films starring Tony Ferrer as secret agent X44 Tony Falcon.

“James Bond was very popular at the time,” Garcia related. “Tony’s brother, Atty. Espiridion Laxa, thought of a local version. I directed nine X44 movies, including ‘Sabotage,’ ‘Modus Operandi’ and ‘Kontra Senyas.’” He wasn’t picky, he admitted. “I grabbed everything thrown my way.”

As an actor, Garcia gained a reputation as one of local movies’ most reliable and competent.

He won his first Famas best supporting actor award for the 1957 film, “Taga sa Bato.” Five more Famas best supporting actor trophies would come: for “Condenado” (1958), “Tanikalang Apoy” (1959), “Ito ang Pilipino” (1966), “Dugo ng Bayani” (1969) and “Nueva Ecija” (1973).

In 1975, he was elevated to the Famas Hall of Fame. “After winning five times, you are elevated to the Hall of Fame. But I had won six times before they thought up a Hall of Fame,” he pointed out. Famas also declared Garcia best actor for “Decolores” in 1968 and “Tubog sa Ginto” in 1971, and best director for “Pinagbuklod ng Langit” in 1969. He was elevated to the Hall of Fame again as director in 1991 and actor in 2004.

He has fond memories of shooting “Pinagbuklod ng Langit,” second bio-pic on the late President Ferdinand Marcos (after “Iginuhit ng Tadhana,” directed by Mar S. Torres, Conrado Conde and Jose de Villa).“My staff grew fat while making that movie,” he recalled with a hearty laugh. “Ninety percent of the film was shot in Malacañang Palace and the First Lady was always sending carts of sandwiches and juice drinks to the set.”

Depicting the lives of the rich and famous became his forte when he returned to directing in the 1980s, for Viva Films. “Producer Vic del Rosario and I created what we dubbed the Viva look—like a beautifully wrapped gift, even if the story is actually empty,” he admitted mischievously.

Apart from Sharon Cuneta teenybopper flicks (“PS I Love You,” “My Only Love,” “Friends in Love”), he directed glossy adaptations of komiks novels (“Paano Ba ang Mangarap,” “Sinasamba Kita,” “Magdusa Ka”).

Craft in glossies He explained that a lot of craft likewise went into these glossy dramas. He cited two scenes in the Vilma Santos tearjerker “Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-Ibig,” released in 1987: “Cinematographer Romy Vitug and I waited until late afternoon, when the columns at the back of the Manila Film Center formed long shadows. For another scene, we waited until dusk so the funeral procession would be reflected on a pond in the cemetery.”

In the ’90s, Garcia starred in a string of true-life action movies, among them “Alfredo Lim: Batas ng Maynila,” “Boyong Mañalac: Hoodloom Terminator,” “Judge Max Asuncion: Hukom Bitay” and “Mariano Mison … NBI.” “When I played these real-life personalities, I did lots of research. If my character was still alive, I would interview him. If not, I’d watch video footages,” he said.

Although his filmography is studded with commercial fare, most famously his “Manoy” movies, he doesn’t shy away from projects that are out-of-the-box.

He considers Lino Brocka’s “Tubog sa Ginto,” in which he played a family man hiding in the closet, as one of his favorites. “It was a meaty role. Other actors turned down the part,” he said. “They were worried about their macho

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 30

image. I think it was the first time that the story of a gay man was tackled explicitly onscreen.

My lover was played by Mario O’Hara, who later became a director himself.”

In 1978, Garcia depicted the struggles of a domestic helper in “Atsay” and, as director, guided Nora Aunor to her victory as best performer in the Metro Manila Film Festival. It was the first and last time that the best performer award was handed out in the MMFF. He was a staunch supporter of independent filmmakers long before it became fashionable to do so. In 2000, he appeared in Raymond Red’s short film “Anino,” which won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival.

“Raymond just called and asked me to work with him,” he recalled. Garcia’s only question was: “When do we shoot?”

Return to Cinemalaya In 2005, he played the lead role (a senior citizen coming to terms with his mortality) in Rica Arevalo’s “ICU Bed #7”—an entry in the first Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival—for which he won best actor. This year, he returns to Cinemalaya with Jun Lana’s “Bwakaw,” an entry in the Directors’ Showcase section.

He doesn’t mind the shoe-string budget in indie films, as long he plays an interesting and challenging role. In “Bwakaw,” he portrays an elderly dog lover with a deep secret. “It’s a complex character … the script (by Lana) is well-written. We spent 10 days, during Holy Week, in Quezon province to finish the film,” he said.

Lana looked back: “We shot non-stop. Near the end, people were collapsing. Not Tito Eddie.

Dedicated and detailed, he is a director’s dream.

He’s a hard worker like none I’ve ever seen.”

Roa, who acted with and was directed by Garcia in various films, described him as “an absolute professional, a dyed-in-the-wool artist and craftsman. He is the epitome of discipline and is compassion personified.”

Related fellow actor Madeleine Nicolas, who shared the screen with Garcia in Marilou DiazAbaya’s “Ikaw ang Pag-ibig”: “I was tasked to look after Tito Eddie on our set in Naga. For our trip back to Manila, we were supposed to meet at the hotel lobby at 10 a.m. Tito Eddie was already in the van by 9:30 a.m.”

Mike Tan, Garcia’s costar in the GMA 7 soap opera “Legacy,” concurred: “He would arrive on the set ahead of everyone, even the production assistants.”

Remembering FPJ Lovi Poe, another “Legacy” costar, also had nothing but praise: “I would see him intently reading his script. He’s a perfectionist, but flexible at the same time.” She said she was thrilled to work with Garcia, who acted opposite her father, the late Action King and National Artist Fernando Poe Jr. in several films.

“FPJ was a complete professional,” Garcia said of Da King. “When he was directing, he refrained from drinking [alcohol]. He was totally focused.”

It didn’t come as a surprise that Garcia’s name cropped up, along with Dolphy, Joseph Estrada, Aunor and Santos, when talk of the need to declare a National Artist from the film community made the rounds.

“I don’t aspire for that,” he said. “If it comes, well and good. As I always say, awards are just a nice bonus for a job well done.”

He offered simple advice to today’s young actors: “Love your work. Come to the set prepared. Don’t give your directors headaches. And avoid chismis.” ■

31 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Entertainment

Persistence does pay off

to July 1. As an added treat, it will have a special screening on July 7 at the UP Film Institute in Diliman, Quezon City.

“The production team was very pleased,” Reyes told the Inquirer. “All the hard work, the sleepless nights have paid off. I’m lucky to have worked with a team that’s as passionate as I am,”

Director Emerson Reyes

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer

‘MNL 143’ lead star Alan Paule, center, was reportedly disapproved

by Cinemalaya execs for the role.

Three months after it was disqualified from competing at the annual Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, director Emerson Reyes announced that it’s a wrap for his controversial fulllength feature “MNL 143.”

Reyes said “MNL 143” will have its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in Scotland, to be held from June 20

Black comedy “MNL 143” is a black comedy about an overseas Filipino worker who, upon his return, works as an FX cab driver.

He meets interesting characters while trying to find his lost love.

The film made news when Cinemalaya organizers barred it from competing in the New Breed category because of casting disagreements with its producers. Festival bosses reportedly did not think actor Alan Paule and Joy Viado should play the lead roles.

Reyes said he finished the movie with Paule and Viado anyway, plus actors Gardo Versoza, Lou Veloso, Sherry Lara, Earl Ignacio, Ramon Bautista, Perry Dizon, Che Ramos, Cris Pasturan and Catherine Cornell, among others.

True friends “Once we began filming, I stopped thinking about the controversy. My goal was to finish it and grab opportunities to screen abroad,” Reyes said. “I believe in the material. I worked on it as much as I did on my other short films… I simply enjoyed the shoot.”

The CompanY wows ’em in Macau fest

BY BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR. Philippine Daily Inquirer NOT SURPRISINGLY, The CompanY had a blast when they vied against 11 other acts from around the world at the Venetian Macao Jazz and Blues International Competition (Battle of the Bands), held May 25 to 27.

The Pinoy vocal group landed in the Top 6, making it to the Macau tilt’s second and final round on Sunday night.

The other finalists were New York’s Spoke, Indiana’s The Main Squeeze, Hong Kong’s Fantastica, Indonesia’s Ginda and

the White Flowers and China’s Red Groove.

The top prize eventually went to The Main Squeeze; second place to Red Groove and third to Spoke. “The winners played progressive jazz rock/fusion music,” Moy Ortiz, the quintet’s leader, told the INQUIRER. Although they didn’t bring home the bacon, he said, they still had a ball.

Pinoys in the gallery When they performed on Saturday night, they noticed Filipinos in the audience. “We were touched,” said Moy. “We knew they were tired after a long work week.”

In any case, Reyes said, he learned a lot from the experience. “I now know who my true friends were. I’m grateful to them—sumabay sila sa biyahe ko without expecting any financial gain.”

The film runs for 90 minutes. Reyes said he wrote the story while attending a scriptwriting workshop by Armado “Bing” Lao in 2011.

FX setting “The six-day workshop was in Quezon City. I was still living in Manila at the time. Since I wasn’t familiar with Quezon City, I took a cab—a ride that cost me P600. I thought it would be extremely costly if I kept riding a cab, so I tried commuting by FX.” It was during these trips that Reyes got to study passengers’ different personalities.

“I eavesdropped; sometimes, I peeked at the text messages they were sending. I realized that each one had different stories to tell. I was able to create solid characters.”

The filmmaker has won various awards for his works. “Walang Katapusang Kwarto” was the 2011 Cinemalaya winner of best short film, best screenplay and audience choice awards. It was screened at the 15th Thai Short Film and Video Festival in Bangkok.

Surrealist The surrealist “Telenovela ni Juan at Luzviminda,” and animation feature, “Ebolusyon ni Kasalanan,” represented the country at the 12th To show their support, the Pinoy fans started singing the group’s old hits (“Now That I Have You,” “Everlasting Love,” “Pakisabi na Lang,” “Muntik na Kitang Minahal”) a cappella from the gallery.

“They gave us the courage to do well,” Moy said.

This episode in the group’s long and fruitful career started on Facebook, where Company member Jay Marquez saw a link to the contest. He immediately e-mailed it to Moy, who decided to “give it a shot.”

The audition and application process were all done online. They were required to submit a 30-minute repertoire. It was a rigorous and laborious process, said Moy, but they persisted. “After every show or corporate gig, we would go straight to rehearsals for the contest.”

Over the moon When they learned that The Company was among the top 12 acts chosen from all over the world, they were “over the moon.” Through the Internet, they familiarized themselves with the other groups.

“Two acts came from the United States, two from China and one each from France, Brazil, Indonesia, Korea,

TBS Digicon Regional Awards in Tokyo in November 2010. A year earlier, “Ebolusyon” won first prize in the experimental category of the 21st Gawad CCP for Alternative Film and Video, and the 180 Microcinema Film Festival.

Reyes directed the documentary “Neo-Rebolusyon,” which was funded by National Commission for Culture and the Arts in cooperation with Goethe Institut, Independent Filmmakers Cooperative and De La Salle-College of St. Benilde.

New dad The filmmaker Reyes is now father to newborn Blaze Rohkein Reyes. His wife, Batangas radio DJ Ninay Lescano, gave birth on May 9. “Blaze is really my focus right now,” said Reyes. “I try to stay at home as often as possible these days.”

When not babysitting, he works on his next full-length project, which he said is open to partnership with a foreign producer.

Asked whether he’d join Cinemalaya next year, the director said: “Not until I see changes in the operations. Nakakaraos naman ako kahit papaano. It has been months, and we’re all still waiting for its organizers to, in the very least, come up with a formal statement about the changes they’ve promised.” ■ Hong Kong, Macau and Japan,” said Moy. “We were not familiar with their work so we viewed their videos online.

We saw that we were the only vocal group.” The Company was the lone entry from the Philippines as well.

It could be daunting to represent the country in any contest, but Moy said they tried not to look at it as a competition.

“We treated it as an opportunity for our group to get international exposure.”

They were thrilled to perform their signature showstoppers—standards (“Some to Watch Over Me”), novelty hits (“Boom Tarat Tarat”), current anthems (Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”) and even TV classics (“Mission Impossible” theme).

“I was sure all the contestants felt the pressure,” Ortiz pointed out. “But before going onstage, we blocked out all negativity and just had a romping good time.”

They got to look extra sharp, too, with the help of friends, namely fashion designer Joey Samson and jewelry designer Arnel Papa.

All in all, said Moy, the experience was “like a master class for us. We learned from other wonderful jazz artists.” ■

Entertainment

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 32

Theron wears cloak of feathers, dress with beetle wings in ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ LOS ANGELES - Charlize Theron’s evil queen costumes for ``Snow White and the Huntsman’’ called for hundreds of hand-cut rooster feathers, thousands of iridescent beetle wings from Thailand and one particularly imposing crown.

The outfits, some of which are on view at an LA pop-up gallery ahead of the film’s June 1 opening, represented a host of firsts for Academy Award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood.

From the leather piping on the pleats of the queen’s wedding gown to the gauzy green metal trim on the beetle-wing dress, the nine-time Oscar nominee and threetime winner experimented with materials for director Rupert Sanders’ dark take on the classic fairy tale. ``The idea of the fairy tale sets you free in a way because you can make it up,’’ Atwood said. ``And I love to make up stuff.’’

She created an armoured ensemble fit for a queen by dressing up chain mail with rolled leather and horsehair trim and topping it off with a particularly pointy metal crown. ``We wanted to have a formidable silhouette,’’ Atwood said, ``and from a distance it’s spooky with the crown and her height and everything.’’ (Theron stands nearly six feet tall, the designer added.)

In Sanders’ version of the Snow White story, Kristen Stewart portrays

Alex Bailey

BY SANDY COHEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLIZE THERON as the Queen in the epic action-adventure “Snow White and the Huntsman”, the breathtaking new vision of the legendary tale from the producer of “Alice in Wonderland”. Copyright: © 2012 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

the only woman in the land fairer than Theron’s evil queen Ravenna. The queen dispatches a huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to kill the young woman, but instead he becomes her mentor and protector.

Atwood took on the project after finishing work on Tim Burton’s ``Dark Shadows,’’ starring Johnny Depp.

Atwood and Burton are frequent and successful collaborators: Her most recent Oscar was for his 2010 film ``Alice in Wonderland,’’ and she earned

nominations for her costumes in Burton’s ``Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’’ and ``Sleepy Hollow.’’

Atwood’s ``Snow White’’ costumes are miles - and eras - away from ``Dark Shadows.’’ ``They don’t resemble each other in any way,’’ she said, ``so it was fun to shift from one to the other and have a whole different world to think about.’’

And slide right into. ``Snow White’’ director Sanders said Atwood’s wardrobes ``blend seamlessly into this

world, and they speak volumes about the world and its characters.’’

Theron agreed. From the wedding dress, with its architectural shoulders that appear to be made from bones, to the twice-embroidered gown that eventually resembles an old, peeling skin, Atwood’s costumes reflect the evil queen’s obsession with appearances. ``Every costume had a feeling of not quite what it seems,’’ Theron said. ``In a way, these dresses were like torture devices for Ravenna. I love that because I feel like Ravenna was, in a way, more torturous toward herself than to the people she was killing.’’

To minimize the actual on-set torture, Atwood employed a team of about 50 people to help the actors in and out of the elaborate costumes.

But the beetle wings remain dangerous. Thousands of the hard, brittle wings decorate the evil queen’s regal dress of silk and metal mesh. ``They’re incredibly sharp, so I had to be careful about how I used them. If you hit them, you can hurt yourself,’’ the designer said. ``They’re quite treacherous, which really suited the character.’’■ Online: http://www. snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com/ AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter. com/APSandy .

‘The Hunger Games’ tops ‘Twilight,’ ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘Harry Potter’ at MTV Movie Awards

Dooley Productions / Shutterstock.com

BY DERRIK J. LANG THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Russell Brand, host of the 2012 MTV Movie Awards.

LOS ANGELES - The fan votes—not just the odds— were in ``The Hunger Games’’ favour at the MTV Movie Awards.

The dystopian survival saga escaped from Sunday’s 21st annual extravaganza with the most golden popcornshaped trophies, including best fight for the film’s final three-way battle and best on-screen transformation for Elizabeth Banks’ over-the-top futuristic makeover. ``Hunger Games’’ stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson were also honoured for best female and male performances. ``I’ve wanted to hold a golden popcorn since I was 4 years old,’’ beamed Hutcherson.

With four wins out of eight nominations, ``Hunger Games’’ didn’t totally decimate the competition. ``Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows _ Part 2’’ won prizes for best cast and best hero, while ``The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn _ Part 1’’ won for movie of the year, and ``Twilight’’ stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson locked the best kiss trophy for the fourth straight year. ``God, Rob’s not here, you guys. I don’t really know what to do,’’ said Stewart, who pretended to make out with herself. `Bridesmaids’’ walked away with two awards, though their wins weren’t televised. The cast of the naughty

comedy won best gut-wrenching performance for the scene in which the ladies battled food poisoning, and Melissa McCarthy won the best comedic performance award.

The live, fan-favourite ceremony was hosted by bawdy actor-comedian Russell Brand. He opened the show by poking fun of Michael Fassbender’s full-frontal endowment in ``Shame’’ and Kim Kardashian’s shortlived marriage, which he acknowledged was hypocritical.

(Brand filed for divorce last year from pop superstar Katy Perry, who performed at the Brand-hosted MTV Video Music Awards in 2009, after 14 months of marriage.) ``Tonight, I’m gonna keep my eyes peeled for my next wife,’’ joked Brand. ``Fasssssbender!’’

In lieu of a wordy acceptance speech for his MTV Generation Award, the show’s version of a lifetime achievement trophy, Johnny Depp performed with The Black Keys. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry presented the award to the 48-year-old ``Pirates of the Caribbean’’ star, who accompanied The Black Keys on guitar for ``Gold on the Ceiling’’ and ``Lonely Boy.’’ ``It’s like the get-out-of-the-business award,’’ said Depp.

Other winners Sunday included Shailene Woodley for breakthrough performance for ``The Descendants,’’ Jennifer Aniston as best on-screen dirtbag for ``Horrible Bosses’’ and LMFAO’s ``Party Rock Anthem’’ from ``21 Jump Street’’ for best music. ■

Entertainment

33 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Robert Pattinson admits to ‘panic attack’ before shooting ‘Cosmopolis’

Robert Pattinson for Cosmopolis

And he told his actors to stick to the lines, adopting a mantra that’s mentioned in the film: ``Let it express itself.’’

Pattinson said he had trust in Cronenberg and was relieved he didn’t have to come up with his own interpretation of his complex character. ``I mean, I’m not a post-modernist, like, scholar or anything,’’ mused the British superstar, looking relaxed in a black sporting jacket and black golf shirt. ``Your agent said you were,’’ quipped Cronenberg, eliciting laughter from the roomful of journalists who were warned by the panel moderator not to ask ``vampire, werewolf or personal questions.’’ ``So I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Can I come up with an interpretation of DeLillo that’s completely original in two weeks?’ added Pattinson, 26. ‘’I mean, that’s completely ridiculous.” ``But there’s something about the construction in his writing that’s so easy, you don’t need to add anything to it, and I think that’s just what (Cronenberg) encouraged me to do.’’

Giamatti, whose troubled character is obsessed with Eric, filmed ``Cosmopolis’’ at the same time he shot the upcoming musical film ``Rock of Ages.’’ ``I was panicked about it,’’ said the Oscar-nominated actor of ``Cosmopolis.’’ ``This thing was intimidating. The length of it and the language and stuff, and so I was bothering everybody I could on this other movie, to read this thing with me.’’ ``Fortunately (‘Rock of Ages’ costar) Malin Akerman made a great Rob Pattinson for me. She was fantastic. It was very disappointing

when I actually got here and it was Rob,’’ a bearded Giamatti added jokingly. ``But God bless, that woman sat and read that thing with me over and over and over again, because I just needed to feel that security.’’

Most filming for ``Cosmopolis’’ took place undercover at an east-end studio in Toronto. But the public shoots drew in some paparazzi and fans, many of them Pattinson admirers. ``Whenever we were on a location, it was incredible, it was a phenomenon,’’ Durand, who plays Eric’s chief of security, said in a recent interview. ``I’ve never seen camera lenses like this, lenses that were like the size of a Lincoln Town Car shooting from, like, a mile away. And (Pattinson) would point them out to me and I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so nuts.’’’

Durand noted that while shooting the film, his wife called him and told him she saw a paparazzo’s shot of him in the apartment in which he was staying. ``Someone was shooting me on a long lens in my apartment, and that’s all a byproduct of being in a Robert Pattinson film, I’m sure,’’ said Durand. ``(The paparazzi) were all over the place. It was incredible, and you know, he really greets it and acquiesces to it in a really great way.

He’s quite gracious. I was really impressed with him, and I think he’s a really good actor. He’s great in the movie.’’

Pattinson said he didn’t notice a ``massive difference’’ between the amount of fans gathered around the set of this film compared to his other projects, which also include ``Water for Elephants’’ and ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.’’ ``Generally people are pretty nice,’’ he noted. ``It’s very confusing as to why people will sit there and watch for a long time. ``But this film was a little bit more frightening. The first scene, which we did, I think it was the first time I was outside of the limo and there was a big crowd lined up.’’

Cronenberg said dealing with onlookers at his film shoots also isn’t foreign to him, noting he’s also made movies with handsome stars including Jeremy Irons and Jude Law. But he conceded the recent ``Cosmopolis’’ premiere in Portugal drew in an ``unusual’’ frenzy. ``There was a red carpet that was about a mile long and it was lined with literally a thousand screaming girls, and they weren’t all Portuguese either. Some of them were saying, ‘Come to Russia, come to Russia!’

So I knew they weren’t Portguese. ``That was kind of like the Beatles and I had not experienced anything like that before.’’ ■

Kidman dry eyed as ‘Paperboy’ gets standing ovation at Cannes; co star Efron brought to tears

Gregg DeGuire

TORONTO - With its heady storyline, poetic literary dialogue and no room for improvisation or rehearsal, the new film ``Cosmopolis’’ had several of its stars fretting before cameras got rolling.

Chief among them was Robert Pattinson, who admits to being in the ``very obvious throes of a panic attack’’ before production began in Toronto in May 2011.

At a Toronto press conference on Monday, the ``Twilight’’ heart-throb said he and co-star Jay Baruchel were ``absolutely terrified’’ when shooting the first scene of the film that’s based on the 2003 Don DeLillo novel of the same name.

Director David Cronenberg’s calm demeanour put him at ease, as did a pre-shoot chat at the filmmaker’s house in which he told him to ``stop worrying.’’ ``I think you were just placating me by saying to come around,’’ Pattinson told Cronenberg with a laugh at the media event attended by the director and several of the film’s stars. ``But I think you just said, when we started shooting, ‘What will be will be.’’’

Pattinson is earning raves for his performance in the film, which recently debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and opens across Canada on Friday.

He plays Eric Packer, a stony 28-year-old Manhattan billionaire asset manager who goes on a fantastical road odyssey in his white stretch limo to get a haircut at the other end of the city. Along the way he runs into a mess of traffic caused by a visit from the U.S. president as well as anti-globalization protests.

As Eric meets with various associates both inside and outside the limo, he encounters some sexy, gory and life-threatening scenarios - all while ruminating on his lost fortunes and his mortality.

Other co-stars include Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti, and Emily Hampshire.

Cronenberg said he changed a few scenes from the book for cinematic purposes, but kept most of the literary dialogue the same, feeling it was ``very stylized,’’ ``Pinteresque’’ and yet ``realistic.’’

Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

BY VICTORIA AHEARN THE CANADIAN PRESS

Zac Efron for The Paperboy

BY HILARY FOX THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CANNES, France - The Cannes standing ovation brought Zac Efron to tears, but Nicole Kidman remained dry-eyed.

Their movie, ``The Paperboy,’’ premiered at the film festival.

Kidman says she saves her tears for her family. ``All of this other stuff, the glitter, those sort of things, I’m more sort of immune to at this stage,’’ she says. ``It’s probably because I’ve been doing it for so long.’’

After mixed reviews, the film’s cast and director Lee Daniels, who also directed ``Precious’’ in 2009, were delighted with the 15 minutes of applause.

Efron says it was one of the most profound moments of his life. ``The Paperboy’’—a steamy 1960s small town thriller—is competing for the Palme d’Or. ■

34 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Napa Valley businesses putting the wine in Y chromosome

BY MICHELLE LOCKE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NAPA, Calif. - Do you crave a little red-blooded adventure along with your red wine? The Napa Valley may have just what you seek.

Sure, you can indulge such standard bro behaviours as golf and biking.

But hotels and other businesses in the popular wine region are kicking things up a notch.

Get behind the wheel and unleash some serious horsepower, fulfil your Davy Crockett fantasies by bagging some game for supper, or live the life of a vintner, briefly, as you blend and bottle your own wine. And at the end of a long day, what could be more relaxing than chilling out with your own special ``man-spa’’ session?

And all just in time for Father’s Day. Here’s a rundown of activities aimed at the testosterone travel set.

DRIVE, HE SAID: Try the Chris Cook Performance Driving Experience offered by Auberge du Soleil and get behind the wheel of an exotic car to enjoy back road cruising or the chance to drive on a real race track at Infineon Raceway. Price $2,500 for a half-day or

$6,000 full day; prices vary depending on car and experience selected. Or take Solage Calistoga’s ``Day at the Racetrack’’ package, $6,500 for two, which includes a half-day Grand Prix Masters program with the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School and boxed lunches from Michelin-starred Solbar restaurant. And no need to fight traffic on your way to and from the track; round-trip limo transport to the track is included.

GET GAME: Guests at Calistoga Ranch can participate in a pig or fowl hunt, go fishing or dive for abalone.

They’ll finish the day learning to clean, prep and barbeque the days’ catch. A private guide service is hired to lead the hunt, which takes place in the Guenoc Valley. To hunt pig or fowl, a guest must have a California hunting license. Prices start at $300 for fowl.

If you’d rather meet your meat already slain, the Fatted Calf charcuterie in Napa offers classes in how to break down a whole hog, duck or goat as well as other animals.

SEE WHAT’S BREWING: Tour the NapaSmith Brewery; enjoy a pint; play a little darts. Catch a game

at the Norman Rose Tavern, a casual bar and restaurant in downtown Napa.

And the annual Blues, Brews & BBQ festival in downtown Napa takes place on Aug. 25 with three musical stages, 20 microbrewed beers, a rib eating contest, and a lot of barbecue.

GET CORKING: Sometimes a guy shouldn’t bottle things up. But not when you’re talking about delicious Napa cab. Take your DIY side out for a spin at the Judd’s Hill Winery’s Bottle Blending Day Camp where you craft a blend from four barrels under the advice of an expert. Bottle, label and take home your liquid asset.

TRY SOME GOOD, CLEAN FUN: The Man Space Guys Getaway at Spa Villagio features a private spa suite with fireplace, infinity soaking tub, steam shower and 50-minute massage. You have a choice of one of three different types of facials, a spa refreshment platter—and the suite comes equipped with a flatscreen TV with Bose surround sound. Or try the Gentleman’s Facial at the Calistoga Ranch Bathhouse Spa. If You Go...

CALISTOGA RANCH: 580 Lommel Rd., Calistoga, Calif., http://www. calistogaranch.com or 707-254-2800.

Rates start at $750 through June 30.

AUBERGE DU SOLEIL: 180 Rutherford Hill Rd., Rutherford, Calif.; http://www.aubergedusoleil. com or 707-963-1211. Summer rates start at $775.

SOLAGE CALISTOGA: 755 Silverado Trail, Calistoga, Calif., http://www.solagecalistoga.com or 866-942-7442. Rates start at $488.

FATTED CALF: Oxbow Public Market, 644 C First St., Napa, Calif., http://fattedcalf.com or 707-2563684. Classes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., For reservations, e-mail contact@ fattedcalf.com. Classes generally go for $175, which includes lunch and takehome treats; nonrefundable deposit of $50 required to confirm reservation.

NAPASMITH BREWERY: 1 Executive Way, Napa, Calif., http:// www.napasmithbrewery.com or 707254-7167. Tours, $10; available by appointment Wednesday-Sunday at 2 p.m. via email to ellen(at) napasmithbrewery.com. Brewpub does not sell food, but guests may bring their own to enjoy with beer.

NORMAN ROSE TAVERN: 1401 First St., Napa, Calif., http://www. normanrosenapa.com or 707-2581516.

BLUES BREWS & BBQ: Aug. 25, 1 p.m.-6 p.m., First and Main streets, downtown Napa, http://www.donapa. com/events/special-event/blue-brewsbbq JUDD’S HILL WINERY: 2332 Silverado Trail, Napa, Calif., http:// www.juddshill.com or 707-255-2332.

Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily, visits by appointment only. Reserve blending sessions at least 24 hours in advance.

Packages start at $225 for three bottles, up to four adults may participate.

SPA VILLAGIO: 6841 Washington St., Yountville, Calif., http://villagio. com or 707-945-4545. Man Space Guys Getaway, Sunday-Friday for the month of June, $260 per person.

After that if available, Monday-Friday through 2012. ■

Travel

35 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Joyous Encounters

Jing Lejano plays witness to giddy bursts of excitement among tourists on their first trip to the islands of El Nido

BY JING LEJANO TURISTA MAGAZINE

I WAS WALKING along Snake Island, a sliver of a sandbar with the most gorgeous of fine, white sand, when a pale-faced, heavily-built foreigner runs past me, shouting joyously in some strange language. He then proceeds to dive into the clear, blue waters with his shirt, shorts, and slippers still on, laughing with much gusto.

Yes, such is the beauty of El Nido that it could make a grown man act like a playful child.

Located in the far reaches of northwestern Palawan, the 45 islands of El Nido is an awesome collection of natural wonders with its limestone cliffs, lagoons, caves, and forests.

Encounters with Joy I will witness more of such giddy bursts of excitement throughout my trip. At Cudugnon Cave, a gentleman from Korea couldn’t help but marvel at the sculpture-like formations inside as he caressed the walls with his hands.

Created by millions of years of erosion, the cave walls had a smooth, almost undulating quality.

At the Small Lagoon in Miniloc Island, a group of friends, Filipinos all, created a bit of happy traffic with their kayaks.

Surrounded by towering limestone cliffs, Small Lagoon is home to a variety of sea creatures from beautiful corals to schools of needlefishes and anchovies.

At the Big Lagoon, I had my own OMG moment when, from our outrigger boat, we spotted a Blacktip Reef Shark.

It was beautiful! Of course, El Nido being a playground of the wild, the shark wasn’t the only lovely creature I saw. I also caught sight of sea urchins, turtles, and crows, a school of sergeant major fishes as well as an egret perched atop a rock.

Time to Chill It’s happy hour at the Miniloc Island Resort. After a day of island hopping, we’re chilling out with a couple of bottles of San Miguel. It feels like we’re in an episode of Fantasy Island, a popular eighties television series where guests get to live out their dreams.

The view from Lagen at night

There are cottages built on stilts by the sea. There’s a white sand beach out front, a couple of Koreans snorkeling by the wharf, and just a few feet from our lounge chairs is a beach bar with the bartender shaking up some delicious tropical cocktail. If Mr. Roarke (That’s Ricardo Montalbon in real life) were to suddenly appear with his diminutive sidekick Tattoo, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Miniloc is but one of the properties of El Nido Resorts; the others are located in the islands of Lagen and Apulit. On its own, El Nido is already a wonderful vacation destination. But what makes El Nido Resorts such a gem is that they built their island getaways with the view of enhancing—and not in any way changing—the natural beauty of the environment.

As Carmel Delos Santos-Panelo, resident manager of Lagen Island Resort, points out, everything that the tourist wants in an island vacation is already in El Nido. But to make that vacation more memorable, all the supporting services from the food and accommodations to the facilities and water transport system have to be delivered with excellence.

Every day, guests get to choose from a menu of activities. They could go island hopping, kayaking, snorkeling, or diving.

Climbers can face the challenging rock formations at Entalula Island. Those who want nothing but get a tan can hang out by the poolside of Lagen Island. Others hie off to the Dibuluan Beach Club, where they swim, take long walks by the mangroves, ride paddle boards, or drink some coconut juice.

Enjoy the watersports facilities at Dibuluan Beach Club

Definitely, all that strenuous activity performed under the sweltering heat of the sun could get some guests under the weather, just as I did. But El Nido Resorts has anticipated such occurrences. And Lagen Island’s resident doctor gave me a proper medical exam and prescribed me some medication. I was well enough to join our itinerary for the next day.

On our last night at Lagen, we catch the sunset by the sea, with the forest behind us, and the limestone cliffs all around. We marveled at the thought that thousands of years ago maybe, our forefathers enjoyed such a sight on just such a night. We could only hope that those who come after us, thousands of years hence, could do just the same. ■ Photos by Dakila Angeles

Travel

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 36

Montreal’s Ritz Carlton shows off results of $200 million restoration

Ritz-Carlton Montréal - Now Open. Indulge in the breathtaking garden for afternoon tea or the ultimate dining experience.

Escape to where historical splendour meets contemporary architecture.

BY NELSON WYATT THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL - A place with three bedrooms, a dining room, two sitting rooms and eight bathrooms is usually a house. At the Ritz-Carlton, it’s the Royal Suite.

It’s almost as big as some houses, measuring 4,700 square feet, although its price tag of $7,000 to $10,000 per night outdistances what most Canadians are plunking down for a monthly mortgage payment. ‘’The Royal Suite, with its 4,700 square feet, is the largest (hotel room) in Canada,`` Ritz-Carlton CEO Andrew Torriani said Monday as the hotel showed off its renovations 100 years after it welcomed its first guest.

But the suite, which had previously gained fame as the place where Hollywood power couple Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor tied the knot in 1964, wasn’t open for Monday’s media tour as the final touches were still being applied.

It will be unveiled in June.

A 400-square-foot room goes for around $450 per night.

Several rooms were on display, their window shades sliding noiselessly out of sight to let the sun shine in, while toilet seats raised soundlessly like a small drawbridge as someone approached.

The $200-million renovation, which saw part of the fabled hotel hived off for luxury condos, mingles high-tech

improvements with the building’s oldworld charm.

The refurbished hotel is about half its former size now, with 98 rooms and 31 suites.

The renovations were designed to bring the storied hotel into modern times while still preserving its cachet.

Its guest list reads like a who’s who and includes Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1976, Richard Nixon in 1972, the Rolling Stones, George H.W. Bush, and Celine Dion.

It was like a second home for prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Pierre Trudeau at various points in their lives as well as acclaimed writer Mordecai Richler, who featured it in some of his books.

While the renovations emphasized keeping the ritz in Ritz-Carlton, the new eco-friendly innovations have made the luxury hotel greener than the bills stuffing the wallets of its traditionally upscale clientele.

Thermostats intuitively remember a guest’s temperature preferences upon check-in and there will be no more fumbling around for the light switch upon entering a dark room. Motion sensors will activate the lights.

The lighting, heating and air conditioning of each room will be managed by a sophisticated building management system according to weather conditions and room occupancy. The

Perfectly situated in the heart of Montréal’s Golden Square Mile.

salt-water swimming pool is heated with excess heat from the hotel’s kitchen, while a herb garden will provide fresh produce.

Gone are the days when a guest would hang a paper do-not-disturb sign on the door. Now, there’s a series of coloured lights that signal if the room is occupied or not or if maid service is required.

Hardwood floors have been installed in many rooms for guests with allergies while other suites have thick all-wool carpets.

Although a wedding was hosted at the hotel on the weekend, the first official guest is Alexandre Bilodeau, who became the first Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil when he turned the trick at the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010.

He was invited by Torriani, who he met last year and with whom he shares an interest in raising awareness about cerebral palsy. ``It’s a great honour for the Torriani family to think of me,’’ said Bilodeau, who helped cut the red ribbon to open the hotel. He described the Ritz as ``a landmark.’’

He also said he was excited about staying at the hotel and had briefly seen his room. ``It’s really, really nice,’’ he said. ``The bathroom is amazing. Everything is energy efficient and the buttons are everywhere.

It’s all electric and all automatic. I spent two minutes in the room so I’m really looking forward to experience all of it.’’

Torriani told a news conference there has been a certain retraction in the luxury hotel market and that’s why hotels have to keep fresh. ``That’s why you see hotels like ourselves going from 229 rooms to 130 rooms. The old Ritz-Carlton had a clientele that certainly fit into that market but I think that the hotels have to be a little bit more focused on where they’re going. ``It is more about being smaller but being luxurious enough that really we’re on the world stage.’’

Montreal, which he called one of North America’s most diverse cities, is still a strong tourist market and staff said the hotel is three-quarters booked for the June 8-10 Grand Prix weekend. They also said student protests, which have been cited for scaring tourists away, haven’t had an impact.

While the Ritz-Carlton has been a fixture in Montreal’s downtown since 1912, Torriani said the goal is to make it accessible to people of all ages, keeping its history but adding a few ``fine points.’’

He also acknowledged that the high-end clientele has also changed from the days when they used to show up in top hats and furs.

For instance, a 20-year-old in jeans walking through the hotel’s revolving doors might not be just another young person. ``He could be the head of Facebook.’’ ■

Travel

37 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

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WINNIPEG - It’s billed as one of the largest multicultural festivals in the world, offering a chance to sample food, music and dancing from around the globe without leaving Winnipeg city limits.

Folklorama dwarfs other festivals of its kind, filling community centres, school gyms and large convention halls throughout the city for two weeks every summer.

Sure, there are similar festivals the Heritage Festival in Edmonton and the Multicultural Festival in Halifax are two examples, both of which stage their events in a single location.

But Folklorama is the granddaddy of them all—43 pavilions, half open from Aug. 5-11 this year, the others from Aug. 12-18. Its sheer size attracts tourists from around the globe. ``We’ve had (tourist) groups from Paraguay, from Japan, we get them from all over North America ... Texas, New Jersey, California,’’ said Murray Greenfield, who, as Folklorama’s director of tourism, helps visiting tour groups plan their stay. ``We had a group for about four years running from Iceland.’’

The festival is a reflection of the diversity upon which Winnipeg prides itself. The city grew up around the

junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, which was a gathering place for aboriginals. French-speaking voyageurs and British settlers were among the early arrivals. They were followed by Ukrainians, Germans and other Europeans who settled in the bustling city or on farms across southern Manitoba. More recently, Winnipeg has seen a growing influx of immigrants from the Philippines and other Asian countries.

Local community groups that represent each of these cultures, and many more, are in charge of each pavilion. They feed and entertain thousands of visitors a night at each location, thanks to an army of more than 20,000 volunteers.

All of which can create a conundrum for festival-goers: How to take it all in, or at least as much as possible, on any given night. If you want to sample some spicy food and samba at the Brazilian pavilion downtown, will you also have time to take in a musical play at the Italian pavilion in the western suburbs? What about the borscht at the Ukrainian pavilion to the north? ``I go based on what personally interests me in the culture’’ said Cristina Poeppl, a Winnipeg resident who has attended Folklorama 10 times. ``Maybe it’s a culture that I want to learn more about, or I really like that type of food.’’

Poeppl has frequently gone to the Brazil and Caribbean pavilions to enjoy exotic foods and because those

pavilions have a reputation for putting on great dancing exhibitions.

She has developed a bit of a system to handle the festival’s logistics. Every pavilion has three main seatings every night - at 6:45 p.m., 8:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Some pavilions also have late afternoon or late night shows on weekends. After each sitting, the crowd must leave so that the next group can come in.

Getting in usually requires standing in line outside the building at least 10 minutes before show time.

When Poeppl and her friends want to see three shows in one evening, they look for pavilions that are close together, sometimes within walking distance of each other. A very popular pavilion or one in a smaller venue is always first on their schedule, because crowds tend to be smaller early on. They also visit the most popular pavilions on a Monday or Tuesday rather than a Friday or Saturday. ``That way, we don’t necessarily have to worry so much about parking or being in a long line,’’ Poeppl said.

There is another way to overcome any logistical challenges—the VIP tour. Each year, the festival sells packages that include a bus ride to three pre-selected pavilions in one evening, with food and drinks at each stop. VIPs even get a separate entrance to bypass lineups at the doorway, and often get reserved seating. The VIP package sells for

$69.95, while regular admission is $6 per pavilion (not including food and drink).

The VIP tours are a big attraction for out-of-towners who don’t want the hassle of driving themselves around the city to find each pavilion. ``We like the fact that they have the whole festival and there’s a guide that goes with us and just leads us where we need to go,’’ said Kim Diederich, manager of Riley Bus and Tours, a Minnesota company that brings 40 or so people on an eight-hour drive to Winnipeg for Folklorama.

Festival organizers are adding another option this year—a bicycle tour. For $34.95, participants can travel in a group, by bicycle, to two pavilions in one evening and get food and non-alcoholic beverages at both stops.

Poeppl has one final bit of advice —expand your horizons and try something different, like her overseas relatives did when they visited Folklorama. ``I had German cousins over, and ... they actually didn’t want to see the German pavilion because they were like ‘oh, we can get that type of culture back home.’ They were more interested in seeing something else,’’ she chuckled. ■ For Folklorama passes and information, visit www.folklorama. ca ; call 1-800-665-0234.

EVENTS FLAG RAISING • Friday, June 8, 2012 @ 9:00 A.M. Winnipeg City Hall Ground, 510 Main Street FLAG RAISING AND OPENING CEREMONY • Saturday, June 9, 2012 @ 9:00 A.M. Philippine Canadian Centre of MB, 734 Keewatin St. FILM: Gulong for the General Public • Sunday, June 10, 2012 @ 2:00 P.M. With Subtitle in English R.B. Russell School, 364 Dufferin Ave. FILM: Manila Road and other Short Films • Monday, June 11, 2012 @ 6:00 P.M. DMCI Library, 720 Alverstone St. CELEBRATION OF FAITH • Tuesday, June 12, 2012 @ 7:00 P.M. Philippine Canadian Centre of MB., 734 Keewatin St.

AN EVENING WITH MAFTI: Literary & Musical • Wednesday, June 13, 2012 @ 6:00 P.M. Philippine Canadian Centre of MB., 734 Keewatin St. WELCOME TO OUR “BAGONG DATING” • Thursday, June14, 2012 @ 6:00 P.M. Philippine Canadian Centre of MB, 734 Keewatin St.

PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE BALL • Friday, June 15, 2012 @ 6:00 P.M. SkyView Grand Ballroom, Marlborough Hotel, 331 Smith St. PICNIC IN THE PARK • Saturday, June 16, 2012 @ 10:30 A.M. Assiniboine Park South of Conservatory (Parking north and south of Conservatory)

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Canada: Seen and Scenes

WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 40

Fiipino Seniors Club of BC (FSCBC), a Canadian registered charity, celebrated its 30th anniversary with the theme “Emerging Unity and Nationalism in the Filipino Community” on May 27, 2012 at the Capri Hall, Fraser St., Vancouver, BC. BC Minister of State for Multiculturalism John Yap attended the celebration together with hundreds of their members and numerous community leaders like Tom Avendano, Angie Igonia, PCI’s Laarni Liwanag-de Paula, Lita Tapia, Rey Fortaleza, Alvin and Susan Relleve, Romy Mercado, Perla de Peralta, Ching Hipol, Felipa Garcia, Amparo Romero, Narima Dela Cruz, Tom Malapitan, Cesar Manio, Clemente Santiago, Don Linsangan, Vice-Consul Melanie Diano, Salve and Ed Dayao, Bodeng and Erly Juatco, Janice Lozano, Jojo Quimpo, Chiching Orquiola, among others.

At EAT! Vancouver, BC Place Stadium, where hundreds of exhibitors, including the DOT’s More Fun in the Philippines booth, top Filipino chef Albert Rivera, and Goldilocks were featured, along with wineries, breweries, restaurants, cooking demonstrations, wine and cheese seminars, cookbook authors, and chef competitions.

At the Press Briefing conducted jointly by the Consulate General and the Philippine Department of Tourism on June 1 to officially launch the new tourism campaign built around the theme “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!”

The committee for the Filipino Elderly Wellbeing project (FEW) is composed of, from left, Frank Villanueva, Roland Colomo, Suzette Cresencia, Perla Andres, Linda Javier, Dr. Mario Andres, Aida D’Orazio, Priscila Kalevar and Fritz Pino. Please see related story on page 18.

41 WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012

Canada: Seen and Scenes

“PISTAHAN SA SEXSMITH”, a Filipino Fiesta celebration at the Sexsmith Community School, where Filipino culture and tradition were showcased. 14% of the school’s population is from Filipino families. It was a day of song and dances attended by around 350 student plus staff, teachers and parents. Some of the performances are the Bahay Kubo Song, Tiklos and Tinikling Dance.

At the Flag Raising ceremony held on June 2 at the Filipino Plaza.

At the Pista ng Bayan Philippine Independence Day celebration with BC Premier Christy Clark, community leaders and special guests.

May 27 marked the Second Annual Kensington Block Party in Toronto. The celebration kicked off the summer as it happened during the first Kensington Market Pedestrian Sunday.

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WEDNESDAY JUNE 6, 2012 42

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BY ALMAN DAVE QUIBOQUIBO

RANDOM RUMINATIONS I AM UNSURE whether people have so low a regard of me, or simply do not know me, that they ask the strangest questions whenever i am surrounded by foreigners. I have fielded the gamut of inquiries, from the seemingly innocent but stupid “tour guide ka ba?” To the subtly suggestive “san mo napick-up ang mga yan?” To the downright vile if not ignorant “booking ba yan?” I’ve responded very casually in most cases: no, they’re my friends, and I am showing them around. I have not kept secret the fact that I am a xenophile, and that I may actually harbor fantasies about being a cicerone, but the truth is, I am drawn to foreigners visiting my country because I am curious to know what brings them here, to this nation of close to a hundred million people, against whom a handful of travel advisories have been issued by foreign governments. I am drawn to them because I want to know where they are from, what language they speak, and what they think about this country, whose streets are littered by tumbling plastic bags and children with dirty faces and no underwear. Why the Philippines and perhaps by getting answers, i can somehow contribute something to nation-building.

Last month, I hosted 3 slovenians who came to the country to escape, primarily, the freezing winter that is sweeping across of Europe. Andri has visited me before, but this time around, he brought with him two more. Sometime last year, Andri asked me what I had planned for January, and although I wasn’t jumping off my seat at the prospect of receiving any visitors, i informed him that I would be going to kalibo for ati-atihan.

A week later, Andri was providing me with information so that I could buy them tickets on the same flight as mine.

Mabuhay and welcome to my country: The accidental tour guide I whisked them from NAIA terminal 1, brought them to Makati, and spent the next few days thinking what I could possibly do to keep them preoccupied.

Immediately after ati-atihan, we took a bus up to Caticlan, hopped onto a boat, and were gently cruising to Boracay island. I had planned this trip for my lonesome self, so I really had no specific activity in mind. I had done a few of the touristy things one might do in Boracay, and wasn’t keen on feeding fish or riding a glass-bottomed boat. Honestly, I just wanted to get really boozed. And by my humble calculations, during those 5 nights of debauchery since arriving in Kalibo, I may have consumed over 30 beers. Still, nothing comes close to last year’s decadence, but understand that this year, i was actually baby-sitting some foreigners. Not that they needed to be watched, but that i felt responsible for them. So most of the things we did, we did together.

During Andri’s stay here, he’s had occasion to share with me his minute observations about the state of this nation. Now I’m not onion-skinned nor easily affected by sour comments about the pervasive poverty, or the crippling corruption, or the lack of foresight that plague this otherwise beautiful archipelago. I didn’t react in the same manner as most people when Philippine medical schools were insulted in an episode of “Desperate Housewives”, or when Claire Daines had unkind words to say about manila, or when one foreign blogger described his experience here as disastrous, or when a website described NAIA’s terminal 1 as the worst to sleep in. In most cases, the observations are based on truth, based on fact. I am often more incensed by generalizations made

by Filipinos about their own country: that there’s nothing to do here, that everything is better than elsewhere.

That is why I was a lot surprised when I was affected by Andri and his quips about how filthy the Philippines is and that Filipinos were lazy. To put it into

context, here are the stories: we were walking back to our resort in Boracay when I spotted a creepy crawly on the pavement. He said they don’t have cockroaches in Slovenia, to which I replied that well, it’s a common sight here. And then he concluded by saying it’s because the Philippines is so dirty.

His second observation was about the lack of bus stops in most places outside Makati. He lamented the fact that the bus hadn’t moved more than 10 meters when another passenger shouted “para!” He blamed lazy Filipinos for prolonging his ride. No one will deny that cockroaches don’t exist in manila, or that commuting Filipinos have no regard for proper areas to stop a bus. But oddly enough, I took personal offense, as though the comments had been directed at me: that I’m dirty, I’m lazy. I found it hurtful, particularly because they’re coming from someone who has been to this country six times. If the Philippines is crawling with cockroaches and Filipinos plagued by a general lack of industry, then why do you keep coming back? Is it because people here find you good looking? Or is it because we’re cheap and you’re able to stretch the value of your euro far? I actually did ask him these questions, and maybe it was his limited English because I never found a sufficient response.

So playing the role of an unpaid tour guide is one of my contributions to promoting Philippine tourism (others being writing about travels and photographing the beautiful places that I’ve been to). I have not earned a single peso from doing any of it, but it makes me happy, knowing that I have shared what I know, and I talk about this country in a positive and encouraging tone, regardless that sometimes, I have to shovel through layers of muck to show that beneath the surface, this country is so much more amazing, a lot more incredible, and has countless beautiful people, than what its reputation suggests. ■

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